Hi Monks!
I have a file called weather.txt that looks like this:
$VAR1 = [
          {
            'xml_api_reply' => {
                                 '-version' => '1',
                                 'weather' => {
                                                '-row' => '0',
                                                'current_conditions' =
+> {
                                                                      
+    'icon' => {
                                                                      
+                '-data' => '/ig/images/weather/mostly_cloudy.gif'
                                                                      
+              },
                                                                      
+    'temp_f' => {
                                                                      
+                  '-data' => '73'
                                                                      
+                },
                                                                      
+    'temp_c' => {
                                                                      
+                  '-data' => '23'
                                                                      
+                },
                                                                      
+    'wind_condition' => {
                                                                      
+                          '-data' => 'Wind: NW at 6 mph'
                                                                      
+                        },
                                                                      
+    'humidity' => {
                                                                      
+                    '-data' => 'Humidity: 73%'
                                                                      
+                  },
                                                                      
+    'condition' => {
                                                                      
+                     '-data' => 'Mostly Cloudy'
                                                                      
+                   }
                                                                      
+  },
,
                                                'forecast_information'
+ => {
                                                                      
+      'forecast_date' => {
                                                                      
+                           '-data' => '2012-08-16'
                                                                      
+                         },
                                                                      
+      'city' => {
                                                                      
+                  '-data' => 'Miami, FL'
                                                                      
+                },
                                                                      
+      'latitude_e6' => {
                                                                      
+                         '-data' => ''
                                                                      
+                       },
                                                                      
+      'postal_code' => {
                                                                      
+                         '-data' => '02151'
                                                                      
+                       },
                                                                      
+      'current_date_time' => {
                                                                      
+                               '-data' => '2012-08-16 12:54:00 +0000'
                                                                      
+                             },
                                                                      
+      'longitude_e6' => {
                                                                      
+                          '-data' => ''
                                                                      
+                        },
                                                                      
+      'unit_system' => {
                                                                      
+                         '-data' => 'US'
                                                                      
+                       }
                                                                      
+    },
                                              }
                               }
          },
          {
            'xml_api_reply' => {
                                 '-version' => '1',
                                 'weather' => {
                                                '-row' => '0',
                                                'current_conditions' =
+> {
                                                                      
+    'icon' => {
                                                                      
+                '-data' => '/ig/images/weather/mostly_cloudy.gif'
                                                                      
+              },
                                                                      
+    'temp_f' => {
                                                                      
+                  '-data' => '73'
                                                                      
+                },
                                                                      
+    'temp_c' => {
                                                                      
+                  '-data' => '23'
                                                                      
+                },
                                                                      
+    'wind_condition' => {
                                                                      
+                          '-data' => 'Wind: NW at 6 mph'
                                                                      
+                        },
                                                                      
+    'humidity' => {
                                                                      
+                    '-data' => 'Humidity: 73%'
                                                                      
+                  },
                                                                      
+    'condition' => {
                                                                      
+                     '-data' => 'Mostly Cloudy'
                                                                      
+                   }
                                                                      
+  },

                                                'forecast_information'
+ => {
                                                                      
+      'forecast_date' => {
                                                                      
+                           '-data' => '2012-08-16'
                                                                      
+                         },
                                                                      
+      'city' => {
                                                                      
+                  '-data' => 'Boston, MA'
                                                                      
+                },
                                                                      
+      'latitude_e6' => {
                                                                      
+                         '-data' => ''
                                                                      
+                       },
                                                                      
+      'postal_code' => {
                                                                      
+                         '-data' => '01908'
                                                                      
+                       },
                                                                      
+      'current_date_time' => {
                                                                      
+                               '-data' => '2012-08-16 12:54:00 +0000'
                                                                      
+                             },
                                                                      
+      'longitude_e6' => {
                                                                      
+                          '-data' => ''
                                                                      
+                        },
                                                                      
+      'unit_system' => {
                                                                      
+                         '-data' => 'US'
                                                                      
+                       }
                                                                      
+    },

                                              }
                               }
          },

];

[download]

what is the best way to extract the values from this array of hashes if its in a file? If it was an array of hashes I could access anyhting using this criteria:
my $test_data = $data[0]{'xml_api_reply'}{'weather'}{'forecast_informa
+tion'}{'city'}->{"-data"};

[download]

But since it is in a file I am a litle confused:
Test Code
....
my %hash;
open my $fh, '<', 'weather.txt' or die "Cannot open: $!";

while (my $lines = <$fh>) {
  my @data = $lines;
  my $key = shift @data;

  my $test_data = $data[0]{'xml_api_reply'}{'weather'}{'forecast_infor
+mation'}{'city'}->{"-data"};
  print "$test_data\n";
  
}
close $fh;

[download]

Thanks for the help!

In reply to Open and parsing a file with array of hashes!? by Anonymous Monk

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.