Error calling Date:Calc Date_to

pietyc has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I am attempting to use the Date:Calc function and I am not sure if I am using it correctly. Below is the error I
get when I try to use it and below that is the code that i entered. DO I have to define the variables $days somewhere or does Date:Calc take care of that for me? Thanks for any help, I am on a step learning curve!

charles/2004_ruc2> ./date_calc_test.pl
syntax error at ./date_calc_test.pl line 5, near "$days " Execution of
+ ./date_calc_test.pl aborted due to compilation errors.
[download]

#!/usr/bin/perl

use Date::Calc qw(:all)

$days = Date_to_Days($year,$month,$day);
  ($year,$month,$day) = Add_Delta_Days(1,1,1, $days - 1);

print "$days\n";
[download]

edited: Tue Mar 9 16:52:22 2004 by jeffa - code tags, formatting

_{janitored by ybiC: Retitle from "Date:Calc". One-word titles are bad, very bad.</rainman>}

Comment on Error calling Date:Calc Date_to_Days Select or Download Code

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Re: Date:Calc by jrsmith (Pilgrim) on Mar 09, 2004 at 14:50 UTC
You need a semicolon after `use Date::Calc qw(:all)` Also, in your `Add_Delta_Days` statement, 1,1,1 is not a valid date.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: Date:Calc by dragonchild (Archbishop) on Mar 09, 2004 at 14:51 UTC
You forgot a semi-colon at the end of your second line. That's what the syntax error is. As for your questions - read Learning Perl. What you say indicates a very low understanding of Perl syntax. ------ We are the carpenters and bricklayers of the Information Age. Please remember that I'm crufty and crochety. All opinions are purely mine and all code is untested, unless otherwise specified.	[reply]
Re: Re: Date:Calc by pietyc (Initiate) on Mar 09, 2004 at 15:15 UTC
thank you Dragonchild, my face is red....I am busted, I'm a chemist trying to learn Perl after work. I have a started reading Learning Perl...clearly not close enough. A juorney of a thousand miles starts with one step. Thanks for guiding me back on the path.	[reply]
Re: Date:Calc by Prior Nacre V (Hermit) on Mar 09, 2004 at 15:26 UTC
Using `#!/usr/bin/perl -w use strict; use diagnostics;` [download] instead of just `#!/usr/bin/perl` [download] will help you enormously. You should get into the the habit of using those 3 lines for every script you write while you are learning. Regardless of how good you get, you should always use the first 2 lines. Just in case you missed it, I added `-w` to the first line. PN5	[reply] [d/l] [select]
2Re: Date:Calc by jeffa (Bishop) on Mar 09, 2004 at 15:41 UTC
Good advice, but with modern day Perl 5, it's better to just use warnings instead of -w `use strict; use warnings;` [download] jeffa L-LL-L--L-LL-L--L-LL-L-- -R--R-RR-R--R-RR-R--R-RR B--B--B--B--B--B--B--B-- H---H---H---H---H---H--- (the triplet paradiddle with high-hat)	[reply] [d/l]
Re: Re: Date:Calc by pietyc (Initiate) on Mar 10, 2004 at 21:03 UTC
Thank you for the information Prior! I can use all the advice I can get. This is fun (but kinda hard so far) charles	[reply]