push(my @file2, $_);
Since you didn't post all of your code, I'm not 100% certain how you're doing your scoping, but I bet the my keyword there is why your @file2 is appearing empty or nearly so below. It will scope @file2 within that block (the if block, most likely).
my @file2; # scope it OUTSIDE of your block
while (<FILE2>) {
if (s/.../.../) {
push(@file2, $_);
}
} # end your while here??
# ...
print FILE3, @file2; # prints all elements
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context has bitten me before.
it's been suggested that to avoid context problems, use something like this:
my $text = join(' ', @file2);
then print $text to the file.
i had a similar problem yesterday with a textarea in a CGI script i was writing yesterday. the join fixed it.
UPDATE: the scoping is also a problem. i just looked again. @file2 should be declared outside of the block. try a use vars qw/ @file2 / or declare @file2 outside of the while loop.
UPDATE 2: OK - the scoping was the issue, and join is a bit of overkill. :) | [reply]
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print invokes list context:
[firewheel ~]$ perl
my @list = (1 .. 4);
print STDOUT @list;
I prefer something like print STDOUT "@list";, which is
semantically equivalent to print STDOUT (join($", @array));
Fastolfe is correct, though. This is a scoping issue. | [reply]
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FYI, $" is to print "@list" as $, is to print @list or print $a, $b, $c
@a = qw{ one two };
@b = qw{ tre for };
{
local $" = "-";
print "@a @b"; # one-two tre-for
}
{ local $, = "-";
print @a, @b; # one-two-tre-for
local $" = ":";
print "@a", "@b"; # one:two-tre:for
}
Cheers | [reply]
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In this case, a join is unnecessary (but still perhaps valuable for others that need to do similar acts in the future):
@a = (1, 2, 3);
print @a;
print $a[0], $a[1], $a[2]; # equivalent to @a
Passing arguments to a function (even internal) as an array is just like passing a list of your own individual arguments. In this case, however, each element will be printed one after another. If you want to separate with spaces, either set $, or use join as you've done.
If you're working from a list generated from a file, though, as we are here, newlines are still at the end of each element in the list, so printing them out like he's doing will have the desired effect:
@list = <INPUT_FILE>;
print OUTPUT_FILE @list; # exact (textual) copy
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