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

Hi Monks, I am starting on a project to create a script to validate CA Autosys JIL (Job Interface Language) files. Verifying syntax and other things such as does the client specified exist etc. I have poked around on CPAN for validation and syntax modules and wanted to ask if anyone has any recomendations on modules or approaches to this task? Thanks.

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Validating Scripts
by PodMaster (Abbot) on Jun 03, 2004 at 05:27 UTC
Re: Validating Scripts
by fuzzyping (Chaplain) on Jun 02, 2004 at 23:03 UTC
    Your description leaves a lot to be desired, since I (and likely others) are unfamiliar with Autosys JIL files. Without a more detailed explanation of your input data, I can only suggest some combination of regex and/or custom validation modules will suffice. Perhaps if you could show some example data we could give a better analysis.

    -fp
Re: Validating Scripts
by davidj (Priest) on Jun 03, 2004 at 19:18 UTC
    I think PodMaster is pointing you in the right direction. This is a textbook example of needing to write a "little language" and using a parser for validation.
    In order to use the modules he suggests you will need to know how to write a grammar. Hence, are going to need to get a hangle on BNF (Backus-Naur Form). I would suggest you do a google search on "bnf tutorials". You might have some luck there. You can also look at compilers and format automata resources.

    davidj