in reply to Re: Perl::Improved Volume 0, Number 0
in thread Perl::Improved Volume 0, Number 0

Not everything should be overly verbose

I don't think that's Wassercrats' point. It's easy to understand why the file test operators in the shell are so short -- they're common operations there. Based on my Perl corpus though, I don't use them often enough to justify two-character operators.

Now it'd be terrible practice for me to pronounce the one true way based on a single corpus, but as I mostly program applications and not administration scripts, I wouldn't mind terribly much using something like File::exists( 'filename' );.

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Re^3: Perl::Improved Volume 0, Number 0
by Solo (Deacon) on Aug 27, 2004 at 02:22 UTC
    File::exists( 'filename' );

    This seems like a natural addition to English, but I think it would need something more like a source filter and less like the typeglob diddling of English, so it's not an easy addition.

    Update: demerphq has the right of it... just a sub File::exists($) { -f $_[0] } would do it.

    --Solo

    --
    You said you wanted to be around when I made a mistake; well, this could be it, sweetheart.
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      demerphq has the right of it...

      Well to be picky i think that that code will have a minor incompatibility with the normal file test operators regarding the magic filehandle '_', since File::stat() shares this problem I dont think its a showstopper really. And I guess if one doesn't like the current filetest names its unlikely that one would be happy with using the special filehandle: 

      $filesize=-s _ if (-e $foo);

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      would become 

      $filesize=File::size($foo) if File::exists($foo);

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      Which is of course less efficient.


      ---
      demerphq

        First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
        -- Gandhi
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      In 5.10, one will be able to write: 
          if (-w -x -r $file) {....}

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