Re: Print 4 Lines below matching criteria

The following might get you started. Cheers.

use strict;
use warnings;

while (my $line = <DATA>) {
    if ($line =~ /^id:\d+/) {
        for (1 .. 4) {
            my $following = <DATA>;
            print $following;
        }
    }
}
[download]

__END__
John, Doe Michael
id:1234567890123 library:ACME
City, state:PUEBLO, CO
Phone:719-555-555
Street:1610 Sorrow AVE APT D
Zip: 81004

Shakespeare, William
id:4567890123999 library:Fisher Fine Arts Library
City, state:Philadelphia, PA
Phone:215-898-8325
Street:Locust
Zip: 19104
[download]

prints:

City, state:PUEBLO, CO
Phone:719-555-555
Street:1610 Sorrow AVE APT D
Zip: 81004
City, state:Philadelphia, PA
Phone:215-898-8325
Street:Locust
Zip: 19104
[download]

Update: Sorry, jbert, your post was not on yet when I started.

Comment on Re: Print 4 Lines below matching criteria Select or Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re^2: Print 4 Lines below matching criteria by johngg (Canon) on Nov 16, 2006 at 11:30 UTC
I tend to use scalar file reads when appropriate so as to avoid temporary variables so I would write your `for (1 .. 4) { my $following = <DATA>; print $following; }` [download] like this `print scalar <DATA> for 1 .. 4;` [download] It just looks a little cleaner to me. Cheers, JohnGG	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: Print 4 Lines below matching criteria by Anonymous Monk on Nov 16, 2006 at 10:41 UTC
Small issue with your program: it will generate warnings if there's an 'id:' string in the last 4 lines of the file, as it will try to read past the end of the file.	[reply]