File parsing question

mmittiga17 has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I know this must be easy but I just can not get it write:

I need parse a file that is structured like so:

Start: afadffdafadf
stuff 
stuff 
stuff 
stuff 
Close: xzy

Start: afadffdafadf
stuff 
stuff 
stuff 
stuff 
Close: xzy

Start: afadffdafadf
stuff 
stuff 
stuff 
stuff 
Close: xzy
[download]

For each set of Start and Close I need to get 1 line with Start stuff close on one line. The example above I would then need three lines:

Start: afadffdafadf stuff stuff stuff stuff Close: xzy

Any suggestions or direction will be greatly appreciated

Comment on File parsing question Select or Download Code

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Re: File parsing question by stiller (Friar) on Feb 28, 2008 at 19:37 UTC
Default, perl treat each line as a record, but you can tell perl to change it's notion of what a record is: `#!/usr/bin/env perl use strict; use warnings; use English; $INPUT_RECORD_SEPARATOR = "\n\n"; while (<DATA>){ s/\n/ /g; print $_, "\n" } __DATA__ Start: afadffdafadf stuff stuff stuff stuff Close: xzy Start: afadffdafadf stuff stuff stuff stuff Close: xzy Start: afadffdafadf stuff stuff stuff stuff Close: xzy` [download]	[reply] [d/l]
Re: File parsing question by Skeeve (Parson) on Feb 28, 2008 at 20:26 UTC
You can use the range operator ".." to get your sections: `while (<DATA>) { if ( /^Start:\s/ .. /^Close:\s/ ) { # here you can collect your lines } }` [download] `s$$([},&%#}/&/]+}%&{});#$&&s&&$^X.($'^"%]=\&(\|?{%` `+`.+=%;.#_}\&"^"-+%*).}%:##%}={~=~:.")&e&&s""`$''`"e	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: File parsing question by CountZero (Bishop) on Feb 28, 2008 at 21:55 UTC
And yet another way of doing it: `use strict; while (<DATA>){ chomp; # Get rid of the EOL print "$_ "; # Don't forget to add a space or the records + will run into each other! print "\n" unless $_; # Print an EOL if the line is empty (=record + separator) } __DATA__ Start: afadffdafadf stuff stuff stuff stuff Close: xzy Start: afadffdafadf stuff stuff stuff stuff Close: xzy Start: afadffdafadf stuff stuff stuff stuff Close: xzy` [download] CountZero A program should be light and agile, its subroutines connected like a string of pearls. The spirit and intent of the program should be retained throughout. There should be neither too little or too much, neither needless loops nor useless variables, neither lack of structure nor overwhelming rigidity." - The Tao of Programming, 4.1 - Geoffrey James	[reply] [d/l]
Re: File parsing question by Popcorn Dave (Abbot) on Feb 28, 2008 at 19:34 UTC
I may be off base here, but aren't you just looking to remove the carriage return on all but the last line of the file? That should be simple enough to do with a join shouldn't it? Revolution. Today, 3 O'Clock. Meet behind the monkey bars. I would love to change the world, but they won't give me the source code	[reply]
Re: File parsing question by mmittiga17 (Scribe) on Feb 29, 2008 at 00:38 UTC
Thanks Everyone, All of the solutions provided work and I was able to complete my mission today.	[reply]