code explanation

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

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Re: code explanation by johngg (Canon) on May 21, 2009 at 10:07 UTC
Be aware that on *nix, the `-f` file test will be true for a symbolic link that points to a plain file. Apply the `-l` test as well if this is a concern. $ cat > rubbish a load of rubbish $ ln -s rubbish linkToRubbish $ cat rubbish a load of rubbish $ cat linkToRubbish a load of rubbish $ $ ls -l rubbish linkToRubbish lrwxrwxrwx 1 johngg None 7 May 21 10:51 linkToRubbish -> rubbish -rw-r--r-- 1 johngg None 18 May 21 10:51 rubbish $ $ perl -le ' > $file = q{linkToRubbish}; > unlink $file if -f $file;' $ ls -l rubbish linkToRubbish ls: cannot access linkToRubbish: No such file or directory -rw-r--r-- 1 johngg None 18 May 21 10:51 rubbish $ $ ln -s rubbish linkToRubbish $ cat linkToRubbish a load of rubbish $ $ perl -le ' > $file = q{linkToRubbish}; > unlink $file if -f $file and not -l $file;' $ ls -l rubbish linkToRubbish lrwxrwxrwx 1 johngg None 7 May 21 11:01 linkToRubbish -> rubbish -rw-r--r-- 1 johngg None 18 May 21 10:51 rubbish $ [download] I hope this is of interest. Cheers, JohnGG	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: code explanation by Anonymous Monk on May 21, 2009 at 10:40 UTC
thanks..	[reply]
Re: code explanation by akho (Hermit) on May 21, 2009 at 09:43 UTC
What part you don't understand? It says "delete file $path if it is a plain file (i.e. not a directory, special file or somesuch)".	[reply]
Re^2: code explanation by Anonymous Monk on May 21, 2009 at 10:37 UTC
thanks for the reply it helped me	[reply]
Re: code explanation by Anonymous Monk on May 21, 2009 at 09:45 UTC
It is only 5 words, 2 of which are $path `if( -f $path ){ unlink $path } perldoc -f unlink unlink LIST unlink Deletes a list of files. ... perldoc -f -f ... -f File is a plain file.` [download]	[reply] [d/l]
Re^2: code explanation by Anonymous Monk on May 21, 2009 at 10:39 UTC
thanks for the answer	[reply]
Re: code explanation by tokpela (Chaplain) on May 21, 2009 at 12:53 UTC
Also just to add here - these two sites can be very helpful in figuring out what certain Perl code does: http://perldoc.perl.org/ and http://search.cpan.org	[reply]
Re: code explanation by toolic (Bishop) on May 21, 2009 at 13:33 UTC
Specific doc links: unlink -X and from the command-line `perldoc -f unlink perldoc -f -X` [download]	[reply] [d/l]
Re: code explanation by Apocrypha (Initiate) on May 21, 2009 at 13:29 UTC
That will remove the file $path if it is a file (-f) and not a directory or symlink.	[reply]
Re: code explanation by Anonymous Monk on May 21, 2009 at 13:52 UTC
thanks for the replies monks, can you explain what is this expression do? `for (readdir DIR) { next if /^\.{1,2}$/; my $path = "$dir/$_";` [download] thanks	[reply] [d/l]
Re^2: code explanation by oeuftete (Monk) on May 21, 2009 at 14:06 UTC
Virtually every reply to your first question showed you how to try to answer basic questions yourself... maybe you should give that a try, then let everyone know what parts you didn't understand.	[reply]
Re^3: code explanation by Anonymous Monk on May 21, 2009 at 14:17 UTC
i read from help docs which says that the opendir is used to open up a specified directory and the next is like a continue statement in C and i did not understand the part `if /^\.{1,2}$/;` [download]	[reply] [d/l]
Re^4: code explanation by Anonymous Monk on May 21, 2009 at 14:21 UTC
Re^4: code explanation by jorgegv (Novice) on May 21, 2009 at 15:51 UTC