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

Hi,

In Parse::Dmidecode there is a function named as keywords() which accepts the following keys,
bios
system
baseboard
chassis
processor
memory
cache
connector
slot

my @list_keywords = $dmi->keywords("slot");  //Its giving same output 
+for slot, processor and memory etc

 for my $keyword (@list_keywords) {
     printf("%s => %s\n",
             $keyword,
             $dmi->keyword($keyword)
         );
 }

[download]

I could not find any difference in the output for different keywords.. $dmi->keywords("slot"), $dmi->keywords("processor") , $dmi->keywords("memory") giving mostly same output..

Kindly help me to understand the difference.

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: parse dmidecode keywords
by NetWallah (Canon) on Jun 30, 2009 at 13:10 UTC
    The "keywords" method seems to be coded to ignore the parameter, causing the behaviour you see: 
    sub keywords {
    my $self = shift;
    croak 'Not called as a method by parent object'
        unless ref $self && UNIVERSAL::isa($self, __PACKAGE__);

    my %keywords;
    my $stor = $objstore->{_refaddr($self)};
    for my $handle (@{$stor->{parsed}->{handles}}) {
        for my $keyword ($handle->keywords) {
            $keywords{$keyword} = 1;
        }
    }

    return sort(keys(%keywords));
}

    [download]
    Since the documentation is not explicit about what it SHOULD do, it is not technically a bug. But I would call it a poor example.

    I would recommend sub-classing it to do what you ned, and try to contact the author.

         Potentia vobiscum ! (Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditionis habes)

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Re: parse dmidecode keywords
by Khen1950fx (Canon) on Jun 30, 2009 at 18:22 UTC
    I figured that it had to be a simple mistake---Ah!

       $keyword,
      $decoder->keyword($keywords)
   );

    [download]

    solved the problem:

    #!/usr/local/bin/perl

use strict;
use warnings;
use Parse::DMIDecode;

my $decoder = Parse::DMIDecode->new(
              dmidecode  => "/usr/sbin/dmidecode",
              nowarnings => 1,
            );
$decoder->probe;

my @keywords = $decoder->keywords;

for my $keyword (@keywords) {
    printf("%s => %s\n",
            $keyword,
            $decoder->keyword($keyword)
        );
}

    [download]
    Update: It's been awhile since I used Parse::DMIDecode. I remembered that the "mistake" is not a mistake. In other words, what you are seeing is exactly what Parse::DMIDecode should be doing. You are entering "slot", but "slot" is not a keyword but a "type". A "keyword" is a "string". If you enter a type, dmidecode will return a list of all valid keywords, which is what is happening. For example, a keyword would be something like system-version, processor-manufacturer, etc. Dmidecode has a good man page. Be sure to check it out.

    Update: Just a little script to look at the "slot" type:

    #!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;
use warnings;
use Parse::DMIDecode;

my $decoder = Parse::DMIDecode->new(
                    dmidecode  => '/usr/sbin/dmidecode',
                    nowarnings => 1,
               );
$decoder->probe;

printf("System: %s =>  %s %s %s %s\n",
       $decoder->keyword("slot-current-usage"),
       $decoder->keyword("slot-designation"),
       $decoder->keyword("slot-id"),
       $decoder->keyword("slot-length"),
       $decoder->keyword("slot-type"),
      );

my $total_structures = $decoder->structures;
printf("Structures: %s\n",
        $decoder->structures($total_structures),
        );

    [download]

    I added $decoder->structures($total_structures). It'll tell how many "types" there are. I got 40---numbered starting at 0 thru 39.

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