in reply to Perl script not running through

This doesn't answer your question, but...

I prefer HTML::TreeBuilder for parsing HTML. The HTML page is parsed once into a tree-like structure, and then you traverse the structure (up, down, or sideways) to find the content you seek. You don't need to process the file on the fly, token by token.

I took the liberty of writing a version of your code using HTML::TreeBuilder to demonstrate the difference.

#!/usr/bin/perl -w use strict; use warnings; use diagnostics; use WWW::Mechanize; use HTML::TreeBuilder; my ($propid, $address, $price, $header, $summary); my ($status, $description, $agent); my ($officephone, $officefax, $proptype, $bed, $bath); my ($land, $carnumport, $carnumgar, $municipality); my ($title); #my $mech = WWW::Mechanize->new( autocheck => 1 ); #my $url = "http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=o&id=106023 +887"; #$mech->get($url); # Use local copy of page my $file_copy = $ENV{HOME}."/rsearch.html"; #my $root = HTML::TreeBuilder->new_from_content($mech->{content}); my $root = HTML::TreeBuilder->new_from_file($file_copy); my $titleTag = $root->look_down('_tag', 'title'); $title = $titleTag ? $titleTag->as_trimmed_text() : ""; my $propertyDetail = $root->look_down('_tag', 'div', 'id', 'propertyDe +tail'); die("Cannot find propertyDetail") if !defined $propertyDetail; my $detailsHeader = $propertyDetail->look_down('_tag', 'div', 'class', + qr{\bdetailsHeader\b}); die("Cannot find detailsHeader") if !defined $detailsHeader; my $propertyID = $detailsHeader->look_down('_tag', 'p', 'class', qr{\b +propertyID\b}); die("Cannot find propertyID") if !defined $propertyID; $propid = $propertyID->as_trimmed_text(); my $addrH1 = $detailsHeader->look_down('_tag', 'h1'); die("Cannot find addrH1") if !defined $addrH1; $address = $addrH1->as_trimmed_text(); my $priceStrong = $detailsHeader->look_down('_tag', 'strong', 'class', + qr{\bprice\b}); die("Cannot find priceStrong") if !defined $priceStrong; $price = $priceStrong->as_trimmed_text(); my $textualDiv = $propertyDetail->look_down('_tag', 'div', 'class', qr +{\btextual\b}); die("Cannot find textualDiv") if !defined $textualDiv; my $sizeH2 = $textualDiv->look_down('_tag', 'h2'); die("Cannot find sizeH2") if !defined $sizeH2; $header = $sizeH2->as_trimmed_text(); my $propSumH2 = $textualDiv->look_down('_tag', 'h2', 'class', qr{\bpro +pertySummary\b}); die("Cannot find propSumH2") if !defined $propSumH2; $summary = $propSumH2->as_trimmed_text(); # contract/offer might be missing my $offerH3 = $textualDiv->look_down('_tag', 'h3', 'class', qr{\bhighl +ighted\b}); $status = $offerH3 ? $offerH3->as_trimmed_text() : ""; my $descriptionDiv = $textualDiv->look_down('_tag', 'div', 'class', qr +{\bdescription\b}); die("Cannot find descriptionDiv") if !defined $descriptionDiv; $description = $descriptionDiv->as_trimmed_text(); my $propertySummary = $propertyDetail->look_down('_tag', 'div', 'id', +'propertySummary'); die("Cannot find propertySummary") if !defined $propertySummary; # Property summary in a definition list, no id my $propdl = $propertySummary->look_down('_tag', 'dl'); die("Cannot find propdl") if !defined $propdl; # Collect all dt/dd in definition list my @propdtdd = $propdl->look_down('_tag', qr{\b(?:dt|dd)\b}); die("Empty property details list") if scalar(@propdtdd) == 0; my %prop; my $lastdt = ""; foreach (@propdtdd) { next if !ref; my $thingy = $_; if ($thingy->attr('_tag') eq "dt") { $lastdt = $thingy->as_trimmed_text(); $lastdt =~ s/\s*:$//; # strip trailing colon } elsif ($thingy->attr('_tag') eq "dd" && $lastdt) { $prop{lc($lastdt)} = $thingy->as_trimmed_text(); $lastdt = ""; } } $proptype = $prop{category} || ""; $bed = $prop{bedrooms} || ""; $bath = $prop{bathrooms} || ""; $land = $prop{land} || ""; $carnumport = $prop{carport} || ""; $carnumgar = $prop{garage} || ""; $municipality = $prop{municipality} || ""; my $contactAgentDetails = $root->look_down('_tag', 'div', 'id', 'conta +ctAgentDetails'); die("Cannot find contactAgentDetails") if !defined $contactAgentDetail +s; # First paragraph has name my $firstp = $contactAgentDetails->look_down('_tag', 'p'); die("Cannot find firstp") if !defined $firstp; $agent = $firstp->as_trimmed_text(); my $officePhone = $contactAgentDetails->look_down('_tag', 'p', 'class' +, qr{\bofficePhone\b}); die("Cannot find officePhone") if !defined $officePhone; $officephone = $officePhone->as_trimmed_text(); my $officeFax = $contactAgentDetails->look_down('_tag', 'p', 'class', +qr{\bofficeFax\b}); die("Cannot find officeFax") if !defined $officeFax; $officefax = $officeFax->as_trimmed_text(); $root->delete(); print_all(); sub print_all { print "PropertyID: $propid \n"; print "Status: $status \n"; print "Title: $title \n"; print "Address: $address \n"; print "Price: $price \n"; print "Type: $proptype \n"; print "Bedrooms: $bed \n"; print "Bathrooms: $bath \n"; print "Carport: $carnumport \n"; print "Garage: $carnumgar \n"; print "Header: $header \n"; print "Summary: $summary \n"; print "Description: $description \n"; print "Agent Details: \n"; print "Agent: $agent \n"; print "OfficePhone: $officephone \n"; print "OfficeFax: $officefax \n"; }

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Re^2: Perl script not running through
by lordy (Initiate) on Nov 14, 2009 at 21:33 UTC

    Hi,

    Thanks for that, I don't get how all of it works from the first read, but it may be just the thing to have me switch to TreeBuilder.

    Appreciate it!