Perl help needed:match user input with data read from a file

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

Hi,

I am trying to match user input ($a=<STDIN>)with the data $_(read from a file). And print or store the data after the matched string.

For example:

if the User input is $a= temp

data read from a file is $_=temp validate end

then print result as Validate

if the 1st string matches then eliminate last string(end) & print the middle string.

sample Codenot working)


#!/usr/bin/perl -w

$string = "The food is in the salad bar";
$a=<STDIN>;
$string =~ m/($a)/;
print "Before: $`\n";
print "Matched: $&\n";
print "After: $'\n";
[download]

Kindly help me

Thanks in Advance

Venky

20091208 Janitored by Corion: Added formatting, code tags, as per Writeup Formatting Tips

Comment on Perl help needed:match user input with data read from a file Download Code

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Re: Perl help needed:match user input with data read from a file by keszler (Priest) on Dec 06, 2009 at 21:16 UTC
The problem you have is that the `$a=<STDIN>` assignment includes the EOL character(s). For example, if you typed "salad", then hit the ENTER key, $a is set to "salad\n". Since there is no "\n" in $string, nothing you type can possibly match. Add `chomp($a);` to remove the "\n" from $a.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: Perl help needed:match user input with data read from a file by GrandFather (Saint) on Dec 06, 2009 at 21:39 UTC
As a matter of programming style you should always use strictures (use strict; use warnings;) and you should avoid $a and $b as variable names because they perform special magic with sort. True laziness is hard work	[reply]