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

Hi all

I have script that I need to write using data embedded in the application. Part of this data contains the string */. The * could represent several hundred entries that change on a daily basis.

Here is what I have (The array is longer than just the 1 element)

my @testqueue = (10.10.10.10);
&pause;
sub pause {
        my $pback = "/usr/sbin/cmd";
        my $set = "pause queue";
        while (@testqueue){
                my $out = `$pback $set */$testqueue[0]`;
                print "$out";
                shift @testqueue;
                }
}

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The real command looks like this: 
$cmd pause queue */10.10.10.10

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Thanks for your help!

xj

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Using */ with backticks in perl
by ikegami (Patriarch) on Feb 09, 2010 at 23:37 UTC

    You need to convert the strings to which $pback, $set and "*/$testqueue[0]" evaluate into shell literals. Or simply avoid the shell entirely. 

    open(my $pipe, '-|', (
    $pback => ( $set, "*/$testqueue[0]" )
)
    or die("Can't launch $pback: $!\n");

my $out = '';
{ local $/; $out = <$pipe>; }

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Re: Using */ with backticks in perl
by chromatic (Archbishop) on Feb 09, 2010 at 23:35 UTC

    I'm not sure I understand your question. Are you getting shell errors? (If so, escape the * with a backslash.)

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Re: Using */ with backticks in perl
by cdarke (Prior) on Feb 10, 2010 at 11:20 UTC
    Assuming UNIX or Linux, the shell is interpreting * as a glob construct (wildcard) and expanding it to all the file names in the current directory. Either enclose it in quotes or place a \ in front.
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      If you want the shell to see a backslash there, better put two of them before the star. One for Perl, one for the shell.
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