Reading file with variables within it

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

I am a just beginning to learn Perl - it's my first programming language actually. It's my project for the summer. So I hope this is a simple question. I am reading in a text file that has perl variables within it (ie. $name, $address, ect). - but when I print the file - it prints out the variable names (ie. $name, $address, etc). Is there a way to have the file print but having the variables replaced with the information that those variables contain - or just blank if that variable isn't defined? Thank you.

Comment on Reading file with variables within it

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Re: Reading file with variables within it by ikegami (Patriarch) on Jun 07, 2010 at 00:44 UTC
Your file is a template. You could use String::Interpolate if you keep your existing template syntax. (Yeah, it's API is weird.) If you're willing to change your template syntax, you could switch to something that's designed to deal with templates like Template::Toolkit.	[reply]
Re: Reading file with variables within it by ww (Archbishop) on Jun 07, 2010 at 00:52 UTC
ikegami may have nailed it; he usually does. But many others, /me included, would be more likely to be able to help were you to provide us with a specific sample of your "text file that has perl variables..." and (a minimal version of) the code you're using. Please see On asking for help, How do I post a question effectively? and I know what I mean. Why don't you?. What's more, if you have not done so already, please read and heed Markup in the Monastery -- or, at least pay attention to the instructions on the use of paragraph and code tags which appear below the text input box when creating a node.	[reply]
Re: Reading file with variables within it by llancet (Friar) on Jun 07, 2010 at 01:53 UTC
Please give a sample of your text file. Moreover, it seems you are using a unsafe way to store data. Please have a look at hash data structure, and modules like Data::Dump or YAML.	[reply]
Re: Reading file with variables within it by pemungkah (Priest) on Jun 08, 2010 at 02:00 UTC
Of note: Text::Template does exactly this: You hand it a template and a hashful of values, and it interpolates 'em in. Handy for a quick and dirty, small templating job, but anything more than a few lines in a couple files, and I'd prefer Template::Toolkit.	[reply]