No output to screen or output file

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

Hello all, I am stumped and need some assistance. My code:

#variables
my $x=0;
my @keys;
my @holder;
my @array_hash;
my $blank = "-";
my $numerical_value = "num";
my $string_value = "string";
my $filter = "filter";
my $append = "append";

    for(my $c = 0; $c <= $num_elements; $c++)
    {
        if('$hash{$filter[$c]->[4]}' eq '$filter')
        {
            if (exists($hash{$filter[$c]->[0]}))
            {
                print "VALUE EXISTS", "\n";
#                continue;
                if('$hash{$filter[$c]->[3]}' eq '$numerical_value')
                {
                    #process filtering for numerical value
                    if ((eval "$hash{$filter[$c]->[0]} $filter[$c]->[1
+] $filter[$c]->[2]"))
                    {
                        print OUTFILE $line, "\n";
                    }
                }
                if('$hash{$filter[$c]->[3]}' eq '$string_value')
                {
                    #process filtering for string value
                    if ((eval "'$hash{$filter[$c]->[0]}' $filter[$c]->
+[1] '$filter[$c]->[2]'"))
                    {
                        print OUTFILE $line, "\n";
                    }
                } 
            }
            else
            {
                print "COLUMN NAME DOES NOT EXIST. CHECK FILTER FILE F
+OR ANY POSSIBLE ERRORS AND RE-RUN PROGRAM. PROGRAM WILL NOW TERMINATE
+.", "\n";
                exit 0;
            }
        }
[download]

I am using a for loop to iterate through the entirety of the array I create when reading in from an input file. As long as $c is less than or eq to the number of elements in the array -- if the hash of the column name is equal to "filter", continue -- if the hash of the column name exists, continue (else display error and terminate program) -- if the hash of the column name equals 'num' or 'string' (respectively), continue -- if the hash of the column name evaluates as true, print to OUTPUT file.

However, no output is printed to my OUTFILE (note: this is only part of my code, the other part of code relates to storing the information from a filter file and input file. It has been tested and works so I know the problem lays in the above mentioned code. Please help!! Thank you!

Here is the input file so you can make sense of what is stored in the array and what is going on in the eval statement

 
column relationship value num_or_string filter_or_append order
a      <=           0.3   num           filter           1
b      =            abc   string        append           3
c      <=           0.3   num           filter           2
[download]

Note if ((eval "'$hash{$filter[$c]->[0]}' $filter[$c]->[1] '$filter[$c]->[2]'")) translates to -- if column a <= 0.3 -- print OUTFILE line.

Comment on No output to screen or output file Select or Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: No output to screen or output file by toolic (Bishop) on Jul 24, 2012 at 17:18 UTC
Single quotes prevent variable interpolation. Change: `if('$hash{$filter[$c]->[4]}' eq '$filter')` [download] to: `if($hash{$filter[$c]->[4]} eq $filter)` [download] This is detected by perlcritic	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: No output to screen or output file by dkhalfe (Acolyte) on Jul 24, 2012 at 17:23 UTC
Dont I have to format my code with those single quotations when comparing string values? For that reason, I have the program check and differentiate between strings and numerical values (string or num) - I posted a question earlier and the solution to my problem was to include these single quotations. I believe I kept getting an error when trying to run the program without them.	[reply]
Re^3: No output to screen or output file by chromatic (Archbishop) on Jul 24, 2012 at 19:04 UTC
Here's the quick explanation. What does this piece of code mean? `my $result = something;` Is `something` a function call? Is it a string literal? You have to make your intent clear to Perl and to human readers. Make it unambiguously a function call with: `my $result = something();` ... or a string with: `my $result = 'something';` Where it's not obvious what you mean, make it obvious. That's what strict was complaining about. Improve your skills with Modern Perl: the free book.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: No output to screen or output file by dkhalfe (Acolyte) on Jul 24, 2012 at 17:26 UTC
Use of uninitialized value in string eq at trial1.pl line 128, <IN> line 1767. I removed the single quotations and get the following error. When I put the quotes back in, the program succesfully runs but no output is printed to my output file.	[reply]
Re^3: No output to screen or output file by frozenwithjoy (Priest) on Jul 25, 2012 at 01:33 UTC
Sounds like your input file is 1766 lines long and you are trying to read in the next line after you've already reached the end. Can you show the code where you read in your file?	[reply]
Re^4: No output to screen or output file by dkhalfe (Acolyte) on Jul 25, 2012 at 20:52 UTC
Re: No output to screen or output file by blue_cowdawg (Monsignor) on Jul 24, 2012 at 17:34 UTC
I'm very confused about your coding. `my $filter = "filter"; # I'm a scalar here..` [download] and then later in your code: `$hash{$filter[$c]->[4]} # or am I an array?` [download] besides which you are putting the above in a pair of single quotes `'$hash{$filter[$c]->[4]}' # that will literally be "$hash{$filter[$c +]->[4]}"` [download] not cool. Start your script off with `use strict;` and you'll see helpful information. $ ./booboo.pl Global symbol "$num_elements" requires explicit package name at ./boob +oo.pl line 14. Global symbol "%hash" requires explicit package name at ./booboo.pl li +ne 18. Global symbol "@filter" requires explicit package name at ./booboo.pl +line 18. Global symbol "%hash" requires explicit package name at ./booboo.pl li +ne 25. Global symbol "@filter" requires explicit package name at ./booboo.pl +line 25. Global symbol "@filter" requires explicit package name at ./booboo.pl +line 25. syntax error at ./booboo.pl line 26, near "+]" (Might be a runaway multi-line "" string starting on line 25) Global symbol "$line" requires explicit package name at ./booboo.pl li +ne 28. Global symbol "%hash" requires explicit package name at ./booboo.pl li +ne 34. Global symbol "@filter" requires explicit package name at ./booboo.pl +line 34. Global symbol "@filter" requires explicit package name at ./booboo.pl +line 34. Global symbol "@filter" requires explicit package name at ./booboo.pl +line 34. Global symbol "$line" requires explicit package name at ./booboo.pl li +ne 37. Missing right curly or square bracket at ./booboo.pl line 49, at end o +f line ./booboo.pl has too many errors. [download] Above is the result of that. Peter L. Berghold -- Unix Professional Peter -at- Berghold -dot- Net; AOL IM redcowdawg Yahoo IM: blue_cowdawg	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: No output to screen or output file by dkhalfe (Acolyte) on Jul 24, 2012 at 18:10 UTC
I noted that I did not include the entirety of my code. I changed my $filter variable to $filter_data. Also I took off the single quotations from my references to the arrays. This has not solved the problem. `if($hash{$filter[$c]->[4]} eq $filter_data)` I believe my problem lays with comparing a reference to an array with a variable (containing a string). Any insight on this would be helpful. Thanks! Also, whenI remove the quotes and attempt to run the program the following error appears {Also, 'use strict' is included in my code} Error: Use of uninitialized value in string eq at trial1.pl line 142, <IN> line 1767.	[reply] [d/l]
Re^3: No output to screen or output file by blue_cowdawg (Monsignor) on Jul 24, 2012 at 18:36 UTC
Error: Use of uninitialized value in string eq at trial1.pl line 142, <IN> line 1767. here is where I'd put in some `print` statements to see what values are present in the variables being cited by the error code. You've told me that you didn't include all your code, but there are some things you haven't included that are probably germain to the problem at hand... Peter L. Berghold -- Unix Professional Peter -at- Berghold -dot- Net; AOL IM redcowdawg Yahoo IM: blue_cowdawg	[reply] [d/l]
Re^4: No output to screen or output file by dkhalfe (Acolyte) on Jul 24, 2012 at 20:12 UTC
Re^3: No output to screen or output file by tobyink (Canon) on Jul 25, 2012 at 00:07 UTC
`use strict; use warnings; no warnings qw(uninitialized);` [download] `perl -E'sub Monkey::do{say$_,for@_,do{($monkey=[caller(0)]->[3])=~s{::}{ }and$monkey}}"Monkey say"->Monkey::do'`	[reply] [d/l]
Re: No output to screen or output file by Riales (Hermit) on Jul 24, 2012 at 17:15 UTC
Do you define `$num_elements` anywhere? I'm thinking you never enter the `for` loop because `$num_elements` is undefined. Also, you appear to be using `$c` to iterate over `$filter`. This seems odd to me because `$filter` is just a string. Which array are you actually trying to iterate over?	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: No output to screen or output file by dkhalfe (Acolyte) on Jul 24, 2012 at 17:21 UTC
Yes I do `my $num_elements = (@filter-1); #Number of elements in array` I have even printed the $num_elements variable to the screen and it works.	[reply] [d/l]
Re^3: No output to screen or output file by Cristoforo (Curate) on Jul 24, 2012 at 18:32 UTC
`$num_elements` isn't really named correctly. In the code, it is the last index of the array. Just a minor nit. :-) But, your for loop is ok because it tests if `$c <= $num_elements`. Chris	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: No output to screen or output file by Marshall (Canon) on Jul 25, 2012 at 06:44 UTC
I am having a hard time understanding the spec. # field1: I guess a,b,c could be numbers: 0,1,2. If these are columns, then how many columns could there be? # field2: some kind of comparison, compare what to what? is this a sort order? # field3: I guess either a numeric or alpha-numeric string? # field 4:"num" or "string" is redundant and not necessary? # field4: I just guess that "filter" is a logical "AND" and that "APPEND" is a logical "OR"? But "and" to what and "or" to what? # field5: I guess this is some priority, but to what? `a <= 0.3 num filter 1 b = abc string append 3 c <= 0.3 num filter 2` [download]	[reply] [d/l]