capture errors from eval

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

I'm back again..

in prior topics I discussed a section of my code that allows my users to execute an arbitrary regular expression using

eval $w;

where $w contains the expression..

but, if they code it wrong, my application dies.

for example, expression= '/HOST=.*('

will yield a fatal die error..

Unmatched ( in regex; marked by <-- HERE in

but I don't want it to be fatal..

the contents of $w is (no quotes)
'$expdata =~ /HOST=.*(;'

but eval {$w;} is ignored

--- from the perl content on eval
eval '$x'; # CASE 3
eval { $x }; # CASE 4
Cases 3 and 4 likewise behave in the same way: they run the code '$x', which does nothing but return the value of $x. ---

and I can confirm that the expression itself does not execute.

So.. is there some trick to this?

thanks

Comment on capture errors from eval

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: capture errors from eval by ikegami (Patriarch) on Sep 24, 2012 at 01:13 UTC
for example, expression= '/HOST=.(' will yield a fatal die error..* Not so. `use strict; use warnings; my $w = '$expdata =~ /HOST=.*(;'; eval $w;` [download] `eval` catches fatals errors and places the message in `$@`.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: capture errors from eval by tobyink (Canon) on Sep 23, 2012 at 21:05 UTC
Maybe...? `eval { eval $w }` [download] `perl -E'sub Monkey::do{say$_,for@_,do{($monkey=[caller(0)]->[3])=~s{::}{ }and$monkey}}"Monkey say"->Monkey::do'`	[reply] [d/l]
Re^2: capture errors from eval by sdetweil (Sexton) on Sep 23, 2012 at 21:30 UTC
sorry, actually this does work!.. had two places and only tested on one (the wrong one obviously!).. thank you	[reply]
Re^2: capture errors from eval by sdetweil (Sexton) on Sep 23, 2012 at 21:19 UTC
sorry, dumb answer.. only tested in one of two places.. this works great and $@ contains the error text..	[reply]
Re: capture errors from eval by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Sep 23, 2012 at 21:28 UTC
Does this work for you?: `C:\test>perl -E"eval{ $SIG{__DIE__}='ignore'; eval $ARGV[0]; } say 'go +t here';" "$expdata =~ /HOST=.*(;" got here` [download] With the rise and rise of 'Social' network sites: 'Computers are making people easier to use everyday' Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error. "Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority". In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice. RIP Neil Armstrong	[reply] [d/l]
Re: capture errors from eval by tinita (Parson) on Sep 24, 2012 at 09:34 UTC
I'd do it like this: `my $re = eval { qr/$x/ }; if ($@) { ... } else { $string =~ $re }` [download]	[reply] [d/l]