On Wednesday 17 June 2009 19:38:04 rmiller571957 wrote:
> Thanks very much for the advice on not using $ARGV's directly.
> I will change my code to match.
>

It's not $ARGV - it's @ARGV. @ARGV is the entire array. $ARGV[$index] is an
individual element of it. There's also $ARGV in Perl which is a different
thing.

> But I'm not sure how your example of system("echo"...) applies to the
> embedded blanks in a parameter issue.
>
> What I would like is for the user to be able to use one word, or two words,
> or three words (or even more, I guess) for the 2nd parameter. That is:
> "Smith" or "Mary Smith" or "Mary Ann Smith".
> And I would like all of these to be picked up as just the single parameter,
> regardless of how many embedded spaces there are between the quotes.
>

If you do, for example:

{{{
system("ls", "-l", "Hello there/");
}}}

Then ls will display the files under the "Hello there" directory with a space
in the path. You see - the list form of system treats each of the components
of the list as a single command-line argument, even if it contains spaces.

So this would be equivalent to doing the following commands in the shell:

{{{
ls -l "Hello there/"
ls -l 'Hello there/'
ls -l Hello\ there/
}}}

Regards,

Shlomi Fish

> Thanks again for any help.
> Regina
>
> --- In perl-beginner@yahoogroups.com, Shlomi Fish <shlomif@...> wrote:
> > On Wednesday 17 June 2009 18:29:40 Regina Miller wrote:
> > > Hi,
> >
> > Hi!
> >
> > First of all, you shouldn't use $ARGV[0] , $ARGV[1], etc. directly. Do:
> >
> > {{{
> > my ($first_name, $last_name, $address) = @ARGV;
> > }}}
> >
> > Which is a much more robust idea.
> >
> > Secondly, look at the list form of system:
> >
> > {{{
> > system("echo", "One two", "three four--five");
> > }}}
> >
> > Hope it helps.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Shlomi Fish
> >
> > > My script to add a new user is below, written on solaris 10.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Running it using either of these two ways (one with double quotes
> > > around the second parameter and one with single quotes):
> > >
> > > ./adduser.sh TestAcct "John Smith" Law
> > >
> > > ./adduser.sh TestAcct 'John Smith' Law
> > >
> > > My script thinks I have entered four parameters.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > But when I run it using the following (with no embedded spaces):
> > >
> > > ./adduser.sh TestAcct JohnSmith Law
> > >
> > > It then thinks I have entered three parameters.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > How do I get a parameter that has embedded spaces to register as just
> > > one parameter??
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Thanks for any help,
> > >
> > > Regina
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Regina Miller
> > >
> > > Lead Analyst, Grays Harbor County
> > >
> > > (360) 249-4144 ext 457
> > >
> > > rmiller@...
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > MY SCRIPT
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > eval "exec ctperl -S $0 $*"
> > >
> > > if $running_via_sh;
> > >
> > > #$Id: adduser.sh,v 302.4 1995/07/21 16:29:18 nick Exp $
> > >
> > > #require 'ctree.pl';
> > >
> > > #######################################################################
> > ># ########
> > >
> > > # %perl
> > >
> > > # %width 80
> > >
> > > # %title Add a New User
> > >
> > > # %name adduser.sh
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > use strict;
> > >
> > > use warnings;
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > die 'Usage: adduser username "full name" group. i.e. adduser testacct
> > > "John Smith" Law'
> > >
> > > unless @ARGV == 3;
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > unless (system "useradd -g $ARGV[2] -d /home/$ARGV[0] -m -s
> > > /usr/bin/ksh -c $ARGV[1] $ARGV[0]")
> > >
> > > {
> > >
> > > system "passwd $ARGV[0]";
> > >
> > > exit;
> > >
> > > }
> > >
> > > print "Error. User can not be added\n";
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

--
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Shlomi Fish http://www.shlomifish.org/
Interview with Ben Collins-Sussman - http://xrl.us/bjn8s

God gave us two eyes and ten fingers so we will type five times as much as we
read.