Multi Line string in flat file DB

Rob Pengelly posted this at 05:06 — 2nd February 2000.

Joined: Jul 1999

You could seperate each entry by a |. Than when you need to use the database, just get the contents of the database and split it up.

Somthing like this

code:

local $/;
open(IN,"<file.here");
$database=<IN>;

while($database =~ m/(.+?)\|/sogi)
{
$entry = $1 . "<br>";
push(@arr,$entry);
}
Now each entry is an element in the array @arr.
[/code]

See the previous code working at http://dlo.net/~rob/cgi-bin/textdatabase.cgi 
the text file can be viewed at http://dlo.net/~rob/cgi-bin/textdatabase.txt 

Hope that helps..

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Malte posted this at 16:25 — 2nd February 2000.

They have: 297 posts

Joined: Apr 1999

Hey,

whats the best way to save a multi line string in a flat file database.

Do you have to do something like:
s/+(\n)/%linebreak%/g
and then undo the process when reading the file or what would work better?

Thanks,

Malte

japhy posted this at 22:57 — 2nd February 2000.

They have: 161 posts

Joined: Dec 1999

You can use a line (or record) delimiter other than "\n" in your database. The popular fortune program, for instance, uses %% between its "records". Here's a sample implementation:

code:

open FILE, "filename";
{
  local $/ = "\n%%\n";
  chomp($first = <FILE>);
}
close FILE;
[/code]

The chomp() function does NOT remove the trailing \n on a list of strings -- rather, it removes the trailing value of $/ on a list of strings (it is documented as such, but people think it just removes a trailing newline).

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-- 
MIDN 4/C PINYAN, NROTCURPI, US Naval Reserve

Malte posted this at 23:06 — 2nd February 2000.

They have: 297 posts

Joined: Apr 1999

Would this work for a database which contains more than one multi-line string in multiple rows and columns?

Malte

Malte posted this at 22:41 — 3rd February 2000.

They have: 297 posts

Joined: Apr 1999

Japhy, I read your article about this on your homepage, so everything is fine.

Thanks,

Malte

japhy posted this at 03:02 — 4th February 2000.

They have: 161 posts

Joined: Dec 1999

Ah, cool Malte. Check out the PerlMonth.com web site -- that's where that column is.

I'm thinking of writing an article specifically on modifying the way data is input and output with the $/, $\, $", and $, variables. Tentative title would be "Funking it Up with the Punctuation Variables" -- but something makes me think that'll have to be changed.

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--
MIDN 4/C PINYAN, NROTCURPI, US Naval Reserve