create new text file 2

[brad1978]

Hi all,
Quick question for you, how do I go about creating a new text file on the fly? I am trying to have a new text file created when a user submits a comment form. This file will contain the info submitted but I cannot seem to create a blank text file on the fly. Any help would be appreciated.
Brad

 

[audiopro]

Just print to a file handle , if the file doesn't exist one will be created.
Post your faulty code if all else fails.


Keith

http://www.studiosoft.co.uk

 

[brad1978]

you mean something like this?

if (param())
{
my $id = param('id');

#define filehandle name
my $fname = $id . ".txt";

#print filehandle
print <$fname>;
}

 

[KevinADC]

open(FH,">",'path/to/file') or die "$!";
print FH "whatever\n";
close FH;

http://perldoc.perl.org/functions/open.html

------------------------------------------
- Kevin, perl coder unexceptional!

 

[brad1978]

Thanks for the help. This still doesn't seem to create the text file... What am I doing wrong?

#define and create textfile for replies
my $checkid = $id.".txt";

open(FH,">$checkid") or die "$!";
close(FH);

 

[audiopro]

Try printing the value of $checkid, it may not be what you expect.

my $checkid = [red]"[/red]$id[red]"[/red].".txt";

Keith

http://www.studiosoft.co.uk

 

[KevinADC]

it should print a message letting you know why, that what or die "$!" is there for. If its a CGI script add this line to your code:

use CGI::Carp qw/:fatlasToBrowser/;

it will print the necessary headers in case of an early termination of the script. If you are already printing a complete http header you don't need to add it.

------------------------------------------
- Kevin, perl coder unexceptional!

 

[brad1978]

The $checkid is what I was hoping for. The $id is a random generated number from javascript that I am setting as the value of ID through a substring call. By calling $checkid = $id . ".txt"; I get the value I want to name my text file as it just won't create the file. Was that last post to be fataltobrowsers?

 

[audiopro]

If your script is in the CGI-BIN that could be a problem.
Try a simple file creation to check

open(FH,">".'file.txt') or die "$!";
print FH "test\n";
close FH;

then try back a level.

open(FH,">".'../file.txt') or die "$!";
print FH "test\n";
close FH;

Keith

http://www.studiosoft.co.uk

 

[brad1978]

Thanks!
I'll try that tomorrow. I really appreciate the help!
Brad

 

[KevinADC]

I made a mistake in my previous post, should be:

use CGI::Carp qw/:fatalsToBroswer/;

------------------------------------------
- Kevin, perl coder unexceptional!

 

[brad1978]

Hey audiopro,
thanks for the tip. It worked like a charm. If I replace the variable in the file handle with a generic name like test.txt, the file gets created. But if I replace the test.txt with the variable it doesn't work.

WORKS
open(FH,">>test.txt") or die "Cannot create file";
print FH "";
close(FH);


DOESN'T WORK
#define and create textfile for replies
my $checkid = $id.".txt";
print $checkid;

open(FH,">>$checkid") or die "Cannot create file";
print FH "";
close(FH);

Any thoughts?!

 

[feherke]

Hi

And what is the value of $id ?

Are you sure $id are $checkid are visible in the blocks you try to use them ?


Feherke.

http://rootshell.be/~feherke/

 

[audiopro]

I still don't think that $checkid is what you think it is

Keith

http://www.studiosoft.co.uk

 

[brad1978]

when I print out $checkid to see the value is does print as 1234.txt or what ever $id is passed in. Do I need to print it in the file handle as open(FH,">>.scalar($checkid))or die "Cannot create file"; or something? I wish I could use the /fatalstobrower/ to see the error code, but I don't administer the server and don't have that module installed. Here is my full code (if it helps).

#!/usr/bin/perl -wT
print header(-expires=>'-1d');
use CGI qw/:standard/;

if (param()) 
	{
    my $id = param('id');
		my $name = param('name');
		my $email = param('email');
		my $title = param('title');
		my $details = param('details');
				
    open(OUT, ">>topics.txt") or die "Cannot write to file.";
      print OUT "$id \t $name \t $email \t  $title \t $details\n";		
    close(OUT);
    
    #define and create textfile for replies
    my $checkid = $id.".txt";

    
    open(FH,">>$checkid") or die "Cannot create file";
      print FH "";
    close(FH);

    
    print "<br /><br />Your comments have been submitted successfully!  Please <a href='index.htm' class='text'>click here</a> to view all topics";
	}
else
	{
		print "Error, please <a href='newTopic.htm'>try again</a>.";
	}

 

[audiopro]

I assume the topics file is being written to ok.

leave the code as it is but add the extra lines.
ok try

    #define and create textfile for replies
[red]chomp $id[/red]    
    my $checkid = $id.".txt";

does that create a file?

    #define and create textfile for replies
[red]$id='test'[/red]
    my $checkid = $id.".txt";

does that create a file?

    #define and create textfile for replies
[red]my $LENF=length($id);
print "$LENF";[/red]
    my $checkid = $id.".txt";

Is that the correct number of chars ie. 4 for 1234.
You may have an odd char clinging on to the string for dear life


Keith

http://www.studiosoft.co.uk

 

[brad1978]

HA HA HA, thanks audiopro! I needed that! You may be right. I totally forgot to chomp the $id variable. I'll test it and let you know. Thanks for the help, I'm fairly new to perl so this is helping me learn!
Cheers

 

[brad1978]

WOW, now it's getting narrowed down. audiopro, your second test worked and created the file!

#define and create textfile for replies
$id='test';
my $checkid = $id.".txt";

So something is wrong with my $id variable. I am chomping it, the length is correct, I don't get it... Is it possible that the text file cannot begin with a number?

 

[KevinADC]

The problem may be that you are using the -T switch on the shebang line and trying to use a value that comes from outside the script without untainting it first. You should be getting an error about an "insecure dependency". If not, then this line:

 my $checkid = $id.".txt";

is satisfying the -T switch and allowing your script to use the passed in data to create a file. But, what you are doing is very unwise unless you are just doing some preliminary testing and plan on changing that later.

Read this article:

http://www.devshed.com/c/a/Perl/Writing-Secure-CGI-scripts/

------------------------------------------
- Kevin, perl coder unexceptional!

 

[audiopro]

have you tried $id="1234";

or

"$id" instead of just $id



Keith

http://www.studiosoft.co.uk