Escape special characters 1

[kitty024]

Hi

Three questions

1. I've got some data (see below) that contains @{}*, how would i escape these characters.
I tried using quotemeta but but i get the following error messages if i try to print $testString.

Possible unintended interpolation of @Rose in string at prints1.pl line 13
Possible unintended interpolation of @outside in string at prints1.pl line
Name "main::Rose" used only once: possible typo at prints1.pl line 13.
Name "main:utside" used only once: possible typo at prints1.pl line 13.


2. How would i get a list of field names indicated by the first four uppercase letters on each line. Each record is separated by an asterix (*).


3. How would i produce a list of unique field names, ie: the first 4 uppercase letter. That is if the name exists on the list it's not duplicated.

TEST DATA:

$testString = quotemeta("<IPGR
<RIDE
<RICN PDC
<RIIN PAF5175
<ITID
<ITCO original art: print
<ITTI Peldon @Rose - The Hunt @outside an Inn
<ITRP RM/44/113
<ITPA unmounted
<IDES
<IDPH
<IDPE etching
<IDCA
<IDCC A
<IDCV BD
<IDCU C
<IDOV
<IDOH 126mm
<IDOW 165mm
<PROD
<PRMA Briscoe, Arthur John Trevor [artist & engraver]
<ACQU
<ACDA Nov 1960
<ACME purchase
<ACPP Briscoe, Arthur
<ACAN PR1960-278
<ACMF A 1956-1960 Colnaghi, P & D, & Co Ltd (NMM8/1600)
<MLOC
<MLDM 29 Jan 1992
<MLRE storage
<MLLO 0540
<VALU
<MUST
<MUDA 24 Feb 1992
<MURE sighted
<MUPE Dormer, J
<MREF
<MNEG
<MNNO PW5175
<OTHE
<OTNO LCBE L.3
<NOTS
<NOTE Collection A Laver 1-25.
<NOTE Signed by artist.
<NOTE Box Title: H20.4 Etchings - Arthur Briscoe 1943.
*
<IPGR
<RIDE
<RICN PDC
<RIIN PAF5176
<ITID
<ITCO original art: print
<ITTI Wyatt's @{Corner - A coastal village scene}
<ITRP RM/44/114
<ITPA unmounted
<IDES
<IDPH
<IDPE etching
<IDCA
<IDCC A
<IDCV BD
<IDCU C
<IDOV
<IDOH 125mm
<IDOW 162mm
<PROD
<PRMA Briscoe, Arthur John Trevor [artist & engraver]
<ACQU
<ACDA Nov 1960
<ACME purchase
<ACPP Briscoe, Arthur
<ACAN PR1960-278
<ACMF A 1956-1960 Colnaghi, P & D, & Co Ltd (NMM8/1600)
<MLOC
<MLDM 29 Jan 1992
<MLRE storage
<MLLO 0540
<VALU
<MUST
<MUDA 24 Feb 1992
<MURE sighted
<MUPE Dormer, J
<MREF
<MNEG
<MNNO PW5176
<OTHE
<OTNO LCBE L.4
<NOTS
<NOTE Collection A Laver 1-25.
<NOTE Signed by artist.
<NOTE Box Title: H20.4 Etchings - Arthur Briscoe 1943.
*")


Kitty

 

[MikeLacey]

Hello Kitty,

If you enclose your string in single quotes Perl will not try and interpret the special characters.

If you need it to interpret them sometimes then use the \ character to escape them.

Fieldnames - is this data in a file in this format?

Mike

"Deliver me from the bane of civilised life; teddy bear envy."

Want to get great answers to your Tek-Tips questions? Have a look at faq219-2884

 

[PaulTEG]

Kitty,

try this

#1
$testString=~ s/@/\@/g;
$testString=~ s/{/\{/g;
$testString=~ s/}/\}/g;
$testString=~ s/*/\*/g; #not sure if you'll need this one
#2
@records=split /*/, $testString; #this might need some escaping, not sure
#3
my %fields;
foreach (@records) {
  @keys=split /\n/, $_;
  foreach(@keys)
     $key=substr $_,1,4;
     $fields{$key}++;
  }
  while (($key,$value)=each %fields) {
    if ($value > 1) {
      print "$key is not unique\n";
    }
  }
}

Not tested, but should get you started
--Paul

It's important in life to always strike a happy medium, so if you see someone with a crystal ball, and a smile on their face ... smack the fecker

 

[PaulTEG]

oops ....
subs should be
$testString=~ s/@/\\\@/g; #need to escape backslashes as well
--paul

It's important in life to always strike a happy medium, so if you see someone with a crystal ball, and a smile on their face ... smack the fecker

 

[kitty024]

Hi Mike

Thanks for the tip about the single quote. I've tried it and now it's saying

Substitution pattern not terminated at prints1.pl line 114.

I guess it's choking on the apostrophe in the word Wyatt's

Secondly, the data is in the format as shown in my original posting ie: each field entry is separated by a new line and each record is separated by an asterix.
It's actually 30 or so text files holding various number of records. I thought i'd try getting it to work with a couple of records first.

regards

kitty

 

[MikeLacey]

Instead of using single quotes 'like this' you can use the other quoting mechanism q/like this/



Mike

"Deliver me from the bane of civilised life; teddy bear envy."

Want to get great answers to your Tek-Tips questions? Have a look at faq219-2884

 

[kitty024]

Hi Mike

Your tip about q\\ worked.
I'm totally new to Perl so i don't have the knowledge base that you guys have. I'm now going to try and work on getting the list of unique field names.

many thanks

kitty

 

[kitty024]

Hi Paul

Thanks for the code you posted, it does need modifying where you indicated, but i'm using it as a starting point. If you get anymore flashes of inspiration please let me know.

cheers

kitty

 

[MikeLacey]

Kitty,

Have a look at associative arrays, they will give you a way to check if a field is unique or not.

Mike

"Deliver me from the bane of civilised life; teddy bear envy."

Want to get great answers to your Tek-Tips questions? Have a look at faq219-2884