Section 3.8. STDIN in List Context


3.8. <STDIN> in List Context

One previously seen operator that returns a different value in an array context is the line-input operator, <STDIN>. As described earlier, <STDIN> returns the next line of input in a scalar context. Now, in list context, this operator returns all of the remaining lines up to the end of file. Each line is returned as a separate element of the list as in this example:

     @lines = <STDIN>; # read standard input in list context

When the input is coming from a file, this will read the rest of the file. But how can there be an end-of-file when the input comes from the keyboard? On Unix and similar systems, including Linux and Mac OS X, you'll normally type a Ctrl-D[] to indicate to the system that theres no more input. The special character is never seen by Perl, though it may be echoed to the screen. On DOS/Windows systems, use Ctrl-Z instead.[] Youll need to check the documentation for your system or ask your local expert if it's different from these.

[] This is merely the default; it can be changed by the stty command. But its pretty dependable; we've never seen a Unix system where a different character was used to mean end-of-file from the keyboard.

[] Theres a bug affecting some ports of Perl for DOS/Windows where the first line of output to the terminal following the use of Ctrl-Z is obscured. On these systems, you can work around this problem by printing a blank line ("\n") after reading the input.

If the person running the program types three lines and presses the proper keys needed to indicate end-of-file, the array will have with three elements. Each element will be a string that ends in a newline, corresponding to the three newline-terminated lines entered.

Wouldn't it be nice if, having read those lines, you could chomp the newlines all at once? It turns out that if you give chomp an array holding a list of lines, it will remove the newlines from each item in the list as in this example:

     @lines = <STDIN>; # Read all the lines     chomp(@lines);    # discard all the newline characters

But the more common way to write that is with code similar to what we used earlier:

     chomp(@lines = <STDIN>); # Read the lines, not the newlines

Though you're welcome to write your code either way in the privacy of your own cubicle, most Perl programmers will expect the second, more compact notation.

It may be obvious to you that once these lines of input have been read, they can't be re-read.[*] Once you've reached end-of-file, there's no more input out there to read.

[*] Well, yes, if the input is from a source upon which you can seek, then you'll be able to go back and read again. But that's not what we're talking about here.

And what happens if the input is coming from a 400 MB log file? The line input operator reads all of the lines, gobbling up lots of memory.[] Perl tries not to limit you in what you can do, but the other users of your system (not to mention your system administrator) are likely to object. If the input is large, you should generally find a way to deal with it without reading it all into memory at once.

] Typically, thats more memory than the size of the file, too. That is, a 400 MB file will typically take up at least a full gigabyte of memory when read into an array. This is because Perl will generally waste memory to save time. This is a good tradeoff: if you're short of memory, you can buy more; if you're short on time, you're hosed.



Learning Perl
Learning Perl, 5th Edition
ISBN: 0596520107
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 232

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net