CODEWITHSUNDEEP
regexperl
Neonjoe
Neonjoe

Reputation: 85

Can I use a regex to enter an if statement in perl?

What's going on is I'm parsing an /etc/passwd file to pull out the usernames and first/last name of each person in the file. Can I use a regex to get in to my if statement? Here's an example of a line I'm trying to match:

$parameter = cvwalters:*:14608:140608:Chris V. Walters,N/A,N/A,N/A:/home/cvwalters:/bin/bash

if ($parameter =~ /(.+):(.+):(.+):(.+):(.+),(.+),(.+),(.+):(.+):(.+)/){
    my $uid =$1;
    my $fname = $5 =~ /^\W+/;
    my $lname = $5 =~ /\W+$/;
    push (@results, $uid, $fname, $lname);
}

Does perl return a true boolean there to the if statement and allow the rest to execute? If not, how can I make that happen?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 118

Answers (3)

Praveen
Praveen

Reputation: 902

Try this below code:

my $var = "cvwalters:*:14608:140608:Chris V. Walters,N/A,N/A,N/A:/home/cvwalters:/bin/bash";
my @arr = split /[:,]/, $var;
my $uid = $arr[0];
my ($fname) = $arr[4] =~ /^(\w+)/;
my ($lname) = $arr[4] =~ /(\w+)$/;
push(@results,$uid,$fname,$lname);

Upvotes: 0

Neonjoe
Neonjoe

Reputation: 85

So this would be the better option then I take it....

$parameter = cvwalters:*:14608:140608:Chris V. Walters,N/A,N/A,N/A:/home/cvwalters:/bin/bash

my ($uid, $junk, $junk2, $junk3, $name, $junk4, $junk5) = split /:/, $parameter;

my $fname = $name =~ /^\w+/;
my $lname = $name =~ /\w+$/;

push (@results, $uid, $fname, $lname);

Upvotes: 0

mrjoltcola
mrjoltcola

Reputation: 20852

Yes, in boolean context, the match operator is a boolean operator.

But please take the advice of @squiguy, use split.

There is even a passwd module on CPAN.

http://search.cpan.org/dist/Unix-ConfigFile/PasswdFile.pm

Upvotes: 1

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