Perl: Split file based on blank lines for processing

Question

I have Data file that has a regular pattern from which I need to extract information. Each section is seprated by a blank line. Hence I was wondering if I could split the file for processing based in blank lines.

To better explain my problem, let me share the sample structure:

 Block: A1
 -----------------------------------
 Height:                       24.00
 Width:                         0.79
 Depth:                         0.04
 -----------------------------------

 Block: A2
 -----------------------------------
 Height:                       20.00
 Width:                         1.00
 Depth:                         0.54
 -----------------------------------

 Block: B1
 -----------------------------------
 Height:                        4.00
 Width:                         4.50
 Depth:                         0.87
 -----------------------------------

In this Database I need to simplify the report by making multiple columns. The algorithm that I am trying to achieve is that if I can split the file into smaller sections based on blank lines, I could read the database into a two-dimenstional array and finally dump the data into a format of my choice. Hence, the first requirement is to undertand in case I can split the file based on blank lines for further processing.

My expected final result is

              A1      A2     B1
 Height:     24.00  20.00   4.00
 Width:       1.00   4.00   4.50
 Depth:       0.04   0.54   0.87

Any suggestions/clues would be appreciated.

ikegami · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-04 13:52:40Z

3

It's easy to split the file for processing based in blank lines using "paragraph mode".

local $/ = "";
while (my $block = <>) {
   ...
}

But it's easier not to.

my $block;
my $data;
while (<>) {
   if (/^Block:\s*(\S+)/) {
      $block = $1;
   }
   elsif (/^(\S+):\s*(\S+)/) {
      $data{$1}{$block} = $2;
   }
}

answered Feb 4, 2014 at 13:52

ikegami

391k17 gold badges291 silver badges555 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Comments

ikegami · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-04 16:14:52Z

0

while(<>)
{
push @B,$1 if(/Block:\s*(\S*)/);
push @H,$1 if(/Height:\s*(\S*)/);
push @W,$1 if(/Width:\s*(\S*)/);
push @D,$1 if(/Depth:\s*(\S*)/);
}

print "\t\t @B \n";
print "Height @H \n";
print "Width @W \n";
print "Depth @D \n";

Tested Here

edited Feb 4, 2014 at 16:14

ikegami

391k17 gold badges291 silver badges555 bronze badges

answered Feb 4, 2014 at 14:25

Vijay

67.7k94 gold badges238 silver badges327 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Perl: Split file based on blank lines for processing

2 Answers 2

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related