Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!convex!news
From: tchrist@convex.COM (Tom Christiansen)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.perl
Subject: Re: formatting DB records
Keywords: text processing records db split
Message-ID: <1991Feb12.121833.5151@convex.com>
Date: 12 Feb 91 12:18:33 GMT
References: <905@ticnj.UUCP> <906@ticnj.UUCP>
Sender: news@convex.com (news access account)
Reply-To: tchrist@convex.COM (Tom Christiansen)
Organization: CONVEX Software Development, Richardson, TX
Lines: 17
Nntp-Posting-Host: pixel.convex.com

From the keyboard of srs@ticnj.UUCP (Scott Strool):
:After further experimentation I have found that the split function is
:appropriate. The one problem that I have come across is the pattern
:character. I was using the pipe char |. split seemed to ignore this,
:actually it returned just one character of the field i.e if the field
:was SCORE it returned SC. When I changed the delimeter in my file to a 
:colon, the script worked as ecpected. 
:
:What is wrong with the | character, does it have to be escaped?

Sure enough -- perl uses egrep-style regexps, meaning that this like (,
|, and ) are not escaped for their special meanings.  In this case /|/
just said "match nothing or nothing".  You want /\|/ instead.

--tom
--
 "All things are possible, but not all expedient."  (in life, UNIX, and perl)