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From: merlyn@iwarp.intel.com (Randal L. Schwartz)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.perl
Subject: Re: PERL expect
Keywords: expect
Message-ID: <1991Apr3.213505.1746@iwarp.intel.com>
Date: 3 Apr 91 21:35:05 GMT
References: <1991Apr3.195446.23461@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>
Sender: news@iwarp.intel.com
Reply-To: merlyn@iwarp.intel.com (Randal L. Schwartz)
Organization: Stonehenge; netaccess via Intel, Beaverton, Oregon, USA
Lines: 34
In-Reply-To: bobd@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Bob DeBula)

In article <1991Apr3.195446.23461@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>, bobd@magnus (Bob DeBula) writes:
| Back last November, Randal L. Schwartz distributed an Alpha
| version of "expect" for PERL (expect.pl) in this newsgroup.
| Has anyone used it since? Is there a later version? I seem
| to be having problems with it and an example of a working PERL
| script which uses it (especially a password changing script, like
| the sample "passwd.exp" that comes with "expect") would
| probably help immensely. Thanks in advance for any pointers
| you can give.

Arggh.  I've replied about 10 times in private, which means that I'd
probably get a dozen more queries from this posting, so this is worth
a public reply....

"expect.pl" was an *alpha* release.  What I learned from doing expect
is that it was a slightly wrong approach.  I am now taking what I
learned from expect.pl, and creating a new package that is being
called "chat.pl" for the moment.  It'll basically have the same
conceptual function as expect, but also work with sockets (to chat
with SMTP or NNTP ports, for example).  It'll still have the basic
function of expect ("wait until you see one of these regex, and then
execute the corresponding code"), but implemented *much* more
efficiently than gawdawfulslow expect.pl could have ever done it.

Wait.  Wait.  I am working on it.  I have a need for it coming up real
soon, and that's usually the time I come up with fun goodies: when I
can justify them for a task-at-hand.  Be patient.

print "Just another Perl hacker,"
-- 
/=Randal L. Schwartz, Stonehenge Consulting Services (503)777-0095 ==========\
| on contract to Intel's iWarp project, Beaverton, Oregon, USA, Sol III      |
| merlyn@iwarp.intel.com ...!any-MX-mailer-like-uunet!iwarp.intel.com!merlyn |
\=Cute Quote: "Intel: putting the 'backward' in 'backward compatible'..."====/