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From: lwall@jato.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (Larry Wall)
Newsgroups: alt.sources.wanted
Subject: Re: Perl quote printer (was Re: Printing of a random quote.)
Message-ID: <2455@jato.Jpl.Nasa.Gov>
Date: 28 Dec 89 02:53:46 GMT
References: <1989Dec16.064319.21721@agate.berkeley.edu> <1989Dec19.181040.1554@tvcent.uucp> <5378@omepd.UUCP>
Reply-To: lwall@jato.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (Larry Wall)
Distribution: na
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
Lines: 73

In article <5378@omepd.UUCP> merlyn@iwarp.intel.com (Randal Schwartz) writes:
: Yeah, but you forgot the Perl version (which I didn't save, but
: am recreating from scratch)...
: 
: #!/usr/bin/perl
: @quotes = split(/\n/, <<'END_OF_QUOTES');
:      0%Star Trek Lives!
:      1%Schshschshchsch.
:      1%    -- The Gorn, "Arena," stardate 3046.2.
:      2%Live long and prosper.
:      2%    -- Spock, "Amok Time," stardate 3372.7.
:      3%Totally illogical, there was no chance.
:      3%    -- Spock, "The Galileo Seven," stardate 2822.3.
:      4%All your people must learn before you can reach for the stars.
:      4%    -- Kirk, "The Gamesters of Triskelion," stardate 3259.2.
:      5%We have found all life forms in the galaxy are capable of
:      5%superior development.
:      5%    -- Kirk, "The Gamesters of Triskelion," stardate 3211.7.
: END_OF_QUOTES
: ($maxq = $quotes[$#quotes]) =~ s/^\s*(\d+)%.*/$1/; # get highest number
: srand; $randq = int(rand($maxq+1)); # select random quote
: print grep(s/^\s*$randq%(.*)/$1\n/o,@quotes); # extract/print from array
: 
: Just another Perl hacker,
: /== Randal L. Schwartz, Stonehenge Consulting Services (503)777-0095 ====\

There's no reason to force the data-entry operator to type in all these
arbitrary numbers.  The data format is also virtually unreadable.  The
algorithm could use simplification.  I'd suggest the following instead:

#!/usr/bin/perl
@quotes = split(/\n\n/, <<'END_OF_QUOTES');
Star Trek Lives!

Schshschshchsch.
    -- The Gorn, "Arena," stardate 3046.2.

Live long and prosper.
    -- Spock, "Amok Time," stardate 3372.7.

Totally illogical, there was no chance.
    -- Spock, "The Galileo Seven," stardate 2822.3.

All your people must learn before you can reach for the stars.
    -- Kirk, "The Gamesters of Triskelion," stardate 3259.2.

We have found all life forms in the galaxy are capable of
superior development.
    -- Kirk, "The Gamesters of Triskelion," stardate 3211.7.
END_OF_QUOTES
srand; print $quotes[int(rand($#quotes+1))],"\n"; # print random quote

If you want a quote with embedded newline pairs, just type a space between
them.

If you want to have an external data file called "quotes", just say something
like:

#!/usr/bin/perl
$/ = '';				# use paragraph mode
open(QUOTES,'quotes') || die "Can't open my precious quotes file: $!";
@quotes = <QUOTES>;			# read paragraphs into array
srand; print $quotes[int(rand($#quotes+1))]; # print random quote

Or, for those who like "one-line" solutions:

#!/usr/bin/perl
$/='';open(Q,'quotes')||die"phooey";@q=<Q>;srand;print$q[int(rand($#q+1))];

Not just another perl hacker,		:-)
Larry Wall
lwall@jpl-devvax.jpl.nasa.gov
"So many programs, so little time..."