Perl read file returning only partial lines

Question

I am trying to write a script to rename files based on a given list. To test to make sure the list is read correct, I have:

print("start\n");
open(READFILE, "<prune.txt") || die "Couldn't open file";
print("file open\n");
while ($curline = <READFILE>){

print "$curline\n";
}
close (READFILE);

if my list file is

P_4
IMG_0531
PICT0009
IMG_0416
RAY HASSMAN GROUP 015
P_5

then my output is

P_5 HASSMAN GROUP 015

Why am I getting this weird mess?

As asked here is the hex dump of my input file

0000: 50 5F 34 0D 49 4D 47 5F   P_4¬IMG_
0008: 30 35 33 31 0D 50 49 43   0531¬PIC
0010: 54 30 30 30 39 0D 49 4D   T0009¬IM
0018: 47 5F 30 34 31 36 0D 52   G_0416¬R
0020: 41 59 20 48 41 53 53 4D   AY HASSM
0028: 41 4E 20 47 52 4F 55 50   AN GROUP
0030: 20 30 31 35 0D 50 5F 35    015¬P_5

I am using Mac 10.9.2 build 13c39

Is there any tab character in the file? Also, you chomp $_, but do not use it afterwards. — choroba, Jan 18 '14 at 21:38
whoops using an old version of the code. just updated it. Still get P_5 HASSMAN GROUP 015 — traisjames, Jan 18 '14 at 23:13

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 18 '14 at 23:59

0

Instead of line ending characters, your script produces "\r" characters that move the cursor to the leftmost position, but do not advance a line. Therefore, all the information is overwriting itself over and over. I cannot imagine how this can happen with literal "\n" in the code - are you sure the code you posted produces the output? What OS are you on? Can you post a hexdump of the input file?

answered Jan 18 '14 at 23:59

choroba

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Ok I added the dump to my OP – traisjames Jan 20 '14 at 00:32
Yes, it is as I guessed. If you print "a\x0db", Perl will print a, return back left and overwrite the a with b. – choroba Jan 20 '14 at 01:37
ok so I should go into the list file using a regex program (text wrangler) and do a s#\r#\n#g ? – traisjames Jan 29 '14 at 00:39
@traisjames: Try that. You can use Perl to change the file, BTW. – choroba Jan 29 '14 at 09:28

Perl read file returning only partial lines

1 Answers1