Bowie Bailey wrote:
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
>>Er, aren't hash keys interpreted as strings, even if they contain
>>digits?
>
> Perl does not have a strict distinction between string and numeric
> data. They are both considered scalars. The difference comes in how
> you use the scalar value.
>
> Try this:
>
> $a = "10";
> $b = "2";
You can get around this by using fixed length numerics if you for example
want to intermix them with non-numeric strings and still have them sort:
my $a = sprintf '%04u', 10; # assuming 4 digits max
my $b = sprintf '%04u', 2;
Then you can sort them using string compares and mix them in with your
other strings. Let's not get into what happens when a string has alpha
and numerics in it (unless of course they're fixed in position - eg:
abcd0001).
A prime example of comparing numbers as strings would be dates. If you
specify a date as YYYYMMDD (or DDMMYYYY), you can easily sort them with
a string compare and is a good way to store dates if binary epoch time
isn't an option.
_______________________________________________
ActivePerl mailing list
[email protected]
To unsubscribe: http://listserv.ActiveState.com/mailman/mysubs
