Writing another chapter in chop()'s long epitaph, here's a patch to
perlport explaining how chop() is often used where chomp() should be.
Feel free to remove the Dunce::Files plug.
--- pod/perlport.pod 2001/02/03 09:59:28 1.1
+++ pod/perlport.pod 2001/02/03 10:03:17
@@ -94,6 +94,22 @@
Unix does the same thing on ttys in canonical mode. C<\015\012>
is commonly referred to as CRLF.
+A common cause of unportable programs is the misuse of chop() to trim
+newlines:
+
+ # XXX UNPORTABLE!
+ while(<FILE>) {
+ chop;
+ @array = split(/:/);
+ #...
+ }
+
+You can get away with this on Unix and MacOS (they have a single
+character end-of-line), but the same program will break under DOSish
+perls because you're only chop()ing half the end-of-line. Instead,
+chomp() should be used to trim newlines. The Dunce::Files module can
+help audit your code for misuses of chop().
+
Because of the "text" mode translation, DOSish perls have limitations
in using C<seek> and C<tell> on a file accessed in "text" mode.
Stick to C<seek>-ing to locations you got from C<tell> (and no
--
Michael G. Schwern <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.pobox.com/~schwern/
Cheating is often more efficient.
- Seven of Nine
