Hi Alex,
a 100% solution is not possible with one RE because embedded quotes cannot be converted at the same time as the rest is parsed.
The best example of the embedded quote case is """My family"",""My PowerBook"",""My Defender 110""","1","[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
I have modified the Perl script to convert double doublequotes (""x"") to single simple quotes ('x'). It's just one way, and of course I'm using a regular expression for that:
#!/usr/bin/perl
@s = (
'"My family, My PowerBook, My Defender 110","1","[EMAIL PROTECTED]"',
'Scrooge,2,[EMAIL PROTECTED]',
'RunRev List,"3,
4,
...","[EMAIL PROTECTED]"',
' """My family"",""My PowerBook"",""My Defender 110""","1","[EMAIL
PROTECTED]"');
foreach (@s) {
print ("Original: $_\n");
s/""([^"]*)""/'$1'/g;
print ("After replacement: $_\n");
if (/"*([^"]+)"*,"*([^"]+)"*,"*([^"]+)"*/) {
print ("\tItem 1: $1\n\tItem 2: $2\n\tItem 3: $3\n");
}
}The result is
Original: "My family, My PowerBook, My Defender 110","1","[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
After replacement: "My family, My PowerBook, My Defender 110","1","[EMAIL
PROTECTED]"
Item 1: My family, My PowerBook, My Defender 110
Item 2: 1
Item 3: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Original: Scrooge,2,[EMAIL PROTECTED]
After replacement: Scrooge,2,[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Item 1: Scrooge
Item 2: 2
Item 3: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Original: RunRev List,"3,
4,
...","[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
After replacement: RunRev List,"3,
4,
...","[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
Item 1: RunRev List
Item 2: 3,
4,
...
Item 3: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Original: """My family"",""My PowerBook"",""My Defender 110""","1","[EMAIL
PROTECTED]"
After replacement: "'My family','My PowerBook','My Defender 110'","1","[EMAIL
PROTECTED]"
Item 1: 'My family','My PowerBook','My Defender 110'
Item 2: 1
Item 3: [EMAIL PROTECTED]As you can see, embedded newline characters don't affect the result; this problem must be solved in the routine reading the lines. You can also ignore EOL bei excluding "$" (this is EOL for RE), but I haven't tested it, and I also don't have the time for it. Normally, you don't have these problems.
Most of us use hands and feet for their respective purposes. So why do programmers want to use one tool for all?
Because there's a level of inefficiency and discomfort caused by frequent changes in language and tools. Because it's hard to become an expert in one language - doing it in Rev and Perl and PHP and Python and Java and .... is probably impossible. Because it's easy, but wrong, to write one language using the style and tricks of another (see various blog threads about "Python's not Java", etc.)
But mostly just because programmers are people :-)
Well, I don't agree. A good programmer should master a whole box of tools, and I also expect good developers to be multilingual. One of the problems we have in IT today comes from the fact, that too many people learn just one language (Java), and just the basics of database systems (primitive SQL � la MySQL, no procedural SQL), and that they are also limited in their knowledge of tools.
In a philosphical view, only knowledge gives you the possibility to choose, to differentiate, and to understand. This, in short, is one of the most important aspects of free will - in public and private life as well as in the job. An old saying in Germany goes like "Knowledge gives you freedom" ("Wissen macht frei").
But this discussion doesn't belong here.
Cheers,
Thomas G. _______________________________________________ use-revolution mailing list [email protected] http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-revolution
