Perl Tk Insert

[PilotinControl]

Good Evening Monks!
The question based on the code below why does each item appear as a separate drop down list instead of ALL in one drop down list? Thanks in advance!

open(FILE, "DATA/carownerdata.txt");
my @lines=<FILE>;
close(FILE);

foreach my $lines (@lines) {
chomp (@lines);
my @owner = split( /\:/, $lines);
my @owners = $owner[1];

$personRight->BrowseEntry(-width=>20,-borderwidth=>2,
        -relief=>'sunken',-textvariable=>\$perInfo->{CAROWNER},state=>
+'disabled',
        -foreground=>'black',-background=>'white')->pack()->insert( 'e
+nd', @owners);
}

Basically I am trying to pull choices from a file to make a list box however the choices come out in individual list boxes instead of one list box. Have I explained it correctly? Thanks.

[kcott]

G'day PilotinControl,

Issues with the code you posted:

• Get into the habit of using lexical filehandes and the 3-argument form of open. The documentation has details.
• Check that your I/O was actually successful. Either hand-craft code for every I/O operation (open has examples) or use the autodie pragma; the latter is my normal preference as it's both less error-prone and far less work.
• You read all your data twice (while and for loops). You only need to do this once.
• I found your use of $lines (plural) confusing on first reading. That variable contains a single line: $line would be more appropriate and less of a maintenance issue.
• You chomp the array on every iteration of the for loop. You should do this once before you start the loop.
• You create a Tk::BrowseEntry widget on every iteration of the for loop. You should do this once before you start the loop.
• See insert() in the Tk::BrowseEntry METHODS section. The syntax is insert(index, string). Your usage of insert(index, array) possibly explains the earlier my @owners = $owner[1]; (which I found confusing when I first encountered it).
• While you can chain methods (e.g. BrowseEntry->pack->insert), you don't have to. Assign widgets you create to a variable; subsequently, use that variable to invoke methods.

The following script shows the guts of what you need.

#!/usr/bin/env perl

use strict;
use warnings;

use Tk;
use Tk::BrowseEntry;

my $mw = MainWindow->new;

my $ctrl_F = $mw->Frame->pack(-side => 'bottom');
$ctrl_F->Button(-text => 'Exit', -command => sub { exit })->pack;

my $app_F = $mw->Frame->pack(-side => 'top');
my $be = $app_F->BrowseEntry->pack;

while (<DATA>) {
    chomp;
    $be->insert(end => (split /:/)[1]);
}

MainLoop;

__DATA__
prefix:Owner A
prefix:Owner B
prefix:Owner C

As you can see, although that's very short, it's a working script that you can run (as is). It contains no distracting noise (e.g. widget decorations, foreground/background colours, etc.) and merely addresses the issue at hand. Please attempt to provide something like this when you post your next question.

[PilotinControl]

Thanks Ken! I did figure it out using a longer version...your code was much shorter. Thanks.

[Anonymous Monk]

The question based on the code below why does each item appear as a separate drop down list instead of ALL in one drop down list?

That code doesn't run, but I would guess its because that is what the code tells it to do -- you create browseentry widgets in a loop -- you'll get more than one widget

[PilotinControl]

Even the following code produces the same output

open(FILE, "DATA/carownerdata.txt");
my @lines=<FILE>;
close(FILE);

while ( my $lines = <@lines> ) {
chomp (@lines);
my @owner = split( /\:/, $lines);

$personRight->BrowseEntry(-width=>20,-borderwidth=>2,
        -relief=>'sunken',-textvariable=>\$perInfo->{CAROWNER},state=>
+'disabled',
        -foreground=>'black',-background=>'white')->pack()->insert( 'e
+nd', $owner[1]);
}

[Anonymous Monk]

Even the following code produces the same output

Yes, I believe it does, its not much different from the code you originally posted, so they should both do the same thing

Is that a satisfactory answer? How can I improve my answer?