Re^3: Making a variable from a number in front of a string

[Laurent_R]

The <DATA> file handle makes it possible to read the __DATA__ section at the end of the program, i.e. in this case:

__DATA__
(1) Preface

What is this all about.

(2) Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Revenue Recognition

Revenue is recognized at the time goods are sold and shipped.

(3) Long-term Debt

It simulates another file and it is a way to quickly test programs without having to create a separate test input file

[Marshall]

The DATA file handle is actually even a bit cooler than that. To set this up, Perl opens the program for read and then seeks to the first byte after the __DATA__ line. Reading from DATA means that you are actually reading the program file.

It is possible for the program to "read itself", i.e.:

#!/usr/bin/perl
use warnings;
use strict;

## DEMO of reading myself

seek (DATA,0,0) or die "unable to seek $!";
print while <DATA>;


__DATA__
some data would go here

To re-read the DATA section, you could use a tell() to figure out where the initial DATA byte is and then later seek back to that initial byte offset.