Perl Expect : Get the complete matched string

[cryptonite1]

Hi all, how do i get the complete string which has matched via regex when using Perl Expect.

#!/usr/bin/perl
use Expect;
use Getopt::Long;

      my $exp = Expect->spawn("/usr/bin/ssh $username\@$ip")
    or die "Cannot spawn ssh: $!\n";;

      /* removed the ssh handling code */

     $exp->send("show backup status\n");
     $result=$exp->expect( $timeout,
        ['-re',qr'Backup file location:',sub {my $exp = shift;
                $exp->print_log_file($backup_Complete);
                $i=0;
                        }

        ],
        ['-re',qr'>']
    );

Out put of the above command is :

===

local backup succeeded.

Backup file location: /var/log/CPbackup/backups/x.x/x.x.x.x_01_1_Aug_2
+016_11_05.tgz 

Backup process finished in 00:48 seconds

===

How do we extract "location: /var/log/CPbackup/backups/x.x/x.x.x.x_01_1_Aug_2016_11_05.tgz" line from the output with perl expect ? Do note that i have tried to use $exp->match() but just displayes "Backup file location:" which is the regex

[haukex]

Hi cryptonite1,

I haven't used Expect much, but the documentation says

If called in an array context expect() will return ($matched_pattern_position, $error, $successfully_matching_string, $before_match, and $after_match).

So that would mean something like

my ($match_pos, $error, $match_string, $before_match, $after_match) = 
+$exp->expect( $timeout, ... );

(Untested) Update: Fixed a copy/paste mistake, and I tried it out and in your case you'll probably be interested in the string $after_match, since that will contain the rest of the line after the regex "Backup file location:". It'll still have whitespace and newlines on the ends of the string, so you'll have to do something like $after_match =~ s/^\s+|\s+$//g; to get rid of it.

Hope this helps,
-- Hauke D

[cryptonite1]

Hi Hauke, thanks for the updates. Yes , i did try $after_match but the problem is it will pull all the output after the match is found , all i need is to extact only the specific line "Backup file location: /var/log/CPbackup/backups/x.x/x.x.x.x_01_1_Aug_2016_11_05.tgz"

[haukex]

Hi cryptonite1,

What does the string you want to get the filename from look like exactly? Use this to print it:

use Data::Dumper;
$Data::Dumper::Useqq=1;
print Dumper($after_match);

Regards,
-- Hauke D

[Anonymous Monk]

#!/usr/bin/perl

# http://perlmonks.org/?node_id=1168984

use strict;
use warnings;

use Expect;

  my $exp = Expect->spawn('echo -e "local backup succeeded.\n\nBackup 
+file location: /var/log/CPbackup/backups/x.x/x.x.x.x_01_1_Aug_2016_11
+_05.tgz\n\nBackup process finished in 00:48 seconds"') or die;

     my ($pos, $error, $matched, $before, $after) =$exp->expect( 10,
        ['-re',qr/Backup file location:[^\r\n]*/,sub {my $exp = shift;
+ }
        ],
        ['-re',qr'>']
    );

print "\n\n\nfound: <<<$matched>>>\n";;