comment on

Indeed, maybe backticks (``) could be used on this line directly:

$isacon = `/apps/home/pfuser/scripts_56/GENERAL/pers_lookup.csh $sids[$index]`;

Backticks, like the double quotes (""), interpolate the string, which means that they translate every variable to its value. Then they run the string as a shell command and return the output.

Since you are not sure about the programmer's intention, you should still test it first with double quotes and check the result, for example by printing it, and only then you should run it with backticks or system.

Read more about all the different types of quotes here: Quote-like Operators in perlop.

In reply to Re^2: What was the programmer trying to accomplish? by amir_e_a
in thread What was the programmer trying to accomplish? by kirkbrown

Are you posting in the right place? Check out Where do I post X? to know for sure.
Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags. Currently these include the following:
<code> <a> <b> <big> <blockquote> <br /> <dd> <dl> <dt> <em> <font> <h1> <h2> <h3> <h4> <h5> <h6> <hr /> <i> <li> <nbsp> <ol> <p> <small> <strike> <strong> <sub> <sup> <table> <td> <th> <tr> <tt> <u> <ul>
Snippets of code should be wrapped in <code> tags not <pre> tags. In fact, <pre> tags should generally be avoided. If they must be used, extreme care should be taken to ensure that their contents do not have long lines (<70 chars), in order to prevent horizontal scrolling (and possible janitor intervention).
Want more info? How to link or How to display code and escape characters are good places to start.


Think about Loose Coupling
	PerlMonks