RE: Files, unpack and text values

[httptech]

I would use uuencode/uudecode. Don't forget the single-quotes around the here-doc label, or else it will try to interpolate variables in the uuencoding.

#!/usr/bin/perl

print "Content-type: image/gif\n\n";

print uudecode(<<'END_OF_GIF');
begin 664 test.gif
M1TE&.#EA*0`4`.<``/______S/__F?__9O__,___`/_,___,S/_,F?_,9O_,
M,__,`/^9__^9S/^9F?^99O^9,_^9`/]F__]FS/]FF?]F9O]F,_]F`/\S__\S
MS/\SF?\S9O\S,_\S`/\`__\`S/\`F?\`9O\`,_\``,S__\S_S,S_F<S_9LS_
M,\S_`,S,_\S,S,S,F<S,9LS,,\S,`,R9_\R9S,R9F<R99LR9,\R9`,QF_\QF
MS,QFF<QF9LQF,\QF`,PS_\PSS,PSF<PS9LPS,\PS`,P`_\P`S,P`F<P`9LP`
M,\P``)G__YG_S)G_F9G_9IG_,YG_`)G,_YG,S)G,F9G,9IG,,YG,`)F9_YF9
MS)F9F9F99IF9,YF9`)EF_YEFS)EFF9EF9IEF,YEF`)DS_YDSS)DSF9DS9IDS
M,YDS`)D`_YD`S)D`F9D`9ID`,YD``&;__V;_S&;_F6;_9F;_,V;_`&;,_V;,
MS&;,F6;,9F;,,V;,`&:9_V:9S&:9F6:99F:9,V:9`&9F_V9FS&9FF69F9F9F
M,V9F`&8S_V8SS&8SF68S9F8S,V8S`&8`_V8`S&8`F68`9F8`,V8``#/__S/_
MS#/_F3/_9C/_,S/_`#/,_S/,S#/,F3/,9C/,,S/,`#.9_S.9S#.9F3.99C.9
M,S.9`#-F_S-FS#-FF3-F9C-F,S-F`#,S_S,SS#,SF3,S9C,S,S,S`#,`_S,`
MS#,`F3,`9C,`,S,```#__P#_S`#_F0#_9@#_,P#_``#,_P#,S`#,F0#,9@#,
M,P#,``"9_P"9S`"9F0"99@"9,P"9``!F_P!FS`!FF0!F9@!F,P!F```S_P`S
MS``SF0`S9@`S,P`S````_P``S```F0``9@``,P```/__________________
M____________________________________________________________
M____________________________________________________________
M_____________________R'^#DUA9&4@=VET:"!'24U0`"'Y!`$*``$`+```
M```I`!0`0`B9`*\)'$BPH,&#"`T"6,BPX<)K``A&A$AQHL.+`B]JW,B18\:"
M%CN*;$8M`00(%B"$%,FRI46$+C>6/&G!`K67'U?&;$BM9P(%"6YF9`FQ(<6A
M+9%Z'!@1YT.=#I7NG/JP*-6K4J]J;/:3IE"K6F665'!2`52-3"L6S0D68]NP
=2=^Z33NQ8MRD3=D.M8M6+MR.6?\"3DBX<.&``#L`
`
end
END_OF_GIF

# uudecode subroutine shamelessly copied from elsewhere on the net

sub uudecode {
    my $in = shift;
    my $out = "";

    foreach( split(/\n/,$in) ) {
        $_ .= "\n";
        last if /^end/;
        next if /[a-z]/;
        next unless int((((ord() - 32) & 077) + 2) / 3) == int(length(
+) / 4);
        $out .= unpack("u",$_);
    }
    return $out;
}

[BBQ]

Man, that looks like a great way to put it! BUT, since I'm a very stuborn person, I'm going to keep trying to learn what the hell unpack is all about before I finaly give up and cut/paste your suggestion (which I more or less understand). Is there any particular reason why you suggested uuencode/uudecode over pack/unpack, or would you just prefer to do it that way?

#!/home/bbq/bin/perl
# Trust no1!

[httptech]

Simply because uuencode is available as a unix command-line tool, so creating the uuencoded GIF would not require me to write any code.