Cross-platform Perl/CGI tips and tricks

• facebook
• twitter
• google+
• in
• Email

Another issue is that Windows treats binary files and text files differently, so if you're trying to read or write a binary file, you'll get corrupted data, unless you specify that the file is to be read or written in binary mode.

### Read Binary file on Windows
open(FILE,"<$cgidir/image.gif");
binmode(FILE);       # Specify Binary mode for file
binmode(STDOUT);     # Specify Binary mode for output
print "Content-type: image/gif\n\n";
while () { print; }
close(FILE);

Perl replacements for common system commands

system("cp $file1 $file2");

Here are some 100 percent Perl-based alternatives to common system commands that will work on any operating system.

### ERASE
unlink("$cgidir/file.dat"); 

### RENAME
rename("$cgidir/oldfile.dat","$cgidir/newfile.dat"); 

### COPY
open(FILE1,"<$cgidir/file1.dat");
open(FILE2,">$cgidir/file2.dat");
binmode(FILE1);
binmode(FILE2);
while () { print FILE2; }
close(FILE1);
close(FILE2);

### CHMOD
chmod(0777,"$cgidir/file.dat"); 

### MAKE DIRECTORY
mkdir("$cgidir/newdir",0777); 

### REMOVE DIRECTORY
rmdir("$cgidir/newdir"); 

### CURRENT DATE/TIME
$date = scalar localtime(time);
print $date;  

By using a few simple tricks and tips like these, you'll not only be saving time but writing better programs too! If you have any tricks and tips of your own you would like to share, drop me a line.

Dave Edis is president of Edis Digital, a new media solutions firm in Vancouver, Canada. Edis Digital develops Web-based publishing tools and applications for companies around the world.

IT Solutions Builder TOP IT RESOURCES TO MOVE YOUR BUSINESS FORWARD

Which topic are you interested in?

Mobile

Security

Networks/IoT

Cloud

Data Storage

Applications

Development

IT Management

Other

What is your company size?

                Select company size 1-9 10-24 25-49 50-99 100-249 250-499 500-999 1000+

What is your job title?

                   Select job title C-Level/President Manager VP Staff (Associate/Analyst/etc.) Director

What is your job function?

                   Select job function IT - General IT - Project Management IT - Systems/Network Administration IT - Developer IT - Tester/QA Accounting/Finance/Legal Academic/Research Administrative General Management Human Resources Marketing Operations Sales Consultant Other

Searching our resource database to find your matches...

0 Comments (click to add your comment)

Comment and Contribute

 

Your name/nickname

Your email

Subject

(Maximum characters: 1200). You have characters left.