Re: [perl #58116] glob("~user") works every 2nd time

On Tue, Aug 19, 2008 at 07:49:10AM -0700, Ulrich Windl wrote:
> # New Ticket Created by  "Ulrich Windl" 
> # Please include the string:  [perl #58116]
> # in the subject line of all future correspondence about this issue. 
> # <URL: http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Ticket/Display.html?id=58116 >
> 
> 
> 
> This is a bug report for perl from Ulrich.Windl@rz.uni-regensburg.de,
> generated with the help of perlbug 1.34 running under perl v5.8.0.
> 
> 
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> [Please enter your report here]
> 
> I have written some code that works when called the first time, and from
> then on it seems it only works every 2nd time.
> That code (from a subroutine) is:
> 
>     $homedir = glob("~ora\L$ORA_SID\E");
>     Log(0, 'E', 'logger', "~ora\L$ORA_SID\E: $!")
> 	unless ($homedir);
> 
> Explanation: $ORA_SID is set to "C11", effectively passing "~orac11" as
> argument to glob. That user exists, just as the home directory.
> Perl seems to query HP-UX 11.11's pwgrd (Password and Group Hashing and
> Caching daemon) each time, but every second time an empty string is returned.
> Errno, if relevant has ENOENT then.
> 
> I failed to reproduce the effect interactively in the Perl debugger.
> The effect happens for two different user names. Reading perl delta docs,
> I only found some other problem fixed in 5.8.5, so I wonder...


This is documented to work this way, both in 'perldoc -f glob' and in
the section about I/O Operators in 'perldoc perlop'.

If you are evaluating a glob in scalar context, it will return all matches
one-by-one, and then, after returning all matches, if will return 'undef'
before starting all over.

This allows you to write:

    while (defined (my $match = glob ("..."))) {
        ...
    }


In your case, you're better off to write

    ($homedir) = glob ("...");

which puts the glob() in list context, returning all matches at once
(and restarting each next time).



Abigail

• [perl #58116] glob("~user") works every 2nd time by Ulrich Windl
• Re: [perl #58116] glob("~user") works every 2nd time by Abigail
• Re: [perl #58116] glob("~user") works every 2nd time by Paul Johnson