Unpacking a Perl string into a list

For 2023 (and 2024 ...) - we are now fully retired from IT training.
We have made many, many friends over 25 years of teaching about Python, Tcl, Perl, PHP, Lua, Java, C and C++ - and MySQL, Linux and Solaris/SunOS too. Our training notes are now very much out of date, but due to upward compatability most of our examples remain operational and even relevant ad you are welcome to make us if them "as seen" and at your own risk.

Lisa and I (Graham) now live in what was our training centre in Melksham - happy to meet with former delegates here - but do check ahead before coming round. We are far from inactive - rather, enjoying the times that we are retired but still healthy enough in mind and body to be active!

I am also active in many other area and still look after a lot of web sites - you can find an index ((here))

In Perl, you can extract data from a string in a lot of different ways. You can split the string if you want to use a uniform separator, you can use a regular expression if you want to grab out bits that match a pattern, and you can use substr to extract data based on specific character positions.

Which should I use?

Whichever is most appropriate. If the data is always in the same columns numbers (character positions), then substr may be longer code but faster than the alternatives. And don't forget csv (comma separated variables) and XML modules too.

But rather than have many lines of substr, you may prefer to use unpack. Unpack lets you specify a list of destinations, and a number of columns and series of type conversions. So one line of unpack can replace many lines of substr and at no noticeable loss of efficiency. You can also use unpack if you have binary data held in your string.

I've added an example of unpack in use - [here] - from the current course. And I've also added in an example going the other way - taking a whole load of variables in a list and formatting them up into a string with pack

Perl's functions are documented [here]. The format converters for unpack (and pack) are documented [here]. We cover these functions - briefly - on our fundamental public Perl Programming Courses and in more detail if required on advanced and private courses.
(written 2010-07-16, updated 2010-07-31)

Associated topics are indexed as below, or enter http://melksh.am/nnnn for individual articles

P212 - Perl - More on Character Strings
  [453] Commenting Perl regular expressions - (2005-09-30)
  [583] Remember to process blank lines - (2006-01-31)
  [586] Perl Regular Expressions - finding the position and length of the match - (2006-02-02)
  [597] Storing a regular expression in a perl variable - (2006-02-09)
  [608] Don't expose your regular expressions - (2006-02-15)
  [737] Coloured text in a terminal from Perl - (2006-05-29)
  [928] C++ and Perl - why did they do it THAT way? - (2006-11-16)
  [943] Matching within multiline strings, and ignoring case in regular expressions - (2006-11-25)
  [1222] Perl, the substitute operator s - (2007-06-08)
  [1230] Commenting a Perl Regular Expression - (2007-06-12)
  [1251] Substitute operator / modifiers in Perl - (2007-06-28)
  [1305] Regular expressions made easy - building from components - (2007-08-16)
  [1336] Ignore case in Regular Expression - (2007-09-08)
  [1510] Handling Binary data (.gif file example) in Perl - (2008-01-17)
  [1727] Equality and looks like tests - Perl - (2008-07-29)
  [1735] Finding words and work boundaries (MySQL, Perl, PHP) - (2008-08-03)
  [1947] Perl substitute - the e modifier - (2008-12-16)
  [2230] Running a piece of code is like drinking a pint of beer - (2009-06-11)
  [2379] Making variables persistant, pretending a database is a variable and other Perl tricks - (2009-08-27)
  [2657] Want to do a big batch edit? Nothing beats Perl! - (2010-03-01)
  [2801] Binary data handling with unpack in Perl - (2010-06-10)
  [2834] Teaching examples in Perl - third and final part - (2010-06-27)
  [2877] Further more advanced Perl examples - (2010-07-19)
  [2993] Arrays v Lists - what is the difference, why use one or the other - (2010-10-10)
  [3059] Object Orientation in an hour and other Perl Lectures - (2010-11-18)
  [3100] Looking ahead and behind in Regular Expressions - double matching - (2010-12-23)
  [3322] How much has Perl (and other languages) changed? - (2011-06-10)
  [3332] DNA to Amino Acid - a sample Perl script - (2011-06-24)
  [3411] Single and double quotes strings in Perl - what is the difference? - (2011-08-30)
  [3546] The difference between dot (a.k.a. full stop, period) and comma in Perl - (2011-12-09)
  [3630] Serialsing and unserialising data for storage and transfer in Perl - (2012-02-28)
  [3650] Possessive Regular Expression Matching - Perl, Objective C and some other languages - (2012-03-12)
  [3707] Converting codons via Amino Acids to Proteins in Perl - (2012-04-25)
  [3927] First match or all matches? Perl Regular Expressions - (2012-11-19)
  [4452] Binary data handling - Python and Perl - (2015-03-09)

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Some other Articles

Program for reliability and efficiency - do not duplicate, but rather share and re-use
Different perl examples - some corners I rarely explore
A long day in Melksham ...
Unpacking a Perl string into a list
Another toot of the trumpet
Moved - Melksham Lorry Park
Moving from Python 2.6 to Python 3
Old prices - what would the equivalent price have been in 1966?
Contact Information for Melksham Oak Community School

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