my $switch; 
   my $dir; 
   my $str; 
   my $file; 
 
   if   (@ARGV) { 
        $switch =  shift; 
        $dir = pop; 
        $str = join(' ',@ARGV); 
        } 
   else { 
        print "Do you want to search for a file or a string?\n"; 
        chomp($switch = (<STDIN>)); 
        if    ($switch eq '-s' || $switch eq "string") {$switch = "-s";} 
        else                                           {$switch = "-f";} 
        print "Enter the string or file you want to search for: "; 
        chomp($str = (<STDIN>)); 
        print "Enter the directory you want to search    : "; 
        chomp($dir = (<STDIN>)); 
        } 
 
#  $str =  quotemeta($str); 
 
#  my @characters = map { 
#       if ($_ eq '?') {$_ = '\?';} 
#       if ($_ eq ".") {$_ = '\.';} 
#       if ($_ eq "*") {$_ = '\*';} 
#       if ($_ eq "+") {$_ = '\+';} 
#       print "DOLLAR UNDERSCORE = $_\n"; 
#       $_; 
#       } split(//,$str); 
#  $str = join(/ /,@characters); 
 
   -d $dir || die "Directory not found. Terminating $!"; 
 
   $str =~ s/^"// && $str =~ s/"$//; 
 
   print "Now scanning $dir for \"$str\"\n"; 
 
   sub data_for_path { 
       my $entry = shift; 
#      print "ENTRY = $entry\n"; 
 
       if (( -f $entry || -l $entry ) && ( $switch eq '-f' )) { 
             $entry =~ /(^.*)\/(.*$)/; 
             $dir  = $1; 
             $file = $2; 
             print "Found file $file in $dir\n" if ( $2 =~ /$str/ ); 
             return; 
             } 
 
       if (( -f $entry || -l $entry ) && ( $switch eq '-s' )) { 
             open(FILE,$entry) || die "Failed to open $entry $!"; 
             while (<FILE>) {(/$str/i) && print "$entry - $_"}; 
             close(FILE); 
             return; 
             } 
 
       if ( -d $entry ) { 
#         print "Now processing directory $entry\n"; 
          opendir PATH, $entry || die "Failed to open $entry $!"; 
          my @files = readdir PATH; 
          closedir PATH; 
          for my $file (@files) { 
              next if $file eq '.' || $file eq '..'; 
#             print "    > Entry = $entry\n"; 
#             print "    > File  = $file\n"; 
              data_for_path("$entry/$file"); 
              } 
          } 
       } 
   data_for_path($dir); 
 
 
Code



      
    

#! /usr/bin/perl -w 
   use strict; 
   use warnings; 
   use Getopt::Long; 
   use File::Find; 
   use Data::Dumper; 
 
   my ($option, $dir, $str, $file); 
 
   GetOptions ( 
     'd=s' => \$dir, 
     'o=s' => \$option, 
     's' => \$str, 
     'f' => \$file, 
     ); 
   die usage() unless ($dir and $option and ($str or $file)); 
   sub usage { 
       print "Usage: $0 -d <dir> -o <option> -s -f\n\n", 
       "Example: $0 -d . -o 'some *? option' -s -f\n\n" 
       } 
 
   $str =  quotemeta($str); 
 
   print Dumper ($option, $dir, $file, $str); 
 
   -d $dir || die "Directory not found. Terminating $!"; 
   print "Now scanning $dir for \"$str\"\n"; 
 
   exit; 
 
Code
 
1) Now when I execute perl my_script -p -s -d '.' -s "ZZZ" with $str and $file defined as booleans, the Print Dumper line prints  -- 
$VAR1 = '-s'; 
$VAR2 = '.'; 
$VAR3 = undef; 
$VAR4 = '1'; 
Now scanning . for "1", 
where the value of $str is '1'. 
If I change those GetOptions to strings, I get -- 
$VAR1 = '-s'; 
$VAR2 = '.'; 
$VAR3 = undef; 
$VAR4 = 'ZZZ'; 
Now scanning . for "ZZZ", 
and the value of $str is available for use. 
 
2) When I execute perl mygrep_pg -o -s -d '.' -s ???, without quotes around the string, I still see the first member in the directory whose name is three characters long -- 
$VAR1 = '-s'; 
$VAR2 = '.'; 
$VAR3 = undef; 
$VAR4 = 'INC'; 
Now scanning . for "INC". 
I would love to understand what is happening here. 
 
3) When I execute perl mygrep_pg -o -s -d '.' -s "???", with quotes, I see -- 
$VAR1 = '-s'; 
$VAR2 = '.'; 
$VAR3 = undef; 
$VAR4 = '\\?\\?\\?'; 
Now scanning . for "\?\?\?". 
So, the final option works, in spite of the double backslashes. 
 
Once again, thanks for your help, although I remain clueless as to how @ARGV is handling an unquoted question mark. 
s660117 
 
(And sorry for the bold type; I am having a problem turning it off.)