<div>
Thanks . . . here's what I have so far: 
 

<pre><code class="code-10 nolinks" id="code-20-42093089-1">#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;

my $dev, my $pool, my $status, my $days, my $dte, my $r_pool_num;

use constant {
 FILE_1 =&gt; &quot;0303pool&quot;,
 FILE_2 =&gt; &quot;Master_Pool_Status.out&quot;,
};

my %pool_hash;
my $pool_hash;

open my $pool_num1_fh, &quot;&lt;&quot;, FILE_1;

while ( my $pool_numP = &lt;$pool_num1_fh&gt; ) {
 chomp $pool_numP;
 $pool_hash{ $pool_numP } = 1;
}
close $pool_num1_fh;


open my $pool_num2_fh, &quot;&lt;&quot;, FILE_2;
while ( my $pool_num = &lt;$pool_num2_fh&gt; ) {
 chomp $pool_num;
 ($dev,$pool,$status,$days,$dte) = split(&quot; &quot;,$pool_num);
 $r_pool_num = $dev . &quot; &quot; . $pool . &quot; &quot; . $status;
 chomp $r_pool_num;
 if ( exists $pool_hash { $r_pool_num } ) {
 print &quot;$r_pool_num exists in both files\n&quot;;
 }
 else {
 print &quot;$r_pool_num exists in file #2\n&quot;;
 }
}
</code></pre>
 
So this code I cobbled together using &quot;google&quot; works to the extent that it looks at lines in file 2 and says lines from file 1 exist or don't exist in both files. 
 
But I need to look at fields within file 1 to make changes to file 2. 
 
For example, file 1 may say &quot;deviceA unavailable&quot; and file 2 (from the prior day) may say &quot;device A available&quot; so I need to update file 2 with data from file 1. I can't figure out how to reference the &quot;data&quot; from file 1. 
 
Thanks, 
Steve
</div>

<div>
Do you still need a solution, Steve, or have you solved it after your last post?
</div>

<div>
Thanks very much for your help.
</div>

<div>
<div class="content wysiwyg-content">
I have 2 files that I need to compare and merge. File1 has 3 fields: device_name, status, days_in_cur_status. File1 is the &quot;master status&quot; file. 
 
File2 has 2 fields: device_name, status. File2 is the file produced from checking the current status. 
 
- File1 - 
deviceA available 10 
deviceB available 8 
deviceC unavailable 3 
 
- File2 - 
deviceA available 
deviceB unavailable 
deviceC available 
deviceD available 
 
After comparing/merging the files I'd like to produce File3 which should look like: 
 
deviceA available 11 
deviceB unavailable 0 
deviceC available 0 
deviceD available 0 
 
I can't figure out how to open both files and compare a line in file1 to each line in file2. I began by reading both files into an array and then iterating through the arrays, but that's not working. I'd be glad to post the code, but I'm pretty sure that having to read thru file 2 once for each line in file 1 is, well, dumb. 
 
Help? 
 
Thanks, 
Steve
</div>
</div>

I have 2 files that I need to compare and merge. File1 has 3 fields: device_name, status, days_in_cur_status. File1 is the "master status" file.

File2 has 2 fields: device_name, status. File2 is the file produced from checking the current status.

- File1 - 
deviceA available 10
deviceB available 8
deviceC unavailable 3

- File2 -
deviceA available
deviceB unavailable
deviceC available
deviceD available

After comparing/merging the files I'd like to produce File3 which should look like:

deviceA available 11
deviceB unavailable 0
deviceC available 0
deviceD available 0

I can't figure out how to open both files and compare a line in file1 to each line in file2. I began by reading both files into an array and then iterating through the arrays, but that's not working. I'd be glad to post the code, but I'm pretty sure that having to read thru file 2 once for each line in file 1 is, well, dumb.

Help?

Thanks,
Steve

Merging two files with Perl

The term 'shell' refers to a general class of text-based command interpreters most often associated with the UNIX and Linux operating systems. Popular shells include Bourne, Debian Almquist (dash), Korn (ksh), Bourne Again (bash) and the C shell family (csh). Some view the DOS 'cmd' prompt as a minimal shell of sorts. It is also possible to install Cygwin on Windows and emulate a full Unix environment with complete shell capabilities. Terminal emulators, such as xterm, GNOME Terminal and OS X Terminal, can be used to access shell.

Shell Scripting

Perl is a high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming languages with over 25 years of development. Perl 5 runs on over 100 platforms from portables to mainframes and is suitable for both rapid prototyping and large-scale development projects.  Perl gained widespread popularity as a Common Gateway Interface (CGI) scripting language, in part due to its regular expression and string parsing abilities. In addition to CGI, Perl is used for graphics programming, system administration, network programming, finance, bioinformatics, and other applications.