mkdir call getting failed in Perl

Question

I am trying to create a directory using Perl. But this call fails. However when I try to create the same directory structure in shell prompt, it works fine. Could someone please let me know why I am not able to create the directory in the directory structure? Example:

$absolutepath = "/localdatafs1/Domino/mail\abhy.nsf/Sent/Metadata";
print $absolutepath."\n";
mkdir "$absolutepath" or die $!;

In this example, localdatafs1, Domino, mail\abhy.nsf, and Sent are directories that already exist. I want to create a directory called metadata in the directory structure /localdatafs1/Domino/mail\abhy.nsf/Sent/Metadata using Perl. This mkdir call fails.

If I execute the command

mkdir /localdatafs1/Domino/mail\abhy.nsf/Sent/Metadata

in shell prompt, the directory gets created successfully.

Why I am unable to create the directory in Perl using the above path?

It looks like you have a "\" instead of a "/" between "mail" and "abhy.nsf" Have you tried swapping the direction of your "\"? — John Mark, Oct 18 '11 at 20:13
@BrianRoach: die message says No such file or directory at ./transfer.pl — Rajath, Oct 18 '11 at 20:19
@JohnMark: The directory that I need to create should be like mail\abhy.nsf. I need '\'. — Rajath, Oct 18 '11 at 20:20
The post has been edited to the point of removing the problem. The supposedly working `mkdir` cannot possibly work. Reverted those edits. — ikegami, Oct 18 '11 at 20:22
@ikegami - sorry, didn't notice the indenting changed the escaping, I hadn't actually changed his original text. He had used `\\` to make the backslash appear in the original post apparently. — Brian Roach, Oct 18 '11 at 20:29
@ikegami: I am confused. The path that i want to create is "/localdatafs1/Domino/mail\abhy.nsf/Sent/Metadata". After mail, 2 back slashes are there in my code to escape a backslash. SO the path in the code is "/localdatafs1/Domino/mail\\abhy.nsf/Sent/Metadata". The directory named"mail\abhy.nsf" is already there in the system. — Rajath, Oct 18 '11 at 20:41
@BrianRoach Now if the try creating the folder using mkdir "/localdatafs1/Domino/mail\\abhy.nsf/Sent/Metadata" in the perl code, it fails. However the same command mkdir "/localdatafs1/Domino/mail\\abhy.nsf/Sent/Metadata" passes. — Rajath, Oct 18 '11 at 20:42
If you use `$absolutepath = "/localdatafs1/Domino/mail\\abhy.nsf/Sent/Metadata";` you shouldn't get `No such file or directory`. — ikegami, Oct 18 '11 at 21:40
What's the output of `use Data::Dumper; $Data::Dumper::Useqq = 1; print(Dumper($absolutepath));` IMPORTANT: Copy the entire response, and place it in backtickets (`\``). — ikegami, Oct 18 '11 at 21:43

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 18 '11 at 20:30

Your shell understands a different language than Perl. In your shell, the code

/localdatafs1/Domino/mail\abhy.nsf/Sent/Metadata

produces the string

/localdatafs1/Domino/mail\abhy.nsf/Sent/Metadata

In Perl, the code

"/localdatafs1/Domino/mail\abhy.nsf/Sent/Metadata"

produces the string

/localdatafs1/Domino/mail?bhy.nsf/Sent/Metadata

where the ? represents a non-printable control character. The Perl code

"/localdatafs1/Domino/mail\\abhy.nsf/Sent/Metadata"

produces the desired string. Note the escaped "\".

score 3 · Answer 2 · edited Oct 18 '11 at 20:26

3

$path = "/localdatafs1/Domino/mail\abhy.nsf/Sent/Metadata"
                                  ^--- escape character, turning the path into

$path = "/localdatafs1/Domino/mail".chr(1)."bhy.nsf/Sent/Metadata"

edited Oct 18 '11 at 20:26

ikegami

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answered Oct 18 '11 at 20:14

Marc B

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Or you can use `mail\\abhy.nsf` if you actually want a backslash in the name, but that's generally not a good idea. – Keith Thompson Oct 18 '11 at 20:20
I have used the directory structure as "/localdatafs1/Domino/mail\\abhy.nsf/Sent/Metadata". mkdir "/localdatafs1/Domino/mail\\abhy.nsf/Sent/Metadata" is getting failed. – Rajath Oct 18 '11 at 20:22
@Rajath: yes, becaues `\\` is not a directory separator on Unix/Linux systems. You can't mix / and \ for paths in Unix, they have to be / – Marc B Oct 18 '11 at 20:25

mkdir call getting failed in Perl

2 Answers2