Kent's Perl Stuff

I generally use Perl for quick parsing and report generating tasks that are of a one-time-only nature. The following Perl programs are some that have been frequently used by myself and others in a more general context. They are probably not finished nor elegantly programmed, but they work for me the way I originally wanted. I'm providing them 'as is.' No guarantees, no warranty of fitness for a particular purpose implied, etc. Copy, use, and alter them as you will. All were developed on Unix systems (Solaris, FreeBSD, HPUX) but should be portable to MS-DOG. Perl version 5.X is assumed unless noted.
Compute frequency counts for alphanumeric values in a column range. Answers the question "how many times do the unique values in columns x through y occur in this file?". Modified 3/17/01 to include a -n parameter to use a numeric sort.
 
Frequency counts w/percentages adds percentages & cumulative percentages to the frequency count script above. Modified 3/17/01 to include a -n parameter to use a numeric sort.
 
Block a stream data file to fixed line length by inserting newlines at a user-specified logical record length.
 
Report quoted strings exceeding a specified length in a text file (such as SPSS or SAS variable labels).
 
Print a calendar with today's date highlighted Assumes VT100-compatible terminal emulation and an available Unix 'cal' command.
 
screenshot of calendar with today's date highlighted
 
Split a multi-column SAS input or SPSS data list statement into a single column.
 
Wrap a single column SAS input or SPSS data list statement into multiple (5) columns.
 
Report lines with trailing white space A bit of silliness for those who might not believe their files have trailing blanks or tabs.
 
Convert tabs to spaces (2 different ways) Two methods for converting tabs to spaces. One way is to replace every tab with a user-defined fixed number of spaces. Another is to assume a user-defined fixed number of spaces per tab, but also take into account the text already on the line (sort of like a typewriter tabbing to a specific spot).

A Few Perl Links

Here are some Perl web sites worth visiting if you are interested in learning about the Perl language, or need to find other Perl scripts and tools.
Main Perl.org Page Offers links to many Perl resources, including links to pages on development, applications, introductions, manual pages, FAQs, mailing list archives, and downloading a Perl version.
 
The Perl FAQs The Frequently Asked Questions file(s) for Perl (in HTML format). Very helpful!
 
Perl Download Page Get Perl for your operating system (it may already be included in your OS).
Links to Strawberry Perl and ActiveState Perl for Windows.
 
Perl.com Main Page News site run by O'Reilly.
 
Comprehensive Perl Archive Network (CPAN) "...hundreds of Perl utilities, several books' worth of documentation, and the entire Perl distribution. If it's written in Perl, and it's helpful and free, it's in the CPAN." Perl modules can be found here, also.
 
The Perl Archive An assortment of categorized Perl code. Over 3700 listings in the archive.
 
The Perl Journal The Perl Journal has ceased publication. There are only the articles from past issues. This is an index to those articles.
 
Perl Mongers A not-for-profit organization set up to establish and support Perl user groups.
 
Perl Monks Instant answers and accumulated wisdom for solving common Perl problems.
 
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