#!/usr/bin/perl -ws use Parse::RecDescent; my $parser = new Parse::RecDescent q { components: ganglia(s) ganglia: 'ganglia' '{' cell(s) '}' cell: 'cell' '{' synapse(s) '}' synapse: 'synapse' '{' WHATEVER '}' WHATEVER: /\d\.\d\.\d/ # OBVIOUSLY REPLACE THIS WITH WHATEVER :-) } or die "Bad grammar!\n"; my $text = ''; getnextchunk($text) # GET FIRST CHUNK OF DATA or die "No data!\n"; $text =~ s/\s*define\s*NetworkDetails\s*{// # EAT OUTERMOST OPENING BRACKET or die "Bad data! (expected 'define...')"; do { $parser->components(\$text); # TRY TO EAT GANGLIA } while (getnextchunk($text)); # APPEND THE NEXT CHUNK $text =~ m/\s*}/ # CHECK FOR THE OUTERMOST CLOSING BRACKET or die "Unclosed 'define' (missing '}')!"; sub getnextchunk # APPEND SOME MORE TEXT TO THE FIRST ARG { my $wasmore = 0; for (1..10) # OPTIMALLY, ONE LINE BIGGER THAN THE LARGEST # SINGLE GANGLIA DEFINITION, BUT ANY NUMBER # OF LINES WILL DO { my $nextline = ; defined $nextline or last; $_[0] .= $nextline; $wasmore++ } return $wasmore; } __DATA__ define NetworkDetails { ganglia { cell { synapse { 1.1.1 } synapse { 1.1.2 } synapse { 1.1.3 } synapse { 1.1.4 } synapse { 1.1.5 } } cell { synapse { 1.2.1 } synapse { 1.2.2 } synapse { 1.2.3 } synapse { 1.2.4 } synapse { 1.2.5 } } cell { synapse { 1.3.1 } synapse { 1.3.2 } synapse { 1.3.3 } synapse { 1.3.4 } synapse { 1.3.5 } } cell { synapse { 1.4.1 } synapse { 1.4.2 } synapse { 1.4.3 } synapse { 1.4.4 } synapse { 1.4.5 } } } ganglia { cell { synapse { 2.1.1 } synapse { 2.1.2 } synapse { 2.1.3 } synapse { 2.1.4 } synapse { 2.1.5 } } cell { synapse { 2.2.1 } synapse { 2.2.2 } synapse { 2.2.3 } synapse { 2.2.4 } synapse { 2.2.5 } } cell { synapse { 2.3.1 } synapse { 2.3.2 } synapse { 2.3.3 } synapse { 2.3.4 } synapse { 2.3.5 } } cell { synapse { 2.4.1 } synapse { 2.4.2 } synapse { 2.4.3 } synapse { 2.4.4 } synapse { 2.4.5 } } } ganglia { cell { synapse { 3.1.1 } synapse { 3.1.2 } synapse { 3.1.3 } synapse { 3.1.4 } synapse { 3.1.5 } } cell { synapse { 3.2.1 } synapse { 3.2.2 } synapse { 3.2.3 } synapse { 3.2.4 } synapse { 3.2.5 } } cell { synapse { 3.3.1 } synapse { 3.3.2 } synapse { 3.3.3 } synapse { 3.3.4 } synapse { 3.3.5 } } cell { synapse { 3.4.1 } synapse { 3.4.2 } synapse { 3.4.3 } synapse { 3.4.4 } synapse { 3.4.5 } } } ganglia { cell { synapse { 4.1.1 } synapse { 4.1.2 } synapse { 4.1.3 } synapse { 4.1.4 } synapse { 4.1.5 } } cell { synapse { 4.2.1 } synapse { 4.2.2 } synapse { 4.2.3 } synapse { 4.2.4 } synapse { 4.2.5 } } cell { synapse { 4.3.1 } synapse { 4.3.2 } synapse { 4.3.3 } synapse { 4.3.4 } synapse { 4.3.5 } } cell { synapse { 4.4.1 } synapse { 4.4.2 } synapse { 4.4.3 } synapse { 4.4.4 } synapse { 4.4.5 } } } }