SPUG: Problem deleting files, last one

[Daniel Chetlin]

On Fri, Dec 01, 2000 at 11:10:20AM -0800, Brittingham, John wrote:
> 		my @filenames = eval "<$oldfile>";

I hate to keep beating a dead horse, but since you said this is the
solution you actually chose, I thought I'd try once more.

This is really not the correct way to do things. The problem you were
facing was the fact that `<$oldfile>' was being interpreted as a
readline instead of a glob. There are easier, faster, and more secure
ways of solving that then using `eval STRING'.  For example:

  * my @filenames = glob($oldfile);
  * my @filenames = <${oldfile}>

In this specific instance, you have control over the `$oldfile'
variable. But code changes. Consider what would happen if `$oldfile'
contained ">;system('rm -rf /')". Etc. `eval STRING' is something to
always be very careful of. It can be quite useful, but there's no reason
to use it here.

-dlc

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