form_variables - Linux

Overview

form_variables extracts form data from a file and stores it in environment variables. It’s commonly used for processing data from HTML forms or CSV files.

Syntax

form_variables [options] file [var1 [var2 [...]]]

Options/Flags

• -d, –delimiter=DELIMITER: Separator used to split fields (default: ‘,’)
• -f, –fieldname-format=FORMAT: Format for field names (default: ‘%s’)
• -h, –help: Print this help message
• -l, –lineterminator=TERMINATOR: Line terminator to split lines (default: ‘\n’)
• -m, –max-vars: Maximum number of variables to extract (default: 0, unlimited)
• -o, –output=FILE: Write output to a file
• -p, –prefix=PREFIX: Prefix for environment variable names (default: none)
• -s, –suffix=SUFFIX: Suffix for environment variable names (default: none)
• -q, –quiet: Suppress output to stdout
• -v, –verbose: Print verbose output

Examples

Extract form data from an HTML file:

form_variables form.html answer question

Extract data from a CSV file:

form_variables data.csv data1 data2 data3

Extract data with a delimiter and store it in a variable:

DATA=`form_variables -d= data.csv`

Common Issues

• File not found: Ensure the file you’re specifying is in the correct location.
• Parse errors: Check the file format and ensure it matches the expected format for your use case.
• No variables extracted: Adjust the field delimiter or line terminator options to match your file’s format.

Integration

• Use xargs to chain form_variables with other commands:

form_variables form.html | xargs -n 2 echo "Answer: {}, Question: {}"

• Create custom scripts that integrate form_variables into your workflow.

Related Commands

• env
• set
• declare