drupal 6 - Perl Drush Command script error -

i'm trying add php code snippet drupal web form node. i'm getting error message syntax error near unexpected token `(' occurring on line below drupal query comment. help? escaped parens , dollar signs.

#!/usr/bin/perl  use strict;  $updatesdir = '/var/www/html/mysite/releaseupdates/spint1'; $drupalroot = '/var/www/html/mysite/web'; $drushcmd = '/usr/bin/drush';  # drupal query system("$drushcmd -r $drupalroot -u sites.admin --yes sql-query 'update node_revisions set body = replace\(body,\'</div>\',\'<?php \$contact_us_node = abc_drupal_node_load\(null, \'my_group\'\);if \(isset\(\$contact_us_node->field_contact_us_message_body\)\) {echo \$contact_us_node->field_contact_us_message_body[0][\'value\'] . \"<br />\";}?></div>\'\) nid=123'") == 0 or die "$drushcmd failed: $?"; print "contact body text updated php code.\n"; 

you passing string system, , shell (formatted better readability):

/usr/bin/drush   -r /var/www/html/mysite/web   -u sites.admin   --yes sql-query '     update node_revisions     set body = replace(body,'</div>',         '<?php           $contact_us_node = abc_drupal_node_load(null, 'my_group');           if (isset($contact_us_node->field_contact_us_message_body)) {             echo $contact_us_node->field_contact_us_message_body[0]['value'] . "<br />";           }         ?></div>'     )     nid=123' 

why? perl's double quoted strings ignore unknown escapes removing backslash. example: "\(" eq "(". means when shell sees command, backslashes missing! let's see “strings” shell sees:

/usr/bin/drush -r /var/www/html/mysite/web -u sites.admin --yes sql-query 'update node_revisions set body = replace(body,' </div> ',' <?php $contact_us_node = abc_drupal_node_load(null, 'my_group' );if (isset($contact_us_node->field_contact_us_message_body)) {echo $contact_us_node->field_contact_us_message_body[0][ 'value' ] . "<br />" ;}?></div> ') nid=123' 

this absolutely not intended. have three levels of escaping:

1. the perl string
2. the shell
3. the sql
4. (the php code, doesn't use escapes here)

how can solve this? can remove shell level having perl exec command directly without passing shell. this, use list form of command:

system(   $drushcmd,   '-r', $drupalroot,   '-u', 'sites.admin',   '--yes',   'sql-query',   "update node_revisions set body = replace\(body,\'</div>\',\'<?php \$contact_us_node = abc_drupal_node_load\(null, \'my_group\'\);if \(isset\(\$contact_us_node->field_contact_us_message_body\)\) {echo \$contact_us_node->field_contact_us_message_body[0][\'value\'] . \"<br />\";}?></div>\'\) nid=123'", ) == 0 or die "$drushcmd failed: $?"; 

ah yes, better. can further eliminate need escaping inside perl code using single quoted strings alternative delimiter:

q#update node_revisions set body = replace(body,'</div>','<?php $contact_us_node = abc_drupal_node_load(null, 'my_group');if (isset($contact_us_node->field_contact_us_message_body)) {echo $contact_us_node->field_contact_us_message_body[0]['value'] . "<br />";}?></div>') nid=123'# 

we have eliminated escaping levels perl , shell, sql left.