Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!newstop!texsun!convex!convex.COM
From: tchrist@convex.COM (Tom Christiansen)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.perl
Subject: Re: Question regarding variable output formats
Message-ID: <110795@convex.convex.com>
Date: 12 Dec 90 13:54:24 GMT
References: <1990Dec11.221304.2933@tkna.uucp>
Sender: usenet@convex.com
Reply-To: tchrist@convex.COM (Tom Christiansen)
Organization: CONVEX Software Development, Richardson, TX
Lines: 38

In article <1990Dec11.221304.2933@tkna.uucp> alan@tkna.tkna.com (Alan Light) writes:

:I can't seem to use a variable to specify an output format picture.
:Consider the following code:

:$myformat = '@<<<<<<<@<<<<<<<<<<<<@<<<<<<<<<<<<@<<<<<<<<<<<@<<<<<<<<<<';
:format STDOUT = 
:$myformat
:$_[0],$_[1],$_[2],$_[3],$_[4]
:.

:It seems that the string "$myformat" is included verbatim in the output
:picture.

That's right -- this is how formats work.  They alternate lines of
literal descriptions with variable references.

:I'm running perl 3.0 PL 12

Wow, that's ancienct history.  Seems to be what I'm about to suggest
doesn't work back then.  If you were up to the current (or at least 
a more recent) patchlevel, you could use an eval:

$myformat = '@<<<<<<<@<<<<<<<<<<<<@<<<<<<<<<<<<@<<<<<<<<<<<@<<<<<<<<<<';

eval <<EOS;
format STDOUT = 
$myformat
\$_[0],\$_[1],\$_[2],\$_[3],\$_[4]
.
EOS


--tom
--
Tom Christiansen		tchrist@convex.com	convex!tchrist
"With a kernel dive, all things are possible, but it sure makes it hard
 to look at yourself in the mirror the next morning."  -me