Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jpl-devvax!lwall
From: lwall@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Larry Wall)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.perl
Subject: Re: format with tilde
Message-ID: <11717@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV>
Date: 7 Mar 91 18:36:48 GMT
References: <91049.163743FFAAC09@cc1.kuleuven.ac.be> <11526@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV> <1991Feb24.213938.18986@ping.chi.il.us>
Reply-To: lwall@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Larry Wall)
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
Lines: 30

In article <1991Feb24.213938.18986@ping.chi.il.us> gorpong@ping.chi.il.us (Gordon C. Galligher) writes:
: This is not really a follow-up to the qwestion posed by Paul Bijnens, but
: it does have to do with format's and the tilde.  I was wondering why the
: tilde is expanded to a space when the 'write;' call comes in?  The manual
: states that the tilde really should be put at the front of the line for
: redability, but it screws up your format because it throws an extra space
: in the output.

The rule about picture lines in formats is that your spacing is inviolate,
so that you can line things up easily.  Deleting ~ would violate this rule.

: Is it possible to remove this in 4.0, or at least make it
: an option which you can disable with a variable or something?  My previously
: posted problem with eval and format also used the double-tilde approach and
: I was forced to put the ~~ at the end of my eval'd string because it screwed
: up things.

If the front of your picture wouldn't be spaces anyway, putting it at the
end is perfectly fine.  The reform program on page 321 does this.

: I know the addage goes, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," but
: the manual page states that "Normally you should put it in front," and doing
: so screws up your picture.  If it is not feasible to add this change to
: Perl, then I would remove that phrase from the manual page.  Just a thought.

It says "Normally you should put it at the front if possible, for visibility."
This implies that sometimes it's not possible to put it at the front, and
that the reason for putting it at the front is not legalistic, but stylistic.

Larry