#!/usr/local/bin/perl -w

use strict;

package DelayPrint;

sub TIEHANDLE {
    my $var = '';
    bless \$var, shift;
}

sub PRINT {
    my $ref = shift;
    $$ref .= join( (defined $, ? $, : ''), @_) . (defined $\ ? $\ : '');
}

sub PRINTF {
    my $ref = shift;
    my $fmt = shift;
    $$ref .= sprintf($fmt, @_);
}

# flush: an additional function that returns the contents of the buffer
# called via the object returned by tie()
sub flush {
    my $ref = shift;
    my $text = $$ref;
    $$ref = '';
    return $text;
}

package main;

my $fh = tie *STDOUT, 'DelayPrint';     # tie STDOUT

print "Hello world\n";                  # print through the tied filehandle

my $text = $fh->flush();                # get the text that was printed

undef $fh;                              # erase the reference,
untie *STDOUT;                          # untie the filehandle

print $text;                            # print the text for real