############################### cutoff ###############################
# USAGE:                                                             #
# $cutoff = cutoff($string, $length, $end);                          #
# ($cutoff, $restofstring) = cutoff($string, $length, $end);         #
# $string is the string you want to be cut off at a given length     #
# $length is the position you want to start at                       #
# $end is what to put at the end, like a ...                         #
# By using rindex, it will start at that spot, if it is in the       #
# middle of a word, it will move back till it finds a space and cuts #
# it off at that point.                                              #
# Since it uses wantarray, if you want an array back, it will return #
# the portion you want, and the rest of the string. Otherwise, it    #
# will return just the cutoff portion.                               #
######################################################################
sub cutoff {
    my $string = shift;            # get the string to examine
    my $size   = shift;            # get the size to "cut off" at
    my $end    = shift;            # characters to pad the end (...)
    my $length = length($string);  # get the length
    if ($length <= $size) {        # If the length is less than or 
        return($string);           # equal to the size we want to cut 
                                   # off at, don't cut off
    } # end if
    else {
        # This takes the string, and uses rindex (same as index, but
        # reverse). It starts at $size, and goes back till it finds a
        # space and returns that position
        my $pos = rindex($string, " ", $size);
        # With the position to turnicate from, this uses substr to
        # acomplish this.
        my $cutstring    = substr($string, 0, $pos);
	my $restofstring = substr($string, $pos, length($string));
	$restofstring =~ s/^\s//; # Remove just the first space
	$cutstring .= $end if ($end);
	# If we want an array, return $cutstring, and $restofstring
	# otherwise return just $cutstring
        return wantarray ? ($cutstring, $restofstring) : $cutstring;
    } # end else
} # end cutoff
######################################################################