format/write to variable

Flame has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Is there any way to channel the output from a write() command into a variable. I looked at tie() a bit, but I was hopeing there would be a more direct method.

Thanks,

-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.12 GIT d- s:++ a--- C++++ UL P+++>++++ L+ E- W++>+++ N !o K- w+ O---- M-- V-- PS PE Y- PGP t++(+++) 5(+++)++++ X R+@ tv+ b+++ DI+ D- G e->+++ h! r-- y- ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------ Translate

"Weird things happen, get used to it."

Flame ~ Lead Programmer: GMS

Comment on format/write to variable

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Re: format/write to variable by wog (Curate) on Jan 21, 2002 at 09:54 UTC
This is FAQ: How can I write() into a string?	[reply]
Re: Re: format/write to variable by Flame (Deacon) on Jan 21, 2002 at 09:58 UTC
Not quite what I had in mind, but I suppose it would work... Thanks `-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.12 GIT d- s:++ a--- C++++ UL P+++>++++ L+ E- W++>+++ N !o K- w+ O---- M-- V-- PS PE Y- PGP t++(+++) 5(+++)++++ X R+@ tv+ b+++ DI+ D- G e->+++ h! r-- y- ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------` Translate "Weird things happen, get used to it." Flame ~ Lead Programmer: GMS	[reply]
Re: format/write to variable by simon.proctor (Vicar) on Jan 21, 2002 at 14:23 UTC
The easiest way to do this is to write your own interface to the formline function making use of the Accumulator ($^A). Look at the perlform man page for more details. As mentioned above, the man page describes a function swrite(). For reference this is it: `sub swrite { croak "usage: swrite PICTURE ARGS" unless @_; my $format = shift; $^A = ""; formline($format,@_); return $^A; }` [download] To actually make use of this is a little harder because you will have to call this function repeatedly as your format changes. This will become clearer once you play with it. HTH Simon	[reply] [d/l]
Re: format/write to variable by trs80 (Priest) on Jan 21, 2002 at 10:11 UTC
Possibly IO::String will do the trick.	[reply]
Re: Re: format/write to variable by runrig (Abbot) on Jan 29, 2002 at 08:25 UTC
Possibly IO::String will do the trick. IO::String or IO::Scalar always seems to be the first thing people think of, then those that try it eventually find out that format and write don't like tied filehandles. wog and simon.proctor have it right, formline and $^A are the ticket. Here is an implementation I once used when I needed to put hash data into columns.	[reply]