#!perl -w
use strict;

my $padding = 0;
for (<DATA>){
    chomp;
    $padding = $padding > length($_) ? $padding : length($_);
}

print "X" x $padding, "\n";



__DATA__
This is my file
it doesn't have
a blank line at the end
of it based on
the maxline count of the file
that it read.
[download]

#!perl -w
use strict;

my $padding = 0;
for (<DATA>){
    chomp;
    $padding = $padding > length($_) ? $padding : length($_);
    print "$_\n";
}

print " " x $padding, "X\n";



__DATA__
This is my file
it doesn't have
a blank line at the end
of it based on
the maxline count of the file
that it read.
[download]

Surely a Perl script of that brevity can be reduced to a one-liner:

perl -lpe '$p = length if $p < length; END {print "X" x $p}'

--Dave

#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;

my $line;
my $maxline = 0; # make sure you get the length of the first line

while($line = <DATA>) {
    chomp($line);
    print "$line\n";
    $maxline = length($line) if length($line)>$maxline;
    $maxline -= 1 if $line =~ m/.*\032$/;
}
#-----------------------------------------------
# using the char X to see it print a space based on maxline count
# in this case it's 29
#-----------------------------------------------
print "X" for (1..$maxline);
print "\n";

__DATA__
This is my file
it doesn't have
a blank line at the end
of it based on
the maxline count of the file
that it read.
<P>
[download]

A couple of things I did notice though:

1. If you're chomping the line coming in, why are you checking it for \r again? Maybe I'm overlooking something there and if so, I know someone will point it out.

2. Why are you checking the first line of data outside your loop?

3. What is all the ( what appears to be - to me anyway ) extraneous code at the top or is that another part of your program that you didn't post?

Hope that helps!

Some people fall from grace. I prefer a running start...

Thankz! a bunch!! All of you should me flaws with my code! and all of you were correct with what I needed. Shendal, I had to add this

$max = $max-1;  # I don't want it to count the \r|\032
print "X" x $max,"\n";
[download]

A++ help! thankz!

Now on to what I was thinking when I wrote it... tomhukins $vc is a left over for "variable constant" a whole other issue..
Good idea though if I have to write the same code re-think things..

and... redsquirrel?.. I was looking for a "shorter" version, not the "shortest" version! Thatz sick! =:-)

use strict;
my $max = 0;
foreach (<DATA>) {
   s/(\r|\032)$//;
   $max = length($_) if length($_) > $max;
}
print " " x $max;

__DATA__
This is my file
it doesn't have
a blank line at the end
of it based on
the maxline count of the file
that it read.
[download]

What is the reason for doing my $line = <DATA> followed by the processing code then calling the same processing code within the while (<DATA>) block? If you find yourself writing the same code in your program twice or more, you should place that code in a subroutine. In this case, however, you can process each line within the while block, so take out the code that reads and processes $line being sure to keep the declaration of $maxline outside this block.

What is the purpose of $vc? You don't seem to use it for anything meaningful.

Also, replace the for loop at the end with something like print " " x $maxlength (see perlop for details).