#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;
use Text::CSV;
my $csv = Text::CSV->new;
open (INPUT,"input.txt") or die "\nCan't open input.txt for reading : 
+$!\n";
open (OUTPUT,">output.txt") or die "\nCan't open output.txt for writin
+g : $!\n";
select OUTPUT;
while (<INPUT>) {
    $csv->parse($_);
    my @IF = $csv->fields();
    foreach my $element (@IF) {
        #printf command goes here
    }
    print "\n";
}
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Cheers - L~R

To the best of my knowledge, printf (and sprintf) will never truncate a field that is too long for the width specified in the format string -- it will always provide each field with as many characters as needed to fit a given string with "%s" or all digits with "%d", or all digits to the left of the decimal point with "%f", thereby screwing up the programmer's intended vertical alignment of fields on successive lines, rather than eliminate significant data that would not have fit the programmer's margins.

update: thanks to PodMaster for some much needed tutoring... my comments above did not consider format specs that really do impose field truncation, like "%1.1s" -- I was only thinking of the more common flavor, like "%1s", which does not truncate. (I still don't know how to truncate numerics...)

To the best of my knowledge, printf (and sprintf) will never truncate a field that is too long for the width specified in the format string

s?printf does what you tell it  printf "%1.1s$/", 'foy'; yields 'f',  printf "%s$/", 'foy'; yields 'foy'.
• Tutorials
  • Using (s)printf()
As for Limbic~Regions note, you can't convert variable width "records" to fixed width ones without possibly undergoing some truncation ;)

MJD says you can't just make shit up and expect the computer to know what you mean, retardo! I run a Win32 PPM repository for perl 5.6x+5.8x. I take requests. ** The Third rule of perl club is a statement of fact: pod is sexy.