A better approach might be to use formline and the accumulator to create formatting subs. For example: 
    #!/usr/bin/perl -w

    use strict;

    sub print_admin_usage_top {

        my $format  = "A D M I N   U S A G E\n\n" .
                       "Date: @<<<<<<<<<<\n\n"    .
                       "Username    Login    Logout   Activity\n" .
                       "--------------------------------------\n";

        $^A = ''; # Clear the accmulator
        formline($format, @_);
        print $^A;
    }



    sub print_admin_usage_data {

        my $format  = "@<<<<<<<    @<<<<<<< @<<<<<<< " .
                      "@<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<\n";

        $^A = '';
        formline($format, @_);
        print $^A;
    }



    print_admin_usage_top('19 Nov 2002');
    print_admin_usage_data('J Smith', '9:00', '12:00', 'Low');
    print_admin_usage_data('J Jones', '9:00', '12:00', 'Low');

    __END__
    Prints:


    A D M I N   U S A G E

    Date: 19 Nov 2002

    Username    Login    Logout   Activity
    --------------------------------------
    J Smith     9:00     12:00    Low
    J Jones     9:00     12:00    Low

[download]

It might also be worthwhile considering one of the Perl templating systems such as Text::Template.

--
John.

In reply to Re: Formats and Variable Scope by jmcnamara
in thread Formats and Variable Scope by Tanalis

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.