my $pad = ' ' x $wide;
...
$_ = substr($_ . $pad, 0, $wide);
print $_, "\r";

[download]
That can be written far more simply and efficiently as: 
printf "%-${wide}.${wide}s\r", $_;

[download]

-- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker
Be sure to read my standard disclaimer if this is a reply.

In reply to •Re: peek - output a one-line preview of stdin by merlyn
in thread peek - output a one-line preview of stdin by halley

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