NAME

Datify - Simple stringification of data.

VERSION

version 0.14.132

SYNOPSIS

use Datify;

my $datify = Datify->new( ... );   # See Options below
$datify = $datify->set( ... );     # See Options below

print $datify->varify( data => [...] ), "\n";  # "@data = (...);\n"

# Or

print Datify->varify( data => [...] ), "\n";
# "@data = (...);\n"

DESCRIPTION

Datify is very similar to Data::Dumper, except that it's easier to use, has better formatting and options, and is invented here.

Options

The following options can be set as part of new or with set. The default values are listed below.

Varify options

name => '$self'

The neame of the default variable. This is also set as the first parameter to varify.

assign => '$var = $value;'

What an assignment statement should look like. If the generated code is to be run under use strict;, then you may want to change this to 'my $var = $value;'.

list => '($_)'

The delimiters for a list.

beautify => undef

Set this to a sub reference that you would like to use to beautify the code. It should accept the code as the first parameter, process it, and return the code after all the beauty modifications have been completed.

An example:

use Datify;
use Perl::Tidy;

sub beautify {
    my $source = shift;

    Perl::Tidy::perltidy(
        source      => \$source,
        destination => \my $dest,
        stderr      => \my $stderr,
        errorfile   => \$stderr,
    ) && die $stderr;

    return $dest;
}

Datify->set( beautify => \&beautify );

say Datify->varify( var => $var );

Undefify options

null => 'undef'

What to use as the null value.

Booleanify options

true => 1

false => "''"

What to use as the values for true and false, respectively. Since Perl does not have native boolean values, these are placeholders.

Stringify options

quote => undef

What to use as the default quote character. If set to a false value, then use the best guess. See stringify below.

quote1 => "'"

The default single-quoting character.

quote2 => '"'

The default double-quoting character.

q1 => 'q'

The special single-quoting character starter.

q2 => 'qq'

The special double-quoting character starter.

sigils => '$@'

TODO

longstr => 1_000

How long a string needs to be before it's considered long. See stringify below. Change to a false value to mean no string is long. Change to a negative value to mean every string is long.

encode => { 0 => '\0', 7 => '\a', 9 => '\t', 10 => '\n', 12 => '\f', 13 => '\r', 27 => '\e', 255 => '\x%02x', 65535 => '\x{%04x}' }

How to encode characters that need encoding.

qpairs => [ qw\ () <> [] {} \ ]

qquotes => [ qw\ ! # % & * + , - . / : ; = ? ^ | ~ $ @ ` \ ]

When determining the quote character to use, go through these lists to see which character would work best.

LValueify options

lvalue => 'substr($lvalue, 0)'

How to generate a LValue.

VStringify options

vformat => 'v%vd'

vsep => undef

The formatting string to use. If vsep is set, then vformat should use the * format to inidicate what vsep will be: vformat => 'v%*vd', vsep => '.'.

Numify options

num_sep => '_'

What character to use to seperate sets of numbers.

Refify options

reference => '\\$_'

dereference => '$referent->$place'

nested => '$referent$place'

Regexpify options

quote3 => '/'

q3 => 'qr'

Hashify options

hash_ref => '{$_}'

pair => '$key => $value'

keysort => \&Datify::keysort

keywords => [qw(undef)]

Arrayify options

array_ref => '[$_]'

list_sep => ', '

Objectify options

object => 'bless($data, $class_str)'

io => '*UNKNOWN{IO}'

Codeify options

code => 'sub {...}'

Methods

new( name => value, name => value, ... )

Create a Datify object with the following options.

set( name => value, name => value, ... )

Change the Options settings. When called as a class method, changes default options. When called as an object method, changes the settings and returns a new object.

NOTE: When called as a method on an object, this returns a new instance with the values set, so you will need to capture the return if you'd like to persist the change:

$datify = $datify->set( ... );

get( name, name, ... )

Get one or more existing values for one or more settings. If passed no names, returns all values.

varify( name => value, value, ... )

Returns an assignment statement for the values. If name does not begin with a sigil ($, @, or %), will determine which sigil to use based on values.

Some examples:

Common case, determine the type and add the correct sigil to 'foo'.

Datify->varify(   foo  => $foo )

Specify the type.

Datify->varify( '$foo' => $foo )

Handle a list: @foo = (1, 2, 3);

Datify->varify( '@foo' =>   1, 2, 3   )
Datify->varify( '@foo' => [ 1, 2, 3 ] )
Datify->varify(   foo  =>   1, 2, 3   )
Datify->varify(   foo  => [ 1, 2, 3 ] )

Handle a hash: %foo = (a => 1, b => 2, c => 3); (Note: Order may be rearranged.)

Datify->varify( '%foo' =>   a => 1, b => 2, c => 3   )
Datify->varify( '%foo' => { a => 1, b => 2, c => 3 } )
Datify->varify(   foo  => { a => 1, b => 2, c => 3 } )

Keep in mind that without proper hints, this would be interpretted as a list, not a hash:

Datify->varify(   foo  =>   a => 1, b => 2, c => 3   )
# "@foo = ('a', 1, 'b', 2, 'c', 3);"

undefify

Returns the string that should be used for an undef value.

booleanify( value )

Returns the string that represents the true or false interpretation of value.

stringify1( value, delimiters )

Returns the string that represents value as a single-quoted string. The delimiters parameter is optional.

stringify2( value, delimiters )

Returns the string that represents value as a double-quoted string. The delimiters parameter is optional.

stringify( value )

Returns the string the represents value. It will be a double-quoted string if it is longer than the longstr option or contains control characters. It will be a single-quoted string unless there are single-quotes within the string, then it will be a double-quoted string, unless it also contains double-quotes within the string, then it will attempt to find the best quote character.

numify( value )

Returns value with seperators between the hundreds and thousands, hundred-thousands and millions, etc. Similarly for the fractional parts.

Datify->numify(1234.5678901) # "1_234.56_789_01"

scalarify( value )

Returns value as a scalar. If value is not a reference, performs some magic to correctly print vstrings and numbers, otherwise assumes it's a string. If value is a reference, hands off to the correct function to create the string.

Handles reference loops.

lvalueify( value )

vstringify( value )

regexpify( value, delimiters )

listify( value, value, ... )

Returns value(s) as a list.

Datify->listify( 1, 2, 3 ) # '1, 2, 3'

arrayify( value, value, ... )

Returns value(s) as an array.

Datify->arrayify( 1, 2, 3 ) # '[1, 2, 3]'

keyify( value )

Returns value as a key. If value does not need to be quoted, it will not be. Verifies that value is not a keyword.

pairify( value, value, ... )

Returns value(s) as a pair.

Datify->pairify( a => 1, b => 2 ) # 'a => 1, b => 2'

hashify( value, value, ... )

Returns value(s) as a hash.

Datify->hashify( a => 1, b => 2 ) # '{a => 1, b => 2}'

objectify( value )

Returns value as an object.

Datify->objectify( $object ) # "bless({}, 'Object')"

codeify( value )

Returns a subroutine definition that is not likely to encode value.

Datify->codeify( \&subroutine ) # 'sub {...}'

refify( value )

Returns value as reference.

formatify( value )

TODO

globify( value )

TODO

BUGS

No known bugs.

TODO

• Handle formats.

• Handle globs

AUTHOR

Bob Kleemann

SEE ALSO

Data::Dumper