NAME

Perl6::Say - Implements the Perl 6 say (print-with-newline) function

SYNOPSIS

    # Perl 5 code...

    use Perl6::Say;

    say 'boo';             # same as:  print 'boo', "\n"

    say STDERR 'boo';      # same as:  print STDERR 'boo', "\n"

    STDERR->say('boo');    # same as:  print STDERR 'boo', \n"

    $fh->say('boo');       # same as:  print $fh 'boo', "\n";

DESCRIPTION

Implements a close simulation of say, the Perl 6 print-with-newline function.

Use it just like print (except that it only supports the indirect object syntax when the stream is a bareword). That is, assuming the relevant filehandles are open for output, you can use any of these:

    say @data;
    say FH @data;
    FH->say(@data);
    *FH->say(@data);
    (\*FH)->say(@data);
    $fh->say(@data);

but not any of these:

    say {FH} @data;
    say {*FH} @data;
    say {\*FH} @data;
    say $fh @data;
    say {$fh} @data;

Interaction with output record separator

In Perl 6, say honours the output stream's output record separator. That is, it only appends a newline if the output stream to which it's writing doesn't have an output record separator defined:

    # Perl 6 code...

    say $FH: "boo";      # prints: "boo\n"

    $fh.ors = "\r";
    say $FH: "boo";      # prints: "boo\r"

To emulate this behaviour as best it can, Perl6::Say::say prints a newline after printing its arguments only if $\ is undefined. If $\ is defined it prints the value in $\ after printing its arguments.

    # Perl 5 code...

    use Perl6::Say;

    say FH "boo";        # prints: "boo\n"

    local $\ = "\r";
    say FH "boo";        # prints: "boo\r"

WARNING

The syntax and semantics of Perl 6 is still being finalized and consequently is at any time subject to change. That means the same caveat applies to this module.

DEPENDENCIES

None.

AUTHOR

Damian Conway (damian@conway.org)

BUGS AND IRRITATIONS

As far as I can determine, Perl 5 doesn't allow us to create a subroutine that truly acts like print. That is, one that can simultaneously be used like so:

    say @data;

and like so:

    say {$fh} @data;

Comments, suggestions, and patches welcome.

COPYRIGHT

 Copyright (c) 2004, Damian Conway. All Rights Reserved.
 This module is free software. It may be used, redistributed
    and/or modified under the same terms as Perl itself.