NAME

Data::Print - colored pretty-print of Perl data structures and objects

SYNOPSIS

  use Data::Printer;

  my @array = qw(a b);
  $array[3] = 'c';
  
  p(@array);  # no need to pass references!

Code above will show this (with colored output):

   [
       [0] "a",
       [1] "b",
       [2] undef,
       [3] "c",
   ]

You can also inspect Objects:

    my $obj = SomeClass->new;

    p($obj);

Which might give you something like:

  \ SomeClass  {
      Parents       Moose::Object
      Linear @ISA   SomeClass, Moose::Object
      public methods (3) : bar, foo, meta
      private methods (0)
      internals: {
         _something => 42,
      }
  }
 

If for some reason you want to mangle with the output string instead of printing it in STDERR, you can export the 'd' function.

  use Data::Printer 'd';

  warn d(%some_hash);

RATIONALE

Data::Dumper is a fantastic tool, meant to stringify data structures in a way they are suitable for being eval'ed back in.

The thing is, a lot of people keep using it (and similar ones, like Data::Dump) to print data structures and objects on screen for inspection and debugging, and while you can use those modules for that, it doesn't mean mean you should.

This is where Data::Printer comes in. It is meant to do one thing and one thing only:

display Perl variables and objects on screen, properly formatted (to be inspected by a human)

If you want to serialize/store/restore Perl data structures, this module will NOT help you. Try Storable, Data::Dumper, JSON, or whatever. CPAN is full of such solutions!

WARNING - EXTREMELY BETA CODE

Volatile interface and internals. Use at your own risk :)

CAVEATS

You can't pass more than one variable at a time.

   p($foo, $bar); # wrong
   p($foo);       # right
   p($bar);       # right

You are supposed to pass variables, not anonymous structures:

   p( { foo => 'bar' } ); # wrong

   p( %somehash );        # right
   p( $hash_ref );        # also right

BUGS

If you find any, please file a bug report.

SEE ALSO

Data::Dumper

Data::Dump

Data::Dumper::Concise

Data::Dump::Streamer

Data::TreeDumper

LICENSE AND COPYRIGHT

Copyright 2011 Breno G. de Oliveira <garu at cpan.org>. All rights reserved.

This module is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. See perlartistic.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY

BECAUSE THIS SOFTWARE IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE SOFTWARE, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE SOFTWARE "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE SOFTWARE PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR, OR CORRECTION.

IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE THE SOFTWARE AS PERMITTED BY THE ABOVE LICENCE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE SOFTWARE TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER SOFTWARE), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

cpanm Data::Printer

perl -MCPAN -e shell
install Data::Printer