sub _dump { my $path = shift; return _dump_node( $path ) if ref($path) eq 'HASH'; my $dump = '['; my $d; my $nr = 0; for $d( @$path ) { $dump .= ' ' if $nr++; if( ref($d) eq 'HASH' ) { $dump .= _dump_node($d); } elsif( ref($d) eq 'ARRAY' ) { $dump .= _dump($d); } elsif( defined $d ) { $dump .= ( ($d =~ /\s/ or not length $d) ? qq{'$d'} : $d ); } else { $dump .= '*'; } } $dump . ']'; } sub _dump_node { my $node = shift; my $dump = '{'; my $nr = 0; my $n; for $n (sort keys %$node) { $dump .= ' ' if $nr++; if( $n eq '' and not defined $node->{$n} ) { $dump .= '*'; } else { $dump .= "$n=>" . ( ref($node->{$n}) eq 'ARRAY' ? _dump($node->{$n}) : $node->{$n} ); } } $dump . '}'; }