I'm still developing VarStructor 1.0, and I'm thinking of adding the ability to display or save-to-file a table with columns containing a list of variables and their values for each iteration of the loop in which VarStructor is called, such as:

Loop_Count = 1        Loop_Count = 2        Loop_Count = 3

$abc = aval1          $abc = aval2          $abc = aval3
$bce = bval1          $bce = bval2          $bce = bval2
[download]

This could become difficult to read and navigate for long values, so I'm considering putting long values in some kind of text box with a scroll bar. The text boxes would all be the same size so everything will line up. I could do this with CGI, but I don't know how acceptable that would be for the average programmer.

Other methods I know of require ANSI escape sequences, which XP's command prompt doesn't support, and Curses stuff, which I know nothing about and looks complicated. Both are mentioned here.

Then there's plain old console output with the table formed with nothing but tabs and newlines.

Which method should I use? Does Tie::History already do this easily enough, or is there hope for my module?

---

---

• Are you posting in the right place? Check out Where do I post X? to know for sure.
• Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags. Currently these include the following:

  <code> <a> <b> <big> <blockquote> <br /> <dd> <dl> <dt> <em> <font> <h1> <h2> <h3> <h4> <h5> <h6> <hr /> <i> <li> <nbsp> <ol> <p> <small> <strike> <strong> <sub> <sup> <table> <td> <th> <tr> <tt> <u> <ul>

• Snippets of code should be wrapped in <code> tags not <pre> tags. In fact, <pre> tags should generally be avoided. If they must be used, extreme care should be taken to ensure that their contents do not have long lines (<70 chars), in order to prevent horizontal scrolling (and possible janitor intervention).
• Want more info? How to link or How to display code and escape characters are good places to start.