/ 
Data-Display-0.02
River stage zero No dependents
/ Data::Display

NAME

Data::Display - Perl extension for formating and displaying array.

SYNOPSIS

use Data::Display;

$dsp = Data::Display->new($drf, $crf, $ech, %arg);
$dsp->skip_first_row;           # i,e. 1st row contains col names
$dsp->set_skip_first_row(1);    # is the same as the above       
$dsp->set_field_sep($ech);      # default is a space
$dsp->set_data_ref($drf);       # ref to an array containing data
$dsp->set_cols_ref($crf);       # ref to an array containing col defs
$dsp->set_col_width($fld,$wd,$col,$wd,...);
$dsp->add_col_def($col,'typ:max:min:dec:dft:req');     # append
$dsp->add_col_def($idx,'col:typ:max:min:dec:dft:req'); # isert
$dsp->mod_col_def($fld,'typ:max:min:dec:dft:req');

$rc      = $dsp->get_skip_first_row;
$rc      = $dsp->get_first_row; # the same as the above

$ary_ref = $dsp->get_column_defs_arrayref($drf,$ech);
@ary     = $dsp->get_column_defs(\@ary,$ech);  # $yn: display? 

$str     = $dsp->get_col_width();              # get format string
@ary     = $dsp->get_col_width($fld,$col,...); # a list of width
($cfs, $dfs) = $dsp->get_col_width();   
($cfs, $dfs) = $dsp->get_format_string($crf,$sep,$ech);

$str     = $dsp->get_content($drf,$crf,$typ,$ech); 
$str     = $dsp->get_content($typ,$ech);       # use ary refs 

$rv      = $dsp->get_no_of_fields;
$rv      = $dsp->get_no_of_columns;
$rv      = $dsp->get_no_of_rows;
$rv      = $dsp->get_no_of_records;
($rows, $cols) = $dsp->get_dimension($drf); 
($rows, $cols) = $dsp->get_dimension;

Notation and Conventions

$dsp    a display object
$drf    data array reference
$crf    column definition array reference
$ech    whether to echo messages or contents
$cfs    column heading format string 
$dfs    data content format string
$sep    field separator character
$typ    output type, text, html, etc.

$drh    Driver handle object (rarely seen or used in applications)
$h      Any of the $??h handle types above
$rc     General Return Code  (boolean: true=ok, false=error)
$rv     General Return Value (typically an integer)
@ary    List of values returned from the database, typically a row 
        of data
$rows   Number of rows processed (if available, else -1)
$fh     A filehandle
undef   NULL values are represented by undefined values in perl
\%attr  Reference to a hash of attribute values passed to methods

DESCRIPTION

This is my first object-oriented Perl program. The Display module will scan through each records and fields in the array to collect information about the content in the array. It creates a column definition array, builds formating strings, and display the contents nicely.

The column definition array built by the module is actually an array with hash members. It contains these hash elements ('col', 'typ', 'max', 'min', 'dec', 'req' and 'dsp') for each column. The subscripts in the array are in the format of $ary[$col_seq]{$hash_ele}. The hash elements are: col - column name typ - column type, 'N' for numeric, 'C' for characters, and 'D' for date max - maximum length of the records in the column (could use 'wid' to record the max length of the records.) min - minimum length of the record in the column (When 'wid' is used, no 'min' is needed.) dft - date format such as YYYY/MM/DD, MON/DD/YYYY, etc. dec - maximun decimal length of the record in the column req - whether there is null or zero length records in the column only 'NOT NULL is shown dsp - description of the columns

The array passed to the module can have the first row containing column names or have a separate array containing column definitions. It has to be in the same format of the array that we describe in the above if it is referenced to a out side array.

It also creates and tracks a format information. The format information contains in a separate array, which has exactly the same element as the column definition array.

It has many "set" and "get" methods to assign and to query data contained in the object. Here is the list of methods:

the constructor new($drf, $crf, $ech, %arg)

Without any input, i.e., new(), the constructor generates an empty object. If any argument is provided, the constructor expects them in the right order.

skip_first_row/set_first_row(1)

This method indicates that the first row in the array contains column names. The default is false.

get_skip_first_row/get_first_row

This method checks the indicator for the first row data, i.e., whether it contains column names.

set_field_sep($ech)/get_field_sep

This method sets/gets output field separator. The default separator is a space(" ").

set_data_ref($drf)/get_data_ref

This method sets/gets data array reference. The records in the array that the ref points to are used to determine column definitions and to be displayed.

set_cols_ref($crf)/get_cols_ref

This method sets/gets column array reference. The array contains column name, column type, column max length, column min length, column decimal length, and column constraints.

get_column_defs_arrayref($drf, $ech)

This method gets the reference pointing to the column definition array. If new data array reference is specified, it gets the definition for the data array. It does not change the internal attributes defined for the object, so you can pass any data array reference to this method without touching the internal attributes in the object. Actually, all the get methods do not change anything in the object.

get_column_defs($drf, $ech)

This method get the contents in the column definition array. If no input column array ref and no column names in the first row, it generates sequential column names such as "FLD001", "FLD002, etc. If $ech is specified, it will display the content of the column definition array.

disp_col_defs($crf)

This method displays the content of column definition array in a nice format.

set_col_width/get_col_width($cp,$v1,$cn,$v2,...)

This method sets/gets the max length of columns based on column position ($cp) or column names ($cn). The column position is zero based. The default is the same as the column definition array. The get method without any argument returns the Perl format string based on modified column max width. If no modification, the returned format string is the same as that from get_format_ string.

get_format_string($crf,$sep,$ech)

This method gets the Perl format string. It is created based on the column format array.

get_content($drf,$crt,$typ,$ech)

This method gets the formated contents from the data array. It uses the separator to divide fields. If $drf and $crf are not provided, this method will get them from the attributes in the object. The $typ sepcifies what type of output format will be, currently only "text" is available. If $ech is specified, the content will also be displayed.

get_no_of_fields/get_no_of_columns

This method gets number of fields (columns) in the data array.

get_no_of_rows/get_no_of_records

This method gets number of rows (records) in the data array.

get_dimension($drf)

This method gets number of rows and columns in the data array or the array ref passed to this method.

add_col_def($fld, $col_def)

This method add or construct column definition array. You can either append to the end of the column def array or insert into the position that you specified. It takes two inputs: column name or index and column definitions. If column name is specified in the first input, it will try to append the column and its defintion to the end of the array. If the first input is the column position, then it inserts the definiton after the position specified. You can use two format to define column, i.e., camma delimited values or comma delimited hash assignment. In camma delimited value format, the vlaues have to be in the exact order in 'col:typ:max:min:dec:dft:req'. In hash assignment format, order is not an issue. For instance, 'max=>5:typ=D:dft=>YYYY/MM/DD'. The column name or column index are checked before any insertion is commited. You can add as many columns as you like in one run, just be cautious when you insert columns. You may not get the position that you desire since array's index changes once you have inserted column definiton in it.

mod_col_def($fld, $col_def)

This method modifies the existing column definitons in the column definiton array. You can use the same ways and formats described in the add_col_def method.

How to create a display object?

If you have an array @ary and column array @C, you can create a display object as the following:

$dsp = Data::Display->new(\@ary,\@C);

This is equivalent to

$dsp = Data::Display->new();
$dsp->set_data_ref(\@ary);
$dsp->set_cols_ref(\@C);

If you do not have column array, you can generate it as the following:

$col_ref = $dsp->get_column_defs_arrayref(\@ary); 
$dsp->set_cols_ref($col_ref);

You can set a hash to define your object attributes and create it as the following:

%attr = (
  'field_sep'       => ':',    # output field separator
   'skip_first_row' => 1,      # 1st row has col names
   'data_ref'       => \@ary,  # array_ref for data
   'cols_ref'       => \@C,    # array_ref for col defs
  );
$dsp = Data::Display->new(%attr);

How is the column definition generated?

If the first row in the data array contains column names, it uses the column names in the row to define the column definition array. The column type is determined by searching all the records in the data array. If all the records in the column only do not contain non-digits, i.e., only [0-9.], the column is defined as numeric ('N'); otherwise, it is defined as character ('C'). No other data types such as date are searched currently.

If the first row does not contain column names and no column definition array is provided, the get_column_defs or get_column_defs_arrayref will generate field names as "FLD###". The "###" is a sequential number starting with 1. If the minimum length of a column is zero, then the value in the column can be null; if the minimum length is greater than zero, then it is a required column.

The default indicator for the first row is false, i.e., the first row does not contain column names. You can indicate whether the first row in the data array is column names by using skip_first_row or set_skip_first_row to set it.

$dsp->skip_first_row;
$dsp->set_skip_first_row(1);    # the same as the above
$dsp->set_first_row(1);         # the same as the above
$dsp->set_skip_first_row('Y');  # the same effect 
$dsp->set_first_row('Y');       # the same as the above

To reverse it, here is how to

$dsp->set_skip_first_row(0);    # no column in the first row
$dsp->set_first_row(0);         # the same as the above
$dsp->set_skip_first_row('');   # the same effect 
$dsp->set_first_row('');        # the same as the above

How to change the array references in the display object

You can pass data and column definition array references to display objects using the object constructor new or using the set methods:

$dsp = Data::Display->new($arf, $crf); 
$dsp->set_data_ref(\@new_array);
$dsp->set_cols_ref(\@new_defs);

How to access the object?

You can get the information from the object through all the get methods described above.

How to add column definitons?

You can add column definitions to the existing definition array using method add_col_def through two ways: append or insert.

$dsp = Data::Display->new($arf, $crf); 
$dsp->add_col_def('ColX','D:18:10::YYYY/MM/DD:NOT NULL');  # append 
$dsp->add_col_def(2,'max=>18:col=>ColX:typ=>D');           # insert

You can use two formats as you already see from the above examples: list or hash. In the value list format, you must follow the order of 'col:typ:max:min:dec:dft:req'. You can add multiple columns at once. You can pre-create an array and pass the whole array to the method. Here is an example:

@cols = ( 'ColX', 'D:18:10::YYYY/MM/DD:NOT NULL',
           '2',   'max=>18:col=>ColX:typ=>D',
          'ColY', 'max=>15:typ=>N:dec=>2',
           '4',   'C:20:0::::'
        );
$dsp->add_col_def(@cols);

The column name and position will be checked before inserting new columns. If the column name exist or the position is out of the range of the existing column definition array, the insertion for the column will be ignored. Please also note that positions are changed based on previous insertions.

How to modify column definitons?

You can modify the existing column definitions using method add_col_def through two ways (append and insert) and two formats (list and hash) just as described in the adding column definitons section.

Future Implementation

Although it seems a simple task, it requires a lot of thinking to get it working in an object-oriented frame. Intented future implementation includes

  • add more output type such as HTML table.

  • a sync method

    This method will be used to syncronize the data, definition and format array references.

  • a debugger option

    A method can also be implemented to turn on/off the debugger.

  • a logger option

    This option will allow output and/or debbuging information to be logged.

AUTHOR

Hanming Tu, hanming_tu@yahoo.com

CODING HISTORY

  • Version 0.02: 12/14/2000 - First enhancement

    1) added date datatype; 
2) added add_col_def method;
3) added mod_col_def method; 
4) added disp_col_defs method.

  • Version 0.01: 05/10/2000 - Initial coding

SEE ALSO (some of docs that I check often)

perltoot(1), perlobj(1), perlbot(1), perlsub(1), perldata(1), perlsub(1), perlmod(1), perlmodlib(1), perlref(1), perlreftut(1).