


Text::Wrap(3p)   Perl Programmers Reference Guide  Text::Wrap(3p)


NAME
       Text::Wrap - line wrapping to form simple paragraphs

SYNOPSIS
       Example 1

               use Text::Wrap

               $initial_tab = "\t";    # Tab before first line
               $subsequent_tab = "";   # All other lines flush left

               print wrap($initial_tab, $subsequent_tab, @text);
               print fill($initial_tab, $subsequent_tab, @text);

               @lines = wrap($initial_tab, $subsequent_tab, @text);

               @paragraphs = fill($initial_tab, $subsequent_tab, @text);

       Example 2

               use Text::Wrap qw(wrap $columns $huge);

               $columns = 132;         # Wrap at 132 characters
               $huge = 'die';
               $huge = 'wrap';
               $huge = 'overflow';

       Example 3

               use Text::Wrap

               $Text::Wrap::columns = 72;
               print wrap('', '', @text);


DESCRIPTION
       Text::Wrap::wrap() is a very simple paragraph formatter.
       It formats a single paragraph at a time by breaking lines
       at word boundries.  Indentation is controlled for the
       first line ("$initial_tab") and all subsquent lines
       ("$subsequent_tab") independently.  Please note: "$ini-
       tial_tab" and "$subsequent_tab" are the literal strings
       that will be used: it is unlikley you would want to pass
       in a number.

       Lines are wrapped at "$Text::Wrap::columns" columns.
       "$Text::Wrap::columns" should be set to the full width of
       your output device.  In fact, every resulting line will
       have length of no more than "$columns - 1".

       Beginner note: In example 2, above "$columns" is imported
       into the local namespace, and set locally.  In example 3,
       "$Text::Wrap::columns" is set in its own namespace without
       importing it.



2001-05-24                 perl v5.6.1                          1





Text::Wrap(3p)   Perl Programmers Reference Guide  Text::Wrap(3p)


       When words that are longer than "$columns" are encoun-
       tered, they are broken up.  "wrap()" adds a ""\n"" at col-
       umn "$columns".  This behavior can be overridden by set-
       ting "$huge" to 'die' or to 'overflow'.  When set to
       'die', large words will cause "die()" to be called.  When
       set to 'overflow', large words will be left intact.

       Text::Wrap::fill() is a simple multi-paragraph formatter.
       It formats each paragraph separately and then joins them
       together when it's done.  It will destory any whitespace
       in the original text.  It breaks text into paragraphs by
       looking for whitespace after a newline.  In other respects
       it acts like wrap().

       When called in list context, "wrap()" will return a list
       of lines and "fill()" will return a list of paragraphs.

       Historical notes: Older versions of "wrap()" and "fill()"
       always returned strings.  Also, 'die' used to be the
       default value of "$huge".  Now, 'wrap' is the default
       value.

EXAMPLE
               print wrap("\t","","This is a bit of text that forms
                       a normal book-style paragraph");


AUTHOR
       David Muir Sharnoff <muir@idiom.com> with help from Tim
       Pierce and many many others.



























2001-05-24                 perl v5.6.1                          2


