NAME

Sys::OutPut -- Perl module to help make output easier.

SYNOPSIS

  usage Sys::OutPut;

  talk $fmtstr [, @args];

  out  $fmtstr [, @args];

  put  $fmtstr [, @args];

  err  $fmtstr [, @args];

  debug $fmtstr [, @args];

  $Sys::OutPut::quiet = $::quiet;

  $Sys::OutPut::debug = $::debug;

DESCRIPTION

These subroutines will make generating output to STDOUT and STDERR easier.

All of the routines treat the $fmtstr argument as a printf format string, with @args as the format string arguments.

The talk routine generates output to STDERR only if the variable $Sys::OutPut::quiet is non-null and non-zero.

The out routine generates output to STDOUT, with a newline appended to <$fmtstr>, if it is not already terminated with one.

The put routine generates output to STDOUT, without any additional trailing newline.

The err routine generates output to STDERR, with a newline appended if needed.

The debug routine generates output to STDERR only if the variable $Sys::OutPut::debug is non-null and non-zero, which is also returned as the result. This allows for convenient usages such as in the following example:

    sub foo {
        ...
        return if debug "Stopping now.";
        ...
        next if debug "Skipping further processing";
        ...
    }

If not defined by the user, the $Sys::OutPut::quiet and $Sys::OutPut::debug variables are initialized from their corresponding main variables $::quiet and $::debug, respectively, unless they are already defined.

AUTHOR

Alan K. Stebbens <aks@sgi.com>

BUGS