How to Create Reports With Perl

Use Perl to create simple reports. Include a header with a title, page number and other important information. Perl tracks how many lines are in the report and makes a new page when needed. These reports are useful for reporting lots of data with a small text output. Create the reports using a free-form report or set a fixed format.

Instructions

1. Open your Perl application FORMAT.DAT file.

2. Enter open "(FILE, " @lines = ;
   close(FILE);." This sets the format for the report so that each entry is its own line.

3. Create the body of the Perl reports by giving Perl direction on what to report. Using a grocery list as an example, enter
   "for each (@lines) {
   chop;
   ($isle, $item, $price) = (split(/!/));
   print("Isle=$isle Item=$item Price=$price\n");
   }"

4. Use this format if the database items are all complete. If there are items missing, the format won't account for the missing items. See the example:
   Isle=5 Item= Price=
   Isle=2 Item=Oranges Price=0.32
   Isle=7 Item=Potato Chips Price=2.95
   Isle=9 Item=Light Bulbs Price=2.50

5. Write the list another way if you want a fixed-width format. Use the code
   "for each (@lines) {

   chop;

   ($isle, $item, $price) = (split(/!/));

   $isle = "" if !defined($isle); These lines assign null

   $item = "" if !defined($item); strings if no info is

   $price = "" if !defined($price); present in the record.

   print("Isle=$isle Item=$item Price=$price\n");

   }"

6. Output the created Perl reports similar to the following example:
   Isle=5 Item= Price=
   Isle=2 Item=Oranges Price=0.32
   Isle=7 Item=Potato Chips Price=2.95
   Isle=9 Item=Light Bulbs Price=2.50

Resources

• The Perl website
• Comprehensive Perl Archive Network website