Yes, i think there is some kind of bug in there, either a documentation bug, or implementation bug, or both

perl6form doesn't have an INTeger field, so  {0>>>>>} doesn't mean zero pad (that is only documented for decimal numbers ie floats)

Also, zero padding numeric fields only shows using {]].[[} not {>>.<<} so that could be a doc bug or implementation bug (not implemented, or error not detected)

So to fill that integer field with zeros you have to use lfill right before the value ... this works

#!/usr/bin/perl --
use strict;
use warnings;
use diagnostics;
use Perl6::Form qw/ form /;

print form 
    { page => { width  => ( 44 + 1), } },
    "{<<{20}<<}|{>>>>>}", 
    "Int for Zero Pad", {lfill => '0',} ,  3 ,
    "{<<{20}<<}|{]]].[[}", 
    "Float for Zero Pad", 3.2,
    "{<<{20}<<}|{]]].[[0}", 
    "Float for Zero Pad", 3.2,
    "{<<{20}<<}|{0]]].[[0}", 
    "Float for Zero Pad", 3.2,
;;;;;
__END__
Int for Zero Pad    |0000003
Float for Zero Pad  |   3.2
Float for Zero Pad  |   3.2000
Float for Zero Pad  |00003.2000
[download]

So maybe the implementation is incomplete, doesn't do the padding, or doesn't warn about invalid field pattern .... good job finding this AnaximanderThales

Yes, having received an email back from Damian (creator/maintainer of Perl6::Form), it was completely usage issues.

For the zero-padding, you have everything mentioned. I was using it incorrectly based on your response. My issue with the float zero-padding was just the symantics. I had {0>>>.>>0} and the correcte usage is {0>>>.<<0} notice the change from > to < at the decimal point

Additionally, as AM said, there is no INT padding, so the lfill (or rfill) is the correct method.

I'm still a little confused by Damian's response on the Declarative Width ({<(5)<}), but I'm working on figuring it out.

ME:

The length give by perl shows that the field is actually 5 positions.

Damian:

No. The length of the *data* for the field is 5. :-) The *field* is the specification "{>(5)>}", which is definitely 7 characters in width (and hence invalid, since the "(5)" specifies that the surrounding field must be 5 characters wide. In other words, declarative field widths are not about validating the data to be interpolated; they are about checking that the field specification itself is consistent. In practice, declarative field widths are mostly only used for formats that have been autogenerated, as a way of checking that the field you somehow constructed is the correct width. They are not in any way about verifying the data to be formatted into a field. In fact, form() has no features for validating the data it formats. It just does its best to accommodate whatever data you through at it.

ME:

I'm curious as to why perl would say $tID is length 5 but form would say $tID is length 7.

Damian:

That's the misunderstanding in a nutshell. form() isn't saying the contents of $tID is of length 7; it's saying that the specifier for the "{>(5)>}" field into which $tID is being formatted is of length 7.

I'm mulling Damian's definition about how the declarative width field operates. It's kind of making my head swim at the moment. I'll bang away on it until that little 1/16" turn makes it slip into place in my mind.

I appreciate all the answers, and Damian's response. Thank you. @

Yeah, his docs are always novels :) see https://metacpan.org/pod/Perl6::Form#Declarative-field-widths, its what hes talking about ... this example might be clearer

field of length ten  {<<<<<<<<<}

field of length ten with CHECKSUM  {<<(10)<<<} basically the number has to match the literal length of the field including every single character like {}, basically length of the string , if it isn't, it errors (programmer made typo fix it programmer fix it)

field of length ten with TELLSUM  {<{10}<}, the length of this string is 8 characters, but the { curly braces } mean don't count characters for length, just use the number, so the field width is 10

field of length ten with TELLSUM  {<<<<<<<{10}<<<<<<<}, the length of this string is 20 characters, but the { curly braces } mean don't count characters for length, just use the number, so the field width is 10

Hey there,

Glad you got it mostly sorted out and working. I'm sorry that my quick attempt to help was off the mark. But it did relate to your outstanding question about declarative field widths. Maybe this will help:

Declarative field widths add no formatting information. The field you were talking to Damian about was this:

{>>>>>}
[download]

Clearly a field of 7 characters. There is no other information in order for this field to be used at this point. If in addition, you want an automatically validated "checksum" to ensure that the field is actually the width you intended, you can add it as a length inside parentheses:

{>(7)>}
[download]

The field is still 7 characters long, just as before. The form code will rip the "(7)" out, validate that the 7 matches the actual field length, and then logically replace it with ">>>" to restore the real format.

None of this is very useful for a field of 7 characters, it can be eyeballed as correct pretty easily. But for a field of say 50+ characters, it's nice to have a double check.

So -- the question is: am I breaking Perl6::Form by using it incorrectly? Should I be filing a bug report? Or am I just doing it wrong?

Too much data presented to answer any questions

You need to boil down your question to one function call with one set of data

my $data = Dumper output here
print form .... $data...
[download]

This is the beginning :)

Per Response, editted initial post to the basics.

Change:

"{<<{15}<<}|{>(5)>}|{><}|{<<{15}<<}|{>(5)>}%|"
[download]

to:

"{<{15}<}|{>{5}>}|{><}|{<{15}<}|{>{5}>}%|"
[download]

Update: Which only removes the error message... padding issue still remains as AM says.