#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;
use warnings;

my $len = $ARGV[0];
my $cur = 10;

print "|---+----";
while ($cur < $len) {
    my $prn = $cur % 100 ? $cur % 100 : $cur;
    my $sep = substr "|----+----", length($prn);
    print $prn, $sep;
    $cur += 10;
}
print "|\n";
[download]

~/tmp$ perl ruler.pl 50
|---+----10---+----20---+----30---+----40---+----|
~/tmp$ perl ruler.pl 140
|---+----10---+----20---+----30---+----40---+----50---+----60---+----70---+----80---+----90---+----100--+----10---+----20---+----30---+----|

  DB<82> p join "+", map { $b =$_ %10; $a = sprintf "----%s--", $b ? "
+${b}0-" : "${_}0" } 8..12
----80---+----90---+----100--+----10---+----20---
[download]

could be shorter but I'm tired! ;-)

My current way of generating such an on-screen ruler is that I display position digits for the 100s, 10s, and 1s places vertically on (n % 5) except for the 1s place, where I display a pipe ('|') on (n % 10), a plus ('+') on (n % 5), or the value of (n % 10) otherwise. (Whitespace added to improve readability in <code> segment.)

perl -le '
my $n = shift @ARGV; $n = 80 unless ( defined $n ); my @place; foreach
+ my $i ( 1 .. $n ) { $place[2] .= ( ( $i >= 100 and ! ($i % 5) ) ?   
+int( $i / 100 ) % 10 : q{ } ); $place[1] .= ( ( $i >= 10 and ! ( $i %
+ 5 ) ) ? int( $i / 10 ) % 10 : q{ } ); $place[0] .= ( ! ( $i % 10 ) ?
+ q{|} : ( ! ( $i % 5 ) ? q{+} : $i % 10 ) ); } foreach my $s (       
+ reverse @place ) { print $s; }' 60
[download]

         1    1    2    2    3    3    4    4    5    5    6
1234+6789|1234+6789|1234+6789|1234+6789|1234+6789|1234+6789|
[download]

Hope that helps.

join map sprintf:

use 5.10.0;
$_=join"+",map{$n=$_*10;sprintf"    %-5s",$n%100||$n}1..22;
s/ /-/g; # replace blanks with dashes
s/-/|/;  # make first dash into a pipe sign
$_.='|'; # add pipe sign to the end
say;
__END__
|---10---+----20---+----30---+----40---+----50---+----60---+----70---+
+----80---+----90---+----100--+----10---+----20---+----30---+----40---
++----50---+----60---+----70---+----80---+----90---+----200--+----10--
+-+----20---|
[download]

Thank you shmem. I think this is the one I will go with. I tweaked your entry a little to get the first 5 characters right.

use 5.10.0;
$_=join"+",map{my $n=$_*10;sprintf"    %-5s",$n%100||$n}1..22;
s/ /|   + /;  # make first blank a pipe sign
s/ /-/g;      # replace blanks with dashes
$_.='|';      # add pipe sign to the end
say;
__END__
[download]

"It's not how hard you work, it's how much you get done."

  DB<111> $p = '|----+----'

  DB<112> p map { $a=$p; substr $a,0,length($_),$_ ;$a} "", map {$b=$_
+%10; $b ? $b*10 :$_*10 } 1..22
|----+----10---+----20---+----30---+----40---+----50---+----60---+----
+70---+----80---+----90---+----100--+----10---+----20---+----30---+---
+-40---+----50---+----60---+----70---+----80---+----90---+----200--+--
+--10---+----20---+----

  DB<113> p map { $a=$p; substr $a,0,length($_),$_ ;$a} "",map $_*10, 
+map {1..9, $_*10} 1..2
|----+----10---+----20---+----30---+----40---+----50---+----60---+----
+70---+----80---+----90---+----100--+----10---+----20---+----30---+---
+-40---+----50---+----60---+----70---+----80---+----90---+----200--+--
+--

  DB<121> p map { $a=length; $p =~ s/.{$a}/$_/r} "", map {$b=$_%10; $b
+ ? $b*10 :$_*10 } 1..22
|----+----10---+----20---+----30---+----40---+----50---+----60---+----
+70---+----80---+----90---+----100--+----10---+----20---+----30---+---
+-40---+----50---+----60---+----70---+----80---+----90---+----200--+--
+--10---+----20---+----
[download]

update

the initial pattern is buggy, replacing $p = '|---+----' would fix it.

Sorry for the wrap-around.

c:\@Work\Perl\monks>perl -wMstrict -le
"my $old =
   '|---+----10---+----20---+----30---+----40---+----50---+----60---+-
+---70---+----80---+----90---+----100--+----10---+-
---20---+----30---+----40---+----50---+----60---+----70---+----80---+-
+---90---+----200--+----10---+----20---+----';
 print qq{>$old<};
 ;;
 my $fill = '--+----';
 ;;
 my $new = qq{|-$fill};
 $new .= grad($_*10) . $fill for 1 .. 22;
 die 'nope' unless $new eq $old;
 print qq{>$new<};
 ;;
 sub grad { return $_[0] % 100 ? $_[0]%100 . '-' : $_[0]; }
"
>|---+----10---+----20---+----30---+----40---+----50---+----60---+----
+70---+----80---+----90---+----100--+----10---+----
20---+----30---+----40---+----50---+----60---+----70---+----80---+----
+90---+----200--+----10---+----20---+----<
>|---+----10---+----20---+----30---+----40---+----50---+----60---+----
+70---+----80---+----90---+----100--+----10---+----
20---+----30---+----40---+----50---+----60---+----70---+----80---+----
+90---+----200--+----10---+----20---+----<
[download]

#!/usr/bin/perl -l

# https://www.perlmonks.org/?node_id=11105908

use strict;
use warnings;

my $len = $ARGV[0];

my $new = '----+----|';

$_ = $new x $len;

my $i = 0;
my $ii;

s/
    \|
    (??{ 
        $i += 10;
        $ii = $i =~ s!.*(?=[^0])!!r;
        quotemeta '-' x ( -1 + length $ii );
        })
    /
    $ii
    /gex;

s/./|/;

print;
[download]

|---+----10---+----20---+----30---+----40---+----50---+----60---+----7
+0---+----80---+----90---+----100--+----10---+----20---+----30---+----
+40---+----50---+----60---+----70---+----80---+----90---+----200--+---
+-10---+----20---+----|
[download]

#!/usr/bin/perl -l

# https://www.perlmonks.org/?node_id=11105908

use strict;
use warnings;

my $len = $ARGV[0];

my $new = '----+----0';

$_ = $new x $len;

my $i = 0;

my $space = '-' x 4;
my $space_quotemeta = quotemeta $space;

s/
    $space_quotemeta
    (?= 0 )
    /
    $i ++;
    my $ii = $i =~ s!.*(?=[^0])!!r;
    $space =~ s! (??{ quotemeta '-' x length $ii }) $ !$ii!xr;
    /gex;

s/./|/;

print;
[download]

|---+---10----+---20----+---30----+---40----+---50----+---60----+---70
+----+---80----+---90----+--100----+---10----+---20----+---30----+---4
+0----+---50----+---60----+---70----+---80----+---90----+--200----+---
+10----+---20----+---30
[download]