Data::Dumper question

perl5ever has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

With Data::Dumper there doesn't seem to be a way to configure a Dumper object and then use it dump multiple objects. For instance, I'd like to use it this way:

use Data::Dumper;

my $d = new Data::Dumper();
$d->Terse(0)->Purity(1)->Deepcopy(1)->Indent(0);
...

print $d->Dump($this);
...
print $d->Dump($that);
...
print $d->Dump($otherthing);
...
[download]

It seems that the thing to dump is part of the constructor, so you are forced to create a new Dumper object (and configure it) every time you want to dump a different object.

Or am I missing something?

Comment on Data::Dumper question Select or Download Code

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Re: Data::Dumper question by Anonymous Monk on Apr 01, 2009 at 03:59 UTC
No, Data::Dumper is clever like that :) `sub Dump { require Data::Dumper; local $Data::Dumper::Terse=0; local $Data::Dumper::Purity=1; local $Data::Dumper::Deepcopy=1; local $Data::Dumper::Indent=0; Data::Dumper::Dumper(@_); } print Dump( $this); print Dump( $that); print Dump( $otherthing);` [download]	[reply] [d/l]
Re: Data::Dumper question by haoess (Curate) on Apr 01, 2009 at 09:54 UTC
RTFM? `$OBJ->Values([ARRAYREF])` Queries or replaces the internal array of values that will be dumped. When called without arguments, returns the values. Otherwise, returns the object itself. Update (example code): `print $d->Values([$this])->Dump(); print $d->Values([$that])->Dump(); print $d->Values([$otherthing])->Dump();` [download] -- Frank	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: Data::Dumper question by perl5ever (Pilgrim) on Apr 01, 2009 at 13:41 UTC
I guess I did overlook that. Thanks! For convenience it would be nice, though, if that capability was integrated into the `Dump` method.	[reply] [d/l]
Re^2: Data::Dumper question by perl5ever (Pilgrim) on Apr 01, 2009 at 13:39 UTC
I guess I did overlook that. Thanks!	[reply]
Re^2: Data::Dumper question by perl5ever (Pilgrim) on Apr 01, 2009 at 17:33 UTC
Here's another problem -- when you set the thing to be dumped via `Values()`, the Dumper object retains a reference to the thing to be dumped. It would be a lot nicer if it would just hold on to the dumpee only for the duration of the `Dump` call.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: Data::Dumper question by Bloodnok (Vicar) on Apr 01, 2009 at 10:02 UTC
I have to admit to, even in OO code, never using the OO interface to Data::Dumper - I use something along the lines of... `use Data::Dumper; . . print Dumper $some_ref; # Dump single structure . . # Dump multi structures - providing non-default names for each print Data::Dumper->Dump [$ref1, $ref2],[qw/ref1 ref2/];` [download] A user level that continues to overstate my experience :-))	[reply] [d/l]
Re: Data::Dumper question by ikegami (Patriarch) on Apr 01, 2009 at 07:24 UTC
It does indeed have a weird interface.	[reply]


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