here's the code in a full script with a few test runs. below is output, and an explanation of what i did.

#!/usr/local/bin/perl -w
use strict;
$|=1;

sub StatusBar {
    my %args = @_;

    # test for must-have values (cur, max, size)
    unless( defined($args{cur}) ) { die("cur not defined"); }
    unless( defined($args{max}) ) { die("max not defined"); }
    if( defined($args{size}) ) {
        $args{size} = int( $args{size} )
    } else {
        die("size not defined");
    }

    # make sure cur <= max
    unless( $args{cur} <= $args{max} ) { die("cur greater than max"); 
+}

    # compute percentage level ( cur / max )
    my $level = $args{cur} / $args{max};

    # compute number of dots to display ( level * size ), return integ
+er part
    # WARNING!!! int() truncates a number, does not round
    my $numdots = int( $level * $args{size} );

    # print status bar
    defined($args{pre}) && print "$args{pre}\t";
    print "[", 
        "." x $numdots,
        " " x ( $args{size} - $numdots ), 
        "]";
    if($args{disp}) {
        $args{disp} && printf(" (%3.2f%%)", ($level*100));
    }
    defined($args{post}) && print " $args{post}\n";
}

# create hash of standard arguments
my %standard_args = (
    pre  => "begin",
    max  => 100,
    size => 10,
    disp => 1,
    post => "end",
);

# test 1, standard call
StatusBar(
    pre  => "begin",
    cur  => 79,
    max  => 100,
    size => 10,
    disp => 1,
    post => "end",
);

# test 2, use %standard_args, override max, add cur
StatusBar(
    %standard_args,
    cur  => 72.5,
    max  => 91,
);

# test 3, standard call with different values
StatusBar(
    pre  => "begin",
    cur  => 41,
    max  => 90,
    size => 15,
    disp => 0,
    post => "end",
);

# test 4, standard call
StatusBar(
    pre  => "begin",
    cur  => 7,
    max  => 90,
    size => 14,
    disp => 1,
    post => "end",
);

# # uncomment these to test errors
# test 5, cur > max
# StatusBar(
#     cur  => 20,
#     max  => 10,
#     size => 11,
# );
# 
# test 6, cur not passed
# StatusBar(
#     max  => 100,
#     size => 10,
#     disp => 1,
# );
[download]

begin   [.......   ] (79.00%) end
begin   [.......   ] (79.67%) end
begin   [......        ] (45.56%) end
begin   [.             ] (7.78%) end
[download]

i used a hash for input for a few reasons:
1> it's more readable, therefore, more supportable. hash key/value pairs make the information passed to the subroutine call easier to understand.
2> it's more flexible. you can create a hash of standard arguments, and add to or overwrite the standard values as they're passed to the subroutine.
3> it's more perlish.

i added a bit of error checking, to give you a general idea, but you might want to do more. bounds checking, verifying your input are valid numbers, etc.

i modified the print statement a bit, by using a little perlish trick, print "." x $numdots;.

your idea was a good one, and keep working on your code. i'll probably find use for this in a few of my applications; my users are always looking for more status information.

~Particle