NAME

Data::TreeDumper - Improved replacement for Data::Dumper. Powerful filtering capability.

SYNOPSIS

  use Data::TreeDumper ;
  
  my $sub = sub {} ;
  
  my $s = 
  {
  A => 
        {
        a => 
                {
                }
        , bbbbbb => $sub
        , c123 => $sub
        , d => \$sub
        }
        
  , C =>
        {
        b =>
                {
                a => 
                        {
                        a => 
                                {
                                }
                                
                        , b => sub
                                {
                                }
                        , c => 42
                        }
                        
                }
        }
  , ARRAY => [qw(elment_1 element_2 element_3)]
  } ;
    
  
  #-------------------------------------------------------------------
  # package setup data
  #-------------------------------------------------------------------
  
  $Data::TreeDumper::Useascii = 0 ;
  $Data::TreeDumper::Maxdepth = 2 ;
  
  print DumpTree($s, 'title') ;
  print DumpTree($s, 'title', MAX_DEPTH => 1) ;
  print DumpTrees
          (
            [$s, "title", MAX_DEPTH => 1]
          , [$s2, "other_title", DISPLAY_ADDRESS => 0]
          , USE_ASCII => 1
          , MAX_DEPTH => 5
          ) ;

Output

  title:
  |- A [H1]
  |  |- a [H2]
  |  |- bbbbbb = CODE(0x8139fa0) [C3]
  |  |- c123 [C4 -> C3]
  |  `- d [R5]
  |     `- REF(0x8139fb8) [R5 -> C3]
  |- ARRAY [A6]
  |  |- 0 [S7] = elment_1
  |  |- 1 [S8] = element_2
  |  `- 2 [S9] = element_3
  `- C [H10]
     `- b [H11]
        `- a [H12]
           |- a [H13]
           |- b = CODE(0x81ab130) [C14]
           `- c [S15] = 42

DESCRIPTION

Data::Dumper and other modules do a great job of dumping data structures. Their output, however, often takes more brain power to understand than the data itself. When dumping large amounts of data, the output can be overwhelming and it can be difficult to see the relationship between each piece of the dumped data.

Data::TreeDumper also dumps data in a tree-like fashion but hopefully in a format more easily understood.

Label

Each node in the tree has a label. The label contains a type and an address. The label is displayed to the right of the entry name within square brackets.

  |  |- bbbbbb = CODE(0x8139fa0) [C3]
  |  |- c123 [C4 -> C3]
  |  `- d [R5]
  |     `- REF(0x8139fb8) [R5 -> C3]

Address

The addresses are linearly incremented which should make it easier to locate data. If the entry is a reference to data already displayed, a -> followed with the address of the already displayed data is appended within the label.

  ex: c123 [C4 -> C3]
             ^     ^ 
             |     | address of the data refered to
             |
             | current element address

Types

S: Scalar, H: Hash, A: Array, C: Code,

R: Reference, RS: Scalar reference. Ox: Object, where x is the object undelying type

Empty Hash or Array

No structure is displayed for empty hashes or arrays, the string "no elements" is added to the display.

  |- A [S10] = string
  |- EMPTY_ARRAY (no elements) [A11]
  |- B [S12] = 123

Configuration and Overrides

Data::TreeDumper has configuration options you can set to modify the output it generates. DumpTree and PrintTree take overrides as trailing arguments. Those overrides are active within the current dump call only.

  ex:
  $Data::TreeDumper::Maxdepth = 2 ;
  
  # maximum depth set to 1 for the duration of the call only
  print DumpTree($s, 'title', MAX_DEPTH => 1) ;
  PrintTree($s, 'title', MAX_DEPTH => 1) ; # shortcut for the above call
        
  # maximum depth is 2
  print DumpTree($s, 'title') ;

$Data::TreeDumper::Displaycallerlocation

This package variable is very usefull when you use Data::TreeDumper and don't know where you called PrintTree or DumpTree, ie when debugging. It displays the filename and line of call on STDOUT. It can't also be set as an override, DISPLAY_CALLER_LOCATION => 1.

NO_PACKAGE_SETUP

Sometimes, the package setup you have is not what you want to use. resetting the variable, making a call and setting the variables back is borring. You can set NO_PACKAGE_SETUP to 1 and DumpTree will ignore the package setup for the call.

  print Data::TreeDumper::DumpTree($s, "Using package data") ;
  print Data::TreeDumper::DumpTree($s, "Not Using package data", NO_PACKAGE_SETUP => 1) ;

DISPLAY_ROOT_ADDRESS

By default, Data::TreeDumper doesn't display the address of the root.

  DISPLAY_ROOT_ADDRESS => 1 # show the root address

DISPLAY_ADDRESS

When the dumped data is not self-referential, displaying the address of each node clutters the display. You can direct Data::TreeDumper to not display the node address by using:

  DISPLAY_ADDRESS => 0

DISPLAY_PATH

Add the path of the element to the its address.

  DISPLAY_PATH => 1
  
  ex: '- CopyOfARRAY  [A39 -> A18 /{'ARRAY'}]

DISPLAY_OBJECT_TYPE

Data::TreeDumper displays the package in which an object is blessed. You can suppress this display by using:

  DISPLAY_OBJECT_TYPE => 0

DISPLAY_INHERITANCE

Data::TreeDumper will display the inheritance hierarchy for the object:

  |- object =  blessed in 'SuperObject' <- Potatoe [OH55]
  |  `- Data = 0  [S56]

DISPLAY_AUTOLOAD

if set, Data::TreeDumper will tag the object type with '[A]' if the package has an AUTOLOAD function.

  |- object_with_autoload = blessed in '[A]SuperObjectWithAutoload' <- Potatoe <- [A] Vegetable   [O58]
  |  `- Data = 0  [S56]

DISPLAY_TIE

if DISPLAY_TIE is set, Data::TreeDumper will display which packae the variable is tied to. This works for hashes and arrays as well as for object which are based on hashes and arrays.

  |- tied_hash (tied to 'TiedHash')  [H57]
  |  `- x = 1  [S58]

  |- tied_hash_object = (tied to 'TiedHash') blessed in 'SuperObject' <- [A]Potatoe <- Vegetable   [O59]
  |  |- m1 = 1  [S60]
  |  `- m2 = 2  [S61]

PERL DATA

Setting one of the options below will show internal perl data:

  Cells: <2234> HASH(0x814F20c)
  |- A1 [H1] <204> HASH(0x824620c)
  |  `- VALUE [S2] = datadatadatadatadatadatadatadatadatadata <85>
  |- A8 [H11] <165> HASH(0x8243d68)
  |  `- VALUE [S12] = C <46>
  `- C2 [H19] <165> HASH(0x8243dc0)
     `- VALUE [S20] = B <46>

DISPLAY_PERL_SIZE

Setting this option will show the size of the memory allocated for each element in the tree within angle brackets.

  DISPLAY_PERL_SIZE => 1

The excellent Devel::Size is used to compute the size of the perl data. If you have deep circular data structures, expect the dump time to be slower, 50 times slower or more.

DISPLAY_PERL_ADDRESS

Setting this option will show the perl-address of the dumped data.

  DISPLAY_PERL_ADDRESS => 1

REPLACEMENT_LIST

Scalars may contain non printable characters that you rather not see in a dump. One of the most common is "\r" embedded in text string from dos files. Data::TreeDumper, by default, replaces "\n" by '[\n]' and "\r" by '[\r]'. You can set REPLACEMENT_LIST to an array ref containing elements which are themselves array references. The first element is the character(s) to match and the second is the replacement.

  # a fancy and stricter replacement for \n and \r
  my $replacement = [ ["\n" => '[**Fancy \n replacement**]'], ["\r" => '\r'] ] ;
  print DumpTree($smed->{TEXT}, 'Text:', REPLACEMENT_LIST => $replacement) ;

QUOTE_HASH_KEYS

QUOTE_HASH_KEYS and its package variable $Data::TreeDumper::Quotehashkeys can be set if you wish to single quote the hash keys. Hash keys are not quoted by default.

  DumpTree(\$s, 'some data:', QUOTE_HASH_KEYS => 1) ;
  
  # output
  some data:
  `- REF(0x813da3c) [H1]
     |- 'A' [H2]
     |  |- 'a' [H3]
     |  |- 'b' [H4]
     |  |  |- 'a' = 0 [S5]

QUOTE_VALUES

QUOTE_VALUES and its package variable $Data::TreeDumper::Quotevalues can be set if you wish to single quote the scalar values.

  DumpTree(\$s, 'Cells:', QUOTE_VALUES=> 1) ;

NO_NO_ELEMENTS

If this option is set, Data::TreeDumper will not add 'no elements' to empty hashes and arrays

NO_OUTPUT

This option suppresses all output generated by Data::TreeDumper. This is useful when you want to iterate through your data structures and display the data yourself, manipulate the data structure, or do a search (see "using filter as iterators" below)

Filters

Data::TreeDumper can sort the tree nodes with a user defined subroutine. By default, hash keys are sorted.

  FILTER => \&ReverseSort
  FILTER_ARGUMENT => ['your', 'arguments']

The filter routine is passed these arguments:

1 - a reference to the node which is going to be displayed
2 - the nodes depth (this allows you to selectively display elements at a certain depth)
3 - the path to the reference from the start of the dump.
4 - an array reference containing the keys to be displayed (see "Filter chaining")
5 - the dumpers setup
5 - the filter arguments (see below)

The filter returns the node's type, an eventual new structure (see below) and a list of 'keys' to display. The keys are hash keys or array indexes.

In Perl:

  ($tree_type, $replacement_tree, @nodes_to_display) = $your_filter->($tree, $level, $path, $nodes_to_display, $setup) ;

Filter are not as complicated as they sound and they are very powerfull, especially when using the path argument. The path idea was given to me by another module writer but I forgot whom. If this writer will contact me, I will give him the proper credit.

Lots of examples can be found in filters.pl and I'll be glad to help if you want to develop a specific filter.

FILTER_ARGUMENT

it is possible to pass arguments to your filter, passing a reference allows you to modify the arguments when the filter is run (that happends for each node).

 sub SomeSub
 {
 my $counter = 0 ;
 my $data_structure = {.....} ;
 
 DumpTree($data_structure, 'title', FILTER => \&CountNodes, FILTER_ARGUMENT => \$counter) ;
 
 print "\$counter = $counter\n" ;
 }
 
 sub CountNodes
 {
 my ($structure, $level, $path, $nodes_to_display, $setup, $counter) = @_ ;
 $$counter++ ; # remember to pass references if you want them to be changed by the filter
 
 return(DefaultNodesToDisplay($structure)) ;
 }

Key removal

Entries can be removed from the display by not returning their keys.

  my $s = {visible => '', also_visible => '', not_visible => ''} ;
  my $OnlyVisible = sub
        {
        my $s = shift ;
        
        if('HASH' eq ref $s)
                {
                return('HASH', undef, grep {! /^not_visible/} keys %$s) ;
                }
                
        return(Data::TreeDumper::DefaultNodesToDisplay($s)) ;
        }
        
  DumpTree($s, 'title', FILTER => $OnlyVisible) ;

Label changing

The label for a hash keys or an array index can be altered. This can be used to add visual information to the tree dump. Instead of returning the key name, return an array reference containing the key name and the label you want to display. You only need to return such a reference for the entries you want to change, thus a mix of scalars and array ref is acceptable.

  sub StarOnA
  {
  # hash entries matching /^a/i have '*' prepended
  
  my $tree = shift ;
  
  if('HASH' eq ref $tree)
        {
        my @keys_to_dump ;
        
        for my $key_name (keys %$tree)
                {
                if($key_name =~ /^a/i)
                        {
                        $key_name = [$key_name, "* $key_name"] ;
                        }
                        
                push @keys_to_dump, $key_name ;
                }
                
        return ('HASH', undef, @keys_to_dump) ;
        }
        
  return (Data::TreeDumper::DefaultNodesToDisplay($tree)) ;
  }

  print DumpTree($s, "Entries matching /^a/i have '*' prepended", FILTER => \&StarOnA) ;

If you use an ANSI terminal, you can also change the color of the label. This can greatly improve visual search time. See the label coloring example in colors.pl.

Structure replacement

It is possible to replace the whole data structure in a filter. This comes handy when you want to display a "worked" version of the structure. You can even change the type of the data structure, for example changing an array to a hash.

  sub ReplaceArray
  {
  # replace arrays with hashes!!!
  
  my $tree = shift ;
  
  if('ARRAY' eq ref $tree)
        {
        my $multiplication = $tree->[0] * $tree->[1] ;
        my $replacement = {MULTIPLICATION => $multiplication} ;
        return('HASH', $replacement, keys %$replacement) ;
        }
        
  return (Data::TreeDumper::DefaultNodesToDisplay($tree)) ;
  }

  print DumpTree($s, 'replace arrays with hashes!', FILTER => \&ReplaceArray) ;

Here is a real life example. Tree::Simple (<http://search.cpan.org/dist/Tree-Simple/>) allows one to build tree structures. The child nodes are not directly in the parent object (hash). Here is an unfiltered dump of a tree with seven nodes:

  Tree::Simple through Data::TreeDumper
  |- _children
  |  |- 0
  |  |  |- _children
  |  |  |  `- 0
  |  |  |     |- _children
  |  |  |     |- _depth = 1
  |  |  |     |- _node = 1.1
  |  |  |     `- _parent
  |  |  |- _depth = 0
  |  |  |- _node = 1
  |  |  `- _parent
  |  |- 1
  |  |  |- _children
  |  |  |  |- 0
  |  |  |  |  |- _children
  |  |  |  |  |- _depth = 1
  |  |  |  |  |- _node = 2.1
  |  |  |  |  `- _parent
  |  |  |  |- 1
  |  |  |  |  |- _children
  |  |  |  |  |- _depth = 1
  |  |  |  |  |- _node = 2.1a
  |  |  |  |  `- _parent
  |  |  |  `- 2
  |  |  |     |- _children
  |  |  |     |- _depth = 1
  |  |  |     |- _node = 2.2
  |  |  |     `- _parent
  |  |  |- _depth = 0
  |  |  |- _node = 2
  |  |  `- _parent
  |  `- 2
  |     |- _children
  |     |- _depth = 0
  |     |- _node = 3
  |     `- _parent
  |- _depth = -1
  |- _node = 0
  `- _parent = root

This is nice for the developer but not for a user wanting to oversee the node hierarchy. One of the possible filters would be:

  FILTER => sub
                {
                my $s = shift ;
                
                if('Tree::Simple' eq ref $s)    
                        {
                        my $counter = 0 ;
                        
                        return
                                (
                                'ARRAY'
                                , $s->{_children}
                                , map{[$counter++, $_->{_node}]} @{$s->{_children}} # index generation
                                ) ;
                        }
                        
                return(Data::TreeDumper::DefaultNodesToDisplay($s)) ;
                }

Which would give this much more readable output:

  Tree::Simple through Data::TreeDumper2
  |- 1
  |  `- 1.1
  |- 2
  |  |- 2.1
  |  |- 2.1a
  |  `- 2.2
  `- 3

What about counting the children nodes? The index generating code becomes:

  map{[$counter++, "$_->{_node} [" . @{$_->{_children}} . "]"]} @{$s->{_children}}
 
  Tree::Simple through Data::TreeDumper4
  |- 1 [1]
  |  `- 1.1 [0]
  |- 2 [3]
  |  |- 2.1 [0]
  |  |- 2.1a [0]
  |  `- 2.2 [0]
  `- 3 [0]

Filter chaining

It is possible to chain filters. CreateChainingFilter takes a list of filtering sub references. The filters must properly handle the third parameter passed to them.

Suppose you want to chain a filter that adds a star before each hash key label, with a filter that removes all (original) keys that match /^a/i.

  sub AddStar
        {
        my $s = shift ;
        my $level = shift ;
        my $path = shift ;
        my $keys = shift ;
  
        if('HASH' eq ref $s)
                {
                $keys = [keys %$s] unless defined $keys ;
                
                my @new_keys ;
                
                for (@$keys)
                        {
                        if('' eq ref $_)
                                {
                                push @new_keys, [$_, "* $_"] ;
                                }
                        else
                                {
                                # another filter has changed the label
                                push @new_keys, [$_->[0], "* $_->[1]"] ;
                                }
                        }
                
                return('HASH', undef, @new_keys) ;
                }
                
        return(Data::TreeDumper::DefaultNodesToDisplay($s)) ;
        } ;
        
  sub RemoveA
        {
        my $s = shift ;
        my $level = shift ;
        my $path = shift ;
        my $keys = shift ;
  
        if('HASH' eq ref $s)
                {
                $keys = [keys %$s] unless defined $keys ;
                my @new_keys ;
                
                for (@$keys)
                        {
                        if('' eq ref $_)
                                {
                                push @new_keys, $_ unless /^a/i ;
                                }
                        else
                                {
                                # another filter has changed the label
                                push @new_keys, $_ unless $_->[0] =~ /^a/i ;
                                }
                        }
                
                return('HASH', undef, @new_keys) ;
                }
                
        return(Data::TreeDumper::DefaultNodesToDisplay($s)) ;
        } ;
  
  DumpTree($s, 'Chained filters', FILTER => CreateChainingFilter(\&AddStar, \&RemoveA)) ;

level Filters

It is possible to define one filter for a specific level. If a filter for a specific level exists it is used instead of the global filter.

LEVEL_FILTERS => {1 => \&FilterForLevelOne, 5 => \&FilterForLevelFive ... } ;

Type Filters

You can define filters for specific types of references. This filter type has the highest priority.

here's a very simple filter that will display the specified keys for the types

        print DumpTree
                (
                $data, 
                'title',
                TYPE_FILTERS => 
                        {
                        'Config::Hierarchical' => sub {'HASH', undef, qw(CATEGORIES) },
                        'PBS2::Node' => sub {'HASH', undef, qw(CONFIG DEPENDENCIES MATCH) },,
                        }
                ) ;

Using filters as iterators

You can iterate through your data structures and display data yourself, manipulate the data structure, or do a search. While iterating through the data structure, you can prune arbitrary branches to speedup processing.

  # this example counts the nodes in a tree (hash based)
  # a node is counted if it has a '__NAME' key
  # any field that starts with '__' is considered rivate and we prune so we don't recurse in it
  # anything that is not a hash (the part of the tree that interests us in this case) is pruned
  
  my $number_of_nodes_in_the_dependency_tree = 0 ;
  my $node_counter = 
        sub 
        {
        my $tree = shift ;
        if('HASH' eq ref $tree && exists $tree->{__NAME})
                {
                $number_of_nodes_in_the_dependency_tree++ if($tree->{__NAME} !~ /^__/) ;
                
                return('HASH', $tree, grep {! /^__/} keys %$tree) ; # prune to run faster
                }
        else
                {
                return('SCALAR', 1) ; # prune
                }
        } ;
                
  DumpTree($dependency_tree, '', NO_OUTPUT => 1, FILTER => $node_counter) ;

See the example under FILTER which passes arguments through Data::TreeDumper instead for using a closure as above

Start level

This configuration option controls whether the tree trunk is displayed or not.

START_LEVEL => 1:

  $tree:
  |- A [H1]
  |  |- a [H2]
  |  |- bbbbbb = CODE(0x8139fa0) [C3]
  |  |- c123 [C4 -> C3]
  |  `- d [R5]
  |     `- REF(0x8139fb8) [R5 -> C3]
  |- ARRAY [A6]
  |  |- 0 [S7] = element_1
  |  |- 1 [S8] = element_2

START_LEVEL => 0:

  $tree:
  A [H1]
  |- a [H2]
  |- bbbbbb = CODE(0x8139fa0) [C3]
  |- c123 [C4 -> C3]
  `- d [R5]
     `- REF(0x8139fb8) [R5 -> C3]
  ARRAY [A6]
  |- 0 [S7] = element_1
  |- 1 [S8] = element_2

ASCII vs ANSI

You can direct Data:TreeDumper to output ANSI codes instead of ASCII characters. The display will be much nicer but takes slightly longer (not significant for small data structures).

  USE_ASCII => 0 # will use ANSI codes instead

Display number of elements

  DISPLAY_NUMBER_OF_ELEMENTS => 1

When set, the number of elements of every array and hash is displayed (not for objects based on hashes and arrays).

Maximum depth of the dump

Controls the depth beyond which which we don't recurse into a structure. Default is -1, which means there is no maximum depth. This is useful to limit the amount of data displayed.

  MAX_DEPTH => 1

Number of elements not displayed because of maximum depth limit

Data::TreDumper will display the number of elements a hash or array has but that can not be displayed because of the maximum depth setting.

  DISPLAY_NUMBER_OF_ELEMENTS_OVER_MAX_DEPTH => 1

Indentation

Every line of the tree dump will be appended with the value of INDENTATION.

  INDENTATION => '   ' ;

Custom glyphs

You can change the glyphs used by Data::TreeDumper.

  DumpTree(\$s, 's', , GLYPHS => ['.  ', '.  ', '.  ', '.  ']) ;
  
  # output
  s
  .  REF(0x813da3c) [H1]
  .  .  A [H2]
  .  .  .  a [H3]
  .  .  .  b [H4]
  .  .  .  .  a = 0 [S5]
  .  .  .  .  b = 1 [S6]
  .  .  .  .  c [H7]
  .  .  .  .  .  a = 1 [S8]

Four glyphs must be given. They replace the standard glyphs ['| ', '|- ', '`- ', ' ']. It is also possible to set the package variable $Data::TreeDumper::Glyphs. USE_ASCII should be set, which it is by default.

Level numbering and tagging

Data:TreeDumper can prepend the level of the current line to the tree glyphs. This can be very useful when searching in tree dump either visually or with a pager.

  NUMBER_LEVELS => 2
  NUMBER_LEVELS => \&NumberingSub

NUMBER_LEVELS can be assigned a number or a sub reference. When assigned a number, Data::TreeDumper will use that value to define the width of the field where the level is displayed. For more control, you can define a sub that returns a string to be displayed on the left side of the tree glyphs. The example below tags all the nodes whose level is zero.

  print DumpTree($s, "Level numbering", NUMBER_LEVELS => 2) ;

  sub GetLevelTagger
  {
  my $level_to_tag = shift ;
  
  sub 
        {
        my ($element, $level, $setup) = @_ ;
        
        my $tag = "Level $level_to_tag => ";
        
        if($level == 0) 
                {
                return($tag) ;
                }
        else
                {
                return(' ' x length($tag)) ;
                }
        } ;
  }
  
  print DumpTree($s, "Level tagging", NUMBER_LEVELS => GetLevelTagger(0)) ;

Level coloring

Another way to enhance the output for easier searching is to colorize it. Data::TreeDumper can colorize the glyph elements or whole levels. If your terminal supports ANSI codes, using Term::ANSIColors and Data::TreeDumper together can greatly ease the reading of large dumps. See the examples in 'color.pl'.

  COLOR_LEVELS => [\@color_codes, $reset_code]

When passed an array reference, the first element is an array containing coloring codes. The codes are indexed with the node level modulo the size of the array. The second element is used to reset the color after the glyph is displayed. If the second element is an empty string, the glyph and the rest of the level is colorized.

  COLOR_LEVELS => \&LevelColoringSub

If COLOR_LEVEL is assigned a sub, the sub is called for each glyph element. It is passed the following elements:

1 - the nodes depth (this allows you to selectively display elements at a certain depth)

It should return a coloring code and a reset code. If you return an empty string for the reset code, the whole node is displayed using the last glyph element color.

If level numbering is on, it is also colorized.

Wrapping

Data::TreeDumper uses the Text::Wrap module to wrap your data to fit your display. Entries can be wrapped multiple times so they snuggly fit your screen.

  |  |        |- 1 [S21] = 1
  |  |        `- 2 [S22] = 2
  |  `- 3 [OH23 -> R17]
  |- ARRAY_ZERO [A24]
  |- B [S25] = scalar
  |- Long_name Long_name Long_name Long_name Long_name Long_name 
  |    Long_name Long_name Long_name Long_name Long_name Long_name
  |    Long_name Long_name Long_name Long_name Long_name [S26] = 0

You can direct DTD to not wrap your text by setting NO_WRAP = 1>.

WRAP_WIDTH

if this option is set, Data::TreeDumper will use it instead for the console width.

Custom Rendering

Data::TreeDumper has a plug-in interface for other rendering formats. The renderer callbacks are set by overriding the native renderer. Thanks to Stevan Little author of Tree::Simple::View for getting Data::TreeDumper on this track. Check Data::TreeDumper::Renderer::DHTML.

 DumpTree
        (
          $s
        , 'Tree'
        , RENDERER =>
                {
                  BEGIN => \&RenderDhtmlBegin
                , NODE  => \&RenderDhtmlNode
                , END   => \&RenderDhtmlEnd
                
                # data needed by the renderer
                , PREVIOUS_LEVEL => -1
                , PREVIOUS_ADDRESS => 'ROOT'
                }
        ) ;

Callbacks

•: {RENDERER}{BEGIN} is called before the traversal of the data structure starts. This allows you to setup the document (ex:: html header).

my ($title, $type_address, $element, $size, $perl_address, $setup) = @_ ;

1 $title

2 $type_address

3 $element

4 $perl_size

5 $perl_address

6 $setup

•: {RENDERER}{NODE} is called for each node in the data structure. The following arguments are passed to the callback

1 $element
2 $level
3 $is_terminal (whether a deeper structure will follow or not)
4 $previous_level_separator (ASCII separators before this node)
5 $separator (ASCII separator for this element)
6 $element_name
7 $element_value
8 $td_address (address of the element, Ex: C12 or H34. Unique for each element)
9 $link_address (link to another element, may be undef)
10 $perl_size (size of the lement in bytes, see option DISPLAY_PERL_SIZE)
11 $perl_address (adress (physical) of the element, see option DISPLAY_PERL_ADDRESS)
12 $setup (the dumper's settings)

{RENDERER}{END} is called after the last node has been processed.
{RENDERER}{ ... }Arguments to the renderer can be stores within the {RENDERER} hash.

Renderer modules

Renderers should be defined in modules under Data::TreeDumper::Renderer and should define a function called GetRenderer. GetRenderer can be passed whatever arguments the developer whishes. It is acceptable for the modules to also export a specifc sub.

  print DumpTree($s, 'Tree', Data::TreeDumper::Renderer::DHTML::GetRenderer()) ;
  or
  print DumpTree($s, 'Tree', GetDhtmlRenderer()) ;

If {RENDERER} is set to a scalar, Data::TreeDumper will load the specified module if it exists. GetRenderer will be called without arguments.

  print DumpTree($s, 'Tree', RENDERER => 'DHTML') ;

If {RENDERER}{NAME} is set to a scalar, Data::TreeDumper will load the specified module if it exists. GetRenderer will be called without arguments. Arguments to the renderer can aither be passed to the GetRenderer sub or as elements in the {RENDERER} hash.

  print DumpTree($s, 'Tree', RENDERER => {NAME => 'DHTML', STYLE => \$style) ;

Zero width console

When no console exists, while redirecting to a file for example, Data::TreeDumper uses the variable VIRTUAL_WIDTH instead. Default is 120.

        VIRTUAL_WIDTH => 120 ;

OVERRIDE list

COLOR_LEVELS
DISPLAY_ADDRESS
DISPLAY_PATH
DISPLAY_PERL_SIZE
DISPLAY_ROOT_ADDRESS
DISPLAY_PERL_ADDRESS
FILTER
GLYPHS
INDENTATION
LEVEL_FILTERS
MAX_DEPTH
DISPLAY_NUMBER_OF_ELEMENTS_OVER_MAX_DEPTH
NUMBER_LEVELS
QUOTE_HASH_KEYS
QUOTE_VALUES
REPLACEMENT_LIST
START_LEVEL
USE_ASCII
WRAP_WIDTH
VIRTUAL_WIDTH
NO_OUTPUT
DISPLAY_OBJECT_TYPE
DISPLAY_INHERITANCE
DISPLAY_TIE
DISPLAY_AUTOLOAD

Interface

Package Data (à la Data::Dumper (as is the silly naming scheme))

Configuration Variables

  $Data::TreeDumper::Startlevel            = 1 ;
  $Data::TreeDumper::Useascii              = 1 ;
  $Data::TreeDumper::Maxdepth              = -1 ;
  $Data::TreeDumper::Indentation           = '' ;
  $Data::TreeDumper::Virtualwidth          = 120 ;
  $Data::TreeDumper::Displayrootaddress    = 0 ;
  $Data::TreeDumper::Displayaddress        = 1 ;
  $Data::TreeDumper::Displaypath           = 0 ;
  $Data::TreeDumper::Displayobjecttype     = 1 ;
  $Data::TreeDumper::Displayinheritance    = 0 ;
  $Data::TreeDumper::Displaytie            = 0 ;
  $Data::TreeDumper::Displayautoload       = 0 ;
  $Data::TreeDumper::Displayperlsize       = 0 ;
  $Data::TreeDumper::Displayperladdress    = 0 ;
  $Data::TreeDumper::Filter                = \&FlipEverySecondOne ;
  $Data::TreeDumper::Levelfilters          = {1 => \&Filter_1, 5 => \&Filter_5} ;
  $Data::TreeDumper::Numberlevels          = 0 ;
  $Data::TreeDumper::Glyphs                = ['|  ', '|- ', '`- ', '   '] ; 
  $Data::TreeDumper::Colorlevels           = undef ;
  $Data::TreeDumper::Nooutput              = 0 ; # generate an output
  $Data::TreeDumper::Quotehashkeys         = 0 ;
  $Data::TreeDumper::Displaycallerlocation = 0 ;

API

PrintTreeprints on STDOUT the output of DumpTree.

DumpTree uses the configuration variables defined above. It takes the following arguments:

[1] structure_to_dump
[2] title, a string to prepended to the tree (optional)
[3] overrides (optional)

  print DumpTree($s, "title", MAX_DEPTH => 1) ;

DumpTrees uses the configuration variables defined above. It takes the following arguments

[1] One or more array references containing

[a] structure_to_dump
[b] title, a string to prepended to the tree (optional)
[c] overrides (optional)

[2] overrides (optional)

  print DumpTrees
          (
            [$s, "title", MAX_DEPTH => 1]
          , [$s2, "other_title", DISPLAY_ADDRESS => 0]
          , USE_ASCII => 1
          , MAX_DEPTH => 5
          ) ;

Bugs

None that I know of in this release but plenty, lurking in the dark corners, waiting to be found.

Examples

Four examples files are included in the distribution.

usage.pl shows you how you can use Data::TreeDumper.

filters.pl shows you how you how to do advance filtering.

colors.pl shows you how you how to colorize a dump.

try_it.pl is meant as a scratch pad for you to try Data::TreeDumper.

DEPENDENCY

Text::Wrap.

Term::Size or Win32::Console.

Optional Devel::Size if you want Data::TreeDumper to show perl sizes for the tree elements.

EXPORT

DumpTree, DumpTrees and CreateChainingFilter.

AUTHOR

Khemir Nadim ibn Hamouda. <nadim@khemir.net>

Thanks to Ed Avis for showing interest and pushing me to re-write the documentation.

  Copyright (c) 2003-2010 Nadim Ibn Hamouda el Khemir. All rights
  reserved.  This program is free software; you can redis-
  tribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl
  itself.

If you find any value in this module, mail me! All hints, tips, flames and wishes are welcome at <nadim@khemir.net>.

POD ERRORS

Hey! The above document had some coding errors, which are explained below:

Around line 2454:: You can't have =items (as at line 2458) unless the first thing after the =over is an =item
Around line 2612:: Non-ASCII character seen before =encoding in '(à'. Assuming CP1252