README
1Text-Report
2
3Monday, 09 July, 2007 11:24
4------------------------------
5
6Text::Report is a module that will allow you to create neatly
7formatted, text based reports that contain any number of tables of
8various dimensions replete with configurable & optional titles, column
9headings, decorations, sorting, column alignment and more.
10
11Output can be a formatted report suitable for formal presentation
12and/or you can produce comma delimited data either by individual
13tables or the entire report.
14
15I've tried to keep the interface simple and flexible. There are three
16components to configure.
17
18The 'report' component includes the width of the report itself, the
19way that the 'blocks' of data are ordered within the report (either
20automatically or by explicit indexing) and the way that table titles
21are printed for each 'block' or data set.
22
23The 'block' component is manipulated by its name and can contain
24either free-form string data, a decorative separator, or columnar data
25as a table or footer. Columns in each block created can be
26automatically sized or the size (width) and alignment can be defined
27by the user either globally or per column.
28
29The 'column' component is manipulated by the block name that contains
30it and the column position in the table. Columns can be addressed
31individually to tweak the alignment, width and the column header.
32
33The output is currently available in formatted text or comma delimited
34text. Plans are being made to add html and xml output as well.
35
36I've also incorporated a feature that allows you to save the defined
37report as a template (using Storable store() & retrieve()) for reuse.
38
39More detailed information, sample code and the most current builds
40can be found at http://www.full-duplex.com/svcs04.html under
41"Perl Libraries", "Text::Report".
42
43. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
44
45I would be interested in hearing about how you have used this module,
46maybe by supplying an example or two or if you have any suggestions,
47comments (yes, even bad) or questions.
48
49You may reach me/us at davidius (AT) cpan (DOT) org or via the contact
50page at http://www.full-duplex.com/contact.html
51
52Polite correspondence will be given a higher response priority.
53
54
55INSTALLATION
56
57To install this module, run the following commands:
58
59 perl Makefile.PL
60 make
61 make test
62 make install
63
64DEPENDENCIES
65
66The use of 'Storable' is optional and necessary only if you want to
67create report templates.
68
69
70SUPPORT AND DOCUMENTATION
71
72After installing, you can find documentation for this module with the
73perldoc command.
74
75 perldoc Text::Report
76
77You can also look for information at:
78
79 Search CPAN
80 http://search.cpan.org/dist/Text-Report
81
82 CPAN Request Tracker:
83 http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/Bugs.html?Dist=Text-Report
84
85 AnnoCPAN, annotated CPAN documentation:
86 http://annocpan.org/dist/Text-Report
87
88 CPAN Ratings:
89 http://cpanratings.perl.org/d/Text-Report
90
91COPYRIGHT AND LICENCE
92
93Copyright (C) 2007 David Huggins
94
95This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
96under the same terms as Perl itself.
97