Term::StatusBar - Dynamic progress bar SYNOPSIS use Term::StatusBar; my $status = new Term::StatusBar ( label => 'My Status: ', totalItems => 10, ## Equiv to $status->setItems(10) ); $status->start; ## Optional, but recommended doSomething(10); $status->reset; ## Resets internal state $status->label('New Status: '); ## Reuse current object with new data $status->char('|'); doSomething(20); sub doSomething { $status->setItems($_[0]); for (1..$_[0]){ sleep 1; $status->update; ## Will call $status->start() if needed } } DESCRIPTION Term::StatusBar provides an easy way to create a terminal status bar, much like those found in a graphical environment. Term::Size is used to ensure the bar does not extend beyond the terminal's width. All outout is sent to STDOUT. METHODS new(parameters) This creates a new StatusBar object. It can take several parameters: startRow - This indicates which row to place the bar at. Default is 1. startCol - This indicates which column to place the bar at. Default is 1. label - This places text to the left of the status bar. Default is "Status: ". scale - This indicates how long the bar is. Default is 40. totalItems - This tells the bar how many items are being iterated. Default is 1. char - This indicates which character to use for the base bar. Default is ' ' (space). subText - Text to display below the status bar subTextAlign - How to align subText ('left', 'center', 'right') reverse - Status bar empties to 0% rather than fills to 100% barColor - Base color of the status bar (default white -- \e[7;37m) fillColor - Fill color of the status bar (default blue -- \e[7;34m) setItems(#) This method does several things with the number that is passed in. First it sets $obj->{totalItems}, second it sets an internal counter 'curItems', last it determins the update increment. This method must be used, unless you passed totalItems to the constructor. subText('text') Sets subText and redisplays it if necessary. addSubText('text') This takes the original value of $obj->{subText} and concats 'text' to it each time it is called. Text is then re-displayed to screen. start() This method 'draws' the initial status bar on the screen. update() This is really the core of the module. This updates the status bar and gives the appearance of movement. It really just redraws the entire thing, adding any new incremental updates needed. reset([\%options]) This resets the bar's internal state and makes it available for re-use. If the optional hash ref is passed in, the status bar can be filled with specified values. The keys are interpreted as function calls on the status bar object with the values as parameters. _printPercent() Internal method to print the current percentage to the screen. _printSubText() Internal method to print the subText to the screen. CHANGES 2003-01-27 Added 'reverse' option to constructor Cleaned up code a bit Only update items when needed (subText was being updated even if it had not changed). Pre-compute lengths and use static value rather than calling length() ever iteration. AUTHOR Shay Harding COPYRIGHT This library is free software; you may redistribute and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. SEE ALSO Term::Size, Term::Report