Question

I just found Data::Section and I got interested in it. Unfortunately, I simply cannot get the package Letter::Resignation example on that page to run.

Are there any working examples of Data::Section out there?

Answer 1

Well, after some not-so-trivial searching on the net, I finally managed to find the one (and only, I guess) example on the net that I could read here:

• RJBS Advent Calendar 2009 – Like <DATA>, Only Less Stupid

That finally explained to me how to set up the Data::Section – the trick is it always needs a package name reference. And finally, for expanding variables in the section, How can I expand variables in text strings? – perlmonks.org was very useful.

So here is an MWE if you do not want to use a package name:

use strict;
use warnings;
use utf8;
use charnames ':full';

# sudo perl -MCPAN -e shell
# install Data::Section

use Data::Section -setup; 

my $name = "testing \t escapes \n variable";

my $sections = main::->merged_section_data;
for my $filename (keys %$sections) {
  printf "== %s ==\n%s\n", $filename, main::->section_data($filename);
}
my $template = main::->section_data ("test_file");

# expands variables in the template as well!!
$$template =~ s/(\$\w+)/$1/eeg;
die if $@;                  # needed on /ee, not /e

print $$template;



__DATA__

__[ test_file ]__
  \t testing \r escapes \n data::section \t

    Here

  --
  {{ $name }}



__END__

If you use a package name, just a slight difference:

package aPerlTest;

use strict;
use warnings;
use utf8;
use charnames ':full';

# sudo perl -MCPAN -e shell
# install Data::Section

use Data::Section -setup; 

my $name = "testing \t escapes \n variable";

my $sections = aPerlTest::->merged_section_data;
for my $filename (keys %$sections) {
  printf "== %s ==\n%s\n", $filename, aPerlTest::->section_data($filename);
}
my $template = aPerlTest::->section_data ("test_file");

# expands variables in the template as well!!
$$template =~ s/(\$\w+)/$1/eeg;
die if $@;                  # needed on /ee, not /e

print $$template;



__DATA__

__[ test_file ]__
  \t testing \r escapes \n data::section \t

    Here

  --
  {{ $name }}



__END__

In both case, the terminal output is:

$ perl aPerlTest.pl
== test_file ==
SCALAR(0x9f079d0)
  \t testing \r escapes \n data::section \t

    Here

  --
  {{ testing     escapes 
 variable }}

Hope this helps someone – cheers!