NAME 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 uses Term::ANSIScreen for cursor positioning and to give the 'illusion' that the bar is moving. 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') 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. If 'text' is not passed in, the current value of $obj->{subText} is returned. addSubText('text') This takes the original value of $obj->{subText} and concats 'text' to it each time it is called. This might not work along side subText() since they both change the value of $obj->{subText}. Might cause subText() to update more frequently than is necessary and cause significant speed decreases in code. 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() This resets the bar's internal state and makes it available for reuse. _printPercent() Internal method to print the current percentage to the screen. _printSubText() Internal method to print the subText to the screen. 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 the Term::Size manpage, the Term::ANSIScreen manpage