Data::Dumper 2.121

Data::Dumper module contains stringified perl data structures, suitable for both printing and eval.

SYNOPSIS

use Data::Dumper;

# simple procedural interface
print Dumper($foo, $bar);

# extended usage with names
print Data::Dumper->Dump([$foo, $bar], [qw(foo *ary)]);

# configuration variables
{
local $Data::Dumper::Purity = 1;
eval Data::Dumper->Dump([$foo, $bar], [qw(foo *ary)]);
}

# OO usage
$d = Data::Dumper->new([$foo, $bar], [qw(foo *ary)]);
...
print $d->Dump;
...
$d->Purity(1)->Terse(1)->Deepcopy(1);
eval $d->Dump;

Given a list of scalars or reference variables, writes out their contents in perl syntax. The references can also be objects. The contents of each variable is output in a single Perl statement. Handles self-referential structures correctly.
The return value can be evaled to get back an identical copy of the original reference structure.

Any references that are the same as one of those passed in will be named $VARn (where n is a numeric suffix), and other duplicate references to substructures within $VARn will be appropriately labeled using arrow notation. You can specify names for individual values to be dumped if you use the Dump() method, or you can change the default $VAR prefix to something else. See $Data::Dumper::Varname and $Data::Dumper::Terse below.

The default output of self-referential structures can be evaled, but the nested references to $VARn will be undefined, since a recursive structure cannot be constructed using one Perl statement. You should set the Purity flag to 1 to get additional statements that will correctly fill in these references.
In the extended usage form, the references to be dumped can be given user-specified names. If a name begins with a *, the output will describe the dereferenced type of the supplied reference for hashes and arrays, and coderefs. Output of names will be avoided where possible if the Terse flag is set.

In many cases, methods that are used to set the internal state of the object will return the object itself, so method calls can be conveniently chained together.
Several styles of output are possible, all controlled by setting the Indent flag.