Acme::EyeDrops(3pm)

NAME
Acme::EyeDrops - Visual Programming in Perl

SYNOPSIS
    use Acme::EyeDrops qw(sightly);

    print sightly( { Shape       => 'camel',
                     SourceFile  => 'eyesore.pl' } );

DESCRIPTION
"Acme::EyeDrops" converts a Perl program into an equivalent one, but without all those unsightly letters and numbers.

In a Visual Programming breakthrough, EyeDrops allows you to pour the generated program into various shapes, such as UML diagrams, enabling you to instantly understand how the program works just by glancing at its new and improved visual representation.

Unlike "Acme::Bleach" and "Acme::Buffy", the generated program runs without requiring that "Acme::EyeDrops" be installed on the target system.

EXAMPLES

  Getting Started
Suppose you have a program, helloworld.pl, consisting of:

    print "hello world\n";

To convert this little program into an equivalent camel-shaped one, create cvt.pl as follows:

    # cvt.pl. Convert helloworld.pl into a camel shape.
    use Acme::EyeDrops qw(sightly);
    print sightly( { Shape       => 'camel',
                     SourceFile  => 'helloworld.pl',
                     Regex       => 1 } );

Then run it like this:

    perl cvt.pl >new.pl

After inspecting the newly created program, new.pl, to verify that it does indeed resemble a camel, run it:

   perl new.pl

to confirm it behaves identically to the original helloworld.pl.

Instead of using the API, as shown above, you may find it more convenient to use the sightly.pl command in the demo directory:

    sightly.pl -h           (for help)
    sightly.pl -s camel -f helloworld.pl -r 1 >new.pl
    cat new.pl              (should look like a camel)
    perl new.pl             (should print "hello world" as before)

Notice that the shape 'camel' is just the file camel.eye in the EyeDrops sub-directory underneath where EyeDrops.pm is located, so you are free to add your own new shapes as required.

For the meaning of Regex => 1 above, see the Just another Perl hacker section below.

  Making Your Programs Easier to Understand
If your boss demands a UML diagram describing your program, you can give him this:

    print sightly( { Shape       => 'uml',
                     SourceFile  => 'helloworld.pl',
                     Regex       => 1 } );

If it is a Windows program, you can indicate that too, by combining shapes:

    print sightly( { Shape       => 'uml,window',
                     Gap         => 1,
                     SourceFile  => 'helloworld.pl',
                     Regex       => 1 } );

producing this improved visual representation:

                ''=~('('.'?'.'{'.('`'|'%').('['^'-').(
                (                                    (
                (                                    (
                (                                    (
                (                                    (
                (                                    (
                '`'))))))))))|'!').('`'|',').'"'.('['^
                                  (
                                 ( (
                                (   (
                               '+'))))
                                  )
                                  )
                .('['^')').('`'|')').('`'|'.').(('[')^
                (                                    (
                (                                    (
 '/'))))).('{'^'[').'\\'.('"').(      '`'|'(').('`'|'%').('`'|"\,").(
 (                             (      (                             (
 (                             (      (                             (
 (                             (      (                             (
 (                             (      (                             (
 (                             (      (                             (
 '`'))))))))))))))))))))|"\,").(      '`'|'/').('{'^'[').('['^"\,").(

 '`'|'/').('['^')').('`'|',').('`'|'$').'\\'.'\\'
 .('`'|'.').'\\'.'"'.';'.('!'^'+').'"'.'}'."\)");
 $:='.'^'~';$~='@'|'(';$^=')'^'[';$/='`'|"\.";$,=
 "\("^                  ((                  '}'))
 ;($\)                  =(                  '`')|
 "\!";                  $:                  =')'^
 "\}";                  $~                  ='*'|
 "\`";                  $^                  ='+'^
 "\_";                  $/                  ='&'|
 "\@";                  $,                  ='['&
 "\~";                  $\                  =','^
 "\|";                  $:                  ='.'^
 "\~";                  $~                  ='@'|
 "\(";                  $^                  =')'^
 '[';$/='`'|'.';$,='('^'}';$\='`'|'!';$:=')'^'}';
 ($~)=                  ((                  '*'))
 |'`';                  $^                  ='+'^
 "\_";                  $/                  ='&'|
 "\@";                  $,                  ='['&
 "\~";                  $\                  =','^
 "\|";                  $:                  ='.'^
 "\~";                  $~                  ='@'|
 "\(";                  $^                  =')'^
 "\[";                  $/                  ='`'|
 "\.";                  $,                  ='('^
 "\}";                  $\                  ='`'|
 '!';$:=')'^'}';$~='*'|'`';$^='+'^'_';$/='&'|'@';
 $,='['&'~';$\=','^'|';$:='.'^'~';$~='@'|"\(";$^=
 ')'^'[';$/='`'|'.';$,='('^'}';$\='`'|'!';$:=')';

This is a Visual Programming breakthrough in that you can tell it is a Windows program and see its UML structure too, just by glancing at the code.

For Linux only, you can apply its /usr/games/banner command to the program's source text:

    print sightly( { Shape       => 'srcbanner',
                     Width       => 70,
                     SourceFile  => 'helloworld.pl',
                     Regex       => 1 } );

The generated program is easier to understand than the original because its characters are bigger and easier to read.

  An Abbreviated History of Perl 6
Here is a summary of the Perl 6 development effort so far:

    print sightly( { Shape        => 'jon,larry,damian,simon,parrot,' .
                                     'buffy3,autrijus',
                     Gap          => 3,
                     Regex        => 1,
                     Print        => 1,
                     Indent       => 1,
                     SourceString => <<'END_HAIKU' } );
    Coffee mug shatters
    Larry Apocalyptic
    Parrot not a hoax

    Design, debate, sift
    Prankster Piers pawky precis
    Weekly light relief

    Gallop Ponie bold!
    Beer to gulp, Buffy astride
    Orange sky surrounds

    Lambda hugs camel
    Precocious pup productive
    Sixth pearl glorious
    END_HAIKU

producing:

                     ''=~(
                   '('."\?".
                  '{'.('['^'+'
                 ).('['^"\)").(
                 '`'|')').('`'|
                 '.').('['^'/').
                 '"'.('`'^'#').(
                 '`'|'/').(('`')|
                 '&').('`'|'&').(
                  '`'|'%').("\`"|
                  '%').('{'^'[').
                   ('`'|('-')).(
                     '['^"\.").(
                     '`'|"'").(
                    '{'^'[').('['^'(')
                   .('`'|'(').('`'|'!')
                   .('['^'/').('['^"\/").(
                   '`'|'%').('['^')').('['^"\(").(
                  '!'^'+').('`'^',').('`'|'!').('['^')').(
                 '['^')').('['^'"').('{'^'[').('`'^'!').('['^'+')
                .('`'|'/').('`'|'#').('`'|'!').('`'|',').('['^'"').
                ('['^'+').('['^'/').('`'|')').("\`"|        "\#").(
               '!'^'+').('{'^'+').('`'|('!')).(                 '['
               ^')').('['^')').('`'|"\/").(
               '['^'/').('{'^'[').('`'|'.')
               .('`'|'/').('['^'/').(('{')^
               '[').('`'|'!').('{'^'[').('`'
               |'(').('`'|'/').('`'|('!')).(
               '['^'#').('!'^'+').('!'^'+').(
               '`'^'$').('`'|'%').('['^'(').(
               '`'|')').('`'|"'").('`'|"\.").
               ','.('{'^'[').('`'|'$').("\`"|
               '%').('`'|'"').('`'|'!').("\["^
               '/').('`'|'%').','.('{'^('[')).(
      '['      ^'(').('`'|')').('`'|'&').("\["^
 '/').('!'^    '+').('{'^'+').('['^')').(('`')|
 '!').('`'|'.' ).('`'|'+').('['^'(').('['^'/').             +(
  '`'|'%').('['^')').('{'^'[').('{'^'+').(('`')|           (  (
  ')'))).('`'|'%').('['^')').('['^'(').('{'^'[').(         (  (
 '['))^'+').('`'|'!').('['^',').('`'|'+').('['^'"').    (('{')^
 '[').('['^'+').('['^')').('`'|'%').('`'|'#').(('`')| ')').('['^
  '(').('!'^'+').('{'^',').('`'|'%').('`'|'%').('`'|'+').('`'|','
   ).('['^'"').('{'^'[').('`'|',').('`'|')').('`'|"'").('`'|'(').(
    '['^'/').('{'^'[').('['^')').('`'|'%').('`'|',').('`'|')').('`'|
      "\%").(   "\`"| '&').('!'^'+').('!'^'+').('`'^"'").('`'|'!').(
                  ((  '`'))|',').('`'|',').('`'|'/').('['^'+').('{'
                      ^'[').('{'^'+').('`'|'/').('`'|'.').('`'|')'
                      ).('`'|'%').('{'^'[').('`'|('"')).(   "\`"|
                     '/').('`'|',').('`'|'$').'!'.('!'^'+'
                     ).('`'^'"').('`'|'%').('`'|'%').("\["^
                    ')').('{'^'[').('['^'/').('`'|'/').('{'
                   ^'[').('`'|"'").('['^'.').('`'|',').('['^
                   '+').','.('{'^'[').('`'^'"').('['^"\.").(
                  '`'|'&').('`'|"\&").(  '['^'"').('{'^'[').(
                 '`'|'!').('['^"\(").(    '['^'/').('['^')').
                ('`'|')').('`'|'$').(      '`'|'%').('!'^'+')

                          .('`'^'/').('['^
                       ')').('`'|'!').('`'|'.'
                  ).('`'|"'").('`'|'%').('{'^'['
                ).''.                         ('['
              ^'('                              ).(
            '`'|                                  '+'
          ).+(                                   (  '['
         )^((                                    (   '"'
        ))))                                  .(  (    '{'
      )^((                                   (     (    '['
    )))                                    ))       .(   '['
   ^((                                   ((           (   '('
  )))                                ))).              (   '['
 ^((                             '.')                   )   ).(
 '['                         ^')'                        )   .+(
 '['                ^(')')).(                            (   '`'
 )|+              ((                                     (    ((
 '/'             ))                                       )   ))
 ).(            (                                         (   ((
 '['            )                                          )))^+
 '.'           )                                              .(
 '`'           |          '.').('`'|'$').('['^'(').('!'^('+')).(
 '!'           ^'+').("\`"^    "\,").(    (    (   "\`"))|     (
 '!'           )          ) .+(  '`'  |+  (    ( ((  '-'  )))  )
 ).(           (          ( '`'))|'"').(  (    ( '`'))|'$').(  (
 '`'           )          |               (    (               (
 ((   '!'     )           )               )    ))              )
 .(   (  '{')^            (               (     ((             (
 ((   (                   (               (     ( (            (
 ((   (  '['               )))))))))))))))       ) ).('`'|'(').
 +(    (                              (          (          (
  (     (                            (          (           (
   (     (                            ( '['    )            )
    )      )))                              ))             )
     )       )                  )^'.').('`'|"'").('['      ^
      (      (                '('))).('{'^'[').(('`')|     (
       (     (               '#')))).('`'|'!').('`'|'-'   )
        .   (                "\`"|  '%').('`'|',')  .''.  (
         ( (                 '!')  )              ^  '+' )
          .(                 '{'   ^'+').('['^')').   (((
           (                                            (
           (                                           (
           (                                          (
          (       (                                  (
          (        (                                (
          (          (                             (
          (            (                          (
         (               (                       (   (
         (                 (                    (     (
        (                    '`'              ))       )
       )                          )))))))))))            )

                   )))))))))))))|+
                 '%').('`'|'#').('`'|
               '/').('`'|'#').('`'|')').
             ('`'                     |'/'
           ).+(                         '['^
         '.')                             .''.
        ('['                                 ^'('
       ).+(                                   '{'^
      '[')                                     .''.
     ('['                                       ^'+'
    ).+(                                         '['
    ^'.'                                         ).+(
   '['^                                    '+').( '{'^
   '[')                                .''.     (  '['
   ^((    '+'                  ))).('['          ^  ')'
  ).(     (  '`')           |((                  (  '/'
 )))      )      .('`'|'$').                     (  '['
 ^((      (                                      (  '.'
 )))      )                                      )  .+(
 '`'      |                                       ( '#'
 )).     (                                        ( '['
  )^+    (                                        ( '/'
  ))     )                                        . (((
 ( ((    (                                        ( ((
 (  ((  (                                         ( ((
 (   '`')       )))))))))              ))))))     )|+
 (    ')'    )).         (((        '['      ))^  '-'
 ) .(  ((        ('`')))|             "\%").(      ((
 ( (   ((      ((  '!')  ))    )    )) ))^+  ((    (
 ( (  '+'       )))))).''.     (    '{'^"\(").(    (
 (  (  ((                      (                  (
  (    ((                      (                 ((
  (    '`'                     )                 ))
   )   )))                     )                )))
    )))|')'                    )                .+(
      "\["^              (     (    (          '#'
      )))).              (     (    (          '['
      ))^'/'             ).('`'|'(').         ('{'
      ^'[').                                  ('['
      ^'+').(         '`'|'%').('`'|'!').    ('['
       ^"\)").(    '`'|',').('{'^'[').('`'| "'")
        .(('`')|  ((                     ','))).
        ('`'|"\/").(  '['^')').('`'|')')  .('`'|
         '/').('['^      '.').('['^'('    ).''.
          ('!'^'+').                    ('"').
           '}'."\)");$:=            '.'^"\~";
            $~='@'|'(';$^=')'^'[';$/='`'|'.'
            ;$,='('^'}';$\='`'|'!';$:=(')')^
             '}';$~='*'|'`';$^='+'^('_');$/=
              '&'|'@';$,='['&'~';$\=','^'|';
               $:='.'^'~';$~='@'|'(';$^=')'
                 ^'[';$/='`'|'.';$,=('(')^
                  '}';$\='`'|'!';$:="\)"^
                    '}';$~='*'|('`');$^=
                      '+'^'_';$/=('&')|
                         '@';$,='['&

                     '~';$\=','^"\|";
                  $:='.'^'~'; $~=('@')|
                '(';$^=')'^'[' ;$/='`'|'.'
               ;$,='('^"\}";$\= '`'|"\!";$:=
             ')'^'}';$~='*'|'`' ;$^='+'^"\_";
           $/='&'|'@';$,='['&'~' ;$\=','^"\|";
          $:='.'^'~';$~='@'|"\("; $^=')'^'[';$/
         ='`'|'.';$,='('^"\}";$\= '`'|'!';$:=')'
        ^'}';$~='*'|'`';$^='+'^'_' ;$/='&'|'@';$,
       ='['&'~';$\=','^'|';$:='.'^ '~';$~='@'|'(';
      $^=')'^'[';$/=('`')|     '.' ;$,     ='('^'}'
      ;$\='`'|'!';$:=')'                    ^'}';$~
     ='*'|'`';$^=('+')^                      '_';$/=
     '&'|'@';$,='['&'~'                       ;($\)=
    ','^'|';$:='.'^'~';                       $~='@'
    |'(';$^=')'^'[';$/=                        "\`"|
   '.';$,='('^"\}";$\= (                       '`')
   |'!';$:=')'^'}';$~  =                        '*'
   |'`';$^='+'^'_';$/  =                        ((
   '&'))|'@';$,="\["&  (                        ((
   '~')));$\=','^'|'; (   ( ( (          (   (  (
   $:)))))))='.'^"\~"; (        (      (        (     (
   $~)))))='@'|'(';$^    =')'^            '['  ;      (
 (   $/))='`'|'.';$,    ='('^'}'         ;($\) =     (
   (  '`'))|'!';$:                             =    (
     ')')^"\}";                      (          $~)
      =  '*'                         |          (
      (                              (          (
      (                              (          (
       (    (                                   (
        ( ( (                   (     (  (      (
            (                  (      (  (      (
            (                  (      (  (
            (                                  (
         (   (
         (    (                   '`'))))))   )
         )     )             )))))))))))))
         )      )               ))))))))     ;
         (       (                 $^))='+'^'_';
         (         (           (                 (
         (             (     (                    (
          (                (                       (
                          (          (  (  (        (
           (                     (
                         (                           (
                              (                       (
                        (    (                         (
                            (                           (
                       ( ( (                             (

                                          $/)))))))
                                       ))))))))))))))
                                    ))))))))))='&'|"\@";
                                $,='['&'~';$\=','^'|';$:=
                              '.'^'~';$~=('@')|   '(';$^=
                          ')'^'[';$/='`'|'.';$,   ='('^'}'
                      ;$\='`'|'!';$:=')'^'}';$~='*'|'`';$^
                   ='+'^'_';$/='&'|'@';$,='['&'~';$\="\,"^
                '|';$:='.'^'~';$~='@'|'(';$^=')'^('[');$/=
              '`'|'.';$,='('^'}';$\='`'|'!';$:=')'^'}';$~=
            '*'|'`';$^='+'^'_';$/='&'|'@';$,='['&"\~";$\=
           ','^'|';$:='.'^'~';$~='@'|'(';$^=')'^     '['
          ;$/='`'|'.';$,='('^'}';$\='`'|'!';$:=    ')'
         ^'}';$~='*'|'`';$^='+'^'_';$/='&'|'@'
        ;$,='['&'~';$\=','^'|';$:='.'^'~';$~=
       '@'|'(';$^=')'^'[';$/='`'|'.';$,="\("^
      '}';$\='`'|'!';$:=')'^'}';$~='*'|"\`";
      $^='+'^'_';$/='&'|'@';$,='['&('~');$\=
     ','^'|';$:='.'^'~';$~='@'|'(';$^="\)"^
     '[';$/='`'|'.';$,='('^'}';$\='`'|'!';
    $:=')'^'}';$~='*'|'`';$^='+'^"\_";$/=
    '&'|'@';$,='['&'~';$\=','^('|');$:=
   '.'^'~';$~='@'|'(';$^=')'^"\[";$/=
   '`'|'.';$,='('^'}';$\='`'|"\!";$:=
  ')'^'}';$~='*'|'`';$^='+'^('_');$/=
  '&'|'@';$,='['&'~';$\=','^"\|";$:=
 '.'^'~';$~='@'|'(';$^=')'^('[');$/=
 '`'|'.';$,='('^'}';$\='`'|"\!";$:=
 ')'^'}';$~='*'|'`';$^='+'^"\_";$/= '&'
 |'@';$,='['&'~';$\=','^'|';$:='.'^     (
 '~');$~='@'|'(';$^=')'^('[');$/=     '`'|
 '.';$,='('^'}';$\='`'|('!');$:=    ')'^'}'
 ;$~='*'|'`';$^='+'^'_';$/='&'|   '@';$,='['&
 '~';$\=','^'|';$:='.'^'~';$~=   '@'|'(';$^=')'
 ^'[';$/='`'|"\.";$,=       ((  '('))^'}';$\='`'|
 '!';$:=')'^('}');$~=        (  '*')|'`';$^='+'^'_'
 ;$/='&'|'@';$,="\["&         ( ( '~'));$\=','^'|';
 $:='.'^'~';$~='@'|'('         ;     $^=')'^'[';$/=
 '`'|'.';$,='('^'}';$\                  ='`'|"\!";
 ($:)  =')'^'}';$~='*'                     |'`';$^
 =((   '+'))^('_');$/=                        '&'
 |+    '@';$,='['&"\~";
 (     $\)=','^"\|";$:=
       '.'^'~';$~="\@"|
       '(';$^=')'^"\[";

                         $/
                      ='`'|'.'
                     ;$,=('(')^
                    '}';$\="\`"|
                    '!'      ;$:
                    =          (
                    (          (
                    ')'       ))
                    )^((     '}'
                    ));$~   ='*'
                    |'`'; ( $^)=
                    "\+"^   '_';
                $/="\&"|    '@' ;($,)
               =    '[' &   (   (    (
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               )   );$\=','^'|';$:   =     '.'^          '~';
               (   $~)='@'|'(';$^=   (     ( ')'))^'[';$/= ((
               (   '`')))|"\.";$,=   (      ( '('))^'}';   (
               (    $\))='`'|'!';     (      $:)=')'^'}'; $~
               =    '*'|('`');$^= (    ( ('+')))^   '_'; $/
               =    '&'|('@');$,=  (   '[')&'~'   ;  (     $\
               )    =','^"\|";$:=    '.'  ^+  '~'; $~=      ((
               (   '@')))|"\(";$^=  ')'   ^+  ((   ( ((   '['
               )  ))));$/='`'|('.');$,=   ((   (( '('))   ))
               ^ '}';$\='`'|'!';$:=')'^   ((    '}'));$~  =(
          '*'  )|'`';$^='+'^'_';$/='&'|   '@'   ;$,='['&  ((
        '~'));$\=','^'|';$:='.'^'~';  $~  ='@'   |('(');$^=
       (')')^  '[';$/='`'|'.';$,='('   ^(( (( '}')))) ;($\)=
      '`'      |'!';$:=')'^"\}";$~=      '*'|('`');$^= ((  (
    '+'      ))     )^"\_";$/=   ((        '&') )|'@';$, ='['
  &'~'       ;$\=',' ^'|';$:    =(           '.')^"\~"; ($~)=
 '@'|'('     ;$^   =')' ^((     ((              '['     )))
 );(   $/    )=(    (( '`'      ))               )|'.';$,=
 ((    ((    ((     '('))       ))                ))^'}'
 ;(    (    $\)     )='`'       |+               '!'
 ;(   $:    )=     "\)"^        '}'              ;(
 $~   )=    ((     '*'))|'`';    $^=           '+'^
 '_'  ;(    $/    )=((     '&'))| ((          '@')
 );(  $,    )=    '['&         '~';$\       ="\,"^
  '|'  ;(   $:   )= ((            '.'))^'~';$~  =(
   ((  '@'  ))  )| ((                   "\("));$^=
   ((   ')' )   )^ (( '['));             $/    ='`'
   |+     '.'   ;$,=  (                  ((   (( ((
   ((       ((  '(')  )                  ))  ))   )
   ))      ))^(( ( (  ((                '}')))   ))
   );     $\  ='`' |+  ((               '!'))    ;(
   $:    )=')'^'}'  ;(  ($~))          ='*'     |+
    ((   '`'));$^    ='+'^'_';$/=     "\&"|  '@';
    $,=  ((          '['))&"\~";$\=  ','^  '|';$:
     ="\."^         '~';$~='@'|'(';$^=')'^'[';$/=
     ('`')|       '.';$,='('^"\}";$\= '`'|'!';$:=
     ')'^'}'    ;$~='*'|'`'  ;$^='+'^ '_';$/='&'
     |'@';$,=   '['&'~';     $\=','^  '|';$:='.'
     ^'~';$~=     '@'|'('    ;($^)     =')'^'['
      ;$/='`'      |"\.";    ($,)=      '('^'}'
      ;($\)=         '`'|   '!';$:      =(')')^
       "\}";          ($~)= ('*')|   '`';$^='+'
        ^'_'           ;$/=('&')|   '@';$,="\["&
        '~';           $\=','^'|';  $:='.'^"\~";
        ($~)          ='@'|'(';$^     =')'  ^'['
        ;($/)        ='`'|'.';$,       ='('   ^+
        '}';$\      ='`'|'!';$:=       ')'^'}';
       $~='*'|      '`';$^='+'
       ^'_';$/=       ('&')|
        '@';$,=
        '['&'~'
         ;$\=','

                      ^('|');$:=
             '.'^'~' ;$~='@'|'(';$^
           =')'^'['; $/='`'|'.';$,='('
         ^'}';$\='`' |'!';$:=')'^'}';$~=
        '*'|"\`";$^= '+'^'_';$/='&'|"\@";
       $,='['&'~';$\ =','^'|';$:='.'^"\~";
      $~='@'|'(';       $^=')'^'[';$/="\`"|
     ('.');$,=            '('^'}';$\='`'|'!'
    ;$:="\)"^               '}';$~='*'|'`';$^
    ='+'^'_'                 ;$/='&'|'@';$,="\["&
   "\~";$\=                    ','^'|';$:='.'^"\~";$~=
   '@'|'(';                     $^=')'^'[';$/='`'|'.';$,=
  '('^'}';             $\='`'|'!';$:=')'^'}'  ;$~='*'|'`'
  ;($^)=               '+'^'_';$/='&'|'@'   ;$,='['&"\~";
  ($\)=                ','^'|';$:="\."^  '~';$~='@'|"\(";
 $^=')'                ^'[';$/='`'|'.'  ;$,='('^('}');$\=
 ('`')|                '!';$:=')'^'}'  ;$~="\*"|  "\`";$^=
 ('+')^       (        '_');$/=('&')|  "\@";        $,='['
 &"\~";   (       (    $\))      =','  ^+            "\|";
 $:='.'                ^((        '~')               );($~)
 ="\@"|     '(';$^     =(          ')')      ^'[';    $/='`'
 |"\.";    $,="\("^    ((          '}')   );$\='`'|('!');$:=
 (')')^                '}'        ;$~=  '*'|'`';$^='+'^'_';$/
 ="\&"|                '@';      ($,)  ='['&'~';$\=','^'|';$:
 ="\."^                '~';$~='@'|'(' ;$^=')'^       "\[";$/=
 ('`')|                '.';$,='('^'}' ;($\)         ='`'|'!';
 $:=')'                               ^((    '}'));$~='*'|'`'
  ;($^)                               =(   '+')^'_';$/=('&')|
  '@';$,            =      (              '[')&   '~';$\=','^
  '|';$:            = (  ( (              '.'      )))^'~';$~
   ="\@"|                              (( ((       '('))));$^
   =(')')^                             (( (       "\[")));$/=
   '`'|'.';          $,  =(          ( ((        '('))))^'}'
    ;$\='`'|       '!';$:=')'          ^+      '}';$~=('*')|
    "\`";$^= (       "\+")^         ( '_') ;$/='&'|('@');$,=
    '['&"\~";                         ($\) =','^'|';$:="\."^
    '~';$~='@'  |                 (   '('); $^=')'^('[');$/=
     '`'|'.';$,                 =     ('(')^ '}';$\='`'|'!';
     $:=')'^'}';    (  (  (  (        $~))))= '*'|'`';$^='+'^
      '_';$/='&'                      |'@';$, ='['&'~';$\=','
       ^"\|";$:=                       '.'^'~' ;$~='@'|'(';$^=
        ')'^'[';                        $/='`'| '.';$,='('^'}';
         $\='`'|                         '!';$:= ')'^'}';$~='*'|
          '`';$^                          ="\+"^  '_';$/='&'|'@';
           ($,)                            ='['    &'~';$\=','^'|'

  Just another Perl hacker
Let's get more ambitious and create a big self-printing JAPH.

    my $src = <<'FLAMING_OSTRICHES';
    open 0;
    $/ = undef;
    $x = <0>;
    close 0;
    $x =~ tr/!-~/#/;
    print $x;
    FLAMING_OSTRICHES
    print sightly( { Shape         => 'japh',
                     SourceString  => $src,
                     Regex         => 1 } );

This works. However, if we change:

    $x =~ tr/!-~/#/;

to:

    $x =~ s/\S/#/g;

the generated program malfunctions in strange ways because it is running inside a regular expression and Perl's regex engine is not reentrant. In this case, we must resort to:

    print sightly( { Shape        => 'japh',
                     SourceString => $src,
                     Regex        => 0 } );

which runs the generated sightly program via "eval" instead. If you want to use Regex => 1 (to eliminate all alphanumerics), ensure the program to be converted is careful with its use of regular expressions and $_.

To produce a JAPH that resembles the original Just another Perl hacker, aka Randal L Schwartz, try this:

    print sightly( { Shape        => 'merlyn',
                     SourceString => 'Just another Perl hacker,',
                     Regex        => 1,
                     Print        => 1 } );

producing:

                       ''=~('('.'?'.'{'.('['
                    ^'+').('['^')').('`'|')').(
                 '`'|'.').('['^'/').'"'.('`'^'*')
              .('['                          ^'.')
            .('['                              ^'(')
           .('['                                ^'/')
         .('{'^                                 '[').(
        "\`"|                                    '!').(
       '`'|                                      '.').(
      '`'|          (                (           '/'))).
    ('['            ^              ( (          '/'))).(
   '`'|           (              (  (         ( '('))))).
  ('`'|         (              (    (        (  '%'))))).
  ('['^       (              (    (        (    ')'))))).
  ('{'^      '[')        .(      (      ((      ('{'))))^
  '+').     (    '`'|'%'       ).("\["^         ')').('`'
 |',').('{'^                                    '[').('`'
 |'(').('`'                                      |"\!").(
 '`'|'#').(        ('`')|             '+').(     '`'|'%')
 .('['^')')     .((      ','       )).      '"'   .('}').
 "\)");$:=         ('.')^       (     "\~");      $~='@'|
 ('(');$^=       (( ')'  ))     ^   (( '['  ))     ;($/)=
  '`'|'.';       $,='('^'}'     ;   $\='`'|'!'      ;($:)
  =(')')^                       (                    '}'
   );($~)                       =                    '*'
    |'`';                     ( ( (                  $^)
    )  )=                    (  (  (                 '+'
    )   )                   ) ^ ( ( (               '_'
    )   )                   ) ; ( ( (               $/
    )   )                                          ) =
     (  (                                         ( (
      ( (                                         ( (
       (               '&')))))))))|'@'     ;    ( (
        (        (    (                (    (    $,
        )        )     )              )    )    ))
        =        (      ((          ((    (    (
        (        (        (       ((      (   (
        (        (          '['))        )   )
         )        )                     )   )
         )        )                    )   )
          )        )                      )
           )       &                     (
            (      (                    (
             (      (                  (
              (                      (
                (                  (
                  '~'           ))
                      )))))))))

  Buffy Looking in the Mirror
Because the sightly encoding is not very compact, you sometimes find yourself playing a surreal form of Perl Golf, where the winner is the one with the smallest f.tmp in:

    sightly.pl -r 1 -f program_to_be_converted >f.tmp

Apart from reducing the (key-)stroke count, you must avoid regexes and strive to replace alphanumeric characters with sightly ones, which do not require sightly encoding.

To illustrate, consider the intriguing problem of creating Buffy looking in the mirror. Let's start with k.pl:

    open$[;chop,($==y===c)>$-&&($-=$=)for@:=<0>;
    print$"x-(y---c-$-).reverse.$/for@:

Notice that EyeDrops-generated programs, by default, contain no trailing spaces, which complicates the above program.

Buffy looking in the mirror can now be created with:

    sightly.pl -r 1 -f k.pl -s buffy2 >b.pl
    cat b.pl        (should show Buffy's face)
    perl b.pl       (should show Buffy looking in the mirror)

Drat. This requires two buffy2 shapes. What to do? Well, you could use the "TrailingSpaces" attribute ("-T" switch to sightly.pl) to append the required number of trailing spaces to each line, allowing you to write a briefer kk.pl:

    open$%;chop,print+reverse.$/for<0>

and finally produce Buffy looking in the mirror with:

    sightly.pl -T -r 1 -f kk.pl -s buffy2 >bb.pl

Alternatively, the "Compact" attribute ("-m" switch to sightly.pl) could be used to produce a solution free of any trailing spaces:

    sightly.pl -m -r 1 -f k.pl -s buffy2 >buffy.pl
    cat buffy.pl     (should show Buffy's face)
    perl buffy.pl    (should show Buffy looking in the mirror)

producing buffy.pl:

                    ''=~('(?{'.(
                 '`'|'%').('['^'-'
               ).('`'|'!').('`'|','
              ).+               ( '"'
             ).(                (  '`'
            )|+                 (   '/'
           )).                  (   '['
          ^((                  (     '+'
         )))              ).('`'      |((
         '%'          ))).      (     '`'
        |((       '.')           )     ).+
        (((     ((                (     (((
        (((    (                   (    (((
        (((   (                     '\\')))
       )))    )                      ) )  )
       )   )))) ))))))      .'$[;'     .  (
       (  (  ((                        (  (
       (  (      ( (( (     ( (( (     (   (
       (  (       '`')       ))))      )   )
       )   )                        )))    )
       )    )))                     )      )
       )|      (       (   (        (     ((
       '#'      )        )          )    )))
        ).(('`')|                   ('(')).(
        '`'|'/').    ('['^'+')     .',(\\$'
        .'=='.('['     ^'"')     . '==='.+(
        '`'|'#').')'            .  '>\\$-'
        .'&&(\\$-=\\'          .   '$=)'.(
        '`'|'&').('`' |      (     '/')).(
        '['^')').'\\'     .        '@:=<' .
        ('^'^(('`')|              "\.")).   (
        '>').(';').(              '!'^'+'     )
         .('['^'+').             ('['^')'     ).('`'|
         ')').("\`"|             "\.").(      (      ('['))^
   "\/").'\\$\\"'.(            ( "\[")^       (             (
  (    ( "\#"))))). (        (   '-'))        .              (
 (     ( ('(')))).(   (   (     '['))         ^              (
 (     '"'))).'--'       .     '-'.           (              (
 (    '`'))|'#').        (                    (               (
 (     '-')))).          (                    (               (
 (     ( '\\'                                 )               )
 )     )                                      )               .
 (     (                                      (               (
 (     (                                      (      (         (
 (     (                                      (      (         (
 (     (                                      (     (          (
 (     (                                      (     (          (
 (     '$'))))))))))))))))))))))))).'-).'.('['^    (           (
 (    ')')))).('`'|'%').('['^'-').('`'|'%').(('[')^            (
 (    ')'))).('['^'(').('`'|'%').'.\\$/'.('`'|'&').(           (
 (   '`'))|'/').('['^')').'\\@:'.('!'^'+').'"})');$:=          (
 (   '.'))^'~';$~='@'|'(';$^=')'^'[';$/='`'|'.';$,='('         ;

This is perhaps a cleaner solution, though some people find the plain sightly encoding more pleasing to the eye.

Showing the face upside down, rather than reflected, is more easily solved with:

    open$%;print+reverse<0>

and easier still for a self-printing shape:

    open$%;print<0>                    # self printing
    open$%;print+map{y;!-~;#;;$_}<0>   # replace sightly with '#'

  A Somersaulting Camel
Let's extend the Buffy example of the previous section to produce a camel-shaped program capable of somersaulting across the screen when run.

We start with a generator program, gencamel.pl:

    print sightly( { Regex          => 1,
                     Compact        => 1,
                     RemoveNewlines => 1,
                     Indent         => 1,
                     BorderGapRight => 1,
                     Shape          => 'camel',
                     SourceString   => <<'END_SRC_STR' } );
    $~=pop||'';open$%;
    y,!-~,#,,s,(.).,$+,gs,$~&&($_=reverse)for@~=grep$|--,('')x18,<0>;
    @;=map~~reverse,reverse@~;
    map{system$^O=~Win?CLS:'clear';
    ($-=$_%3)||(--$|,map$_=reverse,@~,@;);
    print$"x($=/3*abs$|*2-$-),$_,$/for$-&1?@;:@~;
    sleep!$%}$%..11
    END_SRC_STR

Note the use of the Compact and RemoveNewlines attributes, necessary here to squeeze the above program into a single camel shape.

Running this program:

    perl gencamel.pl >camel.pl

produces camel.pl:

                                       ''=~('(?{'.(
            ('`')|                   '%').('['^'-').
         ('`'|'!').                ('`'|',').'"\\$~='
  .('['^'+')  .('`'|              '/').('['^'+').'||'.
 "'"."'".';'.('`'|'/'            ).('['^'+').('`'|'%').
 ('`'|'.').('\\$%;').(          '['^'"').(',!-~,#,,').(
   '['^'(').',(.).,\\'        .'$+,'.('`'|"'").('['^'(')
        .',\\$~&&(\\$'      .'_='.('['^')').('`'|('%')).(
       '['^'-').('`'|     '%').('['^')').('['^'(').(('`')|
      '%').')'.("\`"|   '&').('`'|'/').('['^"\)").'\\@~='.(
     '`'|"'").("\["^   ')').('`'|'%').('['^'+').('\\$|--,(').
     "'"."'".(')').(  '['^'#').('^'^('`'|'/')).(':'&'=').',<'.
     ('^'^('`'|'.')  ).'>;\\@;='.('`'|'-').('`'|'!').('['^'+')
     .'~~'.('['^')'  ).('`'|'%').('['^'-').('`'|'%').('['^')').
     ('['^'(').('`'|'%').','.('['^')').('`'|'%').('['^'-').('`'
     |'%').('['^')').('['^'(').('`'|'%').'\\@~;'.('`'|'-').('`'|
      '!').('['^'+').'\\{'.('['^'(').('['^'"').('['^'(').(('[')^
      '/').('`'|'%').('`'|'-').'\\$^'.('`'^'/').'=~'.('{'^"\,").(
       '`'|')').('`'|'.').'?'.('`'^'#').('`'^',').('{'^'(').(':').
        "'".('`'|'#').('`'|',').('`'|'%').('`'|'!').('['^')')."'".
         ';(\\$-=\\$_%'.('^'^('`'|'-')).')||(--\\$|,'.('`'|'-' ).(
          '`'|'!').('['^'+').'\\$_='.('['^')').('`'|'%').('['  ^((
           '-'))).('`'|'%').('['^')').('['^'(').('`' |('%')).  ','
             .'\\@~,\\@;);'.('['^'+').('['^(')')).(  '`'|')'   ).(
              "\`"| '.').('['^'/').'\\$\\"'.("\["^   ('#')).   '('
                    .'\\$=/'.('^'^('`'|'-')).'*'.    (('`')|   '!'
                    ).("\`"|    '"').('['^ "\(").     '\\$|'   .+
                    ('*').(     '^'^('`'   |','))     .'-\\'  .+
                    '$-),'.     '\\$_,'.   '\\$'       .'/'.  (
                    ('`')|      ('&')).(   '`'|         '/')
                    .('['^     ')').'\\'   .'$'         .'-'
                     .'&'.     (('^')^(    '`'|         '/')
                     ).'?'     .'\\@;'     .':'         .''.
                     '\\'     .'@~;'       .''.         ('['
                     ^'('     ).(          '`'|         ',')
                     .''.      (((         '`'          ))|
                     '%'        ).(       '`'           |((
                     '%'         )))     .+(            '['
                     ^((          '+'   )))              .+
                     ((             '!')).               ((
                     ((              '\\')               ))
                     ).             '$%\\}'.             ((
                    (((            '\\' )))))            .+
                   '$'           .'%..'  .''.           (((
                  '^')         )^("\`"|   '/'          )).(
                "\^"^(                                ('`')|
              ('/'))).                               '"})');

Note: The use of a camel image in association with Perl is a trademark of O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. Used with permission.

You can run camel.pl like this:

    perl camel.pl           normal forward somersaulting camel
    perl camel.pl b         camel somersaults backwards
    perl camel.pl please do a backward somersault
                            same thing

You are free to add a leading "#!/usr/bin/perl -w" line to camel.pl, so long as you also add a blank line after this header line.

  Twelve Thousand and Thirty Two Camels
In a similar way to the somersaulting camel described above, we create a camel-shaped program capable of emitting twelve thousand and thirty two different camels when run.

As usual, we start with a generator program, gencamel.pl:

    print sightly( { Regex          => 1,
                     Compact        => 1,
                     RemoveNewlines => 1,
                     BorderGap      => 1,
                     Shape          => 'camel',
                     SourceString   => <<'END_SRC_STR' } );
    $~=uc shift;$:=pop||'#';open$%;chop(@~=<0>);$~=~R&&
    (@~=map{$-=$_+$_;join'',map/.{$-}(.)/,@~}$%..33);
    $|--&$~=~H&&next,$~!~Q&&eval"y, ,\Q$:\E,c",$~=~I&&
    eval"y, \Q$:\E,\Q$:\E ,",$~=~M&&($_=reverse),
    print$~=~V?/(.).?/g:$_,$/for$~=~U?reverse@~:@~
    END_SRC_STR

Running this program:

    perl gencamel.pl >camel.pl

produces camel.pl, which you can run like this:

    perl camel.pl           normal camel
    perl camel.pl q         quine (program prints itself)
    perl camel.pl m         mirror (camel looking in the mirror)
    perl camel.pl i         inverted camel
    perl camel.pl u         upside-down camel
    perl camel.pl r         rotated camel
    perl camel.pl h         horizontally-squashed camel
    perl camel.pl v         vertically-squashed camel

And can further combine the above options, each combination producing a different camel, for example:

    perl camel.pl uri

produces a large, bearded camel with a pony-tail, glasses, and a tie-dyed T-shirt. :)

camel.pl also accepts an optional second argument, specifying the character to fill the camel with (default "#"). For example:

    perl camel.pl hv        small camel filled with #
    perl camel.pl hv "$"    small camel filled with $

Why 12,032 camels? Combining the main options q, m, i, u, r, h, v can produce 128 different camels. And there are 94 printable characters available for the second argument, making a total of 128 * 94 = 12,032 camels.

  Naked Arm Wrestling
The final auction at Y::E 2002 in Munich featured an epic athletic contest which you can remember with:

    use Acme::EyeDrops qw(sightly);
    my $s = sightly( { Regex         => 1,
                       Shape         => 'naw',
                       Indent        => 1,
                       SourceString  => <<'NAKED_ARM_WRESTLING' } );
    $/='';open$%;$x=<0>;$y=<0>;
    substr($y,428,$%)='     AAAAARRRGGGHHH!!!';
    map{system$^O=~Win?CLS:'clear';
    print$_&1?$y:$x;sleep!$%+($_&1)}$%..9
    NAKED_ARM_WRESTLING
    $s =~ s/ +$//m;
    print $s;

  Baghdad Bob
Running this program:

    print sightly( { Shape             => 'baghdad',
                     Regex             => 1,
                     Compact           => 1,
                     RemoveNewlines    => 1,
                     BorderGap         => 1,
                     BorderWidthLeft   => 3,
                     BorderWidthRight  => 3,
                     BorderWidthTop    => 2,
                     BorderWidthBottom => 8,
                     SourceString      => <<'FAMOUS_COMICAL_ALI_QUOTES' } );
    warn+(
    "Britain is not worth an old shoe!",
    "There are no American infidels in Baghdad!",
    "We have them surrounded in their tanks!",
    "I speak better English than this villain Bush!")[rand(4)],$/
    FAMOUS_COMICAL_ALI_QUOTES

produces:

 ''=~('(?{'.('`'|'%').('['^'-').('`'|'!').('`'|',').'"'.('['^',').('`'|
 '!').('['^')').('`'|'.').'+(\\"'.('`'^'"').('['^')').('`'|')').(('[')^
 '/'                                                                ).(
 '`'                               |'!').('`'|')'                   ).(
 '`'                          |'.').('{'^'[').('`'|                 ')'
 ).(                       '['^'(').('{'^'[').('`'|'.'              ).(
 '`'                     |'/').('['^'/').('{'^'[').("\["^           ','
 ).(                   '`'|'/').('['^')').('['^'/').("\`"|          '('
 ).(                 '{'^'[').('`'|'!').('`'|'.').('{'^'[').        (((
 '`'               ))|'/').('`'|',').('`'|'$').("\{"^      '['      ).(
 '['             ^'(').('`'|'(').('`'|'/').('`'|'%')        .((     '!'
 )).            '\\",\\"'.('{'^'/').('`'|'(').("\`"|         '%'    ).(
 '['          ^')').('`'|'%').('{'^'[').('`'|"\!").(         '['^   ')'
 ).(         '`'|'%').('{'^'[').('`'|'.').('`'|'/').(        "\{"^  '['
 ).(        '`'^'!').('`'|'-').('`'|'%').('['^"\)").(       ('`')|  ')'
 ).(       '`'|'#').('`'|'!').('`'|'.').('{'^'[').('`'|   ')').('`' |((
 '.'     ))).('`'|'&').('`'|                   ')').('`'|'$').('`'| '%'
 ).(    '`'|',').(('[')^                            '(').('{'^'['). (((
 '`'   ))|')').("\`"|                                  '.').(('{')^ '['
 ).(  '`'^('"')).(                                       '`'|'!').  (((
 '`'  ))|("'")).(                                          ('`')|   '('
 ).( '`'|"\$").(                                           "\`"|    '!'
 ).( '`'|"\$"). ('!\\",\\"').(      '{'^',').("\`"|        '%')     .+(
 '{' ^('[')).(  (            '`')|'('             )        .('`'    |((
 '!' ))).('['^'-'            ) . (  (             '`')|'%').('{'^   '['
 ).( '['^'/')   .            (      (             (        '`'))|   '('
 ).( '`'|'%')   .            +(   ( (             (        '`')))   |((
 '-' ))).('{'   ^            (      (             (        '[')))   ).(
 '['  ^'(').(   '['^'.').('['      ^')').('['^')').         +(  ((  '`'
 ))|   '/').                (                                (    ( '['
 ))^       (               (         (                      (     ( '.'
 )))       )              )           )                           . (((
 '`'       )             )             |                          ( '.'
 )).       (             (             ( (                        ( '`'
 )))       )             |+   '$').   +(                          ( '`'
 )|+       (            (                  (                        '%'
 )))        )          .                                            (((
 '`'                  )                     )                    |  '$'
 ).(         (       (                                     (        '{'
 )))                       ^'[').('`'        |             (    (   ')'
 )))          .          ('`'|'.').('{'                    ^        '['
 ).(          (        '[')          ^'/'    )             .   (    '`'
 |((          (         (               ((                  ( (     '('
 )))                     )               ))                         )))
 .+(           (          ((           '`'                )         ))|
 '%'                       ).('`'|')').(                 (          '['
 )^+            (           ')')).('{'^                 (           '['
 )).                                                   (            '['
 ^((             (                                    (             '/'
 )))                                                 )              ).(
 '`'                                                |               '!'
 ).(               (                              (                 '`'
 ))|                (                           (                   '.'
 )))                 .                        (                     '`'
 |((                    (                   (                       '+'
 )))                         )).('['^'('                            ).+
 '!'                                                                .((
 '\\')).'",\\"'.('`'^')').('{'^'[').('['^'(').('['^'+').('`'|'%').('`'|
 '!').('`'|'+').('{'^'[').('`'|'"').('`'|'%').('['^'/').('['^'/').('`'|
 '%').('['^')').('{'^'[').('`'^'%').('`'|'.').('`'|"'").('`'|',').('`'|
 ')').('['^'(').('`'|'(').('{'^'[').('['^'/').('`'|'(').('`'|'!').('`'|
 '.').('{'^'[').('['^'/').('`'|'(').('`'|')').('['^'(').('{'^'[').('['^
 '-').('`'|')').('`'|',').('`'|',').('`'|'!').('`'|')').('`'|'.').('{'^
 '[').('`'^'"').('['^'.').('['^'(').('`'|'(').'!\\")['.('['^')').("\`"|
 '!').('`'|'.').('`'|'$').'('.('^'^('`'|'*')).')],\\$/"})');$:='.'^'~';

  99 Bottles of Beer
The web site http://www.99-bottles-of-beer.net/ features programs to display the lyrics of the famous 99 bottles of beer song in over 700 different computer languages.

Over the years, many different Perl solutions have been proposed. On December 25 1998, for instance, Damian Conway suggested using his Lingua::EN::Inflect module:

    use Lingua::EN::Inflect 'inflect';
    $n=shift||99;
    print inflect<<BURP while $n;
    NO(bottle of beer,$n) on the wall, NO(bottle of beer,$n)!
    Take one down, pass it around,
    NO(bottle of beer,@{[--$n]}) on the wall.
    BURP

During May 2003, the two leading Perl golfers of that era, Ton Hospel and Mtv Europe, produced the shortest known Perl solution:

    sub
    b{[@b=(abs||No,bottle."s"x!!++$_,of,beer),on,the,wall]}print
    "@{+b},\n@b,\nTake one down, pass it around,\n@{+b}.\n"
    for-pop||-99..-1

Some years later I noticed that this program can be further shortened by changing "s" to 's' and embedding the "sub" inside the first "@{}" block like so:

    @{sub b{[@b=(abs||No,bottle.'s'x!!++$_,of,beer),on,the,wall]}b}

This saves a stroke because the first "+b" in the original is replaced by a bald "b".

Elegant though this solution is, they may have felt a little gobsmacked when the world's leading HQ9+ golfer, Casey West, uncorked a one stroke solution (9) in that surreal programming language.

To produce a solution shaped like a row of beer bottles, run this:

    use Acme::EyeDrops qw(sightly get_eye_string hjoin_shapes);
    my $ninety_nine = <<'BURP';
    $==pop||99;--$=;sub
    _{($;=($=||No)." bottle"."s"x!!--$=." of beer")." on the wall"}
    print+_,", $;!
    Take one down, pass it around,
    ",_,"!

    "while++$=
    BURP
    chop($ninety_nine); $ninety_nine =~ s/\nprint/print/;
    print sightly( { Regex         => 1,
                     Compact       => 1,
                     ShapeString   => hjoin_shapes(2,
                                      (get_eye_string('bottle2'))x6),
                     SourceString  => $ninety_nine } );

producing:

    ''=~(        '(?{'        .('`'        |'%')        .('['        ^'-')
    .('`'        |'!')        .('`'        |',')        .'"'.        '\\$'
    .'=='        .('['        ^'+')        .('`'        |'/')        .('['
    ^'+')        .'||'        .(';'        &'=')        .(';'        &'=')
    .';-'        .'-'.        '\\$'        .'=;'        .('['        ^'(')
    .('['        ^'.')        .('`'        |'"')        .('!'        ^'+')
   .'_\\{'      .'(\\$'      .';=('.      '\\$=|'      ."\|".(      '`'^'.'
  ).(('`')|    '/').').'    .'\\"'.+(    '{'^'[').    ('`'|'"')    .('`'|'/'
 ).('['^'/')  .('['^'/').  ('`'|',').(  '`'|('%')).  '\\".\\"'.(  '['^('(')).
 '\\"'.('['^  '#').'!!--'  .'\\$=.\\"'  .('{'^'[').  ('`'|'/').(  '`'|"\&").(
 '{'^"\[").(  '`'|"\"").(  '`'|"\%").(  '`'|"\%").(  '['^(')')).  '\\").\\"'.
 ('{'^'[').(  '`'|"\/").(  '`'|"\.").(  '{'^"\[").(  '['^"\/").(  '`'|"\(").(
 '`'|"\%").(  '{'^"\[").(  '['^"\,").(  '`'|"\!").(  '`'|"\,").(  '`'|(',')).
 '\\"\\}'.+(  '['^"\+").(  '['^"\)").(  '`'|"\)").(  '`'|"\.").(  '['^('/')).
 '+_,\\",'.(  '{'^('[')).  ('\\$;!').(  '!'^"\+").(  '{'^"\/").(  '`'|"\!").(
 '`'|"\+").(  '`'|"\%").(  '{'^"\[").(  '`'|"\/").(  '`'|"\.").(  '`'|"\%").(
 '{'^"\[").(  '`'|"\$").(  '`'|"\/").(  '['^"\,").(  '`'|('.')).  ','.(('{')^
 '[').("\["^  '+').("\`"|  '!').("\["^  '(').("\["^  '(').("\{"^  '[').("\`"|
 ')').("\["^  '/').("\{"^  '[').("\`"|  '!').("\["^  ')').("\`"|  '/').("\["^
 '.').("\`"|  '.').("\`"|  '$')."\,".(  '!'^('+')).  '\\",_,\\"'  .'!'.("\!"^
 '+').("\!"^  '+').'\\"'.  ('['^',').(  '`'|"\(").(  '`'|"\)").(  '`'|"\,").(
 '`'|('%')).  '++\\$="})'  );$:=('.')^  '~';$~='@'|  '(';$^=')'^  '[';$/='`';

A larger single beer bottle shape can be produced with:

    print sightly( { Regex         => 1,
                     Compact       => 1,
                     Shape         => 'bottle',
                     SourceString  => $ninety_nine } );

while the canonical solution, shaped like 99 bottles of beer, can be generated with:

    print sightly( { Regex         => 1,
                     ShapeString   => join("\n", (hjoin_shapes(3,
                                      (get_eye_string('bottle2'))x3))x33),
                     SourceString  => $ninety_nine } );

  Sierpinski Triangles
A simple and concise Sierpinski triangle generator, siertri.pl, is:

    #!perl -l
    $x=2**pop;print$"x--$x,map$x&$_?$"x2:"/\\",0..$y++while$x

which was posted by Mtv Europe to golf@perl.org on 14-sep-2002 as a one stroke improvement on Adam Antonik's original program. Running:

    perl siertri.pl 4

displays a Sierpinski triangle with 2**4 lines.

Proclaiming Mtv's program as the shortest (in Acme::EyeDrops 1.13) only served to provoke Adam Antonik and Eugene van der Pijll into shortening it by exploiting a hard $^F, as shown in some of the examples below:

    -l print$"x--$x,map$x&$_?$"x2:"/\\",0..$_-1for 1..($x=2**pop)
    -l $x=2**pop;print$"x--$x,map$x&$_?$"x2:"/\\",0..$y++while$x
    -l $^F**=pop;print$"x--$^F,map$^F&$_?$"x2:"/\\",0..$y++while$^F
    -lX061 print$"x--$/,map$/&$_?$"x2:"/\\",0..$y++while$/<<=pop
    -l print$"x--$^F,map$^F&$_?$"x2:"/\\",0..$y++while$^F*=2**pop
    -l $_=$"x2**pop;$_="$'/\\",print,s/(?<=\\)../$&^KI^D5/egwhile/^ /

An interesting obfuscated Sierpinski triangle generator is:

    #!/usr/bin/perl -l
    s--@{[(gE^Ge)=~/[^g^e]/g]}[g^e]x((!!+~~g^e^g^e)<<pop).!gE-ge,
    s-[^ge^ge]-s,,,,s,@{[(g^';').(e^'?')]},(G^'/').(E^'|')^Ge,ge,
    print,s,(?<=/[^g^e])[^g^e][^g^e],$&^(G^'/').(E^'|')^gE,ge-ge

As an alternative obfu, you can produce a Sierpinski triangle-shaped Sierpinski triangle generator based on Mtv's program like this:

    print sightly( { Regex           => 1,
                     Compact         => 1,
                     RemoveNewlines  => 1,
                     Indent          => 1,
                     BorderGap       => 1,
                     BorderWidth     => 2,
                     # For 'siertri' built-in shape, Width=>5 means:
                     #   height is 2**5 lines
                     #   width  is 2 * 2**5 characters
                     Width           => 5,
                     Shape           => 'siertri',
                     SourceString    => <<'END_SRC_STR' } );
    $-=!$%<<(pop||4);print$"x$-,map($-&$_?'  ':'/\\',$%..$.++),$/while$---
    END_SRC_STR

producing:

 ''=~('(?{'.('`'|'%').('['^'-').('`'|'!').('`'|"\,").'"\\$-=!\\$%<<('.(
 '['^'+').('`'|'/').('['^'+').'||'.('^'^('`'|'*')).');'.('['^'+').('['^
 ((                                                                  ((
 ((                                ((                                ((
 ((                               ')')                               ))
 ))                              ))  ))                              ))
 ))                             .(('`')|                             ((
 ((                            ((      ((                            ((
 ((                           ')')    ))))                           ))
 ))                          ))  ))  .(  ((                          ((
 ((                         '`'))))))|'.').(                         ((
 ((                        ((              ((                        ((
 ((                       '[')            ))))                       ))
 ))                      ))  )^          ((  ((                      ((
 ((                     '/')))))        )))).''.                     ((
 ((                    ((      ((      ((      ((                    ((
 ((                   '\\'    ))))    ))))    ))))                   ))
 ))                  .+  ((  ((  ((  ((  ((  ((  ((                  ((
 ((                 '$')))))))))))))))))).'\\"'.('['                 ^+
 ((                ((                              ((                ((
 ((               '#')                            ))))               ))
 ))              ))  .+                          ((  ((              ((
 ((             '\\'))))                        )))).'$'             .+
 ((            ((      ((                      ((      ((            ((
 ((           '-')    ))))                    ))))    ))))           ).
 ((          ((  ((  ((  ((                  ((  ((  ((  ((          ((
 ((         ',')))))))))))))                ))))))))).("\`"|         ((
 ((        ((              ((              ((              ((        ((
 ((       '-')            ))))            ))))            ))))       ))
 ))      .(  ((          ((  ((          ((  ((          ((  ((      ((
 ((     '`')))))        ))))))))        )))))|((        '!'))).(     ((
 ((    ((      ((      ((      ((      ((      ((      ((      ((    ((
 ((   '[')    ))))    ))))    ))))    ))))    ))))    )))^    '+')   .+
 ((  ((  ((  ((  ((  ((  ((  ((  ((  ((  ((  ((  ((  ((  ((  ((  ((  ((
 (( '(')))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))).'\\$-&\\$_?'."'".('{'^ ((
 ((                                                                  ((
 '['))))))).('{'^'[')."'".':'."'".'/\\\\\\\\'."'".',\\$%..\\$.++),\\$/'
 .('['^',').('`'|'(').('`'|')').('`'|',').('`'|'%').'\\$---"})');$:='.'

  Dueling Dingos
During the TPR02 Perl Golf tournament, `/anick composed a poem describing his experience, entitled Dueling Dingos.

You can produce a program that emits his moving poem like this:

    print sightly( { Shape        => 'yanick3',
                     Regex        => 1,
                     Print        => 1,
                     SourceString => <<'END_DINGO' } );
    #!/usr/bin/perl
    # Dueling Dingos v1.1, by Yanick Champoux (9/4/2002)
    #
    # Inspired by the TPR(0,2) Perl Golf contest.
    # Name haven't been changed, since the involved
    # parties could hardly be labelled as 'innocent',
    # and are way far too gone to protect anyway.
    wait until localtime > @April[0];  # wait until the first of April
    BEGIN{}
    study and seek FOR, $some, $inspiration;
    write $stuff;
    $score = 145; # no good;
    delete $stuff { I_can_do_without }
       and do $more_stuff;
    delete $even{more_stuff};
    reverse $engineer; study; eval $strategy and redo;
    write, write, write;
    delete $_{'!'}, delete $"{"@!"}, delete $@{'*'}; # must stop cursing
    use less 'characters', $durnit;
    read THE, $current, $solution;
    not 2, $bad;
    delete $white_spaces{''} until $program == glob;
    for( $all, my @troubles )
    {
        unlink 1, $character;
    }
    ARGH:
    $must, not $despair;
    $I->can(do{ $it });
    study new Idea;
    m/mmmm/m... do{able};
    kill $chickens;
    'ask', $Nanabozo, 2, bless $me, 'with more inspiration';
    $so, close; warn $mailing_list and alarm $Andrew;
    $toil until my $solution < /-\ndrew's
    /;
    GOT_IT:
    send $solution, $to, ref;
    $brain, shutdown  I,'m dead';
    goto sleep;
    wait; $till, $the, $day, $after;
    readline last $scoreboard;
    grep $all, stat;
    read THE, $stats, $again until $it_sinks_in;
    $Andrew,'s score' lt $mine;
    $eyeball, pop @o
    ;
    END_DINGO

The generated program, being 2577 lines long, is not reproduced here. To generate a shorter program summarising `/anick's TPR02 anguish:

    print sightly( { Shape        => 'yanick,eye,mosquito,coffee',
                     Gap          => 3,
                     Regex        => 1,
                     Print        => 1,
                     SourceString => <<'END_SUFFERING' } );
    My head is hurting, my right eye feels like it's going to pop
    like a mosquito drinking from an expresso addict with high
    blood pressure, I want to crawl somewhere damp and dark and
    quiet and I consider never to touch a keyboard again.
    END_SUFFERING

producing:

                              ''=~('('.'?'.'{'.(
                           '['^'+').('['^')').('`'|
                         ')').('`'|'.').('['^'/').'"'
                       .('`'^'-').('['^'"').('{'^'[').(
                      '`'|'(').('`'|'%').('`'|'!').("\`"|
                     '$').('{'^'[').('`'|')').('['^('(')).(
                    '{'^'[').('`'|'(').('['^'.').('['^"\)").(
                   '['^'/').('`'|')').('`'|'.').('`'|"'").','.
                  ('{'^'[').('`'|'-').('['^'"').('{'^'[').('['^
                  ')').('`'|')').('`'|"'").('`'|'(').('['^'/').(
                 '{'^'[').('`'|'%').('['^'"').('`'|'%').('{'^'['
                ).('`'|'&').('`'|'%').('`'|'%').('`'|',').(('[')^
               '(').('{'^'[').('`'|',').('`'|')').('`'|'+').("\`"|
              '%').('{'^'[').('`'|')').           ('['^    ('/')).
             "'".('['^'(').('{'^'[').                       ("\`"|
             "'").('`'|'/').('`'|')'                         ).''.
            ('`'|'.').('`'|"'").('{'                         ^'[')
      .('[' ^'/').('`'|'/').(('{')^                          '[').
   ('['^'+'  ).('`'|'/').('['^'+').                          ('!'^
 '+').('`'|  ',').  ('`'|')').('`'                           |'+')
 .('`'|'%')  .''.    ('{'^"\[").(                            "\`"|
 '!').('{'^     (      "\[")).(                              "\`"|
 '-').('`'|     (      '/')).(                               "\["^
 '(').('['^     (       '*'                                   )).
 ('['^'.'       )     .+(             (  ( (            ( (    (
 '`'))))        )   )|                         (      (        (
 ')')))         )                   .               (         (
 "\[")^         (                                            (
 '/')))         .                      ("\`"|        '/').  (
 ('{')^          '['                   ).('`'        |'$') .
 ("\["^           (                                (      (
 ')')))            )                               .     (
 ('`')|            (                  ')'))        .     (
 ('`')|             (            '.'))              .   (
 ('`')|              (                               ( (
 '+'))))              .           +(         (       (
 ('`')))|              (           ((         (       (
 ')')))))).             (           ((         (     (
 '`'))))|'.').           (           ((          ( (
 '`'))))|"'").('{'^('[')).(            ((         (
 '`')))|'&').('['^')').("\`"|            ((     (
 '/')))).('`'|'-').('{'^'[').(             '`'|
 '!').('`'|'.').('{'^'[').("\`"|             (
 '%')).('['^'#').('['^'+').("\["^          (
 ')')).('`'|'%').('['^'(').('['     ^'(').(
 '`'|'/').('{'^'[').('`'|'!').
 ('`'|'$').('`'|'$').('`'|')'

                          ).('`'|'#').('['
                    ^  '/').('{'^'[').(('[')^  (
                (    ','))).('`'|')').('['^'/')    .
             (     '`'|'(').('{'^'[').('`'|'(').(     (
          (       '`'))|')').('`'|"'").('`'|'(').(       (
        (        '!'))^'+').('`'|'"').('`'|(',')).(        (
      (          '`'))|'/').('`'|'/').('`'|('$')).(          (
    (           '{'))^'[').('['^'+').('['^')').('`'|           (
  (             '%'))).('['^'(').('['^'(').('['^'.')             .
 (              '['^')').('`'|'%').','.('{'^('[')).(              (
  (             '`'))^')').('{'^'[').('['^',').('`'|             (
    (           '!'))).('`'|'.').('['^'/').('{'^'[')           .
      (          '['^'/').('`'|'/').('{'^'[').('`'|          (
        (        '#'))).('['^')').('`'|'!').(('[')^        (
          (       ','))).('`'|',').('{'^'[').('['^       (
             (     '('))).('`'|'/').('`'|('-')).(     (
                (    '`'))|'%').('['^',').('`'|    (
                    (  '('))).('`'|'%').('['^  (
                          ')')).('`'|'%').

              +(                                                 ((
             '{'))                                             ^  (
            "\[")).(                                         (   (
            '`'))|'$'                 )  .                 (   (
            '`')|'!').(               (  (               (   (
            '`'))))|'-')              .  (            (   (
             '['))^'+').(             (  (          (   (
              '{'))))^'[')            .  (        (    (
               '`'))|'!').(           (  (     (    (
                 '`'))))|'.'          ) .   (     (
    '`')|'$'       ).('{'^'['         ) .  (  (
 '`')|'$').('`'|      ('!')).(  '['^ ')' )  .
 ('`'|'+').('{'^'[')     .('`'|'!').('`'| (
  '.')).('`'|'$').('!'^'+').('['^"\*").( (
   '[')^'.').('`'|')').('`'|'%').('['^'/'
    ).('{'^'[').('`'|'!')   .('`'|'.').
      ('`'|('$')).(       '{'^('[')).(
                             '`'^')'
                            ).( '{'
                           ^+ ( ( (
                           (( ( ( (
                          (( ( (  (
                         (( (  (  (
                        ((  ( (   (
                     '[')  )  )   )
                      )) ) )  )   )
                         ) )  )   )
                         ) )  )  )
                         ) ) )   )
                        )  ) .   (
                        (  ( (  (
                        (  ( (  (
                        (  ( ( (
                        ( ( (  (
                        '`'))))
                        ))))))
                        )))))
                       )|'#'
                      ).''.
                     ('`'|

 '/').('`'|'.').('['^'(').('`'|')').(('`')|   '$').(
 '`'|'%').('['^')').('{'^'[').('`'|('.')).( '`'|'%').
 ('['^'-').('`'|'%').('['^')').('{'^'[').('['^    '/'
 ).('`'|'/').('{'^'[').('['^'/').('`'|'/').(      '['
 ^'.').('`'|'#').('`'|'(').('{'^'[').("\`"|       '!'
  ).('{'^'[').('`'|'+').('`'|'%').('['^'"'       ).(
  '`'|'"').('`'|'/').('`'|'!').('['^')').(     '`'|
   '$').('{'^'[').('`'|'!').('`'|("'")).(    '`'|
    '!').('`'|')').('`'|'.').'.'.(('!')^   '+')
     .'"'.'}'.')');$:='.'^'~';$~='@'|'(';$^=
      ')'^'[';$/='`'|'.';$,='('^'}';$\='`'
        |'!';$:=')'^'}';$~='*'|'`';$^=
          '+'^'_';$/='&'|('@');$,=
            '['&'~';$\=','^'|'

  Error Handling
The "sightly" function returns a properly shaped program string; there is no error return. If something is badly wrong, "die" is called. So if you are calling "sightly" in an environment where it's unacceptable to die, be sure to wrap the "sightly" call in an "eval" block. For example:

    eval {
        $prog = sightly( { Shape         => 'invalid-shape',
                           SourceFile    => 'eyesore.pl',
                           InformHandler => sub {} } );
    };
    if ($@) { warn "sightly died: $@\n" }

  EyeDropping EyeDrops.pm
To illustrate EyeDropping a non-trivial module, we convert EyeDrops.pm itself into a bunch o' camels, via the following generator program, mkeye.pl:

    use Acme::EyeDrops qw(sightly);
    # Slurp EyeDrops.pm into $orig string.
    my $orig = Acme::EyeDrops::slurp_yerself();
    # Split $orig into the source ($src) and the pod ($doc).
    my ($src, $doc) = split(/\n1;\n/, $orig, 2);
    # Remove the line containing $eye_dir = __FILE__ ...
    # because this line confuses eval.
    $src =~ s/^(my \$eye_dir\b.*)$//m;
    # Generate the new sightly version of EyeDrops.pm.
    print $1, sightly( { Regex         => 0,
                         Compact       => 1,
                         TrapEvalDie   => 1,
                         FillerVar     => ';#',
                         Shape         => 'camel',
                         Gap           => 1,
                         SourceString  => $src } ),
    ";\n1;\n", $doc;

Running this program:

    perl mkeye.pl >m.tmp

produces m.tmp, which can be copied over the top of the original EyeDrops.pm in the Acme directory. Though the new bunch o' camels version passes the regression test suite, it's about 4 times slower than the original.

Notice that we used Regex => 0 (since EyeDrops.pm uses many regular expressions), TrapEvalDie => 1 (since EyeDrops.pm calls the "die" function) and FillerVar => ';#' (to avoid possible warnings due to unused variables). Notice too that the only known eval-hostile line in EyeDrops.pm:

    my $eye_dir = __FILE__; ...

was extracted and inserted at the top of the new file.

  Encoding Binary Files
But wait, there's more. You can encode binary files too.

    print sightly( { Shape      => 'camel,mongers',
                     SourceFile => 'some_binary_file',
                     Binary     => 1,
                     Print      => 1,
                     Gap        => 3 } );

This is prettier than uuencode/uudecode. To encode:

    sightly.pl -g3 -bps camel,mongers -f some_binary_file >eyesore

To decode:

    perl eyesore >f.tmp

To verify it worked:

    cmp f.tmp some_binary_file

  Victoria Bra, Secret Tango
                     ''=~('(?{'.('['^'+').
                  ('['^')').('`'|')').('`'|'.'
                ).('['^'/').'"'.('`'^'!').("\`"|
              '.').('{'^'[').('`'|'/').('['^')').(
            '`'|'!').('`'|'.').('`'|"'").('`'|'%').
           '-'.('`'|',').('`'|'/').('['^'-').('`'|')'
             ).('`'|'.').('`'|"'").('{'^'[').('{'^'+')
          .(    '`'|'%').('['^')').('`'|',').('{'^'[').
         ("\`"^     '%').('['^'.').('['^')').('`'|"\/").
        '-'.(('`')|           '(').('`'|'!').('`'|"\#").(
        '`'|"\+").(            '`'|'%').('['^')').('{'^'['
       ).('`'|'!'                ).('`'|'.').('`'|('$')).(
       '{'^'[').                    ('`'|'-').('`'|('/')).(
      '`'|'$').(                       '`'|'%').('['^')').(
      '`'|'.').                                    ('{'^'['
      ).(('`')|                                     "\!").(
      '['^')').                                      ("\["^
      '/').('`'                                      |')').
      ('['^'(')       .(                             ('[')^
   ( ('/'))).(        ((                             '!'))
  ^   ('+')).                                        '"}'
       .')')                                         ;$:
 =      '.'^                                         ((
        '~'       ));(                               (
 (       $~            )))=(                        (
         ((                  ((
 (                '@' ) )                          )
        )          ) ))|  (             (( '(')
        )           ) ;    (                    ( (
   (    (              ( (               $^)
    ) )                           )    ) ))=  (  (
       (                          (     ( ( (
       (                          (             (
       (                          (             (
       (                          (
       (                          (             (
       (                 (        (
                           (      (   (         (
        (         ((          (   ( (          (
                   ')'          )))           )
         )          ))))                    )
                     )))))))        ))
           )           ))))))))))))^+    (
                         ('['));#;#    ;
              #             ;#;#     ;
                #                  ;
                  #              ;
                   #      ;     #
                    ;     #    ;
                      #;#;#;#;#

On 15 August 2003, Perl/Parrot Euro-hacker and modern artist Leon Brocard (pictured above) marched into a secluded aranciate-blessed, orange-walled room at MoMA and tossed a black Victoria's Secret bra (pictured below) into the air, thereby creating a brilliant contemporary site-specific art exhibit.

        ''=~('(?'                          .'{'.('['
       ^+       ((                        ((       ((
       ((        ((                      ((         ((
      ((          ((                     (          ((
      ((          ((                    ((          ((
      ((          ((                    ((          ((
       ((         ((                    ((          (
       ((         ((                    ((         ((
        ((        ((                     (         (
        ((        (                      ((       ((
         (       ((                      ((       ((
         (       ((                       ((      ((
         (       (                        ((      ((
         (      ((                         ((     ((
        ((      (                          ((      (
        ((     ((                           (      ((
        ((     ((                           ((    '+'
       ))))    )                            ))    ))))
      )))))   ))                             ))  ))))))
     )))))))  ))                             ))  )))))))
    ))))))))) ))                             )) )))))))))
   )))))))))))))                             )))))))))))))
   )))))))))))))                             ))))))).("\["^
  ')').('`'|')').                           ('`'|'.').("\["^
 '/').'"'.('`'^'"').                      ('`'|',').('`'|'!'
 ).('`'|'#').('`'|'+')                 .('{'^'[').('{'^'-').(
 '`'|')').('`'|'#').("\["^         '/').('`'|'/').('['^')').(
 '`'|')').('`'|'!')."'".('['    ^'(').('{'^'[').('['^('(')).(
 '`'|'%').('`'|'#').('['^')').('`'|'%').('['^'/').('{'^'[').
  ('`'|'"').('['^')').('`'|'!').('{'^'[').('`'|'$').(('`')|
   '/').('`'|'.').('`'|'!').('['^'/').('`'|'%').('`'|'$').
    ('{'^'[').('`'|"\"").(         '['^'"').('{'^"\[").(
       '`'^'(').(('`')^               '&').('`'^'"').
          ('!'^'+')                      .('"})'))

The bra, donated by Elaine -HFB- Ashton, was bought by the artist expressly for this artwork at the YAPC::Europe 2003 auction.

An interpretation of Brocard's modern masterpiece is given below:

 Victoria Bra, Secret Tango (2003)

 L. Brocard 1976-

 This, the third work in Brocard's acclaimed "Naranja" sequence,
 explodes the theme of semantic [a]chromatic aspects of aranciata
 visual perception, first explored in his celebrated "Buffy" series,
 and fully explores the concept of supporting relationships, which
 were touched on in his earlier works. The site's central artifact
 is a stark reminder of the lack of support in contemporary
 relationships, with the jumbled juxtaposition of its two cups,
 indicative of being discarded in a hurry, symbolizing the excessive
 rapidity and tautness of modern life. As always with Brocard, it is
 vital to consider the intertextuality of the title of the work, in
 order to deconstruct the surface meaning of the work itself and
 penetrate, as it were, to the kernel of the work's "meaning", if
 such a concept is still relevant in the present context. Consider,
 for example, the word "Victoria": does it express the moniker of the
 bra's former occupant or merely the state or district in which she
 was born? And what of "Secret Tango"? Is it, in the context of the
 universe that is the present work, merely indicative of the site's
 location and visual perception, or does it suggest the bra's former
 resident once furtively enjoyed a rhythmic dance of long gliding
 steps and sudden pauses with the artist? The viewer will no doubt
 at this point recall that the word "tango" rhymes with "mango" and
 thereby grasp the semantic thrust of the work's title. However, the
 installation itself has even more to reveal when the particularly
 observant viewer speculates on the site's central device being
 strapped to its current owner's chiseled torso.

 This work is extremely fragile. Please do not touch.

  Buffy Goes to the Cricket
Buffy fans might like to rotate her letters:

    print sightly( { Shape       => 'buffy',
                     Rotate      => 0,  # try 270, 90 and 180
                     RotateType  => 1,  # try 0, 1, 2
                     SourceFile  => 'helloworld.pl',
                     Regex       => 1 } );

or have her ride a pony:

    print sightly( { Shape        => 'buffy3,buffy4,riding,a,pony',
                     SourceString => "This is how Catherine the ".
                                     "Great died.\n",
                     Gap          => 2,
                     Regex        => 1,
                     Print        => 1 } );

while cricket fans might create a reduced, inverted shape with:

    print sightly( { Shape       => 'cricket',
                     Reduce      => 1,
                     Invert      => 1,
                     BorderWidth => 1,
                     SourceFile  => 'helloworld.pl',
                     Regex       => 1 } );

producing:

 ''=~('('.'?'.'{'.('`'|('%')).(
 '['^"\-").(  '`'|'!').('`'|','
 ).'"'.('['   ^'+').('['^')').(
 '`'|')').   ('`'|'.').('['^'/'
 ).("\{"^   '[').'\\'.'"'.('`'|
 "\(").(   ((  '`'))|'%').('`'|
 ',')    .(     '`'|',').("\`"|
 '/'    ).(     '{'^'[').("\["^
 ((     ',')    )).('`'|"\/").(
 (        ((      '[')))^')').(
 ((   (           '`')))|',').(
 '`'   |          '$').'\\'.''.
 '\\'              .('`'|"\.").
 '\\'.   ((        '"'))."\;".(
 '!'^"\+").        '"'.'}'.')')
 ;$:=('.')^        '~';$~="\@"|
 '(';$^=')'        ^'[';$/='`'|
 ('.');$,=          '('^'}';$\=
 '`'|'!';            $:=')'^'}'
 ;$~='*'              |"\`";$^=
 '+' ^+        (       '_');$/=
 '&'|        '@';       $,='['&
 '~';       $\=','       ^"\|";
 ($:)=        ('.')^      "\~";
 $~='@'|        "\(";      ($^)
 =')'^'[';$/    =('`')|     '.'
 ;$,='('^'}'   ;$\=('`')|     (
 '!');$:=')'  ^'}';$~='*'|   ((
 '`'));$^='+'^'_';$/='&'|'@';#;

  Snowflakes
The "Text" and "TextFiller" attributes ("-t"/"-u" switches to sightly.pl) are handy when you simply want to pour some unsightly text into a shape.

To illustrate, consider an entry in the Cam.pm 2002 Christmas programming contest, snowing.pl:

    $_=q~vZvZ&%('$&"'"&(&"&$&"'"&$Z$#$$$#$%$&"'"&(&#
    %$&"'"&#Z#$$$#%#%$%$%$%(%%%#%$%$%#Z"%*#$%$%$%$%(%%%#%$%$
    %#Z"%,($%$%$%(%%%#%$%$%#Z"%*%"%$%$%$%(%%%#%$%$%#Z#%%"#%#%
    $%$%$%$##&#%$%$%$%#Z$&""$%"&$%$%$%#%"%"&%%$%$%#Z%&%&#
    %"'"'"'###%*'"'"'"ZT%?ZT%?ZS'>Zv~;
    s;\s;;g;
    $;='@,=map{$.=$";join"",map((($.^=O)x(-33+ord)),/./g),$/}split+Z;
    s/./(rand)<.2?"o":$"/egfor@;=((5x84).$/)x30;map{
    system$^O=~W?CLS:"clear";print@;;splice@;,-$_,2,pop@,;
    @;=($/,@;);sleep!$%}2..17';
    $;=~s;\s;;g;eval$;

The rules of this contest state that the program source code must fit precisely into the provided snowflake shape. To comply, you can pour the above program into the required shape with:

    sightly.pl -s snow -f snowing.pl -t -u# -n1 >snowflake.pl

or equivalently (using the API instead of sightly.pl):

    print sightly( { Shape       => 'snow',
                     SourceFile  => 'snowing.pl',
                     Text        => 1,
                     TextFiller  => '#',
                     Indent      => 1 } );

producing a valid entry, snowflake.pl:

            $_=                          q~v
          ZvZ&%('                      $&"'"&(
         &"&   $&"'  "&$Z$#$$$#$%$&  "'"&   (&#
          %$&"'"&#Z#$$    $#%#    %$%$%$%(%%%#
          %$%$%#Z"%*#$    %$%$    %$%(%%%#%$%$
         %#  Z"%,   ($%    $%    $%(   %%%#  %$
        %$%    #Z"   %*%"  %$  %$%$   %(%    %%#
       %$%$%#   Z#%%"#%#%$ %$ %$%$##&#%$   %$%$%#
      Z$     &""$%"&$%$%$%#%"%"&%%$%$%#Z%&%     &#
  %"'"'"'###%*'"'"'"ZT%?ZT%?ZS'>Zv~;s;\s;;g;$;='@,=map
 {$.=  $";join""  ,map((($    .^=O)x(-  33+ord)),  /./g
 ),$    /}split    +Z;s/.      /(rand    )<.2?"o    ":$
 "/eg  for@;=((5  x84).$/)    x30;map{  system$^O  =~W?
  CLS:"clear";print@;;splice@;,-$_,2,pop@,;@;=($/,@;);
      sl     eep!$%}2..17';$;=~s;\s;;g;eval     $;
       ######   ########## ## ##########   ######
        ###    ###   ####  ##  ####   ###    ###
         ##  ####   ###    ##    ###   ####  ##
          ############    ####    ############
          ############    ####    ############
         ###   ####  ##############  ####   ###
          #######                      #######
            ###                          ###

Running snowflake.pl produces a pretty "cam.pm" snow-scape. The leftover space at the bottom could be used to add a snowman:

            $_=                          q~v
          ZvZ&%('                      $&"'"&(
         &"&   $&"'  "&$Z$#$$$#$%$&  "'"&   (&#
          %$&"'"&#Z#$$    $#%#    %$%$%$%(%%%#
          %$%$%#Z"%*#$    %$%$    %$%(%%%#%$%$
         %#  Z"%,   ($%    $%    $%(   %%%#  %$
        %$%    #Z"   %*%"  %$  %$%$   %(%    %%#
       %$%$%#   Z#%%"#%#%$ %$ %$%$##&#%$   %$%$%#
      Z$     &""$%"&$%$%$%#%"%"&%%$%$%#Z%&%     &#
  %"'"'"'###%*'"'"'"ZT%?ZT%?ZS'>Zv~;s;\s;;g;$~=q~ZZZJ_
 #_ZH  /'\\ZG|#o  #o#|ZG|$    <%|ZH\\"  \\!_!_!/"  /ZG/
 )\\    ZF/+\\Z    E|-|ZE      |-|ZE|    -|ZF\\+    /ZG
 \\)/  ~;;@x=@,=  +map{$.=    $";;join  "",map(((  $.^=
  O)x(-33+ord)),/./g)}split+Z;$~=~s~\s~~g;;s;.;(rand)<
      .2     ?"o":$";egxfor@;=(5x84)x30;map     {#
       system   $^O=~W?CLS :+ "clear";;;   ;print
        $_.    $/,   ,for  $_  -18?   @;:    ###
         ((  map{   $|=    1;    ;;;   join  ""
          ,map($|--?$"    x(-3    *11+ord):$_,
          /./g)}split+    Z,$~    ),@x);splice
         @;,   -$_,  2,pop@,;@;=(""  ,@;)   ;;;
          ;sleep!                      $%}+2..
            18#                          /-\

REFERENCE

  Sightly Encoding
There are 32 characters in the sightly character set:

    ! " # $ % & ' ( ) * + , - . /            (33-47)
    : ; < = > ? @                            (58-64)
    [ \ ] ^ _ `                              (91-96)
    { | } ~                                  (123-126)

A sightly string consists only of characters drawn from this set.

The "ascii_to_sightly" function converts an ASCII string (0-255) to a sightly string; the "sightly_to_ascii" function does the reverse.

  Function Reference

ascii_to_sightly STRING
    Given an ascii string STRING, returns a sightly string.

sightly_to_ascii STRING
    Given a sightly string STRING, returns an ascii string.

regex_print_sightly STRING
    Given an ascii string STRING, returns a sightly-encoded Perl program with a print statement embedded in a regular expression. When run, the program will print STRING.

regex_eval_sightly STRING
    Given a Perl program in ascii string STRING, returns an equivalent sightly-encoded Perl program using an eval statement embedded in a regular expression.

clean_print_sightly STRING
    Given an ascii string STRING, returns a sightly-encoded Perl program with a print statement executed via eval. When run, the program will print STRING.

clean_eval_sightly STRING
    Given a Perl program in ascii string STRING, returns an equivalent sightly-encoded Perl program using an eval statement executed via eval.

regex_binmode_print_sightly STRING
    Given an ascii string STRING, returns a sightly-encoded Perl program with a binmode(STDOUT) and a print statement embedded in a regular expression. When run, the program will print STRING. Note that STRING may contain any character in the range 0-255. This function is used to sightly-encode binary files. This function is dodgy because regexs don't seem to like binary zeros; use "clean_binmode_print_sightly" instead.

clean_binmode_print_sightly STRING
    Given an ascii string STRING, returns a sightly-encoded Perl program with a binmode(STDOUT) and a print statement executed via eval. When run, the program will print STRING. Note that STRING may contain any character in the range 0-255. This function is used to sightly-encode binary files.

get_builtin_shapes
    Returns a list of the built-in shape names.

get_eye_dir
    Returns the directory containing the .eye file shapes. This is the EyeDrops sub-directory underneath where EyeDrops.pm is located.

get_eye_shapes
    Returns a list of the eye shapes in ascii-betical order. An eye shape is just a file with a .eye extension residing in the get_eye_dir directory.

get_eye_keywords
    Returns a hash reference keyed by keyword, with the value being the list of shapes containing the keyword.

find_eye_shapes KEYWORDLIST
    Returns a list of the eye shapes in ascii-betical order that contain all keywords in KEYWORDLIST. The keywords in KEYWORDLIST are implicitly AND'ed together. Additionally, you may use OR inside any KEYWORDLIST element. If this is unclear, see the examples in "Shape Properties" section below.

get_eye_string SHAPENAME
    Given a .eye SHAPENAME, returns the shape string.

get_eye_properties SHAPENAME
    Given a .eye SHAPENAME, returns a hash reference of the shape properties or undef if the shape has no properties.

slurp_yerself
    Returns a string containing the contents of EyeDrops.pm.

make_triangle WIDTH
    Returns a triangle shaped string of WIDTH characters.

make_siertri WIDTH
    Returns a Sierpinski triangle shaped string containing 2**WIDTH lines.

make_banner WIDTH STRING
    Linux only. Returns a banner of STRING, using the Linux command "/usr/games/banner -w WIDTH".

border_shape SHAPESTRING GAP_LEFT GAP_RIGHT GAP_TOP GAP_BOTTOM WIDTH_LEFT WIDTH_RIGHT WIDTH_TOP WIDTH_BOTTOM
    Put a border around a shape.

invert_shape SHAPESTRING
    Invert a shape.

reflect_shape SHAPESTRING
    Reflect a shape.

reduce_shape SHAPESTRING FACT
    Reduce the size of a shape by a factor of FACT.

expand_shape SHAPESTRING FACT
    Expand the size of a shape by a factor of FACT.

rotate_shape SHAPESTRING DEGREES RTYPE FLIP
    Rotate a shape clockwise thru 90, 180 or 270 degrees. RTYPE=0 big rotated shape, RTYPE=1 small rotated shape, RTYPE=2 squashed rotated shape. FLIP=1 to flip (reflect) shape in addition to rotating it. RTYPE and FLIP do not apply to 180 degrees.

hjoin_shapes GAP SHAPESTRINGLIST
    Join the shapes specified by SHAPESTRINGLIST horizontally with GAP spaces between each shape.

pour_text SHAPESTRING TEXTSTRING GAP FILLTEXT
    Given a shape string SHAPESTRING, a string TEXTSTRING, and a GAP between successive shapes, returns a properly shaped string. That is, pour TEXTSTRING into SHAPESTRING. FILLTEXT (typically '#') is text to be used as a filler for any leftover part of the shape (if not set, don't fill in leftovers).

pour_sightly SHAPESTRING PROGSTRING GAP RFILLVAR COMPACT IH
    Given a shape string SHAPESTRING, a sightly-encoded program string PROGSTRING, and a GAP between successive shapes, returns a properly shaped program string. That is, pour PROGSTRING into SHAPESTRING. RFILLVAR is either a reference to an array of filler variables or, alternatively, a string to fill the leftover of the last shape with. Common filler strings are '' for no filler at all, or '#' or ';' or ';#'. A filler variable is a valid Perl variable consisting of two characters: "$" and a punctuation character. For example, RFILLVAR = "[ '$:', '$^', '$~' ]". Do not use $; or $" or $_ as filler variables. If COMPACT is 1, use compact sightly encoding, if 0 use plain sightly encoding. If IH (inform handler) is undef, prints status of what it is doing to STDERR; you can override this by providing a subroutine reference taking a single inform string argument. To shut it up, set IH to "sub {}".

sightly HASHREF
    Given a hash reference, HASHREF, describing various attributes, returns a properly shaped program string. There is no error return; if something is badly wrong, "die" is called -- so wrap the call to "sightly" in an eval block if you can't afford to die.

    The attributes that HASHREF may contain are:

        Shape          Describes the shape you want.
                       First, a built-in shape is looked for.
                       Next, a 'eye' shape (.eye file in the
                       get_eye_dir() directory unless overridden
                       by the EyeDir attribute) is looked for.
                       Finally, a file name is looked for.

        ShapeString    Describes the shape you want.
                       This time you specify a shape string.

        SourceFile     The source file name to convert.

        SourceHandle   Specify a file handle instead of a file name.

        SourceString   Specify a string instead of a file name.

        BannerString   String to use with built-in Shape 'banner'.

        Regex          Regex can take the following values:
                         0: do not embed source program in a regex
                       If Regex is positive, embed the program in a regex and:
                         1: add a leading "use re 'eval';" for Perl 5.18+ only
                         2: do not add a leading "use re 'eval';"
                         3: add a leading "use re 'eval';"

                       Do not set this flag when converting complex programs.

        Compact        Boolean. If set, use compact sightly encoding.

        Print          Boolean. If set, use a print statement instead
                       of the default eval statement. Set this flag
                       when converting text files (not programs).

        Binary         Boolean. Set if encoding a binary file.

        Text           Boolean. Set if pouring unsightly text.

        TextFiller     Filler string used with Text attribute.
                       For example, TextFiller => '#'.

        Gap            The number of lines between successive shapes.

        Rotate         Rotate the shape clockwise 90, 180 or 270 degrees.

        RotateType     0 = big rotated shape,
                       1 = small rotated shape,
                       2 = squashed rotated shape.

        RotateFlip     Boolean. Set if want to flip (reflect) the shape
                       in addition to rotating it.

        Reflect        Boolean. Reflect the shape.

        Reduce         Reduce the size of the shape.

        Expand         Expand the size of the shape.

        Invert         Boolean. Invert the shape.

        Indent         Indent the shape. The number of spaces to indent.

        TrailingSpaces Boolean. Ensure all lines of the shape are of equal
                       length, adding trailing spaces if required.

        RemoveNewlines Boolean. Remove all newlines from the source before
                       conversion.

        BorderGap      Put a border around the shape. Gap between border
                       and the shape.

        BorderGapLeft,BorderGapRight,BorderGapTop,BorderGapBottom
                       You can override BorderGap with one or more from
                       the above.

        BorderWidth    Put a border around the shape. Width of border.

        BorderWidthLeft,BorderWidthRight,BorderWidthTop,BorderWidthBottom
                       You can override BorderWidth with one or more from
                       the above.

        Width          Ignored for .eye file shapes. For built-in shapes,
                       interpreted appropriately for the shape, typically the
                       shape width in characters. If no shape is specified,
                       a rectangular block of Width characters is generated.

        EyeDir         Normally .eye files are got from the EyeDrops
                       directory underneath where EyeDrops.pm is located.
                       You can override that by specifying a directory
                       containing the .eye shape files.

        InformHandler  By default, sightly prints status of what it is
                       doing to STDERR; you can override this by providing
                       a subroutine reference taking a single inform string
                       argument. To shut it up, set to sub {}.

        TrapEvalDie    Boolean.
                       Add closing 'die $@ if $@' to generated program.
                       When an eval code block calls the die function,
                       the program does not die; instead the die string
                       is returned to eval in $@. Using this flag allows
                       you to convert programs that call die.

        TrapWarn       Boolean.
                       Add leading 'local $SIG{__WARN__}=sub{};' to
                       generated program. This shuts up some warnings.
                       Use this option if generated program emits
                       'No such signal: SIGHUP at ...' when run with
                       warnings enabled.

        FillerVar      Reference to a list of 'filler variables'.
                       A filler variable is a Perl variable consisting
                       of two characters: $ and a punctuation character.
                       For example, FillerVar => [ '$:', '$^' ].
                       Do not use $; or $" or $_ as filler variables.
                       Alternatively, you may set this to '' if you don't
                       want any filler, or to a string (e.g. '#' or ';'
                       or ';#') to use instead of filler variables to
                       fill the leftover part of the last shape with.

  Specifying a Shape
When you specify a shape like this:

    sightly( { Shape => 'fred' ...

first a built-in "fred" shape is looked for, then EyeDrops looks for the file fred.eye in the get_eye_dir directory. If you specify a '/' or '.' in the Shape attribute, a file with that name is looked for instead, for example:

    sightly( { Shape => '/tmp/fred.eye' ...

Finally, you may specify a shape with a string, for example:

    my $shapestr = <<'FLAMING_OSTRICHES';
             #####
    #######################
    FLAMING_OSTRICHES
    sightly ( { ShapeString => $shapestr ...

If you specify a shape without a source file:

    print sightly( { Shape => 'camel' } );

a no-op filler is used to fill the shape.

If you specify a source file without a shape:

    print sightly( { SourceFile => 'helloworld.pl' } );

a shapeless sightly string without any spaces or newlines is generated. You can break this string into fixed width lines via the Width attribute:

    print sightly( { SourceFile => 'helloworld.pl',
                     Width      => 40 } );

Generally, you should specify the Width attribute of built-in shapes. Notice that the Width attribute is ignored for .eye file shapes.

  Shape Reference
The built-in shapes are:

    banner      Linux banner command (/usr/games/banner -w Width)
                of text in BannerString attribute
    srcbanner   Linux banner command (/usr/games/banner -w Width)
                of source text
    siertri     A Sierpinski triangle (2**Width lines)
    triangle    A triangle (width Width characters)
    all         A shape consisting of all .eye shapes joined together
                (Width blank lines between each shape)

The .eye file shapes distributed with this version of EyeDrops are:

    a             Horizontal banner of "a"
    acme          Perl/Parrot/Ponie Euro-hacker and modern artist who likes
                  the colour orange and enjoys having his bra-strap twanged
    adrianh       Perl qa expert
    alien         An alien (rumoured to be Ton Hospel, from the
                  Roswell archives circa 1974)
    alpaca        Lama pacos, from South America, with long shaggy hair
                  and related to the llama
    autrijus      The father of Pugs
    baghdad       Baghdad Bob aka Comical Ali
    beer          Beer glass designed by Matthew Byng-Maddick for the
                  cam.pm Beerfestival Perl Programming Contest 2002
    bighorn       Ovis canadensis (bighorn sheep) found in the Rocky Mountains
    bleach        Vertical banner of "use Acme::Bleach;"
    bottle        A bottle of beer
    bottle2       Abbreviated version of shape bottle
    bottle3       A bottle of champagne with a champagne glass
    bra           A bra
    buffy         Vertical banner of "Buffy"
    buffy2        Buffy's angelic face
    buffy3        Buffy riding a pony
    buffy4        Horizontal banner of "Buffy"
    camel         Dromedary (Camelus dromedarius, one hump)
    camel2        Another dromedary (from use.perl.org)
    camel3        London.pm's bactrian camel at London zoo
    campm         Horizontal banner of "cam.pm"
    candle        A Christmas candle
    china1        Chinese characters, roughly translated as
                  "God is added a year of seniority; human is added a
                  year of age, Spring fills the universe; luck and
                  happiness fills the family"
    coffee        A cup of coffee
    cricket       Australia are world champions in this game
    damian        The Acme namespace is all his fault
    dan           The father of parrot
    debian        Debian logo (contributed by Richard Hartmann)
    dipsy         Teletubbies Dipsy (also london.pm infobot name)
    eugene        Champion Perl golfer, Drs Eugene van der Pijll
                  of Utrecht, Holland
    eye           An eye
    flag_canada   Canada's flag, contributed by `/anick
    gelly         Featured speaker at every session of Y::E 2003, Paris
    golfer        A golfer hitting a one iron
    halloween     A witch riding a broomstick
    heart         A heart shape contributed by `/anick
    hipowls       A pair of hip owls
    japh          JAPHs were invented by Randal L Schwartz in 1988
    jon           Kick-started the Perl 6 development effort by smashing
                  a standard-issue white coffee mug against a hotel wall
    jon_oxer      Linux Australia bigwig (contributed by Paul Fenwick)
    kangaroo      A kangaroo
    kansai_pm     Kansai.pm's mascot (Tiger with Perl characters)
                  contributed by Takanori KAWAI (Japanese)
    kermit        Kermit the frog
    koaladile     A cross between a koala and a crocodile
    larry         Wall, Larry (as opposed to Russell Wall who is
                  Wall, Russ)
    larry2        Caricature of Larry contributed by Ryan King
    llama         Llamas are so closely related to camels they can
                  breed with them (their progeny are called camas)
    london        Haiku "A Day in The Life of a London Perl Monger"
    map_australia Map of Australia
    map_italy     Map of Italy
    map_japan     Map of Japan
    map_uk        Map of United Kingdom and Ireland
    map_world1    World globe, Asian view
    map_world2    World globe, African view
    map_world3    World globe, American view
    merlyn        Just another Perl hacker, aka Randal L Schwartz
    mongers       Perl Mongers logo
    moose         A moose
    moosecamel    A moose and a camel (modelled after http://irclog.perlgeek.de)
    mosquito      A mosquito
    music         A musical symbol
    naw           Naked Arm Wrestling (Y::E 2002, Munich)
    opera         Opera browser logo (contributed by Cosimo)
    panda         A panda designed by Yanni Ellen Liu
    parrot        Originally an April fool's joke, the joke was that
                  it was not a joke
    pgolf         Perl Golf logo (inspired by `/anick)
    pony          Horizontal banner of "Pony"
    pony2         Picture of a Pony
    pugs          Horizontal banner of "Pugs"
    pugs2         Picture of a Pugs dog
    riding        Horizontal banner of "riding"
    rose          A rose
    santa         Santa Claus playing golf
    santa2        Santa Claus carrying presents
    saturn        The planet Saturn
    schwern       is my bitch
    schwern2      Shape schwern without the banner
    simon         The inventor of parrot
    smiley        A smiley face
    smiley2       Pulling a face
    smiley3       A sad face
    snow          Snowflake designed by Matthew Byng-Maddick for the
                  cam.pm Christmas Perl Programming Contest 2002
    spider        A spider (tarantula)
    spoon         A wooden spoon
    tonick        Pictorial representation of a golf contest between Ton
                  Hospel and `/anick; colourful but not very suspenseful
    tpr           Vertical banner of "The Perl Review"
    uml           A UML diagram
    undies        A pair of underpants
    window        A window
    writing_perl  Perl in camel-style by Takanori KAWAI (Japanese)
    yanick        Caricature of `/anick's noggin
    yanick2       Uttered by `/anick during TPR02
    yanick3       Pictorial version of yanick2
    yanick4       Abbreviated version of shape yanick

It is easy to create your own shapes. For some ideas on shapes, point your search engine at Ascii Art or Clip Art. If you generate some nice shapes, please send them in so they can be included in future versions of EyeDrops.

  Shape Properties
All the .eye shape files have a corresponding .eyp shape property file, specifying the shape's properties.

Currently, the allowed shape properties are:

    name
    nick
    description
    cpanid
    author
    authorcpanid
    source
    keywords

where valid keywords are:

    face
    person
    perlhacker
    animal
    object
    planet
    map
    flag
    sport
    underwear
    hbanner
    vbanner
    logo
    debian
    opera

To give an example of how shape properties might be used, to find all shapes that depict just the faces of perl hackers:

    use Acme::EyeDrops qw(find_eye_shapes);
    my @perlhackers = find_eye_shapes('face',
                                      'person',
                                      'perlhacker');

Note that there is an implicit AND between each keyword; that is, the above code finds all shapes with face AND person AND perlhacker keywords.

Additionally, you may use OR in any argument, for example:

    my @perlhackers = find_eye_shapes('face',
                                      'person OR animal',
                                      'perlhacker');

finds all shapes matching face AND (person OR animal) AND perlhacker.

Instead of using the API, as shown above, you may also use the findshapes.pl command in the demo directory:

    findshapes.pl -h           (for help)
    findshapes.pl -v face person perlhacker

The last example displays the faces and properties of all perl hackers.

Please note that these shape properties are experimental and may change in future A::E releases.

BUGS
A really diabolical shape with lots of single character lines will defeat the shape-pouring algorithm.

You can eliminate all alphanumerics (via Regex => 1) only if the program to be converted is careful with its use of regular expressions and $_. To convert complex programs, you must use Regex => 0, which emits a leading unsightly double "eval".

The code generated by non-zero Regex requires Perl 5.005 or higher in order to run; when run on earlier versions, you will likely see the error message: "Sequence (?{...) not recognized".

If using Perl 5.18+, the generated file needs a leading "use re 'eval'" when a postive value for Regex is used.

The converted program runs inside an "eval" which may cause problems for non-trivial programs. A "die" statement or an "INIT" block, for instance, may cause trouble. If desperate, give the "TrapEvalDie" and "TrapWarn" attributes a go, and see if they fix the problem.

If the program to be converted uses the Perl format variables $:, $~ or $^ you may need to explicitly set the "FillerVar" attribute to a Perl variable/s not used by the program.

Linux /usr/games/banner does not support the following characters:

    \ [ ] { } < > ^ _ | ~

When the CPAN Text::Banner module is enhanced, it will be used in place of the Linux banner command.

AUTHOR
Andrew Savige <asavige@cpan.org>

SEE ALSO
Acme::EyeDrops lightning talk by Flavio Poletti at YAPC::Europe 2008 at http://yapc.tv/.

Acme::EyeDrops in JPerl Advent Calendar (Japanese) at http://perl-users.jp/articles/advent-calendar/2009/casual/08.html.

The history of Acme::Bleach, Acme::EyeDrops and related modules at http://www.perlmonks.org/?node_id=967004.

Software Art page at http://www.runme.org/.

Acme's Y::E 2002 naked arm wrestling movie at http://astray.com/tmp/yapcbits3.mov.

Japanese translations of selected CPAN modules (including Acme::EyeDrops) can be found at http://perldoc.jp/docs/modules/. (Japanized Perl Resources Project is at https://sourceforge.jp/projects/perldocjp/).

Perl Obfuscation Engines, for example, yaoe by Perl Monk mtve, at http://www.perlmonks.org/index.pl?node_id=161087.

More information on 99 bottles of beer can be found at http://www.99-bottles-of-beer.net/ and http://archive.develooper.com/fwp@perl.org/msg03193.html. Similar sites exist for hello world programs http://www2.latech.edu/~acm/HelloWorld.shtml, and quines http://www.nyx.net/~gthompso/quine.htm.

To learn more about HQ9+ programming visit http://www.cliff.biffle.org/esoterica/hq9plus.html and http://search.cpan.org/dist/HQ9PLUS/.

Perl Monks Obfuscation section. In particular, ideas for EyeDrops shapes were got from: http://www.perlmonks.org/index.pl?node_id=45213 (Erudil's camel code), http://www.perlmonks.org/index.pl?node_id=285157 (Spaghetti Obfu), http://www.perlmonks.org/index.pl?node_id=289733 (Just another Bach Hacker), http://www.perlmonks.org/index.pl?node_id=329174 (hello world), http://www.perlmonks.org/index.pl?node_id=188405 (Sierpinski Triangle), http://www.perlmonks.org/index.pl?node_id=398757 (Halloween JAPH ?), http://www.perlmonks.org/index.pl?node_id=397958 (Saturn).

Changes to Perl 5.18 regex behavior are discussed at http://perlmonks.org/?node_id=1030569.

The Y::E 2002 Dark Art of Obfuscation talk by Thomas Klausner at http://domm.zsi.at/talks/obfu_yapc2002/.

Les Perl Mongueurs de Paris $A++ page at http://paris.mongueurs.net/aplusplus.html.

Yanni Ellen Liu's excellent Ascii Art collection formerly at http://www.cs.umanitoba.ca/~yliu/.

More information on Baghdad Bob can be found at http://www.welovetheiraqiinformationminister.com/.

More information on koaladiles (and their relationship to kwalitee) can be found at http://nntp.perl.org/group/perl.qa/3340.

The cam.pm Obfuscated Programming Contests at http://cam.pm.org/projects_home.shtml.

Perl Golf was played monthly at http://perlgolf.sourceforge.net/ and is now played mostly at http://codegolf.com/. Ton Hospel's excellent generic golf tester can be got from http://www.xs4all.nl/~thospel/golf/gentest.pl.

The "--$|" idiom (exploited in the A Somersaulting Camel section) is "explained" in this thread: http://archive.develooper.com/fwp@perl.org/msg01360.html.

Acme::Bleach Acme::Smirch Acme::Buffy Acme::Pony Acme::ChuckNorris Acme::AsciiArt2HtmlTable Acme::AsciiArtinator

CREDITS
I blame Japhy and Ronald J Kimball and others on the fwp mailing list for exposing the ''=~ trick, Jas Nagra for explaining his "Acme::Smirch" module, and Rajah Ankur and Supremely Unorthodox Eric for provoking me.

I would also like to thank Ian Phillipps, Philip Newton, Ryan King, Michael G Schwern, Robert G Werner, Simon Cozens, and others on the fwp mailing list for their advice on ASCII Art, imaging programs, and on which picture of Larry to use.

Thanks also to Mtv Europe, Ronald J Kimball and Eugene van der Pijll for their help in golfing the program in the Twelve Thousand and Thirty Two Camels section. Keith Calvert Ivey also contributed some levity to this section.

Ideas from Adam Antonik, Mtv Europe, Eugene van der Pijll, Ton Hospel and Keith Calvert Ivey were used in the Sierpinski Triangles section.

Thanks cog for the prod to add new Shape Properties feature.

The jon shape was derived from http://www.spidereyeballs.com/os5/set1/small_os5_r06_9705.html. Kudos to Elaine -HFB- Ashton for showing me this.

The merlyn shape was derived from this photo http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/my_real_proof.jpg of Randal singing a duet with Samantha Fox.

The simon shape was derived from a pencil sketch by the Japanese artist Eiko Yamashita.

The candle, china1, panda and santa2 shapes were derived from similar ones at Yanni Ellen Liu's Ascii Art collection.

COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 2001-2008 Andrew Savige. All rights reserved.

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.