Pretty print a TCL list - scripting

Question

Having a TCL list that looks like below (formatted for better visibility):
set mylist [list \
"title_1 title_2 title_3 " \
"row1col1_bla row1col2 row1col3 " \
"r2c1 r2c2_blablabla r2c3" \
"r3c1_really_long_string r3c2 r3c3" \
]
I need a procedure that prints $mylist like:
title_1 title_2 title_3
1) row1col1_bla row1col2 row1col3
2) r2c1 &FN_1 r2c3
3) &FN_2 r3c2 r3c3
Footnotes:
FN_1: r2c2_blablabla
FN_2: r3c1_really_long_string
The procedure should take as input:
COLMAXLEN: the maximum length of any individual string from $mylist, beyound which that string will go to the Footnotes section (being replaced by the $SHORTCUT_$index value)
SHORTCUT: string that replaces any individual member of $mylist, if its length is greater than $COLMAXLEN.
The following function does exactly this. Are there any suggestions to possibly simplify or improve it?
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
set COLMAXLEN 12
set SHORTCUT "FN"
proc puts_list {mylist} {
global COLMAXLEN SHORTCUT
set num_row [llength $mylist]
set num_col [llength [lindex $mylist 0]]
set ref_list {}
# Define/init col_width (a list having $num_col elements)
set col_width {}
for {set col 0} {$col < $num_col} {incr col} {
lappend col_width 0
}
# Get the max width of each column AND
# replace the elements > $COLMAXLEN with footnote shortcuts!
for {set row 0} {$row < $num_row} {incr row} {
set new_row {}
for {set col 0} {$col < $num_col} {incr col} {
set myrow [lindex $mylist $row]
set myitem [lindex $myrow $col]
set mysize [string length $myitem]
if { $mysize > $COLMAXLEN } {
lappend ref_list $myitem
set myitem "&[subst $SHORTCUT]_[llength $ref_list]"
set mysize [string length $myitem]
}
if { $mysize > [lindex $col_width $col] } {
lset col_width $col $mysize
}
lappend new_row $myitem
}
lset mylist $row $new_row
}
# Start printing
set num_col_width [expr [string length $num_row] +1]
puts ""
for {set row 0} {$row < $num_row} {incr row} {
if { $row == 0 } {
puts -nonewline [format "%[subst $num_col_width]s" { }]
} else {
puts -nonewline [format "%[subst $num_col_width]s" "$row)"]
}
puts -nonewline " "
for {set col 0} {$col < $num_col} {incr col} {
set myrow [lindex $mylist $row]
set myitem [lindex $myrow $col]
set mysize [expr [lindex $col_width $col] +1]
puts -nonewline [format "%-[subst $mysize]s" $myitem]
}
puts ""
}
puts ""
puts " Footnotes:"
set ref_num [llength $ref_list]
for {set i 0} {$i < $ref_num} {incr i} {
puts " [subst $SHORTCUT]_[format %-[subst [string length $ref_num]]s [expr $i + 1]]: [lindex $ref_list $i]"
}
puts ""
}
ASSUMPTION: TCL version is 8.4

Answer 1

# Print the row number
proc put_row_number {rowNumber} {
if {$rowNumber == 0} {
puts -nonewline " "
} else {
puts -nonewline "$rowNumber) "
}
}
proc put_table {table {colmaxlen 12} {shortcut FN}} {
set ref {}
set refCount 0
set rowCount 0
foreach row $table {
put_row_number $rowCount
incr rowCount
foreach cell $row {
if {[string length $cell] > $colmaxlen} {
incr refCount
set key "${shortcut}_${refCount}"
lappend ref $key $cell
set cell "&$key"
}
puts -nonewline [format "%-*s " $colmaxlen $cell]
}
puts ""
}
puts "\n Footnotes:"
foreach {key value} $ref {
puts " $key: $value"
}
}
set mylist {
"title_1 title_2 title_3 "
"row1col1_bla row1col2 row1col3 "
"r2c1 r2c2_blablabla r2c3"
"r3c1_really_long_string r3c2 r3c3"
}
put_table $mylist