| Path::Class - Cross-platform path specification manipulation |
Path::Class - Cross-platform path specification manipulation
use Path::Class;
my $dir = dir('foo', 'bar'); # Path::Class::Dir object
my $file = file('bob', 'file.txt'); # Path::Class::File object
# Stringifies to 'foo/bar' on Unix, 'foo\bar' on Windows, etc.
print "dir: $dir\n";
# Stringifies to 'bob/file.txt' on Unix, 'bob\file.txt' on Windows
print "file: $file\n";
my $subdir = $dir->subdir('baz'); # foo/bar/baz
my $parent = $subdir->parent; # foo/bar
my $parent2 = $parent->parent; # foo
my $dir2 = $file->dir; # bob
# Work with foreign paths
use Path::Class qw(foreign_file foreign_dir);
my $file = foreign_file('Mac', ':foo:file.txt');
print $file->dir; # :foo:
print $file->as_foreign('Win32'); # foo\file.txt
# Interact with the underlying filesystem:
# $dir_handle is an IO::Dir object
my $dir_handle = $dir->open or die "Can't read $dir: $!";
# $file_handle is an IO::File object
my $file_handle = $file->open($mode) or die "Can't read $file: $!";
Path::Class is a module for manipulation of file and directory
specifications (strings describing their locations, like
'/home/ken/foo.txt' or 'C:\Windows\Foo.txt') in a cross-platform
manner. It supports pretty much every platform Perl runs on,
including Unix, Windows, Mac, VMS, Epoc, Cygwin, OS/2, and NetWare.
The well-known module File::Spec also provides this service, but
it's sort of awkward to use well, so people sometimes avoid it, or use
it in a way that won't actually work properly on platforms
significantly different than the ones they've tested their code on.
In fact, Path::Class uses File::Spec internally, wrapping all
the unsightly details so you can concentrate on your application code.
Whereas File::Spec provides functions for some common path
manipulations, Path::Class provides an object-oriented model of the
world of path specifications and their underlying semantics.
File::Spec doesn't create any objects, and its classes represent
the different ways in which paths must be manipulated on various
platforms (not a very intuitive concept). Path::Class creates
objects representing files and directories, and provides methods that
relate them to each other. For instance, the following File::Spec
code:
my $absolute = File::Spec->file_name_is_absolute(
File::Spec->catfile( @dirs, $file )
);
can be written using Path::Class as
my $absolute = Path::Class::File->new( @dirs, $file )->is_absolute;
or even as
my $absolute = file( @dirs, $file )->is_absolute;
Similar readability improvements should happen all over the place when
using Path::Class.
Using Path::Class can help solve real problems in your code too -
for instance, how many people actually take the ``volume'' (like C:
on Windows) into account when writing File::Spec-using code? I
thought not. But if you use Path::Class, your file and directory objects
will know what volumes they refer to and do the right thing.
The guts of the Path::Class code live in the Path::Class::File
and Path::Class::Dir modules, so please see those
modules' documentation for more details about how to use them.
The following functions are exported by default.
Path::Class::File->new.
Path::Class::Dir->new.
If you would like to prevent their export, you may explicitly pass an
empty list to perl's use, i.e. use Path::Class ().
The following are exported only on demand.
Path::Class::File->new_foreign.
Path::Class::Dir->new_foreign.
Although it is much easier to write cross-platform-friendly code with
this module than with File::Spec, there are still some issues to be
aware of.
Ken Williams, KWILLIAMS@cpan.org
Copyright (c) Ken Williams. All rights reserved.
This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.
Path::Class::Dir, Path::Class::File, File::Spec
| Path::Class - Cross-platform path specification manipulation |