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4e860d0a JH |
1 | # Generated by perlmodlib.PL DO NOT EDIT! |
2 | ||
f102b883 TC |
3 | =head1 NAME |
4 | ||
5 | perlmodlib - constructing new Perl modules and finding existing ones | |
6 | ||
7 | =head1 DESCRIPTION | |
8 | ||
9 | =head1 THE PERL MODULE LIBRARY | |
10 | ||
19799a22 GS |
11 | Many modules are included the Perl distribution. These are described |
12 | below, and all end in F<.pm>. You may discover compiled library | |
13 | file (usually ending in F<.so>) or small pieces of modules to be | |
14 | autoloaded (ending in F<.al>); these were automatically generated | |
15 | by the installation process. You may also discover files in the | |
16 | library directory that end in either F<.pl> or F<.ph>. These are | |
17 | old libraries supplied so that old programs that use them still | |
18 | run. The F<.pl> files will all eventually be converted into standard | |
19 | modules, and the F<.ph> files made by B<h2ph> will probably end up | |
20 | as extension modules made by B<h2xs>. (Some F<.ph> values may | |
21 | already be available through the POSIX, Errno, or Fcntl modules.) | |
22 | The B<pl2pm> file in the distribution may help in your conversion, | |
23 | but it's just a mechanical process and therefore far from bulletproof. | |
f102b883 TC |
24 | |
25 | =head2 Pragmatic Modules | |
26 | ||
19799a22 GS |
27 | They work somewhat like compiler directives (pragmata) in that they |
28 | tend to affect the compilation of your program, and thus will usually | |
29 | work well only when used within a C<use>, or C<no>. Most of these | |
30 | are lexically scoped, so an inner BLOCK may countermand them | |
31 | by saying: | |
f102b883 TC |
32 | |
33 | no integer; | |
34 | no strict 'refs'; | |
4438c4b7 | 35 | no warnings; |
f102b883 TC |
36 | |
37 | which lasts until the end of that BLOCK. | |
38 | ||
19799a22 GS |
39 | Some pragmas are lexically scoped--typically those that affect the |
40 | C<$^H> hints variable. Others affect the current package instead, | |
77ca0c92 | 41 | like C<use vars> and C<use subs>, which allow you to predeclare a |
19799a22 GS |
42 | variables or subroutines within a particular I<file> rather than |
43 | just a block. Such declarations are effective for the entire file | |
44 | for which they were declared. You cannot rescind them with C<no | |
45 | vars> or C<no subs>. | |
f102b883 TC |
46 | |
47 | The following pragmas are defined (and have their own documentation). | |
48 | ||
49 | =over 12 | |
50 | ||
09bef843 SB |
51 | =item attributes |
52 | ||
9e107c59 | 53 | Get/set subroutine or variable attributes |
09bef843 | 54 | |
19799a22 | 55 | =item attrs |
f102b883 | 56 | |
9e107c59 | 57 | Set/get attributes of a subroutine (deprecated) |
19799a22 GS |
58 | |
59 | =item autouse | |
60 | ||
9e107c59 | 61 | Postpone load of modules until a function is used |
19799a22 GS |
62 | |
63 | =item base | |
64 | ||
65 | Establish IS-A relationship with base class at compile time | |
f102b883 TC |
66 | |
67 | =item blib | |
68 | ||
19799a22 GS |
69 | Use MakeMaker's uninstalled version of a package |
70 | ||
2e1d04bc | 71 | =item bytes |
9e107c59 | 72 | |
2e1d04bc | 73 | Force byte semantics rather than character semantics |
9e107c59 GS |
74 | |
75 | =item charnames | |
76 | ||
1bb908c3 | 77 | Define character names for C<\N{named}> string literal escapes. |
9e107c59 | 78 | |
19799a22 GS |
79 | =item constant |
80 | ||
9e107c59 | 81 | Declare constants |
f102b883 TC |
82 | |
83 | =item diagnostics | |
84 | ||
2e1d04bc | 85 | Perl compiler pragma to force verbose warning diagnostics |
19799a22 | 86 | |
1bb908c3 JH |
87 | =item encoding |
88 | ||
89 | Pragma to control the conversion of legacy data into Unicode | |
90 | ||
19799a22 GS |
91 | =item fields |
92 | ||
2e1d04bc | 93 | Compile-time class fields |
19799a22 GS |
94 | |
95 | =item filetest | |
96 | ||
2e1d04bc | 97 | Control the filetest permission operators |
f102b883 TC |
98 | |
99 | =item integer | |
100 | ||
4e860d0a | 101 | Use integer arithmetic instead of floating point |
f102b883 TC |
102 | |
103 | =item less | |
104 | ||
2e1d04bc | 105 | Request less of something from the compiler |
f102b883 | 106 | |
f102b883 TC |
107 | =item locale |
108 | ||
2e1d04bc JH |
109 | Use and avoid POSIX locales for built-in operations |
110 | ||
111 | =item open | |
112 | ||
113 | Set default disciplines for input and output | |
f102b883 TC |
114 | |
115 | =item ops | |
116 | ||
9e107c59 | 117 | Restrict unsafe operations when compiling |
f102b883 TC |
118 | |
119 | =item overload | |
120 | ||
2e1d04bc | 121 | Package for overloading perl operations |
f102b883 | 122 | |
b3eb6a9b GS |
123 | =item re |
124 | ||
2e1d04bc | 125 | Alter regular expression behaviour |
b3eb6a9b | 126 | |
f102b883 TC |
127 | =item sigtrap |
128 | ||
9e107c59 | 129 | Enable simple signal handling |
f102b883 | 130 | |
1bb908c3 JH |
131 | =item sort |
132 | ||
133 | Control sort() behaviour | |
134 | ||
f102b883 TC |
135 | =item strict |
136 | ||
9e107c59 | 137 | Restrict unsafe constructs |
f102b883 TC |
138 | |
139 | =item subs | |
140 | ||
2e1d04bc | 141 | Predeclare sub names |
f102b883 | 142 | |
e61ecf27 JH |
143 | =item threads |
144 | ||
145 | Perl extension allowing use of interpreter based threads from perl | |
146 | ||
19799a22 | 147 | =item utf8 |
f102b883 | 148 | |
1fa7ca25 | 149 | Enable/disable UTF-8 (or UTF-EBCDIC) in source code |
f102b883 TC |
150 | |
151 | =item vars | |
152 | ||
2e1d04bc | 153 | Predeclare global variable names (obsolete) |
f102b883 | 154 | |
1bb908c3 JH |
155 | =item vmsish |
156 | ||
157 | Control VMS-specific language features | |
158 | ||
4438c4b7 | 159 | =item warnings |
0453d815 | 160 | |
9e107c59 | 161 | Control optional warnings |
19799a22 | 162 | |
13a2d996 SP |
163 | =item warnings::register |
164 | ||
165 | Warnings import function | |
166 | ||
f102b883 TC |
167 | =back |
168 | ||
169 | =head2 Standard Modules | |
170 | ||
171 | Standard, bundled modules are all expected to behave in a well-defined | |
172 | manner with respect to namespace pollution because they use the | |
173 | Exporter module. See their own documentation for details. | |
174 | ||
175 | =over 12 | |
176 | ||
177 | =item AnyDBM_File | |
178 | ||
2e1d04bc | 179 | Provide framework for multiple DBMs |
f102b883 | 180 | |
dc6b6eef JH |
181 | =item Attribute::Handlers |
182 | ||
183 | Simpler definition of attribute handlers | |
184 | ||
f102b883 TC |
185 | =item AutoLoader |
186 | ||
9e107c59 | 187 | Load subroutines only on demand |
f102b883 TC |
188 | |
189 | =item AutoSplit | |
190 | ||
9e107c59 | 191 | Split a package for autoloading |
f102b883 | 192 | |
19799a22 GS |
193 | =item B |
194 | ||
2e1d04bc | 195 | The Perl Compiler |
19799a22 GS |
196 | |
197 | =item B::Asmdata | |
198 | ||
199 | Autogenerated data about Perl ops, used to generate bytecode | |
200 | ||
201 | =item B::Assembler | |
202 | ||
203 | Assemble Perl bytecode | |
204 | ||
205 | =item B::Bblock | |
206 | ||
207 | Walk basic blocks | |
208 | ||
209 | =item B::Bytecode | |
210 | ||
211 | Perl compiler's bytecode backend | |
212 | ||
213 | =item B::C | |
214 | ||
215 | Perl compiler's C backend | |
216 | ||
217 | =item B::CC | |
218 | ||
219 | Perl compiler's optimized C translation backend | |
220 | ||
4e860d0a JH |
221 | =item B::Concise |
222 | ||
223 | Walk Perl syntax tree, printing concise info about ops | |
224 | ||
19799a22 GS |
225 | =item B::Debug |
226 | ||
227 | Walk Perl syntax tree, printing debug info about ops | |
228 | ||
229 | =item B::Deparse | |
230 | ||
2e1d04bc | 231 | Perl compiler backend to produce perl code |
19799a22 GS |
232 | |
233 | =item B::Disassembler | |
234 | ||
235 | Disassemble Perl bytecode | |
236 | ||
237 | =item B::Lint | |
238 | ||
2e1d04bc | 239 | Perl lint |
19799a22 GS |
240 | |
241 | =item B::Showlex | |
242 | ||
243 | Show lexical variables used in functions or files | |
244 | ||
245 | =item B::Stackobj | |
246 | ||
247 | Helper module for CC backend | |
248 | ||
13a2d996 SP |
249 | =item B::Stash |
250 | ||
251 | Show what stashes are loaded | |
252 | ||
19799a22 GS |
253 | =item B::Terse |
254 | ||
255 | Walk Perl syntax tree, printing terse info about ops | |
256 | ||
257 | =item B::Xref | |
258 | ||
259 | Generates cross reference reports for Perl programs | |
260 | ||
f102b883 TC |
261 | =item Benchmark |
262 | ||
2e1d04bc | 263 | Benchmark running times of Perl code |
9e107c59 GS |
264 | |
265 | =item ByteLoader | |
266 | ||
2e1d04bc | 267 | Load byte compiled perl code |
f102b883 | 268 | |
19799a22 GS |
269 | =item CGI |
270 | ||
2e1d04bc | 271 | Simple Common Gateway Interface Class |
19799a22 GS |
272 | |
273 | =item CGI::Apache | |
274 | ||
2e1d04bc | 275 | Backward compatibility module for CGI.pm |
19799a22 GS |
276 | |
277 | =item CGI::Carp | |
278 | ||
279 | CGI routines for writing to the HTTPD (or other) error log | |
280 | ||
281 | =item CGI::Cookie | |
282 | ||
283 | Interface to Netscape Cookies | |
284 | ||
285 | =item CGI::Fast | |
286 | ||
287 | CGI Interface for Fast CGI | |
288 | ||
9e107c59 GS |
289 | =item CGI::Pretty |
290 | ||
291 | Module to produce nicely formatted HTML code | |
292 | ||
19799a22 GS |
293 | =item CGI::Push |
294 | ||
295 | Simple Interface to Server Push | |
296 | ||
297 | =item CGI::Switch | |
298 | ||
2e1d04bc | 299 | Backward compatibility module for defunct CGI::Switch |
19799a22 | 300 | |
4e860d0a JH |
301 | =item CGI::Util |
302 | ||
303 | Internal utilities used by CGI module | |
304 | ||
f102b883 TC |
305 | =item CPAN |
306 | ||
2e1d04bc | 307 | Query, download and build perl modules from CPAN sites |
f102b883 TC |
308 | |
309 | =item CPAN::FirstTime | |
310 | ||
2e1d04bc | 311 | Utility for CPAN::Config file Initialization |
f102b883 TC |
312 | |
313 | =item CPAN::Nox | |
314 | ||
19799a22 | 315 | Wrapper around CPAN.pm without using any XS module |
f102b883 TC |
316 | |
317 | =item Carp | |
318 | ||
2e1d04bc | 319 | Warn of errors (from perspective of caller) |
9e107c59 | 320 | |
4e860d0a JH |
321 | =item Carp::Heavy |
322 | ||
323 | No user serviceable parts inside | |
324 | ||
325 | =item Class::ISA | |
326 | ||
327 | Report the search path for a class's ISA tree | |
328 | ||
f102b883 TC |
329 | =item Class::Struct |
330 | ||
9e107c59 | 331 | Declare struct-like datatypes as Perl classes |
f102b883 | 332 | |
f102b883 TC |
333 | =item Cwd |
334 | ||
9e107c59 | 335 | Get pathname of current working directory |
f102b883 | 336 | |
19799a22 GS |
337 | =item DB |
338 | ||
2e1d04bc | 339 | Programmatic interface to the Perl debugging API (draft, subject to |
19799a22 | 340 | |
f102b883 TC |
341 | =item DB_File |
342 | ||
19799a22 GS |
343 | Perl5 access to Berkeley DB version 1.x |
344 | ||
f102b883 TC |
345 | =item Devel::SelfStubber |
346 | ||
9e107c59 | 347 | Generate stubs for a SelfLoading module |
f102b883 | 348 | |
4e860d0a JH |
349 | =item Digest |
350 | ||
351 | Modules that calculate message digests | |
352 | ||
f102b883 TC |
353 | =item DirHandle |
354 | ||
9e107c59 | 355 | Supply object methods for directory handles |
f102b883 | 356 | |
19799a22 GS |
357 | =item Dumpvalue |
358 | ||
2e1d04bc | 359 | Provides screen dump of Perl data. |
f102b883 | 360 | |
13a2d996 SP |
361 | =item Encode |
362 | ||
363 | Character encodings | |
364 | ||
4e860d0a JH |
365 | =item Encode::EncodeFormat |
366 | ||
367 | The format of encoding tables of the Encode extension | |
368 | ||
369 | =item Encode::Tcl | |
370 | ||
371 | Tcl encodings | |
372 | ||
f102b883 TC |
373 | =item English |
374 | ||
2e1d04bc | 375 | Use nice English (or awk) names for ugly punctuation variables |
f102b883 TC |
376 | |
377 | =item Env | |
378 | ||
2e1d04bc | 379 | Perl module that imports environment variables as scalars or arrays |
f102b883 TC |
380 | |
381 | =item Exporter | |
382 | ||
2e1d04bc | 383 | Implements default import method for modules |
9e107c59 GS |
384 | |
385 | =item Exporter::Heavy | |
386 | ||
387 | Exporter guts | |
19799a22 GS |
388 | |
389 | =item ExtUtils::Command | |
390 | ||
2e1d04bc | 391 | Utilities to replace common UNIX commands in Makefiles etc. |
f102b883 | 392 | |
422a9aca JH |
393 | =item ExtUtils::Constant |
394 | ||
395 | Generate XS code to import C header constants | |
396 | ||
f102b883 TC |
397 | =item ExtUtils::Embed |
398 | ||
2e1d04bc | 399 | Utilities for embedding Perl in C/C++ applications |
f102b883 TC |
400 | |
401 | =item ExtUtils::Install | |
402 | ||
9e107c59 | 403 | Install files from here to there |
f102b883 | 404 | |
19799a22 GS |
405 | =item ExtUtils::Installed |
406 | ||
407 | Inventory management of installed modules | |
408 | ||
f102b883 TC |
409 | =item ExtUtils::Liblist |
410 | ||
9e107c59 GS |
411 | Determine libraries to use and how to use them |
412 | ||
413 | =item ExtUtils::MM_Cygwin | |
414 | ||
2e1d04bc | 415 | Methods to override UN*X behaviour in ExtUtils::MakeMaker |
f102b883 | 416 | |
5d80033a JH |
417 | =item ExtUtils::MM_NW5 |
418 | ||
419 | Methods to override UN*X behaviour in ExtUtils::MakeMaker | |
420 | ||
f102b883 TC |
421 | =item ExtUtils::MM_OS2 |
422 | ||
2e1d04bc | 423 | Methods to override UN*X behaviour in ExtUtils::MakeMaker |
f102b883 TC |
424 | |
425 | =item ExtUtils::MM_Unix | |
426 | ||
9e107c59 | 427 | Methods used by ExtUtils::MakeMaker |
f102b883 TC |
428 | |
429 | =item ExtUtils::MM_VMS | |
430 | ||
2e1d04bc | 431 | Methods to override UN*X behaviour in ExtUtils::MakeMaker |
19799a22 GS |
432 | |
433 | =item ExtUtils::MM_Win32 | |
434 | ||
2e1d04bc | 435 | Methods to override UN*X behaviour in ExtUtils::MakeMaker |
f102b883 TC |
436 | |
437 | =item ExtUtils::MakeMaker | |
438 | ||
9e107c59 | 439 | Create an extension Makefile |
f102b883 TC |
440 | |
441 | =item ExtUtils::Manifest | |
442 | ||
9e107c59 | 443 | Utilities to write and check a MANIFEST file |
f102b883 TC |
444 | |
445 | =item ExtUtils::Mkbootstrap | |
446 | ||
9e107c59 | 447 | Make a bootstrap file for use by DynaLoader |
f102b883 TC |
448 | |
449 | =item ExtUtils::Mksymlists | |
450 | ||
9e107c59 | 451 | Write linker options files for dynamic extension |
f102b883 | 452 | |
19799a22 GS |
453 | =item ExtUtils::Packlist |
454 | ||
9e107c59 | 455 | Manage .packlist files |
19799a22 | 456 | |
f102b883 TC |
457 | =item ExtUtils::testlib |
458 | ||
9e107c59 | 459 | Add blib/* directories to @INC |
f102b883 | 460 | |
b6c543e3 IZ |
461 | =item Fatal |
462 | ||
9e107c59 | 463 | Replace functions with equivalents which succeed or die |
b6c543e3 | 464 | |
f102b883 TC |
465 | =item Fcntl |
466 | ||
2e1d04bc | 467 | Load the C Fcntl.h defines |
f102b883 TC |
468 | |
469 | =item File::Basename | |
470 | ||
9e107c59 GS |
471 | Split a pathname into pieces |
472 | ||
473 | =item File::CheckTree | |
474 | ||
475 | Run many filetest checks on a tree | |
f102b883 | 476 | |
f102b883 TC |
477 | =item File::Compare |
478 | ||
19799a22 | 479 | Compare files or filehandles |
f102b883 TC |
480 | |
481 | =item File::Copy | |
482 | ||
19799a22 GS |
483 | Copy files or filehandles |
484 | ||
485 | =item File::DosGlob | |
486 | ||
2e1d04bc | 487 | DOS like globbing and then some |
f102b883 TC |
488 | |
489 | =item File::Find | |
490 | ||
2e1d04bc | 491 | Traverse a file tree |
f102b883 TC |
492 | |
493 | =item File::Path | |
494 | ||
2e1d04bc | 495 | Create or remove directory trees |
f102b883 | 496 | |
f505c983 GS |
497 | =item File::Spec |
498 | ||
9e107c59 | 499 | Portably perform operations on file names |
f505c983 | 500 | |
165c0277 JH |
501 | =item File::Spec::Epoc |
502 | ||
503 | Methods for Epoc file specs | |
504 | ||
f505c983 GS |
505 | =item File::Spec::Functions |
506 | ||
9e107c59 | 507 | Portably perform operations on file names |
19799a22 GS |
508 | |
509 | =item File::Spec::Mac | |
510 | ||
1bb908c3 | 511 | File::Spec for Mac OS (Classic) |
19799a22 GS |
512 | |
513 | =item File::Spec::OS2 | |
514 | ||
9e107c59 | 515 | Methods for OS/2 file specs |
19799a22 GS |
516 | |
517 | =item File::Spec::Unix | |
518 | ||
e61ecf27 | 519 | File::Spec for Unix, base for other File::Spec modules |
19799a22 GS |
520 | |
521 | =item File::Spec::VMS | |
522 | ||
9e107c59 | 523 | Methods for VMS file specs |
19799a22 GS |
524 | |
525 | =item File::Spec::Win32 | |
526 | ||
9e107c59 | 527 | Methods for Win32 file specs |
f505c983 | 528 | |
2e1d04bc JH |
529 | =item File::Temp |
530 | ||
531 | Return name and handle of a temporary file safely | |
532 | ||
f102b883 TC |
533 | =item File::stat |
534 | ||
9e107c59 | 535 | By-name interface to Perl's built-in stat() functions |
f102b883 TC |
536 | |
537 | =item FileCache | |
538 | ||
9e107c59 | 539 | Keep more files open than the system permits |
f102b883 TC |
540 | |
541 | =item FileHandle | |
542 | ||
9e107c59 | 543 | Supply object methods for filehandles |
f102b883 | 544 | |
165c0277 JH |
545 | =item Filter::Simple |
546 | ||
547 | Simplified source filtering | |
548 | ||
f102b883 TC |
549 | =item FindBin |
550 | ||
2e1d04bc | 551 | Locate directory of original perl script |
f102b883 TC |
552 | |
553 | =item Getopt::Long | |
554 | ||
9e107c59 | 555 | Extended processing of command line options |
f102b883 TC |
556 | |
557 | =item Getopt::Std | |
558 | ||
19799a22 | 559 | Process single-character switches with switch clustering |
f102b883 TC |
560 | |
561 | =item I18N::Collate | |
562 | ||
2e1d04bc | 563 | Compare 8-bit scalar data according to the current locale |
f102b883 | 564 | |
422a9aca JH |
565 | =item I18N::LangTags |
566 | ||
567 | Functions for dealing with RFC3066-style language tags | |
568 | ||
569 | =item I18N::LangTags::List | |
570 | ||
4f233aa4 | 571 | Tags and names for human languages |
422a9aca | 572 | |
f102b883 TC |
573 | =item IO |
574 | ||
2e1d04bc | 575 | Load various IO modules |
f102b883 TC |
576 | |
577 | =item IPC::Open2 | |
578 | ||
9e107c59 | 579 | Open a process for both reading and writing |
f102b883 TC |
580 | |
581 | =item IPC::Open3 | |
582 | ||
9e107c59 | 583 | Open a process for reading, writing, and error handling |
f102b883 | 584 | |
4e860d0a JH |
585 | =item Locale::Constants |
586 | ||
587 | Constants for Locale codes | |
588 | ||
589 | =item Locale::Country | |
590 | ||
591 | ISO codes for country identification (ISO 3166) | |
592 | ||
593 | =item Locale::Currency | |
594 | ||
595 | ISO three letter codes for currency identification (ISO 4217) | |
596 | ||
597 | =item Locale::Language | |
598 | ||
599 | ISO two letter codes for language identification (ISO 639) | |
600 | ||
422a9aca JH |
601 | =item Locale::Maketext |
602 | ||
603 | Framework for localization | |
604 | ||
605 | =item Locale::Maketext::TPJ13 | |
606 | ||
607 | Article about software localization | |
608 | ||
f102b883 TC |
609 | =item Math::BigFloat |
610 | ||
5d80033a | 611 | Arbitrary size floating point math package |
f102b883 TC |
612 | |
613 | =item Math::BigInt | |
614 | ||
19799a22 | 615 | Arbitrary size integer math package |
f102b883 | 616 | |
d0363f02 JH |
617 | =item Math::BigInt::Calc |
618 | ||
619 | Pure Perl module to support Math::BigInt | |
620 | ||
f102b883 TC |
621 | =item Math::Complex |
622 | ||
9e107c59 | 623 | Complex numbers and associated mathematical functions |
f102b883 | 624 | |
404b15a1 CS |
625 | =item Math::Trig |
626 | ||
9e107c59 | 627 | Trigonometric functions |
f102b883 | 628 | |
5d80033a JH |
629 | =item Memoize |
630 | ||
631 | Make your functions faster by trading space for time | |
632 | ||
633 | =item Memoize::AnyDBM_File | |
634 | ||
635 | Glue to provide EXISTS for AnyDBM_File for Storable use | |
636 | ||
637 | =item Memoize::Expire | |
638 | ||
639 | Plug-in module for automatic expiration of memoized values | |
640 | ||
641 | =item Memoize::ExpireFile | |
642 | ||
643 | Test for Memoize expiration semantics | |
644 | ||
645 | =item Memoize::ExpireTest | |
646 | ||
647 | Test for Memoize expiration semantics | |
648 | ||
649 | =item Memoize::NDBM_File | |
650 | ||
651 | Glue to provide EXISTS for NDBM_File for Storable use | |
652 | ||
653 | =item Memoize::SDBM_File | |
654 | ||
655 | Glue to provide EXISTS for SDBM_File for Storable use | |
656 | ||
657 | =item Memoize::Saves | |
658 | ||
659 | Plug-in module to specify which return values should be memoized | |
660 | ||
661 | =item Memoize::Storable | |
662 | ||
663 | Store Memoized data in Storable database | |
664 | ||
2e1d04bc JH |
665 | =item NDBM_File |
666 | ||
667 | Tied access to ndbm files | |
668 | ||
1fa7ca25 JH |
669 | =item NEXT |
670 | ||
671 | Provide a pseudo-class NEXT that allows method redispatch | |
672 | ||
5d80033a JH |
673 | =item Net::Cmd |
674 | ||
675 | Network Command class (as used by FTP, SMTP etc) | |
676 | ||
677 | =item Net::Config | |
678 | ||
679 | Local configuration data for libnet | |
680 | ||
681 | =item Net::Domain | |
682 | ||
683 | Attempt to evaluate the current host's internet name and domain | |
684 | ||
5d80033a JH |
685 | =item Net::FTP |
686 | ||
687 | FTP Client class | |
688 | ||
689 | =item Net::NNTP | |
690 | ||
691 | NNTP Client class | |
692 | ||
693 | =item Net::Netrc | |
694 | ||
695 | OO interface to users netrc file | |
696 | ||
5d80033a JH |
697 | =item Net::POP3 |
698 | ||
699 | Post Office Protocol 3 Client class (RFC1081) | |
700 | ||
f102b883 TC |
701 | =item Net::Ping |
702 | ||
9e107c59 | 703 | Check a remote host for reachability |
f102b883 | 704 | |
5d80033a JH |
705 | =item Net::SMTP |
706 | ||
707 | Simple Mail Transfer Protocol Client | |
708 | ||
5d80033a JH |
709 | =item Net::Time |
710 | ||
711 | Time and daytime network client interface | |
712 | ||
f102b883 TC |
713 | =item Net::hostent |
714 | ||
9e107c59 | 715 | By-name interface to Perl's built-in gethost*() functions |
f102b883 | 716 | |
5d80033a JH |
717 | =item Net::libnetFAQ |
718 | ||
719 | Libnet Frequently Asked Questions | |
720 | ||
f102b883 TC |
721 | =item Net::netent |
722 | ||
9e107c59 | 723 | By-name interface to Perl's built-in getnet*() functions |
f102b883 TC |
724 | |
725 | =item Net::protoent | |
726 | ||
9e107c59 | 727 | By-name interface to Perl's built-in getproto*() functions |
f102b883 TC |
728 | |
729 | =item Net::servent | |
730 | ||
9e107c59 | 731 | By-name interface to Perl's built-in getserv*() functions |
f102b883 | 732 | |
19799a22 | 733 | =item O |
f102b883 | 734 | |
19799a22 | 735 | Generic interface to Perl Compiler backends |
f102b883 | 736 | |
2e1d04bc | 737 | =item ODBM_File |
f102b883 | 738 | |
2e1d04bc | 739 | Tied access to odbm files |
f102b883 | 740 | |
2e1d04bc | 741 | =item Opcode |
f102b883 | 742 | |
2e1d04bc | 743 | Disable named opcodes when compiling perl code |
19799a22 | 744 | |
4e860d0a JH |
745 | =item POSIX |
746 | ||
747 | Perl interface to IEEE Std 1003.1 | |
748 | ||
749 | =item PerlIO | |
750 | ||
751 | On demand loader for PerlIO layers and root of PerlIO::* name space | |
752 | ||
9e107c59 GS |
753 | =item Pod::Checker |
754 | ||
755 | Check pod documents for syntax errors | |
756 | ||
2e1d04bc JH |
757 | =item Pod::Find |
758 | ||
759 | Find POD documents in directory trees | |
760 | ||
19799a22 GS |
761 | =item Pod::Html |
762 | ||
9e107c59 GS |
763 | Module to convert pod files to HTML |
764 | ||
765 | =item Pod::InputObjects | |
766 | ||
2e1d04bc | 767 | Objects representing POD input paragraphs, commands, etc. |
9e107c59 | 768 | |
13a2d996 SP |
769 | =item Pod::LaTeX |
770 | ||
771 | Convert Pod data to formatted Latex | |
772 | ||
9e107c59 GS |
773 | =item Pod::Man |
774 | ||
775 | Convert POD data to formatted *roff input | |
776 | ||
1bb908c3 JH |
777 | =item Pod::ParseLink |
778 | ||
779 | Parse an L<> formatting code in POD text | |
780 | ||
2e1d04bc JH |
781 | =item Pod::ParseUtils |
782 | ||
783 | Helpers for POD parsing and conversion | |
784 | ||
9e107c59 GS |
785 | =item Pod::Parser |
786 | ||
787 | Base class for creating POD filters and translators | |
788 | ||
2e1d04bc JH |
789 | =item Pod::Plainer |
790 | ||
791 | Perl extension for converting Pod to old style Pod. | |
792 | ||
9e107c59 GS |
793 | =item Pod::Select |
794 | ||
795 | Extract selected sections of POD from input | |
19799a22 GS |
796 | |
797 | =item Pod::Text | |
798 | ||
9e107c59 GS |
799 | Convert POD data to formatted ASCII text |
800 | ||
801 | =item Pod::Text::Color | |
802 | ||
803 | Convert POD data to formatted color ASCII text | |
804 | ||
4e860d0a JH |
805 | =item Pod::Text::Overstrike |
806 | ||
807 | Convert POD data to formatted overstrike text | |
808 | ||
2e1d04bc JH |
809 | =item Pod::Text::Termcap |
810 | ||
811 | Convert POD data to ASCII text with format escapes | |
812 | ||
9e107c59 GS |
813 | =item Pod::Usage |
814 | ||
815 | Print a usage message from embedded pod documentation | |
f102b883 | 816 | |
1bb908c3 JH |
817 | =item Pod::t::basic |
818 | ||
819 | Test of various basic POD features in translators. | |
820 | ||
f102b883 TC |
821 | =item SDBM_File |
822 | ||
19799a22 | 823 | Tied access to sdbm files |
f102b883 TC |
824 | |
825 | =item Safe | |
826 | ||
19799a22 | 827 | Compile and execute code in restricted compartments |
f102b883 TC |
828 | |
829 | =item Search::Dict | |
830 | ||
9e107c59 | 831 | Search for key in dictionary file |
f102b883 TC |
832 | |
833 | =item SelectSaver | |
834 | ||
9e107c59 | 835 | Save and restore selected file handle |
f102b883 TC |
836 | |
837 | =item SelfLoader | |
838 | ||
9e107c59 | 839 | Load functions only on demand |
f102b883 TC |
840 | |
841 | =item Shell | |
842 | ||
2e1d04bc | 843 | Run shell commands transparently within perl |
f102b883 TC |
844 | |
845 | =item Socket | |
846 | ||
2e1d04bc | 847 | Load the C socket.h defines and structure manipulators |
f102b883 | 848 | |
13a2d996 SP |
849 | =item Storable |
850 | ||
851 | Persistency for perl data structures | |
852 | ||
4e860d0a JH |
853 | =item Switch |
854 | ||
855 | A switch statement for Perl | |
856 | ||
f102b883 TC |
857 | =item Symbol |
858 | ||
9e107c59 | 859 | Manipulate Perl symbols and their names |
f102b883 | 860 | |
2e1d04bc | 861 | =item Term::ANSIColor |
f102b883 | 862 | |
2e1d04bc | 863 | Color screen output using ANSI escape sequences |
f102b883 TC |
864 | |
865 | =item Term::Cap | |
866 | ||
2e1d04bc | 867 | Perl termcap interface |
f102b883 TC |
868 | |
869 | =item Term::Complete | |
870 | ||
2e1d04bc | 871 | Perl word completion module |
f102b883 TC |
872 | |
873 | =item Term::ReadLine | |
874 | ||
2e1d04bc | 875 | Perl interface to various C<readline> packages. If |
19799a22 GS |
876 | |
877 | =item Test | |
878 | ||
9e107c59 | 879 | Provides a simple framework for writing test scripts |
f102b883 | 880 | |
1bb908c3 JH |
881 | =item Test::Builder |
882 | ||
883 | Backend for building test libraries | |
884 | ||
f102b883 TC |
885 | =item Test::Harness |
886 | ||
2e1d04bc | 887 | Run perl standard test scripts with statistics |
f102b883 | 888 | |
7a49b635 JH |
889 | =item Test::More |
890 | ||
891 | Yet another framework for writing test scripts | |
892 | ||
893 | =item Test::Simple | |
894 | ||
895 | Basic utilities for writing tests. | |
896 | ||
e61ecf27 JH |
897 | =item Test::Tutorial |
898 | ||
899 | A tutorial about writing really basic tests | |
900 | ||
f102b883 TC |
901 | =item Text::Abbrev |
902 | ||
9e107c59 | 903 | Create an abbreviation table from a list |
f102b883 | 904 | |
4e860d0a JH |
905 | =item Text::Balanced |
906 | ||
907 | Extract delimited text sequences from strings. | |
908 | ||
f102b883 TC |
909 | =item Text::ParseWords |
910 | ||
2e1d04bc | 911 | Parse text into an array of tokens or array of arrays |
f102b883 TC |
912 | |
913 | =item Text::Soundex | |
914 | ||
2e1d04bc | 915 | Implementation of the Soundex Algorithm as Described by Knuth |
f102b883 | 916 | |
4e860d0a JH |
917 | =item Text::Tabs |
918 | ||
919 | Expand and unexpand tabs per the unix expand(1) and unexpand(1) | |
920 | ||
f102b883 TC |
921 | =item Text::Wrap |
922 | ||
9e107c59 | 923 | Line wrapping to form simple paragraphs |
19799a22 | 924 | |
1bb908c3 JH |
925 | =item Thread |
926 | ||
927 | Manipulate threads in Perl | |
928 | ||
19799a22 GS |
929 | =item Tie::Array |
930 | ||
9e107c59 | 931 | Base class for tied arrays |
19799a22 GS |
932 | |
933 | =item Tie::Handle | |
934 | ||
9e107c59 | 935 | Base class definitions for tied handles |
19799a22 | 936 | |
9e107c59 | 937 | =item Tie::Hash |
f102b883 | 938 | |
9e107c59 | 939 | Base class definitions for tied hashes |
f102b883 TC |
940 | |
941 | =item Tie::RefHash | |
942 | ||
9e107c59 | 943 | Use references as hash keys |
f102b883 | 944 | |
9e107c59 | 945 | =item Tie::Scalar |
f102b883 | 946 | |
9e107c59 | 947 | Base class definitions for tied scalars |
f102b883 TC |
948 | |
949 | =item Tie::SubstrHash | |
950 | ||
19799a22 | 951 | Fixed-table-size, fixed-key-length hashing |
f102b883 TC |
952 | |
953 | =item Time::Local | |
954 | ||
9e107c59 | 955 | Efficiently compute time from local and GMT time |
f102b883 TC |
956 | |
957 | =item Time::gmtime | |
958 | ||
9e107c59 | 959 | By-name interface to Perl's built-in gmtime() function |
f102b883 TC |
960 | |
961 | =item Time::localtime | |
962 | ||
9e107c59 | 963 | By-name interface to Perl's built-in localtime() function |
f102b883 TC |
964 | |
965 | =item Time::tm | |
966 | ||
9e107c59 | 967 | Internal object used by Time::gmtime and Time::localtime |
f102b883 TC |
968 | |
969 | =item UNIVERSAL | |
970 | ||
9e107c59 | 971 | Base class for ALL classes (blessed references) |
f102b883 | 972 | |
e61ecf27 JH |
973 | =item Unicode::Collate |
974 | ||
975 | Use UCA (Unicode Collation Algorithm) | |
976 | ||
e61ecf27 | 977 | =item Unicode::UCD |
fbe3d936 JH |
978 | |
979 | Unicode character database | |
980 | ||
f102b883 TC |
981 | =item User::grent |
982 | ||
9e107c59 | 983 | By-name interface to Perl's built-in getgr*() functions |
f102b883 TC |
984 | |
985 | =item User::pwent | |
986 | ||
9e107c59 | 987 | By-name interface to Perl's built-in getpw*() functions |
f102b883 | 988 | |
4e860d0a JH |
989 | =item Win32 |
990 | ||
991 | Interfaces to some Win32 API Functions | |
992 | ||
f102b883 TC |
993 | =back |
994 | ||
19799a22 | 995 | To find out I<all> modules installed on your system, including |
2e1d04bc | 996 | those without documentation or outside the standard release, |
b1866b2d | 997 | just do this: |
f102b883 | 998 | |
5a964f20 | 999 | % find `perl -e 'print "@INC"'` -name '*.pm' -print |
f102b883 | 1000 | |
2e1d04bc JH |
1001 | They should all have their own documentation installed and accessible |
1002 | via your system man(1) command. If you do not have a B<find> | |
19799a22 GS |
1003 | program, you can use the Perl B<find2perl> program instead, which |
1004 | generates Perl code as output you can run through perl. If you | |
1005 | have a B<man> program but it doesn't find your modules, you'll have | |
2e1d04bc JH |
1006 | to fix your manpath. See L<perl> for details. If you have no |
1007 | system B<man> command, you might try the B<perldoc> program. | |
f102b883 TC |
1008 | |
1009 | =head2 Extension Modules | |
1010 | ||
19799a22 GS |
1011 | Extension modules are written in C (or a mix of Perl and C). They |
1012 | are usually dynamically loaded into Perl if and when you need them, | |
d1be9408 | 1013 | but may also be linked in statically. Supported extension modules |
19799a22 | 1014 | include Socket, Fcntl, and POSIX. |
f102b883 TC |
1015 | |
1016 | Many popular C extension modules do not come bundled (at least, not | |
19799a22 GS |
1017 | completely) due to their sizes, volatility, or simply lack of time |
1018 | for adequate testing and configuration across the multitude of | |
1019 | platforms on which Perl was beta-tested. You are encouraged to | |
1020 | look for them on CPAN (described below), or using web search engines | |
1021 | like Alta Vista or Deja News. | |
f102b883 TC |
1022 | |
1023 | =head1 CPAN | |
1024 | ||
19799a22 GS |
1025 | CPAN stands for Comprehensive Perl Archive Network; it's a globally |
1026 | replicated trove of Perl materials, including documentation, style | |
2e1d04bc | 1027 | guides, tricks and traps, alternate ports to non-Unix systems and |
19799a22 GS |
1028 | occasional binary distributions for these. Search engines for |
1029 | CPAN can be found at http://cpan.perl.com/ and at | |
1030 | http://theory.uwinnipeg.ca/mod_perl/cpan-search.pl . | |
1031 | ||
1032 | Most importantly, CPAN includes around a thousand unbundled modules, | |
1033 | some of which require a C compiler to build. Major categories of | |
1034 | modules are: | |
f102b883 | 1035 | |
4e860d0a | 1036 | =over |
f102b883 TC |
1037 | |
1038 | =item * | |
551e1d92 | 1039 | |
f102b883 TC |
1040 | Language Extensions and Documentation Tools |
1041 | ||
1042 | =item * | |
551e1d92 | 1043 | |
f102b883 TC |
1044 | Development Support |
1045 | ||
1046 | =item * | |
551e1d92 | 1047 | |
f102b883 TC |
1048 | Operating System Interfaces |
1049 | ||
1050 | =item * | |
551e1d92 | 1051 | |
f102b883 TC |
1052 | Networking, Device Control (modems) and InterProcess Communication |
1053 | ||
1054 | =item * | |
551e1d92 | 1055 | |
f102b883 TC |
1056 | Data Types and Data Type Utilities |
1057 | ||
1058 | =item * | |
551e1d92 | 1059 | |
f102b883 TC |
1060 | Database Interfaces |
1061 | ||
1062 | =item * | |
551e1d92 | 1063 | |
f102b883 TC |
1064 | User Interfaces |
1065 | ||
1066 | =item * | |
551e1d92 | 1067 | |
f102b883 TC |
1068 | Interfaces to / Emulations of Other Programming Languages |
1069 | ||
1070 | =item * | |
551e1d92 | 1071 | |
f102b883 TC |
1072 | File Names, File Systems and File Locking (see also File Handles) |
1073 | ||
1074 | =item * | |
551e1d92 | 1075 | |
f102b883 TC |
1076 | String Processing, Language Text Processing, Parsing, and Searching |
1077 | ||
1078 | =item * | |
551e1d92 | 1079 | |
f102b883 TC |
1080 | Option, Argument, Parameter, and Configuration File Processing |
1081 | ||
1082 | =item * | |
551e1d92 | 1083 | |
f102b883 TC |
1084 | Internationalization and Locale |
1085 | ||
1086 | =item * | |
551e1d92 | 1087 | |
f102b883 TC |
1088 | Authentication, Security, and Encryption |
1089 | ||
1090 | =item * | |
551e1d92 | 1091 | |
f102b883 TC |
1092 | World Wide Web, HTML, HTTP, CGI, MIME |
1093 | ||
1094 | =item * | |
551e1d92 | 1095 | |
f102b883 TC |
1096 | Server and Daemon Utilities |
1097 | ||
1098 | =item * | |
551e1d92 | 1099 | |
f102b883 TC |
1100 | Archiving and Compression |
1101 | ||
1102 | =item * | |
551e1d92 | 1103 | |
f102b883 TC |
1104 | Images, Pixmap and Bitmap Manipulation, Drawing, and Graphing |
1105 | ||
1106 | =item * | |
551e1d92 | 1107 | |
f102b883 TC |
1108 | Mail and Usenet News |
1109 | ||
1110 | =item * | |
551e1d92 | 1111 | |
f102b883 TC |
1112 | Control Flow Utilities (callbacks and exceptions etc) |
1113 | ||
1114 | =item * | |
551e1d92 | 1115 | |
f102b883 TC |
1116 | File Handle and Input/Output Stream Utilities |
1117 | ||
1118 | =item * | |
551e1d92 | 1119 | |
f102b883 TC |
1120 | Miscellaneous Modules |
1121 | ||
1122 | =back | |
1123 | ||
19799a22 | 1124 | Registered CPAN sites as of this writing include the following. |
f102b883 TC |
1125 | You should try to choose one close to you: |
1126 | ||
4e860d0a JH |
1127 | =head2 Africa |
1128 | ||
cea6626f | 1129 | =over 4 |
f102b883 | 1130 | |
4e860d0a JH |
1131 | =item * |
1132 | ||
1133 | South Africa | |
1134 | ||
1135 | ftp://ftp.is.co.za/programming/perl/CPAN/ | |
1136 | ftp://ftp.saix.net/pub/CPAN/ | |
1137 | ftp://ftpza.co.za/pub/mirrors/cpan/ | |
1138 | ftp://ftp.sun.ac.za/CPAN/ | |
1139 | ||
1140 | =back | |
1141 | ||
1142 | =head2 Asia | |
1143 | ||
1144 | =over 4 | |
1145 | ||
1146 | =item * | |
1147 | ||
1148 | China | |
1149 | ||
1150 | ftp://freesoft.cei.gov.cn/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ | |
1151 | http://www2.linuxforum.net/mirror/CPAN/ | |
1152 | http://cpan.shellhung.org/ | |
1153 | ftp://ftp.shellhung.org/pub/CPAN | |
1154 | ||
1155 | =item * | |
1156 | ||
1157 | Hong Kong | |
1158 | ||
1159 | http://CPAN.pacific.net.hk/ | |
1160 | ftp://ftp.pacific.net.hk/pub/mirror/CPAN/ | |
1161 | ||
1162 | =item * | |
1163 | ||
1164 | Indonesia | |
1165 | ||
1166 | http://piksi.itb.ac.id/CPAN/ | |
1167 | ftp://mirrors.piksi.itb.ac.id/CPAN/ | |
1168 | http://CPAN.mweb.co.id/ | |
1169 | ftp://ftp.mweb.co.id/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ | |
1170 | ||
1171 | =item * | |
1172 | ||
1173 | Israel | |
1174 | ||
1175 | http://www.iglu.org.il:/pub/CPAN/ | |
1176 | ftp://ftp.iglu.org.il/pub/CPAN/ | |
1177 | http://bioinfo.weizmann.ac.il/pub/software/perl/CPAN/ | |
1178 | ftp://bioinfo.weizmann.ac.il/pub/software/perl/CPAN/ | |
1179 | ||
1180 | =item * | |
1181 | ||
1182 | Japan | |
1183 | ||
1184 | ftp://ftp.u-aizu.ac.jp/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/ | |
1185 | ftp://ftp.kddlabs.co.jp/CPAN/ | |
1186 | http://mirror.nucba.ac.jp/mirror/Perl/ | |
1187 | ftp://mirror.nucba.ac.jp/mirror/Perl/ | |
1188 | ftp://ftp.meisei-u.ac.jp/pub/CPAN/ | |
1189 | ftp://ftp.jaist.ac.jp/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/ | |
1190 | ftp://ftp.dti.ad.jp/pub/lang/CPAN/ | |
1191 | ftp://ftp.ring.gr.jp/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/ | |
1192 | ||
1193 | =item * | |
1194 | ||
1195 | Saudi Arabia | |
1196 | ||
1197 | ftp://ftp.isu.net.sa/pub/CPAN/ | |
1198 | ||
1199 | =item * | |
1200 | ||
1201 | Singapore | |
1202 | ||
1203 | http://cpan.hjc.edu.sg | |
1204 | http://ftp.nus.edu.sg/unix/perl/CPAN/ | |
1205 | ftp://ftp.nus.edu.sg/pub/unix/perl/CPAN/ | |
1206 | ||
1207 | =item * | |
1208 | ||
1209 | South Korea | |
1210 | ||
1211 | http://CPAN.bora.net/ | |
1212 | ftp://ftp.bora.net/pub/CPAN/ | |
1213 | http://ftp.kornet.net/CPAN/ | |
1214 | ftp://ftp.kornet.net/pub/CPAN/ | |
1215 | ftp://ftp.nuri.net/pub/CPAN/ | |
1216 | ||
1217 | =item * | |
1218 | ||
1219 | Taiwan | |
1220 | ||
1221 | ftp://coda.nctu.edu.tw/UNIX/perl/CPAN | |
1222 | ftp://ftp.ee.ncku.edu.tw/pub/perl/CPAN/ | |
1223 | ftp://ftp1.sinica.edu.tw/pub1/perl/CPAN/ | |
1224 | ||
1225 | =item * | |
1226 | ||
1227 | Thailand | |
1228 | ||
1229 | http://download.nectec.or.th/CPAN/ | |
1230 | ftp://ftp.nectec.or.th/pub/languages/CPAN/ | |
1231 | ftp://ftp.cs.riubon.ac.th/pub/mirrors/CPAN/ | |
1232 | ||
1233 | =back | |
1234 | ||
1235 | =head2 Central America | |
1236 | ||
1237 | =over 4 | |
1238 | ||
1239 | =item * | |
1240 | ||
1241 | Costa Rica | |
1242 | ||
1243 | ftp://ftp.linux.co.cr/mirrors/CPAN/ | |
1244 | http://ftp.ucr.ac.cr/Unix/CPAN/ | |
1245 | ftp://ftp.ucr.ac.cr/pub/Unix/CPAN/ | |
1246 | ||
1247 | =back | |
1248 | ||
1249 | =head2 Europe | |
1250 | ||
1251 | =over 4 | |
1252 | ||
1253 | =item * | |
1254 | ||
1255 | Austria | |
1256 | ||
1257 | ftp://ftp.tuwien.ac.at/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ | |
1258 | ||
1259 | =item * | |
1260 | ||
1261 | Belgium | |
1262 | ||
1263 | http://ftp.easynet.be/CPAN/ | |
1264 | ftp://ftp.easynet.be/CPAN/ | |
1265 | ftp://ftp.kulnet.kuleuven.ac.be/pub/mirror/CPAN/ | |
1266 | ||
1267 | =item * | |
1268 | ||
1269 | Bulgaria | |
1270 | ||
1271 | ftp://ftp.ntrl.net/pub/mirrors/CPAN/ | |
1272 | ||
1273 | =item * | |
1274 | ||
1275 | Croatia | |
1276 | ||
1277 | ftp://ftp.linux.hr/pub/CPAN/ | |
1278 | ||
1279 | =item * | |
1280 | ||
1281 | Czech Republic | |
1282 | ||
1283 | http://www.fi.muni.cz/pub/perl/ | |
1284 | ftp://ftp.fi.muni.cz/pub/perl/ | |
1285 | ftp://sunsite.mff.cuni.cz/MIRRORS/ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ | |
1286 | ||
1287 | =item * | |
1288 | ||
1289 | Denmark | |
1290 | ||
1291 | ftp://sunsite.auc.dk/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ | |
1292 | http://www.cpan.dk/CPAN/ | |
1293 | ftp://www.cpan.dk/ftp.cpan.org/CPAN/ | |
1294 | ||
1295 | =item * | |
1296 | ||
1297 | England | |
1298 | ||
1299 | http://www.mirror.ac.uk/sites/ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN | |
1300 | ftp://ftp.mirror.ac.uk/sites/ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ | |
1301 | ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/mirrors/perl/CPAN/ | |
1302 | ftp://ftp.flirble.org/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ | |
1303 | ftp://ftp.plig.org/pub/CPAN/ | |
1304 | ftp://sunsite.doc.ic.ac.uk/packages/CPAN/ | |
1305 | http://mirror.uklinux.net/CPAN/ | |
1306 | ftp://mirror.uklinux.net/pub/CPAN/ | |
1307 | ftp://usit.shef.ac.uk/pub/packages/CPAN/ | |
1308 | ||
1309 | =item * | |
1310 | ||
1311 | Estonia | |
1312 | ||
1313 | ftp://ftp.ut.ee/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ | |
1314 | ||
1315 | =item * | |
1316 | ||
1317 | Finland | |
1318 | ||
1319 | ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ | |
1320 | ||
1321 | =item * | |
1322 | ||
1323 | France | |
1324 | ||
1325 | ftp://cpan.ftp.worldonline.fr/pub/CPAN/ | |
1326 | ftp://ftp.club-internet.fr/pub/perl/CPAN/ | |
1327 | ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/perl/CPAN/ | |
1328 | ftp://ftp.oleane.net/pub/mirrors/CPAN/ | |
1329 | ftp://ftp.pasteur.fr/pub/computing/CPAN/ | |
1330 | ftp://cpan.cict.fr/pub/CPAN/ | |
1331 | ftp://ftp.uvsq.fr/pub/perl/CPAN/ | |
1332 | ||
1333 | =item * | |
1334 | ||
1335 | Germany | |
1336 | ||
1337 | ftp://ftp.rz.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/pub/CPAN/ | |
1338 | ftp://ftp.freenet.de/pub/ftp.cpan.org/pub/CPAN/ | |
1339 | ftp://ftp.uni-erlangen.de/pub/source/CPAN/ | |
1340 | ftp://ftp-stud.fht-esslingen.de/pub/Mirrors/CPAN | |
1341 | ftp://ftp.gigabell.net/pub/CPAN/ | |
1342 | http://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ | |
1343 | ftp://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ | |
1344 | ftp://ftp.uni-hamburg.de/pub/soft/lang/perl/CPAN/ | |
1345 | ftp://ftp.leo.org/pub/comp/general/programming/languages/script/perl/CPAN/ | |
1346 | ftp://ftp.mpi-sb.mpg.de/pub/perl/CPAN/ | |
1347 | ftp://ftp.gmd.de/mirrors/CPAN/ | |
1348 | ||
1349 | =item * | |
1350 | ||
1351 | Greece | |
1352 | ||
1353 | ftp://ftp.forthnet.gr/pub/languages/perl/CPAN | |
1354 | ftp://ftp.ntua.gr/pub/lang/perl/ | |
1355 | ||
1356 | =item * | |
1357 | ||
1358 | Hungary | |
1359 | ||
1360 | http://cpan.artifact.hu/ | |
1361 | ftp://cpan.artifact.hu/CPAN/ | |
1362 | ftp://ftp.kfki.hu/pub/packages/perl/CPAN/ | |
1363 | ||
1364 | =item * | |
1365 | ||
1366 | Iceland | |
1367 | ||
1368 | http://cpan.gm.is/ | |
1369 | ftp://ftp.gm.is/pub/CPAN/ | |
1370 | ||
1371 | =item * | |
1372 | ||
1373 | Ireland | |
1374 | ||
1375 | http://cpan.indigo.ie/ | |
1376 | ftp://cpan.indigo.ie/pub/CPAN/ | |
1377 | http://sunsite.compapp.dcu.ie/pub/perl/ | |
1378 | ftp://sunsite.compapp.dcu.ie/pub/perl/ | |
1379 | ||
1380 | =item * | |
1381 | ||
1382 | Italy | |
1383 | ||
1384 | http://cpan.nettuno.it/ | |
1385 | http://gusp.dyndns.org/CPAN/ | |
1386 | ftp://gusp.dyndns.org/pub/CPAN | |
1387 | http://softcity.iol.it/cpan | |
1388 | ftp://softcity.iol.it/pub/cpan | |
1389 | ftp://ftp.unina.it/pub/Other/CPAN/ | |
1390 | ftp://ftp.unipi.it/pub/mirror/perl/CPAN/ | |
1391 | ftp://cis.uniRoma2.it/CPAN/ | |
1392 | ftp://ftp.edisontel.it/pub/CPAN_Mirror/ | |
1393 | ftp://ftp.flashnet.it/pub/CPAN/ | |
1394 | ||
1395 | =item * | |
1396 | ||
1397 | Latvia | |
1398 | ||
1399 | http://kvin.lv/pub/CPAN/ | |
1400 | ||
1401 | =item * | |
1402 | ||
1403 | Netherlands | |
1404 | ||
1405 | ftp://download.xs4all.nl/pub/mirror/CPAN/ | |
1406 | ftp://ftp.nl.uu.net/pub/CPAN/ | |
1407 | ftp://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ | |
1408 | ftp://ftp.cpan.nl/pub/CPAN/ | |
1409 | http://www.cs.uu.nl/mirror/CPAN/ | |
1410 | ftp://ftp.cs.uu.nl/mirror/CPAN/ | |
1411 | ||
1412 | =item * | |
1413 | ||
1414 | Norway | |
1415 | ||
1416 | ftp://sunsite.uio.no/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ | |
1417 | ftp://ftp.uit.no/pub/languages/perl/cpan/ | |
1418 | ||
1419 | =item * | |
1420 | ||
1421 | Poland | |
1422 | ||
1423 | ftp://ftp.pk.edu.pl/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/ | |
1424 | ftp://ftp.mega.net.pl/pub/mirrors/ftp.perl.com/ | |
1425 | ftp://ftp.man.torun.pl/pub/doc/CPAN/ | |
1426 | ftp://sunsite.icm.edu.pl/pub/CPAN/ | |
1427 | ||
1428 | =item * | |
1429 | ||
1430 | Portugal | |
1431 | ||
1432 | ftp://ftp.ua.pt/pub/CPAN/ | |
1433 | ftp://perl.di.uminho.pt/pub/CPAN/ | |
1434 | ftp://ftp.ist.utl.pt/pub/CPAN/ | |
1435 | ftp://ftp.netc.pt/pub/CPAN/ | |
1436 | ||
1437 | =item * | |
1438 | ||
1439 | Romania | |
1440 | ||
1441 | ftp://archive.logicnet.ro/mirrors/ftp.cpan.org/CPAN/ | |
1442 | ftp://ftp.kappa.ro/pub/mirrors/ftp.perl.org/pub/CPAN/ | |
1443 | ftp://ftp.dntis.ro/pub/cpan/ | |
1444 | ftp://ftp.opsynet.com/cpan/ | |
1445 | ftp://ftp.dnttm.ro/pub/CPAN/ | |
1446 | ftp://ftp.timisoara.roedu.net/mirrors/CPAN/ | |
1447 | ||
1448 | =item * | |
1449 | ||
1450 | Russia | |
1451 | ||
1452 | ftp://ftp.chg.ru/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/ | |
1453 | http://cpan.rinet.ru/ | |
1454 | ftp://cpan.rinet.ru/pub/mirror/CPAN/ | |
1455 | ftp://ftp.aha.ru/pub/CPAN/ | |
1456 | ftp://ftp.sai.msu.su/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/ | |
1457 | ||
1458 | =item * | |
1459 | ||
1460 | Slovakia | |
1461 | ||
1462 | ftp://ftp.entry.sk/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ | |
1463 | ||
1464 | =item * | |
1465 | ||
1466 | Slovenia | |
1467 | ||
1468 | ftp://ftp.arnes.si/software/perl/CPAN/ | |
1469 | ||
1470 | =item * | |
1471 | ||
1472 | Spain | |
1473 | ||
1474 | ftp://ftp.rediris.es/mirror/CPAN/ | |
1475 | ftp://ftp.etse.urv.es/pub/perl/ | |
1476 | ||
1477 | =item * | |
1478 | ||
1479 | Sweden | |
1480 | ||
1481 | http://ftp.du.se/CPAN/ | |
1482 | ftp://ftp.du.se/pub/CPAN/ | |
1483 | ftp://ftp.sunet.se/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/ | |
1484 | ||
1485 | =item * | |
1486 | ||
1487 | Switzerland | |
1488 | ||
1489 | ftp://ftp.danyk.ch/CPAN/ | |
1490 | ftp://sunsite.cnlab-switch.ch/mirror/CPAN/ | |
1491 | ||
1492 | =item * | |
1493 | ||
1494 | Turkey | |
1495 | ||
1496 | ftp://sunsite.bilkent.edu.tr/pub/languages/CPAN/ | |
1497 | ||
1498 | =back | |
1499 | ||
1500 | =head2 North America | |
1501 | ||
1502 | =over 4 | |
1503 | ||
1504 | =item * | |
1505 | ||
1506 | Canada | |
1507 | ||
1508 | =over 8 | |
1509 | ||
1510 | =item * | |
1511 | ||
1512 | Alberta | |
1513 | ||
1514 | http://sunsite.ualberta.ca/pub/Mirror/CPAN/ | |
1515 | ftp://sunsite.ualberta.ca/pub/Mirror/CPAN/ | |
1516 | ||
1517 | =item * | |
1518 | ||
1519 | Manitoba | |
1520 | ||
1521 | http://theoryx5.uwinnipeg.ca/pub/CPAN/ | |
1522 | ftp://theoryx5.uwinnipeg.ca/pub/CPAN/ | |
1523 | ||
1524 | =item * | |
1525 | ||
1526 | Nova Scotia | |
1527 | ||
1528 | ftp://cpan.chebucto.ns.ca/pub/CPAN/ | |
1529 | ||
1530 | =item * | |
1531 | ||
1532 | Ontario | |
1533 | ||
1534 | ftp://ftp.crc.ca/pub/packages/lang/perl/CPAN/ | |
1535 | ||
1536 | =item * | |
1537 | ||
1538 | Mexico | |
1539 | ||
1540 | http://www.msg.com.mx/CPAN/ | |
1541 | ftp://ftp.msg.com.mx/pub/CPAN/ | |
1542 | ||
1543 | =back | |
1544 | ||
1545 | =item * | |
1546 | ||
1547 | United States | |
1548 | ||
1549 | =over 8 | |
1550 | ||
1551 | =item * | |
1552 | ||
1553 | Alabama | |
1554 | ||
1555 | http://mirror.hiwaay.net/CPAN/ | |
1556 | ftp://mirror.hiwaay.net/CPAN/ | |
1557 | ||
1558 | =item * | |
1559 | ||
1560 | California | |
1561 | ||
1562 | http://www.cpan.org/ | |
1563 | ftp://ftp.cpan.org/CPAN/ | |
1564 | ftp://cpan.nas.nasa.gov/pub/perl/CPAN/ | |
1565 | ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/plan/perl/CPAN/ | |
1566 | http://www.kernel.org/pub/mirrors/cpan/ | |
1567 | ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/mirrors/cpan/ | |
1568 | http://www.perl.com/CPAN/ | |
1569 | http://download.sourceforge.net/mirrors/CPAN/ | |
1570 | ||
1571 | =item * | |
1572 | ||
1573 | Colorado | |
1574 | ||
1575 | ftp://ftp.cs.colorado.edu/pub/perl/CPAN/ | |
1576 | ||
1577 | =item * | |
1578 | ||
1579 | Florida | |
1580 | ||
1581 | ftp://ftp.cise.ufl.edu/pub/perl/CPAN/ | |
1582 | ||
1583 | =item * | |
1584 | ||
1585 | Georgia | |
1586 | ||
1587 | ftp://ftp.twoguys.org/CPAN/ | |
1588 | ||
1589 | =item * | |
1590 | ||
1591 | Illinois | |
1592 | ||
1593 | http://www.neurogames.com/mirrors/CPAN | |
1594 | http://uiarchive.uiuc.edu/mirrors/ftp/ftp.cpan.org/pub/CPAN/ | |
1595 | ftp://uiarchive.uiuc.edu/mirrors/ftp/ftp.cpan.org/pub/CPAN/ | |
1596 | ||
1597 | =item * | |
1598 | ||
1599 | Indiana | |
1600 | ||
1601 | ftp://ftp.uwsg.indiana.edu/pub/perl/CPAN/ | |
1602 | http://cpan.nitco.com/ | |
1603 | ftp://cpan.nitco.com/pub/CPAN/ | |
1604 | ftp://cpan.in-span.net/ | |
1605 | http://csociety-ftp.ecn.purdue.edu/pub/CPAN | |
1606 | ftp://csociety-ftp.ecn.purdue.edu/pub/CPAN | |
1607 | ||
1608 | =item * | |
1609 | ||
1610 | Kentucky | |
1611 | ||
1612 | http://cpan.uky.edu/ | |
1613 | ftp://cpan.uky.edu/pub/CPAN/ | |
1614 | ||
1615 | =item * | |
1616 | ||
1617 | Massachusetts | |
1618 | ||
1619 | ftp://ftp.ccs.neu.edu/net/mirrors/ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ | |
1620 | ftp://ftp.iguide.com/pub/mirrors/packages/perl/CPAN/ | |
1621 | ||
1622 | =item * | |
1623 | ||
1624 | New Jersey | |
1625 | ||
1626 | ftp://ftp.cpanel.net/pub/CPAN/ | |
1627 | ||
1628 | =item * | |
1629 | ||
1630 | New York | |
1631 | ||
1632 | ftp://ftp.freesoftware.com/pub/perl/CPAN/ | |
1633 | http://www.deao.net/mirrors/CPAN/ | |
1634 | ftp://ftp.deao.net/pub/CPAN/ | |
1635 | ftp://ftp.stealth.net/pub/mirrors/ftp.cpan.org/pub/CPAN/ | |
1636 | http://mirror.nyc.anidea.com/CPAN/ | |
1637 | ftp://mirror.nyc.anidea.com/pub/CPAN/ | |
1638 | http://www.rge.com/pub/languages/perl/ | |
1639 | ftp://ftp.rge.com/pub/languages/perl/ | |
1640 | ftp://mirrors.cloud9.net/pub/mirrors/CPAN/ | |
1641 | ||
1642 | =item * | |
1643 | ||
1644 | North Carolina | |
1645 | ||
1646 | ftp://ftp.duke.edu/pub/perl/ | |
1647 | ||
1648 | =item * | |
1649 | ||
1650 | Ohio | |
1651 | ||
1652 | ftp://ftp.loaded.net/pub/CPAN/ | |
1653 | ||
1654 | =item * | |
1655 | ||
1656 | Oklahoma | |
1657 | ||
1658 | ftp://ftp.ou.edu/mirrors/CPAN/ | |
1659 | ||
1660 | =item * | |
1661 | ||
1662 | Oregon | |
1663 | ||
1664 | ftp://ftp.orst.edu/pub/packages/CPAN/ | |
1665 | ||
1666 | =item * | |
1667 | ||
1668 | Pennsylvania | |
1669 | ||
1670 | http://ftp.epix.net/CPAN/ | |
1671 | ftp://ftp.epix.net/pub/languages/perl/ | |
1672 | ftp://carroll.cac.psu.edu/pub/CPAN/ | |
1673 | ||
1674 | =item * | |
1675 | ||
1676 | Tennessee | |
1677 | ||
1678 | ftp://ftp.sunsite.utk.edu/pub/CPAN/ | |
1679 | ||
1680 | =item * | |
1681 | ||
1682 | Texas | |
1683 | ||
1684 | http://ftp.sedl.org/pub/mirrors/CPAN/ | |
1685 | http://jhcloos.com/pub/mirror/CPAN/ | |
1686 | ftp://jhcloos.com/pub/mirror/CPAN/ | |
1687 | ||
1688 | =item * | |
1689 | ||
1690 | Utah | |
1691 | ||
1692 | ftp://mirror.xmission.com/CPAN/ | |
1693 | ||
1694 | =item * | |
1695 | ||
1696 | Virginia | |
1697 | ||
1698 | http://mirrors.rcn.net/pub/lang/CPAN/ | |
1699 | ftp://mirrors.rcn.net/pub/lang/CPAN/ | |
1700 | ftp://ruff.cs.jmu.edu/pub/CPAN/ | |
1701 | http://perl.Liquidation.com/CPAN/ | |
1702 | ||
1703 | =item * | |
1704 | ||
1705 | Washington | |
1706 | ||
1707 | http://cpan.llarian.net/ | |
1708 | ftp://cpan.llarian.net/pub/CPAN/ | |
1709 | ftp://ftp-mirror.internap.com/pub/CPAN/ | |
1710 | ftp://ftp.spu.edu/pub/CPAN/ | |
1711 | ||
1712 | =back | |
1713 | ||
1714 | =back | |
1715 | ||
1716 | =head2 Oceania | |
1717 | ||
1718 | =over 4 | |
1719 | ||
1720 | =item * | |
1721 | ||
1722 | Australia | |
1723 | ||
1724 | http://ftp.planetmirror.com/pub/CPAN/ | |
1725 | ftp://ftp.planetmirror.com/pub/CPAN/ | |
1726 | ftp://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/perl/CPAN/ | |
1727 | ftp://cpan.topend.com.au/pub/CPAN/ | |
1728 | ||
1729 | =item * | |
1730 | ||
1731 | New Zealand | |
1732 | ||
1733 | ftp://ftp.auckland.ac.nz/pub/perl/CPAN/ | |
1734 | ||
1735 | =back | |
1736 | ||
1737 | =head2 South America | |
1738 | ||
1739 | =over 4 | |
1740 | ||
1741 | =item * | |
1742 | ||
1743 | Argentina | |
1744 | ||
1745 | ftp://mirrors.bannerlandia.com.ar/mirrors/CPAN/ | |
1746 | ||
1747 | =item * | |
1748 | ||
1749 | Brazil | |
1750 | ||
1751 | ftp://cpan.pop-mg.com.br/pub/CPAN/ | |
1752 | ftp://ftp.matrix.com.br/pub/perl/ | |
1753 | ftp://cpan.if.usp.br/pub/mirror/CPAN/ | |
1754 | ||
1755 | =item * | |
1756 | ||
1757 | Chile | |
1758 | ||
1759 | ftp://ftp.psinet.cl/pub/programming/perl/CPAN/ | |
1760 | ftp://sunsite.dcc.uchile.cl/pub/lang/perl/ | |
f102b883 TC |
1761 | |
1762 | =back | |
1763 | ||
1764 | For an up-to-date listing of CPAN sites, | |
4e860d0a | 1765 | see http://www.cpan.org/SITES or ftp://www.cpan.org/SITES . |
f102b883 TC |
1766 | |
1767 | =head1 Modules: Creation, Use, and Abuse | |
1768 | ||
1769 | (The following section is borrowed directly from Tim Bunce's modules | |
1770 | file, available at your nearest CPAN site.) | |
1771 | ||
1772 | Perl implements a class using a package, but the presence of a | |
1773 | package doesn't imply the presence of a class. A package is just a | |
1774 | namespace. A class is a package that provides subroutines that can be | |
1775 | used as methods. A method is just a subroutine that expects, as its | |
1776 | first argument, either the name of a package (for "static" methods), | |
1777 | or a reference to something (for "virtual" methods). | |
1778 | ||
1779 | A module is a file that (by convention) provides a class of the same | |
1780 | name (sans the .pm), plus an import method in that class that can be | |
1781 | called to fetch exported symbols. This module may implement some of | |
1782 | its methods by loading dynamic C or C++ objects, but that should be | |
1783 | totally transparent to the user of the module. Likewise, the module | |
1784 | might set up an AUTOLOAD function to slurp in subroutine definitions on | |
1785 | demand, but this is also transparent. Only the F<.pm> file is required to | |
2e1d04bc | 1786 | exist. See L<perlsub>, L<perltoot>, and L<AutoLoader> for details about |
f102b883 TC |
1787 | the AUTOLOAD mechanism. |
1788 | ||
1789 | =head2 Guidelines for Module Creation | |
1790 | ||
1791 | =over 4 | |
1792 | ||
4e860d0a JH |
1793 | =item * |
1794 | ||
1795 | Do similar modules already exist in some form? | |
f102b883 TC |
1796 | |
1797 | If so, please try to reuse the existing modules either in whole or | |
1798 | by inheriting useful features into a new class. If this is not | |
1799 | practical try to get together with the module authors to work on | |
1800 | extending or enhancing the functionality of the existing modules. | |
1801 | A perfect example is the plethora of packages in perl4 for dealing | |
1802 | with command line options. | |
1803 | ||
1804 | If you are writing a module to expand an already existing set of | |
1805 | modules, please coordinate with the author of the package. It | |
1806 | helps if you follow the same naming scheme and module interaction | |
1807 | scheme as the original author. | |
1808 | ||
4e860d0a JH |
1809 | =item * |
1810 | ||
1811 | Try to design the new module to be easy to extend and reuse. | |
f102b883 | 1812 | |
9f1b1f2d GS |
1813 | Try to C<use warnings;> (or C<use warnings qw(...);>). |
1814 | Remember that you can add C<no warnings qw(...);> to individual blocks | |
2e1d04bc | 1815 | of code that need less warnings. |
19799a22 | 1816 | |
f102b883 TC |
1817 | Use blessed references. Use the two argument form of bless to bless |
1818 | into the class name given as the first parameter of the constructor, | |
1819 | e.g.,: | |
1820 | ||
1821 | sub new { | |
2e1d04bc JH |
1822 | my $class = shift; |
1823 | return bless {}, $class; | |
f102b883 TC |
1824 | } |
1825 | ||
1826 | or even this if you'd like it to be used as either a static | |
1827 | or a virtual method. | |
1828 | ||
1829 | sub new { | |
2e1d04bc JH |
1830 | my $self = shift; |
1831 | my $class = ref($self) || $self; | |
1832 | return bless {}, $class; | |
f102b883 TC |
1833 | } |
1834 | ||
1835 | Pass arrays as references so more parameters can be added later | |
1836 | (it's also faster). Convert functions into methods where | |
1837 | appropriate. Split large methods into smaller more flexible ones. | |
1838 | Inherit methods from other modules if appropriate. | |
1839 | ||
1840 | Avoid class name tests like: C<die "Invalid" unless ref $ref eq 'FOO'>. | |
19799a22 | 1841 | Generally you can delete the C<eq 'FOO'> part with no harm at all. |
f102b883 TC |
1842 | Let the objects look after themselves! Generally, avoid hard-wired |
1843 | class names as far as possible. | |
1844 | ||
c47ff5f1 GS |
1845 | Avoid C<< $r->Class::func() >> where using C<@ISA=qw(... Class ...)> and |
1846 | C<< $r->func() >> would work (see L<perlbot> for more details). | |
f102b883 TC |
1847 | |
1848 | Use autosplit so little used or newly added functions won't be a | |
5a964f20 | 1849 | burden to programs that don't use them. Add test functions to |
f102b883 TC |
1850 | the module after __END__ either using AutoSplit or by saying: |
1851 | ||
1852 | eval join('',<main::DATA>) || die $@ unless caller(); | |
1853 | ||
1854 | Does your module pass the 'empty subclass' test? If you say | |
19799a22 | 1855 | C<@SUBCLASS::ISA = qw(YOURCLASS);> your applications should be able |
f102b883 TC |
1856 | to use SUBCLASS in exactly the same way as YOURCLASS. For example, |
1857 | does your application still work if you change: C<$obj = new YOURCLASS;> | |
1858 | into: C<$obj = new SUBCLASS;> ? | |
1859 | ||
1860 | Avoid keeping any state information in your packages. It makes it | |
1861 | difficult for multiple other packages to use yours. Keep state | |
1862 | information in objects. | |
1863 | ||
2e1d04bc | 1864 | Always use B<-w>. |
19799a22 GS |
1865 | |
1866 | Try to C<use strict;> (or C<use strict qw(...);>). | |
f102b883 | 1867 | Remember that you can add C<no strict qw(...);> to individual blocks |
2e1d04bc | 1868 | of code that need less strictness. |
19799a22 | 1869 | |
2e1d04bc | 1870 | Always use B<-w>. |
19799a22 | 1871 | |
f102b883 TC |
1872 | Follow the guidelines in the perlstyle(1) manual. |
1873 | ||
19799a22 GS |
1874 | Always use B<-w>. |
1875 | ||
4e860d0a JH |
1876 | =item * |
1877 | ||
1878 | Some simple style guidelines | |
f102b883 | 1879 | |
5a964f20 | 1880 | The perlstyle manual supplied with Perl has many helpful points. |
f102b883 TC |
1881 | |
1882 | Coding style is a matter of personal taste. Many people evolve their | |
1883 | style over several years as they learn what helps them write and | |
1884 | maintain good code. Here's one set of assorted suggestions that | |
1885 | seem to be widely used by experienced developers: | |
1886 | ||
1887 | Use underscores to separate words. It is generally easier to read | |
1888 | $var_names_like_this than $VarNamesLikeThis, especially for | |
1889 | non-native speakers of English. It's also a simple rule that works | |
1890 | consistently with VAR_NAMES_LIKE_THIS. | |
1891 | ||
1892 | Package/Module names are an exception to this rule. Perl informally | |
1893 | reserves lowercase module names for 'pragma' modules like integer | |
1894 | and strict. Other modules normally begin with a capital letter and | |
1895 | use mixed case with no underscores (need to be short and portable). | |
1896 | ||
1897 | You may find it helpful to use letter case to indicate the scope | |
1898 | or nature of a variable. For example: | |
1899 | ||
5a964f20 | 1900 | $ALL_CAPS_HERE constants only (beware clashes with Perl vars) |
f102b883 TC |
1901 | $Some_Caps_Here package-wide global/static |
1902 | $no_caps_here function scope my() or local() variables | |
1903 | ||
1904 | Function and method names seem to work best as all lowercase. | |
c47ff5f1 | 1905 | e.g., C<< $obj->as_string() >>. |
f102b883 TC |
1906 | |
1907 | You can use a leading underscore to indicate that a variable or | |
1908 | function should not be used outside the package that defined it. | |
1909 | ||
4e860d0a JH |
1910 | =item * |
1911 | ||
1912 | Select what to export. | |
f102b883 TC |
1913 | |
1914 | Do NOT export method names! | |
1915 | ||
1916 | Do NOT export anything else by default without a good reason! | |
1917 | ||
1918 | Exports pollute the namespace of the module user. If you must | |
1919 | export try to use @EXPORT_OK in preference to @EXPORT and avoid | |
1920 | short or common names to reduce the risk of name clashes. | |
1921 | ||
1922 | Generally anything not exported is still accessible from outside the | |
c47ff5f1 | 1923 | module using the ModuleName::item_name (or C<< $blessed_ref->method >>) |
f102b883 TC |
1924 | syntax. By convention you can use a leading underscore on names to |
1925 | indicate informally that they are 'internal' and not for public use. | |
1926 | ||
1927 | (It is actually possible to get private functions by saying: | |
1928 | C<my $subref = sub { ... }; &$subref;>. But there's no way to call that | |
1929 | directly as a method, because a method must have a name in the symbol | |
1930 | table.) | |
1931 | ||
1932 | As a general rule, if the module is trying to be object oriented | |
1933 | then export nothing. If it's just a collection of functions then | |
1934 | @EXPORT_OK anything but use @EXPORT with caution. | |
1935 | ||
4e860d0a JH |
1936 | =item * |
1937 | ||
1938 | Select a name for the module. | |
f102b883 TC |
1939 | |
1940 | This name should be as descriptive, accurate, and complete as | |
1941 | possible. Avoid any risk of ambiguity. Always try to use two or | |
1942 | more whole words. Generally the name should reflect what is special | |
1943 | about what the module does rather than how it does it. Please use | |
1944 | nested module names to group informally or categorize a module. | |
1945 | There should be a very good reason for a module not to have a nested name. | |
1946 | Module names should begin with a capital letter. | |
1947 | ||
1948 | Having 57 modules all called Sort will not make life easy for anyone | |
1949 | (though having 23 called Sort::Quick is only marginally better :-). | |
1950 | Imagine someone trying to install your module alongside many others. | |
1951 | If in any doubt ask for suggestions in comp.lang.perl.misc. | |
1952 | ||
1953 | If you are developing a suite of related modules/classes it's good | |
1954 | practice to use nested classes with a common prefix as this will | |
1955 | avoid namespace clashes. For example: Xyz::Control, Xyz::View, | |
1956 | Xyz::Model etc. Use the modules in this list as a naming guide. | |
1957 | ||
1958 | If adding a new module to a set, follow the original author's | |
1959 | standards for naming modules and the interface to methods in | |
1960 | those modules. | |
1961 | ||
165c0277 JH |
1962 | If developing modules for private internal or project specific use, |
1963 | that will never be released to the public, then you should ensure | |
1964 | that their names will not clash with any future public module. You | |
1965 | can do this either by using the reserved Local::* category or by | |
1966 | using a category name that includes an underscore like Foo_Corp::*. | |
1967 | ||
f102b883 TC |
1968 | To be portable each component of a module name should be limited to |
1969 | 11 characters. If it might be used on MS-DOS then try to ensure each is | |
1970 | unique in the first 8 characters. Nested modules make this easier. | |
1971 | ||
4e860d0a JH |
1972 | =item * |
1973 | ||
1974 | Have you got it right? | |
f102b883 TC |
1975 | |
1976 | How do you know that you've made the right decisions? Have you | |
1977 | picked an interface design that will cause problems later? Have | |
1978 | you picked the most appropriate name? Do you have any questions? | |
1979 | ||
1980 | The best way to know for sure, and pick up many helpful suggestions, | |
1981 | is to ask someone who knows. Comp.lang.perl.misc is read by just about | |
1982 | all the people who develop modules and it's the best place to ask. | |
1983 | ||
1984 | All you need to do is post a short summary of the module, its | |
1985 | purpose and interfaces. A few lines on each of the main methods is | |
1986 | probably enough. (If you post the whole module it might be ignored | |
1987 | by busy people - generally the very people you want to read it!) | |
1988 | ||
1989 | Don't worry about posting if you can't say when the module will be | |
1990 | ready - just say so in the message. It might be worth inviting | |
1991 | others to help you, they may be able to complete it for you! | |
1992 | ||
4e860d0a JH |
1993 | =item * |
1994 | ||
1995 | README and other Additional Files. | |
f102b883 TC |
1996 | |
1997 | It's well known that software developers usually fully document the | |
1998 | software they write. If, however, the world is in urgent need of | |
1999 | your software and there is not enough time to write the full | |
2000 | documentation please at least provide a README file containing: | |
2001 | ||
2002 | =over 10 | |
2003 | ||
2004 | =item * | |
4e860d0a | 2005 | |
f102b883 TC |
2006 | A description of the module/package/extension etc. |
2007 | ||
2008 | =item * | |
4e860d0a | 2009 | |
f102b883 TC |
2010 | A copyright notice - see below. |
2011 | ||
2012 | =item * | |
4e860d0a | 2013 | |
f102b883 TC |
2014 | Prerequisites - what else you may need to have. |
2015 | ||
2016 | =item * | |
4e860d0a | 2017 | |
f102b883 TC |
2018 | How to build it - possible changes to Makefile.PL etc. |
2019 | ||
2020 | =item * | |
4e860d0a | 2021 | |
f102b883 TC |
2022 | How to install it. |
2023 | ||
2024 | =item * | |
4e860d0a | 2025 | |
f102b883 TC |
2026 | Recent changes in this release, especially incompatibilities |
2027 | ||
2028 | =item * | |
4e860d0a | 2029 | |
f102b883 TC |
2030 | Changes / enhancements you plan to make in the future. |
2031 | ||
2032 | =back | |
2033 | ||
2034 | If the README file seems to be getting too large you may wish to | |
2035 | split out some of the sections into separate files: INSTALL, | |
2036 | Copying, ToDo etc. | |
2037 | ||
2038 | =over 4 | |
2039 | ||
2040 | =item Adding a Copyright Notice. | |
2041 | ||
4e860d0a | 2042 | |
f102b883 TC |
2043 | How you choose to license your work is a personal decision. |
2044 | The general mechanism is to assert your Copyright and then make | |
2045 | a declaration of how others may copy/use/modify your work. | |
2046 | ||
2047 | Perl, for example, is supplied with two types of licence: The GNU | |
2048 | GPL and The Artistic Licence (see the files README, Copying, and | |
2049 | Artistic). Larry has good reasons for NOT just using the GNU GPL. | |
2050 | ||
2051 | My personal recommendation, out of respect for Larry, Perl, and the | |
5a964f20 | 2052 | Perl community at large is to state something simply like: |
f102b883 TC |
2053 | |
2054 | Copyright (c) 1995 Your Name. All rights reserved. | |
2055 | This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or | |
2056 | modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. | |
2057 | ||
2058 | This statement should at least appear in the README file. You may | |
2059 | also wish to include it in a Copying file and your source files. | |
2060 | Remember to include the other words in addition to the Copyright. | |
2061 | ||
4e860d0a JH |
2062 | =item * |
2063 | ||
2064 | Give the module a version/issue/release number. | |
f102b883 TC |
2065 | |
2066 | To be fully compatible with the Exporter and MakeMaker modules you | |
2067 | should store your module's version number in a non-my package | |
2068 | variable called $VERSION. This should be a floating point | |
2069 | number with at least two digits after the decimal (i.e., hundredths, | |
2070 | e.g, C<$VERSION = "0.01">). Don't use a "1.3.2" style version. | |
19799a22 | 2071 | See L<Exporter> for details. |
f102b883 TC |
2072 | |
2073 | It may be handy to add a function or method to retrieve the number. | |
2074 | Use the number in announcements and archive file names when | |
2075 | releasing the module (ModuleName-1.02.tar.Z). | |
2076 | See perldoc ExtUtils::MakeMaker.pm for details. | |
2077 | ||
4e860d0a JH |
2078 | =item * |
2079 | ||
2080 | How to release and distribute a module. | |
f102b883 TC |
2081 | |
2082 | It's good idea to post an announcement of the availability of your | |
2083 | module (or the module itself if small) to the comp.lang.perl.announce | |
2084 | Usenet newsgroup. This will at least ensure very wide once-off | |
2085 | distribution. | |
2086 | ||
2e1d04bc | 2087 | If possible, register the module with CPAN. You should |
f102b883 TC |
2088 | include details of its location in your announcement. |
2089 | ||
2090 | Some notes about ftp archives: Please use a long descriptive file | |
5a964f20 | 2091 | name that includes the version number. Most incoming directories |
f102b883 TC |
2092 | will not be readable/listable, i.e., you won't be able to see your |
2093 | file after uploading it. Remember to send your email notification | |
2094 | message as soon as possible after uploading else your file may get | |
2095 | deleted automatically. Allow time for the file to be processed | |
2096 | and/or check the file has been processed before announcing its | |
2097 | location. | |
2098 | ||
2099 | FTP Archives for Perl Modules: | |
2100 | ||
6cecdcac | 2101 | Follow the instructions and links on: |
f102b883 | 2102 | |
4e860d0a JH |
2103 | http://www.cpan.org/modules/00modlist.long.html |
2104 | http://www.cpan.org/modules/04pause.html | |
f102b883 TC |
2105 | |
2106 | or upload to one of these sites: | |
2107 | ||
6cecdcac GS |
2108 | https://pause.kbx.de/pause/ |
2109 | http://pause.perl.org/pause/ | |
f102b883 | 2110 | |
6cecdcac | 2111 | and notify <modules@perl.org>. |
f102b883 TC |
2112 | |
2113 | By using the WWW interface you can ask the Upload Server to mirror | |
2114 | your modules from your ftp or WWW site into your own directory on | |
2115 | CPAN! | |
2116 | ||
2117 | Please remember to send me an updated entry for the Module list! | |
2118 | ||
4e860d0a JH |
2119 | =item * |
2120 | ||
2121 | Take care when changing a released module. | |
f102b883 | 2122 | |
7b8d334a GS |
2123 | Always strive to remain compatible with previous released versions. |
2124 | Otherwise try to add a mechanism to revert to the | |
19799a22 | 2125 | old behavior if people rely on it. Document incompatible changes. |
f102b883 TC |
2126 | |
2127 | =back | |
2128 | ||
2129 | =back | |
2130 | ||
2131 | =head2 Guidelines for Converting Perl 4 Library Scripts into Modules | |
2132 | ||
2133 | =over 4 | |
2134 | ||
4e860d0a JH |
2135 | =item * |
2136 | ||
2137 | There is no requirement to convert anything. | |
f102b883 TC |
2138 | |
2139 | If it ain't broke, don't fix it! Perl 4 library scripts should | |
2140 | continue to work with no problems. You may need to make some minor | |
2141 | changes (like escaping non-array @'s in double quoted strings) but | |
2142 | there is no need to convert a .pl file into a Module for just that. | |
2143 | ||
4e860d0a JH |
2144 | =item * |
2145 | ||
2146 | Consider the implications. | |
f102b883 | 2147 | |
5a964f20 | 2148 | All Perl applications that make use of the script will need to |
f102b883 TC |
2149 | be changed (slightly) if the script is converted into a module. Is |
2150 | it worth it unless you plan to make other changes at the same time? | |
2151 | ||
4e860d0a JH |
2152 | =item * |
2153 | ||
2154 | Make the most of the opportunity. | |
f102b883 TC |
2155 | |
2156 | If you are going to convert the script to a module you can use the | |
19799a22 GS |
2157 | opportunity to redesign the interface. The guidelines for module |
2158 | creation above include many of the issues you should consider. | |
f102b883 | 2159 | |
4e860d0a JH |
2160 | =item * |
2161 | ||
2162 | The pl2pm utility will get you started. | |
f102b883 TC |
2163 | |
2164 | This utility will read *.pl files (given as parameters) and write | |
2165 | corresponding *.pm files. The pl2pm utilities does the following: | |
2166 | ||
2167 | =over 10 | |
2168 | ||
2169 | =item * | |
4e860d0a | 2170 | |
f102b883 TC |
2171 | Adds the standard Module prologue lines |
2172 | ||
2173 | =item * | |
4e860d0a | 2174 | |
f102b883 TC |
2175 | Converts package specifiers from ' to :: |
2176 | ||
2177 | =item * | |
4e860d0a | 2178 | |
f102b883 TC |
2179 | Converts die(...) to croak(...) |
2180 | ||
2181 | =item * | |
4e860d0a | 2182 | |
f102b883 TC |
2183 | Several other minor changes |
2184 | ||
2185 | =back | |
2186 | ||
2187 | Being a mechanical process pl2pm is not bullet proof. The converted | |
2188 | code will need careful checking, especially any package statements. | |
2189 | Don't delete the original .pl file till the new .pm one works! | |
2190 | ||
2191 | =back | |
2192 | ||
2193 | =head2 Guidelines for Reusing Application Code | |
2194 | ||
2195 | =over 4 | |
2196 | ||
4e860d0a | 2197 | =item * |
551e1d92 RB |
2198 | |
2199 | Complete applications rarely belong in the Perl Module Library. | |
f102b883 | 2200 | |
4e860d0a | 2201 | =item * |
551e1d92 RB |
2202 | |
2203 | Many applications contain some Perl code that could be reused. | |
f102b883 TC |
2204 | |
2205 | Help save the world! Share your code in a form that makes it easy | |
2206 | to reuse. | |
2207 | ||
4e860d0a | 2208 | =item * |
551e1d92 RB |
2209 | |
2210 | Break-out the reusable code into one or more separate module files. | |
f102b883 | 2211 | |
4e860d0a | 2212 | =item * |
551e1d92 RB |
2213 | |
2214 | Take the opportunity to reconsider and redesign the interfaces. | |
2215 | ||
4e860d0a | 2216 | =item * |
f102b883 | 2217 | |
551e1d92 | 2218 | In some cases the 'application' can then be reduced to a small |
f102b883 TC |
2219 | |
2220 | fragment of code built on top of the reusable modules. In these cases | |
2221 | the application could invoked as: | |
2222 | ||
5a964f20 | 2223 | % perl -e 'use Module::Name; method(@ARGV)' ... |
f102b883 | 2224 | or |
5a964f20 | 2225 | % perl -mModule::Name ... (in perl5.002 or higher) |
f102b883 TC |
2226 | |
2227 | =back | |
2228 | ||
2229 | =head1 NOTE | |
2230 | ||
2231 | Perl does not enforce private and public parts of its modules as you may | |
2232 | have been used to in other languages like C++, Ada, or Modula-17. Perl | |
2233 | doesn't have an infatuation with enforced privacy. It would prefer | |
2234 | that you stayed out of its living room because you weren't invited, not | |
2235 | because it has a shotgun. | |
2236 | ||
2237 | The module and its user have a contract, part of which is common law, | |
2238 | and part of which is "written". Part of the common law contract is | |
2239 | that a module doesn't pollute any namespace it wasn't asked to. The | |
2240 | written contract for the module (A.K.A. documentation) may make other | |
2241 | provisions. But then you know when you C<use RedefineTheWorld> that | |
2242 | you're redefining the world and willing to take the consequences. |