=head2 The Syntax of Variable Names
-Variable names in Perl can have several formats. Usually, they
+Variable names in Perl can have several formats. Usually, they
must begin with a letter or underscore, in which case they can be
arbitrarily long (up to an internal limit of 251 characters) and
may contain letters, digits, underscores, or the special sequence
-C<::> or C<'>. In this case, the part before the last C<::> or
+C<::> or C<'>. In this case, the part before the last C<::> or
C<'> is taken to be a I<package qualifier>; see L<perlmod>.
Perl variable names may also be a sequence of digits or a single
-punctuation or control character. These names are all reserved for
+punctuation or control character. These names are all reserved for
special uses by Perl; for example, the all-digits names are used
to hold data captured by backreferences after a regular expression
-match. Perl has a special syntax for the single-control-character
+match. Perl has a special syntax for the single-control-character
names: It understands C<^X> (caret C<X>) to mean the control-C<X>
-character. For example, the notation C<$^W> (dollar-sign caret
+character. For example, the notation C<$^W> (dollar-sign caret
C<W>) is the scalar variable whose name is the single character
-control-C<W>. This is better than typing a literal control-C<W>
+control-C<W>. This is better than typing a literal control-C<W>
into your program.
Since Perl 5.6, Perl variable names may be alphanumeric
strings that begin with control characters (or better yet, a caret).
These variables must be written in the form C<${^Foo}>; the braces
-are not optional. C<${^Foo}> denotes the scalar variable whose
-name is a control-C<F> followed by two C<o>'s. These variables are
+are not optional. C<${^Foo}> denotes the scalar variable whose
+name is a control-C<F> followed by two C<o>'s. These variables are
reserved for future special uses by Perl, except for the ones that
-begin with C<^_> (control-underscore or caret-underscore). No
+begin with C<^_> (control-underscore or caret-underscore). No
control-character name that begins with C<^_> will acquire a special
meaning in any future version of Perl; such names may therefore be
-used safely in programs. C<$^_> itself, however, I<is> reserved.
+used safely in programs. C<$^_> itself, however, I<is> reserved.
Perl identifiers that begin with digits, control characters, or
punctuation characters are exempt from the effects of the C<package>
declaration and are always forced to be in package C<main>; they are
-also exempt from C<strict 'vars'> errors. A few other names are also
+also exempt from C<strict 'vars'> errors. A few other names are also
exempt in these ways:
- ENV STDIN
- INC STDOUT
- ARGV STDERR
- ARGVOUT
- SIG
+ ENV STDIN
+ INC STDOUT
+ ARGV STDERR
+ ARGVOUT
+ SIG
In particular, the special C<${^_XYZ}> variables are always taken
to be in package C<main>, regardless of any C<package> declarations
=head1 SPECIAL VARIABLES
-The following names have special meaning to Perl. Most punctuation
+The following names have special meaning to Perl. Most punctuation
names have reasonable mnemonics, or analogs in the shells.
Nevertheless, if you wish to use long variable names, you need only say:
- use English;
+ use English;
-at the top of your program. This aliases all the short names to the long
-names in the current package. Some even have medium names, generally
-borrowed from B<awk>. To avoid a performance hit, if you don't need the
+at the top of your program. This aliases all the short names to the long
+names in the current package. Some even have medium names, generally
+borrowed from B<awk>. To avoid a performance hit, if you don't need the
C<$PREMATCH>, C<$MATCH>, or C<$POSTMATCH> it's best to use the C<English>
module without them:
- use English '-no_match_vars';
+ use English '-no_match_vars';
-Before you continue, note the sort order for variables. In general, we
+Before you continue, note the sort order for variables. In general, we
first list the variables in case-insensitive, almost-lexigraphical
order (ignoring the C<{> or C<^> preceding words, as in C<${^UNICODE}>
or C<$^T>), although C<$_> and C<@_> move up to the top of the pile.
=item $_
X<$_> X<$ARG>
-The default input and pattern-searching space. The following pairs are
+The default input and pattern-searching space. The following pairs are
equivalent:
- while (<>) {...} # equivalent only in while!
- while (defined($_ = <>)) {...}
+ while (<>) {...} # equivalent only in while!
+ while (defined($_ = <>)) {...}
- /^Subject:/
- $_ =~ /^Subject:/
+ /^Subject:/
+ $_ =~ /^Subject:/
- tr/a-z/A-Z/
- $_ =~ tr/a-z/A-Z/
+ tr/a-z/A-Z/
+ $_ =~ tr/a-z/A-Z/
- chomp
- chomp($_)
+ chomp
+ chomp($_)
Here are the places where Perl will assume C<$_> even if you don't use it:
The following functions use C<$_> as a default argument:
-abs, alarm, chomp, chop, chr, chroot, cos, defined, eval, exp, glob,
+abs, alarm, chomp, chop, chr, chroot,
+cos, defined, eval, evalbytes, exp, glob,
hex, int, lc, lcfirst, length, log, lstat, mkdir, oct, ord, pos, print,
quotemeta, readlink, readpipe, ref, require, reverse (in scalar context only),
rmdir, sin, split (on its second argument), sqrt, stat, study, uc, ucfirst,
The default place to put an input record when a C<< <FH> >>
operation's result is tested by itself as the sole criterion of a C<while>
-test. Outside a C<while> test, this will not happen.
+test. Outside a C<while> test, this will not happen.
=back
As C<$_> is a global variable, this may lead in some cases to unwanted
-side-effects. As of perl 5.9.1, you can now use a lexical version of
-C<$_> by declaring it in a file or in a block with C<my>. Moreover,
+side-effects. As of perl 5.10, you can now use a lexical version of
+C<$_> by declaring it in a file or in a block with C<my>. Moreover,
declaring C<our $_> restores the global C<$_> in the current scope.
Mnemonic: underline is understood in certain operations.
X<@_> X<@ARG>
Within a subroutine the array C<@_> contains the parameters passed to
-that subroutine. Inside a subroutine, C<@_> is the default array for
+that subroutine. Inside a subroutine, C<@_> is the default array for
the array operators C<push>, C<pop>, C<shift>, and C<unshift>.
See L<perlsub>.
When an array or an array slice is interpolated into a double-quoted
string or a similar context such as C</.../>, its elements are
-separated by this value. Default is a space. For example, this:
+separated by this value. Default is a space. For example, this:
- print "The array is: @array\n";
+ print "The array is: @array\n";
is equivalent to this:
- print "The array is: " . join($", @array) . "\n";
+ print "The array is: " . join($", @array) . "\n";
Mnemonic: works in double-quoted context.
=item $$
X<$$> X<$PID> X<$PROCESS_ID>
-The process number of the Perl running this script. You should
-consider this variable read-only, although it will be altered
+The process number of the Perl running this script. Though you I<can> set
+this variable, doing so is generally discouraged, although it can be
+invaluable for some testing purposes. It will be reset automatically
across C<fork()> calls.
-Note for Linux users: on Linux, the C functions C<getpid()> and
-C<getppid()> return different values from different threads. In order to
-be portable, this behavior is not reflected by C<$$>, whose value remains
-consistent across threads. If you want to call the underlying C<getpid()>,
-you may use the CPAN module C<Linux::Pid>.
+Note for Linux and Debian GNU/kFreeBSD users: Before Perl v5.16.0 perl
+would emulate POSIX semantics on Linux systems using LinuxThreads, a
+partial implementation of POSIX Threads that has since been superseded
+by the Native POSIX Thread Library (NPTL).
-Mnemonic: same as shells.
-
-=item $REAL_GROUP_ID
-
-=item $GID
-
-=item $(
-X<$(> X<$GID> X<$REAL_GROUP_ID>
-
-The real gid of this process. If you are on a machine that supports
-membership in multiple groups simultaneously, gives a space separated
-list of groups you are in. The first number is the one returned by
-C<getgid()>, and the subsequent ones by C<getgroups()>, one of which may be
-the same as the first number.
-
-However, a value assigned to C<$(> must be a single number used to
-set the real gid. So the value given by C<$(> should I<not> be assigned
-back to C<$(> without being forced numeric, such as by adding zero. Note
-that this is different to the effective gid (C<$)>) which does take a
-list.
-
-You can change both the real gid and the effective gid at the same
-time by using C<POSIX::setgid()>. Changes to C<$(> require a check to C<$!>
-to detect any possible errors after an attempted change.
-
-Mnemonic: parentheses are used to I<group> things. The real gid is the
-group you I<left>, if you're running setgid.
-
-=item $EFFECTIVE_GROUP_ID
-
-=item $EGID
-
-=item $)
-X<$)> X<$EGID> X<$EFFECTIVE_GROUP_ID>
-
-The effective gid of this process. If you are on a machine that
-supports membership in multiple groups simultaneously, gives a space
-separated list of groups you are in. The first number is the one
-returned by C<getegid()>, and the subsequent ones by C<getgroups()>,
-one of which may be the same as the first number.
+LinuxThreads is now obsolete on Linux, and and caching C<getpid()>
+like this made embedding perl unnecessarily complex (since you'd have
+to manually update the value of $$), so now C<$$> and C<getppid()>
+will always return the same values as the underlying C library.
-Similarly, a value assigned to C<$)> must also be a space-separated
-list of numbers. The first number sets the effective gid, and
-the rest (if any) are passed to C<setgroups()>. To get the effect of an
-empty list for C<setgroups()>, just repeat the new effective gid; that is,
-to force an effective gid of 5 and an effectively empty C<setgroups()>
-list, say C< $) = "5 5" >.
-
-You can change both the effective gid and the real gid at the same
-time by using C<POSIX::setgid()> (use only a single numeric argument).
-Changes to C<$)> require a check to C<$!> to detect any possible errors
-after an attempted change.
+Debian GNU/kFreeBSD systems also used LinuxThreads up until and
+including the 6.0 release, but after that moved to FreeBSD thread
+semantics, which are POSIX-like.
-C<< $< >>, C<< $> >>, C<$(> and C<$)> can be set only on
-machines that support the corresponding I<set[re][ug]id()> routine. C<$(>
-and C<$)> can be swapped only on machines supporting C<setregid()>.
+To see if your system is affected by this discrepancy check if
+C<getconf GNU_LIBPTHREAD_VERSION | grep -q NPTL> returns a false
+value. NTPL threads preserve the POSIX semantics.
-Mnemonic: parentheses are used to I<group> things. The effective gid
-is the group that's I<right> for you, if you're running setgid.
+Mnemonic: same as shells.
=item $PROGRAM_NAME
Contains the name of the program being executed.
On some (but not all) operating systems assigning to C<$0> modifies
-the argument area that the C<ps> program sees. On some platforms you
+the argument area that the C<ps> program sees. On some platforms you
may have to use special C<ps> options or a different C<ps> to see the
-changes. Modifying the C<$0> is more useful as a way of indicating the
+changes. Modifying the C<$0> is more useful as a way of indicating the
current program state than it is for hiding the program you're
running.
Note that there are platform-specific limitations on the maximum
-length of C<$0>. In the most extreme case it may be limited to the
+length of C<$0>. In the most extreme case it may be limited to the
space occupied by the original C<$0>.
In some platforms there may be arbitrary amount of padding, for
for example with Linux 2.2).
Note for BSD users: setting C<$0> does not completely remove "perl"
-from the ps(1) output. For example, setting C<$0> to C<"foobar"> may
+from the ps(1) output. For example, setting C<$0> to C<"foobar"> may
result in C<"perl: foobar (perl)"> (whether both the C<"perl: "> prefix
and the " (perl)" suffix are shown depends on your exact BSD variant
-and version). This is an operating system feature, Perl cannot help it.
+and version). This is an operating system feature, Perl cannot help it.
In multithreaded scripts Perl coordinates the threads so that any
thread may modify its copy of the C<$0> and the change becomes visible
-to ps(1) (assuming the operating system plays along). Note that
+to ps(1) (assuming the operating system plays along). Note that
the view of C<$0> the other threads have will not change since they
have their own copies of it.
On Linux as of perl 5.14 the legacy process name will be set with
C<prctl(2)>, in addition to altering the POSIX name via C<argv[0]> as
-perl has done since version 4.000. Now system utilities that read the
+perl has done since version 4.000. Now system utilities that read the
legacy process name such as ps, top and killall will recognize the
-name you set when assigning to C<$0>. The string you supply will be
+name you set when assigning to C<$0>. The string you supply will be
cut off at 16 bytes, this is a limitation imposed by Linux.
Mnemonic: same as B<sh> and B<ksh>.
-=item $SUBSCRIPT_SEPARATOR
+=item $REAL_GROUP_ID
-=item $SUBSEP
+=item $GID
-=item $;
-X<$;> X<$SUBSEP> X<SUBSCRIPT_SEPARATOR>
+=item $(
+X<$(> X<$GID> X<$REAL_GROUP_ID>
-The subscript separator for multidimensional array emulation. If you
-refer to a hash element as
+The real gid of this process. If you are on a machine that supports
+membership in multiple groups simultaneously, gives a space separated
+list of groups you are in. The first number is the one returned by
+C<getgid()>, and the subsequent ones by C<getgroups()>, one of which may be
+the same as the first number.
+
+However, a value assigned to C<$(> must be a single number used to
+set the real gid. So the value given by C<$(> should I<not> be assigned
+back to C<$(> without being forced numeric, such as by adding zero. Note
+that this is different to the effective gid (C<$)>) which does take a
+list.
- $foo{$a,$b,$c}
+You can change both the real gid and the effective gid at the same
+time by using C<POSIX::setgid()>. Changes
+to C<$(> require a check to C<$!>
+to detect any possible errors after an attempted change.
-it really means
+Mnemonic: parentheses are used to I<group> things. The real gid is the
+group you I<left>, if you're running setgid.
- $foo{join($;, $a, $b, $c)}
+=item $EFFECTIVE_GROUP_ID
-But don't put
+=item $EGID
- @foo{$a,$b,$c} # a slice--note the @
+=item $)
+X<$)> X<$EGID> X<$EFFECTIVE_GROUP_ID>
-which means
+The effective gid of this process. If you are on a machine that
+supports membership in multiple groups simultaneously, gives a space
+separated list of groups you are in. The first number is the one
+returned by C<getegid()>, and the subsequent ones by C<getgroups()>,
+one of which may be the same as the first number.
- ($foo{$a},$foo{$b},$foo{$c})
+Similarly, a value assigned to C<$)> must also be a space-separated
+list of numbers. The first number sets the effective gid, and
+the rest (if any) are passed to C<setgroups()>. To get the effect of an
+empty list for C<setgroups()>, just repeat the new effective gid; that is,
+to force an effective gid of 5 and an effectively empty C<setgroups()>
+list, say C< $) = "5 5" >.
-Default is "\034", the same as SUBSEP in B<awk>. If your keys contain
-binary data there might not be any safe value for C<$;>.
+You can change both the effective gid and the real gid at the same
+time by using C<POSIX::setgid()> (use only a single numeric argument).
+Changes to C<$)> require a check to C<$!> to detect any possible errors
+after an attempted change.
-Consider using "real" multidimensional arrays as described
-in L<perllol>.
+C<< $< >>, C<< $> >>, C<$(> and C<$)> can be set only on
+machines that support the corresponding I<set[re][ug]id()> routine. C<$(>
+and C<$)> can be swapped only on machines supporting C<setregid()>.
-Mnemonic: comma (the syntactic subscript separator) is a semi-semicolon.
+Mnemonic: parentheses are used to I<group> things. The effective gid
+is the group that's I<right> for you, if you're running setgid.
=item $REAL_USER_ID
=item $<
X<< $< >> X<$UID> X<$REAL_USER_ID>
-The real uid of this process. You can change both the real uid and the
-effective uid at the same time by using C<POSIX::setuid()>. Since
+The real uid of this process. You can change both the real uid and the
+effective uid at the same time by using C<POSIX::setuid()>. Since
changes to C<< $< >> require a system call, check C<$!> after a change
attempt to detect any possible errors.
=item $>
X<< $> >> X<$EUID> X<$EFFECTIVE_USER_ID>
-The effective uid of this process. For example:
+The effective uid of this process. For example:
- $< = $>; # set real to effective uid
- ($<,$>) = ($>,$<); # swap real and effective uids
+ $< = $>; # set real to effective uid
+ ($<,$>) = ($>,$<); # swap real and effective uids
You can change both the effective uid and the real uid at the same
-time by using C<POSIX::setuid()>. Changes to C<< $> >> require a check
+time by using C<POSIX::setuid()>. Changes to C<< $> >> require a check
to C<$!> to detect any possible errors after an attempted change.
C<< $< >> and C<< $> >> can be swapped only on machines
Mnemonic: it's the uid you went I<to>, if you're running setuid.
-=item $a
+=item $SUBSCRIPT_SEPARATOR
-=item $b
-X<$a> X<$b>
+=item $SUBSEP
-Special package variables when using C<sort()>, see L<perlfunc/sort>.
-Because of this specialness C<$a> and C<$b> don't need to be declared
-(using C<use vars>, or C<our()>) even when using the C<strict 'vars'>
-pragma. Don't lexicalize them with C<my $a> or C<my $b> if you want to
-be able to use them in the C<sort()> comparison block or function.
+=item $;
+X<$;> X<$SUBSEP> X<SUBSCRIPT_SEPARATOR>
-=item $COMPILING
+The subscript separator for multidimensional array emulation. If you
+refer to a hash element as
-=item $^C
-X<$^C> X<$COMPILING>
+ $foo{$a,$b,$c}
-The current value of the flag associated with the B<-c> switch.
-Mainly of use with B<-MO=...> to allow code to alter its behavior
-when being compiled, such as for example to C<AUTOLOAD> at compile
-time rather than normal, deferred loading. Setting
-C<$^C = 1> is similar to calling C<B::minus_c>.
+it really means
-This variable was added in Perl 5.6.
+ $foo{join($;, $a, $b, $c)}
-=item $DEBUGGING
+But don't put
-=item $^D
-X<$^D> X<$DEBUGGING>
+ @foo{$a,$b,$c} # a slice--note the @
-The current value of the debugging flags. May be read or set. Like its
-command-line equivalent, you can use numeric or symbolic values, eg
-C<$^D = 10> or C<$^D = "st">.
+which means
-Mnemonic: value of B<-D> switch.
+ ($foo{$a},$foo{$b},$foo{$c})
-=item ${^ENCODING}
-X<${^ENCODING}>
+Default is "\034", the same as SUBSEP in B<awk>. If your keys contain
+binary data there might not be any safe value for C<$;>.
-The I<object reference> to the C<Encode> object that is used to convert
-the source code to Unicode. Thanks to this variable your Perl script
-does not have to be written in UTF-8. Default is I<undef>. The direct
-manipulation of this variable is highly discouraged.
+Consider using "real" multidimensional arrays as described
+in L<perllol>.
-This variable was added in Perl 5.8.2.
+Mnemonic: comma (the syntactic subscript separator) is a semi-semicolon.
+
+=item $a
+
+=item $b
+X<$a> X<$b>
+
+Special package variables when using C<sort()>, see L<perlfunc/sort>.
+Because of this specialness C<$a> and C<$b> don't need to be declared
+(using C<use vars>, or C<our()>) even when using the C<strict 'vars'>
+pragma. Don't lexicalize them with C<my $a> or C<my $b> if you want to
+be able to use them in the C<sort()> comparison block or function.
=item %ENV
X<%ENV>
-The hash C<%ENV> contains your current environment. Setting a
+The hash C<%ENV> contains your current environment. Setting a
value in C<ENV> changes the environment for any child processes
you subsequently C<fork()> off.
=item $^F
X<$^F> X<$SYSTEM_FD_MAX>
-The maximum system file descriptor, ordinarily 2. System file
+The maximum system file descriptor, ordinarily 2. System file
descriptors are passed to C<exec()>ed processes, while higher file
-descriptors are not. Also, during an C<open()>, system file descriptors are
+descriptors are not. Also, during an
+C<open()>, system file descriptors are
preserved even if the C<open()> fails (ordinary file descriptors are
-closed before the C<open()> is attempted). The close-on-exec
+closed before the C<open()> is attempted). The close-on-exec
status of a file descriptor will be decided according to the value of
C<$^F> when the corresponding file, pipe, or socket was opened, not the
time of the C<exec()>.
X<@F>
The array C<@F> contains the fields of each line read in when autosplit
-mode is turned on. See L<perlrun> for the B<-a> switch. This array
+mode is turned on. See L<perlrun> for the B<-a> switch. This array
is package-specific, and must be declared or given a full package name
if not in package main when running under C<strict 'vars'>.
-=item ${^GLOBAL_PHASE}
-X<${^GLOBAL_PHASE}>
+=item @INC
+X<@INC>
-The current phase of the perl interpreter.
+The array C<@INC> contains the list of places that the C<do EXPR>,
+C<require>, or C<use> constructs look for their library files. It
+initially consists of the arguments to any B<-I> command-line
+switches, followed by the default Perl library, probably
+F</usr/local/lib/perl>, followed by ".", to represent the current
+directory. ("." will not be appended if taint checks are enabled,
+either by C<-T> or by C<-t>.) If you need to modify this at runtime,
+you should use the C<use lib> pragma to get the machine-dependent
+library properly loaded also:
-Possible values are:
+ use lib '/mypath/libdir/';
+ use SomeMod;
-=over 8
+You can also insert hooks into the file inclusion system by putting Perl
+code directly into C<@INC>. Those hooks may be subroutine references,
+array references or blessed objects. See L<perlfunc/require> for details.
-=item CONSTRUCT
+=item %INC
+X<%INC>
-The C<PerlInterpreter*> is being constructed via C<perl_construct>. This
-value is mostly there for completeness and for use via the
-underlying C variable C<PL_phase>. It's not really possible for Perl
-code to be executed unless construction of the interpreter is
-finished.
+The hash C<%INC> contains entries for each filename included via the
+C<do>, C<require>, or C<use> operators. The key is the filename
+you specified (with module names converted to pathnames), and the
+value is the location of the file found. The C<require>
+operator uses this hash to determine whether a particular file has
+already been included.
-=item START
+If the file was loaded via a hook (e.g. a subroutine reference, see
+L<perlfunc/require> for a description of these hooks), this hook is
+by default inserted into C<%INC> in place of a filename. Note, however,
+that the hook may have set the C<%INC> entry by itself to provide some more
+specific info.
-This is the global compile-time. That includes, basically, every
-C<BEGIN> block executed directly or indirectly from during the
-compile-time of the top-level program.
+=item $INPLACE_EDIT
-This phase is not called "BEGIN" to avoid confusion with
-C<BEGIN>-blocks, as those are executed during compile-time of any
-compilation unit, not just the top-level program. A new, localised
-compile-time entered at run-time, for example by constructs as
-C<eval "use SomeModule"> are not global interpreter phases, and
-therefore aren't reflected by C<${^GLOBAL_PHASE}>.
+=item $^I
+X<$^I> X<$INPLACE_EDIT>
-=item CHECK
+The current value of the inplace-edit extension. Use C<undef> to disable
+inplace editing.
-Execution of any C<CHECK> blocks.
+Mnemonic: value of B<-i> switch.
-=item INIT
+=item $^M
+X<$^M>
-Similar to "CHECK", but for C<INIT>-blocks, not C<CHECK> blocks.
+By default, running out of memory is an untrappable, fatal error.
+However, if suitably built, Perl can use the contents of C<$^M>
+as an emergency memory pool after C<die()>ing. Suppose that your Perl
+were compiled with C<-DPERL_EMERGENCY_SBRK> and used Perl's malloc.
+Then
-=item RUN
+ $^M = 'a' x (1 << 16);
-The main run-time, i.e. the execution of C<PL_main_root>.
+would allocate a 64K buffer for use in an emergency. See the
+F<INSTALL> file in the Perl distribution for information on how to
+add custom C compilation flags when compiling perl. To discourage casual
+use of this advanced feature, there is no L<English|English> long name for
+this variable.
-=item END
+This variable was added in Perl 5.004.
-Execution of any C<END> blocks.
+=item $OSNAME
-=item DESTRUCT
+=item $^O
+X<$^O> X<$OSNAME>
-Global destruction.
+The name of the operating system under which this copy of Perl was
+built, as determined during the configuration process. For examples
+see L<perlport/PLATFORMS>.
-=back
+The value is identical to C<$Config{'osname'}>. See also L<Config>
+and the B<-V> command-line switch documented in L<perlrun>.
-Also note that there's no value for UNITCHECK-blocks. That's because
-those are run for each compilation unit individually, and therefore is
-not a global interpreter phase.
+In Windows platforms, C<$^O> is not very helpful: since it is always
+C<MSWin32>, it doesn't tell the difference between
+95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP/CE/.NET. Use C<Win32::GetOSName()> or
+Win32::GetOSVersion() (see L<Win32> and L<perlport>) to distinguish
+between the variants.
-Not every program has to go through each of the possible phases, but
-transition from one phase to another can only happen in the order
-described in the above list.
+This variable was added in Perl 5.003.
-An example of all of the phases Perl code can see:
+=item %SIG
+X<%SIG>
- BEGIN { print "compile-time: ${^GLOBAL_PHASE}\n" }
+The hash C<%SIG> contains signal handlers for signals. For example:
- INIT { print "init-time: ${^GLOBAL_PHASE}\n" }
+ sub handler { # 1st argument is signal name
+ my($sig) = @_;
+ print "Caught a SIG$sig--shutting down\n";
+ close(LOG);
+ exit(0);
+ }
- CHECK { print "check-time: ${^GLOBAL_PHASE}\n" }
+ $SIG{'INT'} = \&handler;
+ $SIG{'QUIT'} = \&handler;
+ ...
+ $SIG{'INT'} = 'DEFAULT'; # restore default action
+ $SIG{'QUIT'} = 'IGNORE'; # ignore SIGQUIT
- {
- package Print::Phase;
+Using a value of C<'IGNORE'> usually has the effect of ignoring the
+signal, except for the C<CHLD> signal. See L<perlipc> for more about
+this special case.
- sub new {
- my ($class, $time) = @_;
- return bless \$time, $class;
- }
+Here are some other examples:
- sub DESTROY {
- my $self = shift;
- print "$$self: ${^GLOBAL_PHASE}\n";
- }
- }
+ $SIG{"PIPE"} = "Plumber"; # assumes main::Plumber (not
+ # recommended)
+ $SIG{"PIPE"} = \&Plumber; # just fine; assume current
+ # Plumber
+ $SIG{"PIPE"} = *Plumber; # somewhat esoteric
+ $SIG{"PIPE"} = Plumber(); # oops, what did Plumber()
+ # return??
- print "run-time: ${^GLOBAL_PHASE}\n";
+Be sure not to use a bareword as the name of a signal handler,
+lest you inadvertently call it.
- my $runtime = Print::Phase->new(
- "lexical variables are garbage collected before END"
- );
+If your system has the C<sigaction()> function then signal handlers
+are installed using it. This means you get reliable signal handling.
- END { print "end-time: ${^GLOBAL_PHASE}\n" }
+The default delivery policy of signals changed in Perl 5.8.0 from
+immediate (also known as "unsafe") to deferred, also known as "safe
+signals". See L<perlipc> for more information.
- our $destruct = Print::Phase->new(
- "package variables are garbage collected after END"
- );
+Certain internal hooks can be also set using the C<%SIG> hash. The
+routine indicated by C<$SIG{__WARN__}> is called when a warning
+message is about to be printed. The warning message is passed as the
+first argument. The presence of a C<__WARN__> hook causes the
+ordinary printing of warnings to C<STDERR> to be suppressed. You can
+use this to save warnings in a variable, or turn warnings into fatal
+errors, like this:
-This will print out
-
- compile-time: START
- check-time: CHECK
- init-time: INIT
- run-time: RUN
- lexical variables are garbage collected before END: RUN
- end-time: END
- package variables are garbage collected after END: DESTRUCT
-
-This variable was added in Perl 5.14.0.
-
-=item $^H
-X<$^H>
-
-WARNING: This variable is strictly for internal use only. Its availability,
-behavior, and contents are subject to change without notice.
-
-This variable contains compile-time hints for the Perl interpreter. At the
-end of compilation of a BLOCK the value of this variable is restored to the
-value when the interpreter started to compile the BLOCK.
-
-When perl begins to parse any block construct that provides a lexical scope
-(e.g., eval body, required file, subroutine body, loop body, or conditional
-block), the existing value of C<$^H> is saved, but its value is left unchanged.
-When the compilation of the block is completed, it regains the saved value.
-Between the points where its value is saved and restored, code that
-executes within BEGIN blocks is free to change the value of C<$^H>.
-
-This behavior provides the semantic of lexical scoping, and is used in,
-for instance, the C<use strict> pragma.
-
-The contents should be an integer; different bits of it are used for
-different pragmatic flags. Here's an example:
-
- sub add_100 { $^H |= 0x100 }
-
- sub foo {
- BEGIN { add_100() }
- bar->baz($boon);
- }
-
-Consider what happens during execution of the BEGIN block. At this point
-the BEGIN block has already been compiled, but the body of C<foo()> is still
-being compiled. The new value of C<$^H> will therefore be visible only while
-the body of C<foo()> is being compiled.
-
-Substitution of C<BEGIN { add_100() }> block with:
-
- BEGIN { require strict; strict->import('vars') }
-
-demonstrates how C<use strict 'vars'> is implemented. Here's a conditional
-version of the same lexical pragma:
-
- BEGIN { require strict; strict->import('vars') if $condition }
-
-This variable was added in Perl 5.003.
-
-=item %^H
-X<%^H>
-
-The C<%^H> hash provides the same scoping semantic as C<$^H>. This makes it
-useful for implementation of lexically scoped pragmas. See L<perlpragma>.
-
-This variable was added in Perl 5.6.
-
-=item @INC
-X<@INC>
-
-The array C<@INC> contains the list of places that the C<do EXPR>,
-C<require>, or C<use> constructs look for their library files. It
-initially consists of the arguments to any B<-I> command-line
-switches, followed by the default Perl library, probably
-F</usr/local/lib/perl>, followed by ".", to represent the current
-directory. ("." will not be appended if taint checks are enabled,
-either by C<-T> or by C<-t>.) If you need to modify this at runtime,
-you should use the C<use lib> pragma to get the machine-dependent
-library properly loaded also:
-
- use lib '/mypath/libdir/';
- use SomeMod;
-
-You can also insert hooks into the file inclusion system by putting Perl
-code directly into C<@INC>. Those hooks may be subroutine references, array
-references or blessed objects. See L<perlfunc/require> for details.
-
-=item %INC
-X<%INC>
-
-The hash C<%INC> contains entries for each filename included via the
-C<do>, C<require>, or C<use> operators. The key is the filename
-you specified (with module names converted to pathnames), and the
-value is the location of the file found. The C<require>
-operator uses this hash to determine whether a particular file has
-already been included.
-
-If the file was loaded via a hook (e.g. a subroutine reference, see
-L<perlfunc/require> for a description of these hooks), this hook is
-by default inserted into C<%INC> in place of a filename. Note, however,
-that the hook may have set the C<%INC> entry by itself to provide some more
-specific info.
-
-=item $INPLACE_EDIT
-
-=item $^I
-X<$^I> X<$INPLACE_EDIT>
-
-The current value of the inplace-edit extension. Use C<undef> to disable
-inplace editing.
-
-Mnemonic: value of B<-i> switch.
-
-=item $^M
-X<$^M>
-
-By default, running out of memory is an untrappable, fatal error.
-However, if suitably built, Perl can use the contents of C<$^M>
-as an emergency memory pool after C<die()>ing. Suppose that your Perl
-were compiled with C<-DPERL_EMERGENCY_SBRK> and used Perl's malloc.
-Then
-
- $^M = 'a' x (1 << 16);
-
-would allocate a 64K buffer for use in an emergency. See the
-F<INSTALL> file in the Perl distribution for information on how to
-add custom C compilation flags when compiling perl. To discourage casual
-use of this advanced feature, there is no L<English|English> long name for
-this variable.
-
-This variable was added in Perl 5.004.
-
-=item $OSNAME
-
-=item $^O
-X<$^O> X<$OSNAME>
-
-The name of the operating system under which this copy of Perl was
-built, as determined during the configuration process. For examples
-see L<perlport/PLATFORMS>.
-
-The value is identical to C<$Config{'osname'}>. See also L<Config>
-and the B<-V> command-line switch documented in L<perlrun>.
-
-In Windows platforms, C<$^O> is not very helpful: since it is always
-C<MSWin32>, it doesn't tell the difference between
-95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP/CE/.NET. Use C<Win32::GetOSName()> or
-Win32::GetOSVersion() (see L<Win32> and L<perlport>) to distinguish
-between the variants.
-
-This variable was added in Perl 5.003.
-
-=item ${^OPEN}
-X<${^OPEN}>
-
-An internal variable used by PerlIO. A string in two parts, separated
-by a C<\0> byte, the first part describes the input layers, the second
-part describes the output layers.
-
-This variable was added in Perl 5.8.2.
-
-=item $PERLDB
-
-=item $^P
-X<$^P> X<$PERLDB>
-
-The internal variable for debugging support. The meanings of the
-various bits are subject to change, but currently indicate:
-
-=over 6
-
-=item 0x01
-
-Debug subroutine enter/exit.
-
-=item 0x02
-
-Line-by-line debugging. Causes C<DB::DB()> subroutine to be called for each
-statement executed. Also causes saving source code lines (like 0x400).
-
-=item 0x04
-
-Switch off optimizations.
-
-=item 0x08
-
-Preserve more data for future interactive inspections.
-
-=item 0x10
-
-Keep info about source lines on which a subroutine is defined.
-
-=item 0x20
-
-Start with single-step on.
-
-=item 0x40
-
-Use subroutine address instead of name when reporting.
-
-=item 0x80
-
-Report C<goto &subroutine> as well.
-
-=item 0x100
-
-Provide informative "file" names for evals based on the place they were compiled.
-
-=item 0x200
-
-Provide informative names to anonymous subroutines based on the place they
-were compiled.
-
-=item 0x400
-
-Save source code lines into C<@{"_<$filename"}>.
-
-=back
-
-Some bits may be relevant at compile-time only, some at
-run-time only. This is a new mechanism and the details may change.
-See also L<perldebguts>.
-
-=item %SIG
-X<%SIG>
-
-The hash C<%SIG> contains signal handlers for signals. For example:
-
- sub handler { # 1st argument is signal name
- my($sig) = @_;
- print "Caught a SIG$sig--shutting down\n";
- close(LOG);
- exit(0);
- }
-
- $SIG{'INT'} = \&handler;
- $SIG{'QUIT'} = \&handler;
- ...
- $SIG{'INT'} = 'DEFAULT'; # restore default action
- $SIG{'QUIT'} = 'IGNORE'; # ignore SIGQUIT
-
-Using a value of C<'IGNORE'> usually has the effect of ignoring the
-signal, except for the C<CHLD> signal. See L<perlipc> for more about
-this special case.
-
-Here are some other examples:
-
- $SIG{"PIPE"} = "Plumber"; # assumes main::Plumber (not recommended)
- $SIG{"PIPE"} = \&Plumber; # just fine; assume current Plumber
- $SIG{"PIPE"} = *Plumber; # somewhat esoteric
- $SIG{"PIPE"} = Plumber(); # oops, what did Plumber() return??
-
-Be sure not to use a bareword as the name of a signal handler,
-lest you inadvertently call it.
-
-If your system has the C<sigaction()> function then signal handlers
-are installed using it. This means you get reliable signal handling.
-
-The default delivery policy of signals changed in Perl 5.8.0 from
-immediate (also known as "unsafe") to deferred, also known as "safe
-signals". See L<perlipc> for more information.
-
-Certain internal hooks can be also set using the C<%SIG> hash. The
-routine indicated by C<$SIG{__WARN__}> is called when a warning
-message is about to be printed. The warning message is passed as the
-first argument. The presence of a C<__WARN__> hook causes the
-ordinary printing of warnings to C<STDERR> to be suppressed. You can
-use this to save warnings in a variable, or turn warnings into fatal
-errors, like this:
-
- local $SIG{__WARN__} = sub { die $_[0] };
- eval $proggie;
+ local $SIG{__WARN__} = sub { die $_[0] };
+ eval $proggie;
As the C<'IGNORE'> hook is not supported by C<__WARN__>, you can
disable warnings using the empty subroutine:
- local $SIG{__WARN__} = sub {};
+ local $SIG{__WARN__} = sub {};
The routine indicated by C<$SIG{__DIE__}> is called when a fatal
-exception is about to be thrown. The error message is passed as the
-first argument. When a C<__DIE__> hook routine returns, the exception
+exception is about to be thrown. The error message is passed as the
+first argument. When a C<__DIE__> hook routine returns, the exception
processing continues as it would have in the absence of the hook,
-unless the hook routine itself exits via a C<goto>, a loop exit, or a
-C<die()>. The C<__DIE__> handler is explicitly disabled during the
-call, so that you can die from a C<__DIE__> handler. Similarly for
-C<__WARN__>.
+unless the hook routine itself exits via a C<goto &sub>, a loop exit,
+or a C<die()>. The C<__DIE__> handler is explicitly disabled during
+the call, so that you can die from a C<__DIE__> handler. Similarly
+for C<__WARN__>.
Due to an implementation glitch, the C<$SIG{__DIE__}> hook is called
-even inside an C<eval()>. Do not use this to rewrite a pending
+even inside an C<eval()>. Do not use this to rewrite a pending
exception in C<$@>, or as a bizarre substitute for overriding
-C<CORE::GLOBAL::die()>. This strange action at a distance may be fixed
+C<CORE::GLOBAL::die()>. This strange action at a distance may be fixed
in a future release so that C<$SIG{__DIE__}> is only called if your
-program is about to exit, as was the original intent. Any other use is
+program is about to exit, as was the original intent. Any other use is
deprecated.
C<__DIE__>/C<__WARN__> handlers are very special in one respect: they
-may be called to report (probable) errors found by the parser. In such
+may be called to report (probable) errors found by the parser. In such
a case the parser may be in inconsistent state, so any attempt to
evaluate Perl code from such a handler will probably result in a
-segfault. This means that warnings or errors that result from parsing
+segfault. This means that warnings or errors that result from parsing
Perl should be used with extreme caution, like this:
- require Carp if defined $^S;
- Carp::confess("Something wrong") if defined &Carp::confess;
- die "Something wrong, but could not load Carp to give backtrace...
- To see backtrace try starting Perl with -MCarp switch";
+ require Carp if defined $^S;
+ Carp::confess("Something wrong") if defined &Carp::confess;
+ die "Something wrong, but could not load Carp to give "
+ . "backtrace...\n\t"
+ . "To see backtrace try starting Perl with -MCarp switch";
Here the first line will load C<Carp> I<unless> it is the parser who
-called the handler. The second line will print backtrace and die if
-C<Carp> was available. The third line will be executed only if C<Carp> was
+called the handler. The second line will print backtrace and die if
+C<Carp> was available. The third line will be executed only if C<Carp> was
not available.
Having to even think about the C<$^S> variable in your exception
-handlers is simply wrong. C<$SIG{__DIE__}> as currently implemented
-invites grievous and difficult to track down errors. Avoid it
+handlers is simply wrong. C<$SIG{__DIE__}> as currently implemented
+invites grievous and difficult to track down errors. Avoid it
and use an C<END{}> or CORE::GLOBAL::die override instead.
See L<perlfunc/die>, L<perlfunc/warn>, L<perlfunc/eval>, and
X<$^T> X<$BASETIME>
The time at which the program began running, in seconds since the
-epoch (beginning of 1970). The values returned by the B<-M>, B<-A>,
+epoch (beginning of 1970). The values returned by the B<-M>, B<-A>,
and B<-C> filetests are based on this value.
-=item ${^TAINT}
-X<${^TAINT}>
-
-Reflects if taint mode is on or off. 1 for on (the program was run with
-B<-T>), 0 for off, -1 when only taint warnings are enabled (i.e. with
-B<-t> or B<-TU>).
-
-This variable is read-only.
-
-This variable was added in Perl 5.8.
-
-=item ${^UNICODE}
-X<${^UNICODE}>
-
-Reflects certain Unicode settings of Perl. See L<perlrun>
-documentation for the C<-C> switch for more information about
-the possible values.
-
-This variable is set during Perl startup and is thereafter read-only.
-
-This variable was added in Perl 5.8.2.
-
-=item ${^UTF8CACHE}
-X<${^UTF8CACHE}>
-
-This variable controls the state of the internal UTF-8 offset caching code.
-1 for on (the default), 0 for off, -1 to debug the caching code by checking
-all its results against linear scans, and panicking on any discrepancy.
-
-This variable was added in Perl 5.8.9.
-
-=item ${^UTF8LOCALE}
-X<${^UTF8LOCALE}>
-
-This variable indicates whether a UTF-8 locale was detected by perl at
-startup. This information is used by perl when it's in
-adjust-utf8ness-to-locale mode (as when run with the C<-CL> command-line
-switch); see L<perlrun> for more info on this.
-
-This variable was added in Perl 5.8.8.
-
=item $PERL_VERSION
=item $^V
represented as a C<version> object.
This variable first appeared in perl 5.6.0; earlier versions of perl
-will see an undefined value. Before perl 5.10.0 C<$^V> was represented
+will see an undefined value. Before perl 5.10.0 C<$^V> was represented
as a v-string.
C<$^V> can be used to determine whether the Perl interpreter executing
-a script is in the right range of versions. For example:
+a script is in the right range of versions. For example:
- warn "Hashes not randomized!\n" if !$^V or $^V lt v5.8.1
+ warn "Hashes not randomized!\n" if !$^V or $^V lt v5.8.1
To convert C<$^V> into its string representation use C<sprintf()>'s
C<"%vd"> conversion:
- printf "version is v%vd\n", $^V; # Perl's version
+ printf "version is v%vd\n", $^V; # Perl's version
See the documentation of C<use VERSION> and C<require VERSION>
for a convenient way to fail if the running Perl interpreter is too old.
X<${^WIN32_SLOPPY_STAT}> X<sitecustomize> X<sitecustomize.pl>
If this variable is set to a true value, then C<stat()> on Windows will
-not try to open the file. This means that the link count cannot be
+not try to open the file. This means that the link count cannot be
determined and file attributes may be out of date if additional
-hardlinks to the file exist. On the other hand, not opening the file
+hardlinks to the file exist. On the other hand, not opening the file
is considerably faster, especially for files on network drives.
This variable could be set in the F<sitecustomize.pl> file to
configure the local Perl installation to use "sloppy" C<stat()> by
-default. See the documentation for B<-f> in
+default. See the documentation for B<-f> in
L<perlrun|perlrun/"Command Switches"> for more information about site
customization.
Depending on the host operating system, the value of C<$^X> may be
a relative or absolute pathname of the perl program file, or may
be the string used to invoke perl but not the pathname of the
-perl program file. Also, most operating systems permit invoking
+perl program file. Also, most operating systems permit invoking
programs that are not in the PATH environment variable, so there
-is no guarantee that the value of C<$^X> is in PATH. For VMS, the
+is no guarantee that the value of C<$^X> is in PATH. For VMS, the
value may or may not include a version number.
You usually can use the value of C<$^X> to re-invoke an independent
copy of the same perl that is currently running, e.g.,
- @first_run = `$^X -le "print int rand 100 for 1..100"`;
+ @first_run = `$^X -le "print int rand 100 for 1..100"`;
But recall that not all operating systems support forking or
capturing of the output of commands, so this complex statement
It is not safe to use the value of C<$^X> as a path name of a file,
as some operating systems that have a mandatory suffix on
executable files do not require use of the suffix when invoking
-a command. To convert the value of C<$^X> to a path name, use the
+a command. To convert the value of C<$^X> to a path name, use the
following statements:
- # Build up a set of file names (not command names).
- use Config;
- my $this_perl = $^X;
- if ($^O ne 'VMS') {
- $this_perl .= $Config{_exe}
- unless $this_perl =~ m/$Config{_exe}$/i;
- }
+ # Build up a set of file names (not command names).
+ use Config;
+ my $this_perl = $^X;
+ if ($^O ne 'VMS') {
+ $this_perl .= $Config{_exe}
+ unless $this_perl =~ m/$Config{_exe}$/i;
+ }
Because many operating systems permit anyone with read access to
the Perl program file to make a copy of it, patch the copy, and
then execute the copy, the security-conscious Perl programmer
should take care to invoke the installed copy of perl, not the
-copy referenced by C<$^X>. The following statements accomplish
+copy referenced by C<$^X>. The following statements accomplish
this goal, and produce a pathname that can be invoked as a
command or referenced as a file.
- use Config;
- my $secure_perl_path = $Config{perlpath};
- if ($^O ne 'VMS') {
- $secure_perl_path .= $Config{_exe}
- unless $secure_perl_path =~ m/$Config{_exe}$/i;
- }
+ use Config;
+ my $secure_perl_path = $Config{perlpath};
+ if ($^O ne 'VMS') {
+ $secure_perl_path .= $Config{_exe}
+ unless $secure_perl_path =~ m/$Config{_exe}$/i;
+ }
=back
=head2 Variables related to regular expressions
Most of the special variables related to regular expressions are side
-effects. Perl sets these variables when it has a successful match, so
-you should check the match result before using them. For instance:
+effects. Perl sets these variables when it has a successful match, so
+you should check the match result before using them. For instance:
- if( /P(A)TT(ER)N/ ) {
- print "I found $1 and $2\n";
- }
+ if( /P(A)TT(ER)N/ ) {
+ print "I found $1 and $2\n";
+ }
These variables are read-only and dynamically-scoped, unless we note
otherwise.
their value is limited to the block that they are in, as demonstrated
by this bit of code:
- my $outer = 'Wallace and Grommit';
- my $inner = 'Mutt and Jeff';
+ my $outer = 'Wallace and Grommit';
+ my $inner = 'Mutt and Jeff';
- my $pattern = qr/(\S+) and (\S+)/;
+ my $pattern = qr/(\S+) and (\S+)/;
- sub show_n { print "\$1 is $1; \$2 is $2\n" }
+ sub show_n { print "\$1 is $1; \$2 is $2\n" }
- {
- OUTER:
- show_n() if $outer =~ m/$pattern/;
+ {
+ OUTER:
+ show_n() if $outer =~ m/$pattern/;
- INNER: {
- show_n() if $inner =~ m/$pattern/;
- }
+ INNER: {
+ show_n() if $inner =~ m/$pattern/;
+ }
- show_n();
- }
+ show_n();
+ }
The output shows that while in the C<OUTER> block, the values of C<$1>
-and C<$2> are from the match against C<$outer>. Inside the C<INNER>
+and C<$2> are from the match against C<$outer>. Inside the C<INNER>
block, the values of C<$1> and C<$2> are from the match against
C<$inner>, but only until the end of the block (i.e. the dynamic
-scope). After the C<INNER> block completes, the values of C<$1> and
+scope). After the C<INNER> block completes, the values of C<$1> and
C<$2> return to the values for the match against C<$outer> even though
we have not made another match:
- $1 is Wallace; $2 is Grommit
- $1 is Mutt; $2 is Jeff
- $1 is Wallace; $2 is Grommit
+ $1 is Wallace; $2 is Grommit
+ $1 is Mutt; $2 is Jeff
+ $1 is Wallace; $2 is Grommit
Due to an unfortunate accident of Perl's implementation, C<use
English> imposes a considerable performance penalty on all regular
expression matches in a program because it uses the C<$`>, C<$&>, and
C<$'>, regardless of whether they occur in the scope of C<use
-English>. For that reason, saying C<use English> in libraries is
+English>. For that reason, saying C<use English> in libraries is
strongly discouraged unless you import it without the match variables:
- use English '-no_match_vars'
+ use English '-no_match_vars'
The C<Devel::NYTProf> and C<Devel::FindAmpersand>
modules can help you find uses of these
BLOCK).
The use of this variable anywhere in a program imposes a considerable
-performance penalty on all regular expression matches. To avoid this
-penalty, you can extract the same substring by using L</@->. Starting
-with Perl 5.10, you can use the </p> match flag and the C<${^MATCH}>
+performance penalty on all regular expression matches. To avoid this
+penalty, you can extract the same substring by using L</@->. Starting
+with Perl 5.10, you can use the C</p> match flag and the C<${^MATCH}>
variable to do the same thing for particular match operations.
This variable is read-only and dynamically-scoped.
enclosed by the current BLOCK.
The use of this variable anywhere in a program imposes a considerable
-performance penalty on all regular expression matches. To avoid this
-penalty, you can extract the same substring by using L</@->. Starting
-with Perl 5.10, you can use the </p> match flag and the
+performance penalty on all regular expression matches. To avoid this
+penalty, you can extract the same substring by using L</@->. Starting
+with Perl 5.10, you can use the C</p> match flag and the
C<${^PREMATCH}> variable to do the same thing for particular match
operations.
The string following whatever was matched by the last successful
pattern match (not counting any matches hidden within a BLOCK or C<eval()>
-enclosed by the current BLOCK). Example:
+enclosed by the current BLOCK). Example:
- local $_ = 'abcdefghi';
- /def/;
- print "$`:$&:$'\n"; # prints abc:def:ghi
+ local $_ = 'abcdefghi';
+ /def/;
+ print "$`:$&:$'\n"; # prints abc:def:ghi
The use of this variable anywhere in a program imposes a considerable
performance penalty on all regular expression matches.
To avoid this penalty, you can extract the same substring by
-using L</@->. Starting with Perl 5.10, you can use the </p> match flag
+using L</@->. Starting with Perl 5.10, you can use the C</p> match flag
and the C<${^POSTMATCH}> variable to do the same thing for particular
match operations.
The text matched by the last bracket of the last successful search pattern.
This is useful if you don't know which one of a set of alternative patterns
-matched. For example:
+matched. For example:
- /Version: (.*)|Revision: (.*)/ && ($rev = $+);
+ /Version: (.*)|Revision: (.*)/ && ($rev = $+);
This variable is read-only and dynamically-scoped.
pattern.
This is primarily used inside C<(?{...})> blocks for examining text
-recently matched. For example, to effectively capture text to a variable
+recently matched. For example, to effectively capture text to a variable
(in addition to C<$1>, C<$2>, etc.), replace C<(...)> with
- (?:(...)(?{ $var = $^N }))
+ (?:(...)(?{ $var = $^N }))
By setting and then using C<$var> in this way relieves you from having to
worry about exactly which numbered set of parentheses they are.
X<@+> X<@LAST_MATCH_END>
This array holds the offsets of the ends of the last successful
-submatches in the currently active dynamic scope. C<$+[0]> is
-the offset into the string of the end of the entire match. This
+submatches in the currently active dynamic scope. C<$+[0]> is
+the offset into the string of the end of the entire match. This
is the same value as what the C<pos> function returns when called
-on the variable that was matched against. The I<n>th element
+on the variable that was matched against. The I<n>th element
of this array holds the offset of the I<n>th submatch, so
C<$+[1]> is the offset past where C<$1> ends, C<$+[2]> the offset
-past where C<$2> ends, and so on. You can use C<$#+> to determine
-how many subgroups were in the last successful match. See the
+past where C<$2> ends, and so on. You can use C<$#+> to determine
+how many subgroups were in the last successful match. See the
examples given for the C<@-> variable.
This variable was added in Perl 5.6.
For example, C<$+{foo}> is equivalent to C<$1> after the following match:
- 'foo' =~ /(?<foo>foo)/;
+ 'foo' =~ /(?<foo>foo)/;
The keys of the C<%+> hash list only the names of buffers that have
captured (and that are thus associated to defined values).
L<Tie::Hash::NamedCapture> module.
B<Note:> C<%-> and C<%+> are tied views into a common internal hash
-associated with the last successful regular expression. Therefore mixing
+associated with the last successful regular expression. Therefore mixing
iterative access to them via C<each> may have unpredictable results.
Likewise, if the last successful match changes, then the results may be
surprising.
I<n>-th subpattern, or undef if the subpattern did not match.
Thus, after a match against C<$_>, C<$&> coincides with C<substr $_, $-[0],
-$+[0] - $-[0]>. Similarly, $I<n> coincides with C<substr $_, $-[n],
+$+[0] - $-[0]>. Similarly, $I<n> coincides with C<substr $_, $-[n],
$+[n] - $-[n]> if C<$-[n]> is defined, and $+ coincides with
-C<substr $_, $-[$#-], $+[$#-] - $-[$#-]>. One can use C<$#-> to find the last
-matched subgroup in the last successful match. Contrast with
-C<$#+>, the number of subgroups in the regular expression. Compare
+C<substr $_, $-[$#-], $+[$#-] - $-[$#-]>. One can use C<$#-> to find the
+last matched subgroup in the last successful match. Contrast with
+C<$#+>, the number of subgroups in the regular expression. Compare
with C<@+>.
This array holds the offsets of the beginnings of the last
successful submatches in the currently active dynamic scope.
C<$-[0]> is the offset into the string of the beginning of the
-entire match. The I<n>th element of this array holds the offset
+entire match. The I<n>th element of this array holds the offset
of the I<n>th submatch, so C<$-[1]> is the offset where C<$1>
begins, C<$-[2]> the offset where C<$2> begins, and so on.
X<%-> X<%LAST_MATCH_START>
Similar to C<%+>, this variable allows access to the named capture groups
-in the last successful match in the currently active dynamic scope. To
+in the last successful match in the currently active dynamic scope. To
each capture group name found in the regular expression, it associates a
reference to an array containing the list of values captured by all
buffers with that name (should there be several of them), in the order
my $ary = $-{$bufname};
foreach my $idx (0..$#$ary) {
print "\$-{$bufname}[$idx] : ",
- (defined($ary->[$idx]) ? "'$ary->[$idx]'" : "undef"),
+ (defined($ary->[$idx])
+ ? "'$ary->[$idx]'"
+ : "undef"),
"\n";
}
}
would print out:
- $-{A}[0] : '1'
- $-{A}[1] : '3'
- $-{B}[0] : '2'
- $-{B}[1] : '4'
+ $-{A}[0] : '1'
+ $-{A}[1] : '3'
+ $-{B}[0] : '2'
+ $-{B}[1] : '4'
The keys of the C<%-> hash correspond to all buffer names found in
the regular expression.
L<Tie::Hash::NamedCapture> module.
B<Note:> C<%-> and C<%+> are tied views into a common internal hash
-associated with the last successful regular expression. Therefore mixing
+associated with the last successful regular expression. Therefore mixing
iterative access to them via C<each> may have unpredictable results.
Likewise, if the last successful match changes, then the results may be
surprising.
X<$^R> X<$LAST_REGEXP_CODE_RESULT>
The result of evaluation of the last successful C<(?{ code })>
-regular expression assertion (see L<perlre>). May be written to.
+regular expression assertion (see L<perlre>). May be written to.
This variable was added in Perl 5.005.
=item ${^RE_DEBUG_FLAGS}
X<${^RE_DEBUG_FLAGS}>
-The current value of the regex debugging flags. Set to 0 for no debug output
-even when the C<re 'debug'> module is loaded. See L<re> for details.
+The current value of the regex debugging flags. Set to 0 for no debug output
+even when the C<re 'debug'> module is loaded. See L<re> for details.
This variable was added in Perl 5.10.
X<${^RE_TRIE_MAXBUF}>
Controls how certain regex optimisations are applied and how much memory they
-utilize. This value by default is 65536 which corresponds to a 512kB temporary
-cache. Set this to a higher value to trade memory for speed when matching
-large alternations. Set it to a lower value if you want the optimisations to
+utilize. This value by default is 65536 which corresponds to a 512kB
+temporary cache. Set this to a higher value to trade
+memory for speed when matching large alternations. Set
+it to a lower value if you want the optimisations to
be as conservative of memory as possible but still occur, and set it to a
negative value to prevent the optimisation and conserve the most memory.
Under normal situations this variable should be of no interest to you.
Variables that depend on the currently selected filehandle may be set
by calling an appropriate object method on the C<IO::Handle> object,
although this is less efficient than using the regular built-in
-variables. (Summary lines below for this contain the word HANDLE.)
+variables. (Summary lines below for this contain the word HANDLE.)
First you must say
- use IO::Handle;
+ use IO::Handle;
after which you may use either
- method HANDLE EXPR
+ method HANDLE EXPR
or more safely,
- HANDLE->method(EXPR)
+ HANDLE->method(EXPR)
-Each method returns the old value of the C<IO::Handle> attribute. The
+Each method returns the old value of the C<IO::Handle> attribute. The
methods each take an optional EXPR, which, if supplied, specifies the
-new value for the C<IO::Handle> attribute in question. If not
+new value for the C<IO::Handle> attribute in question. If not
supplied, most methods do nothing to the current value--except for
C<autoflush()>, which will assume a 1 for you, just to be different.
Because loading in the C<IO::Handle> class is an expensive operation,
you should learn how to use the regular built-in variables.
-A few of these variables are considered "read-only". This means that
+A few of these variables are considered "read-only". This means that
if you try to assign to this variable, either directly or indirectly
through a reference, you'll raise a run-time exception.
You should be very careful when modifying the default values of most
-special variables described in this document. In most cases you want
+special variables described in this document. In most cases you want
to localize these variables before changing them, since if you don't,
the change may affect other modules which rely on the default values
-of the special variables that you have changed. This is one of the
+of the special variables that you have changed. This is one of the
correct ways to read the whole file at once:
- open my $fh, "<", "foo" or die $!;
- local $/; # enable localized slurp mode
- my $content = <$fh>;
- close $fh;
+ open my $fh, "<", "foo" or die $!;
+ local $/; # enable localized slurp mode
+ my $content = <$fh>;
+ close $fh;
But the following code is quite bad:
- open my $fh, "<", "foo" or die $!;
- undef $/; # enable slurp mode
- my $content = <$fh>;
- close $fh;
+ open my $fh, "<", "foo" or die $!;
+ undef $/; # enable slurp mode
+ my $content = <$fh>;
+ close $fh;
since some other module, may want to read data from some file in the
default "line mode", so if the code we have just presented has been
running inside the same Perl interpreter.
Usually when a variable is localized you want to make sure that this
-change affects the shortest scope possible. So unless you are already
-inside some short C<{}> block, you should create one yourself. For
+change affects the shortest scope possible. So unless you are already
+inside some short C<{}> block, you should create one yourself. For
example:
- my $content = '';
- open my $fh, "<", "foo" or die $!;
- {
- local $/;
- $content = <$fh>;
- }
- close $fh;
+ my $content = '';
+ open my $fh, "<", "foo" or die $!;
+ {
+ local $/;
+ $content = <$fh>;
+ }
+ close $fh;
Here is an example of how your own code can go broken:
- for ( 1..3 ){
- $\ = "\r\n";
- nasty_break();
- print "$_";
- }
+ for ( 1..3 ){
+ $\ = "\r\n";
+ nasty_break();
+ print "$_";
+ }
- sub nasty_break {
+ sub nasty_break {
$\ = "\f";
# do something with $_
- }
+ }
You probably expect this code to print the equivalent of
"1\f2\f3\f"
Why? Because C<nasty_break()> modifies C<$\> without localizing it
-first. The value you set in C<nasty_break()> is still there when you
-return. The fix is to add C<local()> so the value doesn't leak out of
+first. The value you set in C<nasty_break()> is still there when you
+return. The fix is to add C<local()> so the value doesn't leak out of
C<nasty_break()>:
- local $\ = "\f";
+ local $\ = "\f";
It's easy to notice the problem in such a short example, but in more
complicated code you are looking for trouble if you don't localize
X<@ARGV>
The array C<@ARGV> contains the command-line arguments intended for
-the script. C<$#ARGV> is generally the number of arguments minus
+the script. C<$#ARGV> is generally the number of arguments minus
one, because C<$ARGV[0]> is the first argument, I<not> the program's
-command name itself. See C<$0> for the command name.
+command name itself. See L</$0> for the command name.
=item ARGV
X<ARGV>
The special filehandle that iterates over command-line filenames in
-C<@ARGV>. Usually written as the null filehandle in the angle operator
-C<< <> >>. Note that currently C<ARGV> only has its magical effect
+C<@ARGV>. Usually written as the null filehandle in the angle operator
+C<< <> >>.
Note that currently C<ARGV> only has its magical effect
within the C<< <> >> operator; elsewhere it is just a plain filehandle
-corresponding to the last file opened by C<< <> >>. In particular,
+corresponding to the last file opened by C<< <> >>. In particular,
passing C<\*ARGV> as a parameter to a function that expects a filehandle
may not cause your function to automatically read the contents of all the
files in C<@ARGV>.
X<ARGVOUT>
The special filehandle that points to the currently open output file
-when doing edit-in-place processing with B<-i>. Useful when you have
-to do a lot of inserting and don't want to keep modifying C<$_>. See
+when doing edit-in-place processing with B<-i>. Useful when you have
+to do a lot of inserting and don't want to keep modifying C<$_>. See
L<perlrun> for the B<-i> switch.
=item Handle->output_field_separator( EXPR )
=item $,
X<$,> X<$OFS> X<$OUTPUT_FIELD_SEPARATOR>
-The output field separator for the print operator. If defined, this
-value is printed between each of print's arguments. Default is C<undef>.
+The output field separator for the print operator. If defined, this
+value is printed between each of print's arguments. Default is C<undef>.
Mnemonic: what is printed when there is a "," in your print statement.
Current line number for the last filehandle accessed.
Each filehandle in Perl counts the number of lines that have been read
-from it. (Depending on the value of C<$/>, Perl's idea of what
+from it. (Depending on the value of C<$/>, Perl's idea of what
constitutes a line may not match yours.) When a line is read from a
filehandle (via C<readline()> or C<< <> >>), or when C<tell()> or
C<seek()> is called on it, C<$.> becomes an alias to the line counter
for that filehandle.
You can adjust the counter by assigning to C<$.>, but this will not
-actually move the seek pointer. I<Localizing C<$.> will not localize
-the filehandle's line count>. Instead, it will localize perl's notion
+actually move the seek pointer. I<Localizing C<$.> will not localize
+the filehandle's line count>. Instead, it will localize perl's notion
of which filehandle C<$.> is currently aliased to.
C<$.> is reset when the filehandle is closed, but B<not> when an open
-filehandle is reopened without an intervening C<close()>. For more
-details, see L<perlop/"IE<sol>O Operators">. Because C<< <> >> never does
+filehandle is reopened without an intervening C<close()>. For more
+details, see L<perlop/"IE<sol>O Operators">. Because C<< <> >> never does
an explicit close, line numbers increase across C<ARGV> files (but see
examples in L<perlfunc/eof>).
=item $/
X<$/> X<$RS> X<$INPUT_RECORD_SEPARATOR>
-The input record separator, newline by default. This influences Perl's
-idea of what a "line" is. Works like B<awk>'s RS variable, including
+The input record separator, newline by default. This influences Perl's
+idea of what a "line" is.
Works like B<awk>'s RS variable, including
treating empty lines as a terminator if set to the null string (an
-empty line cannot contain any spaces or tabs). You may set it to a
+empty line cannot contain any spaces or tabs). You may set it to a
multi-character string to match a multi-character terminator, or to
-C<undef> to read through the end of file. Setting it to C<"\n\n">
+C<undef> to read through the end of file. Setting it to C<"\n\n">
means something slightly different than setting to C<"">, if the file
-contains consecutive empty lines. Setting to C<""> will treat two or
-more consecutive empty lines as a single empty line. Setting to
+contains consecutive empty lines. Setting to C<""> will treat two or
+more consecutive empty lines as a single empty line. Setting to
C<"\n\n"> will blindly assume that the next input character belongs to
the next paragraph, even if it's a newline.
local $_ = <FH>; # whole file now here
s/\n[ \t]+/ /g;
-Remember: the value of C<$/> is a string, not a regex. B<awk> has to
+Remember: the value of C<$/> is a string, not a regex.
B<awk> has to
be better for something. :-)
Setting C<$/> to a reference to an integer, scalar containing an
integer, or scalar that's convertible to an integer will attempt to
read records instead of lines, with the maximum record size being the
-referenced integer. So this:
+referenced integer. So this:
local $/ = \32768; # or \"32768", or \$var_containing_32768
open my $fh, "<", $myfile or die $!;
local $_ = <$fh>;
-will read a record of no more than 32768 bytes from FILE. If you're
+will read a record of no more than 32768 bytes from FILE. If you're
not reading from a record-oriented file (or your OS doesn't have
record-oriented files), then you'll likely get a full chunk of data
-with every read. If a record is larger than the record size you've
-set, you'll get the record back in pieces. Trying to set the record
+with every read. If a record is larger than the record size you've
+set, you'll get the record back in pieces. Trying to set the record
size to zero or less will cause reading in the (rest of the) whole file.
On VMS, record reads are done with the equivalent of C<sysread>,
so it's best not to mix record and non-record reads on the same
-file. (This is unlikely to be a problem, because any file you'd
+file. (This is unlikely to be a problem, because any file you'd
want to read in record mode is probably unusable in line mode.)
Non-VMS systems do normal I/O, so it's safe to mix record and
non-record reads of a file.
-See also L<perlport/"Newlines">. Also see C<$.>.
+If you perform a record read on a FILE with an encoding layer such as
+C<:encoding(latin1)> or C<:utf8>, you may get an invalid string as a
+result, may leave the FILE positioned between characters in the stream
+and may not be reading the number of bytes from the underlying file
+that you specified. This behaviour may change without warning in a
+future version of perl.
+
+See also L<perlport/"Newlines">. Also see L</$.>.
Mnemonic: / delimits line boundaries when quoting poetry.
=item $\
X<$\> X<$ORS> X<$OUTPUT_RECORD_SEPARATOR>
-The output record separator for the print operator. If defined, this
-value is printed after the last of print's arguments. Default is C<undef>.
+The output record separator for the print operator. If defined, this
+value is printed after the last of print's arguments. Default is C<undef>.
Mnemonic: you set C<$\> instead of adding "\n" at the end of the print.
Also, it's just like C<$/>, but it's what you get "back" from Perl.
X<$|> X<autoflush> X<flush> X<$OUTPUT_AUTOFLUSH>
If set to nonzero, forces a flush right away and after every write or
-print on the currently selected output channel. Default is 0
+print on the currently selected output channel. Default is 0
(regardless of whether the channel is really buffered by the system or
not; C<$|> tells you only whether you've asked Perl explicitly to
-flush after each write). STDOUT will typically be line buffered if
-output is to the terminal and block buffered otherwise. Setting this
+flush after each write). STDOUT will typically be line buffered if
+output is to the terminal and block buffered otherwise. Setting this
variable is useful primarily when you are outputting to a pipe or
socket, such as when you are running a Perl program under B<rsh> and
-want to see the output as it's happening. This has no effect on input
-buffering.
See L<perlfunc/getc> for that. See L<perlfunc/select> on
-how to select the output channel. See also L<IO::Handle>.
+want to see the output as it's happening. This has no effect on input
+buffering.
See L<perlfunc/getc> for that. See L<perlfunc/select> on
+how to select the output channel. See also L<IO::Handle>.
Mnemonic: when you want your pipes to be piping hot.
=head3 Variables related to formats
The special variables for formats are a subset of those for
-filehandles. See L<perlform> for more information about Perl's
+filehandles.
See L<perlform> for more information about Perl's
formats.
=over 8
The current value of the C<write()> accumulator for C<format()> lines.
A format contains C<formline()> calls that put their result into
-C<$^A>. After calling its format, C<write()> prints out the contents
-of C<$^A> and empties. So you never really see the contents of C<$^A>
-unless you call C<formline()> yourself and then look at it. See
+C<$^A>. After calling its format, C<write()> prints out the contents
+of C<$^A> and empties. So you never really see the contents of C<$^A>
+unless you call C<formline()> yourself and then look at it. See
L<perlform> and L<perlfunc/"formline PICTURE,LIST">.
=item HANDLE->format_formfeed(EXPR)
=item $^L
X<$^L> X<$FORMAT_FORMFEED>
-What formats output as a form feed. The default is C<\f>.
+What formats output as a form feed. The default is C<\f>.
=item HANDLE->format_page_number(EXPR)
X<$:> X<FORMAT_LINE_BREAK_CHARACTERS>
The current set of characters after which a string may be broken to
-fill continuation fields (starting with C<^>) in a format. The default is
+fill continuation fields (starting with C<^>) in a format. The default is
S<" \n-">, to break on a space, newline, or a hyphen.
Mnemonic: a "colon" in poetry is a part of a line.
X<$=> X<$FORMAT_LINES_PER_PAGE>
The current page length (printable lines) of the currently selected
-output channel. The default is 60.
+output channel. The default is 60.
Mnemonic: = has horizontal lines.
X<$^> X<$FORMAT_TOP_NAME>
The name of the current top-of-page format for the currently selected
-output channel. The default is the name of the filehandle with C<_TOP>
-appended. For example, the default format top name for the C<STDOUT>
-filehanlde is C<STDOUT_TOP>.
+output channel. The default is the name of the filehandle with C<_TOP>
+appended. For example, the default format top name for the C<STDOUT>
+filehandle is C<STDOUT_TOP>.
Mnemonic: points to top of page.
X<$~> X<$FORMAT_NAME>
The name of the current report format for the currently selected
-output channel. The default format name is the same as the filehandle
-name. For example, the default format name for the C<STDOUT>
+output channel. The default format name is the same as the filehandle
+name. For example, the default format name for the C<STDOUT>
filehandle is just C<STDOUT>.
Mnemonic: brother to C<$^>.
The variables C<$@>, C<$!>, C<$^E>, and C<$?> contain information
about different types of error conditions that may appear during
-execution of a Perl program. The variables are shown ordered by
+execution of a Perl program. The variables are shown ordered by
the "distance" between the subsystem which reported the error and
-the Perl process. They correspond to errors detected by the Perl
+the Perl process. They correspond to errors detected by the Perl
interpreter, C library, operating system, or an external program,
respectively.
To illustrate the differences between these variables, consider the
-following Perl expression, which uses a single-quoted string. After
+following Perl expression, which uses a single-quoted string. After
execution of this statement, perl may have set all four special error
variables:
- eval q{
- open my $pipe, "/cdrom/install |" or die $!;
- my @res = <$pipe>;
- close $pipe or die "bad pipe: $?, $!";
- };
+ eval q{
+ open my $pipe, "/cdrom/install |" or die $!;
+ my @res = <$pipe>;
+ close $pipe or die "bad pipe: $?, $!";
+ };
When perl executes the C<eval()> expression, it translates the
C<open()>, C<< <PIPE> >>, and C<close> calls in the C run-time library
-and thence to the operating system kernel. perl sets C<$!> to
+and thence to the operating system kernel. perl sets C<$!> to
the C library's C<errno> if one of these calls fails.
C<$@> is set if the string to be C<eval>-ed did not compile (this may
happen if C<open> or C<close> were imported with bad prototypes), or
-if Perl code executed during evaluation C<die()>d. In these cases the
+if Perl code executed during evaluation C<die()>d. In these cases the
value of C<$@> is the compile error, or the argument to C<die> (which
-will interpolate C<$!> and C<$?>). (See also L<Fatal>, though.)
+will interpolate C<$!> and C<$?>). (See also L<Fatal>, though.)
Under a few operating systems, C<$^E> may contain a more verbose error
-indicator, such as in this case, "CDROM tray not closed." Systems that
+indicator, such as in this case, "CDROM tray not closed." Systems that
do not support extended error messages leave C<$^E> the same as C<$!>.
Finally, C<$?> may be set to non-0 value if the external program
-F</cdrom/install> fails. The upper eight bits reflect specific error
+F</cdrom/install> fails. The upper eight bits reflect specific error
conditions encountered by the program (the program's C<exit()> value).
The lower eight bits reflect mode of failure, like signal death and
-core dump information. See C<wait(2)> for details. In contrast to
+core dump information. See L<wait(2)> for details. In contrast to
C<$!> and C<$^E>, which are set only if error condition is detected,
the variable C<$?> is set on each C<wait> or pipe C<close>,
-overwriting the old value. This is more like C<$@>, which on every
+overwriting the old value. This is more like C<$@>, which on every
C<eval()> is always set on failure and cleared on success.
For more details, see the individual descriptions at C<$@>, C<$!>,
The native status returned by the last pipe close, backtick (C<``>)
command, successful call to C<wait()> or C<waitpid()>, or from the
-C<system()> operator. On POSIX-like systems this value can be decoded
+C<system()> operator. On POSIX-like systems this value can be decoded
with the WIFEXITED, WEXITSTATUS, WIFSIGNALED, WTERMSIG, WIFSTOPPED,
WSTOPSIG and WIFCONTINUED functions provided by the L<POSIX> module.
=item $^E
X<$^E> X<$EXTENDED_OS_ERROR>
-Error information specific to the current operating system. At the
+Error information specific to the current operating system. At the
moment, this differs from C<$!> under only VMS, OS/2, and Win32 (and
-for MacPerl). On all other platforms, C<$^E> is always just the same
+for MacPerl). On all other platforms, C<$^E> is always just the same
as C<$!>.
Under VMS, C<$^E> provides the VMS status value from the last system
-error. This is more specific information about the last system error
-than that provided by C<$!>. This is particularly important when C<$!>
+error. This is more specific information about the last system error
+than that provided by C<$!>. This is particularly important when C<$!>
is set to B<EVMSERR>.
Under OS/2, C<$^E> is set to the error code of the last call to OS/2
Under Win32, C<$^E> always returns the last error information reported
by the Win32 call C<GetLastError()> which describes the last error
-from within the Win32 API. Most Win32-specific code will report errors
-via C<$^E>. ANSI C and Unix-like calls set C<errno> and so most
+from within the Win32 API. Most Win32-specific code will report errors
+via C<$^E>. ANSI C and Unix-like calls set C<errno> and so most
portable Perl code will report errors via C<$!>.
Caveats mentioned in the description of C<$!> generally apply to
X<${^WARNING_BITS}>
The current set of warning checks enabled by the C<use warnings> pragma.
-See the documentation of C<warnings> for more details.
+It has the same scoping as the C<$^H> and C<%^H> variables. The exact
+values are considered internal to the L<warnings> pragma and may change
+between versions of Perl.
-This variable was added in Perl 5.10.
+This variable was added in Perl 5.6.
=item $OS_ERROR
=item $!
X<$!> X<$ERRNO> X<$OS_ERROR>
-If used numerically, yields the current value of the C C<errno>
-variable, or in other words, if a system or library call fails, it
-sets this variable. This means that the value of C<$!> is meaningful
-only I<immediately> after a B<failure>:
+When referenced, C<$!> retrieves the current value
+of the C C<errno> integer variable.
+If C<$!> is assigned a numerical value, that value is stored in C<errno>.
+When referenced as a string, C<$!> yields the system error string
+corresponding to C<errno>.
- if (open my $fh, "<", $filename) {
+Many system or library calls set C<errno> if they fail,
+to indicate the cause of failure. They usually do B<not>
+set C<errno> to zero if they succeed. This means C<errno>,
+hence C<$!>, is meaningful only I<immediately> after a B<failure>:
+
+ if (open my $fh, "<", $filename) {
# Here $! is meaningless.
...
}
# Already here $! might be meaningless.
}
# Since here we might have either success or failure,
- # here $! is meaningless.
-
-The I<meaningless> stands for anything: zero, non-zero,
-C<undef>. A successful system or library call does B<not> set the
-variable to zero.
+ # $! is meaningless.
-If used as a string, yields the corresponding system error string. You
-can assign a number to C<$!> to set I<errno> if, for instance, you
-want C<"$!"> to return the string for error I<n>, or you want to set
-the exit value for the C<die()> operator.
+Here, I<meaningless> means that C<$!> may be unrelated to the outcome
+of the C<open()> operator. Assignment to C<$!> is similarly ephemeral.
+It can be used immediately before invoking the C<die()> operator,
+to set the exit value, or to inspect the system error string
+corresponding to error I<n>, or to restore C<$!> to a meaningful state.
Mnemonic: What just went bang?
X<%!> X<%OS_ERROR> X<%ERRNO>
Each element of C<%!> has a true value only if C<$!> is set to that
-value. For example, C<$!{ENOENT}> is true if and only if the current
+value. For example, C<$!{ENOENT}> is true if and only if the current
value of C<$!> is C<ENOENT>; that is, if the most recent error was "No
such file or directory" (or its moral equivalent: not all operating
-systems give that exact error, and certainly not all languages). To
+systems give that exact error, and certainly not all languages). To
check if a particular key is meaningful on your system, use C<exists
-$!{the_key}>; for a list of legal keys, use C<keys %!>. See L<Errno>
+$!{the_key}>; for a list of legal keys, use C<keys %!>. See L<Errno>
for more information, and also see L</$!>.
This variable was added in Perl 5.005.
The status returned by the last pipe close, backtick (C<``>) command,
successful call to C<wait()> or C<waitpid()>, or from the C<system()>
-operator. This is just the 16-bit status word returned by the
+operator. This is just the 16-bit status word returned by the
traditional Unix C<wait()> system call (or else is made up to look
-like it). Thus, the exit value of the subprocess is really (C<<< $? >>
+like it). Thus, the exit value of the subprocess is really (C<<< $? >>
8 >>>), and C<$? & 127> gives which signal, if any, the process died
from, and C<$? & 128> reports whether there was a core dump.
value of C<$?> will usually be wrong outside that handler.
Inside an C<END> subroutine C<$?> contains the value that is going to be
-given to C<exit()>. You can modify C<$?> in an C<END> subroutine to
-change the exit status of your program. For example:
+given to C<exit()>. You can modify C<$?> in an C<END> subroutine to
+change the exit status of your program. For example:
END {
$? = 1 if $? == 255; # die would make it 255
=item $@
X<$@> X<$EVAL_ERROR>
-The Perl syntax error message from the last C<eval()> operator. If C<$@> is
+The Perl syntax error message from the
+last C<eval()> operator. If C<$@> is
the null string, the last C<eval()> parsed and executed correctly
(although the operations you invoked may have failed in the normal
fashion).
-Warning messages are not collected in this variable. You can, however,
+Warning messages are not collected in this variable. You can, however,
set up a routine to process warnings by setting C<$SIG{__WARN__}> as
described in L</%SIG>.
=back
+=head2 Variables related to the interpreter state
+
+These variables provide information about the current interpreter state.
+
+=over 8
+
+=item $COMPILING
+
+=item $^C
+X<$^C> X<$COMPILING>
+
+The current value of the flag associated with the B<-c> switch.
+Mainly of use with B<-MO=...> to allow code to alter its behavior
+when being compiled, such as for example to C<AUTOLOAD> at compile
+time rather than normal, deferred loading. Setting
+C<$^C = 1> is similar to calling C<B::minus_c>.
+
+This variable was added in Perl 5.6.
+
+=item $DEBUGGING
+
+=item $^D
+X<$^D> X<$DEBUGGING>
+
+The current value of the debugging flags. May be read or set. Like its
+command-line equivalent, you can use numeric or symbolic values, eg
+C<$^D = 10> or C<$^D = "st">.
+
+Mnemonic: value of B<-D> switch.
+
+=item ${^ENCODING}
+X<${^ENCODING}>
+
+The I<object reference> to the C<Encode> object that is used to convert
+the source code to Unicode. Thanks to this variable your Perl script
+does not have to be written in UTF-8. Default is I<undef>. The direct
+manipulation of this variable is highly discouraged.
+
+This variable was added in Perl 5.8.2.
+
+=item ${^GLOBAL_PHASE}
+X<${^GLOBAL_PHASE}>
+
+The current phase of the perl interpreter.
+
+Possible values are:
+
+=over 8
+
+=item CONSTRUCT
+
+The C<PerlInterpreter*> is being constructed via C<perl_construct>. This
+value is mostly there for completeness and for use via the
+underlying C variable C<PL_phase>. It's not really possible for Perl
+code to be executed unless construction of the interpreter is
+finished.
+
+=item START
+
+This is the global compile-time. That includes, basically, every
+C<BEGIN> block executed directly or indirectly from during the
+compile-time of the top-level program.
+
+This phase is not called "BEGIN" to avoid confusion with
+C<BEGIN>-blocks, as those are executed during compile-time of any
+compilation unit, not just the top-level program. A new, localised
+compile-time entered at run-time, for example by constructs as
+C<eval "use SomeModule"> are not global interpreter phases, and
+therefore aren't reflected by C<${^GLOBAL_PHASE}>.
+
+=item CHECK
+
+Execution of any C<CHECK> blocks.
+
+=item INIT
+
+Similar to "CHECK", but for C<INIT>-blocks, not C<CHECK> blocks.
+
+=item RUN
+
+The main run-time, i.e. the execution of C<PL_main_root>.
+
+=item END
+
+Execution of any C<END> blocks.
+
+=item DESTRUCT
+
+Global destruction.
+
+=back
+
+Also note that there's no value for UNITCHECK-blocks. That's because
+those are run for each compilation unit individually, and therefore is
+not a global interpreter phase.
+
+Not every program has to go through each of the possible phases, but
+transition from one phase to another can only happen in the order
+described in the above list.
+
+An example of all of the phases Perl code can see:
+
+ BEGIN { print "compile-time: ${^GLOBAL_PHASE}\n" }
+
+ INIT { print "init-time: ${^GLOBAL_PHASE}\n" }
+
+ CHECK { print "check-time: ${^GLOBAL_PHASE}\n" }
+
+ {
+ package Print::Phase;
+
+ sub new {
+ my ($class, $time) = @_;
+ return bless \$time, $class;
+ }
+
+ sub DESTROY {
+ my $self = shift;
+ print "$$self: ${^GLOBAL_PHASE}\n";
+ }
+ }
+
+ print "run-time: ${^GLOBAL_PHASE}\n";
+
+ my $runtime = Print::Phase->new(
+ "lexical variables are garbage collected before END"
+ );
+
+ END { print "end-time: ${^GLOBAL_PHASE}\n" }
+
+ our $destruct = Print::Phase->new(
+ "package variables are garbage collected after END"
+ );
+
+This will print out
+
+ compile-time: START
+ check-time: CHECK
+ init-time: INIT
+ run-time: RUN
+ lexical variables are garbage collected before END: RUN
+ end-time: END
+ package variables are garbage collected after END: DESTRUCT
+
+This variable was added in Perl 5.14.0.
+
+=item $^H
+X<$^H>
+
+WARNING: This variable is strictly for
+internal use only. Its availability,
+behavior, and contents are subject to change without notice.
+
+This variable contains compile-time hints for the Perl interpreter. At the
+end of compilation of a BLOCK the value of this variable is restored to the
+value when the interpreter started to compile the BLOCK.
+
+When perl begins to parse any block construct that provides a lexical scope
+(e.g., eval body, required file, subroutine body, loop body, or conditional
+block), the existing value of C<$^H> is saved, but its value is left unchanged.
+When the compilation of the block is completed, it regains the saved value.
+Between the points where its value is saved and restored, code that
+executes within BEGIN blocks is free to change the value of C<$^H>.
+
+This behavior provides the semantic of lexical scoping, and is used in,
+for instance, the C<use strict> pragma.
+
+The contents should be an integer; different bits of it are used for
+different pragmatic flags. Here's an example:
+
+ sub add_100 { $^H |= 0x100 }
+
+ sub foo {
+ BEGIN { add_100() }
+ bar->baz($boon);
+ }
+
+Consider what happens during execution of the BEGIN block. At this point
+the BEGIN block has already been compiled, but the body of C<foo()> is still
+being compiled. The new value of C<$^H>
+will therefore be visible only while
+the body of C<foo()> is being compiled.
+
+Substitution of C<BEGIN { add_100() }> block with:
+
+ BEGIN { require strict; strict->import('vars') }
+
+demonstrates how C<use strict 'vars'> is implemented. Here's a conditional
+version of the same lexical pragma:
+
+ BEGIN {
+ require strict; strict->import('vars') if $condition
+ }
+
+This variable was added in Perl 5.003.
+
+=item %^H
+X<%^H>
+
+The C<%^H> hash provides the same scoping semantic as C<$^H>. This makes
+it useful for implementation of lexically scoped pragmas. See
+L<perlpragma>.
+
+When putting items into C<%^H>, in order to avoid conflicting with other
+users of the hash there is a convention regarding which keys to use.
+A module should use only keys that begin with the module's name (the
+name of its main package) and a "/" character. For example, a module
+C<Foo::Bar> should use keys such as C<Foo::Bar/baz>.
+
+This variable was added in Perl 5.6.
+
+=item ${^OPEN}
+X<${^OPEN}>
+
+An internal variable used by PerlIO. A string in two parts, separated
+by a C<\0> byte, the first part describes the input layers, the second
+part describes the output layers.
+
+This variable was added in Perl 5.8.0.
+
+=item $PERLDB
+
+=item $^P
+X<$^P> X<$PERLDB>
+
+The internal variable for debugging support. The meanings of the
+various bits are subject to change, but currently indicate:
+
+=over 6
+
+=item 0x01
+
+Debug subroutine enter/exit.
+
+=item 0x02
+
+Line-by-line debugging. Causes C<DB::DB()> subroutine to be called for
+each statement executed. Also causes saving source code lines (like
+0x400).
+
+=item 0x04
+
+Switch off optimizations.
+
+=item 0x08
+
+Preserve more data for future interactive inspections.
+
+=item 0x10
+
+Keep info about source lines on which a subroutine is defined.
+
+=item 0x20
+
+Start with single-step on.
+
+=item 0x40
+
+Use subroutine address instead of name when reporting.
+
+=item 0x80
+
+Report C<goto &subroutine> as well.
+
+=item 0x100
+
+Provide informative "file" names for evals based on the place they were compiled.
+
+=item 0x200
+
+Provide informative names to anonymous subroutines based on the place they
+were compiled.
+
+=item 0x400
+
+Save source code lines into C<@{"_<$filename"}>.
+
+=back
+
+Some bits may be relevant at compile-time only, some at
+run-time only. This is a new mechanism and the details may change.
+See also L<perldebguts>.
+
+=item ${^TAINT}
+X<${^TAINT}>
+
+Reflects if taint mode is on or off. 1 for on (the program was run with
+B<-T>), 0 for off, -1 when only taint warnings are enabled (i.e. with
+B<-t> or B<-TU>).
+
+This variable is read-only.
+
+This variable was added in Perl 5.8.
+
+=item ${^UNICODE}
+X<${^UNICODE}>
+
+Reflects certain Unicode settings of Perl. See L<perlrun>
+documentation for the C<-C> switch for more information about
+the possible values.
+
+This variable is set during Perl startup and is thereafter read-only.
+
+This variable was added in Perl 5.8.2.
+
+=item ${^UTF8CACHE}
+X<${^UTF8CACHE}>
+
+This variable controls the state of the internal UTF-8 offset caching code.
+1 for on (the default), 0 for off, -1 to debug the caching code by checking
+all its results against linear scans, and panicking on any discrepancy.
+
+This variable was added in Perl 5.8.9.
+
+=item ${^UTF8LOCALE}
+X<${^UTF8LOCALE}>
+
+This variable indicates whether a UTF-8 locale was detected by perl at
+startup. This information is used by perl when it's in
+adjust-utf8ness-to-locale mode (as when run with the C<-CL> command-line
+switch); see L<perlrun> for more info on this.
+
+This variable was added in Perl 5.8.8.
+
+=back
+
=head2 Deprecated and removed variables
Deprecating a variable announces the intent of the perl maintainers to
-eventually remove the variable from the langauge. It may still be
-available despite its status. Using a deprecated variable triggers
+eventually remove the variable from the language. It may still be
+available despite its status. Using a deprecated variable triggers
a warning.
Once a variable is removed, its use triggers an error telling you
=item $#
X<$#> X<$OFMT>
-C<$#> was a variable that you could be use to format printed numbers.
+C<$#> was a variable that could be used to format printed numbers.
After a deprecation cycle, its magic was removed in Perl 5.10 and
using it now triggers a warning: C<$# is no longer supported>.
This is not the sigil you use in front of an array name to get the
-last index, like C<$#array>. That's still how you get the last index
-of an array in Perl. The two have nothing to do with each other.
+last index, like C<$#array>. That's still how you get the last index
+of an array in Perl. The two have nothing to do with each other.
Deprecated in Perl 5.
X<$[> X<$ARRAY_BASE>
This variable stores the index of the first element in an array, and
-of the first character in a substring. The default is 0, but you could
+of the first character in a substring. The default is 0, but you could
theoretically set it to 1 to make Perl behave more like B<awk> (or Fortran)
when subscripting and when evaluating the index() and substr() functions.
Prior to Perl 5.10, assignment to C<$[> could be seen from outer lexical
scopes in the same file, unlike other compile-time directives (such as
-L<strict>). Using local() on it would bind its value strictly to a lexical
-block. Now it is always lexically scoped.
+L<strict>). Using local() on it would bind its value strictly to a lexical
+block. Now it is always lexically scoped.
+
+As of Perl 5.16, it is implemented by the L<arybase> module. See
+L<arybase> for more details on its behaviour.
+
+Under C<use v5.16>, or C<no feature "array_base">, C<$[> no longer has any
+effect, and always contains 0. Assigning 0 to it is permitted, but any
+other value will produce an error.
Mnemonic: [ begins subscripts.
=item $]
X<$]> X<$OLD_PERL_VERSION>
-See C<$^V> for a more modern representation of the Perl version that allows
+See L</$^V> for a more modern representation of the Perl version that allows
accurate string comparisons.
-The version + patchlevel / 1000 of the Perl interpreter. This variable
+The version + patchlevel / 1000 of the Perl interpreter. This variable
can be used to determine whether the Perl interpreter executing a
script is in the right range of versions:
Mnemonic: Is this version of perl in the right bracket?
-Deprecated in Perl 5.6.
-
=back
=cut
https://perl5.git.perl.org / perl5.git / blobdiff