=head2 Object Attributes
-The text "Object Attributes" comprises the heading there. (Note that
-head3 and head4 are recent additions, not supported in older Pod
-translators.) The text in these heading commands can use
-formatting codes, as seen here:
+The text "Object Attributes" comprises the heading there.
+The text in these heading commands can use formatting codes, as seen here:
=head2 Possible Values for C<$/>
And perhaps most importantly, keep the items consistent: either use
"=item *" for all of them, to produce bullets; or use "=item 1.",
"=item 2.", etc., to produce numbered lists; or use "=item foo",
-"=item bar", etc. -- namely, things that look nothing like bullets or
+"=item bar", etc.--namely, things that look nothing like bullets or
numbers.
If you start with bullets or numbers, stick with them, as
That is, with "=for", you can have only one paragraph's worth
of text (i.e., the text in "=foo targetname text..."), but with
"=begin targetname" ... "=end targetname", you can have any amount
-of stuff inbetween. (Note that there still must be a blank line
+of stuff in between. (Note that there still must be a blank line
after the "=begin" command and a blank line before the "=end"
-command.
+command.)
Here are some examples of how to use these:
=encoding utf8
=encoding koi8-r
-
+
=encoding ShiftJIS
-
+
=encoding big5
=back
=item *
-C<EE<lt>solE<gt>> = a literal / (I<sol>idus)
+C<EE<lt>solE<gt>> -- a literal / (I<sol>idus)
The above four are optional except in other formatting codes,
notably C<LE<lt>...E<gt>>, and when preceded by a
"C<NEE<lt>ltE<gt>3>" (for "NE<lt>3") you could write
"C<NZE<lt>E<gt>E<lt>3>" (the "ZE<lt>E<gt>" breaks up the "N" and
the "E<lt>" so they can't be considered
-the part of a (fictitious) "NE<lt>...E<gt>" code.
+the part of a (fictitious) "NE<lt>...E<gt>" code).
=for comment
This was formerly explained as a "zero-width character". But it in
This will produce: "C<$a E<lt>=E<gt> $b>"
A more readable, and perhaps more "plain" way is to use an alternate
-set of delimiters that doesn't require a single ">" to be escaped. With
-the Pod formatters that are standard starting with perl5.5.660, doubled
-angle brackets ("<<" and ">>") may be used I<if and only if there is
+set of delimiters that doesn't require a single ">" to be escaped.
+Doubled angle brackets ("<<" and ">>") may be used I<if and only if there is
whitespace right after the opening delimiter and whitespace right
before the closing delimiter!> For example, the following will
do the trick:
C<$a E<lt>=E<gt> $b>
+The multiple-bracket form does not affect the interpretation of the contents of
+the formatting code, only how it must end. That means that the examples above
+are also exactly the same as this:
+
+ C<< $a E<lt>=E<gt> $b >>
+
As a further example, this means that if you wanted to put these bits of
code in C<C> (code) style:
=head2 Embedding Pods in Perl Modules
X<POD, embedding>
-You can embed Pod documentation in your Perl modules and scripts.
-Start your documentation with an empty line, a "=head1" command at the
-beginning, and end it with a "=cut" command and an empty line. Perl
-will ignore the Pod text. See any of the supplied library modules for
-examples. If you're going to put your Pod at the end of the file, and
-you're using an __END__ or __DATA__ cut mark, make sure to put an
-empty line there before the first Pod command.
+You can embed Pod documentation in your Perl modules and scripts. Start
+your documentation with an empty line, a "=head1" command at the
+beginning, and end it with a "=cut" command and an empty line. The
+B<perl> executable will ignore the Pod text. You can place a Pod
+statement where B<perl> expects the beginning of a new statement, but
+not within a statement, as that would result in an error. See any of
+the supplied library modules for examples.
+
+If you're going to put your Pod at the end of the file, and you're using
+an C<__END__> or C<__DATA__> cut mark, make sure to put an empty line there
+before the first Pod command.
__END__
Older translators might add wording around an LE<lt>E<gt> link, so that
C<LE<lt>Foo::BarE<gt>> may become "the Foo::Bar manpage", for example.
So you shouldn't write things like C<the LE<lt>fooE<gt>
-documentation>, if you want the translated document to read sensibly
--- instead write C<the LE<lt>Foo::Bar|Foo::BarE<gt> documentation> or
+documentation>, if you want the translated document to read sensibly.
+Instead, write C<the LE<lt>Foo::Bar|Foo::BarE<gt> documentation> or
C<LE<lt>the Foo::Bar documentation|Foo::BarE<gt>>, to control how the
link comes out.