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.\" ========================================================================
.\"
.IX Title "PERLFUNC 1"
.TH PERLFUNC 1 "2019-10-24" "perl v5.30.2" "Perl Programmers Reference Guide"
.\" For nroff, turn off justification. Always turn off hyphenation; it makes
.\" way too many mistakes in technical documents.
.if n .ad l
.nh
.SH "NAME"
perlfunc \- Perl builtin functions
.IX Xref "function"
.SH "DESCRIPTION"
.IX Header "DESCRIPTION"
The functions in this section can serve as terms in an expression.
They fall into two major categories: list operators and named unary
operators. These differ in their precedence relationship with a
following comma. (See the precedence table in perlop.) List
operators take more than one argument, while unary operators can never
take more than one argument. Thus, a comma terminates the argument of
a unary operator, but merely separates the arguments of a list
operator. A unary operator generally provides scalar context to its
argument, while a list operator may provide either scalar or list
contexts for its arguments. If it does both, scalar arguments
come first and list argument follow, and there can only ever
be one such list argument. For instance,
\&\f(CW\*(C`splice\*(C'\fR has three scalar arguments
followed by a list, whereas \f(CW\*(C`gethostbyname\*(C'\fR has
four scalar arguments.
.PP
In the syntax descriptions that follow, list operators that expect a
list (and provide list context for elements of the list) are shown
with \s-1LIST\s0 as an argument. Such a list may consist of any combination
of scalar arguments or list values; the list values will be included
in the list as if each individual element were interpolated at that
point in the list, forming a longer single-dimensional list value.
Commas should separate literal elements of the \s-1LIST.\s0
.PP
Any function in the list below may be used either with or without
parentheses around its arguments. (The syntax descriptions omit the
parentheses.) If you use parentheses, the simple but occasionally
surprising rule is this: It \fIlooks\fR like a function, therefore it \fIis\fR a
function, and precedence doesn't matter. Otherwise it's a list
operator or unary operator, and precedence does matter. Whitespace
between the function and left parenthesis doesn't count, so sometimes
you need to be careful:
.PP
.Vb 5
\& print 1+2+4; # Prints 7.
\& print(1+2) + 4; # Prints 3.
\& print (1+2)+4; # Also prints 3!
\& print +(1+2)+4; # Prints 7.
\& print ((1+2)+4); # Prints 7.
.Ve
.PP
If you run Perl with the \f(CW\*(C`use warnings\*(C'\fR pragma, it can warn
you about this. For example, the third line above produces:
.PP
.Vb 2
\& print (...) interpreted as function at \- line 1.
\& Useless use of integer addition in void context at \- line 1.
.Ve
.PP
A few functions take no arguments at all, and therefore work as neither
unary nor list operators. These include such functions as
\&\f(CW\*(C`time\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`endpwent\*(C'\fR. For example,
\&\f(CW\*(C`time+86_400\*(C'\fR always means \f(CW\*(C`time() + 86_400\*(C'\fR.
.PP
For functions that can be used in either a scalar or list context,
nonabortive failure is generally indicated in scalar context by
returning the undefined value, and in list context by returning the
empty list.
.PP
Remember the following important rule: There is \fBno rule\fR that relates
the behavior of an expression in list context to its behavior in scalar
context, or vice versa. It might do two totally different things.
Each operator and function decides which sort of value would be most
appropriate to return in scalar context. Some operators return the
length of the list that would have been returned in list context. Some
operators return the first value in the list. Some operators return the
last value in the list. Some operators return a count of successful
operations. In general, they do what you want, unless you want
consistency.
.IX Xref "context"
.PP
A named array in scalar context is quite different from what would at
first glance appear to be a list in scalar context. You can't get a list
like \f(CW\*(C`(1,2,3)\*(C'\fR into being in scalar context, because the compiler knows
the context at compile time. It would generate the scalar comma operator
there, not the list concatenation version of the comma. That means it
was never a list to start with.
.PP
In general, functions in Perl that serve as wrappers for system calls
(\*(L"syscalls\*(R") of the same name (like \fBchown\fR\|(2), \fBfork\fR\|(2),
\&\fBclosedir\fR\|(2), etc.) return true when they succeed and
\&\f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR otherwise, as is usually mentioned in the
descriptions below. This is different from the C interfaces, which
return \f(CW\*(C`\-1\*(C'\fR on failure. Exceptions to this rule include
\&\f(CW\*(C`wait\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`waitpid\*(C'\fR, and
\&\f(CW\*(C`syscall\*(C'\fR. System calls also set the special
\&\f(CW$!\fR variable on failure. Other functions do not, except
accidentally.
.PP
Extension modules can also hook into the Perl parser to define new
kinds of keyword-headed expression. These may look like functions, but
may also look completely different. The syntax following the keyword
is defined entirely by the extension. If you are an implementor, see
\&\*(L"PL_keyword_plugin\*(R" in perlapi for the mechanism. If you are using such
a module, see the module's documentation for details of the syntax that
it defines.
.SS "Perl Functions by Category"
.IX Xref "function"
.IX Subsection "Perl Functions by Category"
Here are Perl's functions (including things that look like
functions, like some keywords and named operators)
arranged by category. Some functions appear in more
than one place. Any warnings, including those produced by
keywords, are described in perldiag and warnings.
.IP "Functions for SCALARs or strings" 4
.IX Xref "scalar string character"
.IX Item "Functions for SCALARs or strings"
\&\f(CW\*(C`chomp\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`chop\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`chr\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`crypt\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`fc\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`hex\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`index\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`lc\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`lcfirst\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`length\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`oct\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`ord\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`pack\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`q//\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`qq//\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`reverse\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`rindex\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`sprintf\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`substr\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`tr///\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`uc\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`ucfirst\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`y///\*(C'\fR
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`fc\*(C'\fR is available only if the
\&\f(CW"fc"\fR feature is enabled or if it is
prefixed with \f(CW\*(C`CORE::\*(C'\fR. The
\&\f(CW"fc"\fR feature is enabled automatically
with a \f(CW\*(C`use v5.16\*(C'\fR (or higher) declaration in the current scope.
.IP "Regular expressions and pattern matching" 4
.IX Xref "regular expression regex regexp"
.IX Item "Regular expressions and pattern matching"
\&\f(CW\*(C`m//\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`pos\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`qr//\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`quotemeta\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`s///\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`split\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`study\*(C'\fR
.IP "Numeric functions" 4
.IX Xref "numeric number trigonometric trigonometry"
.IX Item "Numeric functions"
\&\f(CW\*(C`abs\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`atan2\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`cos\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`exp\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`hex\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`int\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`log\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`oct\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`rand\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`sin\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`sqrt\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`srand\*(C'\fR
.ie n .IP "Functions for real @ARRAYs" 4
.el .IP "Functions for real \f(CW@ARRAYs\fR" 4
.IX Xref "array"
.IX Item "Functions for real @ARRAYs"
\&\f(CW\*(C`each\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`keys\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`pop\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`push\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`shift\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`splice\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`unshift\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`values\*(C'\fR
.IP "Functions for list data" 4
.IX Xref "list"
.IX Item "Functions for list data"
\&\f(CW\*(C`grep\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`join\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`map\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`qw//\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`reverse\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`sort\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`unpack\*(C'\fR
.ie n .IP "Functions for real %HASHes" 4
.el .IP "Functions for real \f(CW%HASHes\fR" 4
.IX Xref "hash"
.IX Item "Functions for real %HASHes"
\&\f(CW\*(C`delete\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`each\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`exists\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`keys\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`values\*(C'\fR
.IP "Input and output functions" 4
.IX Xref "I O input output dbm"
.IX Item "Input and output functions"
\&\f(CW\*(C`binmode\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`close\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`closedir\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`dbmclose\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`dbmopen\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`die\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`eof\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`fileno\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`flock\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`format\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`getc\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`print\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`printf\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`read\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`readdir\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`readline\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`rewinddir\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`say\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`seek\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`seekdir\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`select\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`syscall\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`sysread\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`sysseek\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`syswrite\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`tell\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`telldir\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`truncate\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`warn\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`write\*(C'\fR
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`say\*(C'\fR is available only if the
\&\f(CW"say"\fR feature is enabled or if it is
prefixed with \f(CW\*(C`CORE::\*(C'\fR. The
\&\f(CW"say"\fR feature is enabled automatically
with a \f(CW\*(C`use v5.10\*(C'\fR (or higher) declaration in the current scope.
.IP "Functions for fixed-length data or records" 4
.IX Item "Functions for fixed-length data or records"
\&\f(CW\*(C`pack\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`read\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`syscall\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`sysread\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`sysseek\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`syswrite\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`unpack\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`vec\*(C'\fR
.IP "Functions for filehandles, files, or directories" 4
.IX Xref "file filehandle directory pipe link symlink"
.IX Item "Functions for filehandles, files, or directories"
\&\f(CW\*(C`\-\f(CIX\f(CW\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`chdir\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`chmod\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`chown\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`chroot\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`fcntl\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`glob\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`ioctl\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`link\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`lstat\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`mkdir\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`open\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`opendir\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`readlink\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`rename\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`rmdir\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`select\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`stat\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`symlink\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`sysopen\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`umask\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`unlink\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`utime\*(C'\fR
.IP "Keywords related to the control flow of your Perl program" 4
.IX Xref "control flow"
.IX Item "Keywords related to the control flow of your Perl program"
\&\f(CW\*(C`break\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`caller\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`continue\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`die\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`do\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`dump\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`evalbytes\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`exit\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`_\|_FILE_\|_\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`goto\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`last\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`_\|_LINE_\|_\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`next\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`_\|_PACKAGE_\|_\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`redo\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`return\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`sub\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`_\|_SUB_\|_\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`wantarray\*(C'\fR
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`break\*(C'\fR is available only if you enable the experimental
\&\f(CW"switch"\fR feature or use the \f(CW\*(C`CORE::\*(C'\fR
prefix. The \f(CW"switch"\fR feature also
enables the \f(CW\*(C`default\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`given\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`when\*(C'\fR statements, which are
documented in \*(L"Switch Statements\*(R" in perlsyn.
The \f(CW"switch"\fR feature is enabled
automatically with a \f(CW\*(C`use v5.10\*(C'\fR (or higher) declaration in the current
scope. In Perl v5.14 and earlier, \f(CW\*(C`continue\*(C'\fR
required the \f(CW"switch"\fR feature, like
the other keywords.
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`evalbytes\*(C'\fR is only available with the
\&\f(CW"evalbytes"\fR feature
(see feature) or if prefixed with \f(CW\*(C`CORE::\*(C'\fR. \f(CW\*(C`_\|_SUB_\|_\*(C'\fR
is only available with the
\&\f(CW"current_sub"\fR feature or if
prefixed with \f(CW\*(C`CORE::\*(C'\fR. Both the
\&\f(CW"evalbytes"\fR
and \f(CW"current_sub"\fR features are
enabled automatically with a \f(CW\*(C`use v5.16\*(C'\fR (or higher) declaration in the
current scope.
.IP "Keywords related to scoping" 4
.IX Item "Keywords related to scoping"
\&\f(CW\*(C`caller\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`import\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`local\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`my\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`our\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`package\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`state\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`use\*(C'\fR
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`state\*(C'\fR is available only if the
\&\f(CW"state"\fR feature is enabled or if it is
prefixed with \f(CW\*(C`CORE::\*(C'\fR. The
\&\f(CW"state"\fR feature is enabled
automatically with a \f(CW\*(C`use v5.10\*(C'\fR (or higher) declaration in the current
scope.
.IP "Miscellaneous functions" 4
.IX Item "Miscellaneous functions"
\&\f(CW\*(C`defined\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`formline\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`lock\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`prototype\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`reset\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`scalar\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR
.IP "Functions for processes and process groups" 4
.IX Xref "process pid process id"
.IX Item "Functions for processes and process groups"
\&\f(CW\*(C`alarm\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`exec\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`fork\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`getpgrp\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`getppid\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`getpriority\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`kill\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`pipe\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`qx//\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`readpipe\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`setpgrp\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`setpriority\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`sleep\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`system\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`times\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`wait\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`waitpid\*(C'\fR
.IP "Keywords related to Perl modules" 4
.IX Xref "module"
.IX Item "Keywords related to Perl modules"
\&\f(CW\*(C`do\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`import\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`no\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`package\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`require\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`use\*(C'\fR
.IP "Keywords related to classes and object-orientation" 4
.IX Xref "object class package"
.IX Item "Keywords related to classes and object-orientation"
\&\f(CW\*(C`bless\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`dbmclose\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`dbmopen\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`package\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`ref\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`tie\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`tied\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`untie\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`use\*(C'\fR
.IP "Low-level socket functions" 4
.IX Xref "socket sock"
.IX Item "Low-level socket functions"
\&\f(CW\*(C`accept\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`bind\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`connect\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`getpeername\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`getsockname\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`getsockopt\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`listen\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`recv\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`send\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`setsockopt\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`shutdown\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`socket\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`socketpair\*(C'\fR
.IP "System V interprocess communication functions" 4
.IX Xref "IPC System V semaphore shared memory memory message"
.IX Item "System V interprocess communication functions"
\&\f(CW\*(C`msgctl\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`msgget\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`msgrcv\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`msgsnd\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`semctl\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`semget\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`semop\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`shmctl\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`shmget\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`shmread\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`shmwrite\*(C'\fR
.IP "Fetching user and group info" 4
.IX Xref "user group password uid gid passwd etc passwd"
.IX Item "Fetching user and group info"
\&\f(CW\*(C`endgrent\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`endhostent\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`endnetent\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`endpwent\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`getgrent\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`getgrgid\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`getgrnam\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`getlogin\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`getpwent\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`getpwnam\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`getpwuid\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`setgrent\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`setpwent\*(C'\fR
.IP "Fetching network info" 4
.IX Xref "network protocol host hostname IP address service"
.IX Item "Fetching network info"
\&\f(CW\*(C`endprotoent\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`endservent\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`gethostbyaddr\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`gethostbyname\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`gethostent\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`getnetbyaddr\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`getnetbyname\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`getnetent\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`getprotobyname\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`getprotobynumber\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`getprotoent\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`getservbyname\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`getservbyport\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`getservent\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`sethostent\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`setnetent\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`setprotoent\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`setservent\*(C'\fR
.IP "Time-related functions" 4
.IX Xref "time date"
.IX Item "Time-related functions"
\&\f(CW\*(C`gmtime\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`localtime\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`time\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`times\*(C'\fR
.IP "Non-function keywords" 4
.IX Item "Non-function keywords"
\&\f(CW\*(C`and\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`AUTOLOAD\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`BEGIN\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`CHECK\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`cmp\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`CORE\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`_\|_DATA_\|_\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`default\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`DESTROY\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`else\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`elseif\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`elsif\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`END\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`_\|_END_\|_\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`eq\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`for\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`foreach\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`ge\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`given\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`gt\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`if\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`INIT\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`le\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`lt\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`ne\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`not\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`or\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`UNITCHECK\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`unless\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`until\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`when\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`while\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`x\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`xor\*(C'\fR
.SS "Portability"
.IX Xref "portability Unix portable"
.IX Subsection "Portability"
Perl was born in Unix and can therefore access all common Unix
system calls. In non-Unix environments, the functionality of some
Unix system calls may not be available or details of the available
functionality may differ slightly. The Perl functions affected
by this are:
.PP
\&\f(CW\*(C`\-\f(CIX\f(CW\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`binmode\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`chmod\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`chown\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`chroot\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`crypt\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`dbmclose\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`dbmopen\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`dump\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`endgrent\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`endhostent\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`endnetent\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`endprotoent\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`endpwent\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`endservent\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`exec\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`fcntl\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`flock\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`fork\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`getgrent\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`getgrgid\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`gethostbyname\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`gethostent\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`getlogin\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`getnetbyaddr\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`getnetbyname\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`getnetent\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`getppid\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`getpgrp\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`getpriority\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`getprotobynumber\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`getprotoent\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`getpwent\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`getpwnam\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`getpwuid\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`getservbyport\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`getservent\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`getsockopt\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`glob\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`ioctl\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`kill\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`link\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`lstat\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`msgctl\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`msgget\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`msgrcv\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`msgsnd\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`open\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`pipe\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`readlink\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`rename\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`select\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`semctl\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`semget\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`semop\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`setgrent\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`sethostent\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`setnetent\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`setpgrp\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`setpriority\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`setprotoent\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`setpwent\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`setservent\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`setsockopt\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`shmctl\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`shmget\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`shmread\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`shmwrite\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`socket\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`socketpair\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`stat\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`symlink\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`syscall\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`sysopen\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`system\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`times\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`truncate\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`umask\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`unlink\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`utime\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`wait\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`waitpid\*(C'\fR
.PP
For more information about the portability of these functions, see
perlport and other available platform-specific documentation.
.SS "Alphabetical Listing of Perl Functions"
.IX Subsection "Alphabetical Listing of Perl Functions"
.IP "\-X \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0" 4
.IX Xref "-r -w -x -o -R -W -X -O -e -z -s -f -d -l -p -S -b -c -t -u -g -k -T -B -M -A -C"
.IX Item "-X FILEHANDLE"
.PD 0
.IP "\-X \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Item "-X EXPR"
.IP "\-X \s-1DIRHANDLE\s0" 4
.IX Item "-X DIRHANDLE"
.IP "\-X" 4
.IX Item "-X"
.PD
A file test, where X is one of the letters listed below. This unary
operator takes one argument, either a filename, a filehandle, or a dirhandle,
and tests the associated file to see if something is true about it. If the
argument is omitted, tests \f(CW$_\fR, except for \f(CW\*(C`\-t\*(C'\fR, which
tests \s-1STDIN.\s0 Unless otherwise documented, it returns \f(CW1\fR for true and
\&\f(CW\*(Aq\*(Aq\fR for false. If the file doesn't exist or can't be examined, it
returns \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR and sets \f(CW$!\fR (errno).
With the exception of the \f(CW\*(C`\-l\*(C'\fR test they all follow symbolic links
because they use \f(CW\*(C`stat()\*(C'\fR and not \f(CW\*(C`lstat()\*(C'\fR (so dangling symlinks can't
be examined and will therefore report failure).
.Sp
Despite the funny names, precedence is the same as any other named unary
operator. The operator may be any of:
.Sp
.Vb 4
\& \-r File is readable by effective uid/gid.
\& \-w File is writable by effective uid/gid.
\& \-x File is executable by effective uid/gid.
\& \-o File is owned by effective uid.
\&
\& \-R File is readable by real uid/gid.
\& \-W File is writable by real uid/gid.
\& \-X File is executable by real uid/gid.
\& \-O File is owned by real uid.
\&
\& \-e File exists.
\& \-z File has zero size (is empty).
\& \-s File has nonzero size (returns size in bytes).
\&
\& \-f File is a plain file.
\& \-d File is a directory.
\& \-l File is a symbolic link (false if symlinks aren\*(Aqt
\& supported by the file system).
\& \-p File is a named pipe (FIFO), or Filehandle is a pipe.
\& \-S File is a socket.
\& \-b File is a block special file.
\& \-c File is a character special file.
\& \-t Filehandle is opened to a tty.
\&
\& \-u File has setuid bit set.
\& \-g File has setgid bit set.
\& \-k File has sticky bit set.
\&
\& \-T File is an ASCII or UTF\-8 text file (heuristic guess).
\& \-B File is a "binary" file (opposite of \-T).
\&
\& \-M Script start time minus file modification time, in days.
\& \-A Same for access time.
\& \-C Same for inode change time (Unix, may differ for other
\& platforms)
.Ve
.Sp
Example:
.Sp
.Vb 5
\& while (<>) {
\& chomp;
\& next unless \-f $_; # ignore specials
\& #...
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
Note that \f(CW\*(C`\-s/a/b/\*(C'\fR does not do a negated substitution. Saying
\&\f(CW\*(C`\-exp($foo)\*(C'\fR still works as expected, however: only single letters
following a minus are interpreted as file tests.
.Sp
These operators are exempt from the \*(L"looks like a function rule\*(R" described
above. That is, an opening parenthesis after the operator does not affect
how much of the following code constitutes the argument. Put the opening
parentheses before the operator to separate it from code that follows (this
applies only to operators with higher precedence than unary operators, of
course):
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& \-s($file) + 1024 # probably wrong; same as \-s($file + 1024)
\& (\-s $file) + 1024 # correct
.Ve
.Sp
The interpretation of the file permission operators \f(CW\*(C`\-r\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`\-R\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`\-w\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`\-W\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`\-x\*(C'\fR, and \f(CW\*(C`\-X\*(C'\fR is by default based solely on the mode
of the file and the uids and gids of the user. There may be other
reasons you can't actually read, write, or execute the file: for
example network filesystem access controls, ACLs (access control lists),
read-only filesystems, and unrecognized executable formats. Note
that the use of these six specific operators to verify if some operation
is possible is usually a mistake, because it may be open to race
conditions.
.Sp
Also note that, for the superuser on the local filesystems, the \f(CW\*(C`\-r\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`\-R\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`\-w\*(C'\fR, and \f(CW\*(C`\-W\*(C'\fR tests always return 1, and \f(CW\*(C`\-x\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`\-X\*(C'\fR return 1
if any execute bit is set in the mode. Scripts run by the superuser
may thus need to do a \f(CW\*(C`stat\*(C'\fR to determine the
actual mode of the file, or temporarily set their effective uid to
something else.
.Sp
If you are using ACLs, there is a pragma called \f(CW\*(C`filetest\*(C'\fR
that may produce more accurate results than the bare
\&\f(CW\*(C`stat\*(C'\fR mode bits.
When under \f(CW\*(C`use filetest \*(Aqaccess\*(Aq\*(C'\fR, the above-mentioned filetests
test whether the permission can(not) be granted using the \fBaccess\fR\|(2)
family of system calls. Also note that the \f(CW\*(C`\-x\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`\-X\*(C'\fR tests may
under this pragma return true even if there are no execute permission
bits set (nor any extra execute permission ACLs). This strangeness is
due to the underlying system calls' definitions. Note also that, due to
the implementation of \f(CW\*(C`use filetest \*(Aqaccess\*(Aq\*(C'\fR, the \f(CW\*(C`_\*(C'\fR special
filehandle won't cache the results of the file tests when this pragma is
in effect. Read the documentation for the \f(CW\*(C`filetest\*(C'\fR
pragma for more information.
.Sp
The \f(CW\*(C`\-T\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`\-B\*(C'\fR tests work as follows. The first block or so of
the file is examined to see if it is valid \s-1UTF\-8\s0 that includes non-ASCII
characters. If so, it's a \f(CW\*(C`\-T\*(C'\fR file. Otherwise, that same portion of
the file is examined for odd characters such as strange control codes or
characters with the high bit set. If more than a third of the
characters are strange, it's a \f(CW\*(C`\-B\*(C'\fR file; otherwise it's a \f(CW\*(C`\-T\*(C'\fR file.
Also, any file containing a zero byte in the examined portion is
considered a binary file. (If executed within the scope of a use\ locale which includes \f(CW\*(C`LC_CTYPE\*(C'\fR, odd characters are
anything that isn't a printable nor space in the current locale.) If
\&\f(CW\*(C`\-T\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`\-B\*(C'\fR is used on a filehandle, the current \s-1IO\s0 buffer is
examined
rather than the first block. Both \f(CW\*(C`\-T\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`\-B\*(C'\fR return true on an empty
file, or a file at \s-1EOF\s0 when testing a filehandle. Because you have to
read a file to do the \f(CW\*(C`\-T\*(C'\fR test, on most occasions you want to use a \f(CW\*(C`\-f\*(C'\fR
against the file first, as in \f(CW\*(C`next unless \-f $file && \-T $file\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
If any of the file tests (or either the \f(CW\*(C`stat\*(C'\fR or
\&\f(CW\*(C`lstat\*(C'\fR operator) is given the special filehandle
consisting of a solitary underline, then the stat structure of the
previous file test (or \f(CW\*(C`stat\*(C'\fR operator) is used,
saving a system call. (This doesn't work with \f(CW\*(C`\-t\*(C'\fR, and you need to
remember that \f(CW\*(C`lstat\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`\-l\*(C'\fR leave values in
the stat structure for the symbolic link, not the real file.) (Also, if
the stat buffer was filled by an \f(CW\*(C`lstat\*(C'\fR call,
\&\f(CW\*(C`\-T\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`\-B\*(C'\fR will reset it with the results of \f(CW\*(C`stat _\*(C'\fR).
Example:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& print "Can do.\en" if \-r $a || \-w _ || \-x _;
\&
\& stat($filename);
\& print "Readable\en" if \-r _;
\& print "Writable\en" if \-w _;
\& print "Executable\en" if \-x _;
\& print "Setuid\en" if \-u _;
\& print "Setgid\en" if \-g _;
\& print "Sticky\en" if \-k _;
\& print "Text\en" if \-T _;
\& print "Binary\en" if \-B _;
.Ve
.Sp
As of Perl 5.10.0, as a form of purely syntactic sugar, you can stack file
test operators, in a way that \f(CW\*(C`\-f \-w \-x $file\*(C'\fR is equivalent to
\&\f(CW\*(C`\-x $file && \-w _ && \-f _\*(C'\fR. (This is only fancy syntax: if you use
the return value of \f(CW\*(C`\-f $file\*(C'\fR as an argument to another filetest
operator, no special magic will happen.)
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"\-X\*(R" in perlport.
.Sp
To avoid confusing would-be users of your code with mysterious
syntax errors, put something like this at the top of your script:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& use 5.010; # so filetest ops can stack
.Ve
.IP "abs \s-1VALUE\s0" 4
.IX Xref "abs absolute"
.IX Item "abs VALUE"
.PD 0
.IP "abs" 4
.IX Item "abs"
.PD
Returns the absolute value of its argument.
If \s-1VALUE\s0 is omitted, uses \f(CW$_\fR.
.IP "accept \s-1NEWSOCKET,GENERICSOCKET\s0" 4
.IX Xref "accept"
.IX Item "accept NEWSOCKET,GENERICSOCKET"
Accepts an incoming socket connect, just as \fBaccept\fR\|(2)
does. Returns the packed address if it succeeded, false otherwise.
See the example in \*(L"Sockets: Client/Server Communication\*(R" in perlipc.
.Sp
On systems that support a close-on-exec flag on files, the flag will
be set for the newly opened file descriptor, as determined by the
value of \f(CW$^F\fR. See \*(L"$^F\*(R" in perlvar.
.IP "alarm \s-1SECONDS\s0" 4
.IX Xref "alarm SIGALRM timer"
.IX Item "alarm SECONDS"
.PD 0
.IP "alarm" 4
.IX Item "alarm"
.PD
Arranges to have a \s-1SIGALRM\s0 delivered to this process after the
specified number of wallclock seconds has elapsed. If \s-1SECONDS\s0 is not
specified, the value stored in \f(CW$_\fR is used. (On some
machines, unfortunately, the elapsed time may be up to one second less
or more than you specified because of how seconds are counted, and
process scheduling may delay the delivery of the signal even further.)
.Sp
Only one timer may be counting at once. Each call disables the
previous timer, and an argument of \f(CW0\fR may be supplied to cancel the
previous timer without starting a new one. The returned value is the
amount of time remaining on the previous timer.
.Sp
For delays of finer granularity than one second, the Time::HiRes module
(from \s-1CPAN,\s0 and starting from Perl 5.8 part of the standard
distribution) provides
\&\f(CW\*(C`ualarm\*(C'\fR.
You may also use Perl's four-argument version of
\&\f(CW\*(C`select\*(C'\fR leaving the first three
arguments undefined, or you might be able to use the
\&\f(CW\*(C`syscall\*(C'\fR interface to access \fBsetitimer\fR\|(2)
if your system supports it. See perlfaq8 for details.
.Sp
It is usually a mistake to intermix \f(CW\*(C`alarm\*(C'\fR and
\&\f(CW\*(C`sleep\*(C'\fR calls, because \f(CW\*(C`sleep\*(C'\fR may be
internally implemented on your system with \f(CW\*(C`alarm\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
If you want to use \f(CW\*(C`alarm\*(C'\fR to time out a system call
you need to use an \f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR/\f(CW\*(C`die\*(C'\fR pair. You
can't rely on the alarm causing the system call to fail with
\&\f(CW$!\fR set to \f(CW\*(C`EINTR\*(C'\fR because Perl sets up signal handlers
to restart system calls on some systems. Using
\&\f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR/\f(CW\*(C`die\*(C'\fR always works, modulo the
caveats given in \*(L"Signals\*(R" in perlipc.
.Sp
.Vb 10
\& eval {
\& local $SIG{ALRM} = sub { die "alarm\en" }; # NB: \en required
\& alarm $timeout;
\& my $nread = sysread $socket, $buffer, $size;
\& alarm 0;
\& };
\& if ($@) {
\& die unless $@ eq "alarm\en"; # propagate unexpected errors
\& # timed out
\& }
\& else {
\& # didn\*(Aqt
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
For more information see perlipc.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"alarm\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "atan2 Y,X" 4
.IX Xref "atan2 arctangent tan tangent"
.IX Item "atan2 Y,X"
Returns the arctangent of Y/X in the range \-PI to \s-1PI.\s0
.Sp
For the tangent operation, you may use the
\&\f(CW\*(C`Math::Trig::tan\*(C'\fR function, or use the familiar
relation:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& sub tan { sin($_[0]) / cos($_[0]) }
.Ve
.Sp
The return value for \f(CW\*(C`atan2(0,0)\*(C'\fR is implementation-defined; consult
your \fBatan2\fR\|(3) manpage for more information.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"atan2\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "bind \s-1SOCKET,NAME\s0" 4
.IX Xref "bind"
.IX Item "bind SOCKET,NAME"
Binds a network address to a socket, just as \fBbind\fR\|(2)
does. Returns true if it succeeded, false otherwise. \s-1NAME\s0 should be a
packed address of the appropriate type for the socket. See the examples in
\&\*(L"Sockets: Client/Server Communication\*(R" in perlipc.
.IP "binmode \s-1FILEHANDLE, LAYER\s0" 4
.IX Xref "binmode binary text DOS Windows"
.IX Item "binmode FILEHANDLE, LAYER"
.PD 0
.IP "binmode \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0" 4
.IX Item "binmode FILEHANDLE"
.PD
Arranges for \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0 to be read or written in \*(L"binary\*(R" or \*(L"text\*(R"
mode on systems where the run-time libraries distinguish between
binary and text files. If \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0 is an expression, the value is
taken as the name of the filehandle. Returns true on success,
otherwise it returns \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR and sets
\&\f(CW$!\fR (errno).
.Sp
On some systems (in general, \s-1DOS\-\s0 and Windows-based systems)
\&\f(CW\*(C`binmode\*(C'\fR is necessary when you're not
working with a text file. For the sake of portability it is a good idea
always to use it when appropriate, and never to use it when it isn't
appropriate. Also, people can set their I/O to be by default
UTF8\-encoded Unicode, not bytes.
.Sp
In other words: regardless of platform, use
\&\f(CW\*(C`binmode\*(C'\fR on binary data, like images,
for example.
.Sp
If \s-1LAYER\s0 is present it is a single string, but may contain multiple
directives. The directives alter the behaviour of the filehandle.
When \s-1LAYER\s0 is present, using binmode on a text file makes sense.
.Sp
If \s-1LAYER\s0 is omitted or specified as \f(CW\*(C`:raw\*(C'\fR the filehandle is made
suitable for passing binary data. This includes turning off possible \s-1CRLF\s0
translation and marking it as bytes (as opposed to Unicode characters).
Note that, despite what may be implied in \fI\*(L"Programming Perl\*(R"\fR (the
Camel, 3rd edition) or elsewhere, \f(CW\*(C`:raw\*(C'\fR is \fInot\fR simply the inverse of \f(CW\*(C`:crlf\*(C'\fR.
Other layers that would affect the binary nature of the stream are
\&\fIalso\fR disabled. See PerlIO, perlrun, and the discussion about the
\&\s-1PERLIO\s0 environment variable.
.Sp
The \f(CW\*(C`:bytes\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`:crlf\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`:utf8\*(C'\fR, and any other directives of the
form \f(CW\*(C`:...\*(C'\fR, are called I/O \fIlayers\fR. The open pragma can be used to
establish default I/O layers.
.Sp
\&\fIThe \s-1LAYER\s0 parameter of the \f(CI\*(C`binmode\*(C'\fI
function is described as \*(L"\s-1DISCIPLINE\*(R"\s0 in \*(L"Programming Perl, 3rd
Edition\*(R". However, since the publishing of this book, by many known as
\&\*(L"Camel \s-1III\*(R",\s0 the consensus of the naming of this functionality has moved
from \*(L"discipline\*(R" to \*(L"layer\*(R". All documentation of this version of Perl
therefore refers to \*(L"layers\*(R" rather than to \*(L"disciplines\*(R". Now back to
the regularly scheduled documentation...\fR
.Sp
To mark \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0 as \s-1UTF\-8,\s0 use \f(CW\*(C`:utf8\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`:encoding(UTF\-8)\*(C'\fR.
\&\f(CW\*(C`:utf8\*(C'\fR just marks the data as \s-1UTF\-8\s0 without further checking,
while \f(CW\*(C`:encoding(UTF\-8)\*(C'\fR checks the data for actually being valid
\&\s-1UTF\-8.\s0 More details can be found in PerlIO::encoding.
.Sp
In general, \f(CW\*(C`binmode\*(C'\fR should be called
after \f(CW\*(C`open\*(C'\fR but before any I/O is done on the
filehandle. Calling \f(CW\*(C`binmode\*(C'\fR normally
flushes any pending buffered output data (and perhaps pending input
data) on the handle. An exception to this is the \f(CW\*(C`:encoding\*(C'\fR layer
that changes the default character encoding of the handle.
The \f(CW\*(C`:encoding\*(C'\fR layer sometimes needs to be called in
mid-stream, and it doesn't flush the stream. \f(CW\*(C`:encoding\*(C'\fR
also implicitly pushes on top of itself the \f(CW\*(C`:utf8\*(C'\fR layer because
internally Perl operates on UTF8\-encoded Unicode characters.
.Sp
The operating system, device drivers, C libraries, and Perl run-time
system all conspire to let the programmer treat a single
character (\f(CW\*(C`\en\*(C'\fR) as the line terminator, irrespective of external
representation. On many operating systems, the native text file
representation matches the internal representation, but on some
platforms the external representation of \f(CW\*(C`\en\*(C'\fR is made up of more than
one character.
.Sp
All variants of Unix, Mac \s-1OS\s0 (old and new), and Stream_LF files on \s-1VMS\s0 use
a single character to end each line in the external representation of text
(even though that single character is \s-1CARRIAGE RETURN\s0 on old, pre-Darwin
flavors of Mac \s-1OS,\s0 and is \s-1LINE FEED\s0 on Unix and most \s-1VMS\s0 files). In other
systems like \s-1OS/2, DOS,\s0 and the various flavors of MS-Windows, your program
sees a \f(CW\*(C`\en\*(C'\fR as a simple \f(CW\*(C`\ecJ\*(C'\fR, but what's stored in text files are the
two characters \f(CW\*(C`\ecM\ecJ\*(C'\fR. That means that if you don't use
\&\f(CW\*(C`binmode\*(C'\fR on these systems, \f(CW\*(C`\ecM\ecJ\*(C'\fR
sequences on disk will be converted to \f(CW\*(C`\en\*(C'\fR on input, and any \f(CW\*(C`\en\*(C'\fR in
your program will be converted back to \f(CW\*(C`\ecM\ecJ\*(C'\fR on output. This is
what you want for text files, but it can be disastrous for binary files.
.Sp
Another consequence of using \f(CW\*(C`binmode\*(C'\fR
(on some systems) is that special end-of-file markers will be seen as
part of the data stream. For systems from the Microsoft family this
means that, if your binary data contain \f(CW\*(C`\ecZ\*(C'\fR, the I/O subsystem will
regard it as the end of the file, unless you use
\&\f(CW\*(C`binmode\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`binmode\*(C'\fR is important not only for
\&\f(CW\*(C`readline\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`print\*(C'\fR
operations, but also when using
\&\f(CW\*(C`read\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`seek\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`sysread\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`syswrite\*(C'\fR and
\&\f(CW\*(C`tell\*(C'\fR (see perlport for more details). See the
\&\f(CW$/\fR and \f(CW\*(C`$\e\*(C'\fR variables in
perlvar for how to manually set your input and output
line-termination sequences.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"binmode\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "bless \s-1REF,CLASSNAME\s0" 4
.IX Xref "bless"
.IX Item "bless REF,CLASSNAME"
.PD 0
.IP "bless \s-1REF\s0" 4
.IX Item "bless REF"
.PD
This function tells the thingy referenced by \s-1REF\s0 that it is now an object
in the \s-1CLASSNAME\s0 package. If \s-1CLASSNAME\s0 is an empty string, it is
interpreted as referring to the \f(CW\*(C`main\*(C'\fR package.
If \s-1CLASSNAME\s0 is omitted, the current package
is used. Because a \f(CW\*(C`bless\*(C'\fR is often the last
thing in a constructor, it returns the reference for convenience.
Always use the two-argument version if a derived class might inherit the
method doing the blessing. See perlobj for more about the blessing
(and blessings) of objects.
.Sp
Consider always blessing objects in CLASSNAMEs that are mixed case.
Namespaces with all lowercase names are considered reserved for
Perl pragmas. Builtin types have all uppercase names. To prevent
confusion, you may wish to avoid such package names as well.
It is advised to avoid the class name \f(CW0\fR, because much code erroneously
uses the result of \f(CW\*(C`ref\*(C'\fR as a truth value.
.Sp
See \*(L"Perl Modules\*(R" in perlmod.
.IP "break" 4
.IX Item "break"
Break out of a \f(CW\*(C`given\*(C'\fR block.
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`break\*(C'\fR is available only if the
\&\f(CW"switch"\fR feature is enabled or if it
is prefixed with \f(CW\*(C`CORE::\*(C'\fR. The
\&\f(CW"switch"\fR feature is enabled
automatically with a \f(CW\*(C`use v5.10\*(C'\fR (or higher) declaration in the current
scope.
.IP "caller \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "caller call stack stack stack trace"
.IX Item "caller EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "caller" 4
.IX Item "caller"
.PD
Returns the context of the current pure perl subroutine call. In scalar
context, returns the caller's package name if there \fIis\fR a caller (that is, if
we're in a subroutine or \f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR or
\&\f(CW\*(C`require\*(C'\fR) and the undefined value otherwise.
caller never returns \s-1XS\s0 subs and they are skipped. The next pure perl
sub will appear instead of the \s-1XS\s0 sub in caller's return values. In
list context, caller returns
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& # 0 1 2
\& my ($package, $filename, $line) = caller;
.Ve
.Sp
With \s-1EXPR,\s0 it returns some extra information that the debugger uses to
print a stack trace. The value of \s-1EXPR\s0 indicates how many call frames
to go back before the current one.
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& # 0 1 2 3 4
\& my ($package, $filename, $line, $subroutine, $hasargs,
\&
\& # 5 6 7 8 9 10
\& $wantarray, $evaltext, $is_require, $hints, $bitmask, $hinthash)
\& = caller($i);
.Ve
.Sp
Here, \f(CW$subroutine\fR is the function that the caller called (rather than the
function containing the caller). Note that \f(CW$subroutine\fR may be \f(CW\*(C`(eval)\*(C'\fR if
the frame is not a subroutine call, but an \f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR. In
such a case additional elements \f(CW$evaltext\fR and \f(CW$is_require\fR are set:
\&\f(CW$is_require\fR is true if the frame is created by a
\&\f(CW\*(C`require\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`use\*(C'\fR
statement, \f(CW$evaltext\fR contains the text of the \f(CW\*(C`eval EXPR\*(C'\fR statement.
In particular, for an \f(CW\*(C`eval BLOCK\*(C'\fR statement, \f(CW$subroutine\fR is \f(CW\*(C`(eval)\*(C'\fR,
but \f(CW$evaltext\fR is undefined. (Note also that each
\&\f(CW\*(C`use\*(C'\fR statement creates a
\&\f(CW\*(C`require\*(C'\fR frame inside an \f(CW\*(C`eval EXPR\*(C'\fR frame.)
\&\f(CW$subroutine\fR may also be \f(CW\*(C`(unknown)\*(C'\fR if this particular subroutine
happens to have been deleted from the symbol table. \f(CW$hasargs\fR is true
if a new instance of \f(CW@_\fR was set up for the frame.
\&\f(CW$hints\fR and \f(CW$bitmask\fR contain pragmatic hints that the caller was
compiled with. \f(CW$hints\fR corresponds to \f(CW$^H\fR, and
\&\f(CW$bitmask\fR corresponds to
\&\f(CW\*(C`${^WARNING_BITS}\*(C'\fR. The \f(CW$hints\fR and
\&\f(CW$bitmask\fR values are subject to change between versions of Perl, and
are not meant for external use.
.Sp
\&\f(CW$hinthash\fR is a reference to a hash containing the value of
\&\f(CW\*(C`%^H\*(C'\fR when the caller was compiled, or
\&\f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR if \f(CW\*(C`%^H\*(C'\fR was empty. Do not
modify the values of this hash, as they are the actual values stored in
the optree.
.Sp
Furthermore, when called from within the \s-1DB\s0 package in
list context, and with an argument, caller returns more
detailed information: it sets the list variable \f(CW@DB::args\fR to be the
arguments with which the subroutine was invoked.
.Sp
Be aware that the optimizer might have optimized call frames away before
\&\f(CW\*(C`caller\*(C'\fR had a chance to get the information. That
means that \f(CWcaller(N)\fR might not return information about the call
frame you expect it to, for \f(CW\*(C`N > 1\*(C'\fR. In particular, \f(CW@DB::args\fR
might have information from the previous time \f(CW\*(C`caller\*(C'\fR
was called.
.Sp
Be aware that setting \f(CW@DB::args\fR is \fIbest effort\fR, intended for
debugging or generating backtraces, and should not be relied upon. In
particular, as \f(CW@_\fR contains aliases to the caller's
arguments, Perl does not take a copy of \f(CW@_\fR, so
\&\f(CW@DB::args\fR will contain modifications the subroutine makes to
\&\f(CW@_\fR or its contents, not the original values at call
time. \f(CW@DB::args\fR, like \f(CW@_\fR, does not hold explicit
references to its elements, so under certain cases its elements may have
become freed and reallocated for other variables or temporary values.
Finally, a side effect of the current implementation is that the effects
of \f(CW\*(C`shift @_\*(C'\fR can \fInormally\fR be undone (but not \f(CW\*(C`pop @_\*(C'\fR or other
splicing, \fIand\fR not if a reference to \f(CW@_\fR has been
taken, \fIand\fR subject to the caveat about reallocated elements), so
\&\f(CW@DB::args\fR is actually a hybrid of the current state and initial state
of \f(CW@_\fR. Buyer beware.
.IP "chdir \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "chdir cd directory, change"
.IX Item "chdir EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "chdir \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0" 4
.IX Item "chdir FILEHANDLE"
.IP "chdir \s-1DIRHANDLE\s0" 4
.IX Item "chdir DIRHANDLE"
.IP "chdir" 4
.IX Item "chdir"
.PD
Changes the working directory to \s-1EXPR,\s0 if possible. If \s-1EXPR\s0 is omitted,
changes to the directory specified by \f(CW$ENV{HOME}\fR, if set; if not,
changes to the directory specified by \f(CW$ENV{LOGDIR}\fR. (Under \s-1VMS,\s0 the
variable \f(CW$ENV{\*(AqSYS$LOGIN\*(Aq}\fR is also checked, and used if it is set.) If
neither is set, \f(CW\*(C`chdir\*(C'\fR does nothing and fails. It
returns true on success, false otherwise. See the example under
\&\f(CW\*(C`die\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
On systems that support \fBfchdir\fR\|(2), you may pass a filehandle or
directory handle as the argument. On systems that don't support \fBfchdir\fR\|(2),
passing handles raises an exception.
.IP "chmod \s-1LIST\s0" 4
.IX Xref "chmod permission mode"
.IX Item "chmod LIST"
Changes the permissions of a list of files. The first element of the
list must be the numeric mode, which should probably be an octal
number, and which definitely should \fInot\fR be a string of octal digits:
\&\f(CW0644\fR is okay, but \f(CW"0644"\fR is not. Returns the number of files
successfully changed. See also \f(CW\*(C`oct\*(C'\fR if all you have is a
string.
.Sp
.Vb 6
\& my $cnt = chmod 0755, "foo", "bar";
\& chmod 0755, @executables;
\& my $mode = "0644"; chmod $mode, "foo"; # !!! sets mode to
\& # \-\-w\-\-\-\-r\-T
\& my $mode = "0644"; chmod oct($mode), "foo"; # this is better
\& my $mode = 0644; chmod $mode, "foo"; # this is best
.Ve
.Sp
On systems that support \fBfchmod\fR\|(2), you may pass filehandles among the
files. On systems that don't support \fBfchmod\fR\|(2), passing filehandles raises
an exception. Filehandles must be passed as globs or glob references to be
recognized; barewords are considered filenames.
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& open(my $fh, "<", "foo");
\& my $perm = (stat $fh)[2] & 07777;
\& chmod($perm | 0600, $fh);
.Ve
.Sp
You can also import the symbolic \f(CW\*(C`S_I*\*(C'\fR constants from the
\&\f(CW\*(C`Fcntl\*(C'\fR module:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& use Fcntl qw( :mode );
\& chmod S_IRWXU|S_IRGRP|S_IXGRP|S_IROTH|S_IXOTH, @executables;
\& # Identical to the chmod 0755 of the example above.
.Ve
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"chmod\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "chomp \s-1VARIABLE\s0" 4
.IX Xref "chomp INPUT_RECORD_SEPARATOR $ newline eol"
.IX Item "chomp VARIABLE"
.PD 0
.IP "chomp( \s-1LIST\s0 )" 4
.IX Item "chomp( LIST )"
.IP "chomp" 4
.IX Item "chomp"
.PD
This safer version of \f(CW\*(C`chop\*(C'\fR removes any trailing
string that corresponds to the current value of
\&\f(CW$/\fR (also known as \f(CW$INPUT_RECORD_SEPARATOR\fR
in the \f(CW\*(C`English\*(C'\fR module). It returns the total
number of characters removed from all its arguments. It's often used to
remove the newline from the end of an input record when you're worried
that the final record may be missing its newline. When in paragraph
mode (\f(CW\*(C`$/ = \*(Aq\*(Aq\*(C'\fR), it removes all trailing newlines from the string.
When in slurp mode (\f(CW\*(C`$/ = undef\*(C'\fR) or fixed-length record mode
(\f(CW$/\fR is a reference to an integer or the like;
see perlvar), \f(CW\*(C`chomp\*(C'\fR won't remove anything.
If \s-1VARIABLE\s0 is omitted, it chomps \f(CW$_\fR. Example:
.Sp
.Vb 5
\& while (<>) {
\& chomp; # avoid \en on last field
\& my @array = split(/:/);
\& # ...
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
If \s-1VARIABLE\s0 is a hash, it chomps the hash's values, but not its keys,
resetting the \f(CW\*(C`each\*(C'\fR iterator in the process.
.Sp
You can actually chomp anything that's an lvalue, including an assignment:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& chomp(my $cwd = \`pwd\`);
\& chomp(my $answer = <STDIN>);
.Ve
.Sp
If you chomp a list, each element is chomped, and the total number of
characters removed is returned.
.Sp
Note that parentheses are necessary when you're chomping anything
that is not a simple variable. This is because \f(CW\*(C`chomp $cwd = \`pwd\`;\*(C'\fR
is interpreted as \f(CW\*(C`(chomp $cwd) = \`pwd\`;\*(C'\fR, rather than as
\&\f(CW\*(C`chomp( $cwd = \`pwd\` )\*(C'\fR which you might expect. Similarly,
\&\f(CW\*(C`chomp $a, $b\*(C'\fR is interpreted as \f(CW\*(C`chomp($a), $b\*(C'\fR rather than
as \f(CW\*(C`chomp($a, $b)\*(C'\fR.
.IP "chop \s-1VARIABLE\s0" 4
.IX Xref "chop"
.IX Item "chop VARIABLE"
.PD 0
.IP "chop( \s-1LIST\s0 )" 4
.IX Item "chop( LIST )"
.IP "chop" 4
.IX Item "chop"
.PD
Chops off the last character of a string and returns the character
chopped. It is much more efficient than \f(CW\*(C`s/.$//s\*(C'\fR because it neither
scans nor copies the string. If \s-1VARIABLE\s0 is omitted, chops
\&\f(CW$_\fR.
If \s-1VARIABLE\s0 is a hash, it chops the hash's values, but not its keys,
resetting the \f(CW\*(C`each\*(C'\fR iterator in the process.
.Sp
You can actually chop anything that's an lvalue, including an assignment.
.Sp
If you chop a list, each element is chopped. Only the value of the
last \f(CW\*(C`chop\*(C'\fR is returned.
.Sp
Note that \f(CW\*(C`chop\*(C'\fR returns the last character. To
return all but the last character, use \f(CW\*(C`substr($string, 0, \-1)\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
See also \f(CW\*(C`chomp\*(C'\fR.
.IP "chown \s-1LIST\s0" 4
.IX Xref "chown owner user group"
.IX Item "chown LIST"
Changes the owner (and group) of a list of files. The first two
elements of the list must be the \fInumeric\fR uid and gid, in that
order. A value of \-1 in either position is interpreted by most
systems to leave that value unchanged. Returns the number of files
successfully changed.
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& my $cnt = chown $uid, $gid, \*(Aqfoo\*(Aq, \*(Aqbar\*(Aq;
\& chown $uid, $gid, @filenames;
.Ve
.Sp
On systems that support \fBfchown\fR\|(2), you may pass filehandles among the
files. On systems that don't support \fBfchown\fR\|(2), passing filehandles raises
an exception. Filehandles must be passed as globs or glob references to be
recognized; barewords are considered filenames.
.Sp
Here's an example that looks up nonnumeric uids in the passwd file:
.Sp
.Vb 4
\& print "User: ";
\& chomp(my $user = <STDIN>);
\& print "Files: ";
\& chomp(my $pattern = <STDIN>);
\&
\& my ($login,$pass,$uid,$gid) = getpwnam($user)
\& or die "$user not in passwd file";
\&
\& my @ary = glob($pattern); # expand filenames
\& chown $uid, $gid, @ary;
.Ve
.Sp
On most systems, you are not allowed to change the ownership of the
file unless you're the superuser, although you should be able to change
the group to any of your secondary groups. On insecure systems, these
restrictions may be relaxed, but this is not a portable assumption.
On \s-1POSIX\s0 systems, you can detect this condition this way:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& use POSIX qw(sysconf _PC_CHOWN_RESTRICTED);
\& my $can_chown_giveaway = ! sysconf(_PC_CHOWN_RESTRICTED);
.Ve
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"chown\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "chr \s-1NUMBER\s0" 4
.IX Xref "chr character ASCII Unicode"
.IX Item "chr NUMBER"
.PD 0
.IP "chr" 4
.IX Item "chr"
.PD
Returns the character represented by that \s-1NUMBER\s0 in the character set.
For example, \f(CW\*(C`chr(65)\*(C'\fR is \f(CW"A"\fR in either \s-1ASCII\s0 or Unicode, and
chr(0x263a) is a Unicode smiley face.
.Sp
Negative values give the Unicode replacement character (\fBchr\fR\|(0xfffd)),
except under the bytes pragma, where the low eight bits of the value
(truncated to an integer) are used.
.Sp
If \s-1NUMBER\s0 is omitted, uses \f(CW$_\fR.
.Sp
For the reverse, use \f(CW\*(C`ord\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
Note that characters from 128 to 255 (inclusive) are by default
internally not encoded as \s-1UTF\-8\s0 for backward compatibility reasons.
.Sp
See perlunicode for more about Unicode.
.IP "chroot \s-1FILENAME\s0" 4
.IX Xref "chroot root"
.IX Item "chroot FILENAME"
.PD 0
.IP "chroot" 4
.IX Item "chroot"
.PD
This function works like the system call by the same name: it makes the
named directory the new root directory for all further pathnames that
begin with a \f(CW\*(C`/\*(C'\fR by your process and all its children. (It doesn't
change your current working directory, which is unaffected.) For security
reasons, this call is restricted to the superuser. If \s-1FILENAME\s0 is
omitted, does a \f(CW\*(C`chroot\*(C'\fR to \f(CW$_\fR.
.Sp
\&\fB\s-1NOTE:\s0\fR It is good security practice to do \f(CW\*(C`chdir("/")\*(C'\fR
(\f(CW\*(C`chdir\*(C'\fR to the root directory) immediately after a
\&\f(CW\*(C`chroot\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"chroot\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "close \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0" 4
.IX Xref "close"
.IX Item "close FILEHANDLE"
.PD 0
.IP "close" 4
.IX Item "close"
.PD
Closes the file or pipe associated with the filehandle, flushes the \s-1IO\s0
buffers, and closes the system file descriptor. Returns true if those
operations succeed and if no error was reported by any PerlIO
layer. Closes the currently selected filehandle if the argument is
omitted.
.Sp
You don't have to close \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0 if you are immediately going to do
another \f(CW\*(C`open\*(C'\fR on it, because
\&\f(CW\*(C`open\*(C'\fR closes it for you. (See
\&\f(CW\*(C`open\*(C'\fR.) However, an explicit
\&\f(CW\*(C`close\*(C'\fR on an input file resets the line counter
(\f(CW$.\fR), while the implicit close done by
\&\f(CW\*(C`open\*(C'\fR does not.
.Sp
If the filehandle came from a piped open, \f(CW\*(C`close\*(C'\fR
returns false if one of the other syscalls involved fails or if its
program exits with non-zero status. If the only problem was that the
program exited non-zero, \f(CW$!\fR will be set to \f(CW0\fR.
Closing a pipe also waits for the process executing on the pipe to
exit\*(--in case you wish to look at the output of the pipe afterwards\*(--and
implicitly puts the exit status value of that command into
\&\f(CW$?\fR and
\&\f(CW\*(C`${^CHILD_ERROR_NATIVE}\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
If there are multiple threads running, \f(CW\*(C`close\*(C'\fR on
a filehandle from a piped open returns true without waiting for the
child process to terminate, if the filehandle is still open in another
thread.
.Sp
Closing the read end of a pipe before the process writing to it at the
other end is done writing results in the writer receiving a \s-1SIGPIPE.\s0 If
the other end can't handle that, be sure to read all the data before
closing the pipe.
.Sp
Example:
.Sp
.Vb 8
\& open(OUTPUT, \*(Aq|sort >foo\*(Aq) # pipe to sort
\& or die "Can\*(Aqt start sort: $!";
\& #... # print stuff to output
\& close OUTPUT # wait for sort to finish
\& or warn $! ? "Error closing sort pipe: $!"
\& : "Exit status $? from sort";
\& open(INPUT, \*(Aqfoo\*(Aq) # get sort\*(Aqs results
\& or die "Can\*(Aqt open \*(Aqfoo\*(Aq for input: $!";
.Ve
.Sp
\&\s-1FILEHANDLE\s0 may be an expression whose value can be used as an indirect
filehandle, usually the real filehandle name or an autovivified handle.
.IP "closedir \s-1DIRHANDLE\s0" 4
.IX Xref "closedir"
.IX Item "closedir DIRHANDLE"
Closes a directory opened by \f(CW\*(C`opendir\*(C'\fR and
returns the success of that system call.
.IP "connect \s-1SOCKET,NAME\s0" 4
.IX Xref "connect"
.IX Item "connect SOCKET,NAME"
Attempts to connect to a remote socket, just like \fBconnect\fR\|(2).
Returns true if it succeeded, false otherwise. \s-1NAME\s0 should be a
packed address of the appropriate type for the socket. See the examples in
\&\*(L"Sockets: Client/Server Communication\*(R" in perlipc.
.IP "continue \s-1BLOCK\s0" 4
.IX Xref "continue"
.IX Item "continue BLOCK"
.PD 0
.IP "continue" 4
.IX Item "continue"
.PD
When followed by a \s-1BLOCK,\s0 \f(CW\*(C`continue\*(C'\fR is actually a
flow control statement rather than a function. If there is a
\&\f(CW\*(C`continue\*(C'\fR \s-1BLOCK\s0 attached to a \s-1BLOCK\s0 (typically in a
\&\f(CW\*(C`while\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`foreach\*(C'\fR), it is always executed just before the
conditional is about to be evaluated again, just like the third part of
a \f(CW\*(C`for\*(C'\fR loop in C. Thus it can be used to increment a loop variable,
even when the loop has been continued via the \f(CW\*(C`next\*(C'\fR
statement (which is similar to the C \f(CW\*(C`continue\*(C'\fR
statement).
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`last\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`next\*(C'\fR, or
\&\f(CW\*(C`redo\*(C'\fR may appear within a
\&\f(CW\*(C`continue\*(C'\fR block; \f(CW\*(C`last\*(C'\fR and
\&\f(CW\*(C`redo\*(C'\fR behave as if they had been executed within the
main block. So will \f(CW\*(C`next\*(C'\fR, but since it will execute a
\&\f(CW\*(C`continue\*(C'\fR block, it may be more entertaining.
.Sp
.Vb 9
\& while (EXPR) {
\& ### redo always comes here
\& do_something;
\& } continue {
\& ### next always comes here
\& do_something_else;
\& # then back the top to re\-check EXPR
\& }
\& ### last always comes here
.Ve
.Sp
Omitting the \f(CW\*(C`continue\*(C'\fR section is equivalent to
using an empty one, logically enough, so \f(CW\*(C`next\*(C'\fR goes
directly back to check the condition at the top of the loop.
.Sp
When there is no \s-1BLOCK,\s0 \f(CW\*(C`continue\*(C'\fR is a function
that falls through the current \f(CW\*(C`when\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`default\*(C'\fR block instead of
iterating a dynamically enclosing \f(CW\*(C`foreach\*(C'\fR or exiting a lexically
enclosing \f(CW\*(C`given\*(C'\fR. In Perl 5.14 and earlier, this form of
\&\f(CW\*(C`continue\*(C'\fR was only available when the
\&\f(CW"switch"\fR feature was enabled. See
feature and \*(L"Switch Statements\*(R" in perlsyn for more information.
.IP "cos \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "cos cosine acos arccosine"
.IX Item "cos EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "cos" 4
.IX Item "cos"
.PD
Returns the cosine of \s-1EXPR\s0 (expressed in radians). If \s-1EXPR\s0 is omitted,
takes the cosine of \f(CW$_\fR.
.Sp
For the inverse cosine operation, you may use the
\&\f(CW\*(C`Math::Trig::acos\*(C'\fR function, or use this relation:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& sub acos { atan2( sqrt(1 \- $_[0] * $_[0]), $_[0] ) }
.Ve
.IP "crypt \s-1PLAINTEXT,SALT\s0" 4
.IX Xref "crypt digest hash salt plaintext password decrypt cryptography passwd encrypt"
.IX Item "crypt PLAINTEXT,SALT"
Creates a digest string exactly like the \fBcrypt\fR\|(3) function in the C
library (assuming that you actually have a version there that has not
been extirpated as a potential munition).
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`crypt\*(C'\fR is a one-way hash function. The
\&\s-1PLAINTEXT\s0 and \s-1SALT\s0 are turned
into a short string, called a digest, which is returned. The same
\&\s-1PLAINTEXT\s0 and \s-1SALT\s0 will always return the same string, but there is no
(known) way to get the original \s-1PLAINTEXT\s0 from the hash. Small
changes in the \s-1PLAINTEXT\s0 or \s-1SALT\s0 will result in large changes in the
digest.
.Sp
There is no decrypt function. This function isn't all that useful for
cryptography (for that, look for \fICrypt\fR modules on your nearby \s-1CPAN\s0
mirror) and the name \*(L"crypt\*(R" is a bit of a misnomer. Instead it is
primarily used to check if two pieces of text are the same without
having to transmit or store the text itself. An example is checking
if a correct password is given. The digest of the password is stored,
not the password itself. The user types in a password that is
\&\f(CW\*(C`crypt\*(C'\fR'd with the same salt as the stored
digest. If the two digests match, the password is correct.
.Sp
When verifying an existing digest string you should use the digest as
the salt (like \f(CW\*(C`crypt($plain, $digest) eq $digest\*(C'\fR). The \s-1SALT\s0 used
to create the digest is visible as part of the digest. This ensures
\&\f(CW\*(C`crypt\*(C'\fR will hash the new string with the same
salt as the digest. This allows your code to work with the standard
\&\f(CW\*(C`crypt\*(C'\fR and with more exotic implementations.
In other words, assume nothing about the returned string itself nor
about how many bytes of \s-1SALT\s0 may matter.
.Sp
Traditionally the result is a string of 13 bytes: two first bytes of
the salt, followed by 11 bytes from the set \f(CW\*(C`[./0\-9A\-Za\-z]\*(C'\fR, and only
the first eight bytes of \s-1PLAINTEXT\s0 mattered. But alternative
hashing schemes (like \s-1MD5\s0), higher level security schemes (like C2),
and implementations on non-Unix platforms may produce different
strings.
.Sp
When choosing a new salt create a random two character string whose
characters come from the set \f(CW\*(C`[./0\-9A\-Za\-z]\*(C'\fR (like \f(CW\*(C`join \*(Aq\*(Aq, (\*(Aq.\*(Aq,
\&\*(Aq/\*(Aq, 0..9, \*(AqA\*(Aq..\*(AqZ\*(Aq, \*(Aqa\*(Aq..\*(Aqz\*(Aq)[rand 64, rand 64]\*(C'\fR). This set of
characters is just a recommendation; the characters allowed in
the salt depend solely on your system's crypt library, and Perl can't
restrict what salts \f(CW\*(C`crypt\*(C'\fR accepts.
.Sp
Here's an example that makes sure that whoever runs this program knows
their password:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& my $pwd = (getpwuid($<))[1];
\&
\& system "stty \-echo";
\& print "Password: ";
\& chomp(my $word = <STDIN>);
\& print "\en";
\& system "stty echo";
\&
\& if (crypt($word, $pwd) ne $pwd) {
\& die "Sorry...\en";
\& } else {
\& print "ok\en";
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
Of course, typing in your own password to whoever asks you
for it is unwise.
.Sp
The \f(CW\*(C`crypt\*(C'\fR function is unsuitable for hashing
large quantities of data, not least of all because you can't get the
information back. Look at the Digest module for more robust
algorithms.
.Sp
If using \f(CW\*(C`crypt\*(C'\fR on a Unicode string (which
\&\fIpotentially\fR has characters with codepoints above 255), Perl tries to
make sense of the situation by trying to downgrade (a copy of) the
string back to an eight-bit byte string before calling
\&\f(CW\*(C`crypt\*(C'\fR (on that copy). If that works, good.
If not, \f(CW\*(C`crypt\*(C'\fR dies with
\&\f(CW\*(C`Wide character in crypt\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"crypt\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "dbmclose \s-1HASH\s0" 4
.IX Xref "dbmclose"
.IX Item "dbmclose HASH"
[This function has been largely superseded by the
\&\f(CW\*(C`untie\*(C'\fR function.]
.Sp
Breaks the binding between a \s-1DBM\s0 file and a hash.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"dbmclose\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "dbmopen \s-1HASH,DBNAME,MASK\s0" 4
.IX Xref "dbmopen dbm ndbm sdbm gdbm"
.IX Item "dbmopen HASH,DBNAME,MASK"
[This function has been largely superseded by the
\&\f(CW\*(C`tie\*(C'\fR function.]
.Sp
This binds a \fBdbm\fR\|(3), \fBndbm\fR\|(3), \fBsdbm\fR\|(3), \fBgdbm\fR\|(3), or Berkeley
\&\s-1DB\s0 file to a hash. \s-1HASH\s0 is the name of the hash. (Unlike normal
\&\f(CW\*(C`open\*(C'\fR, the first argument is \fInot\fR a
filehandle, even though it looks like one). \s-1DBNAME\s0 is the name of the
database (without the \fI.dir\fR or \fI.pag\fR extension if any). If the
database does not exist, it is created with protection specified by \s-1MASK\s0
(as modified by the \f(CW\*(C`umask\*(C'\fR). To prevent creation of
the database if it doesn't exist, you may specify a \s-1MODE\s0 of 0, and the
function will return a false value if it can't find an existing
database. If your system supports only the older \s-1DBM\s0 functions, you may
make only one \f(CW\*(C`dbmopen\*(C'\fR call in your
program. In older versions of Perl, if your system had neither \s-1DBM\s0 nor
ndbm, calling \f(CW\*(C`dbmopen\*(C'\fR produced a fatal
error; it now falls back to \fBsdbm\fR\|(3).
.Sp
If you don't have write access to the \s-1DBM\s0 file, you can only read hash
variables, not set them. If you want to test whether you can write,
either use file tests or try setting a dummy hash entry inside an
\&\f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR to trap the error.
.Sp
Note that functions such as \f(CW\*(C`keys\*(C'\fR and
\&\f(CW\*(C`values\*(C'\fR may return huge lists when used on large \s-1DBM\s0
files. You may prefer to use the \f(CW\*(C`each\*(C'\fR function to
iterate over large \s-1DBM\s0 files. Example:
.Sp
.Vb 6
\& # print out history file offsets
\& dbmopen(%HIST,\*(Aq/usr/lib/news/history\*(Aq,0666);
\& while (($key,$val) = each %HIST) {
\& print $key, \*(Aq = \*(Aq, unpack(\*(AqL\*(Aq,$val), "\en";
\& }
\& dbmclose(%HIST);
.Ve
.Sp
See also AnyDBM_File for a more general description of the pros and
cons of the various dbm approaches, as well as DB_File for a particularly
rich implementation.
.Sp
You can control which \s-1DBM\s0 library you use by loading that library
before you call \f(CW\*(C`dbmopen\*(C'\fR:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& use DB_File;
\& dbmopen(%NS_Hist, "$ENV{HOME}/.netscape/history.db")
\& or die "Can\*(Aqt open netscape history file: $!";
.Ve
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"dbmopen\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "defined \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "defined undef undefined"
.IX Item "defined EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "defined" 4
.IX Item "defined"
.PD
Returns a Boolean value telling whether \s-1EXPR\s0 has a value other than the
undefined value \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR. If \s-1EXPR\s0 is not present,
\&\f(CW$_\fR is checked.
.Sp
Many operations return \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR to indicate failure, end
of file, system error, uninitialized variable, and other exceptional
conditions. This function allows you to distinguish
\&\f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR from other values. (A simple Boolean test will
not distinguish among \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR, zero, the empty string,
and \f(CW"0"\fR, which are all equally false.) Note that since
\&\f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR is a valid scalar, its presence doesn't
\&\fInecessarily\fR indicate an exceptional condition: \f(CW\*(C`pop\*(C'\fR
returns \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR when its argument is an empty array,
\&\fIor\fR when the element to return happens to be \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
You may also use \f(CW\*(C`defined(&func)\*(C'\fR to check whether subroutine \f(CW\*(C`func\*(C'\fR
has ever been defined. The return value is unaffected by any forward
declarations of \f(CW\*(C`func\*(C'\fR. A subroutine that is not defined
may still be callable: its package may have an \f(CW\*(C`AUTOLOAD\*(C'\fR method that
makes it spring into existence the first time that it is called; see
perlsub.
.Sp
Use of \f(CW\*(C`defined\*(C'\fR on aggregates (hashes and arrays) is
no longer supported. It used to report whether memory for that
aggregate had ever been allocated. You should instead use a simple
test for size:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& if (@an_array) { print "has array elements\en" }
\& if (%a_hash) { print "has hash members\en" }
.Ve
.Sp
When used on a hash element, it tells you whether the value is defined,
not whether the key exists in the hash. Use \f(CW\*(C`exists\*(C'\fR
for the latter purpose.
.Sp
Examples:
.Sp
.Vb 6
\& print if defined $switch{D};
\& print "$val\en" while defined($val = pop(@ary));
\& die "Can\*(Aqt readlink $sym: $!"
\& unless defined($value = readlink $sym);
\& sub foo { defined &$bar ? $bar\->(@_) : die "No bar"; }
\& $debugging = 0 unless defined $debugging;
.Ve
.Sp
Note: Many folks tend to overuse \f(CW\*(C`defined\*(C'\fR and are
then surprised to discover that the number \f(CW0\fR and \f(CW""\fR (the
zero-length string) are, in fact, defined values. For example, if you
say
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& "ab" =~ /a(.*)b/;
.Ve
.Sp
The pattern match succeeds and \f(CW$1\fR is defined, although it
matched \*(L"nothing\*(R". It didn't really fail to match anything. Rather, it
matched something that happened to be zero characters long. This is all
very above-board and honest. When a function returns an undefined value,
it's an admission that it couldn't give you an honest answer. So you
should use \f(CW\*(C`defined\*(C'\fR only when questioning the
integrity of what you're trying to do. At other times, a simple
comparison to \f(CW0\fR or \f(CW""\fR is what you want.
.Sp
See also \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`exists\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`ref\*(C'\fR.
.IP "delete \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "delete"
.IX Item "delete EXPR"
Given an expression that specifies an element or slice of a hash,
\&\f(CW\*(C`delete\*(C'\fR deletes the specified elements from that hash
so that \f(CW\*(C`exists\*(C'\fR on that element no longer returns
true. Setting a hash element to the undefined value does not remove its
key, but deleting it does; see \f(CW\*(C`exists\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
In list context, usually returns the value or values deleted, or the last such
element in scalar context. The return list's length corresponds to that of
the argument list: deleting non-existent elements returns the undefined value
in their corresponding positions. When a
key/value hash slice is passed to
\&\f(CW\*(C`delete\*(C'\fR, the return value is a list of key/value pairs (two elements for each
item deleted from the hash).
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`delete\*(C'\fR may also be used on arrays and array slices,
but its behavior is less straightforward. Although
\&\f(CW\*(C`exists\*(C'\fR will return false for deleted entries,
deleting array elements never changes indices of existing values; use
\&\f(CW\*(C`shift\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`splice\*(C'\fR for that. However, if any deleted elements
fall at the end of an array, the array's size shrinks to the position of
the highest element that still tests true for \f(CW\*(C`exists\*(C'\fR,
or to 0 if none do. In other words, an array won't have trailing
nonexistent elements after a delete.
.Sp
\&\fB\s-1WARNING:\s0\fR Calling \f(CW\*(C`delete\*(C'\fR on array values is
strongly discouraged. The
notion of deleting or checking the existence of Perl array elements is not
conceptually coherent, and can lead to surprising behavior.
.Sp
Deleting from \f(CW%ENV\fR modifies the environment.
Deleting from a hash tied to a \s-1DBM\s0 file deletes the entry from the \s-1DBM\s0
file. Deleting from a \f(CW\*(C`tied\*(C'\fR hash or array may not
necessarily return anything; it depends on the implementation of the
\&\f(CW\*(C`tied\*(C'\fR package's \s-1DELETE\s0 method, which may do whatever
it pleases.
.Sp
The \f(CW\*(C`delete local EXPR\*(C'\fR construct localizes the deletion to the current
block at run time. Until the block exits, elements locally deleted
temporarily no longer exist. See \*(L"Localized deletion of elements
of composite types\*(R" in perlsub.
.Sp
.Vb 4
\& my %hash = (foo => 11, bar => 22, baz => 33);
\& my $scalar = delete $hash{foo}; # $scalar is 11
\& $scalar = delete @hash{qw(foo bar)}; # $scalar is 22
\& my @array = delete @hash{qw(foo baz)}; # @array is (undef,33)
.Ve
.Sp
The following (inefficiently) deletes all the values of \f(CW%HASH\fR and \f(CW@ARRAY:\fR
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& foreach my $key (keys %HASH) {
\& delete $HASH{$key};
\& }
\&
\& foreach my $index (0 .. $#ARRAY) {
\& delete $ARRAY[$index];
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
And so do these:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& delete @HASH{keys %HASH};
\&
\& delete @ARRAY[0 .. $#ARRAY];
.Ve
.Sp
But both are slower than assigning the empty list
or undefining \f(CW%HASH\fR or \f(CW@ARRAY\fR, which is the customary
way to empty out an aggregate:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& %HASH = (); # completely empty %HASH
\& undef %HASH; # forget %HASH ever existed
\&
\& @ARRAY = (); # completely empty @ARRAY
\& undef @ARRAY; # forget @ARRAY ever existed
.Ve
.Sp
The \s-1EXPR\s0 can be arbitrarily complicated provided its
final operation is an element or slice of an aggregate:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& delete $ref\->[$x][$y]{$key};
\& delete @{$ref\->[$x][$y]}{$key1, $key2, @morekeys};
\&
\& delete $ref\->[$x][$y][$index];
\& delete @{$ref\->[$x][$y]}[$index1, $index2, @moreindices];
.Ve
.IP "die \s-1LIST\s0" 4
.IX Xref "die throw exception raise $@ abort"
.IX Item "die LIST"
\&\f(CW\*(C`die\*(C'\fR raises an exception. Inside an \f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR
the exception is stuffed into \f(CW$@\fR and the \f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR is terminated with the undefined value. If the exception is
outside of all enclosing \f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fRs, then the uncaught
exception is printed to \f(CW\*(C`STDERR\*(C'\fR and perl exits with an exit code
indicating failure. If you need to exit the process with a specific
exit code, see \f(CW\*(C`exit\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
Equivalent examples:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& die "Can\*(Aqt cd to spool: $!\en" unless chdir \*(Aq/usr/spool/news\*(Aq;
\& chdir \*(Aq/usr/spool/news\*(Aq or die "Can\*(Aqt cd to spool: $!\en"
.Ve
.Sp
Most of the time, \f(CW\*(C`die\*(C'\fR is called with a string to use as the exception.
You may either give a single non-reference operand to serve as the
exception, or a list of two or more items, which will be stringified
and concatenated to make the exception.
.Sp
If the string exception does not end in a newline, the current
script line number and input line number (if any) and a newline
are appended to it. Note that the \*(L"input line number\*(R" (also
known as \*(L"chunk\*(R") is subject to whatever notion of \*(L"line\*(R" happens to
be currently in effect, and is also available as the special variable
\&\f(CW$.\fR. See \*(L"$/\*(R" in perlvar and \*(L"$.\*(R" in perlvar.
.Sp
Hint: sometimes appending \f(CW", stopped"\fR to your message will cause it
to make better sense when the string \f(CW"at foo line 123"\fR is appended.
Suppose you are running script \*(L"canasta\*(R".
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& die "/etc/games is no good";
\& die "/etc/games is no good, stopped";
.Ve
.Sp
produce, respectively
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& /etc/games is no good at canasta line 123.
\& /etc/games is no good, stopped at canasta line 123.
.Ve
.Sp
If \s-1LIST\s0 was empty or made an empty string, and \f(CW$@\fR
already contains an exception value (typically from a previous
\&\f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR), then that value is reused after
appending \f(CW"\et...propagated"\fR. This is useful for propagating exceptions:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& eval { ... };
\& die unless $@ =~ /Expected exception/;
.Ve
.Sp
If \s-1LIST\s0 was empty or made an empty string,
and \f(CW$@\fR contains an object
reference that has a \f(CW\*(C`PROPAGATE\*(C'\fR method, that method will be called
with additional file and line number parameters. The return value
replaces the value in \f(CW$@\fR; i.e., as if
\&\f(CW\*(C`$@ = eval { $@\->PROPAGATE(_\|_FILE_\|_, _\|_LINE_\|_) };\*(C'\fR were called.
.Sp
If \s-1LIST\s0 was empty or made an empty string, and \f(CW$@\fR
is also empty, then the string \f(CW"Died"\fR is used.
.Sp
You can also call \f(CW\*(C`die\*(C'\fR with a reference argument, and if
this is trapped within an \f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR, \f(CW$@\fR
contains that reference. This permits more elaborate exception handling
using objects that maintain arbitrary state about the exception. Such a
scheme is sometimes preferable to matching particular string values of
\&\f(CW$@\fR with regular expressions.
.Sp
Because Perl stringifies uncaught exception messages before display,
you'll probably want to overload stringification operations on
exception objects. See overload for details about that.
The stringified message should be non-empty, and should end in a newline,
in order to fit in with the treatment of string exceptions.
Also, because an exception object reference cannot be stringified
without destroying it, Perl doesn't attempt to append location or other
information to a reference exception. If you want location information
with a complex exception object, you'll have to arrange to put the
location information into the object yourself.
.Sp
Because \f(CW$@\fR is a global variable, be careful that
analyzing an exception caught by \f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR doesn't replace the reference
in the global variable. It's
easiest to make a local copy of the reference before any manipulations.
Here's an example:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& use Scalar::Util "blessed";
\&
\& eval { ... ; die Some::Module::Exception\->new( FOO => "bar" ) };
\& if (my $ev_err = $@) {
\& if (blessed($ev_err)
\& && $ev_err\->isa("Some::Module::Exception")) {
\& # handle Some::Module::Exception
\& }
\& else {
\& # handle all other possible exceptions
\& }
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
If an uncaught exception results in interpreter exit, the exit code is
determined from the values of \f(CW$!\fR and
\&\f(CW$?\fR with this pseudocode:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& exit $! if $!; # errno
\& exit $? >> 8 if $? >> 8; # child exit status
\& exit 255; # last resort
.Ve
.Sp
As with \f(CW\*(C`exit\*(C'\fR, \f(CW$?\fR is set prior to
unwinding the call stack; any \f(CW\*(C`DESTROY\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`END\*(C'\fR handlers can then
alter this value, and thus Perl's exit code.
.Sp
The intent is to squeeze as much possible information about the likely cause
into the limited space of the system exit code. However, as
\&\f(CW$!\fR is the value of C's \f(CW\*(C`errno\*(C'\fR, which can be set by
any system call, this means that the value of the exit code used by
\&\f(CW\*(C`die\*(C'\fR can be non-predictable, so should not be relied
upon, other than to be non-zero.
.Sp
You can arrange for a callback to be run just before the
\&\f(CW\*(C`die\*(C'\fR does its deed, by setting the
\&\f(CW$SIG{_\|_DIE_\|_}\fR hook. The associated handler is called
with the exception as an argument, and can change the exception,
if it sees fit, by
calling \f(CW\*(C`die\*(C'\fR again. See \*(L"%SIG\*(R" in perlvar for details on
setting \f(CW%SIG\fR entries, and \f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR for some
examples. Although this feature was to be run only right before your
program was to exit, this is not currently so: the
\&\f(CW$SIG{_\|_DIE_\|_}\fR hook is currently called even inside
\&\f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fRed blocks/strings! If one wants the hook to do
nothing in such situations, put
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& die @_ if $^S;
.Ve
.Sp
as the first line of the handler (see \*(L"$^S\*(R" in perlvar). Because
this promotes strange action at a distance, this counterintuitive
behavior may be fixed in a future release.
.Sp
See also \f(CW\*(C`exit\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`warn\*(C'\fR, and the Carp
module.
.IP "do \s-1BLOCK\s0" 4
.IX Xref "do block"
.IX Item "do BLOCK"
Not really a function. Returns the value of the last command in the
sequence of commands indicated by \s-1BLOCK.\s0 When modified by the \f(CW\*(C`while\*(C'\fR or
\&\f(CW\*(C`until\*(C'\fR loop modifier, executes the \s-1BLOCK\s0 once before testing the loop
condition. (On other statements the loop modifiers test the conditional
first.)
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`do BLOCK\*(C'\fR does \fInot\fR count as a loop, so the loop control statements
\&\f(CW\*(C`next\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`last\*(C'\fR, or
\&\f(CW\*(C`redo\*(C'\fR cannot be used to leave or restart the block.
See perlsyn for alternative strategies.
.IP "do \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "do"
.IX Item "do EXPR"
Uses the value of \s-1EXPR\s0 as a filename and executes the contents of the
file as a Perl script:
.Sp
.Vb 4
\& # load the exact specified file (./ and ../ special\-cased)
\& do \*(Aq/foo/stat.pl\*(Aq;
\& do \*(Aq./stat.pl\*(Aq;
\& do \*(Aq../foo/stat.pl\*(Aq;
\&
\& # search for the named file within @INC
\& do \*(Aqstat.pl\*(Aq;
\& do \*(Aqfoo/stat.pl\*(Aq;
.Ve
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`do \*(Aq./stat.pl\*(Aq\*(C'\fR is largely like
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& eval \`cat stat.pl\`;
.Ve
.Sp
except that it's more concise, runs no external processes, and keeps
track of the current filename for error messages. It also differs in that
code evaluated with \f(CW\*(C`do FILE\*(C'\fR cannot see lexicals in the enclosing
scope; \f(CW\*(C`eval STRING\*(C'\fR does. It's the same, however, in that it does
reparse the file every time you call it, so you probably don't want
to do this inside a loop.
.Sp
Using \f(CW\*(C`do\*(C'\fR with a relative path (except for \fI./\fR and \fI../\fR), like
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& do \*(Aqfoo/stat.pl\*(Aq;
.Ve
.Sp
will search the \f(CW@INC\fR directories, and update
\&\f(CW%INC\fR if the file is found. See \*(L"@INC\*(R" in perlvar
and \*(L"%INC\*(R" in perlvar for these variables. In particular, note that
whilst historically \f(CW@INC\fR contained '.' (the
current directory) making these two cases equivalent, that is no
longer necessarily the case, as '.' is not included in \f(CW@INC\fR by default
in perl versions 5.26.0 onwards. Instead, perl will now warn:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& do "stat.pl" failed, \*(Aq.\*(Aq is no longer in @INC;
\& did you mean do "./stat.pl"?
.Ve
.Sp
If \f(CW\*(C`do\*(C'\fR can read the file but cannot compile it, it
returns \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR and sets an error message in
\&\f(CW$@\fR. If \f(CW\*(C`do\*(C'\fR cannot read the file, it
returns undef and sets \f(CW$!\fR to the error. Always check
\&\f(CW$@\fR first, as compilation could fail in a way that also
sets \f(CW$!\fR. If the file is successfully compiled,
\&\f(CW\*(C`do\*(C'\fR returns the value of the last expression evaluated.
.Sp
Inclusion of library modules is better done with the
\&\f(CW\*(C`use\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`require\*(C'\fR
operators, which also do automatic error checking and raise an exception
if there's a problem.
.Sp
You might like to use \f(CW\*(C`do\*(C'\fR to read in a program
configuration file. Manual error checking can be done this way:
.Sp
.Vb 11
\& # Read in config files: system first, then user.
\& # Beware of using relative pathnames here.
\& for $file ("/share/prog/defaults.rc",
\& "$ENV{HOME}/.someprogrc")
\& {
\& unless ($return = do $file) {
\& warn "couldn\*(Aqt parse $file: $@" if $@;
\& warn "couldn\*(Aqt do $file: $!" unless defined $return;
\& warn "couldn\*(Aqt run $file" unless $return;
\& }
\& }
.Ve
.IP "dump \s-1LABEL\s0" 4
.IX Xref "dump core undump"
.IX Item "dump LABEL"
.PD 0
.IP "dump \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Item "dump EXPR"
.IP "dump" 4
.IX Item "dump"
.PD
This function causes an immediate core dump. See also the \fB\-u\fR
command-line switch in perlrun, which does the same thing.
Primarily this is so that you can use the \fBundump\fR program (not
supplied) to turn your core dump into an executable binary after
having initialized all your variables at the beginning of the
program. When the new binary is executed it will begin by executing
a \f(CW\*(C`goto LABEL\*(C'\fR (with all the restrictions that \f(CW\*(C`goto\*(C'\fR
suffers).
Think of it as a goto with an intervening core dump and reincarnation.
If \f(CW\*(C`LABEL\*(C'\fR is omitted, restarts the program from the top. The
\&\f(CW\*(C`dump EXPR\*(C'\fR form, available starting in Perl 5.18.0, allows a name to be
computed at run time, being otherwise identical to \f(CW\*(C`dump LABEL\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
\&\fB\s-1WARNING\s0\fR: Any files opened at the time of the dump will \fInot\fR
be open any more when the program is reincarnated, with possible
resulting confusion by Perl.
.Sp
This function is now largely obsolete, mostly because it's very hard to
convert a core file into an executable. As of Perl 5.30, it must be invoked
as \f(CW\*(C`CORE::dump()\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
Unlike most named operators, this has the same precedence as assignment.
It is also exempt from the looks-like-a-function rule, so
\&\f(CW\*(C`dump ("foo")."bar"\*(C'\fR will cause \*(L"bar\*(R" to be part of the argument to
\&\f(CW\*(C`dump\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"dump\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "each \s-1HASH\s0" 4
.IX Xref "each hash, iterator"
.IX Item "each HASH"
.PD 0
.IP "each \s-1ARRAY\s0" 4
.IX Xref "array, iterator"
.IX Item "each ARRAY"
.PD
When called on a hash in list context, returns a 2\-element list
consisting of the key and value for the next element of a hash. In Perl
5.12 and later only, it will also return the index and value for the next
element of an array so that you can iterate over it; older Perls consider
this a syntax error. When called in scalar context, returns only the key
(not the value) in a hash, or the index in an array.
.Sp
Hash entries are returned in an apparently random order. The actual random
order is specific to a given hash; the exact same series of operations
on two hashes may result in a different order for each hash. Any insertion
into the hash may change the order, as will any deletion, with the exception
that the most recent key returned by \f(CW\*(C`each\*(C'\fR or
\&\f(CW\*(C`keys\*(C'\fR may be deleted without changing the order. So
long as a given hash is unmodified you may rely on
\&\f(CW\*(C`keys\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`values\*(C'\fR and
\&\f(CW\*(C`each\*(C'\fR to repeatedly return the same order
as each other. See \*(L"Algorithmic Complexity Attacks\*(R" in perlsec for
details on why hash order is randomized. Aside from the guarantees
provided here the exact details of Perl's hash algorithm and the hash
traversal order are subject to change in any release of Perl.
.Sp
After \f(CW\*(C`each\*(C'\fR has returned all entries from the hash or
array, the next call to \f(CW\*(C`each\*(C'\fR returns the empty list in
list context and \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR in scalar context; the next
call following \fIthat\fR one restarts iteration. Each hash or array has
its own internal iterator, accessed by \f(CW\*(C`each\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`keys\*(C'\fR, and \f(CW\*(C`values\*(C'\fR. The iterator is
implicitly reset when \f(CW\*(C`each\*(C'\fR has reached the end as just
described; it can be explicitly reset by calling \f(CW\*(C`keys\*(C'\fR
or \f(CW\*(C`values\*(C'\fR on the hash or array, or by referencing
the hash (but not array) in list context. If you add or delete
a hash's elements while iterating over it, the effect on the iterator is
unspecified; for example, entries may be skipped or duplicated\*(--so don't
do that. Exception: It is always safe to delete the item most recently
returned by \f(CW\*(C`each\*(C'\fR, so the following code works properly:
.Sp
.Vb 4
\& while (my ($key, $value) = each %hash) {
\& print $key, "\en";
\& delete $hash{$key}; # This is safe
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
Tied hashes may have a different ordering behaviour to perl's hash
implementation.
.Sp
The iterator used by \f(CW\*(C`each\*(C'\fR is attached to the hash or array, and is
shared between all iteration operations applied to the same hash or array.
Thus all uses of \f(CW\*(C`each\*(C'\fR on a single hash or array advance the same
iterator location. All uses of \f(CW\*(C`each\*(C'\fR are also subject to having the
iterator reset by any use of \f(CW\*(C`keys\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`values\*(C'\fR on the same hash or
array, or by the hash (but not array) being referenced in list context.
This makes \f(CW\*(C`each\*(C'\fR\-based loops quite fragile: it is easy to arrive at
such a loop with the iterator already part way through the object, or to
accidentally clobber the iterator state during execution of the loop body.
It's easy enough to explicitly reset the iterator before starting a loop,
but there is no way to insulate the iterator state used by a loop from
the iterator state used by anything else that might execute during the
loop body. To avoid these problems, use a \f(CW\*(C`foreach\*(C'\fR loop rather than
\&\f(CW\*(C`while\*(C'\fR\-\f(CW\*(C`each\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
This prints out your environment like the \fBprintenv\fR\|(1) program,
but in a different order:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& while (my ($key,$value) = each %ENV) {
\& print "$key=$value\en";
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
Starting with Perl 5.14, an experimental feature allowed
\&\f(CW\*(C`each\*(C'\fR to take a scalar expression. This experiment has
been deemed unsuccessful, and was removed as of Perl 5.24.
.Sp
As of Perl 5.18 you can use a bare \f(CW\*(C`each\*(C'\fR in a \f(CW\*(C`while\*(C'\fR
loop, which will set \f(CW$_\fR on every iteration.
If either an \f(CW\*(C`each\*(C'\fR expression or an explicit assignment of an \f(CW\*(C`each\*(C'\fR
expression to a scalar is used as a \f(CW\*(C`while\*(C'\fR/\f(CW\*(C`for\*(C'\fR condition, then
the condition actually tests for definedness of the expression's value,
not for its regular truth value.
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& while (each %ENV) {
\& print "$_=$ENV{$_}\en";
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
To avoid confusing would-be users of your code who are running earlier
versions of Perl with mysterious syntax errors, put this sort of thing at
the top of your file to signal that your code will work \fIonly\fR on Perls of
a recent vintage:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& use 5.012; # so keys/values/each work on arrays
\& use 5.018; # so each assigns to $_ in a lone while test
.Ve
.Sp
See also \f(CW\*(C`keys\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`values\*(C'\fR, and
\&\f(CW\*(C`sort\*(C'\fR.
.IP "eof \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0" 4
.IX Xref "eof end of file end-of-file"
.IX Item "eof FILEHANDLE"
.PD 0
.IP "eof ()" 4
.IX Item "eof ()"
.IP "eof" 4
.IX Item "eof"
.PD
Returns 1 if the next read on \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0 will return end of file \fIor\fR if
\&\s-1FILEHANDLE\s0 is not open. \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0 may be an expression whose value
gives the real filehandle. (Note that this function actually
reads a character and then \f(CW\*(C`ungetc\*(C'\fRs it, so isn't useful in an
interactive context.) Do not read from a terminal file (or call
\&\f(CW\*(C`eof(FILEHANDLE)\*(C'\fR on it) after end-of-file is reached. File types such
as terminals may lose the end-of-file condition if you do.
.Sp
An \f(CW\*(C`eof\*(C'\fR without an argument uses the last file
read. Using \f(CW\*(C`eof()\*(C'\fR with empty parentheses is
different. It refers to the pseudo file formed from the files listed on
the command line and accessed via the \f(CW\*(C`<>\*(C'\fR operator. Since
\&\f(CW\*(C`<>\*(C'\fR isn't explicitly opened, as a normal filehandle is, an
\&\f(CW\*(C`eof()\*(C'\fR before \f(CW\*(C`<>\*(C'\fR has been used will cause
\&\f(CW@ARGV\fR to be examined to determine if input is
available. Similarly, an \f(CW\*(C`eof()\*(C'\fR after \f(CW\*(C`<>\*(C'\fR
has returned end-of-file will assume you are processing another
\&\f(CW@ARGV\fR list, and if you haven't set
\&\f(CW@ARGV\fR, will read input from \f(CW\*(C`STDIN\*(C'\fR; see
\&\*(L"I/O Operators\*(R" in perlop.
.Sp
In a \f(CW\*(C`while (<>)\*(C'\fR loop, \f(CW\*(C`eof\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`eof(ARGV)\*(C'\fR
can be used to detect the end of each file, whereas
\&\f(CW\*(C`eof()\*(C'\fR will detect the end of the very last file
only. Examples:
.Sp
.Vb 7
\& # reset line numbering on each input file
\& while (<>) {
\& next if /^\es*#/; # skip comments
\& print "$.\et$_";
\& } continue {
\& close ARGV if eof; # Not eof()!
\& }
\&
\& # insert dashes just before last line of last file
\& while (<>) {
\& if (eof()) { # check for end of last file
\& print "\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\en";
\& }
\& print;
\& last if eof(); # needed if we\*(Aqre reading from a terminal
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
Practical hint: you almost never need to use \f(CW\*(C`eof\*(C'\fR
in Perl, because the input operators typically return \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR when they run out of data or encounter an error.
.IP "eval \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "eval try catch evaluate parse execute error, handling exception, handling"
.IX Item "eval EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "eval \s-1BLOCK\s0" 4
.IX Item "eval BLOCK"
.IP "eval" 4
.IX Item "eval"
.PD
\&\f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR in all its forms is used to execute a little Perl program,
trapping any errors encountered so they don't crash the calling program.
.Sp
Plain \f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR with no argument is just \f(CW\*(C`eval EXPR\*(C'\fR, where the
expression is understood to be contained in \f(CW$_\fR. Thus
there are only two real \f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR forms; the one with an \s-1EXPR\s0 is often
called \*(L"string eval\*(R". In a string eval, the value of the expression
(which is itself determined within scalar context) is first parsed, and
if there were no errors, executed as a block within the lexical context
of the current Perl program. This form is typically used to delay
parsing and subsequent execution of the text of \s-1EXPR\s0 until run time.
Note that the value is parsed every time the \f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR executes.
.Sp
The other form is called \*(L"block eval\*(R". It is less general than string
eval, but the code within the \s-1BLOCK\s0 is parsed only once (at the same
time the code surrounding the \f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR itself was parsed) and executed
within the context of the current Perl program. This form is typically
used to trap exceptions more efficiently than the first, while also
providing the benefit of checking the code within \s-1BLOCK\s0 at compile time.
\&\s-1BLOCK\s0 is parsed and compiled just once. Since errors are trapped, it
often is used to check if a given feature is available.
.Sp
In both forms, the value returned is the value of the last expression
evaluated inside the mini-program; a return statement may also be used, just
as with subroutines. The expression providing the return value is evaluated
in void, scalar, or list context, depending on the context of the
\&\f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR itself. See \f(CW\*(C`wantarray\*(C'\fR for more
on how the evaluation context can be determined.
.Sp
If there is a syntax error or runtime error, or a \f(CW\*(C`die\*(C'\fR
statement is executed, \f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR returns
\&\f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR in scalar context, or an empty list in list
context, and \f(CW$@\fR is set to the error message. (Prior to
5.16, a bug caused \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR to be returned in list
context for syntax errors, but not for runtime errors.) If there was no
error, \f(CW$@\fR is set to the empty string. A control flow
operator like \f(CW\*(C`last\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`goto\*(C'\fR can
bypass the setting of \f(CW$@\fR. Beware that using
\&\f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR neither silences Perl from printing warnings to
\&\s-1STDERR,\s0 nor does it stuff the text of warning messages into
\&\f(CW$@\fR. To do either of those, you have to use the
\&\f(CW$SIG{_\|_WARN_\|_}\fR facility, or turn off warnings inside
the \s-1BLOCK\s0 or \s-1EXPR\s0 using \f(CW\*(C`no\ warnings\ \*(Aqall\*(Aq\*(C'\fR. See
\&\f(CW\*(C`warn\*(C'\fR, perlvar, and warnings.
.Sp
Note that, because \f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR traps otherwise-fatal errors,
it is useful for determining whether a particular feature (such as
\&\f(CW\*(C`socket\*(C'\fR or
\&\f(CW\*(C`symlink\*(C'\fR) is implemented. It is also
Perl's exception-trapping mechanism, where the \f(CW\*(C`die\*(C'\fR
operator is used to raise exceptions.
.Sp
Before Perl 5.14, the assignment to \f(CW$@\fR occurred before
restoration
of localized variables, which means that for your code to run on older
versions, a temporary is required if you want to mask some, but not all
errors:
.Sp
.Vb 11
\& # alter $@ on nefarious repugnancy only
\& {
\& my $e;
\& {
\& local $@; # protect existing $@
\& eval { test_repugnancy() };
\& # $@ =~ /nefarious/ and die $@; # Perl 5.14 and higher only
\& $@ =~ /nefarious/ and $e = $@;
\& }
\& die $e if defined $e
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
There are some different considerations for each form:
.RS 4
.IP "String eval" 4
.IX Item "String eval"
Since the return value of \s-1EXPR\s0 is executed as a block within the lexical
context of the current Perl program, any outer lexical variables are
visible to it, and any package variable settings or subroutine and
format definitions remain afterwards.
.RS 4
.ie n .IP "Under the ""unicode_eval"" feature" 4
.el .IP "Under the \f(CW``unicode_eval''\fR feature" 4
.IX Item "Under the ""unicode_eval"" feature"
If this feature is enabled (which is the default under a \f(CW\*(C`use 5.16\*(C'\fR or
higher declaration), \s-1EXPR\s0 is considered to be
in the same encoding as the surrounding program. Thus if
\&\f(CW\*(C`use\ utf8\*(C'\fR is in effect, the string will be treated as being
\&\s-1UTF\-8\s0 encoded. Otherwise, the string is considered to be a sequence of
independent bytes. Bytes that correspond to ASCII-range code points
will have their normal meanings for operators in the string. The
treatment of the other bytes depends on if the
\&\f(CW\*(C`\*(Aqunicode_strings"\*(C'\fR feature is
in effect.
.Sp
In a plain \f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR without an \s-1EXPR\s0 argument, being in \f(CW\*(C`use\ utf8\*(C'\fR or
not is irrelevant; the UTF\-8ness of \f(CW$_\fR itself determines the
behavior.
.Sp
Any \f(CW\*(C`use\ utf8\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`no\ utf8\*(C'\fR declarations within the string have
no effect, and source filters are forbidden. (\f(CW\*(C`unicode_strings\*(C'\fR,
however, can appear within the string.) See also the
\&\f(CW\*(C`evalbytes\*(C'\fR operator, which works properly with
source filters.
.Sp
Variables defined outside the \f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR and used inside it retain their
original UTF\-8ness. Everything inside the string follows the normal
rules for a Perl program with the given state of \f(CW\*(C`use\ utf8\*(C'\fR.
.ie n .IP "Outside the ""unicode_eval"" feature" 4
.el .IP "Outside the \f(CW``unicode_eval''\fR feature" 4
.IX Item "Outside the ""unicode_eval"" feature"
In this case, the behavior is problematic and is not so easily
described. Here are two bugs that cannot easily be fixed without
breaking existing programs:
.RS 4
.IP "\(bu" 4
It can lose track of whether something should be encoded as \s-1UTF\-8\s0 or
not.
.IP "\(bu" 4
Source filters activated within \f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR leak out into whichever file
scope is currently being compiled. To give an example with the \s-1CPAN\s0 module
Semi::Semicolons:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& BEGIN { eval "use Semi::Semicolons; # not filtered" }
\& # filtered here!
.Ve
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`evalbytes\*(C'\fR fixes that to work the way one would
expect:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& use feature "evalbytes";
\& BEGIN { evalbytes "use Semi::Semicolons; # filtered" }
\& # not filtered
.Ve
.RE
.RS 4
.RE
.RE
.RS 4
.Sp
Problems can arise if the string expands a scalar containing a floating
point number. That scalar can expand to letters, such as \f(CW"NaN"\fR or
\&\f(CW"Infinity"\fR; or, within the scope of a \f(CW\*(C`use locale\*(C'\fR, the
decimal point character may be something other than a dot (such as a
comma). None of these are likely to parse as you are likely expecting.
.Sp
You should be especially careful to remember what's being looked at
when:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& eval $x; # CASE 1
\& eval "$x"; # CASE 2
\&
\& eval \*(Aq$x\*(Aq; # CASE 3
\& eval { $x }; # CASE 4
\&
\& eval "\e$$x++"; # CASE 5
\& $$x++; # CASE 6
.Ve
.Sp
Cases 1 and 2 above behave identically: they run the code contained in
the variable \f(CW$x\fR. (Although case 2 has misleading double quotes making
the reader wonder what else might be happening (nothing is).) Cases 3
and 4 likewise behave in the same way: they run the code \f(CW\*(Aq$x\*(Aq\fR, which
does nothing but return the value of \f(CW$x\fR. (Case 4 is preferred for
purely visual reasons, but it also has the advantage of compiling at
compile-time instead of at run-time.) Case 5 is a place where
normally you \fIwould\fR like to use double quotes, except that in this
particular situation, you can just use symbolic references instead, as
in case 6.
.Sp
An \f(CW\*(C`eval \*(Aq\*(Aq\*(C'\fR executed within a subroutine defined
in the \f(CW\*(C`DB\*(C'\fR package doesn't see the usual
surrounding lexical scope, but rather the scope of the first non-DB piece
of code that called it. You don't normally need to worry about this unless
you are writing a Perl debugger.
.Sp
The final semicolon, if any, may be omitted from the value of \s-1EXPR.\s0
.RE
.IP "Block eval" 4
.IX Item "Block eval"
If the code to be executed doesn't vary, you may use the eval-BLOCK
form to trap run-time errors without incurring the penalty of
recompiling each time. The error, if any, is still returned in
\&\f(CW$@\fR.
Examples:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& # make divide\-by\-zero nonfatal
\& eval { $answer = $a / $b; }; warn $@ if $@;
\&
\& # same thing, but less efficient
\& eval \*(Aq$answer = $a / $b\*(Aq; warn $@ if $@;
\&
\& # a compile\-time error
\& eval { $answer = }; # WRONG
\&
\& # a run\-time error
\& eval \*(Aq$answer =\*(Aq; # sets $@
.Ve
.Sp
If you want to trap errors when loading an \s-1XS\s0 module, some problems with
the binary interface (such as Perl version skew) may be fatal even with
\&\f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR unless \f(CW$ENV{PERL_DL_NONLAZY}\fR is set. See
perlrun.
.Sp
Using the \f(CW\*(C`eval {}\*(C'\fR form as an exception trap in libraries does have some
issues. Due to the current arguably broken state of \f(CW\*(C`_\|_DIE_\|_\*(C'\fR hooks, you
may wish not to trigger any \f(CW\*(C`_\|_DIE_\|_\*(C'\fR hooks that user code may have installed.
You can use the \f(CW\*(C`local $SIG{_\|_DIE_\|_}\*(C'\fR construct for this purpose,
as this example shows:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& # a private exception trap for divide\-by\-zero
\& eval { local $SIG{\*(Aq_\|_DIE_\|_\*(Aq}; $answer = $a / $b; };
\& warn $@ if $@;
.Ve
.Sp
This is especially significant, given that \f(CW\*(C`_\|_DIE_\|_\*(C'\fR hooks can call
\&\f(CW\*(C`die\*(C'\fR again, which has the effect of changing their error
messages:
.Sp
.Vb 7
\& # _\|_DIE_\|_ hooks may modify error messages
\& {
\& local $SIG{\*(Aq_\|_DIE_\|_\*(Aq} =
\& sub { (my $x = $_[0]) =~ s/foo/bar/g; die $x };
\& eval { die "foo lives here" };
\& print $@ if $@; # prints "bar lives here"
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
Because this promotes action at a distance, this counterintuitive behavior
may be fixed in a future release.
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`eval BLOCK\*(C'\fR does \fInot\fR count as a loop, so the loop control statements
\&\f(CW\*(C`next\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`last\*(C'\fR, or
\&\f(CW\*(C`redo\*(C'\fR cannot be used to leave or restart the block.
.Sp
The final semicolon, if any, may be omitted from within the \s-1BLOCK.\s0
.RE
.RS 4
.RE
.IP "evalbytes \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "evalbytes"
.IX Item "evalbytes EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "evalbytes" 4
.IX Item "evalbytes"
.PD
This function is similar to a string eval, except it
always parses its argument (or \f(CW$_\fR if \s-1EXPR\s0 is omitted)
as a string of independent bytes.
.Sp
If called when \f(CW\*(C`use\ utf8\*(C'\fR is in effect, the string will be assumed
to be encoded in \s-1UTF\-8,\s0 and \f(CW\*(C`evalbytes\*(C'\fR will make a temporary copy to
work from, downgraded to non\-UTF\-8. If this is not possible
(because one or more characters in it require \s-1UTF\-8\s0), the \f(CW\*(C`evalbytes\*(C'\fR
will fail with the error stored in \f(CW$@\fR.
.Sp
Bytes that correspond to ASCII-range code points will have their normal
meanings for operators in the string. The treatment of the other bytes
depends on if the \f(CW\*(C`\*(Aqunicode_strings"\*(C'\fR feature is in effect.
.Sp
Of course, variables that are \s-1UTF\-8\s0 and are referred to in the string
retain that:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& my $a = "\ex{100}";
\& evalbytes \*(Aqprint ord $a, "\en"\*(Aq;
.Ve
.Sp
prints
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& 256
.Ve
.Sp
and \f(CW$@\fR is empty.
.Sp
Source filters activated within the evaluated code apply to the code
itself.
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`evalbytes\*(C'\fR is available starting in Perl v5.16. To
access it, you must say \f(CW\*(C`CORE::evalbytes\*(C'\fR, but you can omit the
\&\f(CW\*(C`CORE::\*(C'\fR if the
\&\f(CW"evalbytes"\fR feature
is enabled. This is enabled automatically with a \f(CW\*(C`use v5.16\*(C'\fR (or
higher) declaration in the current scope.
.IP "exec \s-1LIST\s0" 4
.IX Xref "exec execute"
.IX Item "exec LIST"
.PD 0
.IP "exec \s-1PROGRAM LIST\s0" 4
.IX Item "exec PROGRAM LIST"
.PD
The \f(CW\*(C`exec\*(C'\fR function executes a system command \fIand never
returns\fR; use \f(CW\*(C`system\*(C'\fR instead of \f(CW\*(C`exec\*(C'\fR
if you want it to return. It fails and
returns false only if the command does not exist \fIand\fR it is executed
directly instead of via your system's command shell (see below).
.Sp
Since it's a common mistake to use \f(CW\*(C`exec\*(C'\fR instead of
\&\f(CW\*(C`system\*(C'\fR, Perl warns you if \f(CW\*(C`exec\*(C'\fR is
called in void context and if there is a following statement that isn't
\&\f(CW\*(C`die\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`warn\*(C'\fR, or \f(CW\*(C`exit\*(C'\fR (if
warnings are enabled\*(--but you always do that, right?). If you
\&\fIreally\fR want to follow an \f(CW\*(C`exec\*(C'\fR with some other
statement, you can use one of these styles to avoid the warning:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& exec (\*(Aqfoo\*(Aq) or print STDERR "couldn\*(Aqt exec foo: $!";
\& { exec (\*(Aqfoo\*(Aq) }; print STDERR "couldn\*(Aqt exec foo: $!";
.Ve
.Sp
If there is more than one argument in \s-1LIST,\s0 this calls \fBexecvp\fR\|(3) with the
arguments in \s-1LIST.\s0 If there is only one element in \s-1LIST,\s0 the argument is
checked for shell metacharacters, and if there are any, the entire
argument is passed to the system's command shell for parsing (this is
\&\f(CW\*(C`/bin/sh \-c\*(C'\fR on Unix platforms, but varies on other platforms). If
there are no shell metacharacters in the argument, it is split into words
and passed directly to \f(CW\*(C`execvp\*(C'\fR, which is more efficient. Examples:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& exec \*(Aq/bin/echo\*(Aq, \*(AqYour arguments are: \*(Aq, @ARGV;
\& exec "sort $outfile | uniq";
.Ve
.Sp
If you don't really want to execute the first argument, but want to lie
to the program you are executing about its own name, you can specify
the program you actually want to run as an \*(L"indirect object\*(R" (without a
comma) in front of the \s-1LIST,\s0 as in \f(CW\*(C`exec PROGRAM LIST\*(C'\fR. (This always
forces interpretation of the \s-1LIST\s0 as a multivalued list, even if there
is only a single scalar in the list.) Example:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& my $shell = \*(Aq/bin/csh\*(Aq;
\& exec $shell \*(Aq\-sh\*(Aq; # pretend it\*(Aqs a login shell
.Ve
.Sp
or, more directly,
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& exec {\*(Aq/bin/csh\*(Aq} \*(Aq\-sh\*(Aq; # pretend it\*(Aqs a login shell
.Ve
.Sp
When the arguments get executed via the system shell, results are
subject to its quirks and capabilities. See \*(L"`STRING`\*(R" in perlop
for details.
.Sp
Using an indirect object with \f(CW\*(C`exec\*(C'\fR or
\&\f(CW\*(C`system\*(C'\fR is also more secure. This usage (which also
works fine with \f(CW\*(C`system\*(C'\fR) forces
interpretation of the arguments as a multivalued list, even if the
list had just one argument. That way you're safe from the shell
expanding wildcards or splitting up words with whitespace in them.
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& my @args = ( "echo surprise" );
\&
\& exec @args; # subject to shell escapes
\& # if @args == 1
\& exec { $args[0] } @args; # safe even with one\-arg list
.Ve
.Sp
The first version, the one without the indirect object, ran the \fIecho\fR
program, passing it \f(CW"surprise"\fR an argument. The second version didn't;
it tried to run a program named \fI\*(L"echo surprise\*(R"\fR, didn't find it, and set
\&\f(CW$?\fR to a non-zero value indicating failure.
.Sp
On Windows, only the \f(CW\*(C`exec PROGRAM LIST\*(C'\fR indirect object syntax will
reliably avoid using the shell; \f(CW\*(C`exec LIST\*(C'\fR, even with more than one
element, will fall back to the shell if the first spawn fails.
.Sp
Perl attempts to flush all files opened for output before the exec,
but this may not be supported on some platforms (see perlport).
To be safe, you may need to set \f(CW$|\fR
(\f(CW$AUTOFLUSH\fR in English) or call the \f(CW\*(C`autoflush\*(C'\fR method of
\&\f(CW\*(C`IO::Handle\*(C'\fR on any open handles to avoid lost
output.
.Sp
Note that \f(CW\*(C`exec\*(C'\fR will not call your \f(CW\*(C`END\*(C'\fR blocks, nor
will it invoke \f(CW\*(C`DESTROY\*(C'\fR methods on your objects.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"exec\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "exists \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "exists autovivification"
.IX Item "exists EXPR"
Given an expression that specifies an element of a hash, returns true if the
specified element in the hash has ever been initialized, even if the
corresponding value is undefined.
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& print "Exists\en" if exists $hash{$key};
\& print "Defined\en" if defined $hash{$key};
\& print "True\en" if $hash{$key};
.Ve
.Sp
exists may also be called on array elements, but its behavior is much less
obvious and is strongly tied to the use of \f(CW\*(C`delete\*(C'\fR on
arrays.
.Sp
\&\fB\s-1WARNING:\s0\fR Calling \f(CW\*(C`exists\*(C'\fR on array values is
strongly discouraged. The
notion of deleting or checking the existence of Perl array elements is not
conceptually coherent, and can lead to surprising behavior.
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& print "Exists\en" if exists $array[$index];
\& print "Defined\en" if defined $array[$index];
\& print "True\en" if $array[$index];
.Ve
.Sp
A hash or array element can be true only if it's defined and defined only if
it exists, but the reverse doesn't necessarily hold true.
.Sp
Given an expression that specifies the name of a subroutine,
returns true if the specified subroutine has ever been declared, even
if it is undefined. Mentioning a subroutine name for exists or defined
does not count as declaring it. Note that a subroutine that does not
exist may still be callable: its package may have an \f(CW\*(C`AUTOLOAD\*(C'\fR
method that makes it spring into existence the first time that it is
called; see perlsub.
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& print "Exists\en" if exists &subroutine;
\& print "Defined\en" if defined &subroutine;
.Ve
.Sp
Note that the \s-1EXPR\s0 can be arbitrarily complicated as long as the final
operation is a hash or array key lookup or subroutine name:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& if (exists $ref\->{A}\->{B}\->{$key}) { }
\& if (exists $hash{A}{B}{$key}) { }
\&
\& if (exists $ref\->{A}\->{B}\->[$ix]) { }
\& if (exists $hash{A}{B}[$ix]) { }
\&
\& if (exists &{$ref\->{A}{B}{$key}}) { }
.Ve
.Sp
Although the most deeply nested array or hash element will not spring into
existence just because its existence was tested, any intervening ones will.
Thus \f(CW\*(C`$ref\->{"A"}\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`$ref\->{"A"}\->{"B"}\*(C'\fR will spring
into existence due to the existence test for the \f(CW$key\fR element above.
This happens anywhere the arrow operator is used, including even here:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& undef $ref;
\& if (exists $ref\->{"Some key"}) { }
\& print $ref; # prints HASH(0x80d3d5c)
.Ve
.Sp
Use of a subroutine call, rather than a subroutine name, as an argument
to \f(CW\*(C`exists\*(C'\fR is an error.
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& exists ⊂ # OK
\& exists &sub(); # Error
.Ve
.IP "exit \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "exit terminate abort"
.IX Item "exit EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "exit" 4
.IX Item "exit"
.PD
Evaluates \s-1EXPR\s0 and exits immediately with that value. Example:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& my $ans = <STDIN>;
\& exit 0 if $ans =~ /^[Xx]/;
.Ve
.Sp
See also \f(CW\*(C`die\*(C'\fR. If \s-1EXPR\s0 is omitted, exits with \f(CW0\fR
status. The only
universally recognized values for \s-1EXPR\s0 are \f(CW0\fR for success and \f(CW1\fR
for error; other values are subject to interpretation depending on the
environment in which the Perl program is running. For example, exiting
69 (\s-1EX_UNAVAILABLE\s0) from a \fIsendmail\fR incoming-mail filter will cause
the mailer to return the item undelivered, but that's not true everywhere.
.Sp
Don't use \f(CW\*(C`exit\*(C'\fR to abort a subroutine if there's any
chance that someone might want to trap whatever error happened. Use
\&\f(CW\*(C`die\*(C'\fR instead, which can be trapped by an
\&\f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
The \f(CW\*(C`exit\*(C'\fR function does not always exit immediately. It
calls any defined \f(CW\*(C`END\*(C'\fR routines first, but these \f(CW\*(C`END\*(C'\fR routines may
not themselves abort the exit. Likewise any object destructors that
need to be called are called before the real exit. \f(CW\*(C`END\*(C'\fR routines and
destructors can change the exit status by modifying \f(CW$?\fR.
If this is a problem, you can call
\&\f(CW\*(C`POSIX::_exit($status)\*(C'\fR to avoid \f(CW\*(C`END\*(C'\fR and destructor
processing. See perlmod for details.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"exit\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "exp \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "exp exponential antilog antilogarithm e"
.IX Item "exp EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "exp" 4
.IX Item "exp"
.PD
Returns \fIe\fR (the natural logarithm base) to the power of \s-1EXPR.\s0
If \s-1EXPR\s0 is omitted, gives \f(CW\*(C`exp($_)\*(C'\fR.
.IP "fc \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "fc foldcase casefold fold-case case-fold"
.IX Item "fc EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "fc" 4
.IX Item "fc"
.PD
Returns the casefolded version of \s-1EXPR.\s0 This is the internal function
implementing the \f(CW\*(C`\eF\*(C'\fR escape in double-quoted strings.
.Sp
Casefolding is the process of mapping strings to a form where case
differences are erased; comparing two strings in their casefolded
form is effectively a way of asking if two strings are equal,
regardless of case.
.Sp
Roughly, if you ever found yourself writing this
.Sp
.Vb 5
\& lc($this) eq lc($that) # Wrong!
\& # or
\& uc($this) eq uc($that) # Also wrong!
\& # or
\& $this =~ /^\eQ$that\eE\ez/i # Right!
.Ve
.Sp
Now you can write
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& fc($this) eq fc($that)
.Ve
.Sp
And get the correct results.
.Sp
Perl only implements the full form of casefolding, but you can access
the simple folds using "\fB\fBcasefold()\fB\fR" in Unicode::UCD and
"\fB\fBprop_invmap()\fB\fR" in Unicode::UCD.
For further information on casefolding, refer to
the Unicode Standard, specifically sections 3.13 \f(CW\*(C`Default Case Operations\*(C'\fR,
4.2 \f(CW\*(C`Case\-Normative\*(C'\fR, and 5.18 \f(CW\*(C`Case Mappings\*(C'\fR,
available at <http://www.unicode.org/versions/latest/>, as well as the
Case Charts available at <http://www.unicode.org/charts/case/>.
.Sp
If \s-1EXPR\s0 is omitted, uses \f(CW$_\fR.
.Sp
This function behaves the same way under various pragmas, such as within
\&\f(CW"use\ feature\ \*(Aqunicode_strings"\fR,
as \f(CW\*(C`lc\*(C'\fR does, with the single exception of
\&\f(CW\*(C`fc\*(C'\fR of \fI\s-1LATIN CAPITAL LETTER SHARP S\s0\fR (U+1E9E) within the
scope of \f(CW\*(C`use\ locale\*(C'\fR. The foldcase of this character
would normally be \f(CW"ss"\fR, but as explained in the \f(CW\*(C`lc\*(C'\fR
section, case
changes that cross the 255/256 boundary are problematic under locales,
and are hence prohibited. Therefore, this function under locale returns
instead the string \f(CW"\ex{17F}\ex{17F}"\fR, which is the \fI\s-1LATIN SMALL LETTER
LONG S\s0\fR. Since that character itself folds to \f(CW"s"\fR, the string of two
of them together should be equivalent to a single U+1E9E when foldcased.
.Sp
While the Unicode Standard defines two additional forms of casefolding,
one for Turkic languages and one that never maps one character into multiple
characters, these are not provided by the Perl core. However, the \s-1CPAN\s0 module
\&\f(CW\*(C`Unicode::Casing\*(C'\fR may be used to provide an implementation.
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`fc\*(C'\fR is available only if the
\&\f(CW"fc"\fR feature is enabled or if it is
prefixed with \f(CW\*(C`CORE::\*(C'\fR. The
\&\f(CW"fc"\fR feature is enabled automatically
with a \f(CW\*(C`use v5.16\*(C'\fR (or higher) declaration in the current scope.
.IP "fcntl \s-1FILEHANDLE,FUNCTION,SCALAR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "fcntl"
.IX Item "fcntl FILEHANDLE,FUNCTION,SCALAR"
Implements the \fBfcntl\fR\|(2) function. You'll probably have to say
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& use Fcntl;
.Ve
.Sp
first to get the correct constant definitions. Argument processing and
value returned work just like \f(CW\*(C`ioctl\*(C'\fR below. For example:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& use Fcntl;
\& my $flags = fcntl($filehandle, F_GETFL, 0)
\& or die "Can\*(Aqt fcntl F_GETFL: $!";
.Ve
.Sp
You don't have to check for \f(CW\*(C`defined\*(C'\fR on the return
from \f(CW\*(C`fcntl\*(C'\fR. Like
\&\f(CW\*(C`ioctl\*(C'\fR, it maps a \f(CW0\fR return
from the system call into \f(CW"0 but true"\fR in Perl. This string is true
in boolean context and \f(CW0\fR in numeric context. It is also exempt from
the normal
\&\f(CW\*(C`Argument "..." isn\*(Aqt numeric\*(C'\fR
warnings on improper numeric conversions.
.Sp
Note that \f(CW\*(C`fcntl\*(C'\fR raises an
exception if used on a machine that doesn't implement \fBfcntl\fR\|(2). See
the Fcntl module or your \fBfcntl\fR\|(2) manpage to learn what functions
are available on your system.
.Sp
Here's an example of setting a filehandle named \f(CW$REMOTE\fR to be
non-blocking at the system level. You'll have to negotiate
\&\f(CW$|\fR on your own, though.
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& use Fcntl qw(F_GETFL F_SETFL O_NONBLOCK);
\&
\& my $flags = fcntl($REMOTE, F_GETFL, 0)
\& or die "Can\*(Aqt get flags for the socket: $!\en";
\&
\& fcntl($REMOTE, F_SETFL, $flags | O_NONBLOCK)
\& or die "Can\*(Aqt set flags for the socket: $!\en";
.Ve
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"fcntl\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "_\|_FILE_\|_" 4
.IX Xref "__FILE__"
.IX Item "__FILE__"
A special token that returns the name of the file in which it occurs.
.IP "fileno \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0" 4
.IX Xref "fileno"
.IX Item "fileno FILEHANDLE"
.PD 0
.IP "fileno \s-1DIRHANDLE\s0" 4
.IX Item "fileno DIRHANDLE"
.PD
Returns the file descriptor for a filehandle or directory handle,
or undefined if the
filehandle is not open. If there is no real file descriptor at the \s-1OS\s0
level, as can happen with filehandles connected to memory objects via
\&\f(CW\*(C`open\*(C'\fR with a reference for the third
argument, \-1 is returned.
.Sp
This is mainly useful for constructing bitmaps for
\&\f(CW\*(C`select\*(C'\fR and low-level \s-1POSIX\s0
tty-handling operations.
If \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0 is an expression, the value is taken as an indirect
filehandle, generally its name.
.Sp
You can use this to find out whether two handles refer to the
same underlying descriptor:
.Sp
.Vb 9
\& if (fileno($this) != \-1 && fileno($this) == fileno($that)) {
\& print "\e$this and \e$that are dups\en";
\& } elsif (fileno($this) != \-1 && fileno($that) != \-1) {
\& print "\e$this and \e$that have different " .
\& "underlying file descriptors\en";
\& } else {
\& print "At least one of \e$this and \e$that does " .
\& "not have a real file descriptor\en";
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
The behavior of \f(CW\*(C`fileno\*(C'\fR on a directory handle
depends on the operating system. On a system with \fBdirfd\fR\|(3) or
similar, \f(CW\*(C`fileno\*(C'\fR on a directory
handle returns the underlying file descriptor associated with the
handle; on systems with no such support, it returns the undefined value,
and sets \f(CW$!\fR (errno).
.IP "flock \s-1FILEHANDLE,OPERATION\s0" 4
.IX Xref "flock lock locking"
.IX Item "flock FILEHANDLE,OPERATION"
Calls \fBflock\fR\|(2), or an emulation of it, on \s-1FILEHANDLE.\s0 Returns true
for success, false on failure. Produces a fatal error if used on a
machine that doesn't implement \fBflock\fR\|(2), \fBfcntl\fR\|(2) locking, or
\&\fBlockf\fR\|(3). \f(CW\*(C`flock\*(C'\fR is Perl's portable
file-locking interface, although it locks entire files only, not
records.
.Sp
Two potentially non-obvious but traditional \f(CW\*(C`flock\*(C'\fR semantics are
that it waits indefinitely until the lock is granted, and that its locks
are \fBmerely advisory\fR. Such discretionary locks are more flexible, but
offer fewer guarantees. This means that programs that do not also use
\&\f(CW\*(C`flock\*(C'\fR may modify files locked with
\&\f(CW\*(C`flock\*(C'\fR. See perlport,
your port's specific documentation, and your system-specific local manpages
for details. It's best to assume traditional behavior if you're writing
portable programs. (But if you're not, you should as always feel perfectly
free to write for your own system's idiosyncrasies (sometimes called
\&\*(L"features\*(R"). Slavish adherence to portability concerns shouldn't get
in the way of your getting your job done.)
.Sp
\&\s-1OPERATION\s0 is one of \s-1LOCK_SH, LOCK_EX,\s0 or \s-1LOCK_UN,\s0 possibly combined with
\&\s-1LOCK_NB.\s0 These constants are traditionally valued 1, 2, 8 and 4, but
you can use the symbolic names if you import them from the Fcntl module,
either individually, or as a group using the \f(CW\*(C`:flock\*(C'\fR tag. \s-1LOCK_SH\s0
requests a shared lock, \s-1LOCK_EX\s0 requests an exclusive lock, and \s-1LOCK_UN\s0
releases a previously requested lock. If \s-1LOCK_NB\s0 is bitwise-or'ed with
\&\s-1LOCK_SH\s0 or \s-1LOCK_EX,\s0 then \f(CW\*(C`flock\*(C'\fR returns
immediately rather than blocking waiting for the lock; check the return
status to see if you got it.
.Sp
To avoid the possibility of miscoordination, Perl now flushes \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0
before locking or unlocking it.
.Sp
Note that the emulation built with \fBlockf\fR\|(3) doesn't provide shared
locks, and it requires that \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0 be open with write intent. These
are the semantics that \fBlockf\fR\|(3) implements. Most if not all systems
implement \fBlockf\fR\|(3) in terms of \fBfcntl\fR\|(2) locking, though, so the
differing semantics shouldn't bite too many people.
.Sp
Note that the \fBfcntl\fR\|(2) emulation of \fBflock\fR\|(3) requires that \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0
be open with read intent to use \s-1LOCK_SH\s0 and requires that it be open
with write intent to use \s-1LOCK_EX.\s0
.Sp
Note also that some versions of \f(CW\*(C`flock\*(C'\fR
cannot lock things over the network; you would need to use the more
system-specific \f(CW\*(C`fcntl\*(C'\fR for
that. If you like you can force Perl to ignore your system's \fBflock\fR\|(2)
function, and so provide its own \fBfcntl\fR\|(2)\-based emulation, by passing
the switch \f(CW\*(C`\-Ud_flock\*(C'\fR to the \fIConfigure\fR program when you configure
and build a new Perl.
.Sp
Here's a mailbox appender for \s-1BSD\s0 systems.
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& # import LOCK_* and SEEK_END constants
\& use Fcntl qw(:flock SEEK_END);
\&
\& sub lock {
\& my ($fh) = @_;
\& flock($fh, LOCK_EX) or die "Cannot lock mailbox \- $!\en";
\& # and, in case we\*(Aqre running on a very old UNIX
\& # variant without the modern O_APPEND semantics...
\& seek($fh, 0, SEEK_END) or die "Cannot seek \- $!\en";
\& }
\&
\& sub unlock {
\& my ($fh) = @_;
\& flock($fh, LOCK_UN) or die "Cannot unlock mailbox \- $!\en";
\& }
\&
\& open(my $mbox, ">>", "/usr/spool/mail/$ENV{\*(AqUSER\*(Aq}")
\& or die "Can\*(Aqt open mailbox: $!";
\&
\& lock($mbox);
\& print $mbox $msg,"\en\en";
\& unlock($mbox);
.Ve
.Sp
On systems that support a real \fBflock\fR\|(2), locks are inherited across
\&\f(CW\*(C`fork\*(C'\fR calls, whereas those that must resort to the more
capricious \fBfcntl\fR\|(2) function lose their locks, making it seriously
harder to write servers.
.Sp
See also DB_File for other \f(CW\*(C`flock\*(C'\fR
examples.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"flock\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "fork" 4
.IX Xref "fork child parent"
.IX Item "fork"
Does a \fBfork\fR\|(2) system call to create a new process running the
same program at the same point. It returns the child pid to the
parent process, \f(CW0\fR to the child process, or \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR if
the fork is
unsuccessful. File descriptors (and sometimes locks on those descriptors)
are shared, while everything else is copied. On most systems supporting
\&\fBfork\fR\|(2), great care has gone into making it extremely efficient (for
example, using copy-on-write technology on data pages), making it the
dominant paradigm for multitasking over the last few decades.
.Sp
Perl attempts to flush all files opened for output before forking the
child process, but this may not be supported on some platforms (see
perlport). To be safe, you may need to set
\&\f(CW$|\fR (\f(CW$AUTOFLUSH\fR in English) or
call the \f(CW\*(C`autoflush\*(C'\fR method of \f(CW\*(C`IO::Handle\*(C'\fR on
any open handles to avoid duplicate output.
.Sp
If you \f(CW\*(C`fork\*(C'\fR without ever waiting on your children, you will
accumulate zombies. On some systems, you can avoid this by setting
\&\f(CW$SIG{CHLD}\fR to \f(CW"IGNORE"\fR. See also perlipc for
more examples of forking and reaping moribund children.
.Sp
Note that if your forked child inherits system file descriptors like
\&\s-1STDIN\s0 and \s-1STDOUT\s0 that are actually connected by a pipe or socket, even
if you exit, then the remote server (such as, say, a \s-1CGI\s0 script or a
backgrounded job launched from a remote shell) won't think you're done.
You should reopen those to \fI/dev/null\fR if it's any issue.
.Sp
On some platforms such as Windows, where the \fBfork\fR\|(2) system call is
not available, Perl can be built to emulate \f(CW\*(C`fork\*(C'\fR in the Perl
interpreter. The emulation is designed, at the level of the Perl
program, to be as compatible as possible with the \*(L"Unix\*(R" \fBfork\fR\|(2).
However it has limitations that have to be considered in code intended
to be portable. See perlfork for more details.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"fork\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "format" 4
.IX Xref "format"
.IX Item "format"
Declare a picture format for use by the \f(CW\*(C`write\*(C'\fR
function. For example:
.Sp
.Vb 4
\& format Something =
\& Test: @<<<<<<<< @||||| @>>>>>
\& $str, $%, \*(Aq$\*(Aq . int($num)
\& .
\&
\& $str = "widget";
\& $num = $cost/$quantity;
\& $~ = \*(AqSomething\*(Aq;
\& write;
.Ve
.Sp
See perlform for many details and examples.
.IP "formline \s-1PICTURE,LIST\s0" 4
.IX Xref "formline"
.IX Item "formline PICTURE,LIST"
This is an internal function used by \f(CW\*(C`format\*(C'\fRs, though you
may call it, too. It formats (see perlform) a list of values
according to the contents of \s-1PICTURE,\s0 placing the output into the format
output accumulator, \f(CW$^A\fR (or \f(CW$ACCUMULATOR\fR in
English). Eventually, when a \f(CW\*(C`write\*(C'\fR is done,
the contents of \f(CW$^A\fR are written to some filehandle.
You could also read \f(CW$^A\fR and then set
\&\f(CW$^A\fR back to \f(CW""\fR. Note that a format typically does
one \f(CW\*(C`formline\*(C'\fR per line of form, but the
\&\f(CW\*(C`formline\*(C'\fR function itself doesn't care how
many newlines are embedded in the \s-1PICTURE.\s0 This means that the \f(CW\*(C`~\*(C'\fR and
\&\f(CW\*(C`~~\*(C'\fR tokens treat the entire \s-1PICTURE\s0 as a single line. You may
therefore need to use multiple formlines to implement a single record
format, just like the \f(CW\*(C`format\*(C'\fR compiler.
.Sp
Be careful if you put double quotes around the picture, because an \f(CW\*(C`@\*(C'\fR
character may be taken to mean the beginning of an array name.
\&\f(CW\*(C`formline\*(C'\fR always returns true. See
perlform for other examples.
.Sp
If you are trying to use this instead of \f(CW\*(C`write\*(C'\fR
to capture the output, you may find it easier to open a filehandle to a
scalar (\f(CW\*(C`open my $fh, ">", \e$output\*(C'\fR) and write to that instead.
.IP "getc \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0" 4
.IX Xref "getc getchar character file, read"
.IX Item "getc FILEHANDLE"
.PD 0
.IP "getc" 4
.IX Item "getc"
.PD
Returns the next character from the input file attached to \s-1FILEHANDLE,\s0
or the undefined value at end of file or if there was an error (in
the latter case \f(CW$!\fR is set). If \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0 is omitted,
reads from
\&\s-1STDIN.\s0 This is not particularly efficient. However, it cannot be
used by itself to fetch single characters without waiting for the user
to hit enter. For that, try something more like:
.Sp
.Vb 6
\& if ($BSD_STYLE) {
\& system "stty cbreak </dev/tty >/dev/tty 2>&1";
\& }
\& else {
\& system "stty", \*(Aq\-icanon\*(Aq, \*(Aqeol\*(Aq, "\e001";
\& }
\&
\& my $key = getc(STDIN);
\&
\& if ($BSD_STYLE) {
\& system "stty \-cbreak </dev/tty >/dev/tty 2>&1";
\& }
\& else {
\& system \*(Aqstty\*(Aq, \*(Aqicanon\*(Aq, \*(Aqeol\*(Aq, \*(Aq^@\*(Aq; # ASCII NUL
\& }
\& print "\en";
.Ve
.Sp
Determination of whether \f(CW$BSD_STYLE\fR should be set is left as an
exercise to the reader.
.Sp
The \f(CW\*(C`POSIX::getattr\*(C'\fR function can do this more
portably on systems purporting \s-1POSIX\s0 compliance. See also the
\&\f(CW\*(C`Term::ReadKey\*(C'\fR module on \s-1CPAN.\s0
.IP "getlogin" 4
.IX Xref "getlogin login"
.IX Item "getlogin"
This implements the C library function of the same name, which on most
systems returns the current login from \fI/etc/utmp\fR, if any. If it
returns the empty string, use \f(CW\*(C`getpwuid\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& my $login = getlogin || getpwuid($<) || "Kilroy";
.Ve
.Sp
Do not consider \f(CW\*(C`getlogin\*(C'\fR for authentication: it is not
as secure as \f(CW\*(C`getpwuid\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"getlogin\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "getpeername \s-1SOCKET\s0" 4
.IX Xref "getpeername peer"
.IX Item "getpeername SOCKET"
Returns the packed sockaddr address of the other end of the \s-1SOCKET\s0
connection.
.Sp
.Vb 5
\& use Socket;
\& my $hersockaddr = getpeername($sock);
\& my ($port, $iaddr) = sockaddr_in($hersockaddr);
\& my $herhostname = gethostbyaddr($iaddr, AF_INET);
\& my $herstraddr = inet_ntoa($iaddr);
.Ve
.IP "getpgrp \s-1PID\s0" 4
.IX Xref "getpgrp group"
.IX Item "getpgrp PID"
Returns the current process group for the specified \s-1PID.\s0 Use
a \s-1PID\s0 of \f(CW0\fR to get the current process group for the
current process. Will raise an exception if used on a machine that
doesn't implement \fBgetpgrp\fR\|(2). If \s-1PID\s0 is omitted, returns the process
group of the current process. Note that the \s-1POSIX\s0 version of
\&\f(CW\*(C`getpgrp\*(C'\fR does not accept a \s-1PID\s0 argument, so only
\&\f(CW\*(C`PID==0\*(C'\fR is truly portable.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"getpgrp\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "getppid" 4
.IX Xref "getppid parent pid"
.IX Item "getppid"
Returns the process id of the parent process.
.Sp
Note for Linux users: Between v5.8.1 and v5.16.0 Perl would work
around non-POSIX thread semantics the minority of Linux systems (and
Debian GNU/kFreeBSD systems) that used LinuxThreads, this emulation
has since been removed. See the documentation for $$ for
details.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"getppid\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "getpriority \s-1WHICH,WHO\s0" 4
.IX Xref "getpriority priority nice"
.IX Item "getpriority WHICH,WHO"
Returns the current priority for a process, a process group, or a user.
(See \fBgetpriority\fR\|(2).) Will raise a fatal exception if used on a
machine that doesn't implement \fBgetpriority\fR\|(2).
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`WHICH\*(C'\fR can be any of \f(CW\*(C`PRIO_PROCESS\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`PRIO_PGRP\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`PRIO_USER\*(C'\fR
imported from \*(L"\s-1RESOURCE CONSTANTS\*(R"\s0 in \s-1POSIX\s0.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"getpriority\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "getpwnam \s-1NAME\s0" 4
.IX Xref "getpwnam getgrnam gethostbyname getnetbyname getprotobyname getpwuid getgrgid getservbyname gethostbyaddr getnetbyaddr getprotobynumber getservbyport getpwent getgrent gethostent getnetent getprotoent getservent setpwent setgrent sethostent setnetent setprotoent setservent endpwent endgrent endhostent endnetent endprotoent endservent"
.IX Item "getpwnam NAME"
.PD 0
.IP "getgrnam \s-1NAME\s0" 4
.IX Item "getgrnam NAME"
.IP "gethostbyname \s-1NAME\s0" 4
.IX Item "gethostbyname NAME"
.IP "getnetbyname \s-1NAME\s0" 4
.IX Item "getnetbyname NAME"
.IP "getprotobyname \s-1NAME\s0" 4
.IX Item "getprotobyname NAME"
.IP "getpwuid \s-1UID\s0" 4
.IX Item "getpwuid UID"
.IP "getgrgid \s-1GID\s0" 4
.IX Item "getgrgid GID"
.IP "getservbyname \s-1NAME,PROTO\s0" 4
.IX Item "getservbyname NAME,PROTO"
.IP "gethostbyaddr \s-1ADDR,ADDRTYPE\s0" 4
.IX Item "gethostbyaddr ADDR,ADDRTYPE"
.IP "getnetbyaddr \s-1ADDR,ADDRTYPE\s0" 4
.IX Item "getnetbyaddr ADDR,ADDRTYPE"
.IP "getprotobynumber \s-1NUMBER\s0" 4
.IX Item "getprotobynumber NUMBER"
.IP "getservbyport \s-1PORT,PROTO\s0" 4
.IX Item "getservbyport PORT,PROTO"
.IP "getpwent" 4
.IX Item "getpwent"
.IP "getgrent" 4
.IX Item "getgrent"
.IP "gethostent" 4
.IX Item "gethostent"
.IP "getnetent" 4
.IX Item "getnetent"
.IP "getprotoent" 4
.IX Item "getprotoent"
.IP "getservent" 4
.IX Item "getservent"
.IP "setpwent" 4
.IX Item "setpwent"
.IP "setgrent" 4
.IX Item "setgrent"
.IP "sethostent \s-1STAYOPEN\s0" 4
.IX Item "sethostent STAYOPEN"
.IP "setnetent \s-1STAYOPEN\s0" 4
.IX Item "setnetent STAYOPEN"
.IP "setprotoent \s-1STAYOPEN\s0" 4
.IX Item "setprotoent STAYOPEN"
.IP "setservent \s-1STAYOPEN\s0" 4
.IX Item "setservent STAYOPEN"
.IP "endpwent" 4
.IX Item "endpwent"
.IP "endgrent" 4
.IX Item "endgrent"
.IP "endhostent" 4
.IX Item "endhostent"
.IP "endnetent" 4
.IX Item "endnetent"
.IP "endprotoent" 4
.IX Item "endprotoent"
.IP "endservent" 4
.IX Item "endservent"
.PD
These routines are the same as their counterparts in the
system C library. In list context, the return values from the
various get routines are as follows:
.Sp
.Vb 9
\& # 0 1 2 3 4
\& my ( $name, $passwd, $gid, $members ) = getgr*
\& my ( $name, $aliases, $addrtype, $net ) = getnet*
\& my ( $name, $aliases, $port, $proto ) = getserv*
\& my ( $name, $aliases, $proto ) = getproto*
\& my ( $name, $aliases, $addrtype, $length, @addrs ) = gethost*
\& my ( $name, $passwd, $uid, $gid, $quota,
\& $comment, $gcos, $dir, $shell, $expire ) = getpw*
\& # 5 6 7 8 9
.Ve
.Sp
(If the entry doesn't exist, the return value is a single meaningless true
value.)
.Sp
The exact meaning of the \f(CW$gcos\fR field varies but it usually contains
the real name of the user (as opposed to the login name) and other
information pertaining to the user. Beware, however, that in many
system users are able to change this information and therefore it
cannot be trusted and therefore the \f(CW$gcos\fR is tainted (see
perlsec). The \f(CW$passwd\fR and \f(CW$shell\fR, user's encrypted password and
login shell, are also tainted, for the same reason.
.Sp
In scalar context, you get the name, unless the function was a
lookup by name, in which case you get the other thing, whatever it is.
(If the entry doesn't exist you get the undefined value.) For example:
.Sp
.Vb 7
\& my $uid = getpwnam($name);
\& my $name = getpwuid($num);
\& my $name = getpwent();
\& my $gid = getgrnam($name);
\& my $name = getgrgid($num);
\& my $name = getgrent();
\& # etc.
.Ve
.Sp
In \fIgetpw*()\fR the fields \f(CW$quota\fR, \f(CW$comment\fR, and \f(CW$expire\fR are special
in that they are unsupported on many systems. If the
\&\f(CW$quota\fR is unsupported, it is an empty scalar. If it is supported, it
usually encodes the disk quota. If the \f(CW$comment\fR field is unsupported,
it is an empty scalar. If it is supported it usually encodes some
administrative comment about the user. In some systems the \f(CW$quota\fR
field may be \f(CW$change\fR or \f(CW$age\fR, fields that have to do with password
aging. In some systems the \f(CW$comment\fR field may be \f(CW$class\fR. The \f(CW$expire\fR
field, if present, encodes the expiration period of the account or the
password. For the availability and the exact meaning of these fields
in your system, please consult \fBgetpwnam\fR\|(3) and your system's
\&\fIpwd.h\fR file. You can also find out from within Perl what your
\&\f(CW$quota\fR and \f(CW$comment\fR fields mean and whether you have the \f(CW$expire\fR field
by using the \f(CW\*(C`Config\*(C'\fR module and the values \f(CW\*(C`d_pwquota\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`d_pwage\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`d_pwchange\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`d_pwcomment\*(C'\fR, and \f(CW\*(C`d_pwexpire\*(C'\fR. Shadow password
files are supported only if your vendor has implemented them in the
intuitive fashion that calling the regular C library routines gets the
shadow versions if you're running under privilege or if there exists
the \fBshadow\fR\|(3) functions as found in System V (this includes Solaris
and Linux). Those systems that implement a proprietary shadow password
facility are unlikely to be supported.
.Sp
The \f(CW$members\fR value returned by \fIgetgr*()\fR is a space-separated list of
the login names of the members of the group.
.Sp
For the \fIgethost*()\fR functions, if the \f(CW\*(C`h_errno\*(C'\fR variable is supported in
C, it will be returned to you via \f(CW$?\fR if the function
call fails. The
\&\f(CW@addrs\fR value returned by a successful call is a list of raw
addresses returned by the corresponding library call. In the
Internet domain, each address is four bytes long; you can unpack it
by saying something like:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& my ($w,$x,$y,$z) = unpack(\*(AqW4\*(Aq,$addr[0]);
.Ve
.Sp
The Socket library makes this slightly easier:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& use Socket;
\& my $iaddr = inet_aton("127.1"); # or whatever address
\& my $name = gethostbyaddr($iaddr, AF_INET);
\&
\& # or going the other way
\& my $straddr = inet_ntoa($iaddr);
.Ve
.Sp
In the opposite way, to resolve a hostname to the \s-1IP\s0 address
you can write this:
.Sp
.Vb 6
\& use Socket;
\& my $packed_ip = gethostbyname("www.perl.org");
\& my $ip_address;
\& if (defined $packed_ip) {
\& $ip_address = inet_ntoa($packed_ip);
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
Make sure \f(CW\*(C`gethostbyname\*(C'\fR is called in \s-1SCALAR\s0
context and that its return value is checked for definedness.
.Sp
The \f(CW\*(C`getprotobynumber\*(C'\fR function, even
though it only takes one argument, has the precedence of a list
operator, so beware:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& getprotobynumber $number eq \*(Aqicmp\*(Aq # WRONG
\& getprotobynumber($number eq \*(Aqicmp\*(Aq) # actually means this
\& getprotobynumber($number) eq \*(Aqicmp\*(Aq # better this way
.Ve
.Sp
If you get tired of remembering which element of the return list
contains which return value, by-name interfaces are provided in standard
modules: \f(CW\*(C`File::stat\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`Net::hostent\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`Net::netent\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`Net::protoent\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`Net::servent\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`Time::gmtime\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`Time::localtime\*(C'\fR, and
\&\f(CW\*(C`User::grent\*(C'\fR. These override the normal built-ins,
supplying versions that return objects with the appropriate names for
each field. For example:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& use File::stat;
\& use User::pwent;
\& my $is_his = (stat($filename)\->uid == pwent($whoever)\->uid);
.Ve
.Sp
Even though it looks as though they're the same method calls (uid),
they aren't, because a \f(CW\*(C`File::stat\*(C'\fR object is different from
a \f(CW\*(C`User::pwent\*(C'\fR object.
.Sp
Many of these functions are not safe in a multi-threaded environment
where more than one thread can be using them. In particular, functions
like \f(CW\*(C`getpwent()\*(C'\fR iterate per-process and not per-thread, so if two
threads are simultaneously iterating, neither will get all the records.
.Sp
Some systems have thread-safe versions of some of the functions, such as
\&\f(CW\*(C`getpwnam_r()\*(C'\fR instead of \f(CW\*(C`getpwnam()\*(C'\fR. There, Perl automatically and
invisibly substitutes the thread-safe version, without notice. This
means that code that safely runs on some systems can fail on others that
lack the thread-safe versions.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"getpwnam\*(R" in perlport to \*(L"endservent\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "getsockname \s-1SOCKET\s0" 4
.IX Xref "getsockname"
.IX Item "getsockname SOCKET"
Returns the packed sockaddr address of this end of the \s-1SOCKET\s0 connection,
in case you don't know the address because you have several different
IPs that the connection might have come in on.
.Sp
.Vb 6
\& use Socket;
\& my $mysockaddr = getsockname($sock);
\& my ($port, $myaddr) = sockaddr_in($mysockaddr);
\& printf "Connect to %s [%s]\en",
\& scalar gethostbyaddr($myaddr, AF_INET),
\& inet_ntoa($myaddr);
.Ve
.IP "getsockopt \s-1SOCKET,LEVEL,OPTNAME\s0" 4
.IX Xref "getsockopt"
.IX Item "getsockopt SOCKET,LEVEL,OPTNAME"
Queries the option named \s-1OPTNAME\s0 associated with \s-1SOCKET\s0 at a given \s-1LEVEL.\s0
Options may exist at multiple protocol levels depending on the socket
type, but at least the uppermost socket level \s-1SOL_SOCKET\s0 (defined in the
\&\f(CW\*(C`Socket\*(C'\fR module) will exist. To query options at another
level the protocol number of the appropriate protocol controlling the
option should be supplied. For example, to indicate that an option is
to be interpreted by the \s-1TCP\s0 protocol, \s-1LEVEL\s0 should be set to the
protocol number of \s-1TCP,\s0 which you can get using
\&\f(CW\*(C`getprotobyname\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
The function returns a packed string representing the requested socket
option, or \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR on error, with the reason for the
error placed in \f(CW$!\fR. Just what is in the packed string
depends on \s-1LEVEL\s0 and \s-1OPTNAME\s0; consult \fBgetsockopt\fR\|(2) for details. A
common case is that the option is an integer, in which case the result
is a packed integer, which you can decode using
\&\f(CW\*(C`unpack\*(C'\fR with the \f(CW\*(C`i\*(C'\fR (or \f(CW\*(C`I\*(C'\fR) format.
.Sp
Here's an example to test whether Nagle's algorithm is enabled on a socket:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& use Socket qw(:all);
\&
\& defined(my $tcp = getprotobyname("tcp"))
\& or die "Could not determine the protocol number for tcp";
\& # my $tcp = IPPROTO_TCP; # Alternative
\& my $packed = getsockopt($socket, $tcp, TCP_NODELAY)
\& or die "getsockopt TCP_NODELAY: $!";
\& my $nodelay = unpack("I", $packed);
\& print "Nagle\*(Aqs algorithm is turned ",
\& $nodelay ? "off\en" : "on\en";
.Ve
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"getsockopt\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "glob \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "glob wildcard filename, expansion expand"
.IX Item "glob EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "glob" 4
.IX Item "glob"
.PD
In list context, returns a (possibly empty) list of filename expansions on
the value of \s-1EXPR\s0 such as the standard Unix shell \fI/bin/csh\fR would do. In
scalar context, glob iterates through such filename expansions, returning
undef when the list is exhausted. This is the internal function
implementing the \f(CW\*(C`<*.c>\*(C'\fR operator, but you can use it directly. If
\&\s-1EXPR\s0 is omitted, \f(CW$_\fR is used. The \f(CW\*(C`<*.c>\*(C'\fR operator
is discussed in more detail in \*(L"I/O Operators\*(R" in perlop.
.Sp
Note that \f(CW\*(C`glob\*(C'\fR splits its arguments on whitespace and
treats
each segment as separate pattern. As such, \f(CW\*(C`glob("*.c *.h")\*(C'\fR
matches all files with a \fI.c\fR or \fI.h\fR extension. The expression
\&\f(CW\*(C`glob(".* *")\*(C'\fR matches all files in the current working directory.
If you want to glob filenames that might contain whitespace, you'll
have to use extra quotes around the spacey filename to protect it.
For example, to glob filenames that have an \f(CW\*(C`e\*(C'\fR followed by a space
followed by an \f(CW\*(C`f\*(C'\fR, use one of:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& my @spacies = <"*e f*">;
\& my @spacies = glob \*(Aq"*e f*"\*(Aq;
\& my @spacies = glob q("*e f*");
.Ve
.Sp
If you had to get a variable through, you could do this:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& my @spacies = glob "\*(Aq*${var}e f*\*(Aq";
\& my @spacies = glob qq("*${var}e f*");
.Ve
.Sp
If non-empty braces are the only wildcard characters used in the
\&\f(CW\*(C`glob\*(C'\fR, no filenames are matched, but potentially many
strings are returned. For example, this produces nine strings, one for
each pairing of fruits and colors:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& my @many = glob "{apple,tomato,cherry}={green,yellow,red}";
.Ve
.Sp
This operator is implemented using the standard \f(CW\*(C`File::Glob\*(C'\fR extension.
See File::Glob for details, including
\&\f(CW\*(C`bsd_glob\*(C'\fR, which does not treat whitespace
as a pattern separator.
.Sp
If a \f(CW\*(C`glob\*(C'\fR expression is used as the condition of a \f(CW\*(C`while\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`for\*(C'\fR
loop, then it will be implicitly assigned to \f(CW$_\fR. If either a \f(CW\*(C`glob\*(C'\fR
expression or an explicit assignment of a \f(CW\*(C`glob\*(C'\fR expression to a scalar
is used as a \f(CW\*(C`while\*(C'\fR/\f(CW\*(C`for\*(C'\fR condition, then the condition actually
tests for definedness of the expression's value, not for its regular
truth value.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"glob\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "gmtime \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "gmtime UTC Greenwich"
.IX Item "gmtime EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "gmtime" 4
.IX Item "gmtime"
.PD
Works just like \f(CW\*(C`localtime\*(C'\fR but the returned values
are localized for the standard Greenwich time zone.
.Sp
Note: When called in list context, \f(CW$isdst\fR, the last value
returned by gmtime, is always \f(CW0\fR. There is no
Daylight Saving Time in \s-1GMT.\s0
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"gmtime\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "goto \s-1LABEL\s0" 4
.IX Xref "goto jump jmp"
.IX Item "goto LABEL"
.PD 0
.IP "goto \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Item "goto EXPR"
.IP "goto &NAME" 4
.IX Item "goto &NAME"
.PD
The \f(CW\*(C`goto LABEL\*(C'\fR form finds the statement labeled with \s-1LABEL\s0 and
resumes execution there. It can't be used to get out of a block or
subroutine given to \f(CW\*(C`sort\*(C'\fR. It can be used to go
almost anywhere else within the dynamic scope, including out of
subroutines, but it's usually better to use some other construct such as
\&\f(CW\*(C`last\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`die\*(C'\fR. The author of Perl has
never felt the need to use this form of \f(CW\*(C`goto\*(C'\fR (in Perl,
that is; C is another matter). (The difference is that C does not offer
named loops combined with loop control. Perl does, and this replaces
most structured uses of \f(CW\*(C`goto\*(C'\fR in other languages.)
.Sp
The \f(CW\*(C`goto EXPR\*(C'\fR form expects to evaluate \f(CW\*(C`EXPR\*(C'\fR to a code reference or
a label name. If it evaluates to a code reference, it will be handled
like \f(CW\*(C`goto &NAME\*(C'\fR, below. This is especially useful for implementing
tail recursion via \f(CW\*(C`goto _\|_SUB_\|_\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
If the expression evaluates to a label name, its scope will be resolved
dynamically. This allows for computed \f(CW\*(C`goto\*(C'\fRs per
\&\s-1FORTRAN,\s0 but isn't necessarily recommended if you're optimizing for
maintainability:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& goto ("FOO", "BAR", "GLARCH")[$i];
.Ve
.Sp
As shown in this example, \f(CW\*(C`goto EXPR\*(C'\fR is exempt from the \*(L"looks like a
function\*(R" rule. A pair of parentheses following it does not (necessarily)
delimit its argument. \f(CW\*(C`goto("NE")."XT"\*(C'\fR is equivalent to \f(CW\*(C`goto NEXT\*(C'\fR.
Also, unlike most named operators, this has the same precedence as
assignment.
.Sp
Use of \f(CW\*(C`goto LABEL\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`goto EXPR\*(C'\fR to jump into a construct is
deprecated and will issue a warning. Even then, it may not be used to
go into any construct that requires initialization, such as a
subroutine, a \f(CW\*(C`foreach\*(C'\fR loop, or a \f(CW\*(C`given\*(C'\fR
block. In general, it may not be used to jump into the parameter
of a binary or list operator, but it may be used to jump into the
\&\fIfirst\fR parameter of a binary operator. (The \f(CW\*(C`=\*(C'\fR
assignment operator's \*(L"first\*(R" operand is its right-hand
operand.) It also can't be used to go into a
construct that is optimized away.
.Sp
The \f(CW\*(C`goto &NAME\*(C'\fR form is quite different from the other forms of
\&\f(CW\*(C`goto\*(C'\fR. In fact, it isn't a goto in the normal sense at
all, and doesn't have the stigma associated with other gotos. Instead,
it exits the current subroutine (losing any changes set by
\&\f(CW\*(C`local\*(C'\fR) and immediately calls in its place the named
subroutine using the current value of \f(CW@_\fR. This is used
by \f(CW\*(C`AUTOLOAD\*(C'\fR subroutines that wish to load another subroutine and then
pretend that the other subroutine had been called in the first place
(except that any modifications to \f(CW@_\fR in the current
subroutine are propagated to the other subroutine.) After the
\&\f(CW\*(C`goto\*(C'\fR, not even \f(CW\*(C`caller\*(C'\fR will be able
to tell that this routine was called first.
.Sp
\&\s-1NAME\s0 needn't be the name of a subroutine; it can be a scalar variable
containing a code reference or a block that evaluates to a code
reference.
.IP "grep \s-1BLOCK LIST\s0" 4
.IX Xref "grep"
.IX Item "grep BLOCK LIST"
.PD 0
.IP "grep \s-1EXPR,LIST\s0" 4
.IX Item "grep EXPR,LIST"
.PD
This is similar in spirit to, but not the same as, \fBgrep\fR\|(1) and its
relatives. In particular, it is not limited to using regular expressions.
.Sp
Evaluates the \s-1BLOCK\s0 or \s-1EXPR\s0 for each element of \s-1LIST\s0 (locally setting
\&\f(CW$_\fR to each element) and returns the list value
consisting of those
elements for which the expression evaluated to true. In scalar
context, returns the number of times the expression was true.
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& my @foo = grep(!/^#/, @bar); # weed out comments
.Ve
.Sp
or equivalently,
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& my @foo = grep {!/^#/} @bar; # weed out comments
.Ve
.Sp
Note that \f(CW$_\fR is an alias to the list value, so it can
be used to
modify the elements of the \s-1LIST.\s0 While this is useful and supported,
it can cause bizarre results if the elements of \s-1LIST\s0 are not variables.
Similarly, grep returns aliases into the original list, much as a for
loop's index variable aliases the list elements. That is, modifying an
element of a list returned by grep (for example, in a \f(CW\*(C`foreach\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`map\*(C'\fR or another \f(CW\*(C`grep\*(C'\fR)
actually modifies the element in the original list.
This is usually something to be avoided when writing clear code.
.Sp
See also \f(CW\*(C`map\*(C'\fR for a list composed of the results of
the \s-1BLOCK\s0 or \s-1EXPR.\s0
.IP "hex \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "hex hexadecimal"
.IX Item "hex EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "hex" 4
.IX Item "hex"
.PD
Interprets \s-1EXPR\s0 as a hex string and returns the corresponding numeric value.
If \s-1EXPR\s0 is omitted, uses \f(CW$_\fR.
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& print hex \*(Aq0xAf\*(Aq; # prints \*(Aq175\*(Aq
\& print hex \*(AqaF\*(Aq; # same
\& $valid_input =~ /\eA(?:0?[xX])?(?:_?[0\-9a\-fA\-F])*\ez/
.Ve
.Sp
A hex string consists of hex digits and an optional \f(CW\*(C`0x\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`x\*(C'\fR prefix.
Each hex digit may be preceded by a single underscore, which will be ignored.
Any other character triggers a warning and causes the rest of the string
to be ignored (even leading whitespace, unlike \f(CW\*(C`oct\*(C'\fR).
Only integers can be represented, and integer overflow triggers a warning.
.Sp
To convert strings that might start with any of \f(CW0\fR, \f(CW\*(C`0x\*(C'\fR, or \f(CW\*(C`0b\*(C'\fR,
see \f(CW\*(C`oct\*(C'\fR. To present something as hex, look into
\&\f(CW\*(C`printf\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`sprintf\*(C'\fR, and
\&\f(CW\*(C`unpack\*(C'\fR.
.IP "import \s-1LIST\s0" 4
.IX Xref "import"
.IX Item "import LIST"
There is no builtin \f(CW\*(C`import\*(C'\fR function. It is just an
ordinary method (subroutine) defined (or inherited) by modules that wish
to export names to another module. The
\&\f(CW\*(C`use\*(C'\fR function calls the
\&\f(CW\*(C`import\*(C'\fR method for the package used. See also
\&\f(CW\*(C`use\*(C'\fR, perlmod, and Exporter.
.IP "index \s-1STR,SUBSTR,POSITION\s0" 4
.IX Xref "index indexOf InStr"
.IX Item "index STR,SUBSTR,POSITION"
.PD 0
.IP "index \s-1STR,SUBSTR\s0" 4
.IX Item "index STR,SUBSTR"
.PD
The index function searches for one string within another, but without
the wildcard-like behavior of a full regular-expression pattern match.
It returns the position of the first occurrence of \s-1SUBSTR\s0 in \s-1STR\s0 at
or after \s-1POSITION.\s0 If \s-1POSITION\s0 is omitted, starts searching from the
beginning of the string. \s-1POSITION\s0 before the beginning of the string
or after its end is treated as if it were the beginning or the end,
respectively. \s-1POSITION\s0 and the return value are based at zero.
If the substring is not found, \f(CW\*(C`index\*(C'\fR
returns \-1.
.IP "int \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "int integer truncate trunc floor"
.IX Item "int EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "int" 4
.IX Item "int"
.PD
Returns the integer portion of \s-1EXPR.\s0 If \s-1EXPR\s0 is omitted, uses
\&\f(CW$_\fR.
You should not use this function for rounding: one because it truncates
towards \f(CW0\fR, and two because machine representations of floating-point
numbers can sometimes produce counterintuitive results. For example,
\&\f(CW\*(C`int(\-6.725/0.025)\*(C'\fR produces \-268 rather than the correct \-269; that's
because it's really more like \-268.99999999999994315658 instead. Usually,
the \f(CW\*(C`sprintf\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`printf\*(C'\fR, or the
\&\f(CW\*(C`POSIX::floor\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`POSIX::ceil\*(C'\fR
functions will serve you better than will \f(CW\*(C`int\*(C'\fR.
.IP "ioctl \s-1FILEHANDLE,FUNCTION,SCALAR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "ioctl"
.IX Item "ioctl FILEHANDLE,FUNCTION,SCALAR"
Implements the \fBioctl\fR\|(2) function. You'll probably first have to say
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& require "sys/ioctl.ph"; # probably in
\& # $Config{archlib}/sys/ioctl.ph
.Ve
.Sp
to get the correct function definitions. If \fIsys/ioctl.ph\fR doesn't
exist or doesn't have the correct definitions you'll have to roll your
own, based on your C header files such as \fI<sys/ioctl.h>\fR.
(There is a Perl script called \fBh2ph\fR that comes with the Perl kit that
may help you in this, but it's nontrivial.) \s-1SCALAR\s0 will be read and/or
written depending on the \s-1FUNCTION\s0; a C pointer to the string value of \s-1SCALAR\s0
will be passed as the third argument of the actual
\&\f(CW\*(C`ioctl\*(C'\fR call. (If \s-1SCALAR\s0
has no string value but does have a numeric value, that value will be
passed rather than a pointer to the string value. To guarantee this to be
true, add a \f(CW0\fR to the scalar before using it.) The
\&\f(CW\*(C`pack\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`unpack\*(C'\fR
functions may be needed to manipulate the values of structures used by
\&\f(CW\*(C`ioctl\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
The return value of \f(CW\*(C`ioctl\*(C'\fR (and
\&\f(CW\*(C`fcntl\*(C'\fR) is as follows:
.Sp
.Vb 4
\& if OS returns: then Perl returns:
\& \-1 undefined value
\& 0 string "0 but true"
\& anything else that number
.Ve
.Sp
Thus Perl returns true on success and false on failure, yet you can
still easily determine the actual value returned by the operating
system:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& my $retval = ioctl(...) || \-1;
\& printf "System returned %d\en", $retval;
.Ve
.Sp
The special string \f(CW"0 but true"\fR is exempt from
\&\f(CW\*(C`Argument "..." isn\*(Aqt numeric\*(C'\fR
warnings on improper numeric conversions.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"ioctl\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "join \s-1EXPR,LIST\s0" 4
.IX Xref "join"
.IX Item "join EXPR,LIST"
Joins the separate strings of \s-1LIST\s0 into a single string with fields
separated by the value of \s-1EXPR,\s0 and returns that new string. Example:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& my $rec = join(\*(Aq:\*(Aq, $login,$passwd,$uid,$gid,$gcos,$home,$shell);
.Ve
.Sp
Beware that unlike \f(CW\*(C`split\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`join\*(C'\fR doesn't take a pattern as its first argument.
Compare \f(CW\*(C`split\*(C'\fR.
.IP "keys \s-1HASH\s0" 4
.IX Xref "keys key"
.IX Item "keys HASH"
.PD 0
.IP "keys \s-1ARRAY\s0" 4
.IX Item "keys ARRAY"
.PD
Called in list context, returns a list consisting of all the keys of the
named hash, or in Perl 5.12 or later only, the indices of an array. Perl
releases prior to 5.12 will produce a syntax error if you try to use an
array argument. In scalar context, returns the number of keys or indices.
.Sp
Hash entries are returned in an apparently random order. The actual random
order is specific to a given hash; the exact same series of operations
on two hashes may result in a different order for each hash. Any insertion
into the hash may change the order, as will any deletion, with the exception
that the most recent key returned by \f(CW\*(C`each\*(C'\fR or
\&\f(CW\*(C`keys\*(C'\fR may be deleted without changing the order. So
long as a given hash is unmodified you may rely on
\&\f(CW\*(C`keys\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`values\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`each\*(C'\fR to repeatedly return the same order
as each other. See \*(L"Algorithmic Complexity Attacks\*(R" in perlsec for
details on why hash order is randomized. Aside from the guarantees
provided here the exact details of Perl's hash algorithm and the hash
traversal order are subject to change in any release of Perl. Tied hashes
may behave differently to Perl's hashes with respect to changes in order on
insertion and deletion of items.
.Sp
As a side effect, calling \f(CW\*(C`keys\*(C'\fR resets the internal
iterator of the \s-1HASH\s0 or \s-1ARRAY\s0 (see \f(CW\*(C`each\*(C'\fR) before
yielding the keys. In
particular, calling \f(CW\*(C`keys\*(C'\fR in void context resets the
iterator with no other overhead.
.Sp
Here is yet another way to print your environment:
.Sp
.Vb 5
\& my @keys = keys %ENV;
\& my @values = values %ENV;
\& while (@keys) {
\& print pop(@keys), \*(Aq=\*(Aq, pop(@values), "\en";
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
or how about sorted by key:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& foreach my $key (sort(keys %ENV)) {
\& print $key, \*(Aq=\*(Aq, $ENV{$key}, "\en";
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
The returned values are copies of the original keys in the hash, so
modifying them will not affect the original hash. Compare
\&\f(CW\*(C`values\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
To sort a hash by value, you'll need to use a
\&\f(CW\*(C`sort\*(C'\fR function. Here's a descending numeric
sort of a hash by its values:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& foreach my $key (sort { $hash{$b} <=> $hash{$a} } keys %hash) {
\& printf "%4d %s\en", $hash{$key}, $key;
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
Used as an lvalue, \f(CW\*(C`keys\*(C'\fR allows you to increase the
number of hash buckets
allocated for the given hash. This can gain you a measure of efficiency if
you know the hash is going to get big. (This is similar to pre-extending
an array by assigning a larger number to $#array.) If you say
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& keys %hash = 200;
.Ve
.Sp
then \f(CW%hash\fR will have at least 200 buckets allocated for it\-\-256 of them,
in fact, since it rounds up to the next power of two. These
buckets will be retained even if you do \f(CW\*(C`%hash = ()\*(C'\fR, use \f(CW\*(C`undef
%hash\*(C'\fR if you want to free the storage while \f(CW%hash\fR is still in scope.
You can't shrink the number of buckets allocated for the hash using
\&\f(CW\*(C`keys\*(C'\fR in this way (but you needn't worry about doing
this by accident, as trying has no effect). \f(CW\*(C`keys @array\*(C'\fR in an lvalue
context is a syntax error.
.Sp
Starting with Perl 5.14, an experimental feature allowed
\&\f(CW\*(C`keys\*(C'\fR to take a scalar expression. This experiment has
been deemed unsuccessful, and was removed as of Perl 5.24.
.Sp
To avoid confusing would-be users of your code who are running earlier
versions of Perl with mysterious syntax errors, put this sort of thing at
the top of your file to signal that your code will work \fIonly\fR on Perls of
a recent vintage:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& use 5.012; # so keys/values/each work on arrays
.Ve
.Sp
See also \f(CW\*(C`each\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`values\*(C'\fR, and
\&\f(CW\*(C`sort\*(C'\fR.
.IP "kill \s-1SIGNAL, LIST\s0" 4
.IX Item "kill SIGNAL, LIST"
.PD 0
.IP "kill \s-1SIGNAL\s0" 4
.IX Xref "kill signal"
.IX Item "kill SIGNAL"
.PD
Sends a signal to a list of processes. Returns the number of arguments
that were successfully used to signal (which is not necessarily the same
as the number of processes actually killed, e.g. where a process group is
killed).
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& my $cnt = kill \*(AqHUP\*(Aq, $child1, $child2;
\& kill \*(AqKILL\*(Aq, @goners;
.Ve
.Sp
\&\s-1SIGNAL\s0 may be either a signal name (a string) or a signal number. A signal
name may start with a \f(CW\*(C`SIG\*(C'\fR prefix, thus \f(CW\*(C`FOO\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`SIGFOO\*(C'\fR refer to the
same signal. The string form of \s-1SIGNAL\s0 is recommended for portability because
the same signal may have different numbers in different operating systems.
.Sp
A list of signal names supported by the current platform can be found in
\&\f(CW$Config{sig_name}\fR, which is provided by the \f(CW\*(C`Config\*(C'\fR
module. See Config for more details.
.Sp
A negative signal name is the same as a negative signal number, killing process
groups instead of processes. For example, \f(CW\*(C`kill \*(Aq\-KILL\*(Aq, $pgrp\*(C'\fR and
\&\f(CW\*(C`kill \-9, $pgrp\*(C'\fR will send \f(CW\*(C`SIGKILL\*(C'\fR to
the entire process group specified. That
means you usually want to use positive not negative signals.
.Sp
If \s-1SIGNAL\s0 is either the number 0 or the string \f(CW\*(C`ZERO\*(C'\fR (or \f(CW\*(C`SIGZERO\*(C'\fR),
no signal is sent to the process, but \f(CW\*(C`kill\*(C'\fR
checks whether it's \fIpossible\fR to send a signal to it
(that means, to be brief, that the process is owned by the same user, or we are
the super-user). This is useful to check that a child process is still
alive (even if only as a zombie) and hasn't changed its \s-1UID.\s0 See
perlport for notes on the portability of this construct.
.Sp
The behavior of kill when a \fI\s-1PROCESS\s0\fR number is zero or negative depends on
the operating system. For example, on POSIX-conforming systems, zero will
signal the current process group, \-1 will signal all processes, and any
other negative \s-1PROCESS\s0 number will act as a negative signal number and
kill the entire process group specified.
.Sp
If both the \s-1SIGNAL\s0 and the \s-1PROCESS\s0 are negative, the results are undefined.
A warning may be produced in a future version.
.Sp
See \*(L"Signals\*(R" in perlipc for more details.
.Sp
On some platforms such as Windows where the \fBfork\fR\|(2) system call is not
available, Perl can be built to emulate \f(CW\*(C`fork\*(C'\fR at the
interpreter level.
This emulation has limitations related to kill that have to be considered,
for code running on Windows and in code intended to be portable.
.Sp
See perlfork for more details.
.Sp
If there is no \fI\s-1LIST\s0\fR of processes, no signal is sent, and the return
value is 0. This form is sometimes used, however, because it causes
tainting checks to be run. But see
\&\*(L"Laundering and Detecting Tainted Data\*(R" in perlsec.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"kill\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "last \s-1LABEL\s0" 4
.IX Xref "last break"
.IX Item "last LABEL"
.PD 0
.IP "last \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Item "last EXPR"
.IP "last" 4
.IX Item "last"
.PD
The \f(CW\*(C`last\*(C'\fR command is like the \f(CW\*(C`break\*(C'\fR statement in C
(as used in
loops); it immediately exits the loop in question. If the \s-1LABEL\s0 is
omitted, the command refers to the innermost enclosing
loop. The \f(CW\*(C`last EXPR\*(C'\fR form, available starting in Perl
5.18.0, allows a label name to be computed at run time,
and is otherwise identical to \f(CW\*(C`last LABEL\*(C'\fR. The
\&\f(CW\*(C`continue\*(C'\fR block, if any, is not executed:
.Sp
.Vb 4
\& LINE: while (<STDIN>) {
\& last LINE if /^$/; # exit when done with header
\& #...
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`last\*(C'\fR cannot return a value from a block that typically
returns a value, such as \f(CW\*(C`eval {}\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`sub {}\*(C'\fR, or \f(CW\*(C`do {}\*(C'\fR. It will perform
its flow control behavior, which precludes any return value. It should not be
used to exit a \f(CW\*(C`grep\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`map\*(C'\fR
operation.
.Sp
Note that a block by itself is semantically identical to a loop
that executes once. Thus \f(CW\*(C`last\*(C'\fR can be used to effect
an early exit out of such a block.
.Sp
See also \f(CW\*(C`continue\*(C'\fR for an illustration of how
\&\f(CW\*(C`last\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`next\*(C'\fR, and
\&\f(CW\*(C`redo\*(C'\fR work.
.Sp
Unlike most named operators, this has the same precedence as assignment.
It is also exempt from the looks-like-a-function rule, so
\&\f(CW\*(C`last ("foo")."bar"\*(C'\fR will cause \*(L"bar\*(R" to be part of the argument to
\&\f(CW\*(C`last\*(C'\fR.
.IP "lc \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "lc lowercase"
.IX Item "lc EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "lc" 4
.IX Item "lc"
.PD
Returns a lowercased version of \s-1EXPR.\s0 This is the internal function
implementing the \f(CW\*(C`\eL\*(C'\fR escape in double-quoted strings.
.Sp
If \s-1EXPR\s0 is omitted, uses \f(CW$_\fR.
.Sp
What gets returned depends on several factors:
.RS 4
.ie n .IP "If ""use bytes"" is in effect:" 4
.el .IP "If \f(CWuse bytes\fR is in effect:" 4
.IX Item "If use bytes is in effect:"
The results follow \s-1ASCII\s0 rules. Only the characters \f(CW\*(C`A\-Z\*(C'\fR change,
to \f(CW\*(C`a\-z\*(C'\fR respectively.
.ie n .IP "Otherwise, if ""use locale"" for ""LC_CTYPE"" is in effect:" 4
.el .IP "Otherwise, if \f(CWuse locale\fR for \f(CWLC_CTYPE\fR is in effect:" 4
.IX Item "Otherwise, if use locale for LC_CTYPE is in effect:"
Respects current \f(CW\*(C`LC_CTYPE\*(C'\fR locale for code points < 256; and uses Unicode
rules for the remaining code points (this last can only happen if
the \s-1UTF8\s0 flag is also set). See perllocale.
.Sp
Starting in v5.20, Perl uses full Unicode rules if the locale is
\&\s-1UTF\-8.\s0 Otherwise, there is a deficiency in this scheme, which is that
case changes that cross the 255/256
boundary are not well-defined. For example, the lower case of \s-1LATIN CAPITAL
LETTER SHARP S\s0 (U+1E9E) in Unicode rules is U+00DF (on \s-1ASCII\s0
platforms). But under \f(CW\*(C`use locale\*(C'\fR (prior to v5.20 or not a \s-1UTF\-8\s0
locale), the lower case of U+1E9E is
itself, because 0xDF may not be \s-1LATIN SMALL LETTER SHARP S\s0 in the
current locale, and Perl has no way of knowing if that character even
exists in the locale, much less what code point it is. Perl returns
a result that is above 255 (almost always the input character unchanged),
for all instances (and there aren't many) where the 255/256 boundary
would otherwise be crossed; and starting in v5.22, it raises a
locale warning.
.IP "Otherwise, If \s-1EXPR\s0 has the \s-1UTF8\s0 flag set:" 4
.IX Item "Otherwise, If EXPR has the UTF8 flag set:"
Unicode rules are used for the case change.
.ie n .IP "Otherwise, if ""use feature \*(Aqunicode_strings\*(Aq"" or ""use locale \*(Aq:not_characters\*(Aq"" is in effect:" 4
.el .IP "Otherwise, if \f(CWuse feature \*(Aqunicode_strings\*(Aq\fR or \f(CWuse locale \*(Aq:not_characters\*(Aq\fR is in effect:" 4
.IX Item "Otherwise, if use feature unicode_strings or use locale :not_characters is in effect:"
Unicode rules are used for the case change.
.IP "Otherwise:" 4
.IX Item "Otherwise:"
\&\s-1ASCII\s0 rules are used for the case change. The lowercase of any character
outside the \s-1ASCII\s0 range is the character itself.
.RE
.RS 4
.RE
.IP "lcfirst \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "lcfirst lowercase"
.IX Item "lcfirst EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "lcfirst" 4
.IX Item "lcfirst"
.PD
Returns the value of \s-1EXPR\s0 with the first character lowercased. This
is the internal function implementing the \f(CW\*(C`\el\*(C'\fR escape in
double-quoted strings.
.Sp
If \s-1EXPR\s0 is omitted, uses \f(CW$_\fR.
.Sp
This function behaves the same way under various pragmas, such as in a locale,
as \f(CW\*(C`lc\*(C'\fR does.
.IP "length \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "length size"
.IX Item "length EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "length" 4
.IX Item "length"
.PD
Returns the length in \fIcharacters\fR of the value of \s-1EXPR.\s0 If \s-1EXPR\s0 is
omitted, returns the length of \f(CW$_\fR. If \s-1EXPR\s0 is
undefined, returns \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
This function cannot be used on an entire array or hash to find out how
many elements these have. For that, use \f(CW\*(C`scalar @array\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`scalar keys
%hash\*(C'\fR, respectively.
.Sp
Like all Perl character operations, \f(CW\*(C`length\*(C'\fR normally
deals in logical
characters, not physical bytes. For how many bytes a string encoded as
\&\s-1UTF\-8\s0 would take up, use \f(CW\*(C`length(Encode::encode(\*(AqUTF\-8\*(Aq, EXPR))\*(C'\fR
(you'll have to \f(CW\*(C`use Encode\*(C'\fR first). See Encode and perlunicode.
.IP "_\|_LINE_\|_" 4
.IX Xref "__LINE__"
.IX Item "__LINE__"
A special token that compiles to the current line number.
.IP "link \s-1OLDFILE,NEWFILE\s0" 4
.IX Xref "link"
.IX Item "link OLDFILE,NEWFILE"
Creates a new filename linked to the old filename. Returns true for
success, false otherwise.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"link\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "listen \s-1SOCKET,QUEUESIZE\s0" 4
.IX Xref "listen"
.IX Item "listen SOCKET,QUEUESIZE"
Does the same thing that the \fBlisten\fR\|(2) system call does. Returns true if
it succeeded, false otherwise. See the example in
\&\*(L"Sockets: Client/Server Communication\*(R" in perlipc.
.IP "local \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "local"
.IX Item "local EXPR"
You really probably want to be using \f(CW\*(C`my\*(C'\fR instead,
because \f(CW\*(C`local\*(C'\fR isn't what most people think of as
\&\*(L"local\*(R". See \*(L"Private Variables via \fBmy()\fR\*(R" in perlsub for details.
.Sp
A local modifies the listed variables to be local to the enclosing
block, file, or eval. If more than one value is listed, the list must
be placed in parentheses. See \*(L"Temporary Values via \fBlocal()\fR\*(R" in perlsub
for details, including issues with tied arrays and hashes.
.Sp
The \f(CW\*(C`delete local EXPR\*(C'\fR construct can also be used to localize the deletion
of array/hash elements to the current block.
See \*(L"Localized deletion of elements of composite types\*(R" in perlsub.
.IP "localtime \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "localtime ctime"
.IX Item "localtime EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "localtime" 4
.IX Item "localtime"
.PD
Converts a time as returned by the time function to a 9\-element list
with the time analyzed for the local time zone. Typically used as
follows:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& # 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
\& my ($sec,$min,$hour,$mday,$mon,$year,$wday,$yday,$isdst) =
\& localtime(time);
.Ve
.Sp
All list elements are numeric and come straight out of the C `struct
tm'. \f(CW$sec\fR, \f(CW$min\fR, and \f(CW$hour\fR are the seconds, minutes, and hours
of the specified time.
.Sp
\&\f(CW$mday\fR is the day of the month and \f(CW$mon\fR the month in
the range \f(CW0..11\fR, with 0 indicating January and 11 indicating December.
This makes it easy to get a month name from a list:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& my @abbr = qw(Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec);
\& print "$abbr[$mon] $mday";
\& # $mon=9, $mday=18 gives "Oct 18"
.Ve
.Sp
\&\f(CW$year\fR contains the number of years since 1900. To get a 4\-digit
year write:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& $year += 1900;
.Ve
.Sp
To get the last two digits of the year (e.g., \*(L"01\*(R" in 2001) do:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& $year = sprintf("%02d", $year % 100);
.Ve
.Sp
\&\f(CW$wday\fR is the day of the week, with 0 indicating Sunday and 3 indicating
Wednesday. \f(CW$yday\fR is the day of the year, in the range \f(CW0..364\fR
(or \f(CW0..365\fR in leap years.)
.Sp
\&\f(CW$isdst\fR is true if the specified time occurs during Daylight Saving
Time, false otherwise.
.Sp
If \s-1EXPR\s0 is omitted, \f(CW\*(C`localtime\*(C'\fR uses the current
time (as returned by \f(CW\*(C`time\*(C'\fR).
.Sp
In scalar context, \f(CW\*(C`localtime\*(C'\fR returns the
\&\fBctime\fR\|(3) value:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& my $now_string = localtime; # e.g., "Thu Oct 13 04:54:34 1994"
.Ve
.Sp
The format of this scalar value is \fBnot\fR locale-dependent but built
into Perl. For \s-1GMT\s0 instead of local time use the
\&\f(CW\*(C`gmtime\*(C'\fR builtin. See also the
\&\f(CW\*(C`Time::Local\*(C'\fR module (for converting seconds, minutes,
hours, and such back to the integer value returned by \f(CW\*(C`time\*(C'\fR),
and the \s-1POSIX\s0 module's \f(CW\*(C`strftime\*(C'\fR and
\&\f(CW\*(C`mktime\*(C'\fR functions.
.Sp
To get somewhat similar but locale-dependent date strings, set up your
locale environment variables appropriately (please see perllocale) and
try for example:
.Sp
.Vb 4
\& use POSIX qw(strftime);
\& my $now_string = strftime "%a %b %e %H:%M:%S %Y", localtime;
\& # or for GMT formatted appropriately for your locale:
\& my $now_string = strftime "%a %b %e %H:%M:%S %Y", gmtime;
.Ve
.Sp
Note that \f(CW%a\fR and \f(CW%b\fR, the short forms of the day of the week
and the month of the year, may not necessarily be three characters wide.
.Sp
The Time::gmtime and Time::localtime modules provide a convenient,
by-name access mechanism to the \f(CW\*(C`gmtime\*(C'\fR and
\&\f(CW\*(C`localtime\*(C'\fR functions, respectively.
.Sp
For a comprehensive date and time representation look at the
DateTime module on \s-1CPAN.\s0
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"localtime\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "lock \s-1THING\s0" 4
.IX Xref "lock"
.IX Item "lock THING"
This function places an advisory lock on a shared variable or referenced
object contained in \fI\s-1THING\s0\fR until the lock goes out of scope.
.Sp
The value returned is the scalar itself, if the argument is a scalar, or a
reference, if the argument is a hash, array or subroutine.
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`lock\*(C'\fR is a \*(L"weak keyword\*(R"; this means that if you've
defined a function
by this name (before any calls to it), that function will be called
instead. If you are not under \f(CW\*(C`use threads::shared\*(C'\fR this does nothing.
See threads::shared.
.IP "log \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "log logarithm e ln base"
.IX Item "log EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "log" 4
.IX Item "log"
.PD
Returns the natural logarithm (base \fIe\fR) of \s-1EXPR.\s0 If \s-1EXPR\s0 is omitted,
returns the log of \f(CW$_\fR. To get the
log of another base, use basic algebra:
The base-N log of a number is equal to the natural log of that number
divided by the natural log of N. For example:
.Sp
.Vb 4
\& sub log10 {
\& my $n = shift;
\& return log($n)/log(10);
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
See also \f(CW\*(C`exp\*(C'\fR for the inverse operation.
.IP "lstat \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0" 4
.IX Xref "lstat"
.IX Item "lstat FILEHANDLE"
.PD 0
.IP "lstat \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Item "lstat EXPR"
.IP "lstat \s-1DIRHANDLE\s0" 4
.IX Item "lstat DIRHANDLE"
.IP "lstat" 4
.IX Item "lstat"
.PD
Does the same thing as the \f(CW\*(C`stat\*(C'\fR function
(including setting the special \f(CW\*(C`_\*(C'\fR filehandle) but stats a symbolic
link instead of the file the symbolic link points to. If symbolic links
are unimplemented on your system, a normal \f(CW\*(C`stat\*(C'\fR
is done. For much more detailed information, please see the
documentation for \f(CW\*(C`stat\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
If \s-1EXPR\s0 is omitted, stats \f(CW$_\fR.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"lstat\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "m//" 4
.IX Item "m//"
The match operator. See \*(L"Regexp Quote-Like Operators\*(R" in perlop.
.IP "map \s-1BLOCK LIST\s0" 4
.IX Xref "map"
.IX Item "map BLOCK LIST"
.PD 0
.IP "map \s-1EXPR,LIST\s0" 4
.IX Item "map EXPR,LIST"
.PD
Evaluates the \s-1BLOCK\s0 or \s-1EXPR\s0 for each element of \s-1LIST\s0 (locally setting
\&\f(CW$_\fR to each element) and composes a list of the results of
each such evaluation. Each element of \s-1LIST\s0 may produce zero, one, or more
elements in the generated list, so the number of elements in the generated
list may differ from that in \s-1LIST.\s0 In scalar context, returns the total
number of elements so generated. In list context, returns the generated list.
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& my @chars = map(chr, @numbers);
.Ve
.Sp
translates a list of numbers to the corresponding characters.
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& my @squares = map { $_ * $_ } @numbers;
.Ve
.Sp
translates a list of numbers to their squared values.
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& my @squares = map { $_ > 5 ? ($_ * $_) : () } @numbers;
.Ve
.Sp
shows that number of returned elements can differ from the number of
input elements. To omit an element, return an empty list ().
This could also be achieved by writing
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& my @squares = map { $_ * $_ } grep { $_ > 5 } @numbers;
.Ve
.Sp
which makes the intention more clear.
.Sp
Map always returns a list, which can be
assigned to a hash such that the elements
become key/value pairs. See perldata for more details.
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& my %hash = map { get_a_key_for($_) => $_ } @array;
.Ve
.Sp
is just a funny way to write
.Sp
.Vb 4
\& my %hash;
\& foreach (@array) {
\& $hash{get_a_key_for($_)} = $_;
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
Note that \f(CW$_\fR is an alias to the list value, so it can
be used to modify the elements of the \s-1LIST.\s0 While this is useful and
supported, it can cause bizarre results if the elements of \s-1LIST\s0 are not
variables. Using a regular \f(CW\*(C`foreach\*(C'\fR loop for this purpose would be
clearer in most cases. See also \f(CW\*(C`grep\*(C'\fR for a
list composed of those items of the original list for which the \s-1BLOCK\s0
or \s-1EXPR\s0 evaluates to true.
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`{\*(C'\fR starts both hash references and blocks, so \f(CW\*(C`map { ...\*(C'\fR could be either
the start of map \s-1BLOCK LIST\s0 or map \s-1EXPR, LIST.\s0 Because Perl doesn't look
ahead for the closing \f(CW\*(C`}\*(C'\fR it has to take a guess at which it's dealing with
based on what it finds just after the
\&\f(CW\*(C`{\*(C'\fR. Usually it gets it right, but if it
doesn't it won't realize something is wrong until it gets to the \f(CW\*(C`}\*(C'\fR and
encounters the missing (or unexpected) comma. The syntax error will be
reported close to the \f(CW\*(C`}\*(C'\fR, but you'll need to change something near the \f(CW\*(C`{\*(C'\fR
such as using a unary \f(CW\*(C`+\*(C'\fR or semicolon to give Perl some help:
.Sp
.Vb 6
\& my %hash = map { "\eL$_" => 1 } @array # perl guesses EXPR. wrong
\& my %hash = map { +"\eL$_" => 1 } @array # perl guesses BLOCK. right
\& my %hash = map {; "\eL$_" => 1 } @array # this also works
\& my %hash = map { ("\eL$_" => 1) } @array # as does this
\& my %hash = map { lc($_) => 1 } @array # and this.
\& my %hash = map +( lc($_) => 1 ), @array # this is EXPR and works!
\&
\& my %hash = map ( lc($_), 1 ), @array # evaluates to (1, @array)
.Ve
.Sp
or to force an anon hash constructor use \f(CW\*(C`+{\*(C'\fR:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& my @hashes = map +{ lc($_) => 1 }, @array # EXPR, so needs
\& # comma at end
.Ve
.Sp
to get a list of anonymous hashes each with only one entry apiece.
.IP "mkdir \s-1FILENAME,MODE\s0" 4
.IX Xref "mkdir md directory, create"
.IX Item "mkdir FILENAME,MODE"
.PD 0
.IP "mkdir \s-1FILENAME\s0" 4
.IX Item "mkdir FILENAME"
.IP "mkdir" 4
.IX Item "mkdir"
.PD
Creates the directory specified by \s-1FILENAME,\s0 with permissions
specified by \s-1MODE\s0 (as modified by \f(CW\*(C`umask\*(C'\fR). If it
succeeds it returns true; otherwise it returns false and sets
\&\f(CW$!\fR (errno).
\&\s-1MODE\s0 defaults to 0777 if omitted, and \s-1FILENAME\s0 defaults
to \f(CW$_\fR if omitted.
.Sp
In general, it is better to create directories with a permissive \s-1MODE\s0
and let the user modify that with their \f(CW\*(C`umask\*(C'\fR than it
is to supply
a restrictive \s-1MODE\s0 and give the user no way to be more permissive.
The exceptions to this rule are when the file or directory should be
kept private (mail files, for instance). The documentation for
\&\f(CW\*(C`umask\*(C'\fR discusses the choice of \s-1MODE\s0 in more detail.
.Sp
Note that according to the \s-1POSIX 1003.1\-1996\s0 the \s-1FILENAME\s0 may have any
number of trailing slashes. Some operating and filesystems do not get
this right, so Perl automatically removes all trailing slashes to keep
everyone happy.
.Sp
To recursively create a directory structure, look at
the \f(CW\*(C`make_path\*(C'\fR function
of the File::Path module.
.IP "msgctl \s-1ID,CMD,ARG\s0" 4
.IX Xref "msgctl"
.IX Item "msgctl ID,CMD,ARG"
Calls the System V \s-1IPC\s0 function \fBmsgctl\fR\|(2). You'll probably have to say
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& use IPC::SysV;
.Ve
.Sp
first to get the correct constant definitions. If \s-1CMD\s0 is \f(CW\*(C`IPC_STAT\*(C'\fR,
then \s-1ARG\s0 must be a variable that will hold the returned \f(CW\*(C`msqid_ds\*(C'\fR
structure. Returns like \f(CW\*(C`ioctl\*(C'\fR:
the undefined value for error, \f(CW"0 but true"\fR for zero, or the actual
return value otherwise. See also \*(L"SysV \s-1IPC\*(R"\s0 in perlipc and the
documentation for \f(CW\*(C`IPC::SysV\*(C'\fR and
\&\f(CW\*(C`IPC::Semaphore\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"msgctl\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "msgget \s-1KEY,FLAGS\s0" 4
.IX Xref "msgget"
.IX Item "msgget KEY,FLAGS"
Calls the System V \s-1IPC\s0 function \fBmsgget\fR\|(2). Returns the message queue
id, or \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR on error. See also \*(L"SysV \s-1IPC\*(R"\s0 in perlipc
and the documentation for \f(CW\*(C`IPC::SysV\*(C'\fR and
\&\f(CW\*(C`IPC::Msg\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"msgget\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "msgrcv \s-1ID,VAR,SIZE,TYPE,FLAGS\s0" 4
.IX Xref "msgrcv"
.IX Item "msgrcv ID,VAR,SIZE,TYPE,FLAGS"
Calls the System V \s-1IPC\s0 function msgrcv to receive a message from
message queue \s-1ID\s0 into variable \s-1VAR\s0 with a maximum message size of
\&\s-1SIZE.\s0 Note that when a message is received, the message type as a
native long integer will be the first thing in \s-1VAR,\s0 followed by the
actual message. This packing may be opened with \f(CW\*(C`unpack("l! a*")\*(C'\fR.
Taints the variable. Returns true if successful, false
on error. See also \*(L"SysV \s-1IPC\*(R"\s0 in perlipc and the documentation for
\&\f(CW\*(C`IPC::SysV\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`IPC::Msg\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"msgrcv\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "msgsnd \s-1ID,MSG,FLAGS\s0" 4
.IX Xref "msgsnd"
.IX Item "msgsnd ID,MSG,FLAGS"
Calls the System V \s-1IPC\s0 function msgsnd to send the message \s-1MSG\s0 to the
message queue \s-1ID.\s0 \s-1MSG\s0 must begin with the native long integer message
type, be followed by the length of the actual message, and then finally
the message itself. This kind of packing can be achieved with
\&\f(CW\*(C`pack("l! a*", $type, $message)\*(C'\fR. Returns true if successful,
false on error. See also \*(L"SysV \s-1IPC\*(R"\s0 in perlipc and the documentation
for \f(CW\*(C`IPC::SysV\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`IPC::Msg\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"msgsnd\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "my \s-1VARLIST\s0" 4
.IX Xref "my"
.IX Item "my VARLIST"
.PD 0
.IP "my \s-1TYPE VARLIST\s0" 4
.IX Item "my TYPE VARLIST"
.IP "my \s-1VARLIST : ATTRS\s0" 4
.IX Item "my VARLIST : ATTRS"
.IP "my \s-1TYPE VARLIST : ATTRS\s0" 4
.IX Item "my TYPE VARLIST : ATTRS"
.PD
A \f(CW\*(C`my\*(C'\fR declares the listed variables to be local
(lexically) to the enclosing block, file, or \f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR. If
more than one variable is listed, the list must be placed in
parentheses.
.Sp
The exact semantics and interface of \s-1TYPE\s0 and \s-1ATTRS\s0 are still
evolving. \s-1TYPE\s0 may be a bareword, a constant declared
with \f(CW\*(C`use constant\*(C'\fR, or \f(CW\*(C`_\|_PACKAGE_\|_\*(C'\fR. It
is
currently bound to the use of the fields pragma,
and attributes are handled using the attributes pragma, or starting
from Perl 5.8.0 also via the Attribute::Handlers module. See
\&\*(L"Private Variables via \fBmy()\fR\*(R" in perlsub for details.
.Sp
Note that with a parenthesised list, \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR can be used
as a dummy placeholder, for example to skip assignment of initial
values:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& my ( undef, $min, $hour ) = localtime;
.Ve
.IP "next \s-1LABEL\s0" 4
.IX Xref "next continue"
.IX Item "next LABEL"
.PD 0
.IP "next \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Item "next EXPR"
.IP "next" 4
.IX Item "next"
.PD
The \f(CW\*(C`next\*(C'\fR command is like the \f(CW\*(C`continue\*(C'\fR statement in
C; it starts the next iteration of the loop:
.Sp
.Vb 4
\& LINE: while (<STDIN>) {
\& next LINE if /^#/; # discard comments
\& #...
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
Note that if there were a \f(CW\*(C`continue\*(C'\fR block on the
above, it would get
executed even on discarded lines. If \s-1LABEL\s0 is omitted, the command
refers to the innermost enclosing loop. The \f(CW\*(C`next EXPR\*(C'\fR form, available
as of Perl 5.18.0, allows a label name to be computed at run time, being
otherwise identical to \f(CW\*(C`next LABEL\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`next\*(C'\fR cannot return a value from a block that typically
returns a value, such as \f(CW\*(C`eval {}\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`sub {}\*(C'\fR, or \f(CW\*(C`do {}\*(C'\fR. It will perform
its flow control behavior, which precludes any return value. It should not be
used to exit a \f(CW\*(C`grep\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`map\*(C'\fR
operation.
.Sp
Note that a block by itself is semantically identical to a loop
that executes once. Thus \f(CW\*(C`next\*(C'\fR will exit such a block
early.
.Sp
See also \f(CW\*(C`continue\*(C'\fR for an illustration of how
\&\f(CW\*(C`last\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`next\*(C'\fR, and
\&\f(CW\*(C`redo\*(C'\fR work.
.Sp
Unlike most named operators, this has the same precedence as assignment.
It is also exempt from the looks-like-a-function rule, so
\&\f(CW\*(C`next ("foo")."bar"\*(C'\fR will cause \*(L"bar\*(R" to be part of the argument to
\&\f(CW\*(C`next\*(C'\fR.
.IP "no \s-1MODULE VERSION LIST\s0" 4
.IX Xref "no declarations unimporting"
.IX Item "no MODULE VERSION LIST"
.PD 0
.IP "no \s-1MODULE VERSION\s0" 4
.IX Item "no MODULE VERSION"
.IP "no \s-1MODULE LIST\s0" 4
.IX Item "no MODULE LIST"
.IP "no \s-1MODULE\s0" 4
.IX Item "no MODULE"
.IP "no \s-1VERSION\s0" 4
.IX Item "no VERSION"
.PD
See the \f(CW\*(C`use\*(C'\fR function, of which
\&\f(CW\*(C`no\*(C'\fR is the opposite.
.IP "oct \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "oct octal hex hexadecimal binary bin"
.IX Item "oct EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "oct" 4
.IX Item "oct"
.PD
Interprets \s-1EXPR\s0 as an octal string and returns the corresponding
value. (If \s-1EXPR\s0 happens to start off with \f(CW\*(C`0x\*(C'\fR, interprets it as a
hex string. If \s-1EXPR\s0 starts off with \f(CW\*(C`0b\*(C'\fR, it is interpreted as a
binary string. Leading whitespace is ignored in all three cases.)
The following will handle decimal, binary, octal, and hex in standard
Perl notation:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& $val = oct($val) if $val =~ /^0/;
.Ve
.Sp
If \s-1EXPR\s0 is omitted, uses \f(CW$_\fR. To go the other way
(produce a number in octal), use \f(CW\*(C`sprintf\*(C'\fR or
\&\f(CW\*(C`printf\*(C'\fR:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& my $dec_perms = (stat("filename"))[2] & 07777;
\& my $oct_perm_str = sprintf "%o", $perms;
.Ve
.Sp
The \f(CW\*(C`oct\*(C'\fR function is commonly used when a string such as
\&\f(CW644\fR needs
to be converted into a file mode, for example. Although Perl
automatically converts strings into numbers as needed, this automatic
conversion assumes base 10.
.Sp
Leading white space is ignored without warning, as too are any trailing
non-digits, such as a decimal point (\f(CW\*(C`oct\*(C'\fR only handles
non-negative integers, not negative integers or floating point).
.IP "open \s-1FILEHANDLE,EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "open pipe file, open fopen"
.IX Item "open FILEHANDLE,EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "open \s-1FILEHANDLE,MODE,EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Item "open FILEHANDLE,MODE,EXPR"
.IP "open \s-1FILEHANDLE,MODE,EXPR,LIST\s0" 4
.IX Item "open FILEHANDLE,MODE,EXPR,LIST"
.IP "open \s-1FILEHANDLE,MODE,REFERENCE\s0" 4
.IX Item "open FILEHANDLE,MODE,REFERENCE"
.IP "open \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0" 4
.IX Item "open FILEHANDLE"
.PD
Opens the file whose filename is given by \s-1EXPR,\s0 and associates it with
\&\s-1FILEHANDLE.\s0
.Sp
Simple examples to open a file for reading:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& open(my $fh, "<", "input.txt")
\& or die "Can\*(Aqt open < input.txt: $!";
.Ve
.Sp
and for writing:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& open(my $fh, ">", "output.txt")
\& or die "Can\*(Aqt open > output.txt: $!";
.Ve
.Sp
(The following is a comprehensive reference to
\&\f(CW\*(C`open\*(C'\fR: for a gentler introduction you may
consider perlopentut.)
.Sp
If \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0 is an undefined scalar variable (or array or hash element), a
new filehandle is autovivified, meaning that the variable is assigned a
reference to a newly allocated anonymous filehandle. Otherwise if
\&\s-1FILEHANDLE\s0 is an expression, its value is the real filehandle. (This is
considered a symbolic reference, so \f(CW\*(C`use strict "refs"\*(C'\fR should \fInot\fR be
in effect.)
.Sp
If three (or more) arguments are specified, the open mode (including
optional encoding) in the second argument are distinct from the filename in
the third. If \s-1MODE\s0 is \f(CW\*(C`<\*(C'\fR or nothing, the file is opened for input.
If \s-1MODE\s0 is \f(CW\*(C`>\*(C'\fR, the file is opened for output, with existing files
first being truncated (\*(L"clobbered\*(R") and nonexisting files newly created.
If \s-1MODE\s0 is \f(CW\*(C`>>\*(C'\fR, the file is opened for appending, again being
created if necessary.
.Sp
You can put a \f(CW\*(C`+\*(C'\fR in front of the \f(CW\*(C`>\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`<\*(C'\fR to
indicate that you want both read and write access to the file; thus
\&\f(CW\*(C`+<\*(C'\fR is almost always preferred for read/write updates\*(--the
\&\f(CW\*(C`+>\*(C'\fR mode would clobber the file first. You can't usually use
either read-write mode for updating textfiles, since they have
variable-length records. See the \fB\-i\fR switch in perlrun for a
better approach. The file is created with permissions of \f(CW0666\fR
modified by the process's \f(CW\*(C`umask\*(C'\fR value.
.Sp
These various prefixes correspond to the \fBfopen\fR\|(3) modes of \f(CW\*(C`r\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`r+\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`w\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`w+\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`a\*(C'\fR, and \f(CW\*(C`a+\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
In the one\- and two-argument forms of the call, the mode and filename
should be concatenated (in that order), preferably separated by white
space. You can\*(--but shouldn't\*(--omit the mode in these forms when that mode
is \f(CW\*(C`<\*(C'\fR. It is safe to use the two-argument form of
\&\f(CW\*(C`open\*(C'\fR if the filename argument is a known literal.
.Sp
For three or more arguments if \s-1MODE\s0 is \f(CW\*(C`|\-\*(C'\fR, the filename is
interpreted as a command to which output is to be piped, and if \s-1MODE\s0
is \f(CW\*(C`\-|\*(C'\fR, the filename is interpreted as a command that pipes
output to us. In the two-argument (and one-argument) form, one should
replace dash (\f(CW\*(C`\-\*(C'\fR) with the command.
See \*(L"Using \fBopen()\fR for \s-1IPC\*(R"\s0 in perlipc for more examples of this.
(You are not allowed to \f(CW\*(C`open\*(C'\fR to a command
that pipes both in \fIand\fR out, but see IPC::Open2, IPC::Open3, and
\&\*(L"Bidirectional Communication with Another Process\*(R" in perlipc for
alternatives.)
.Sp
In the form of pipe opens taking three or more arguments, if \s-1LIST\s0 is specified
(extra arguments after the command name) then \s-1LIST\s0 becomes arguments
to the command invoked if the platform supports it. The meaning of
\&\f(CW\*(C`open\*(C'\fR with more than three arguments for
non-pipe modes is not yet defined, but experimental \*(L"layers\*(R" may give
extra \s-1LIST\s0 arguments meaning.
.Sp
In the two-argument (and one-argument) form, opening \f(CW\*(C`<\-\*(C'\fR
or \f(CW\*(C`\-\*(C'\fR opens \s-1STDIN\s0 and opening \f(CW\*(C`>\-\*(C'\fR opens \s-1STDOUT.\s0
.Sp
You may (and usually should) use the three-argument form of open to specify
I/O layers (sometimes referred to as \*(L"disciplines\*(R") to apply to the handle
that affect how the input and output are processed (see open and
PerlIO for more details). For example:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& open(my $fh, "<:encoding(UTF\-8)", $filename)
\& || die "Can\*(Aqt open UTF\-8 encoded $filename: $!";
.Ve
.Sp
opens the UTF8\-encoded file containing Unicode characters;
see perluniintro. Note that if layers are specified in the
three-argument form, then default layers stored in ${^OPEN} (see perlvar;
usually set by the open pragma or the switch \f(CW\*(C`\-CioD\*(C'\fR) are ignored.
Those layers will also be ignored if you specify a colon with no name
following it. In that case the default layer for the operating system
(:raw on Unix, :crlf on Windows) is used.
.Sp
Open returns nonzero on success, the undefined value otherwise. If
the \f(CW\*(C`open\*(C'\fR involved a pipe, the return value
happens to be the pid of the subprocess.
.Sp
On some systems (in general, \s-1DOS\-\s0 and Windows-based systems)
\&\f(CW\*(C`binmode\*(C'\fR is necessary when you're not
working with a text file. For the sake of portability it is a good idea
always to use it when appropriate, and never to use it when it isn't
appropriate. Also, people can set their I/O to be by default
UTF8\-encoded Unicode, not bytes.
.Sp
When opening a file, it's seldom a good idea to continue
if the request failed, so \f(CW\*(C`open\*(C'\fR is frequently
used with \f(CW\*(C`die\*(C'\fR. Even if \f(CW\*(C`die\*(C'\fR won't do
what you want (say, in a \s-1CGI\s0 script,
where you want to format a suitable error message (but there are
modules that can help with that problem)) always check
the return value from opening a file.
.Sp
The filehandle will be closed when its reference count reaches zero.
If it is a lexically scoped variable declared with \f(CW\*(C`my\*(C'\fR,
that usually
means the end of the enclosing scope. However, this automatic close
does not check for errors, so it is better to explicitly close
filehandles, especially those used for writing:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& close($handle)
\& || warn "close failed: $!";
.Ve
.Sp
An older style is to use a bareword as the filehandle, as
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& open(FH, "<", "input.txt")
\& or die "Can\*(Aqt open < input.txt: $!";
.Ve
.Sp
Then you can use \f(CW\*(C`FH\*(C'\fR as the filehandle, in \f(CW\*(C`close FH\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`<FH>\*(C'\fR and so on. Note that it's a global variable, so this form is
not recommended in new code.
.Sp
As a shortcut a one-argument call takes the filename from the global
scalar variable of the same name as the filehandle:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& $ARTICLE = 100;
\& open(ARTICLE) or die "Can\*(Aqt find article $ARTICLE: $!\en";
.Ve
.Sp
Here \f(CW$ARTICLE\fR must be a global (package) scalar variable \- not one
declared with \f(CW\*(C`my\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`state\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
As a special case the three-argument form with a read/write mode and the third
argument being \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& open(my $tmp, "+>", undef) or die ...
.Ve
.Sp
opens a filehandle to a newly created empty anonymous temporary file.
(This happens under any mode, which makes \f(CW\*(C`+>\*(C'\fR the only useful and
sensible mode to use.) You will need to
\&\f(CW\*(C`seek\*(C'\fR to do the reading.
.Sp
Perl is built using PerlIO by default. Unless you've
changed this (such as building Perl with \f(CW\*(C`Configure \-Uuseperlio\*(C'\fR), you can
open filehandles directly to Perl scalars via:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& open(my $fh, ">", \e$variable) || ..
.Ve
.Sp
To (re)open \f(CW\*(C`STDOUT\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`STDERR\*(C'\fR as an in-memory file, close it first:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& close STDOUT;
\& open(STDOUT, ">", \e$variable)
\& or die "Can\*(Aqt open STDOUT: $!";
.Ve
.Sp
The scalars for in-memory files are treated as octet strings: unless
the file is being opened with truncation the scalar may not contain
any code points over 0xFF.
.Sp
Opening in-memory files \fIcan\fR fail for a variety of reasons. As with
any other \f(CW\*(C`open\*(C'\fR, check the return value for success.
.Sp
See perliol for detailed info on PerlIO.
.Sp
General examples:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& open(my $log, ">>", "/usr/spool/news/twitlog");
\& # if the open fails, output is discarded
\&
\& open(my $dbase, "+<", "dbase.mine") # open for update
\& or die "Can\*(Aqt open \*(Aqdbase.mine\*(Aq for update: $!";
\&
\& open(my $dbase, "+<dbase.mine") # ditto
\& or die "Can\*(Aqt open \*(Aqdbase.mine\*(Aq for update: $!";
\&
\& open(my $article_fh, "\-|", "caesar <$article") # decrypt
\& # article
\& or die "Can\*(Aqt start caesar: $!";
\&
\& open(my $article_fh, "caesar <$article |") # ditto
\& or die "Can\*(Aqt start caesar: $!";
\&
\& open(my $out_fh, "|\-", "sort >Tmp$$") # $$ is our process id
\& or die "Can\*(Aqt start sort: $!";
\&
\& # in\-memory files
\& open(my $memory, ">", \e$var)
\& or die "Can\*(Aqt open memory file: $!";
\& print $memory "foo!\en"; # output will appear in $var
.Ve
.Sp
You may also, in the Bourne shell tradition, specify an \s-1EXPR\s0 beginning
with \f(CW\*(C`>&\*(C'\fR, in which case the rest of the string is interpreted
as the name of a filehandle (or file descriptor, if numeric) to be
duped (as in \fBdup\fR\|(2)) and opened. You may use \f(CW\*(C`&\*(C'\fR after \f(CW\*(C`>\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`>>\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`<\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`+>\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`+>>\*(C'\fR, and \f(CW\*(C`+<\*(C'\fR.
The mode you specify should match the mode of the original filehandle.
(Duping a filehandle does not take into account any existing contents
of \s-1IO\s0 buffers.) If you use the three-argument
form, then you can pass either a
number, the name of a filehandle, or the normal \*(L"reference to a glob\*(R".
.Sp
Here is a script that saves, redirects, and restores \f(CW\*(C`STDOUT\*(C'\fR and
\&\f(CW\*(C`STDERR\*(C'\fR using various methods:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& #!/usr/bin/perl
\& open(my $oldout, ">&STDOUT") or die "Can\*(Aqt dup STDOUT: $!";
\& open(OLDERR, ">&", \e*STDERR) or die "Can\*(Aqt dup STDERR: $!";
\&
\& open(STDOUT, \*(Aq>\*(Aq, "foo.out") or die "Can\*(Aqt redirect STDOUT: $!";
\& open(STDERR, ">&STDOUT") or die "Can\*(Aqt dup STDOUT: $!";
\&
\& select STDERR; $| = 1; # make unbuffered
\& select STDOUT; $| = 1; # make unbuffered
\&
\& print STDOUT "stdout 1\en"; # this works for
\& print STDERR "stderr 1\en"; # subprocesses too
\&
\& open(STDOUT, ">&", $oldout) or die "Can\*(Aqt dup \e$oldout: $!";
\& open(STDERR, ">&OLDERR") or die "Can\*(Aqt dup OLDERR: $!";
\&
\& print STDOUT "stdout 2\en";
\& print STDERR "stderr 2\en";
.Ve
.Sp
If you specify \f(CW\*(Aq<&=X\*(Aq\fR, where \f(CW\*(C`X\*(C'\fR is a file descriptor number
or a filehandle, then Perl will do an equivalent of C's \fBfdopen\fR\|(3) of
that file descriptor (and not call \fBdup\fR\|(2)); this is more
parsimonious of file descriptors. For example:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& # open for input, reusing the fileno of $fd
\& open(my $fh, "<&=", $fd)
.Ve
.Sp
or
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& open(my $fh, "<&=$fd")
.Ve
.Sp
or
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& # open for append, using the fileno of $oldfh
\& open(my $fh, ">>&=", $oldfh)
.Ve
.Sp
Being parsimonious on filehandles is also useful (besides being
parsimonious) for example when something is dependent on file
descriptors, like for example locking using
\&\f(CW\*(C`flock\*(C'\fR. If you do just
\&\f(CW\*(C`open(my $A, ">>&", $B)\*(C'\fR, the filehandle \f(CW$A\fR will not have the
same file descriptor as \f(CW$B\fR, and therefore \f(CW\*(C`flock($A)\*(C'\fR will not
\&\f(CW\*(C`flock($B)\*(C'\fR nor vice versa. But with \f(CW\*(C`open(my $A, ">>&=", $B)\*(C'\fR,
the filehandles will share the same underlying system file descriptor.
.Sp
Note that under Perls older than 5.8.0, Perl uses the standard C library's'
\&\fBfdopen\fR\|(3) to implement the \f(CW\*(C`=\*(C'\fR functionality. On many Unix systems,
\&\fBfdopen\fR\|(3) fails when file descriptors exceed a certain value, typically 255.
For Perls 5.8.0 and later, PerlIO is (most often) the default.
.Sp
You can see whether your Perl was built with PerlIO by running
\&\f(CW\*(C`perl \-V:useperlio\*(C'\fR. If it says \f(CW\*(Aqdefine\*(Aq\fR, you have PerlIO;
otherwise you don't.
.Sp
If you open a pipe on the command \f(CW\*(C`\-\*(C'\fR (that is, specify either \f(CW\*(C`|\-\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`\-|\*(C'\fR
with the one\- or two-argument forms of
\&\f(CW\*(C`open\*(C'\fR), an implicit \f(CW\*(C`fork\*(C'\fR is done,
so \f(CW\*(C`open\*(C'\fR returns twice: in the parent process
it returns the pid
of the child process, and in the child process it returns (a defined) \f(CW0\fR.
Use \f(CW\*(C`defined($pid)\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`//\*(C'\fR to determine whether the open was successful.
.Sp
For example, use either
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& my $child_pid = open(my $from_kid, "\-|") // die "Can\*(Aqt fork: $!";
.Ve
.Sp
or
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& my $child_pid = open(my $to_kid, "|\-") // die "Can\*(Aqt fork: $!";
.Ve
.Sp
followed by
.Sp
.Vb 10
\& if ($child_pid) {
\& # am the parent:
\& # either write $to_kid or else read $from_kid
\& ...
\& waitpid $child_pid, 0;
\& } else {
\& # am the child; use STDIN/STDOUT normally
\& ...
\& exit;
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
The filehandle behaves normally for the parent, but I/O to that
filehandle is piped from/to the \s-1STDOUT/STDIN\s0 of the child process.
In the child process, the filehandle isn't opened\*(--I/O happens from/to
the new \s-1STDOUT/STDIN.\s0 Typically this is used like the normal
piped open when you want to exercise more control over just how the
pipe command gets executed, such as when running setuid and
you don't want to have to scan shell commands for metacharacters.
.Sp
The following blocks are more or less equivalent:
.Sp
.Vb 4
\& open(my $fh, "|tr \*(Aq[a\-z]\*(Aq \*(Aq[A\-Z]\*(Aq");
\& open(my $fh, "|\-", "tr \*(Aq[a\-z]\*(Aq \*(Aq[A\-Z]\*(Aq");
\& open(my $fh, "|\-") || exec \*(Aqtr\*(Aq, \*(Aq[a\-z]\*(Aq, \*(Aq[A\-Z]\*(Aq;
\& open(my $fh, "|\-", "tr", \*(Aq[a\-z]\*(Aq, \*(Aq[A\-Z]\*(Aq);
\&
\& open(my $fh, "cat \-n \*(Aq$file\*(Aq|");
\& open(my $fh, "\-|", "cat \-n \*(Aq$file\*(Aq");
\& open(my $fh, "\-|") || exec "cat", "\-n", $file;
\& open(my $fh, "\-|", "cat", "\-n", $file);
.Ve
.Sp
The last two examples in each block show the pipe as \*(L"list form\*(R", which is
not yet supported on all platforms. A good rule of thumb is that if
your platform has a real \f(CW\*(C`fork\*(C'\fR (in other words, if your platform is
Unix, including Linux and MacOS X), you can use the list form. You would
want to use the list form of the pipe so you can pass literal arguments
to the command without risk of the shell interpreting any shell metacharacters
in them. However, this also bars you from opening pipes to commands
that intentionally contain shell metacharacters, such as:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& open(my $fh, "|cat \-n | expand \-4 | lpr")
\& || die "Can\*(Aqt open pipeline to lpr: $!";
.Ve
.Sp
See \*(L"Safe Pipe Opens\*(R" in perlipc for more examples of this.
.Sp
Perl will attempt to flush all files opened for
output before any operation that may do a fork, but this may not be
supported on some platforms (see perlport). To be safe, you may need
to set \f(CW$|\fR (\f(CW$AUTOFLUSH\fR in English)
or call the \f(CW\*(C`autoflush\*(C'\fR method of \f(CW\*(C`IO::Handle\*(C'\fR
on any open handles.
.Sp
On systems that support a close-on-exec flag on files, the flag will
be set for the newly opened file descriptor as determined by the value
of \f(CW$^F\fR. See \*(L"$^F\*(R" in perlvar.
.Sp
Closing any piped filehandle causes the parent process to wait for the
child to finish, then returns the status value in \f(CW$?\fR and
\&\f(CW\*(C`${^CHILD_ERROR_NATIVE}\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
The filename passed to the one\- and two-argument forms of
\&\f(CW\*(C`open\*(C'\fR will
have leading and trailing whitespace deleted and normal
redirection characters honored. This property, known as \*(L"magic open\*(R",
can often be used to good effect. A user could specify a filename of
\&\fI\*(L"rsh cat file |\*(R"\fR, or you could change certain filenames as needed:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& $filename =~ s/(.*\e.gz)\es*$/gzip \-dc < $1|/;
\& open(my $fh, $filename) or die "Can\*(Aqt open $filename: $!";
.Ve
.Sp
Use the three-argument form to open a file with arbitrary weird characters in it,
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& open(my $fh, "<", $file)
\& || die "Can\*(Aqt open $file: $!";
.Ve
.Sp
otherwise it's necessary to protect any leading and trailing whitespace:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& $file =~ s#^(\es)#./$1#;
\& open(my $fh, "< $file\e0")
\& || die "Can\*(Aqt open $file: $!";
.Ve
.Sp
(this may not work on some bizarre filesystems). One should
conscientiously choose between the \fImagic\fR and \fIthree-argument\fR form
of \f(CW\*(C`open\*(C'\fR:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& open(my $in, $ARGV[0]) || die "Can\*(Aqt open $ARGV[0]: $!";
.Ve
.Sp
will allow the user to specify an argument of the form \f(CW"rsh cat file |"\fR,
but will not work on a filename that happens to have a trailing space, while
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& open(my $in, "<", $ARGV[0])
\& || die "Can\*(Aqt open $ARGV[0]: $!";
.Ve
.Sp
will have exactly the opposite restrictions. (However, some shells
support the syntax \f(CW\*(C`perl your_program.pl <( rsh cat file )\*(C'\fR, which
produces a filename that can be opened normally.)
.Sp
If you want a \*(L"real\*(R" C \fBopen\fR\|(2), then you should use the
\&\f(CW\*(C`sysopen\*(C'\fR function, which involves
no such magic (but uses different filemodes than Perl
\&\f(CW\*(C`open\*(C'\fR, which corresponds to C \fBfopen\fR\|(3)).
This is another way to protect your filenames from interpretation. For
example:
.Sp
.Vb 7
\& use IO::Handle;
\& sysopen(my $fh, $path, O_RDWR|O_CREAT|O_EXCL)
\& or die "Can\*(Aqt open $path: $!";
\& $fh\->autoflush(1);
\& print $fh "stuff $$\en";
\& seek($fh, 0, 0);
\& print "File contains: ", readline($fh);
.Ve
.Sp
See \f(CW\*(C`seek\*(C'\fR for some details about
mixing reading and writing.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"open\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "opendir \s-1DIRHANDLE,EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "opendir"
.IX Item "opendir DIRHANDLE,EXPR"
Opens a directory named \s-1EXPR\s0 for processing by
\&\f(CW\*(C`readdir\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`telldir\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`seekdir\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`rewinddir\*(C'\fR, and
\&\f(CW\*(C`closedir\*(C'\fR. Returns true if successful.
\&\s-1DIRHANDLE\s0 may be an expression whose value can be used as an indirect
dirhandle, usually the real dirhandle name. If \s-1DIRHANDLE\s0 is an undefined
scalar variable (or array or hash element), the variable is assigned a
reference to a new anonymous dirhandle; that is, it's autovivified.
Dirhandles are the same objects as filehandles; an I/O object can only
be open as one of these handle types at once.
.Sp
See the example at \f(CW\*(C`readdir\*(C'\fR.
.IP "ord \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "ord encoding"
.IX Item "ord EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "ord" 4
.IX Item "ord"
.PD
Returns the numeric value of the first character of \s-1EXPR.\s0
If \s-1EXPR\s0 is an empty string, returns 0. If \s-1EXPR\s0 is omitted, uses
\&\f(CW$_\fR.
(Note \fIcharacter\fR, not byte.)
.Sp
For the reverse, see \f(CW\*(C`chr\*(C'\fR.
See perlunicode for more about Unicode.
.IP "our \s-1VARLIST\s0" 4
.IX Xref "our global"
.IX Item "our VARLIST"
.PD 0
.IP "our \s-1TYPE VARLIST\s0" 4
.IX Item "our TYPE VARLIST"
.IP "our \s-1VARLIST : ATTRS\s0" 4
.IX Item "our VARLIST : ATTRS"
.IP "our \s-1TYPE VARLIST : ATTRS\s0" 4
.IX Item "our TYPE VARLIST : ATTRS"
.PD
\&\f(CW\*(C`our\*(C'\fR makes a lexical alias to a package (i.e. global)
variable of the same name in the current package for use within the
current lexical scope.
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`our\*(C'\fR has the same scoping rules as
\&\f(CW\*(C`my\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`state\*(C'\fR, meaning that it is
only valid within a lexical scope. Unlike \f(CW\*(C`my\*(C'\fR and
\&\f(CW\*(C`state\*(C'\fR, which both declare new (lexical) variables,
\&\f(CW\*(C`our\*(C'\fR only creates an alias to an existing variable: a
package variable of the same name.
.Sp
This means that when \f(CW\*(C`use strict \*(Aqvars\*(Aq\*(C'\fR is in effect, \f(CW\*(C`our\*(C'\fR lets you use a package variable without qualifying it with the
package name, but only within the lexical scope of the
\&\f(CW\*(C`our\*(C'\fR declaration. This applies immediately\*(--even
within the same statement.
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& package Foo;
\& use strict;
\&
\& $Foo::foo = 23;
\&
\& {
\& our $foo; # alias to $Foo::foo
\& print $foo; # prints 23
\& }
\&
\& print $Foo::foo; # prints 23
\&
\& print $foo; # ERROR: requires explicit package name
.Ve
.Sp
This works even if the package variable has not been used before, as
package variables spring into existence when first used.
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& package Foo;
\& use strict;
\&
\& our $foo = 23; # just like $Foo::foo = 23
\&
\& print $Foo::foo; # prints 23
.Ve
.Sp
Because the variable becomes legal immediately under \f(CW\*(C`use strict \*(Aqvars\*(Aq\*(C'\fR, so
long as there is no variable with that name is already in scope, you can then
reference the package variable again even within the same statement.
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& package Foo;
\& use strict;
\&
\& my $foo = $foo; # error, undeclared $foo on right\-hand side
\& our $foo = $foo; # no errors
.Ve
.Sp
If more than one variable is listed, the list must be placed
in parentheses.
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& our($bar, $baz);
.Ve
.Sp
An \f(CW\*(C`our\*(C'\fR declaration declares an alias for a package
variable that will be visible
across its entire lexical scope, even across package boundaries. The
package in which the variable is entered is determined at the point
of the declaration, not at the point of use. This means the following
behavior holds:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& package Foo;
\& our $bar; # declares $Foo::bar for rest of lexical scope
\& $bar = 20;
\&
\& package Bar;
\& print $bar; # prints 20, as it refers to $Foo::bar
.Ve
.Sp
Multiple \f(CW\*(C`our\*(C'\fR declarations with the same name in the
same lexical
scope are allowed if they are in different packages. If they happen
to be in the same package, Perl will emit warnings if you have asked
for them, just like multiple \f(CW\*(C`my\*(C'\fR declarations. Unlike
a second \f(CW\*(C`my\*(C'\fR declaration, which will bind the name to a
fresh variable, a second \f(CW\*(C`our\*(C'\fR declaration in the same
package, in the same scope, is merely redundant.
.Sp
.Vb 4
\& use warnings;
\& package Foo;
\& our $bar; # declares $Foo::bar for rest of lexical scope
\& $bar = 20;
\&
\& package Bar;
\& our $bar = 30; # declares $Bar::bar for rest of lexical scope
\& print $bar; # prints 30
\&
\& our $bar; # emits warning but has no other effect
\& print $bar; # still prints 30
.Ve
.Sp
An \f(CW\*(C`our\*(C'\fR declaration may also have a list of attributes
associated with it.
.Sp
The exact semantics and interface of \s-1TYPE\s0 and \s-1ATTRS\s0 are still
evolving. \s-1TYPE\s0 is currently bound to the use of the fields pragma,
and attributes are handled using the attributes pragma, or, starting
from Perl 5.8.0, also via the Attribute::Handlers module. See
\&\*(L"Private Variables via \fBmy()\fR\*(R" in perlsub for details.
.Sp
Note that with a parenthesised list, \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR can be used
as a dummy placeholder, for example to skip assignment of initial
values:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& our ( undef, $min, $hour ) = localtime;
.Ve
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`our\*(C'\fR differs from \f(CW\*(C`use vars\*(C'\fR, which allows
use of an unqualified name \fIonly\fR within the affected package, but
across scopes.
.IP "pack \s-1TEMPLATE,LIST\s0" 4
.IX Xref "pack"
.IX Item "pack TEMPLATE,LIST"
Takes a \s-1LIST\s0 of values and converts it into a string using the rules
given by the \s-1TEMPLATE.\s0 The resulting string is the concatenation of
the converted values. Typically, each converted value looks
like its machine-level representation. For example, on 32\-bit machines
an integer may be represented by a sequence of 4 bytes, which will in
Perl be presented as a string that's 4 characters long.
.Sp
See perlpacktut for an introduction to this function.
.Sp
The \s-1TEMPLATE\s0 is a sequence of characters that give the order and type
of values, as follows:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& a A string with arbitrary binary data, will be null padded.
\& A A text (ASCII) string, will be space padded.
\& Z A null\-terminated (ASCIZ) string, will be null padded.
\&
\& b A bit string (ascending bit order inside each byte,
\& like vec()).
\& B A bit string (descending bit order inside each byte).
\& h A hex string (low nybble first).
\& H A hex string (high nybble first).
\&
\& c A signed char (8\-bit) value.
\& C An unsigned char (octet) value.
\& W An unsigned char value (can be greater than 255).
\&
\& s A signed short (16\-bit) value.
\& S An unsigned short value.
\&
\& l A signed long (32\-bit) value.
\& L An unsigned long value.
\&
\& q A signed quad (64\-bit) value.
\& Q An unsigned quad value.
\& (Quads are available only if your system supports 64\-bit
\& integer values _and_ if Perl has been compiled to support
\& those. Raises an exception otherwise.)
\&
\& i A signed integer value.
\& I An unsigned integer value.
\& (This \*(Aqinteger\*(Aq is _at_least_ 32 bits wide. Its exact
\& size depends on what a local C compiler calls \*(Aqint\*(Aq.)
\&
\& n An unsigned short (16\-bit) in "network" (big\-endian) order.
\& N An unsigned long (32\-bit) in "network" (big\-endian) order.
\& v An unsigned short (16\-bit) in "VAX" (little\-endian) order.
\& V An unsigned long (32\-bit) in "VAX" (little\-endian) order.
\&
\& j A Perl internal signed integer value (IV).
\& J A Perl internal unsigned integer value (UV).
\&
\& f A single\-precision float in native format.
\& d A double\-precision float in native format.
\&
\& F A Perl internal floating\-point value (NV) in native format
\& D A float of long\-double precision in native format.
\& (Long doubles are available only if your system supports
\& long double values _and_ if Perl has been compiled to
\& support those. Raises an exception otherwise.
\& Note that there are different long double formats.)
\&
\& p A pointer to a null\-terminated string.
\& P A pointer to a structure (fixed\-length string).
\&
\& u A uuencoded string.
\& U A Unicode character number. Encodes to a character in char\-
\& acter mode and UTF\-8 (or UTF\-EBCDIC in EBCDIC platforms) in
\& byte mode.
\&
\& w A BER compressed integer (not an ASN.1 BER, see perlpacktut
\& for details). Its bytes represent an unsigned integer in
\& base 128, most significant digit first, with as few digits
\& as possible. Bit eight (the high bit) is set on each byte
\& except the last.
\&
\& x A null byte (a.k.a ASCII NUL, "\e000", chr(0))
\& X Back up a byte.
\& @ Null\-fill or truncate to absolute position, counted from the
\& start of the innermost ()\-group.
\& . Null\-fill or truncate to absolute position specified by
\& the value.
\& ( Start of a ()\-group.
.Ve
.Sp
One or more modifiers below may optionally follow certain letters in the
\&\s-1TEMPLATE\s0 (the second column lists letters for which the modifier is valid):
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& ! sSlLiI Forces native (short, long, int) sizes instead
\& of fixed (16\-/32\-bit) sizes.
\&
\& ! xX Make x and X act as alignment commands.
\&
\& ! nNvV Treat integers as signed instead of unsigned.
\&
\& ! @. Specify position as byte offset in the internal
\& representation of the packed string. Efficient
\& but dangerous.
\&
\& > sSiIlLqQ Force big\-endian byte\-order on the type.
\& jJfFdDpP (The "big end" touches the construct.)
\&
\& < sSiIlLqQ Force little\-endian byte\-order on the type.
\& jJfFdDpP (The "little end" touches the construct.)
.Ve
.Sp
The \f(CW\*(C`>\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`<\*(C'\fR modifiers can also be used on \f(CW\*(C`()\*(C'\fR groups
to force a particular byte-order on all components in that group,
including all its subgroups.
.Sp
The following rules apply:
.RS 4
.IP "\(bu" 4
Each letter may optionally be followed by a number indicating the repeat
count. A numeric repeat count may optionally be enclosed in brackets, as
in \f(CW\*(C`pack("C[80]", @arr)\*(C'\fR. The repeat count gobbles that many values from
the \s-1LIST\s0 when used with all format types other than \f(CW\*(C`a\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`A\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`Z\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`b\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`B\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`h\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`H\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`@\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`.\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`x\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`X\*(C'\fR, and \f(CW\*(C`P\*(C'\fR, where it means
something else, described below. Supplying a \f(CW\*(C`*\*(C'\fR for the repeat count
instead of a number means to use however many items are left, except for:
.RS 4
.IP "\(bu" 4
\&\f(CW\*(C`@\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`x\*(C'\fR, and \f(CW\*(C`X\*(C'\fR, where it is equivalent to \f(CW0\fR.
.IP "\(bu" 4
<.>, where it means relative to the start of the string.
.IP "\(bu" 4
\&\f(CW\*(C`u\*(C'\fR, where it is equivalent to 1 (or 45, which here is equivalent).
.RE
.RS 4
.Sp
One can replace a numeric repeat count with a template letter enclosed in
brackets to use the packed byte length of the bracketed template for the
repeat count.
.Sp
For example, the template \f(CW\*(C`x[L]\*(C'\fR skips as many bytes as in a packed long,
and the template \f(CW"$t X[$t] $t"\fR unpacks twice whatever \f(CW$t\fR (when
variable-expanded) unpacks. If the template in brackets contains alignment
commands (such as \f(CW\*(C`x![d]\*(C'\fR), its packed length is calculated as if the
start of the template had the maximal possible alignment.
.Sp
When used with \f(CW\*(C`Z\*(C'\fR, a \f(CW\*(C`*\*(C'\fR as the repeat count is guaranteed to add a
trailing null byte, so the resulting string is always one byte longer than
the byte length of the item itself.
.Sp
When used with \f(CW\*(C`@\*(C'\fR, the repeat count represents an offset from the start
of the innermost \f(CW\*(C`()\*(C'\fR group.
.Sp
When used with \f(CW\*(C`.\*(C'\fR, the repeat count determines the starting position to
calculate the value offset as follows:
.IP "\(bu" 4
If the repeat count is \f(CW0\fR, it's relative to the current position.
.IP "\(bu" 4
If the repeat count is \f(CW\*(C`*\*(C'\fR, the offset is relative to the start of the
packed string.
.IP "\(bu" 4
And if it's an integer \fIn\fR, the offset is relative to the start of the
\&\fIn\fRth innermost \f(CW\*(C`( )\*(C'\fR group, or to the start of the string if \fIn\fR is
bigger then the group level.
.RE
.RS 4
.Sp
The repeat count for \f(CW\*(C`u\*(C'\fR is interpreted as the maximal number of bytes
to encode per line of output, with 0, 1 and 2 replaced by 45. The repeat
count should not be more than 65.
.RE
.IP "\(bu" 4
The \f(CW\*(C`a\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`A\*(C'\fR, and \f(CW\*(C`Z\*(C'\fR types gobble just one value, but pack it as a
string of length count, padding with nulls or spaces as needed. When
unpacking, \f(CW\*(C`A\*(C'\fR strips trailing whitespace and nulls, \f(CW\*(C`Z\*(C'\fR strips everything
after the first null, and \f(CW\*(C`a\*(C'\fR returns data with no stripping at all.
.Sp
If the value to pack is too long, the result is truncated. If it's too
long and an explicit count is provided, \f(CW\*(C`Z\*(C'\fR packs only \f(CW\*(C`$count\-1\*(C'\fR bytes,
followed by a null byte. Thus \f(CW\*(C`Z\*(C'\fR always packs a trailing null, except
when the count is 0.
.IP "\(bu" 4
Likewise, the \f(CW\*(C`b\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`B\*(C'\fR formats pack a string that's that many bits long.
Each such format generates 1 bit of the result. These are typically followed
by a repeat count like \f(CW\*(C`B8\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`B64\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
Each result bit is based on the least-significant bit of the corresponding
input character, i.e., on \f(CW\*(C`ord($char)%2\*(C'\fR. In particular, characters \f(CW"0"\fR
and \f(CW"1"\fR generate bits 0 and 1, as do characters \f(CW"\e000"\fR and \f(CW"\e001"\fR.
.Sp
Starting from the beginning of the input string, each 8\-tuple
of characters is converted to 1 character of output. With format \f(CW\*(C`b\*(C'\fR,
the first character of the 8\-tuple determines the least-significant bit of a
character; with format \f(CW\*(C`B\*(C'\fR, it determines the most-significant bit of
a character.
.Sp
If the length of the input string is not evenly divisible by 8, the
remainder is packed as if the input string were padded by null characters
at the end. Similarly during unpacking, \*(L"extra\*(R" bits are ignored.
.Sp
If the input string is longer than needed, remaining characters are ignored.
.Sp
A \f(CW\*(C`*\*(C'\fR for the repeat count uses all characters of the input field.
On unpacking, bits are converted to a string of \f(CW0\fRs and \f(CW1\fRs.
.IP "\(bu" 4
The \f(CW\*(C`h\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`H\*(C'\fR formats pack a string that many nybbles (4\-bit groups,
representable as hexadecimal digits, \f(CW"0".."9"\fR \f(CW"a".."f"\fR) long.
.Sp
For each such format, \f(CW\*(C`pack\*(C'\fR generates 4 bits of result.
With non-alphabetical characters, the result is based on the 4 least-significant
bits of the input character, i.e., on \f(CW\*(C`ord($char)%16\*(C'\fR. In particular,
characters \f(CW"0"\fR and \f(CW"1"\fR generate nybbles 0 and 1, as do bytes
\&\f(CW"\e000"\fR and \f(CW"\e001"\fR. For characters \f(CW"a".."f"\fR and \f(CW"A".."F"\fR, the result
is compatible with the usual hexadecimal digits, so that \f(CW"a"\fR and
\&\f(CW"A"\fR both generate the nybble \f(CW\*(C`0xA==10\*(C'\fR. Use only these specific hex
characters with this format.
.Sp
Starting from the beginning of the template to
\&\f(CW\*(C`pack\*(C'\fR, each pair
of characters is converted to 1 character of output. With format \f(CW\*(C`h\*(C'\fR, the
first character of the pair determines the least-significant nybble of the
output character; with format \f(CW\*(C`H\*(C'\fR, it determines the most-significant
nybble.
.Sp
If the length of the input string is not even, it behaves as if padded by
a null character at the end. Similarly, \*(L"extra\*(R" nybbles are ignored during
unpacking.
.Sp
If the input string is longer than needed, extra characters are ignored.
.Sp
A \f(CW\*(C`*\*(C'\fR for the repeat count uses all characters of the input field. For
\&\f(CW\*(C`unpack\*(C'\fR, nybbles are converted to a string of
hexadecimal digits.
.IP "\(bu" 4
The \f(CW\*(C`p\*(C'\fR format packs a pointer to a null-terminated string. You are
responsible for ensuring that the string is not a temporary value, as that
could potentially get deallocated before you got around to using the packed
result. The \f(CW\*(C`P\*(C'\fR format packs a pointer to a structure of the size indicated
by the length. A null pointer is created if the corresponding value for
\&\f(CW\*(C`p\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`P\*(C'\fR is \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR; similarly with
\&\f(CW\*(C`unpack\*(C'\fR, where a null pointer unpacks into
\&\f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
If your system has a strange pointer size\*(--meaning a pointer is neither as
big as an int nor as big as a long\*(--it may not be possible to pack or
unpack pointers in big\- or little-endian byte order. Attempting to do
so raises an exception.
.IP "\(bu" 4
The \f(CW\*(C`/\*(C'\fR template character allows packing and unpacking of a sequence of
items where the packed structure contains a packed item count followed by
the packed items themselves. This is useful when the structure you're
unpacking has encoded the sizes or repeat counts for some of its fields
within the structure itself as separate fields.
.Sp
For \f(CW\*(C`pack\*(C'\fR, you write
\&\fIlength-item\fR\f(CW\*(C`/\*(C'\fR\fIsequence-item\fR, and the
\&\fIlength-item\fR describes how the length value is packed. Formats likely
to be of most use are integer-packing ones like \f(CW\*(C`n\*(C'\fR for Java strings,
\&\f(CW\*(C`w\*(C'\fR for \s-1ASN.1\s0 or \s-1SNMP,\s0 and \f(CW\*(C`N\*(C'\fR for Sun \s-1XDR.\s0
.Sp
For \f(CW\*(C`pack\*(C'\fR, \fIsequence-item\fR may have a repeat
count, in which case
the minimum of that and the number of available items is used as the argument
for \fIlength-item\fR. If it has no repeat count or uses a '*', the number
of available items is used.
.Sp
For \f(CW\*(C`unpack\*(C'\fR, an internal stack of integer
arguments unpacked so far is
used. You write \f(CW\*(C`/\*(C'\fR\fIsequence-item\fR and the repeat count is obtained by
popping off the last element from the stack. The \fIsequence-item\fR must not
have a repeat count.
.Sp
If \fIsequence-item\fR refers to a string type (\f(CW"A"\fR, \f(CW"a"\fR, or \f(CW"Z"\fR),
the \fIlength-item\fR is the string length, not the number of strings. With
an explicit repeat count for pack, the packed string is adjusted to that
length. For example:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& This code: gives this result:
\&
\& unpack("W/a", "\e004Gurusamy") ("Guru")
\& unpack("a3/A A*", "007 Bond J ") (" Bond", "J")
\& unpack("a3 x2 /A A*", "007: Bond, J.") ("Bond, J", ".")
\&
\& pack("n/a* w/a","hello,","world") "\e000\e006hello,\e005world"
\& pack("a/W2", ord("a") .. ord("z")) "2ab"
.Ve
.Sp
The \fIlength-item\fR is not returned explicitly from
\&\f(CW\*(C`unpack\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
Supplying a count to the \fIlength-item\fR format letter is only useful with
\&\f(CW\*(C`A\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`a\*(C'\fR, or \f(CW\*(C`Z\*(C'\fR. Packing with a \fIlength-item\fR of \f(CW\*(C`a\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`Z\*(C'\fR may
introduce \f(CW"\e000"\fR characters, which Perl does not regard as legal in
numeric strings.
.IP "\(bu" 4
The integer types \f(CW\*(C`s\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`S\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`l\*(C'\fR, and \f(CW\*(C`L\*(C'\fR may be
followed by a \f(CW\*(C`!\*(C'\fR modifier to specify native shorts or
longs. As shown in the example above, a bare \f(CW\*(C`l\*(C'\fR means
exactly 32 bits, although the native \f(CW\*(C`long\*(C'\fR as seen by the local C compiler
may be larger. This is mainly an issue on 64\-bit platforms. You can
see whether using \f(CW\*(C`!\*(C'\fR makes any difference this way:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& printf "format s is %d, s! is %d\en",
\& length pack("s"), length pack("s!");
\&
\& printf "format l is %d, l! is %d\en",
\& length pack("l"), length pack("l!");
.Ve
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`i!\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`I!\*(C'\fR are also allowed, but only for completeness' sake:
they are identical to \f(CW\*(C`i\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`I\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
The actual sizes (in bytes) of native shorts, ints, longs, and long
longs on the platform where Perl was built are also available from
the command line:
.Sp
.Vb 5
\& $ perl \-V:{short,int,long{,long}}size
\& shortsize=\*(Aq2\*(Aq;
\& intsize=\*(Aq4\*(Aq;
\& longsize=\*(Aq4\*(Aq;
\& longlongsize=\*(Aq8\*(Aq;
.Ve
.Sp
or programmatically via the \f(CW\*(C`Config\*(C'\fR module:
.Sp
.Vb 5
\& use Config;
\& print $Config{shortsize}, "\en";
\& print $Config{intsize}, "\en";
\& print $Config{longsize}, "\en";
\& print $Config{longlongsize}, "\en";
.Ve
.Sp
\&\f(CW$Config{longlongsize}\fR is undefined on systems without
long long support.
.IP "\(bu" 4
The integer formats \f(CW\*(C`s\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`S\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`i\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`I\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`l\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`L\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`j\*(C'\fR, and \f(CW\*(C`J\*(C'\fR are
inherently non-portable between processors and operating systems because
they obey native byteorder and endianness. For example, a 4\-byte integer
0x12345678 (305419896 decimal) would be ordered natively (arranged in and
handled by the \s-1CPU\s0 registers) into bytes as
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& 0x12 0x34 0x56 0x78 # big\-endian
\& 0x78 0x56 0x34 0x12 # little\-endian
.Ve
.Sp
Basically, Intel and \s-1VAX\s0 CPUs are little-endian, while everybody else,
including Motorola m68k/88k, \s-1PPC,\s0 Sparc, \s-1HP PA,\s0 Power, and Cray, are
big-endian. Alpha and \s-1MIPS\s0 can be either: Digital/Compaq uses (well, used)
them in little-endian mode, but SGI/Cray uses them in big-endian mode.
.Sp
The names \fIbig-endian\fR and \fIlittle-endian\fR are comic references to the
egg-eating habits of the little-endian Lilliputians and the big-endian
Blefuscudians from the classic Jonathan Swift satire, \fIGulliver's Travels\fR.
This entered computer lingo via the paper \*(L"On Holy Wars and a Plea for
Peace\*(R" by Danny Cohen, \s-1USC/ISI IEN 137,\s0 April 1, 1980.
.Sp
Some systems may have even weirder byte orders such as
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& 0x56 0x78 0x12 0x34
\& 0x34 0x12 0x78 0x56
.Ve
.Sp
These are called mid-endian, middle-endian, mixed-endian, or just weird.
.Sp
You can determine your system endianness with this incantation:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& printf("%#02x ", $_) for unpack("W*", pack L=>0x12345678);
.Ve
.Sp
The byteorder on the platform where Perl was built is also available
via Config:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& use Config;
\& print "$Config{byteorder}\en";
.Ve
.Sp
or from the command line:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& $ perl \-V:byteorder
.Ve
.Sp
Byteorders \f(CW"1234"\fR and \f(CW"12345678"\fR are little-endian; \f(CW"4321"\fR
and \f(CW"87654321"\fR are big-endian. Systems with multiarchitecture binaries
will have \f(CW"ffff"\fR, signifying that static information doesn't work,
one must use runtime probing.
.Sp
For portably packed integers, either use the formats \f(CW\*(C`n\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`N\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`v\*(C'\fR,
and \f(CW\*(C`V\*(C'\fR or else use the \f(CW\*(C`>\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`<\*(C'\fR modifiers described
immediately below. See also perlport.
.IP "\(bu" 4
Also floating point numbers have endianness. Usually (but not always)
this agrees with the integer endianness. Even though most platforms
these days use the \s-1IEEE 754\s0 binary format, there are differences,
especially if the long doubles are involved. You can see the
\&\f(CW\*(C`Config\*(C'\fR variables \f(CW\*(C`doublekind\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`longdblkind\*(C'\fR (also \f(CW\*(C`doublesize\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`longdblsize\*(C'\fR): the \*(L"kind\*(R" values are enums, unlike \f(CW\*(C`byteorder\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
Portability-wise the best option is probably to keep to the \s-1IEEE 754\s0
64\-bit doubles, and of agreed-upon endianness. Another possibility
is the \f(CW"%a"\fR) format of \f(CW\*(C`printf\*(C'\fR.
.IP "\(bu" 4
Starting with Perl 5.10.0, integer and floating-point formats, along with
the \f(CW\*(C`p\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`P\*(C'\fR formats and \f(CW\*(C`()\*(C'\fR groups, may all be followed by the
\&\f(CW\*(C`>\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`<\*(C'\fR endianness modifiers to respectively enforce big\-
or little-endian byte-order. These modifiers are especially useful
given how \f(CW\*(C`n\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`N\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`v\*(C'\fR, and \f(CW\*(C`V\*(C'\fR don't cover signed integers,
64\-bit integers, or floating-point values.
.Sp
Here are some concerns to keep in mind when using an endianness modifier:
.RS 4
.IP "\(bu" 4
Exchanging signed integers between different platforms works only
when all platforms store them in the same format. Most platforms store
signed integers in two's-complement notation, so usually this is not an issue.
.IP "\(bu" 4
The \f(CW\*(C`>\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`<\*(C'\fR modifiers can only be used on floating-point
formats on big\- or little-endian machines. Otherwise, attempting to
use them raises an exception.
.IP "\(bu" 4
Forcing big\- or little-endian byte-order on floating-point values for
data exchange can work only if all platforms use the same
binary representation such as \s-1IEEE\s0 floating-point. Even if all
platforms are using \s-1IEEE,\s0 there may still be subtle differences. Being able
to use \f(CW\*(C`>\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`<\*(C'\fR on floating-point values can be useful,
but also dangerous if you don't know exactly what you're doing.
It is not a general way to portably store floating-point values.
.IP "\(bu" 4
When using \f(CW\*(C`>\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`<\*(C'\fR on a \f(CW\*(C`()\*(C'\fR group, this affects
all types inside the group that accept byte-order modifiers,
including all subgroups. It is silently ignored for all other
types. You are not allowed to override the byte-order within a group
that already has a byte-order modifier suffix.
.RE
.RS 4
.RE
.IP "\(bu" 4
Real numbers (floats and doubles) are in native machine format only.
Due to the multiplicity of floating-point formats and the lack of a
standard \*(L"network\*(R" representation for them, no facility for interchange has been
made. This means that packed floating-point data written on one machine
may not be readable on another, even if both use \s-1IEEE\s0 floating-point
arithmetic (because the endianness of the memory representation is not part
of the \s-1IEEE\s0 spec). See also perlport.
.Sp
If you know \fIexactly\fR what you're doing, you can use the \f(CW\*(C`>\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`<\*(C'\fR
modifiers to force big\- or little-endian byte-order on floating-point values.
.Sp
Because Perl uses doubles (or long doubles, if configured) internally for
all numeric calculation, converting from double into float and thence
to double again loses precision, so \f(CW\*(C`unpack("f", pack("f", $foo)\*(C'\fR)
will not in general equal \f(CW$foo\fR.
.IP "\(bu" 4
Pack and unpack can operate in two modes: character mode (\f(CW\*(C`C0\*(C'\fR mode) where
the packed string is processed per character, and \s-1UTF\-8\s0 byte mode (\f(CW\*(C`U0\*(C'\fR mode)
where the packed string is processed in its UTF\-8\-encoded Unicode form on
a byte-by-byte basis. Character mode is the default
unless the format string starts with \f(CW\*(C`U\*(C'\fR. You
can always switch mode mid-format with an explicit
\&\f(CW\*(C`C0\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`U0\*(C'\fR in the format. This mode remains in effect until the next
mode change, or until the end of the \f(CW\*(C`()\*(C'\fR group it (directly) applies to.
.Sp
Using \f(CW\*(C`C0\*(C'\fR to get Unicode characters while using \f(CW\*(C`U0\*(C'\fR to get \fInon\fR\-Unicode
bytes is not necessarily obvious. Probably only the first of these
is what you want:
.Sp
.Vb 12
\& $ perl \-CS \-E \*(Aqsay "\ex{3B1}\ex{3C9}"\*(Aq |
\& perl \-CS \-ne \*(Aqprintf "%v04X\en", $_ for unpack("C0A*", $_)\*(Aq
\& 03B1.03C9
\& $ perl \-CS \-E \*(Aqsay "\ex{3B1}\ex{3C9}"\*(Aq |
\& perl \-CS \-ne \*(Aqprintf "%v02X\en", $_ for unpack("U0A*", $_)\*(Aq
\& CE.B1.CF.89
\& $ perl \-CS \-E \*(Aqsay "\ex{3B1}\ex{3C9}"\*(Aq |
\& perl \-C0 \-ne \*(Aqprintf "%v02X\en", $_ for unpack("C0A*", $_)\*(Aq
\& CE.B1.CF.89
\& $ perl \-CS \-E \*(Aqsay "\ex{3B1}\ex{3C9}"\*(Aq |
\& perl \-C0 \-ne \*(Aqprintf "%v02X\en", $_ for unpack("U0A*", $_)\*(Aq
\& C3.8E.C2.B1.C3.8F.C2.89
.Ve
.Sp
Those examples also illustrate that you should not try to use
\&\f(CW\*(C`pack\*(C'\fR/\f(CW\*(C`unpack\*(C'\fR as a
substitute for the Encode module.
.IP "\(bu" 4
You must yourself do any alignment or padding by inserting, for example,
enough \f(CW"x"\fRes while packing. There is no way for
\&\f(CW\*(C`pack\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`unpack\*(C'\fR
to know where characters are going to or coming from, so they
handle their output and input as flat sequences of characters.
.IP "\(bu" 4
A \f(CW\*(C`()\*(C'\fR group is a sub-TEMPLATE enclosed in parentheses. A group may
take a repeat count either as postfix, or for
\&\f(CW\*(C`unpack\*(C'\fR, also via the \f(CW\*(C`/\*(C'\fR
template character. Within each repetition of a group, positioning with
\&\f(CW\*(C`@\*(C'\fR starts over at 0. Therefore, the result of
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& pack("@1A((@2A)@3A)", qw[X Y Z])
.Ve
.Sp
is the string \f(CW"\e0X\e0\e0YZ"\fR.
.IP "\(bu" 4
\&\f(CW\*(C`x\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`X\*(C'\fR accept the \f(CW\*(C`!\*(C'\fR modifier to act as alignment commands: they
jump forward or back to the closest position aligned at a multiple of \f(CW\*(C`count\*(C'\fR
characters. For example, to \f(CW\*(C`pack\*(C'\fR or
\&\f(CW\*(C`unpack\*(C'\fR a C structure like
.Sp
.Vb 5
\& struct {
\& char c; /* one signed, 8\-bit character */
\& double d;
\& char cc[2];
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
one may need to use the template \f(CW\*(C`c x![d] d c[2]\*(C'\fR. This assumes that
doubles must be aligned to the size of double.
.Sp
For alignment commands, a \f(CW\*(C`count\*(C'\fR of 0 is equivalent to a \f(CW\*(C`count\*(C'\fR of 1;
both are no-ops.
.IP "\(bu" 4
\&\f(CW\*(C`n\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`N\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`v\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`V\*(C'\fR accept the \f(CW\*(C`!\*(C'\fR modifier to
represent signed 16\-/32\-bit integers in big\-/little\-endian order.
This is portable only when all platforms sharing packed data use the
same binary representation for signed integers; for example, when all
platforms use two's-complement representation.
.IP "\(bu" 4
Comments can be embedded in a \s-1TEMPLATE\s0 using \f(CW\*(C`#\*(C'\fR through the end of line.
White space can separate pack codes from each other, but modifiers and
repeat counts must follow immediately. Breaking complex templates into
individual line-by-line components, suitably annotated, can do as much to
improve legibility and maintainability of pack/unpack formats as \f(CW\*(C`/x\*(C'\fR can
for complicated pattern matches.
.IP "\(bu" 4
If \s-1TEMPLATE\s0 requires more arguments than \f(CW\*(C`pack\*(C'\fR
is given, \f(CW\*(C`pack\*(C'\fR
assumes additional \f(CW""\fR arguments. If \s-1TEMPLATE\s0 requires fewer arguments
than given, extra arguments are ignored.
.IP "\(bu" 4
Attempting to pack the special floating point values \f(CW\*(C`Inf\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`NaN\*(C'\fR
(infinity, also in negative, and not-a-number) into packed integer values
(like \f(CW"L"\fR) is a fatal error. The reason for this is that there simply
isn't any sensible mapping for these special values into integers.
.RE
.RS 4
.Sp
Examples:
.Sp
.Vb 10
\& $foo = pack("WWWW",65,66,67,68);
\& # foo eq "ABCD"
\& $foo = pack("W4",65,66,67,68);
\& # same thing
\& $foo = pack("W4",0x24b6,0x24b7,0x24b8,0x24b9);
\& # same thing with Unicode circled letters.
\& $foo = pack("U4",0x24b6,0x24b7,0x24b8,0x24b9);
\& # same thing with Unicode circled letters. You don\*(Aqt get the
\& # UTF\-8 bytes because the U at the start of the format caused
\& # a switch to U0\-mode, so the UTF\-8 bytes get joined into
\& # characters
\& $foo = pack("C0U4",0x24b6,0x24b7,0x24b8,0x24b9);
\& # foo eq "\exe2\ex92\exb6\exe2\ex92\exb7\exe2\ex92\exb8\exe2\ex92\exb9"
\& # This is the UTF\-8 encoding of the string in the
\& # previous example
\&
\& $foo = pack("ccxxcc",65,66,67,68);
\& # foo eq "AB\e0\e0CD"
\&
\& # NOTE: The examples above featuring "W" and "c" are true
\& # only on ASCII and ASCII\-derived systems such as ISO Latin 1
\& # and UTF\-8. On EBCDIC systems, the first example would be
\& # $foo = pack("WWWW",193,194,195,196);
\&
\& $foo = pack("s2",1,2);
\& # "\e001\e000\e002\e000" on little\-endian
\& # "\e000\e001\e000\e002" on big\-endian
\&
\& $foo = pack("a4","abcd","x","y","z");
\& # "abcd"
\&
\& $foo = pack("aaaa","abcd","x","y","z");
\& # "axyz"
\&
\& $foo = pack("a14","abcdefg");
\& # "abcdefg\e0\e0\e0\e0\e0\e0\e0"
\&
\& $foo = pack("i9pl", gmtime);
\& # a real struct tm (on my system anyway)
\&
\& $utmp_template = "Z8 Z8 Z16 L";
\& $utmp = pack($utmp_template, @utmp1);
\& # a struct utmp (BSDish)
\&
\& @utmp2 = unpack($utmp_template, $utmp);
\& # "@utmp1" eq "@utmp2"
\&
\& sub bintodec {
\& unpack("N", pack("B32", substr("0" x 32 . shift, \-32)));
\& }
\&
\& $foo = pack(\*(Aqsx2l\*(Aq, 12, 34);
\& # short 12, two zero bytes padding, long 34
\& $bar = pack(\*(Aqs@4l\*(Aq, 12, 34);
\& # short 12, zero fill to position 4, long 34
\& # $foo eq $bar
\& $baz = pack(\*(Aqs.l\*(Aq, 12, 4, 34);
\& # short 12, zero fill to position 4, long 34
\&
\& $foo = pack(\*(AqnN\*(Aq, 42, 4711);
\& # pack big\-endian 16\- and 32\-bit unsigned integers
\& $foo = pack(\*(AqS>L>\*(Aq, 42, 4711);
\& # exactly the same
\& $foo = pack(\*(Aqs<l<\*(Aq, \-42, 4711);
\& # pack little\-endian 16\- and 32\-bit signed integers
\& $foo = pack(\*(Aq(sl)<\*(Aq, \-42, 4711);
\& # exactly the same
.Ve
.Sp
The same template may generally also be used in
\&\f(CW\*(C`unpack\*(C'\fR.
.RE
.IP "package \s-1NAMESPACE\s0" 4
.IX Item "package NAMESPACE"
.PD 0
.IP "package \s-1NAMESPACE VERSION\s0" 4
.IX Xref "package module namespace version"
.IX Item "package NAMESPACE VERSION"
.IP "package \s-1NAMESPACE BLOCK\s0" 4
.IX Item "package NAMESPACE BLOCK"
.IP "package \s-1NAMESPACE VERSION BLOCK\s0" 4
.IX Xref "package module namespace version"
.IX Item "package NAMESPACE VERSION BLOCK"
.PD
Declares the \s-1BLOCK\s0 or the rest of the compilation unit as being in the
given namespace. The scope of the package declaration is either the
supplied code \s-1BLOCK\s0 or, in the absence of a \s-1BLOCK,\s0 from the declaration
itself through the end of current scope (the enclosing block, file, or
\&\f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR). That is, the forms without a \s-1BLOCK\s0 are
operative through the end of the current scope, just like the
\&\f(CW\*(C`my\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`state\*(C'\fR, and
\&\f(CW\*(C`our\*(C'\fR operators. All unqualified dynamic identifiers
in this scope will be in the given namespace, except where overridden by
another \f(CW\*(C`package\*(C'\fR declaration or
when they're one of the special identifiers that qualify into \f(CW\*(C`main::\*(C'\fR,
like \f(CW\*(C`STDOUT\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`ARGV\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`ENV\*(C'\fR, and the punctuation variables.
.Sp
A package statement affects dynamic variables only, including those
you've used \f(CW\*(C`local\*(C'\fR on, but \fInot\fR lexically-scoped
variables, which are created with \f(CW\*(C`my\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`state\*(C'\fR, or \f(CW\*(C`our\*(C'\fR. Typically it
would be the first declaration in a file included by
\&\f(CW\*(C`require\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`use\*(C'\fR.
You can switch into a
package in more than one place, since this only determines which default
symbol table the compiler uses for the rest of that block. You can refer to
identifiers in other packages than the current one by prefixing the identifier
with the package name and a double colon, as in \f(CW$SomePack::var\fR
or \f(CW\*(C`ThatPack::INPUT_HANDLE\*(C'\fR. If package name is omitted, the \f(CW\*(C`main\*(C'\fR
package as assumed. That is, \f(CW$::sail\fR is equivalent to
\&\f(CW$main::sail\fR (as well as to \f(CW\*(C`$main\*(Aqsail\*(C'\fR, still seen in ancient
code, mostly from Perl 4).
.Sp
If \s-1VERSION\s0 is provided, \f(CW\*(C`package\*(C'\fR sets the
\&\f(CW$VERSION\fR variable in the given
namespace to a version object with the \s-1VERSION\s0 provided. \s-1VERSION\s0 must be a
\&\*(L"strict\*(R" style version number as defined by the version module: a positive
decimal number (integer or decimal-fraction) without exponentiation or else a
dotted-decimal v\-string with a leading 'v' character and at least three
components. You should set \f(CW$VERSION\fR only once per package.
.Sp
See \*(L"Packages\*(R" in perlmod for more information about packages, modules,
and classes. See perlsub for other scoping issues.
.IP "_\|_PACKAGE_\|_" 4
.IX Xref "__PACKAGE__"
.IX Item "__PACKAGE__"
A special token that returns the name of the package in which it occurs.
.IP "pipe \s-1READHANDLE,WRITEHANDLE\s0" 4
.IX Xref "pipe"
.IX Item "pipe READHANDLE,WRITEHANDLE"
Opens a pair of connected pipes like the corresponding system call.
Note that if you set up a loop of piped processes, deadlock can occur
unless you are very careful. In addition, note that Perl's pipes use
\&\s-1IO\s0 buffering, so you may need to set \f(CW$|\fR
to flush your \s-1WRITEHANDLE\s0 after each command, depending on the
application.
.Sp
Returns true on success.
.Sp
See IPC::Open2, IPC::Open3, and
\&\*(L"Bidirectional Communication with Another Process\*(R" in perlipc
for examples of such things.
.Sp
On systems that support a close-on-exec flag on files, that flag is set
on all newly opened file descriptors whose
\&\f(CW\*(C`fileno\*(C'\fRs are \fIhigher\fR than the current value of
\&\f(CW$^F\fR (by default 2 for \f(CW\*(C`STDERR\*(C'\fR). See \*(L"$^F\*(R" in perlvar.
.IP "pop \s-1ARRAY\s0" 4
.IX Xref "pop stack"
.IX Item "pop ARRAY"
.PD 0
.IP "pop" 4
.IX Item "pop"
.PD
Pops and returns the last value of the array, shortening the array by
one element.
.Sp
Returns the undefined value if the array is empty, although this may
also happen at other times. If \s-1ARRAY\s0 is omitted, pops the
\&\f(CW@ARGV\fR array in the main program, but the
\&\f(CW@_\fR array in subroutines, just like
\&\f(CW\*(C`shift\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
Starting with Perl 5.14, an experimental feature allowed
\&\f(CW\*(C`pop\*(C'\fR to take a
scalar expression. This experiment has been deemed unsuccessful, and was
removed as of Perl 5.24.
.IP "pos \s-1SCALAR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "pos match, position"
.IX Item "pos SCALAR"
.PD 0
.IP "pos" 4
.IX Item "pos"
.PD
Returns the offset of where the last \f(CW\*(C`m//g\*(C'\fR search left off for the
variable in question (\f(CW$_\fR is used when the variable is not
specified). This offset is in characters unless the
(no-longer-recommended) \f(CW\*(C`use bytes\*(C'\fR pragma is in effect, in
which case the offset is in bytes. Note that 0 is a valid match offset.
\&\f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR indicates
that the search position is reset (usually due to match failure, but
can also be because no match has yet been run on the scalar).
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`pos\*(C'\fR directly accesses the location used by the regexp
engine to store the offset, so assigning to \f(CW\*(C`pos\*(C'\fR will
change that offset, and so will also influence the \f(CW\*(C`\eG\*(C'\fR zero-width
assertion in regular expressions. Both of these effects take place for
the next match, so you can't affect the position with
\&\f(CW\*(C`pos\*(C'\fR during the current match, such as in
\&\f(CW\*(C`(?{pos() = 5})\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`s//pos() = 5/e\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
Setting \f(CW\*(C`pos\*(C'\fR also resets the \fImatched with
zero-length\fR flag, described
under \*(L"Repeated Patterns Matching a Zero-length Substring\*(R" in perlre.
.Sp
Because a failed \f(CW\*(C`m//gc\*(C'\fR match doesn't reset the offset, the return
from \f(CW\*(C`pos\*(C'\fR won't change either in this case. See
perlre and perlop.
.IP "print \s-1FILEHANDLE LIST\s0" 4
.IX Xref "print"
.IX Item "print FILEHANDLE LIST"
.PD 0
.IP "print \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0" 4
.IX Item "print FILEHANDLE"
.IP "print \s-1LIST\s0" 4
.IX Item "print LIST"
.IP "print" 4
.IX Item "print"
.PD
Prints a string or a list of strings. Returns true if successful.
\&\s-1FILEHANDLE\s0 may be a scalar variable containing the name of or a reference
to the filehandle, thus introducing one level of indirection. (\s-1NOTE:\s0 If
\&\s-1FILEHANDLE\s0 is a variable and the next token is a term, it may be
misinterpreted as an operator unless you interpose a \f(CW\*(C`+\*(C'\fR or put
parentheses around the arguments.) If \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0 is omitted, prints to the
last selected (see \f(CW\*(C`select\*(C'\fR) output handle. If
\&\s-1LIST\s0 is omitted, prints \f(CW$_\fR to the currently selected
output handle. To use \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0 alone to print the content of
\&\f(CW$_\fR to it, you must use a bareword filehandle like
\&\f(CW\*(C`FH\*(C'\fR, not an indirect one like \f(CW$fh\fR. To set the default output handle
to something other than \s-1STDOUT,\s0 use the select operation.
.Sp
The current value of \f(CW$,\fR (if any) is printed between
each \s-1LIST\s0 item. The current value of \f(CW\*(C`$\e\*(C'\fR (if any) is
printed after the entire \s-1LIST\s0 has been printed. Because print takes a
\&\s-1LIST,\s0 anything in the \s-1LIST\s0 is evaluated in list context, including any
subroutines whose return lists you pass to
\&\f(CW\*(C`print\*(C'\fR. Be careful not to follow the print
keyword with a left
parenthesis unless you want the corresponding right parenthesis to
terminate the arguments to the print; put parentheses around all arguments
(or interpose a \f(CW\*(C`+\*(C'\fR, but that doesn't look as good).
.Sp
If you're storing handles in an array or hash, or in general whenever
you're using any expression more complex than a bareword handle or a plain,
unsubscripted scalar variable to retrieve it, you will have to use a block
returning the filehandle value instead, in which case the \s-1LIST\s0 may not be
omitted:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& print { $files[$i] } "stuff\en";
\& print { $OK ? *STDOUT : *STDERR } "stuff\en";
.Ve
.Sp
Printing to a closed pipe or socket will generate a \s-1SIGPIPE\s0 signal. See
perlipc for more on signal handling.
.IP "printf \s-1FILEHANDLE FORMAT, LIST\s0" 4
.IX Xref "printf"
.IX Item "printf FILEHANDLE FORMAT, LIST"
.PD 0
.IP "printf \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0" 4
.IX Item "printf FILEHANDLE"
.IP "printf \s-1FORMAT, LIST\s0" 4
.IX Item "printf FORMAT, LIST"
.IP "printf" 4
.IX Item "printf"
.PD
Equivalent to \f(CW\*(C`print FILEHANDLE sprintf(FORMAT, LIST)\*(C'\fR, except that
\&\f(CW\*(C`$\e\*(C'\fR (the output record separator) is not appended. The
\&\s-1FORMAT\s0 and the \s-1LIST\s0 are actually parsed as a single list. The first
argument of the list will be interpreted as the
\&\f(CW\*(C`printf\*(C'\fR format. This means that
\&\f(CW\*(C`printf(@_)\*(C'\fR will use \f(CW$_[0]\fR as the format. See
sprintf for an explanation of the format
argument. If \f(CW\*(C`use locale\*(C'\fR (including \f(CW\*(C`use locale \*(Aq:not_characters\*(Aq\*(C'\fR)
is in effect and \f(CW\*(C`POSIX::setlocale\*(C'\fR has been
called, the character used for the decimal separator in formatted
floating-point numbers is affected by the \f(CW\*(C`LC_NUMERIC\*(C'\fR locale setting.
See perllocale and \s-1POSIX\s0.
.Sp
For historical reasons, if you omit the list, \f(CW$_\fR is
used as the format;
to use \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0 without a list, you must use a bareword filehandle like
\&\f(CW\*(C`FH\*(C'\fR, not an indirect one like \f(CW$fh\fR. However, this will rarely do what
you want; if \f(CW$_\fR contains formatting codes, they will be
replaced with the empty string and a warning will be emitted if
warnings are enabled. Just use \f(CW\*(C`print\*(C'\fR if
you want to print the contents of \f(CW$_\fR.
.Sp
Don't fall into the trap of using a
\&\f(CW\*(C`printf\*(C'\fR when a simple
\&\f(CW\*(C`print\*(C'\fR would do. The
\&\f(CW\*(C`print\*(C'\fR is more efficient and less error
prone.
.IP "prototype \s-1FUNCTION\s0" 4
.IX Xref "prototype"
.IX Item "prototype FUNCTION"
.PD 0
.IP "prototype" 4
.IX Item "prototype"
.PD
Returns the prototype of a function as a string (or
\&\f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR if the
function has no prototype). \s-1FUNCTION\s0 is a reference to, or the name of,
the function whose prototype you want to retrieve. If \s-1FUNCTION\s0 is omitted,
\&\f(CW$_\fR is used.
.Sp
If \s-1FUNCTION\s0 is a string starting with \f(CW\*(C`CORE::\*(C'\fR, the rest is taken as a
name for a Perl builtin. If the builtin's arguments
cannot be adequately expressed by a prototype
(such as \f(CW\*(C`system\*(C'\fR), \f(CW\*(C`prototype\*(C'\fR
returns \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR, because the builtin
does not really behave like a Perl function. Otherwise, the string
describing the equivalent prototype is returned.
.IP "push \s-1ARRAY,LIST\s0" 4
.IX Xref "push stack"
.IX Item "push ARRAY,LIST"
Treats \s-1ARRAY\s0 as a stack by appending the values of \s-1LIST\s0 to the end of
\&\s-1ARRAY.\s0 The length of \s-1ARRAY\s0 increases by the length of \s-1LIST.\s0 Has the same
effect as
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& for my $value (LIST) {
\& $ARRAY[++$#ARRAY] = $value;
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
but is more efficient. Returns the number of elements in the array following
the completed \f(CW\*(C`push\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
Starting with Perl 5.14, an experimental feature allowed
\&\f(CW\*(C`push\*(C'\fR to take a
scalar expression. This experiment has been deemed unsuccessful, and was
removed as of Perl 5.24.
.IP "q/STRING/" 4
.IX Item "q/STRING/"
.PD 0
.IP "qq/STRING/" 4
.IX Item "qq/STRING/"
.IP "qw/STRING/" 4
.IX Item "qw/STRING/"
.IP "qx/STRING/" 4
.IX Item "qx/STRING/"
.PD
Generalized quotes. See \*(L"Quote-Like Operators\*(R" in perlop.
.IP "qr/STRING/" 4
.IX Item "qr/STRING/"
Regexp-like quote. See \*(L"Regexp Quote-Like Operators\*(R" in perlop.
.IP "quotemeta \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "quotemeta metacharacter"
.IX Item "quotemeta EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "quotemeta" 4
.IX Item "quotemeta"
.PD
Returns the value of \s-1EXPR\s0 with all the \s-1ASCII\s0 non\-\*(L"word\*(R"
characters backslashed. (That is, all \s-1ASCII\s0 characters not matching
\&\f(CW\*(C`/[A\-Za\-z_0\-9]/\*(C'\fR will be preceded by a backslash in the
returned string, regardless of any locale settings.)
This is the internal function implementing
the \f(CW\*(C`\eQ\*(C'\fR escape in double-quoted strings.
(See below for the behavior on non-ASCII code points.)
.Sp
If \s-1EXPR\s0 is omitted, uses \f(CW$_\fR.
.Sp
quotemeta (and \f(CW\*(C`\eQ\*(C'\fR ... \f(CW\*(C`\eE\*(C'\fR) are useful when interpolating strings into
regular expressions, because by default an interpolated variable will be
considered a mini-regular expression. For example:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& my $sentence = \*(AqThe quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog\*(Aq;
\& my $substring = \*(Aqquick.*?fox\*(Aq;
\& $sentence =~ s{$substring}{big bad wolf};
.Ve
.Sp
Will cause \f(CW$sentence\fR to become \f(CW\*(AqThe big bad wolf jumped over...\*(Aq\fR.
.Sp
On the other hand:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& my $sentence = \*(AqThe quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog\*(Aq;
\& my $substring = \*(Aqquick.*?fox\*(Aq;
\& $sentence =~ s{\eQ$substring\eE}{big bad wolf};
.Ve
.Sp
Or:
.Sp
.Vb 4
\& my $sentence = \*(AqThe quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog\*(Aq;
\& my $substring = \*(Aqquick.*?fox\*(Aq;
\& my $quoted_substring = quotemeta($substring);
\& $sentence =~ s{$quoted_substring}{big bad wolf};
.Ve
.Sp
Will both leave the sentence as is.
Normally, when accepting literal string input from the user,
\&\f(CW\*(C`quotemeta\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`\eQ\*(C'\fR must be used.
.Sp
In Perl v5.14, all non-ASCII characters are quoted in non\-UTF\-8\-encoded
strings, but not quoted in \s-1UTF\-8\s0 strings.
.Sp
Starting in Perl v5.16, Perl adopted a Unicode-defined strategy for
quoting non-ASCII characters; the quoting of \s-1ASCII\s0 characters is
unchanged.
.Sp
Also unchanged is the quoting of non\-UTF\-8 strings when outside the
scope of a
\&\f(CW\*(C`use feature \*(Aqunicode_strings\*(Aq\*(C'\fR,
which is to quote all
characters in the upper Latin1 range. This provides complete backwards
compatibility for old programs which do not use Unicode. (Note that
\&\f(CW\*(C`unicode_strings\*(C'\fR is automatically enabled within the scope of a
\&\f(CW\*(C`use\ v5.12\*(C'\fR or greater.)
.Sp
Within the scope of \f(CW\*(C`use locale\*(C'\fR, all non-ASCII Latin1 code
points
are quoted whether the string is encoded as \s-1UTF\-8\s0 or not. As mentioned
above, locale does not affect the quoting of ASCII-range characters.
This protects against those locales where characters such as \f(CW"|"\fR are
considered to be word characters.
.Sp
Otherwise, Perl quotes non-ASCII characters using an adaptation from
Unicode (see <http://www.unicode.org/reports/tr31/>).
The only code points that are quoted are those that have any of the
Unicode properties: Pattern_Syntax, Pattern_White_Space, White_Space,
Default_Ignorable_Code_Point, or General_Category=Control.
.Sp
Of these properties, the two important ones are Pattern_Syntax and
Pattern_White_Space. They have been set up by Unicode for exactly this
purpose of deciding which characters in a regular expression pattern
should be quoted. No character that can be in an identifier has these
properties.
.Sp
Perl promises, that if we ever add regular expression pattern
metacharacters to the dozen already defined
(\f(CW\*(C`\e | ( ) [ { ^ $ * + ? .\*(C'\fR), that we will only use ones that have the
Pattern_Syntax property. Perl also promises, that if we ever add
characters that are considered to be white space in regular expressions
(currently mostly affected by \f(CW\*(C`/x\*(C'\fR), they will all have the
Pattern_White_Space property.
.Sp
Unicode promises that the set of code points that have these two
properties will never change, so something that is not quoted in v5.16
will never need to be quoted in any future Perl release. (Not all the
code points that match Pattern_Syntax have actually had characters
assigned to them; so there is room to grow, but they are quoted
whether assigned or not. Perl, of course, would never use an
unassigned code point as an actual metacharacter.)
.Sp
Quoting characters that have the other 3 properties is done to enhance
the readability of the regular expression and not because they actually
need to be quoted for regular expression purposes (characters with the
White_Space property are likely to be indistinguishable on the page or
screen from those with the Pattern_White_Space property; and the other
two properties contain non-printing characters).
.IP "rand \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "rand random"
.IX Item "rand EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "rand" 4
.IX Item "rand"
.PD
Returns a random fractional number greater than or equal to \f(CW0\fR and less
than the value of \s-1EXPR.\s0 (\s-1EXPR\s0 should be positive.) If \s-1EXPR\s0 is
omitted, the value \f(CW1\fR is used. Currently \s-1EXPR\s0 with the value \f(CW0\fR is
also special-cased as \f(CW1\fR (this was undocumented before Perl 5.8.0
and is subject to change in future versions of Perl). Automatically calls
\&\f(CW\*(C`srand\*(C'\fR unless \f(CW\*(C`srand\*(C'\fR has already been
called. See also \f(CW\*(C`srand\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
Apply \f(CW\*(C`int\*(C'\fR to the value returned by \f(CW\*(C`rand\*(C'\fR
if you want random integers instead of random fractional numbers. For
example,
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& int(rand(10))
.Ve
.Sp
returns a random integer between \f(CW0\fR and \f(CW9\fR, inclusive.
.Sp
(Note: If your rand function consistently returns numbers that are too
large or too small, then your version of Perl was probably compiled
with the wrong number of \s-1RANDBITS.\s0)
.Sp
\&\fB\f(CB\*(C`rand\*(C'\fB is not cryptographically secure. You should not rely
on it in security-sensitive situations.\fR As of this writing, a
number of third-party \s-1CPAN\s0 modules offer random number generators
intended by their authors to be cryptographically secure,
including: Data::Entropy, Crypt::Random, Math::Random::Secure,
and Math::TrulyRandom.
.IP "read \s-1FILEHANDLE,SCALAR,LENGTH,OFFSET\s0" 4
.IX Xref "read file, read"
.IX Item "read FILEHANDLE,SCALAR,LENGTH,OFFSET"
.PD 0
.IP "read \s-1FILEHANDLE,SCALAR,LENGTH\s0" 4
.IX Item "read FILEHANDLE,SCALAR,LENGTH"
.PD
Attempts to read \s-1LENGTH\s0 \fIcharacters\fR of data into variable \s-1SCALAR\s0
from the specified \s-1FILEHANDLE.\s0 Returns the number of characters
actually read, \f(CW0\fR at end of file, or undef if there was an error (in
the latter case \f(CW$!\fR is also set). \s-1SCALAR\s0 will be grown
or shrunk
so that the last character actually read is the last character of the
scalar after the read.
.Sp
An \s-1OFFSET\s0 may be specified to place the read data at some place in the
string other than the beginning. A negative \s-1OFFSET\s0 specifies
placement at that many characters counting backwards from the end of
the string. A positive \s-1OFFSET\s0 greater than the length of \s-1SCALAR\s0
results in the string being padded to the required size with \f(CW"\e0"\fR
bytes before the result of the read is appended.
.Sp
The call is implemented in terms of either Perl's or your system's native
\&\fBfread\fR\|(3) library function. To get a true \fBread\fR\|(2) system call, see
sysread.
.Sp
Note the \fIcharacters\fR: depending on the status of the filehandle,
either (8\-bit) bytes or characters are read. By default, all
filehandles operate on bytes, but for example if the filehandle has
been opened with the \f(CW\*(C`:utf8\*(C'\fR I/O layer (see
\&\f(CW\*(C`open\*(C'\fR, and the open
pragma), the I/O will operate on UTF8\-encoded Unicode
characters, not bytes. Similarly for the \f(CW\*(C`:encoding\*(C'\fR layer:
in that case pretty much any characters can be read.
.IP "readdir \s-1DIRHANDLE\s0" 4
.IX Xref "readdir"
.IX Item "readdir DIRHANDLE"
Returns the next directory entry for a directory opened by
\&\f(CW\*(C`opendir\*(C'\fR.
If used in list context, returns all the rest of the entries in the
directory. If there are no more entries, returns the undefined value in
scalar context and the empty list in list context.
.Sp
If you're planning to filetest the return values out of a
\&\f(CW\*(C`readdir\*(C'\fR, you'd better prepend the directory in
question. Otherwise, because we didn't \f(CW\*(C`chdir\*(C'\fR there,
it would have been testing the wrong file.
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& opendir(my $dh, $some_dir) || die "Can\*(Aqt opendir $some_dir: $!";
\& my @dots = grep { /^\e./ && \-f "$some_dir/$_" } readdir($dh);
\& closedir $dh;
.Ve
.Sp
As of Perl 5.12 you can use a bare \f(CW\*(C`readdir\*(C'\fR in a
\&\f(CW\*(C`while\*(C'\fR loop, which will set \f(CW$_\fR on every iteration.
If either a \f(CW\*(C`readdir\*(C'\fR expression or an explicit assignment of a
\&\f(CW\*(C`readdir\*(C'\fR expression to a scalar is used as a \f(CW\*(C`while\*(C'\fR/\f(CW\*(C`for\*(C'\fR condition,
then the condition actually tests for definedness of the expression's
value, not for its regular truth value.
.Sp
.Vb 5
\& opendir(my $dh, $some_dir) || die "Can\*(Aqt open $some_dir: $!";
\& while (readdir $dh) {
\& print "$some_dir/$_\en";
\& }
\& closedir $dh;
.Ve
.Sp
To avoid confusing would-be users of your code who are running earlier
versions of Perl with mysterious failures, put this sort of thing at the
top of your file to signal that your code will work \fIonly\fR on Perls of a
recent vintage:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& use 5.012; # so readdir assigns to $_ in a lone while test
.Ve
.IP "readline \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Item "readline EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "readline" 4
.IX Xref "readline gets fgets"
.IX Item "readline"
.PD
Reads from the filehandle whose typeglob is contained in \s-1EXPR\s0 (or from
\&\f(CW*ARGV\fR if \s-1EXPR\s0 is not provided). In scalar context, each call reads and
returns the next line until end-of-file is reached, whereupon the
subsequent call returns \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR. In list context, reads
until end-of-file is reached and returns a list of lines. Note that the
notion of \*(L"line\*(R" used here is whatever you may have defined with
\&\f(CW$/\fR (or \f(CW$INPUT_RECORD_SEPARATOR\fR in
English). See \*(L"$/\*(R" in perlvar.
.Sp
When \f(CW$/\fR is set to \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR,
when \f(CW\*(C`readline\*(C'\fR is in scalar context (i.e., file
slurp mode), and when an empty file is read, it returns \f(CW\*(Aq\*(Aq\fR the first
time, followed by \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR subsequently.
.Sp
This is the internal function implementing the \f(CW\*(C`<EXPR>\*(C'\fR
operator, but you can use it directly. The \f(CW\*(C`<EXPR>\*(C'\fR
operator is discussed in more detail in \*(L"I/O Operators\*(R" in perlop.
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& my $line = <STDIN>;
\& my $line = readline(STDIN); # same thing
.Ve
.Sp
If \f(CW\*(C`readline\*(C'\fR encounters an operating system error,
\&\f(CW$!\fR will be set with the corresponding error message.
It can be helpful to check \f(CW$!\fR when you are reading from
filehandles you don't trust, such as a tty or a socket. The following
example uses the operator form of \f(CW\*(C`readline\*(C'\fR and dies
if the result is not defined.
.Sp
.Vb 4
\& while ( ! eof($fh) ) {
\& defined( $_ = readline $fh ) or die "readline failed: $!";
\& ...
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
Note that you have can't handle \f(CW\*(C`readline\*(C'\fR errors
that way with the \f(CW\*(C`ARGV\*(C'\fR filehandle. In that case, you have to open
each element of \f(CW@ARGV\fR yourself since
\&\f(CW\*(C`eof\*(C'\fR handles \f(CW\*(C`ARGV\*(C'\fR differently.
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& foreach my $arg (@ARGV) {
\& open(my $fh, $arg) or warn "Can\*(Aqt open $arg: $!";
\&
\& while ( ! eof($fh) ) {
\& defined( $_ = readline $fh )
\& or die "readline failed for $arg: $!";
\& ...
\& }
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
Like the \f(CW\*(C`<EXPR>\*(C'\fR operator, if a \f(CW\*(C`readline\*(C'\fR expression is
used as the condition of a \f(CW\*(C`while\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`for\*(C'\fR loop, then it will be
implicitly assigned to \f(CW$_\fR. If either a \f(CW\*(C`readline\*(C'\fR expression or
an explicit assignment of a \f(CW\*(C`readline\*(C'\fR expression to a scalar is used
as a \f(CW\*(C`while\*(C'\fR/\f(CW\*(C`for\*(C'\fR condition, then the condition actually tests for
definedness of the expression's value, not for its regular truth value.
.IP "readlink \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "readlink"
.IX Item "readlink EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "readlink" 4
.IX Item "readlink"
.PD
Returns the value of a symbolic link, if symbolic links are
implemented. If not, raises an exception. If there is a system
error, returns the undefined value and sets \f(CW$!\fR (errno).
If \s-1EXPR\s0 is omitted, uses \f(CW$_\fR.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"readlink\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "readpipe \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Item "readpipe EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "readpipe" 4
.IX Xref "readpipe"
.IX Item "readpipe"
.PD
\&\s-1EXPR\s0 is executed as a system command.
The collected standard output of the command is returned.
In scalar context, it comes back as a single (potentially
multi-line) string. In list context, returns a list of lines
(however you've defined lines with \f(CW$/\fR (or
\&\f(CW$INPUT_RECORD_SEPARATOR\fR in English)).
This is the internal function implementing the \f(CW\*(C`qx/EXPR/\*(C'\fR
operator, but you can use it directly. The \f(CW\*(C`qx/EXPR/\*(C'\fR
operator is discussed in more detail in \*(L"I/O Operators\*(R" in perlop.
If \s-1EXPR\s0 is omitted, uses \f(CW$_\fR.
.IP "recv \s-1SOCKET,SCALAR,LENGTH,FLAGS\s0" 4
.IX Xref "recv"
.IX Item "recv SOCKET,SCALAR,LENGTH,FLAGS"
Receives a message on a socket. Attempts to receive \s-1LENGTH\s0 characters
of data into variable \s-1SCALAR\s0 from the specified \s-1SOCKET\s0 filehandle.
\&\s-1SCALAR\s0 will be grown or shrunk to the length actually read. Takes the
same flags as the system call of the same name. Returns the address
of the sender if \s-1SOCKET\s0's protocol supports this; returns an empty
string otherwise. If there's an error, returns the undefined value.
This call is actually implemented in terms of the \fBrecvfrom\fR\|(2) system call.
See \*(L"\s-1UDP:\s0 Message Passing\*(R" in perlipc for examples.
.Sp
Note that if the socket has been marked as \f(CW\*(C`:utf8\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`recv\*(C'\fR will
throw an exception. The \f(CW\*(C`:encoding(...)\*(C'\fR layer implicitly introduces
the \f(CW\*(C`:utf8\*(C'\fR layer. See \f(CW\*(C`binmode\*(C'\fR.
.IP "redo \s-1LABEL\s0" 4
.IX Xref "redo"
.IX Item "redo LABEL"
.PD 0
.IP "redo \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Item "redo EXPR"
.IP "redo" 4
.IX Item "redo"
.PD
The \f(CW\*(C`redo\*(C'\fR command restarts the loop block without
evaluating the conditional again. The \f(CW\*(C`continue\*(C'\fR
block, if any, is not executed. If
the \s-1LABEL\s0 is omitted, the command refers to the innermost enclosing
loop. The \f(CW\*(C`redo EXPR\*(C'\fR form, available starting in Perl 5.18.0, allows a
label name to be computed at run time, and is otherwise identical to \f(CW\*(C`redo
LABEL\*(C'\fR. Programs that want to lie to themselves about what was just input
normally use this command:
.Sp
.Vb 10
\& # a simpleminded Pascal comment stripper
\& # (warning: assumes no { or } in strings)
\& LINE: while (<STDIN>) {
\& while (s|({.*}.*){.*}|$1 |) {}
\& s|{.*}| |;
\& if (s|{.*| |) {
\& my $front = $_;
\& while (<STDIN>) {
\& if (/}/) { # end of comment?
\& s|^|$front\e{|;
\& redo LINE;
\& }
\& }
\& }
\& print;
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`redo\*(C'\fR cannot return a value from a block that typically
returns a value, such as \f(CW\*(C`eval {}\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`sub {}\*(C'\fR, or \f(CW\*(C`do {}\*(C'\fR. It will perform
its flow control behavior, which precludes any return value. It should not be
used to exit a \f(CW\*(C`grep\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`map\*(C'\fR
operation.
.Sp
Note that a block by itself is semantically identical to a loop
that executes once. Thus \f(CW\*(C`redo\*(C'\fR inside such a block
will effectively turn it into a looping construct.
.Sp
See also \f(CW\*(C`continue\*(C'\fR for an illustration of how
\&\f(CW\*(C`last\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`next\*(C'\fR, and
\&\f(CW\*(C`redo\*(C'\fR work.
.Sp
Unlike most named operators, this has the same precedence as assignment.
It is also exempt from the looks-like-a-function rule, so
\&\f(CW\*(C`redo ("foo")."bar"\*(C'\fR will cause \*(L"bar\*(R" to be part of the argument to
\&\f(CW\*(C`redo\*(C'\fR.
.IP "ref \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "ref reference"
.IX Item "ref EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "ref" 4
.IX Item "ref"
.PD
Examines the value of \s-1EXPR,\s0 expecting it to be a reference, and returns
a string giving information about the reference and the type of referent.
If \s-1EXPR\s0 is not specified, \f(CW$_\fR will be used.
.Sp
If the operand is not a reference, then the empty string will be returned.
An empty string will only be returned in this situation. \f(CW\*(C`ref\*(C'\fR is often
useful to just test whether a value is a reference, which can be done
by comparing the result to the empty string. It is a common mistake
to use the result of \f(CW\*(C`ref\*(C'\fR directly as a truth value: this goes wrong
because \f(CW0\fR (which is false) can be returned for a reference.
.Sp
If the operand is a reference to a blessed object, then the name of
the class into which the referent is blessed will be returned. \f(CW\*(C`ref\*(C'\fR
doesn't care what the physical type of the referent is; blessing takes
precedence over such concerns. Beware that exact comparison of \f(CW\*(C`ref\*(C'\fR
results against a class name doesn't perform a class membership test:
a class's members also include objects blessed into subclasses, for
which \f(CW\*(C`ref\*(C'\fR will return the name of the subclass. Also beware that
class names can clash with the built-in type names (described below).
.Sp
If the operand is a reference to an unblessed object, then the return
value indicates the type of object. If the unblessed referent is not
a scalar, then the return value will be one of the strings \f(CW\*(C`ARRAY\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`HASH\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`CODE\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`FORMAT\*(C'\fR, or \f(CW\*(C`IO\*(C'\fR, indicating only which kind of
object it is. If the unblessed referent is a scalar, then the return
value will be one of the strings \f(CW\*(C`SCALAR\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`VSTRING\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`REF\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`GLOB\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`LVALUE\*(C'\fR, or \f(CW\*(C`REGEXP\*(C'\fR, depending on the kind of value the scalar
currently has. But note that \f(CW\*(C`qr//\*(C'\fR scalars are created already
blessed, so \f(CW\*(C`ref qr/.../\*(C'\fR will likely return \f(CW\*(C`Regexp\*(C'\fR. Beware that
these built-in type names can also be used as
class names, so \f(CW\*(C`ref\*(C'\fR returning one of these names doesn't unambiguously
indicate that the referent is of the kind to which the name refers.
.Sp
The ambiguity between built-in type names and class names significantly
limits the utility of \f(CW\*(C`ref\*(C'\fR. For unambiguous information, use
\&\f(CW\*(C`Scalar::Util::blessed()\*(C'\fR for information about
blessing, and \f(CW\*(C`Scalar::Util::reftype()\*(C'\fR for
information about physical types. Use the \f(CW\*(C`isa\*(C'\fR method for class membership tests, though one must be
sure of blessedness before attempting a method call.
.Sp
See also perlref and perlobj.
.IP "rename \s-1OLDNAME,NEWNAME\s0" 4
.IX Xref "rename move mv ren"
.IX Item "rename OLDNAME,NEWNAME"
Changes the name of a file; an existing file \s-1NEWNAME\s0 will be
clobbered. Returns true for success, false otherwise.
.Sp
Behavior of this function varies wildly depending on your system
implementation. For example, it will usually not work across file system
boundaries, even though the system \fImv\fR command sometimes compensates
for this. Other restrictions include whether it works on directories,
open files, or pre-existing files. Check perlport and either the
\&\fBrename\fR\|(2) manpage or equivalent system documentation for details.
.Sp
For a platform independent \f(CW\*(C`move\*(C'\fR function look at
the File::Copy module.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"rename\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "require \s-1VERSION\s0" 4
.IX Xref "require"
.IX Item "require VERSION"
.PD 0
.IP "require \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Item "require EXPR"
.IP "require" 4
.IX Item "require"
.PD
Demands a version of Perl specified by \s-1VERSION,\s0 or demands some semantics
specified by \s-1EXPR\s0 or by \f(CW$_\fR if \s-1EXPR\s0 is not supplied.
.Sp
\&\s-1VERSION\s0 may be either a literal such as v5.24.1, which will be
compared to \f(CW$^V\fR (or \f(CW$PERL_VERSION\fR in English),
or a numeric argument of the form 5.024001, which will be compared to
\&\f(CW$]\fR. An exception is raised if \s-1VERSION\s0 is greater than
the version of the current Perl interpreter. Compare with
\&\f(CW\*(C`use\*(C'\fR, which can do a similar check at
compile time.
.Sp
Specifying \s-1VERSION\s0 as a numeric argument of the form 5.024001 should
generally be avoided as older less readable syntax compared to
v5.24.1. Before perl 5.8.0 (released in 2002), the more verbose numeric
form was the only supported syntax, which is why you might see it in
older code.
.Sp
.Vb 4
\& require v5.24.1; # run time version check
\& require 5.24.1; # ditto
\& require 5.024_001; # ditto; older syntax compatible
\& with perl 5.6
.Ve
.Sp
Otherwise, \f(CW\*(C`require\*(C'\fR demands that a library file be
included if it hasn't already been included. The file is included via
the do-FILE mechanism, which is essentially just a variety of
\&\f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR with the
caveat that lexical variables in the invoking script will be invisible
to the included code. If it were implemented in pure Perl, it
would have semantics similar to the following:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& use Carp \*(Aqcroak\*(Aq;
\& use version;
\&
\& sub require {
\& my ($filename) = @_;
\& if ( my $version = eval { version\->parse($filename) } ) {
\& if ( $version > $^V ) {
\& my $vn = $version\->normal;
\& croak "Perl $vn required\-\-this is only $^V, stopped";
\& }
\& return 1;
\& }
\&
\& if (exists $INC{$filename}) {
\& return 1 if $INC{$filename};
\& croak "Compilation failed in require";
\& }
\&
\& foreach $prefix (@INC) {
\& if (ref($prefix)) {
\& #... do other stuff \- see text below ....
\& }
\& # (see text below about possible appending of .pmc
\& # suffix to $filename)
\& my $realfilename = "$prefix/$filename";
\& next if ! \-e $realfilename || \-d _ || \-b _;
\& $INC{$filename} = $realfilename;
\& my $result = do($realfilename);
\& # but run in caller\*(Aqs namespace
\&
\& if (!defined $result) {
\& $INC{$filename} = undef;
\& croak $@ ? "$@Compilation failed in require"
\& : "Can\*(Aqt locate $filename: $!\en";
\& }
\& if (!$result) {
\& delete $INC{$filename};
\& croak "$filename did not return true value";
\& }
\& $! = 0;
\& return $result;
\& }
\& croak "Can\*(Aqt locate $filename in \e@INC ...";
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
Note that the file will not be included twice under the same specified
name.
.Sp
The file must return true as the last statement to indicate
successful execution of any initialization code, so it's customary to
end such a file with \f(CW\*(C`1;\*(C'\fR unless you're sure it'll return true
otherwise. But it's better just to put the \f(CW\*(C`1;\*(C'\fR, in case you add more
statements.
.Sp
If \s-1EXPR\s0 is a bareword, \f(CW\*(C`require\*(C'\fR assumes a \fI.pm\fR
extension and replaces \f(CW\*(C`::\*(C'\fR with \f(CW\*(C`/\*(C'\fR in the filename for you,
to make it easy to load standard modules. This form of loading of
modules does not risk altering your namespace, however it will autovivify
the stash for the required module.
.Sp
In other words, if you try this:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& require Foo::Bar; # a splendid bareword
.Ve
.Sp
The require function will actually look for the \fIFoo/Bar.pm\fR file in the
directories specified in the \f(CW@INC\fR array, and it will
autovivify the \f(CW\*(C`Foo::Bar::\*(C'\fR stash at compile time.
.Sp
But if you try this:
.Sp
.Vb 4
\& my $class = \*(AqFoo::Bar\*(Aq;
\& require $class; # $class is not a bareword
\& #or
\& require "Foo::Bar"; # not a bareword because of the ""
.Ve
.Sp
The require function will look for the \fIFoo::Bar\fR file in the
\&\f(CW@INC\fR array and
will complain about not finding \fIFoo::Bar\fR there. In this case you can do:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& eval "require $class";
.Ve
.Sp
or you could do
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& require "Foo/Bar.pm";
.Ve
.Sp
Neither of these forms will autovivify any stashes at compile time and
only have run time effects.
.Sp
Now that you understand how \f(CW\*(C`require\*(C'\fR looks for
files with a bareword argument, there is a little extra functionality
going on behind the scenes. Before \f(CW\*(C`require\*(C'\fR looks
for a \fI.pm\fR extension, it will first look for a similar filename with a
\&\fI.pmc\fR extension. If this file is found, it will be loaded in place of
any file ending in a \fI.pm\fR extension. This applies to both the explicit
\&\f(CW\*(C`require "Foo/Bar.pm";\*(C'\fR form and the \f(CW\*(C`require Foo::Bar;\*(C'\fR form.
.Sp
You can also insert hooks into the import facility by putting Perl code
directly into the \f(CW@INC\fR array. There are three forms
of hooks: subroutine references, array references, and blessed objects.
.Sp
Subroutine references are the simplest case. When the inclusion system
walks through \f(CW@INC\fR and encounters a subroutine, this
subroutine gets called with two parameters, the first a reference to
itself, and the second the name of the file to be included (e.g.,
\&\fIFoo/Bar.pm\fR). The subroutine should return either nothing or else a
list of up to four values in the following order:
.RS 4
.IP "1." 4
A reference to a scalar, containing any initial source code to prepend to
the file or generator output.
.IP "2." 4
A filehandle, from which the file will be read.
.IP "3." 4
A reference to a subroutine. If there is no filehandle (previous item),
then this subroutine is expected to generate one line of source code per
call, writing the line into \f(CW$_\fR and returning 1, then
finally at end of file returning 0. If there is a filehandle, then the
subroutine will be called to act as a simple source filter, with the
line as read in \f(CW$_\fR.
Again, return 1 for each valid line, and 0 after all lines have been
returned.
For historical reasons the subroutine will receive a meaningless argument
(in fact always the numeric value zero) as \f(CW$_[0]\fR.
.IP "4." 4
Optional state for the subroutine. The state is passed in as \f(CW$_[1]\fR.
.RE
.RS 4
.Sp
If an empty list, \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR, or nothing that matches the
first 3 values above is returned, then \f(CW\*(C`require\*(C'\fR
looks at the remaining elements of \f(CW@INC\fR.
Note that this filehandle must be a real filehandle (strictly a typeglob
or reference to a typeglob, whether blessed or unblessed); tied filehandles
will be ignored and processing will stop there.
.Sp
If the hook is an array reference, its first element must be a subroutine
reference. This subroutine is called as above, but the first parameter is
the array reference. This lets you indirectly pass arguments to
the subroutine.
.Sp
In other words, you can write:
.Sp
.Vb 5
\& push @INC, \e&my_sub;
\& sub my_sub {
\& my ($coderef, $filename) = @_; # $coderef is \e&my_sub
\& ...
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
or:
.Sp
.Vb 7
\& push @INC, [ \e&my_sub, $x, $y, ... ];
\& sub my_sub {
\& my ($arrayref, $filename) = @_;
\& # Retrieve $x, $y, ...
\& my (undef, @parameters) = @$arrayref;
\& ...
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
If the hook is an object, it must provide an \f(CW\*(C`INC\*(C'\fR method that will be
called as above, the first parameter being the object itself. (Note that
you must fully qualify the sub's name, as unqualified \f(CW\*(C`INC\*(C'\fR is always forced
into package \f(CW\*(C`main\*(C'\fR.) Here is a typical code layout:
.Sp
.Vb 7
\& # In Foo.pm
\& package Foo;
\& sub new { ... }
\& sub Foo::INC {
\& my ($self, $filename) = @_;
\& ...
\& }
\&
\& # In the main program
\& push @INC, Foo\->new(...);
.Ve
.Sp
These hooks are also permitted to set the \f(CW%INC\fR entry
corresponding to the files they have loaded. See \*(L"%INC\*(R" in perlvar.
.Sp
For a yet-more-powerful import facility, see
\&\f(CW\*(C`use\*(C'\fR and perlmod.
.RE
.IP "reset \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "reset"
.IX Item "reset EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "reset" 4
.IX Item "reset"
.PD
Generally used in a \f(CW\*(C`continue\*(C'\fR block at the end of a
loop to clear variables and reset \f(CW\*(C`m?pattern?\*(C'\fR searches so that they
work again. The
expression is interpreted as a list of single characters (hyphens
allowed for ranges). All variables (scalars, arrays, and hashes)
in the current package beginning with one of
those letters are reset to their pristine state. If the expression is
omitted, one-match searches (\f(CW\*(C`m?pattern?\*(C'\fR) are reset to match again.
Only resets variables or searches in the current package. Always returns
1. Examples:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& reset \*(AqX\*(Aq; # reset all X variables
\& reset \*(Aqa\-z\*(Aq; # reset lower case variables
\& reset; # just reset m?one\-time? searches
.Ve
.Sp
Resetting \f(CW"A\-Z"\fR is not recommended because you'll wipe out your
\&\f(CW@ARGV\fR and \f(CW@INC\fR arrays and your
\&\f(CW%ENV\fR hash.
.Sp
Resets only package variables; lexical variables are unaffected, but
they clean themselves up on scope exit anyway, so you'll probably want
to use them instead. See \f(CW\*(C`my\*(C'\fR.
.IP "return \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "return"
.IX Item "return EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "return" 4
.IX Item "return"
.PD
Returns from a subroutine, \f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`do FILE\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`sort\*(C'\fR block or regex
eval block (but not a \f(CW\*(C`grep\*(C'\fR or
\&\f(CW\*(C`map\*(C'\fR block) with the value
given in \s-1EXPR.\s0 Evaluation of \s-1EXPR\s0 may be in list, scalar, or void
context, depending on how the return value will be used, and the context
may vary from one execution to the next (see
\&\f(CW\*(C`wantarray\*(C'\fR). If no \s-1EXPR\s0
is given, returns an empty list in list context, the undefined value in
scalar context, and (of course) nothing at all in void context.
.Sp
(In the absence of an explicit \f(CW\*(C`return\*(C'\fR, a subroutine,
\&\f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR,
or \f(CW\*(C`do FILE\*(C'\fR automatically returns the value of the last expression
evaluated.)
.Sp
Unlike most named operators, this is also exempt from the
looks-like-a-function rule, so \f(CW\*(C`return ("foo")."bar"\*(C'\fR will
cause \f(CW"bar"\fR to be part of the argument to \f(CW\*(C`return\*(C'\fR.
.IP "reverse \s-1LIST\s0" 4
.IX Xref "reverse rev invert"
.IX Item "reverse LIST"
In list context, returns a list value consisting of the elements
of \s-1LIST\s0 in the opposite order. In scalar context, concatenates the
elements of \s-1LIST\s0 and returns a string value with all characters
in the opposite order.
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& print join(", ", reverse "world", "Hello"); # Hello, world
\&
\& print scalar reverse "dlrow ,", "olleH"; # Hello, world
.Ve
.Sp
Used without arguments in scalar context, \f(CW\*(C`reverse\*(C'\fR
reverses \f(CW$_\fR.
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& $_ = "dlrow ,olleH";
\& print reverse; # No output, list context
\& print scalar reverse; # Hello, world
.Ve
.Sp
Note that reversing an array to itself (as in \f(CW\*(C`@a = reverse @a\*(C'\fR) will
preserve non-existent elements whenever possible; i.e., for non-magical
arrays or for tied arrays with \f(CW\*(C`EXISTS\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`DELETE\*(C'\fR methods.
.Sp
This operator is also handy for inverting a hash, although there are some
caveats. If a value is duplicated in the original hash, only one of those
can be represented as a key in the inverted hash. Also, this has to
unwind one hash and build a whole new one, which may take some time
on a large hash, such as from a \s-1DBM\s0 file.
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& my %by_name = reverse %by_address; # Invert the hash
.Ve
.IP "rewinddir \s-1DIRHANDLE\s0" 4
.IX Xref "rewinddir"
.IX Item "rewinddir DIRHANDLE"
Sets the current position to the beginning of the directory for the
\&\f(CW\*(C`readdir\*(C'\fR routine on \s-1DIRHANDLE.\s0
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"rewinddir\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "rindex \s-1STR,SUBSTR,POSITION\s0" 4
.IX Xref "rindex"
.IX Item "rindex STR,SUBSTR,POSITION"
.PD 0
.IP "rindex \s-1STR,SUBSTR\s0" 4
.IX Item "rindex STR,SUBSTR"
.PD
Works just like \f(CW\*(C`index\*(C'\fR except that it
returns the position of the \fIlast\fR
occurrence of \s-1SUBSTR\s0 in \s-1STR.\s0 If \s-1POSITION\s0 is specified, returns the
last occurrence beginning at or before that position.
.IP "rmdir \s-1FILENAME\s0" 4
.IX Xref "rmdir rd directory, remove"
.IX Item "rmdir FILENAME"
.PD 0
.IP "rmdir" 4
.IX Item "rmdir"
.PD
Deletes the directory specified by \s-1FILENAME\s0 if that directory is
empty. If it succeeds it returns true; otherwise it returns false and
sets \f(CW$!\fR (errno). If \s-1FILENAME\s0 is omitted, uses
\&\f(CW$_\fR.
.Sp
To remove a directory tree recursively (\f(CW\*(C`rm \-rf\*(C'\fR on Unix) look at
the \f(CW\*(C`rmtree\*(C'\fR function of the File::Path
module.
.IP "s///" 4
.IX Item "s///"
The substitution operator. See \*(L"Regexp Quote-Like Operators\*(R" in perlop.
.IP "say \s-1FILEHANDLE LIST\s0" 4
.IX Xref "say"
.IX Item "say FILEHANDLE LIST"
.PD 0
.IP "say \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0" 4
.IX Item "say FILEHANDLE"
.IP "say \s-1LIST\s0" 4
.IX Item "say LIST"
.IP "say" 4
.IX Item "say"
.PD
Just like \f(CW\*(C`print\*(C'\fR, but implicitly appends a
newline. \f(CW\*(C`say LIST\*(C'\fR is simply an abbreviation for
\&\f(CW\*(C`{ local $\e = "\en"; print LIST }\*(C'\fR. To use \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0 without a \s-1LIST\s0 to
print the contents of \f(CW$_\fR to it, you must use a bareword
filehandle like \f(CW\*(C`FH\*(C'\fR, not an indirect one like \f(CW$fh\fR.
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`say\*(C'\fR is available only if the
\&\f(CW"say"\fR feature is enabled or if it is
prefixed with \f(CW\*(C`CORE::\*(C'\fR. The
\&\f(CW"say"\fR feature is enabled automatically
with a \f(CW\*(C`use v5.10\*(C'\fR (or higher) declaration in the current scope.
.IP "scalar \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "scalar context"
.IX Item "scalar EXPR"
Forces \s-1EXPR\s0 to be interpreted in scalar context and returns the value
of \s-1EXPR.\s0
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& my @counts = ( scalar @a, scalar @b, scalar @c );
.Ve
.Sp
There is no equivalent operator to force an expression to
be interpolated in list context because in practice, this is never
needed. If you really wanted to do so, however, you could use
the construction \f(CW\*(C`@{[ (some expression) ]}\*(C'\fR, but usually a simple
\&\f(CW\*(C`(some expression)\*(C'\fR suffices.
.Sp
Because \f(CW\*(C`scalar\*(C'\fR is a unary operator, if you
accidentally use a
parenthesized list for the \s-1EXPR,\s0 this behaves as a scalar comma expression,
evaluating all but the last element in void context and returning the final
element evaluated in scalar context. This is seldom what you want.
.Sp
The following single statement:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& print uc(scalar(foo(), $bar)), $baz;
.Ve
.Sp
is the moral equivalent of these two:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& foo();
\& print(uc($bar), $baz);
.Ve
.Sp
See perlop for more details on unary operators and the comma operator,
and perldata for details on evaluating a hash in scalar contex.
.IP "seek \s-1FILEHANDLE,POSITION,WHENCE\s0" 4
.IX Xref "seek fseek filehandle, position"
.IX Item "seek FILEHANDLE,POSITION,WHENCE"
Sets \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0's position, just like the \fBfseek\fR\|(3) call of C \f(CW\*(C`stdio\*(C'\fR.
\&\s-1FILEHANDLE\s0 may be an expression whose value gives the name of the
filehandle. The values for \s-1WHENCE\s0 are \f(CW0\fR to set the new position
\&\fIin bytes\fR to \s-1POSITION\s0; \f(CW1\fR to set it to the current position plus
\&\s-1POSITION\s0; and \f(CW2\fR to set it to \s-1EOF\s0 plus \s-1POSITION,\s0 typically
negative. For \s-1WHENCE\s0 you may use the constants \f(CW\*(C`SEEK_SET\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`SEEK_CUR\*(C'\fR, and \f(CW\*(C`SEEK_END\*(C'\fR (start of the file, current position, end
of the file) from the Fcntl module. Returns \f(CW1\fR on success, false
otherwise.
.Sp
Note the emphasis on bytes: even if the filehandle has been set to operate
on characters (for example using the \f(CW\*(C`:encoding(UTF\-8)\*(C'\fR I/O layer), the
\&\f(CW\*(C`seek\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`tell\*(C'\fR, and
\&\f(CW\*(C`sysseek\*(C'\fR
family of functions use byte offsets, not character offsets,
because seeking to a character offset would be very slow in a \s-1UTF\-8\s0 file.
.Sp
If you want to position the file for
\&\f(CW\*(C`sysread\*(C'\fR or
\&\f(CW\*(C`syswrite\*(C'\fR, don't use
\&\f(CW\*(C`seek\*(C'\fR, because buffering makes its
effect on the file's read-write position unpredictable and non-portable.
Use \f(CW\*(C`sysseek\*(C'\fR instead.
.Sp
Due to the rules and rigors of \s-1ANSI C,\s0 on some systems you have to do a
seek whenever you switch between reading and writing. Amongst other
things, this may have the effect of calling stdio's \fBclearerr\fR\|(3).
A \s-1WHENCE\s0 of \f(CW1\fR (\f(CW\*(C`SEEK_CUR\*(C'\fR) is useful for not moving the file position:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& seek($fh, 0, 1);
.Ve
.Sp
This is also useful for applications emulating \f(CW\*(C`tail \-f\*(C'\fR. Once you hit
\&\s-1EOF\s0 on your read and then sleep for a while, you (probably) have to stick in a
dummy \f(CW\*(C`seek\*(C'\fR to reset things. The
\&\f(CW\*(C`seek\*(C'\fR doesn't change the position,
but it \fIdoes\fR clear the end-of-file condition on the handle, so that the
next \f(CW\*(C`readline FILE\*(C'\fR makes Perl try again to read something. (We hope.)
.Sp
If that doesn't work (some I/O implementations are particularly
cantankerous), you might need something like this:
.Sp
.Vb 8
\& for (;;) {
\& for ($curpos = tell($fh); $_ = readline($fh);
\& $curpos = tell($fh)) {
\& # search for some stuff and put it into files
\& }
\& sleep($for_a_while);
\& seek($fh, $curpos, 0);
\& }
.Ve
.IP "seekdir \s-1DIRHANDLE,POS\s0" 4
.IX Xref "seekdir"
.IX Item "seekdir DIRHANDLE,POS"
Sets the current position for the \f(CW\*(C`readdir\*(C'\fR
routine on \s-1DIRHANDLE.\s0 \s-1POS\s0 must be a value returned by
\&\f(CW\*(C`telldir\*(C'\fR. \f(CW\*(C`seekdir\*(C'\fR
also has the same caveats about possible directory compaction as the
corresponding system library routine.
.IP "select \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0" 4
.IX Xref "select filehandle, default"
.IX Item "select FILEHANDLE"
.PD 0
.IP "select" 4
.IX Item "select"
.PD
Returns the currently selected filehandle. If \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0 is supplied,
sets the new current default filehandle for output. This has two
effects: first, a \f(CW\*(C`write\*(C'\fR or a \f(CW\*(C`print\*(C'\fR without a filehandle
default to this \s-1FILEHANDLE.\s0 Second, references to variables related to
output will refer to this output channel.
.Sp
For example, to set the top-of-form format for more than one
output channel, you might do the following:
.Sp
.Vb 4
\& select(REPORT1);
\& $^ = \*(Aqreport1_top\*(Aq;
\& select(REPORT2);
\& $^ = \*(Aqreport2_top\*(Aq;
.Ve
.Sp
\&\s-1FILEHANDLE\s0 may be an expression whose value gives the name of the
actual filehandle. Thus:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& my $oldfh = select(STDERR); $| = 1; select($oldfh);
.Ve
.Sp
Some programmers may prefer to think of filehandles as objects with
methods, preferring to write the last example as:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& STDERR\->autoflush(1);
.Ve
.Sp
(Prior to Perl version 5.14, you have to \f(CW\*(C`use IO::Handle;\*(C'\fR explicitly
first.)
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"select\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "select \s-1RBITS,WBITS,EBITS,TIMEOUT\s0" 4
.IX Xref "select"
.IX Item "select RBITS,WBITS,EBITS,TIMEOUT"
This calls the \fBselect\fR\|(2) syscall with the bit masks specified, which
can be constructed using \f(CW\*(C`fileno\*(C'\fR and
\&\f(CW\*(C`vec\*(C'\fR, along these lines:
.Sp
.Vb 4
\& my $rin = my $win = my $ein = \*(Aq\*(Aq;
\& vec($rin, fileno(STDIN), 1) = 1;
\& vec($win, fileno(STDOUT), 1) = 1;
\& $ein = $rin | $win;
.Ve
.Sp
If you want to select on many filehandles, you may wish to write a
subroutine like this:
.Sp
.Vb 9
\& sub fhbits {
\& my @fhlist = @_;
\& my $bits = "";
\& for my $fh (@fhlist) {
\& vec($bits, fileno($fh), 1) = 1;
\& }
\& return $bits;
\& }
\& my $rin = fhbits(\e*STDIN, $tty, $mysock);
.Ve
.Sp
The usual idiom is:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& my ($nfound, $timeleft) =
\& select(my $rout = $rin, my $wout = $win, my $eout = $ein,
\& $timeout);
.Ve
.Sp
or to block until something becomes ready just do this
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& my $nfound =
\& select(my $rout = $rin, my $wout = $win, my $eout = $ein, undef);
.Ve
.Sp
Most systems do not bother to return anything useful in \f(CW$timeleft\fR, so
calling \f(CW\*(C`select\*(C'\fR in scalar context
just returns \f(CW$nfound\fR.
.Sp
Any of the bit masks can also be \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR. The timeout,
if specified, is
in seconds, which may be fractional. Note: not all implementations are
capable of returning the \f(CW$timeleft\fR. If not, they always return
\&\f(CW$timeleft\fR equal to the supplied \f(CW$timeout\fR.
.Sp
You can effect a sleep of 250 milliseconds this way:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& select(undef, undef, undef, 0.25);
.Ve
.Sp
Note that whether \f(CW\*(C`select\*(C'\fR gets
restarted after signals (say, \s-1SIGALRM\s0) is implementation-dependent. See
also perlport for notes on the portability of
\&\f(CW\*(C`select\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
On error, \f(CW\*(C`select\*(C'\fR behaves just
like \fBselect\fR\|(2): it returns \f(CW\*(C`\-1\*(C'\fR and sets \f(CW$!\fR.
.Sp
On some Unixes, \fBselect\fR\|(2) may report a socket file descriptor as
\&\*(L"ready for reading\*(R" even when no data is available, and thus any
subsequent \f(CW\*(C`read\*(C'\fR would block.
This can be avoided if you always use \f(CW\*(C`O_NONBLOCK\*(C'\fR on the socket. See
\&\fBselect\fR\|(2) and \fBfcntl\fR\|(2) for further details.
.Sp
The standard \f(CW\*(C`IO::Select\*(C'\fR module provides a
user-friendlier interface to
\&\f(CW\*(C`select\*(C'\fR, mostly because it does
all the bit-mask work for you.
.Sp
\&\fB\s-1WARNING\s0\fR: One should not attempt to mix buffered I/O (like
\&\f(CW\*(C`read\*(C'\fR or
\&\f(CW\*(C`readline\*(C'\fR) with
\&\f(CW\*(C`select\*(C'\fR, except as permitted by
\&\s-1POSIX,\s0 and even then only on \s-1POSIX\s0 systems. You have to use
\&\f(CW\*(C`sysread\*(C'\fR instead.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"select\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "semctl \s-1ID,SEMNUM,CMD,ARG\s0" 4
.IX Xref "semctl"
.IX Item "semctl ID,SEMNUM,CMD,ARG"
Calls the System V \s-1IPC\s0 function \fBsemctl\fR\|(2). You'll probably have to say
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& use IPC::SysV;
.Ve
.Sp
first to get the correct constant definitions. If \s-1CMD\s0 is \s-1IPC_STAT\s0 or
\&\s-1GETALL,\s0 then \s-1ARG\s0 must be a variable that will hold the returned
semid_ds structure or semaphore value array. Returns like
\&\f(CW\*(C`ioctl\*(C'\fR:
the undefined value for error, "\f(CW\*(C`0 but true\*(C'\fR" for zero, or the actual
return value otherwise. The \s-1ARG\s0 must consist of a vector of native
short integers, which may be created with \f(CW\*(C`pack("s!",(0)x$nsem)\*(C'\fR.
See also \*(L"SysV \s-1IPC\*(R"\s0 in perlipc and the documentation for
\&\f(CW\*(C`IPC::SysV\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`IPC::Semaphore\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"semctl\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "semget \s-1KEY,NSEMS,FLAGS\s0" 4
.IX Xref "semget"
.IX Item "semget KEY,NSEMS,FLAGS"
Calls the System V \s-1IPC\s0 function \fBsemget\fR\|(2). Returns the semaphore id, or
the undefined value on error. See also
\&\*(L"SysV \s-1IPC\*(R"\s0 in perlipc and the documentation for
\&\f(CW\*(C`IPC::SysV\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`IPC::Semaphore\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"semget\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "semop \s-1KEY,OPSTRING\s0" 4
.IX Xref "semop"
.IX Item "semop KEY,OPSTRING"
Calls the System V \s-1IPC\s0 function \fBsemop\fR\|(2) for semaphore operations
such as signalling and waiting. \s-1OPSTRING\s0 must be a packed array of
semop structures. Each semop structure can be generated with
\&\f(CW\*(C`pack("s!3", $semnum, $semop, $semflag)\*(C'\fR. The length of \s-1OPSTRING\s0
implies the number of semaphore operations. Returns true if
successful, false on error. As an example, the
following code waits on semaphore \f(CW$semnum\fR of semaphore id \f(CW$semid:\fR
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& my $semop = pack("s!3", $semnum, \-1, 0);
\& die "Semaphore trouble: $!\en" unless semop($semid, $semop);
.Ve
.Sp
To signal the semaphore, replace \f(CW\*(C`\-1\*(C'\fR with \f(CW1\fR. See also
\&\*(L"SysV \s-1IPC\*(R"\s0 in perlipc and the documentation for
\&\f(CW\*(C`IPC::SysV\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`IPC::Semaphore\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"semop\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "send \s-1SOCKET,MSG,FLAGS,TO\s0" 4
.IX Xref "send"
.IX Item "send SOCKET,MSG,FLAGS,TO"
.PD 0
.IP "send \s-1SOCKET,MSG,FLAGS\s0" 4
.IX Item "send SOCKET,MSG,FLAGS"
.PD
Sends a message on a socket. Attempts to send the scalar \s-1MSG\s0 to the \s-1SOCKET\s0
filehandle. Takes the same flags as the system call of the same name. On
unconnected sockets, you must specify a destination to \fIsend to\fR, in which
case it does a \fBsendto\fR\|(2) syscall. Returns the number of characters sent,
or the undefined value on error. The \fBsendmsg\fR\|(2) syscall is currently
unimplemented. See \*(L"\s-1UDP:\s0 Message Passing\*(R" in perlipc for examples.
.Sp
Note that if the socket has been marked as \f(CW\*(C`:utf8\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`send\*(C'\fR will
throw an exception. The \f(CW\*(C`:encoding(...)\*(C'\fR layer implicitly introduces
the \f(CW\*(C`:utf8\*(C'\fR layer. See \f(CW\*(C`binmode\*(C'\fR.
.IP "setpgrp \s-1PID,PGRP\s0" 4
.IX Xref "setpgrp group"
.IX Item "setpgrp PID,PGRP"
Sets the current process group for the specified \s-1PID,\s0 \f(CW0\fR for the current
process. Raises an exception when used on a machine that doesn't
implement \s-1POSIX\s0 \fBsetpgid\fR\|(2) or \s-1BSD\s0 \fBsetpgrp\fR\|(2). If the arguments
are omitted, it defaults to \f(CW\*(C`0,0\*(C'\fR. Note that the \s-1BSD 4.2\s0 version of
\&\f(CW\*(C`setpgrp\*(C'\fR does not accept any arguments, so only
\&\f(CW\*(C`setpgrp(0,0)\*(C'\fR is portable. See also
\&\f(CW\*(C`POSIX::setsid()\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"setpgrp\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "setpriority \s-1WHICH,WHO,PRIORITY\s0" 4
.IX Xref "setpriority priority nice renice"
.IX Item "setpriority WHICH,WHO,PRIORITY"
Sets the current priority for a process, a process group, or a user.
(See \fBsetpriority\fR\|(2).) Raises an exception when used on a machine
that doesn't implement \fBsetpriority\fR\|(2).
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`WHICH\*(C'\fR can be any of \f(CW\*(C`PRIO_PROCESS\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`PRIO_PGRP\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`PRIO_USER\*(C'\fR
imported from \*(L"\s-1RESOURCE CONSTANTS\*(R"\s0 in \s-1POSIX\s0.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"setpriority\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "setsockopt \s-1SOCKET,LEVEL,OPTNAME,OPTVAL\s0" 4
.IX Xref "setsockopt"
.IX Item "setsockopt SOCKET,LEVEL,OPTNAME,OPTVAL"
Sets the socket option requested. Returns \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR on
error. Use integer constants provided by the \f(CW\*(C`Socket\*(C'\fR module
for
\&\s-1LEVEL\s0 and \s-1OPNAME.\s0 Values for \s-1LEVEL\s0 can also be obtained from
getprotobyname. \s-1OPTVAL\s0 might either be a packed string or an integer.
An integer \s-1OPTVAL\s0 is shorthand for pack(\*(L"i\*(R", \s-1OPTVAL\s0).
.Sp
An example disabling Nagle's algorithm on a socket:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& use Socket qw(IPPROTO_TCP TCP_NODELAY);
\& setsockopt($socket, IPPROTO_TCP, TCP_NODELAY, 1);
.Ve
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"setsockopt\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "shift \s-1ARRAY\s0" 4
.IX Xref "shift"
.IX Item "shift ARRAY"
.PD 0
.IP "shift" 4
.IX Item "shift"
.PD
Shifts the first value of the array off and returns it, shortening the
array by 1 and moving everything down. If there are no elements in the
array, returns the undefined value. If \s-1ARRAY\s0 is omitted, shifts the
\&\f(CW@_\fR array within the lexical scope of subroutines and
formats, and the \f(CW@ARGV\fR array outside a subroutine
and also within the lexical scopes
established by the \f(CW\*(C`eval STRING\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`BEGIN {}\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`INIT {}\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`CHECK {}\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`UNITCHECK {}\*(C'\fR, and \f(CW\*(C`END {}\*(C'\fR constructs.
.Sp
Starting with Perl 5.14, an experimental feature allowed
\&\f(CW\*(C`shift\*(C'\fR to take a
scalar expression. This experiment has been deemed unsuccessful, and was
removed as of Perl 5.24.
.Sp
See also \f(CW\*(C`unshift\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`push\*(C'\fR,
and \f(CW\*(C`pop\*(C'\fR. \f(CW\*(C`shift\*(C'\fR and
\&\f(CW\*(C`unshift\*(C'\fR do the same thing to the left end of
an array that \f(CW\*(C`pop\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`push\*(C'\fR do to
the right end.
.IP "shmctl \s-1ID,CMD,ARG\s0" 4
.IX Xref "shmctl"
.IX Item "shmctl ID,CMD,ARG"
Calls the System V \s-1IPC\s0 function shmctl. You'll probably have to say
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& use IPC::SysV;
.Ve
.Sp
first to get the correct constant definitions. If \s-1CMD\s0 is \f(CW\*(C`IPC_STAT\*(C'\fR,
then \s-1ARG\s0 must be a variable that will hold the returned \f(CW\*(C`shmid_ds\*(C'\fR
structure. Returns like ioctl: \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR for error; "\f(CW0\fR
but true" for zero; and the actual return value otherwise.
See also \*(L"SysV \s-1IPC\*(R"\s0 in perlipc and the documentation for
\&\f(CW\*(C`IPC::SysV\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"shmctl\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "shmget \s-1KEY,SIZE,FLAGS\s0" 4
.IX Xref "shmget"
.IX Item "shmget KEY,SIZE,FLAGS"
Calls the System V \s-1IPC\s0 function shmget. Returns the shared memory
segment id, or \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR on error.
See also \*(L"SysV \s-1IPC\*(R"\s0 in perlipc and the documentation for
\&\f(CW\*(C`IPC::SysV\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"shmget\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "shmread \s-1ID,VAR,POS,SIZE\s0" 4
.IX Xref "shmread shmwrite"
.IX Item "shmread ID,VAR,POS,SIZE"
.PD 0
.IP "shmwrite \s-1ID,STRING,POS,SIZE\s0" 4
.IX Item "shmwrite ID,STRING,POS,SIZE"
.PD
Reads or writes the System V shared memory segment \s-1ID\s0 starting at
position \s-1POS\s0 for size \s-1SIZE\s0 by attaching to it, copying in/out, and
detaching from it. When reading, \s-1VAR\s0 must be a variable that will
hold the data read. When writing, if \s-1STRING\s0 is too long, only \s-1SIZE\s0
bytes are used; if \s-1STRING\s0 is too short, nulls are written to fill out
\&\s-1SIZE\s0 bytes. Return true if successful, false on error.
\&\f(CW\*(C`shmread\*(C'\fR taints the variable. See also
\&\*(L"SysV \s-1IPC\*(R"\s0 in perlipc and the documentation for
\&\f(CW\*(C`IPC::SysV\*(C'\fR and the \f(CW\*(C`IPC::Shareable\*(C'\fR
module from \s-1CPAN.\s0
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"shmread\*(R" in perlport and \*(L"shmwrite\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "shutdown \s-1SOCKET,HOW\s0" 4
.IX Xref "shutdown"
.IX Item "shutdown SOCKET,HOW"
Shuts down a socket connection in the manner indicated by \s-1HOW,\s0 which
has the same interpretation as in the syscall of the same name.
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& shutdown($socket, 0); # I/we have stopped reading data
\& shutdown($socket, 1); # I/we have stopped writing data
\& shutdown($socket, 2); # I/we have stopped using this socket
.Ve
.Sp
This is useful with sockets when you want to tell the other
side you're done writing but not done reading, or vice versa.
It's also a more insistent form of close because it also
disables the file descriptor in any forked copies in other
processes.
.Sp
Returns \f(CW1\fR for success; on error, returns \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR if
the first argument is not a valid filehandle, or returns \f(CW0\fR and sets
\&\f(CW$!\fR for any other failure.
.IP "sin \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "sin sine asin arcsine"
.IX Item "sin EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "sin" 4
.IX Item "sin"
.PD
Returns the sine of \s-1EXPR\s0 (expressed in radians). If \s-1EXPR\s0 is omitted,
returns sine of \f(CW$_\fR.
.Sp
For the inverse sine operation, you may use the \f(CW\*(C`Math::Trig::asin\*(C'\fR
function, or use this relation:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& sub asin { atan2($_[0], sqrt(1 \- $_[0] * $_[0])) }
.Ve
.IP "sleep \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "sleep pause"
.IX Item "sleep EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "sleep" 4
.IX Item "sleep"
.PD
Causes the script to sleep for (integer) \s-1EXPR\s0 seconds, or forever if no
argument is given. Returns the integer number of seconds actually slept.
.Sp
May be interrupted if the process receives a signal such as \f(CW\*(C`SIGALRM\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
.Vb 5
\& eval {
\& local $SIG{ALRM} = sub { die "Alarm!\en" };
\& sleep;
\& };
\& die $@ unless $@ eq "Alarm!\en";
.Ve
.Sp
You probably cannot mix \f(CW\*(C`alarm\*(C'\fR and
\&\f(CW\*(C`sleep\*(C'\fR calls, because \f(CW\*(C`sleep\*(C'\fR is often
implemented using \f(CW\*(C`alarm\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
On some older systems, it may sleep up to a full second less than what
you requested, depending on how it counts seconds. Most modern systems
always sleep the full amount. They may appear to sleep longer than that,
however, because your process might not be scheduled right away in a
busy multitasking system.
.Sp
For delays of finer granularity than one second, the Time::HiRes
module (from \s-1CPAN,\s0 and starting from Perl 5.8 part of the standard
distribution) provides \f(CW\*(C`usleep\*(C'\fR.
You may also use Perl's four-argument
version of \f(CW\*(C`select\*(C'\fR leaving the
first three arguments undefined, or you might be able to use the
\&\f(CW\*(C`syscall\*(C'\fR interface to access \fBsetitimer\fR\|(2)
if your system supports it. See perlfaq8 for details.
.Sp
See also the \s-1POSIX\s0 module's \f(CW\*(C`pause\*(C'\fR function.
.IP "socket \s-1SOCKET,DOMAIN,TYPE,PROTOCOL\s0" 4
.IX Xref "socket"
.IX Item "socket SOCKET,DOMAIN,TYPE,PROTOCOL"
Opens a socket of the specified kind and attaches it to filehandle
\&\s-1SOCKET.\s0 \s-1DOMAIN, TYPE,\s0 and \s-1PROTOCOL\s0 are specified the same as for
the syscall of the same name. You should \f(CW\*(C`use Socket\*(C'\fR first
to get the proper definitions imported. See the examples in
\&\*(L"Sockets: Client/Server Communication\*(R" in perlipc.
.Sp
On systems that support a close-on-exec flag on files, the flag will
be set for the newly opened file descriptor, as determined by the
value of \f(CW$^F\fR. See \*(L"$^F\*(R" in perlvar.
.IP "socketpair \s-1SOCKET1,SOCKET2,DOMAIN,TYPE,PROTOCOL\s0" 4
.IX Xref "socketpair"
.IX Item "socketpair SOCKET1,SOCKET2,DOMAIN,TYPE,PROTOCOL"
Creates an unnamed pair of sockets in the specified domain, of the
specified type. \s-1DOMAIN, TYPE,\s0 and \s-1PROTOCOL\s0 are specified the same as
for the syscall of the same name. If unimplemented, raises an exception.
Returns true if successful.
.Sp
On systems that support a close-on-exec flag on files, the flag will
be set for the newly opened file descriptors, as determined by the value
of \f(CW$^F\fR. See \*(L"$^F\*(R" in perlvar.
.Sp
Some systems define \f(CW\*(C`pipe\*(C'\fR in terms of
\&\f(CW\*(C`socketpair\*(C'\fR, in
which a call to \f(CW\*(C`pipe($rdr, $wtr)\*(C'\fR is essentially:
.Sp
.Vb 4
\& use Socket;
\& socketpair(my $rdr, my $wtr, AF_UNIX, SOCK_STREAM, PF_UNSPEC);
\& shutdown($rdr, 1); # no more writing for reader
\& shutdown($wtr, 0); # no more reading for writer
.Ve
.Sp
See perlipc for an example of socketpair use. Perl 5.8 and later will
emulate socketpair using \s-1IP\s0 sockets to localhost if your system implements
sockets but not socketpair.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"socketpair\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "sort \s-1SUBNAME LIST\s0" 4
.IX Xref "sort"
.IX Item "sort SUBNAME LIST"
.PD 0
.IP "sort \s-1BLOCK LIST\s0" 4
.IX Item "sort BLOCK LIST"
.IP "sort \s-1LIST\s0" 4
.IX Item "sort LIST"
.PD
In list context, this sorts the \s-1LIST\s0 and returns the sorted list value.
In scalar context, the behaviour of \f(CW\*(C`sort\*(C'\fR is
undefined.
.Sp
If \s-1SUBNAME\s0 or \s-1BLOCK\s0 is omitted, \f(CW\*(C`sort\*(C'\fRs in
standard string comparison
order. If \s-1SUBNAME\s0 is specified, it gives the name of a subroutine
that returns an integer less than, equal to, or greater than \f(CW0\fR,
depending on how the elements of the list are to be ordered. (The
\&\f(CW\*(C`<=>\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`cmp\*(C'\fR operators are extremely useful in such routines.)
\&\s-1SUBNAME\s0 may be a scalar variable name (unsubscripted), in which case
the value provides the name of (or a reference to) the actual
subroutine to use. In place of a \s-1SUBNAME,\s0 you can provide a \s-1BLOCK\s0 as
an anonymous, in-line sort subroutine.
.Sp
If the subroutine's prototype is \f(CW\*(C`($$)\*(C'\fR, the elements to be compared are
passed by reference in \f(CW@_\fR, as for a normal subroutine.
This is slower than unprototyped subroutines, where the elements to be
compared are passed into the subroutine as the package global variables
\&\f(CW$a\fR and \f(CW$b\fR (see example below).
.Sp
If the subroutine is an \s-1XSUB,\s0 the elements to be compared are pushed on
to the stack, the way arguments are usually passed to XSUBs. \f(CW$a\fR and
\&\f(CW$b\fR are not set.
.Sp
The values to be compared are always passed by reference and should not
be modified.
.Sp
You also cannot exit out of the sort block or subroutine using any of the
loop control operators described in perlsyn or with
\&\f(CW\*(C`goto\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
When \f(CW\*(C`use locale\*(C'\fR (but not \f(CW\*(C`use locale \*(Aq:not_characters\*(Aq\*(C'\fR)
is in effect, \f(CW\*(C`sort LIST\*(C'\fR sorts \s-1LIST\s0 according to the
current collation locale. See perllocale.
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`sort\*(C'\fR returns aliases into the original list,
much as a for loop's index variable aliases the list elements. That is,
modifying an element of a list returned by \f(CW\*(C`sort\*(C'\fR
(for example, in a \f(CW\*(C`foreach\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`map\*(C'\fR or
\&\f(CW\*(C`grep\*(C'\fR)
actually modifies the element in the original list. This is usually
something to be avoided when writing clear code.
.Sp
Historically Perl has varied in whether sorting is stable by default.
If stability matters, it can be controlled explicitly by using the
sort pragma.
.Sp
Examples:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& # sort lexically
\& my @articles = sort @files;
\&
\& # same thing, but with explicit sort routine
\& my @articles = sort {$a cmp $b} @files;
\&
\& # now case\-insensitively
\& my @articles = sort {fc($a) cmp fc($b)} @files;
\&
\& # same thing in reversed order
\& my @articles = sort {$b cmp $a} @files;
\&
\& # sort numerically ascending
\& my @articles = sort {$a <=> $b} @files;
\&
\& # sort numerically descending
\& my @articles = sort {$b <=> $a} @files;
\&
\& # this sorts the %age hash by value instead of key
\& # using an in\-line function
\& my @eldest = sort { $age{$b} <=> $age{$a} } keys %age;
\&
\& # sort using explicit subroutine name
\& sub byage {
\& $age{$a} <=> $age{$b}; # presuming numeric
\& }
\& my @sortedclass = sort byage @class;
\&
\& sub backwards { $b cmp $a }
\& my @harry = qw(dog cat x Cain Abel);
\& my @george = qw(gone chased yz Punished Axed);
\& print sort @harry;
\& # prints AbelCaincatdogx
\& print sort backwards @harry;
\& # prints xdogcatCainAbel
\& print sort @george, \*(Aqto\*(Aq, @harry;
\& # prints AbelAxedCainPunishedcatchaseddoggonetoxyz
\&
\& # inefficiently sort by descending numeric compare using
\& # the first integer after the first = sign, or the
\& # whole record case\-insensitively otherwise
\&
\& my @new = sort {
\& ($b =~ /=(\ed+)/)[0] <=> ($a =~ /=(\ed+)/)[0]
\& ||
\& fc($a) cmp fc($b)
\& } @old;
\&
\& # same thing, but much more efficiently;
\& # we\*(Aqll build auxiliary indices instead
\& # for speed
\& my (@nums, @caps);
\& for (@old) {
\& push @nums, ( /=(\ed+)/ ? $1 : undef );
\& push @caps, fc($_);
\& }
\&
\& my @new = @old[ sort {
\& $nums[$b] <=> $nums[$a]
\& ||
\& $caps[$a] cmp $caps[$b]
\& } 0..$#old
\& ];
\&
\& # same thing, but without any temps
\& my @new = map { $_\->[0] }
\& sort { $b\->[1] <=> $a\->[1]
\& ||
\& $a\->[2] cmp $b\->[2]
\& } map { [$_, /=(\ed+)/, fc($_)] } @old;
\&
\& # using a prototype allows you to use any comparison subroutine
\& # as a sort subroutine (including other package\*(Aqs subroutines)
\& package Other;
\& sub backwards ($$) { $_[1] cmp $_[0]; } # $a and $b are
\& # not set here
\& package main;
\& my @new = sort Other::backwards @old;
\&
\& # guarantee stability
\& use sort \*(Aqstable\*(Aq;
\& my @new = sort { substr($a, 3, 5) cmp substr($b, 3, 5) } @old;
.Ve
.Sp
Warning: syntactical care is required when sorting the list returned from
a function. If you want to sort the list returned by the function call
\&\f(CW\*(C`find_records(@key)\*(C'\fR, you can use:
.Sp
.Vb 4
\& my @contact = sort { $a cmp $b } find_records @key;
\& my @contact = sort +find_records(@key);
\& my @contact = sort &find_records(@key);
\& my @contact = sort(find_records(@key));
.Ve
.Sp
If instead you want to sort the array \f(CW@key\fR with the comparison routine
\&\f(CW\*(C`find_records()\*(C'\fR then you can use:
.Sp
.Vb 4
\& my @contact = sort { find_records() } @key;
\& my @contact = sort find_records(@key);
\& my @contact = sort(find_records @key);
\& my @contact = sort(find_records (@key));
.Ve
.Sp
\&\f(CW$a\fR and \f(CW$b\fR are set as package globals in the package the \fBsort()\fR is
called from. That means \f(CW$main::a\fR and \f(CW$main::b\fR (or \f(CW$::a\fR and
\&\f(CW$::b\fR) in the \f(CW\*(C`main\*(C'\fR package, \f(CW$FooPack::a\fR and \f(CW$FooPack::b\fR in the
\&\f(CW\*(C`FooPack\*(C'\fR package, etc. If the sort block is in scope of a \f(CW\*(C`my\*(C'\fR or
\&\f(CW\*(C`state\*(C'\fR declaration of \f(CW$a\fR and/or \f(CW$b\fR, you \fImust\fR spell out the full
name of the variables in the sort block :
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& package main;
\& my $a = "C"; # DANGER, Will Robinson, DANGER !!!
\&
\& print sort { $a cmp $b } qw(A C E G B D F H);
\& # WRONG
\& sub badlexi { $a cmp $b }
\& print sort badlexi qw(A C E G B D F H);
\& # WRONG
\& # the above prints BACFEDGH or some other incorrect ordering
\&
\& print sort { $::a cmp $::b } qw(A C E G B D F H);
\& # OK
\& print sort { our $a cmp our $b } qw(A C E G B D F H);
\& # also OK
\& print sort { our ($a, $b); $a cmp $b } qw(A C E G B D F H);
\& # also OK
\& sub lexi { our $a cmp our $b }
\& print sort lexi qw(A C E G B D F H);
\& # also OK
\& # the above print ABCDEFGH
.Ve
.Sp
With proper care you may mix package and my (or state) \f(CW$a\fR and/or \f(CW$b\fR:
.Sp
.Vb 7
\& my $a = {
\& tiny => \-2,
\& small => \-1,
\& normal => 0,
\& big => 1,
\& huge => 2
\& };
\&
\& say sort { $a\->{our $a} <=> $a\->{our $b} }
\& qw{ huge normal tiny small big};
\&
\& # prints tinysmallnormalbighuge
.Ve
.Sp
\&\f(CW$a\fR and \f(CW$b\fR are implicitly local to the \fBsort()\fR execution and regain their
former values upon completing the sort.
.Sp
Sort subroutines written using \f(CW$a\fR and \f(CW$b\fR are bound to their calling
package. It is possible, but of limited interest, to define them in a
different package, since the subroutine must still refer to the calling
package's \f(CW$a\fR and \f(CW$b\fR :
.Sp
.Vb 4
\& package Foo;
\& sub lexi { $Bar::a cmp $Bar::b }
\& package Bar;
\& ... sort Foo::lexi ...
.Ve
.Sp
Use the prototyped versions (see above) for a more generic alternative.
.Sp
The comparison function is required to behave. If it returns
inconsistent results (sometimes saying \f(CW$x[1]\fR is less than \f(CW$x[2]\fR and
sometimes saying the opposite, for example) the results are not
well-defined.
.Sp
Because \f(CW\*(C`<=>\*(C'\fR returns \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR when either operand
is \f(CW\*(C`NaN\*(C'\fR (not-a-number), be careful when sorting with a
comparison function like \f(CW\*(C`$a <=> $b\*(C'\fR any lists that might contain a
\&\f(CW\*(C`NaN\*(C'\fR. The following example takes advantage that \f(CW\*(C`NaN != NaN\*(C'\fR to
eliminate any \f(CW\*(C`NaN\*(C'\fRs from the input list.
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& my @result = sort { $a <=> $b } grep { $_ == $_ } @input;
.Ve
.IP "splice \s-1ARRAY,OFFSET,LENGTH,LIST\s0" 4
.IX Xref "splice"
.IX Item "splice ARRAY,OFFSET,LENGTH,LIST"
.PD 0
.IP "splice \s-1ARRAY,OFFSET,LENGTH\s0" 4
.IX Item "splice ARRAY,OFFSET,LENGTH"
.IP "splice \s-1ARRAY,OFFSET\s0" 4
.IX Item "splice ARRAY,OFFSET"
.IP "splice \s-1ARRAY\s0" 4
.IX Item "splice ARRAY"
.PD
Removes the elements designated by \s-1OFFSET\s0 and \s-1LENGTH\s0 from an array, and
replaces them with the elements of \s-1LIST,\s0 if any. In list context,
returns the elements removed from the array. In scalar context,
returns the last element removed, or \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR if no
elements are
removed. The array grows or shrinks as necessary.
If \s-1OFFSET\s0 is negative then it starts that far from the end of the array.
If \s-1LENGTH\s0 is omitted, removes everything from \s-1OFFSET\s0 onward.
If \s-1LENGTH\s0 is negative, removes the elements from \s-1OFFSET\s0 onward
except for \-LENGTH elements at the end of the array.
If both \s-1OFFSET\s0 and \s-1LENGTH\s0 are omitted, removes everything. If \s-1OFFSET\s0 is
past the end of the array and a \s-1LENGTH\s0 was provided, Perl issues a warning,
and splices at the end of the array.
.Sp
The following equivalences hold (assuming \f(CW\*(C`$#a >= $i\*(C'\fR )
.Sp
.Vb 5
\& push(@a,$x,$y) splice(@a,@a,0,$x,$y)
\& pop(@a) splice(@a,\-1)
\& shift(@a) splice(@a,0,1)
\& unshift(@a,$x,$y) splice(@a,0,0,$x,$y)
\& $a[$i] = $y splice(@a,$i,1,$y)
.Ve
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`splice\*(C'\fR can be used, for example,
to implement n\-ary queue processing:
.Sp
.Vb 6
\& sub nary_print {
\& my $n = shift;
\& while (my @next_n = splice @_, 0, $n) {
\& say join q{ \-\- }, @next_n;
\& }
\& }
\&
\& nary_print(3, qw(a b c d e f g h));
\& # prints:
\& # a \-\- b \-\- c
\& # d \-\- e \-\- f
\& # g \-\- h
.Ve
.Sp
Starting with Perl 5.14, an experimental feature allowed
\&\f(CW\*(C`splice\*(C'\fR to take a
scalar expression. This experiment has been deemed unsuccessful, and was
removed as of Perl 5.24.
.IP "split /PATTERN/,EXPR,LIMIT" 4
.IX Xref "split"
.IX Item "split /PATTERN/,EXPR,LIMIT"
.PD 0
.IP "split /PATTERN/,EXPR" 4
.IX Item "split /PATTERN/,EXPR"
.IP "split /PATTERN/" 4
.IX Item "split /PATTERN/"
.IP "split" 4
.IX Item "split"
.PD
Splits the string \s-1EXPR\s0 into a list of strings and returns the
list in list context, or the size of the list in scalar context.
(Prior to Perl 5.11, it also overwrote \f(CW@_\fR with the list in
void and scalar context. If you target old perls, beware.)
.Sp
If only \s-1PATTERN\s0 is given, \s-1EXPR\s0 defaults to \f(CW$_\fR.
.Sp
Anything in \s-1EXPR\s0 that matches \s-1PATTERN\s0 is taken to be a separator
that separates the \s-1EXPR\s0 into substrings (called "\fIfields\fR") that
do \fBnot\fR include the separator. Note that a separator may be
longer than one character or even have no characters at all (the
empty string, which is a zero-width match).
.Sp
The \s-1PATTERN\s0 need not be constant; an expression may be used
to specify a pattern that varies at runtime.
.Sp
If \s-1PATTERN\s0 matches the empty string, the \s-1EXPR\s0 is split at the match
position (between characters). As an example, the following:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& print join(\*(Aq:\*(Aq, split(/b/, \*(Aqabc\*(Aq)), "\en";
.Ve
.Sp
uses the \f(CW\*(C`b\*(C'\fR in \f(CW\*(Aqabc\*(Aq\fR as a separator to produce the output \f(CW\*(C`a:c\*(C'\fR.
However, this:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& print join(\*(Aq:\*(Aq, split(//, \*(Aqabc\*(Aq)), "\en";
.Ve
.Sp
uses empty string matches as separators to produce the output
\&\f(CW\*(C`a:b:c\*(C'\fR; thus, the empty string may be used to split \s-1EXPR\s0 into a
list of its component characters.
.Sp
As a special case for \f(CW\*(C`split\*(C'\fR,
the empty pattern given in
match operator syntax (\f(CW\*(C`//\*(C'\fR)
specifically matches the empty string, which is contrary to its usual
interpretation as the last successful match.
.Sp
If \s-1PATTERN\s0 is \f(CW\*(C`/^/\*(C'\fR, then it is treated as if it used the
multiline modifier (\f(CW\*(C`/^/m\*(C'\fR), since it
isn't much use otherwise.
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`/m\*(C'\fR and any of the other pattern modifiers valid for \f(CW\*(C`qr\*(C'\fR
(summarized in \*(L"qr/STRING/msixpodualn\*(R" in perlop) may be
specified explicitly.
.Sp
As another special case,
\&\f(CW\*(C`split\*(C'\fR emulates the default
behavior of the
command line tool \fBawk\fR when the \s-1PATTERN\s0 is either omitted or a
string composed of a single space character (such as \f(CW\*(Aq\ \*(Aq\fR or
\&\f(CW"\ex20"\fR, but not e.g. \f(CW\*(C`/\ /\*(C'\fR). In this case, any leading
whitespace in \s-1EXPR\s0 is removed before splitting occurs, and the \s-1PATTERN\s0 is
instead treated as if it were \f(CW\*(C`/\es+/\*(C'\fR; in particular, this means that
\&\fIany\fR contiguous whitespace (not just a single space character) is used as
a separator. However, this special treatment can be avoided by specifying
the pattern \f(CW\*(C`/\ /\*(C'\fR instead of the string \f(CW"\ "\fR, thereby allowing
only a single space character to be a separator. In earlier Perls this
special case was restricted to the use of a plain \f(CW"\ "\fR as the
pattern argument to split; in Perl 5.18.0 and later this special case is
triggered by any expression which evaluates to the simple string \f(CW"\ "\fR.
.Sp
As of Perl 5.28, this special-cased whitespace splitting works as expected in
the scope of \f(CW"use\ feature\ \*(Aqunicode_strings"\fR. In previous versions, and outside the scope of
that feature, it exhibits \*(L"The \*(R"Unicode Bug"" in perlunicode: characters that are
whitespace according to Unicode rules but not according to \s-1ASCII\s0 rules can be
treated as part of fields rather than as field separators, depending on the
string's internal encoding.
.Sp
If omitted, \s-1PATTERN\s0 defaults to a single space, \f(CW"\ "\fR, triggering
the previously described \fIawk\fR emulation.
.Sp
If \s-1LIMIT\s0 is specified and positive, it represents the maximum number
of fields into which the \s-1EXPR\s0 may be split; in other words, \s-1LIMIT\s0 is
one greater than the maximum number of times \s-1EXPR\s0 may be split. Thus,
the \s-1LIMIT\s0 value \f(CW1\fR means that \s-1EXPR\s0 may be split a maximum of zero
times, producing a maximum of one field (namely, the entire value of
\&\s-1EXPR\s0). For instance:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& print join(\*(Aq:\*(Aq, split(//, \*(Aqabc\*(Aq, 1)), "\en";
.Ve
.Sp
produces the output \f(CW\*(C`abc\*(C'\fR, and this:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& print join(\*(Aq:\*(Aq, split(//, \*(Aqabc\*(Aq, 2)), "\en";
.Ve
.Sp
produces the output \f(CW\*(C`a:bc\*(C'\fR, and each of these:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& print join(\*(Aq:\*(Aq, split(//, \*(Aqabc\*(Aq, 3)), "\en";
\& print join(\*(Aq:\*(Aq, split(//, \*(Aqabc\*(Aq, 4)), "\en";
.Ve
.Sp
produces the output \f(CW\*(C`a:b:c\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
If \s-1LIMIT\s0 is negative, it is treated as if it were instead arbitrarily
large; as many fields as possible are produced.
.Sp
If \s-1LIMIT\s0 is omitted (or, equivalently, zero), then it is usually
treated as if it were instead negative but with the exception that
trailing empty fields are stripped (empty leading fields are always
preserved); if all fields are empty, then all fields are considered to
be trailing (and are thus stripped in this case). Thus, the following:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& print join(\*(Aq:\*(Aq, split(/,/, \*(Aqa,b,c,,,\*(Aq)), "\en";
.Ve
.Sp
produces the output \f(CW\*(C`a:b:c\*(C'\fR, but the following:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& print join(\*(Aq:\*(Aq, split(/,/, \*(Aqa,b,c,,,\*(Aq, \-1)), "\en";
.Ve
.Sp
produces the output \f(CW\*(C`a:b:c:::\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
In time-critical applications, it is worthwhile to avoid splitting
into more fields than necessary. Thus, when assigning to a list,
if \s-1LIMIT\s0 is omitted (or zero), then \s-1LIMIT\s0 is treated as though it
were one larger than the number of variables in the list; for the
following, \s-1LIMIT\s0 is implicitly 3:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& my ($login, $passwd) = split(/:/);
.Ve
.Sp
Note that splitting an \s-1EXPR\s0 that evaluates to the empty string always
produces zero fields, regardless of the \s-1LIMIT\s0 specified.
.Sp
An empty leading field is produced when there is a positive-width
match at the beginning of \s-1EXPR.\s0 For instance:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& print join(\*(Aq:\*(Aq, split(/ /, \*(Aq abc\*(Aq)), "\en";
.Ve
.Sp
produces the output \f(CW\*(C`:abc\*(C'\fR. However, a zero-width match at the
beginning of \s-1EXPR\s0 never produces an empty field, so that:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& print join(\*(Aq:\*(Aq, split(//, \*(Aq abc\*(Aq));
.Ve
.Sp
produces the output \f(CW\*(C`\ :a:b:c\*(C'\fR (rather than \f(CW\*(C`:\ :a:b:c\*(C'\fR).
.Sp
An empty trailing field, on the other hand, is produced when there is a
match at the end of \s-1EXPR,\s0 regardless of the length of the match
(of course, unless a non-zero \s-1LIMIT\s0 is given explicitly, such fields are
removed, as in the last example). Thus:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& print join(\*(Aq:\*(Aq, split(//, \*(Aq abc\*(Aq, \-1)), "\en";
.Ve
.Sp
produces the output \f(CW\*(C`\ :a:b:c:\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
If the \s-1PATTERN\s0 contains
capturing groups,
then for each separator, an additional field is produced for each substring
captured by a group (in the order in which the groups are specified,
as per backreferences); if any group does not
match, then it captures the \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR value instead of a
substring. Also,
note that any such additional field is produced whenever there is a
separator (that is, whenever a split occurs), and such an additional field
does \fBnot\fR count towards the \s-1LIMIT.\s0 Consider the following expressions
evaluated in list context (each returned list is provided in the associated
comment):
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& split(/\-|,/, "1\-10,20", 3)
\& # (\*(Aq1\*(Aq, \*(Aq10\*(Aq, \*(Aq20\*(Aq)
\&
\& split(/(\-|,)/, "1\-10,20", 3)
\& # (\*(Aq1\*(Aq, \*(Aq\-\*(Aq, \*(Aq10\*(Aq, \*(Aq,\*(Aq, \*(Aq20\*(Aq)
\&
\& split(/\-|(,)/, "1\-10,20", 3)
\& # (\*(Aq1\*(Aq, undef, \*(Aq10\*(Aq, \*(Aq,\*(Aq, \*(Aq20\*(Aq)
\&
\& split(/(\-)|,/, "1\-10,20", 3)
\& # (\*(Aq1\*(Aq, \*(Aq\-\*(Aq, \*(Aq10\*(Aq, undef, \*(Aq20\*(Aq)
\&
\& split(/(\-)|(,)/, "1\-10,20", 3)
\& # (\*(Aq1\*(Aq, \*(Aq\-\*(Aq, undef, \*(Aq10\*(Aq, undef, \*(Aq,\*(Aq, \*(Aq20\*(Aq)
.Ve
.IP "sprintf \s-1FORMAT, LIST\s0" 4
.IX Xref "sprintf"
.IX Item "sprintf FORMAT, LIST"
Returns a string formatted by the usual
\&\f(CW\*(C`printf\*(C'\fR conventions of the C
library function \f(CW\*(C`sprintf\*(C'\fR. See below for
more details and see \fBsprintf\fR\|(3) or \fBprintf\fR\|(3) on your system for an
explanation of the general principles.
.Sp
For example:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& # Format number with up to 8 leading zeroes
\& my $result = sprintf("%08d", $number);
\&
\& # Round number to 3 digits after decimal point
\& my $rounded = sprintf("%.3f", $number);
.Ve
.Sp
Perl does its own \f(CW\*(C`sprintf\*(C'\fR formatting: it
emulates the C
function \fBsprintf\fR\|(3), but doesn't use it except for floating-point
numbers, and even then only standard modifiers are allowed.
Non-standard extensions in your local \fBsprintf\fR\|(3) are
therefore unavailable from Perl.
.Sp
Unlike \f(CW\*(C`printf\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`sprintf\*(C'\fR does not do what you probably mean
when you pass it an array as your first argument.
The array is given scalar context,
and instead of using the 0th element of the array as the format, Perl will
use the count of elements in the array as the format, which is almost never
useful.
.Sp
Perl's \f(CW\*(C`sprintf\*(C'\fR permits the following
universally-known conversions:
.Sp
.Vb 10
\& %% a percent sign
\& %c a character with the given number
\& %s a string
\& %d a signed integer, in decimal
\& %u an unsigned integer, in decimal
\& %o an unsigned integer, in octal
\& %x an unsigned integer, in hexadecimal
\& %e a floating\-point number, in scientific notation
\& %f a floating\-point number, in fixed decimal notation
\& %g a floating\-point number, in %e or %f notation
.Ve
.Sp
In addition, Perl permits the following widely-supported conversions:
.Sp
.Vb 10
\& %X like %x, but using upper\-case letters
\& %E like %e, but using an upper\-case "E"
\& %G like %g, but with an upper\-case "E" (if applicable)
\& %b an unsigned integer, in binary
\& %B like %b, but using an upper\-case "B" with the # flag
\& %p a pointer (outputs the Perl value\*(Aqs address in hexadecimal)
\& %n special: *stores* the number of characters output so far
\& into the next argument in the parameter list
\& %a hexadecimal floating point
\& %A like %a, but using upper\-case letters
.Ve
.Sp
Finally, for backward (and we do mean \*(L"backward\*(R") compatibility, Perl
permits these unnecessary but widely-supported conversions:
.Sp
.Vb 5
\& %i a synonym for %d
\& %D a synonym for %ld
\& %U a synonym for %lu
\& %O a synonym for %lo
\& %F a synonym for %f
.Ve
.Sp
Note that the number of exponent digits in the scientific notation produced
by \f(CW%e\fR, \f(CW%E\fR, \f(CW%g\fR and \f(CW%G\fR for numbers with the modulus of the
exponent less than 100 is system-dependent: it may be three or less
(zero-padded as necessary). In other words, 1.23 times ten to the
99th may be either \*(L"1.23e99\*(R" or \*(L"1.23e099\*(R". Similarly for \f(CW%a\fR and \f(CW%A\fR:
the exponent or the hexadecimal digits may float: especially the
\&\*(L"long doubles\*(R" Perl configuration option may cause surprises.
.Sp
Between the \f(CW\*(C`%\*(C'\fR and the format letter, you may specify several
additional attributes controlling the interpretation of the format.
In order, these are:
.RS 4
.IP "format parameter index" 4
.IX Item "format parameter index"
An explicit format parameter index, such as \f(CW\*(C`2$\*(C'\fR. By default sprintf
will format the next unused argument in the list, but this allows you
to take the arguments out of order:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& printf \*(Aq%2$d %1$d\*(Aq, 12, 34; # prints "34 12"
\& printf \*(Aq%3$d %d %1$d\*(Aq, 1, 2, 3; # prints "3 1 1"
.Ve
.IP "flags" 4
.IX Item "flags"
one or more of:
.Sp
.Vb 7
\& space prefix non\-negative number with a space
\& + prefix non\-negative number with a plus sign
\& \- left\-justify within the field
\& 0 use zeros, not spaces, to right\-justify
\& # ensure the leading "0" for any octal,
\& prefix non\-zero hexadecimal with "0x" or "0X",
\& prefix non\-zero binary with "0b" or "0B"
.Ve
.Sp
For example:
.Sp
.Vb 10
\& printf \*(Aq<% d>\*(Aq, 12; # prints "< 12>"
\& printf \*(Aq<% d>\*(Aq, 0; # prints "< 0>"
\& printf \*(Aq<% d>\*(Aq, \-12; # prints "<\-12>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%+d>\*(Aq, 12; # prints "<+12>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%+d>\*(Aq, 0; # prints "<+0>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%+d>\*(Aq, \-12; # prints "<\-12>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%6s>\*(Aq, 12; # prints "< 12>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%\-6s>\*(Aq, 12; # prints "<12 >"
\& printf \*(Aq<%06s>\*(Aq, 12; # prints "<000012>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%#o>\*(Aq, 12; # prints "<014>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%#x>\*(Aq, 12; # prints "<0xc>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%#X>\*(Aq, 12; # prints "<0XC>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%#b>\*(Aq, 12; # prints "<0b1100>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%#B>\*(Aq, 12; # prints "<0B1100>"
.Ve
.Sp
When a space and a plus sign are given as the flags at once,
the space is ignored.
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& printf \*(Aq<%+ d>\*(Aq, 12; # prints "<+12>"
\& printf \*(Aq<% +d>\*(Aq, 12; # prints "<+12>"
.Ve
.Sp
When the # flag and a precision are given in the \f(CW%o\fR conversion,
the precision is incremented if it's necessary for the leading \*(L"0\*(R".
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& printf \*(Aq<%#.5o>\*(Aq, 012; # prints "<00012>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%#.5o>\*(Aq, 012345; # prints "<012345>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%#.0o>\*(Aq, 0; # prints "<0>"
.Ve
.IP "vector flag" 4
.IX Item "vector flag"
This flag tells Perl to interpret the supplied string as a vector of
integers, one for each character in the string. Perl applies the format to
each integer in turn, then joins the resulting strings with a separator (a
dot \f(CW\*(C`.\*(C'\fR by default). This can be useful for displaying ordinal values of
characters in arbitrary strings:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& printf "%vd", "AB\ex{100}"; # prints "65.66.256"
\& printf "version is v%vd\en", $^V; # Perl\*(Aqs version
.Ve
.Sp
Put an asterisk \f(CW\*(C`*\*(C'\fR before the \f(CW\*(C`v\*(C'\fR to override the string to
use to separate the numbers:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& printf "address is %*vX\en", ":", $addr; # IPv6 address
\& printf "bits are %0*v8b\en", " ", $bits; # random bitstring
.Ve
.Sp
You can also explicitly specify the argument number to use for
the join string using something like \f(CW\*(C`*2$v\*(C'\fR; for example:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& printf \*(Aq%*4$vX %*4$vX %*4$vX\*(Aq, # 3 IPv6 addresses
\& @addr[1..3], ":";
.Ve
.IP "(minimum) width" 4
.IX Item "(minimum) width"
Arguments are usually formatted to be only as wide as required to
display the given value. You can override the width by putting
a number here, or get the width from the next argument (with \f(CW\*(C`*\*(C'\fR)
or from a specified argument (e.g., with \f(CW\*(C`*2$\*(C'\fR):
.Sp
.Vb 5
\& printf "<%s>", "a"; # prints "<a>"
\& printf "<%6s>", "a"; # prints "< a>"
\& printf "<%*s>", 6, "a"; # prints "< a>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%*2$s>\*(Aq, "a", 6; # prints "< a>"
\& printf "<%2s>", "long"; # prints "<long>" (does not truncate)
.Ve
.Sp
If a field width obtained through \f(CW\*(C`*\*(C'\fR is negative, it has the same
effect as the \f(CW\*(C`\-\*(C'\fR flag: left-justification.
.IP "precision, or maximum width" 4
.IX Xref "precision"
.IX Item "precision, or maximum width"
You can specify a precision (for numeric conversions) or a maximum
width (for string conversions) by specifying a \f(CW\*(C`.\*(C'\fR followed by a number.
For floating-point formats except \f(CW\*(C`g\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`G\*(C'\fR, this specifies
how many places right of the decimal point to show (the default being 6).
For example:
.Sp
.Vb 6
\& # these examples are subject to system\-specific variation
\& printf \*(Aq<%f>\*(Aq, 1; # prints "<1.000000>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%.1f>\*(Aq, 1; # prints "<1.0>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%.0f>\*(Aq, 1; # prints "<1>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%e>\*(Aq, 10; # prints "<1.000000e+01>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%.1e>\*(Aq, 10; # prints "<1.0e+01>"
.Ve
.Sp
For \*(L"g\*(R" and \*(L"G\*(R", this specifies the maximum number of significant digits to
show; for example:
.Sp
.Vb 11
\& # These examples are subject to system\-specific variation.
\& printf \*(Aq<%g>\*(Aq, 1; # prints "<1>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%.10g>\*(Aq, 1; # prints "<1>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%g>\*(Aq, 100; # prints "<100>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%.1g>\*(Aq, 100; # prints "<1e+02>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%.2g>\*(Aq, 100.01; # prints "<1e+02>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%.5g>\*(Aq, 100.01; # prints "<100.01>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%.4g>\*(Aq, 100.01; # prints "<100>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%.1g>\*(Aq, 0.0111; # prints "<0.01>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%.2g>\*(Aq, 0.0111; # prints "<0.011>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%.3g>\*(Aq, 0.0111; # prints "<0.0111>"
.Ve
.Sp
For integer conversions, specifying a precision implies that the
output of the number itself should be zero-padded to this width,
where the 0 flag is ignored:
.Sp
.Vb 6
\& printf \*(Aq<%.6d>\*(Aq, 1; # prints "<000001>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%+.6d>\*(Aq, 1; # prints "<+000001>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%\-10.6d>\*(Aq, 1; # prints "<000001 >"
\& printf \*(Aq<%10.6d>\*(Aq, 1; # prints "< 000001>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%010.6d>\*(Aq, 1; # prints "< 000001>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%+10.6d>\*(Aq, 1; # prints "< +000001>"
\&
\& printf \*(Aq<%.6x>\*(Aq, 1; # prints "<000001>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%#.6x>\*(Aq, 1; # prints "<0x000001>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%\-10.6x>\*(Aq, 1; # prints "<000001 >"
\& printf \*(Aq<%10.6x>\*(Aq, 1; # prints "< 000001>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%010.6x>\*(Aq, 1; # prints "< 000001>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%#10.6x>\*(Aq, 1; # prints "< 0x000001>"
.Ve
.Sp
For string conversions, specifying a precision truncates the string
to fit the specified width:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& printf \*(Aq<%.5s>\*(Aq, "truncated"; # prints "<trunc>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%10.5s>\*(Aq, "truncated"; # prints "< trunc>"
.Ve
.Sp
You can also get the precision from the next argument using \f(CW\*(C`.*\*(C'\fR, or from a
specified argument (e.g., with \f(CW\*(C`.*2$\*(C'\fR):
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& printf \*(Aq<%.6x>\*(Aq, 1; # prints "<000001>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%.*x>\*(Aq, 6, 1; # prints "<000001>"
\&
\& printf \*(Aq<%.*2$x>\*(Aq, 1, 6; # prints "<000001>"
\&
\& printf \*(Aq<%6.*2$x>\*(Aq, 1, 4; # prints "< 0001>"
.Ve
.Sp
If a precision obtained through \f(CW\*(C`*\*(C'\fR is negative, it counts
as having no precision at all.
.Sp
.Vb 4
\& printf \*(Aq<%.*s>\*(Aq, 7, "string"; # prints "<string>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%.*s>\*(Aq, 3, "string"; # prints "<str>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%.*s>\*(Aq, 0, "string"; # prints "<>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%.*s>\*(Aq, \-1, "string"; # prints "<string>"
\&
\& printf \*(Aq<%.*d>\*(Aq, 1, 0; # prints "<0>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%.*d>\*(Aq, 0, 0; # prints "<>"
\& printf \*(Aq<%.*d>\*(Aq, \-1, 0; # prints "<0>"
.Ve
.IP "size" 4
.IX Item "size"
For numeric conversions, you can specify the size to interpret the
number as using \f(CW\*(C`l\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`h\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`V\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`q\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`L\*(C'\fR, or \f(CW\*(C`ll\*(C'\fR. For integer
conversions (\f(CW\*(C`d u o x X b i D U O\*(C'\fR), numbers are usually assumed to be
whatever the default integer size is on your platform (usually 32 or 64
bits), but you can override this to use instead one of the standard C types,
as supported by the compiler used to build Perl:
.Sp
.Vb 10
\& hh interpret integer as C type "char" or "unsigned
\& char" on Perl 5.14 or later
\& h interpret integer as C type "short" or
\& "unsigned short"
\& j interpret integer as C type "intmax_t" on Perl
\& 5.14 or later; and prior to Perl 5.30, only with
\& a C99 compiler (unportable)
\& l interpret integer as C type "long" or
\& "unsigned long"
\& q, L, or ll interpret integer as C type "long long",
\& "unsigned long long", or "quad" (typically
\& 64\-bit integers)
\& t interpret integer as C type "ptrdiff_t" on Perl
\& 5.14 or later
\& z interpret integer as C type "size_t" on Perl 5.14
\& or later
.Ve
.Sp
As of 5.14, none of these raises an exception if they are not supported on
your platform. However, if warnings are enabled, a warning of the
\&\f(CW\*(C`printf\*(C'\fR warning class is issued on an unsupported
conversion flag. Should you instead prefer an exception, do this:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& use warnings FATAL => "printf";
.Ve
.Sp
If you would like to know about a version dependency before you
start running the program, put something like this at its top:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& use 5.014; # for hh/j/t/z/ printf modifiers
.Ve
.Sp
You can find out whether your Perl supports quads via Config:
.Sp
.Vb 5
\& use Config;
\& if ($Config{use64bitint} eq "define"
\& || $Config{longsize} >= 8) {
\& print "Nice quads!\en";
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
For floating-point conversions (\f(CW\*(C`e f g E F G\*(C'\fR), numbers are usually assumed
to be the default floating-point size on your platform (double or long double),
but you can force \*(L"long double\*(R" with \f(CW\*(C`q\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`L\*(C'\fR, or \f(CW\*(C`ll\*(C'\fR if your
platform supports them. You can find out whether your Perl supports long
doubles via Config:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& use Config;
\& print "long doubles\en" if $Config{d_longdbl} eq "define";
.Ve
.Sp
You can find out whether Perl considers \*(L"long double\*(R" to be the default
floating-point size to use on your platform via Config:
.Sp
.Vb 4
\& use Config;
\& if ($Config{uselongdouble} eq "define") {
\& print "long doubles by default\en";
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
It can also be that long doubles and doubles are the same thing:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& use Config;
\& ($Config{doublesize} == $Config{longdblsize}) &&
\& print "doubles are long doubles\en";
.Ve
.Sp
The size specifier \f(CW\*(C`V\*(C'\fR has no effect for Perl code, but is supported for
compatibility with \s-1XS\s0 code. It means \*(L"use the standard size for a Perl
integer or floating-point number\*(R", which is the default.
.IP "order of arguments" 4
.IX Item "order of arguments"
Normally, \f(CW\*(C`sprintf\*(C'\fR takes the next unused
argument as the value to
format for each format specification. If the format specification
uses \f(CW\*(C`*\*(C'\fR to require additional arguments, these are consumed from
the argument list in the order they appear in the format
specification \fIbefore\fR the value to format. Where an argument is
specified by an explicit index, this does not affect the normal
order for the arguments, even when the explicitly specified index
would have been the next argument.
.Sp
So:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& printf "<%*.*s>", $a, $b, $c;
.Ve
.Sp
uses \f(CW$a\fR for the width, \f(CW$b\fR for the precision, and \f(CW$c\fR
as the value to format; while:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& printf \*(Aq<%*1$.*s>\*(Aq, $a, $b;
.Ve
.Sp
would use \f(CW$a\fR for the width and precision, and \f(CW$b\fR as the
value to format.
.Sp
Here are some more examples; be aware that when using an explicit
index, the \f(CW\*(C`$\*(C'\fR may need escaping:
.Sp
.Vb 5
\& printf "%2\e$d %d\en", 12, 34; # will print "34 12\en"
\& printf "%2\e$d %d %d\en", 12, 34; # will print "34 12 34\en"
\& printf "%3\e$d %d %d\en", 12, 34, 56; # will print "56 12 34\en"
\& printf "%2\e$*3\e$d %d\en", 12, 34, 3; # will print " 34 12\en"
\& printf "%*1\e$.*f\en", 4, 5, 10; # will print "5.0000\en"
.Ve
.RE
.RS 4
.Sp
If \f(CW\*(C`use locale\*(C'\fR (including \f(CW\*(C`use locale \*(Aq:not_characters\*(Aq\*(C'\fR)
is in effect and \f(CW\*(C`POSIX::setlocale\*(C'\fR has been
called,
the character used for the decimal separator in formatted floating-point
numbers is affected by the \f(CW\*(C`LC_NUMERIC\*(C'\fR locale. See perllocale
and \s-1POSIX\s0.
.RE
.IP "sqrt \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "sqrt root square root"
.IX Item "sqrt EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "sqrt" 4
.IX Item "sqrt"
.PD
Return the positive square root of \s-1EXPR.\s0 If \s-1EXPR\s0 is omitted, uses
\&\f(CW$_\fR. Works only for non-negative operands unless you've
loaded the \f(CW\*(C`Math::Complex\*(C'\fR module.
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& use Math::Complex;
\& print sqrt(\-4); # prints 2i
.Ve
.IP "srand \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "srand seed randseed"
.IX Item "srand EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "srand" 4
.IX Item "srand"
.PD
Sets and returns the random number seed for the \f(CW\*(C`rand\*(C'\fR
operator.
.Sp
The point of the function is to \*(L"seed\*(R" the \f(CW\*(C`rand\*(C'\fR
function so that \f(CW\*(C`rand\*(C'\fR can produce a different sequence
each time you run your program. When called with a parameter,
\&\f(CW\*(C`srand\*(C'\fR uses that for the seed; otherwise it
(semi\-)randomly chooses a seed. In either case, starting with Perl 5.14,
it returns the seed. To signal that your code will work \fIonly\fR on Perls
of a recent vintage:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& use 5.014; # so srand returns the seed
.Ve
.Sp
If \f(CW\*(C`srand\*(C'\fR is not called explicitly, it is called
implicitly without a parameter at the first use of the
\&\f(CW\*(C`rand\*(C'\fR operator. However, there are a few situations
where programs are likely to want to call \f(CW\*(C`srand\*(C'\fR. One
is for generating predictable results, generally for testing or
debugging. There, you use \f(CW\*(C`srand($seed)\*(C'\fR, with the same \f(CW$seed\fR each
time. Another case is that you may want to call \f(CW\*(C`srand\*(C'\fR
after a \f(CW\*(C`fork\*(C'\fR to avoid child processes sharing the same seed
value as the parent (and consequently each other).
.Sp
Do \fBnot\fR call \f(CW\*(C`srand()\*(C'\fR (i.e., without an argument) more than once per
process. The internal state of the random number generator should
contain more entropy than can be provided by any seed, so calling
\&\f(CW\*(C`srand\*(C'\fR again actually \fIloses\fR randomness.
.Sp
Most implementations of \f(CW\*(C`srand\*(C'\fR take an integer and will
silently
truncate decimal numbers. This means \f(CW\*(C`srand(42)\*(C'\fR will usually
produce the same results as \f(CW\*(C`srand(42.1)\*(C'\fR. To be safe, always pass
\&\f(CW\*(C`srand\*(C'\fR an integer.
.Sp
A typical use of the returned seed is for a test program which has too many
combinations to test comprehensively in the time available to it each run. It
can test a random subset each time, and should there be a failure, log the seed
used for that run so that it can later be used to reproduce the same results.
.Sp
\&\fB\f(CB\*(C`rand\*(C'\fB is not cryptographically secure. You should not rely
on it in security-sensitive situations.\fR As of this writing, a
number of third-party \s-1CPAN\s0 modules offer random number generators
intended by their authors to be cryptographically secure,
including: Data::Entropy, Crypt::Random, Math::Random::Secure,
and Math::TrulyRandom.
.IP "stat \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0" 4
.IX Xref "stat file, status ctime"
.IX Item "stat FILEHANDLE"
.PD 0
.IP "stat \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Item "stat EXPR"
.IP "stat \s-1DIRHANDLE\s0" 4
.IX Item "stat DIRHANDLE"
.IP "stat" 4
.IX Item "stat"
.PD
Returns a 13\-element list giving the status info for a file, either
the file opened via \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0 or \s-1DIRHANDLE,\s0 or named by \s-1EXPR.\s0 If \s-1EXPR\s0 is
omitted, it stats \f(CW$_\fR (not \f(CW\*(C`_\*(C'\fR!). Returns the empty
list if \f(CW\*(C`stat\*(C'\fR fails. Typically
used as follows:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& my ($dev,$ino,$mode,$nlink,$uid,$gid,$rdev,$size,
\& $atime,$mtime,$ctime,$blksize,$blocks)
\& = stat($filename);
.Ve
.Sp
Not all fields are supported on all filesystem types. Here are the
meanings of the fields:
.Sp
.Vb 10
\& 0 dev device number of filesystem
\& 1 ino inode number
\& 2 mode file mode (type and permissions)
\& 3 nlink number of (hard) links to the file
\& 4 uid numeric user ID of file\*(Aqs owner
\& 5 gid numeric group ID of file\*(Aqs owner
\& 6 rdev the device identifier (special files only)
\& 7 size total size of file, in bytes
\& 8 atime last access time in seconds since the epoch
\& 9 mtime last modify time in seconds since the epoch
\& 10 ctime inode change time in seconds since the epoch (*)
\& 11 blksize preferred I/O size in bytes for interacting with the
\& file (may vary from file to file)
\& 12 blocks actual number of system\-specific blocks allocated
\& on disk (often, but not always, 512 bytes each)
.Ve
.Sp
(The epoch was at 00:00 January 1, 1970 \s-1GMT.\s0)
.Sp
(*) Not all fields are supported on all filesystem types. Notably, the
ctime field is non-portable. In particular, you cannot expect it to be a
\&\*(L"creation time\*(R"; see \*(L"Files and Filesystems\*(R" in perlport for details.
.Sp
If \f(CW\*(C`stat\*(C'\fR is passed the special filehandle
consisting of an underline, no stat is done, but the current contents of
the stat structure from the last \f(CW\*(C`stat\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`lstat\*(C'\fR, or filetest are returned. Example:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& if (\-x $file && (($d) = stat(_)) && $d < 0) {
\& print "$file is executable NFS file\en";
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
(This works on machines only for which the device number is negative
under \s-1NFS.\s0)
.Sp
On some platforms inode numbers are of a type larger than perl knows how
to handle as integer numerical values. If necessary, an inode number will
be returned as a decimal string in order to preserve the entire value.
If used in a numeric context, this will be converted to a floating-point
numerical value, with rounding, a fate that is best avoided. Therefore,
you should prefer to compare inode numbers using \f(CW\*(C`eq\*(C'\fR rather than \f(CW\*(C`==\*(C'\fR.
\&\f(CW\*(C`eq\*(C'\fR will work fine on inode numbers that are represented numerically,
as well as those represented as strings.
.Sp
Because the mode contains both the file type and its permissions, you
should mask off the file type portion and (s)printf using a \f(CW"%o"\fR
if you want to see the real permissions.
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& my $mode = (stat($filename))[2];
\& printf "Permissions are %04o\en", $mode & 07777;
.Ve
.Sp
In scalar context, \f(CW\*(C`stat\*(C'\fR returns a boolean value
indicating success
or failure, and, if successful, sets the information associated with
the special filehandle \f(CW\*(C`_\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
The File::stat module provides a convenient, by-name access mechanism:
.Sp
.Vb 5
\& use File::stat;
\& my $sb = stat($filename);
\& printf "File is %s, size is %s, perm %04o, mtime %s\en",
\& $filename, $sb\->size, $sb\->mode & 07777,
\& scalar localtime $sb\->mtime;
.Ve
.Sp
You can import symbolic mode constants (\f(CW\*(C`S_IF*\*(C'\fR) and functions
(\f(CW\*(C`S_IS*\*(C'\fR) from the Fcntl module:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& use Fcntl \*(Aq:mode\*(Aq;
\&
\& my $mode = (stat($filename))[2];
\&
\& my $user_rwx = ($mode & S_IRWXU) >> 6;
\& my $group_read = ($mode & S_IRGRP) >> 3;
\& my $other_execute = $mode & S_IXOTH;
\&
\& printf "Permissions are %04o\en", S_IMODE($mode), "\en";
\&
\& my $is_setuid = $mode & S_ISUID;
\& my $is_directory = S_ISDIR($mode);
.Ve
.Sp
You could write the last two using the \f(CW\*(C`\-u\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`\-d\*(C'\fR operators.
Commonly available \f(CW\*(C`S_IF*\*(C'\fR constants are:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& # Permissions: read, write, execute, for user, group, others.
\&
\& S_IRWXU S_IRUSR S_IWUSR S_IXUSR
\& S_IRWXG S_IRGRP S_IWGRP S_IXGRP
\& S_IRWXO S_IROTH S_IWOTH S_IXOTH
\&
\& # Setuid/Setgid/Stickiness/SaveText.
\& # Note that the exact meaning of these is system\-dependent.
\&
\& S_ISUID S_ISGID S_ISVTX S_ISTXT
\&
\& # File types. Not all are necessarily available on
\& # your system.
\&
\& S_IFREG S_IFDIR S_IFLNK S_IFBLK S_IFCHR
\& S_IFIFO S_IFSOCK S_IFWHT S_ENFMT
\&
\& # The following are compatibility aliases for S_IRUSR,
\& # S_IWUSR, and S_IXUSR.
\&
\& S_IREAD S_IWRITE S_IEXEC
.Ve
.Sp
and the \f(CW\*(C`S_IF*\*(C'\fR functions are
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& S_IMODE($mode) the part of $mode containing the permission
\& bits and the setuid/setgid/sticky bits
\&
\& S_IFMT($mode) the part of $mode containing the file type
\& which can be bit\-anded with (for example)
\& S_IFREG or with the following functions
\&
\& # The operators \-f, \-d, \-l, \-b, \-c, \-p, and \-S.
\&
\& S_ISREG($mode) S_ISDIR($mode) S_ISLNK($mode)
\& S_ISBLK($mode) S_ISCHR($mode) S_ISFIFO($mode) S_ISSOCK($mode)
\&
\& # No direct \-X operator counterpart, but for the first one
\& # the \-g operator is often equivalent. The ENFMT stands for
\& # record flocking enforcement, a platform\-dependent feature.
\&
\& S_ISENFMT($mode) S_ISWHT($mode)
.Ve
.Sp
See your native \fBchmod\fR\|(2) and \fBstat\fR\|(2) documentation for more details
about the \f(CW\*(C`S_*\*(C'\fR constants. To get status info for a symbolic link
instead of the target file behind the link, use the
\&\f(CW\*(C`lstat\*(C'\fR function.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"stat\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "state \s-1VARLIST\s0" 4
.IX Xref "state"
.IX Item "state VARLIST"
.PD 0
.IP "state \s-1TYPE VARLIST\s0" 4
.IX Item "state TYPE VARLIST"
.IP "state \s-1VARLIST : ATTRS\s0" 4
.IX Item "state VARLIST : ATTRS"
.IP "state \s-1TYPE VARLIST : ATTRS\s0" 4
.IX Item "state TYPE VARLIST : ATTRS"
.PD
\&\f(CW\*(C`state\*(C'\fR declares a lexically scoped variable, just
like \f(CW\*(C`my\*(C'\fR.
However, those variables will never be reinitialized, contrary to
lexical variables that are reinitialized each time their enclosing block
is entered.
See \*(L"Persistent Private Variables\*(R" in perlsub for details.
.Sp
If more than one variable is listed, the list must be placed in
parentheses. With a parenthesised list, \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR can be
used as a
dummy placeholder. However, since initialization of state variables in
such lists is currently not possible this would serve no purpose.
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`state\*(C'\fR is available only if the
\&\f(CW"state"\fR feature is enabled or if it is
prefixed with \f(CW\*(C`CORE::\*(C'\fR. The
\&\f(CW"state"\fR feature is enabled
automatically with a \f(CW\*(C`use v5.10\*(C'\fR (or higher) declaration in the current
scope.
.IP "study \s-1SCALAR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "study"
.IX Item "study SCALAR"
.PD 0
.IP "study" 4
.IX Item "study"
.PD
At this time, \f(CW\*(C`study\*(C'\fR does nothing. This may change in the future.
.Sp
Prior to Perl version 5.16, it would create an inverted index of all characters
that occurred in the given \s-1SCALAR\s0 (or \f(CW$_\fR if unspecified). When
matching a pattern, the rarest character from the pattern would be looked up in
this index. Rarity was based on some static frequency tables constructed from
some C programs and English text.
.IP "sub \s-1NAME BLOCK\s0" 4
.IX Xref "sub"
.IX Item "sub NAME BLOCK"
.PD 0
.IP "sub \s-1NAME\s0 (\s-1PROTO\s0) \s-1BLOCK\s0" 4
.IX Item "sub NAME (PROTO) BLOCK"
.IP "sub \s-1NAME : ATTRS BLOCK\s0" 4
.IX Item "sub NAME : ATTRS BLOCK"
.IP "sub \s-1NAME\s0 (\s-1PROTO\s0) : \s-1ATTRS BLOCK\s0" 4
.IX Item "sub NAME (PROTO) : ATTRS BLOCK"
.PD
This is subroutine definition, not a real function \fIper se\fR. Without a
\&\s-1BLOCK\s0 it's just a forward declaration. Without a \s-1NAME,\s0 it's an anonymous
function declaration, so does return a value: the \s-1CODE\s0 ref of the closure
just created.
.Sp
See perlsub and perlref for details about subroutines and
references; see attributes and Attribute::Handlers for more
information about attributes.
.IP "_\|_SUB_\|_" 4
.IX Xref "__SUB__"
.IX Item "__SUB__"
A special token that returns a reference to the current subroutine, or
\&\f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR outside of a subroutine.
.Sp
The behaviour of \f(CW\*(C`_\|_SUB_\|_\*(C'\fR within a regex code block (such
as \f(CW\*(C`/(?{...})/\*(C'\fR) is subject to change.
.Sp
This token is only available under \f(CW\*(C`use v5.16\*(C'\fR or the
\&\f(CW"current_sub"\fR feature.
See feature.
.IP "substr \s-1EXPR,OFFSET,LENGTH,REPLACEMENT\s0" 4
.IX Xref "substr substring mid left right"
.IX Item "substr EXPR,OFFSET,LENGTH,REPLACEMENT"
.PD 0
.IP "substr \s-1EXPR,OFFSET,LENGTH\s0" 4
.IX Item "substr EXPR,OFFSET,LENGTH"
.IP "substr \s-1EXPR,OFFSET\s0" 4
.IX Item "substr EXPR,OFFSET"
.PD
Extracts a substring out of \s-1EXPR\s0 and returns it. First character is at
offset zero. If \s-1OFFSET\s0 is negative, starts
that far back from the end of the string. If \s-1LENGTH\s0 is omitted, returns
everything through the end of the string. If \s-1LENGTH\s0 is negative, leaves that
many characters off the end of the string.
.Sp
.Vb 6
\& my $s = "The black cat climbed the green tree";
\& my $color = substr $s, 4, 5; # black
\& my $middle = substr $s, 4, \-11; # black cat climbed the
\& my $end = substr $s, 14; # climbed the green tree
\& my $tail = substr $s, \-4; # tree
\& my $z = substr $s, \-4, 2; # tr
.Ve
.Sp
You can use the \f(CW\*(C`substr\*(C'\fR
function as an lvalue, in which case \s-1EXPR\s0
must itself be an lvalue. If you assign something shorter than \s-1LENGTH,\s0
the string will shrink, and if you assign something longer than \s-1LENGTH,\s0
the string will grow to accommodate it. To keep the string the same
length, you may need to pad or chop your value using
\&\f(CW\*(C`sprintf\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
If \s-1OFFSET\s0 and \s-1LENGTH\s0 specify a substring that is partly outside the
string, only the part within the string is returned. If the substring
is beyond either end of the string,
\&\f(CW\*(C`substr\*(C'\fR returns the undefined
value and produces a warning. When used as an lvalue, specifying a
substring that is entirely outside the string raises an exception.
Here's an example showing the behavior for boundary cases:
.Sp
.Vb 5
\& my $name = \*(Aqfred\*(Aq;
\& substr($name, 4) = \*(Aqdy\*(Aq; # $name is now \*(Aqfreddy\*(Aq
\& my $null = substr $name, 6, 2; # returns "" (no warning)
\& my $oops = substr $name, 7; # returns undef, with warning
\& substr($name, 7) = \*(Aqgap\*(Aq; # raises an exception
.Ve
.Sp
An alternative to using
\&\f(CW\*(C`substr\*(C'\fR as an lvalue is to
specify the
replacement string as the 4th argument. This allows you to replace
parts of the \s-1EXPR\s0 and return what was there before in one operation,
just as you can with
\&\f(CW\*(C`splice\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& my $s = "The black cat climbed the green tree";
\& my $z = substr $s, 14, 7, "jumped from"; # climbed
\& # $s is now "The black cat jumped from the green tree"
.Ve
.Sp
Note that the lvalue returned by the three-argument version of
\&\f(CW\*(C`substr\*(C'\fR acts as
a 'magic bullet'; each time it is assigned to, it remembers which part
of the original string is being modified; for example:
.Sp
.Vb 7
\& my $x = \*(Aq1234\*(Aq;
\& for (substr($x,1,2)) {
\& $_ = \*(Aqa\*(Aq; print $x,"\en"; # prints 1a4
\& $_ = \*(Aqxyz\*(Aq; print $x,"\en"; # prints 1xyz4
\& $x = \*(Aq56789\*(Aq;
\& $_ = \*(Aqpq\*(Aq; print $x,"\en"; # prints 5pq9
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
With negative offsets, it remembers its position from the end of the string
when the target string is modified:
.Sp
.Vb 6
\& my $x = \*(Aq1234\*(Aq;
\& for (substr($x, \-3, 2)) {
\& $_ = \*(Aqa\*(Aq; print $x,"\en"; # prints 1a4, as above
\& $x = \*(Aqabcdefg\*(Aq;
\& print $_,"\en"; # prints f
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
Prior to Perl version 5.10, the result of using an lvalue multiple times was
unspecified. Prior to 5.16, the result with negative offsets was
unspecified.
.IP "symlink \s-1OLDFILE,NEWFILE\s0" 4
.IX Xref "symlink link symbolic link link, symbolic"
.IX Item "symlink OLDFILE,NEWFILE"
Creates a new filename symbolically linked to the old filename.
Returns \f(CW1\fR for success, \f(CW0\fR otherwise. On systems that don't support
symbolic links, raises an exception. To check for that,
use eval:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& my $symlink_exists = eval { symlink("",""); 1 };
.Ve
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"symlink\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "syscall \s-1NUMBER, LIST\s0" 4
.IX Xref "syscall system call"
.IX Item "syscall NUMBER, LIST"
Calls the system call specified as the first element of the list,
passing the remaining elements as arguments to the system call. If
unimplemented, raises an exception. The arguments are interpreted
as follows: if a given argument is numeric, the argument is passed as
an int. If not, the pointer to the string value is passed. You are
responsible to make sure a string is pre-extended long enough to
receive any result that might be written into a string. You can't use a
string literal (or other read-only string) as an argument to
\&\f(CW\*(C`syscall\*(C'\fR because Perl has to assume that any
string pointer might be written through. If your
integer arguments are not literals and have never been interpreted in a
numeric context, you may need to add \f(CW0\fR to them to force them to look
like numbers. This emulates the
\&\f(CW\*(C`syswrite\*(C'\fR function (or
vice versa):
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& require \*(Aqsyscall.ph\*(Aq; # may need to run h2ph
\& my $s = "hi there\en";
\& syscall(SYS_write(), fileno(STDOUT), $s, length $s);
.Ve
.Sp
Note that Perl supports passing of up to only 14 arguments to your syscall,
which in practice should (usually) suffice.
.Sp
Syscall returns whatever value returned by the system call it calls.
If the system call fails, \f(CW\*(C`syscall\*(C'\fR returns
\&\f(CW\*(C`\-1\*(C'\fR and sets \f(CW$!\fR (errno).
Note that some system calls \fIcan\fR legitimately return \f(CW\*(C`\-1\*(C'\fR. The proper
way to handle such calls is to assign \f(CW\*(C`$! = 0\*(C'\fR before the call, then
check the value of \f(CW$!\fR if
\&\f(CW\*(C`syscall\*(C'\fR returns \f(CW\*(C`\-1\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
There's a problem with \f(CW\*(C`syscall(SYS_pipe())\*(C'\fR: it returns the file
number of the read end of the pipe it creates, but there is no way
to retrieve the file number of the other end. You can avoid this
problem by using \f(CW\*(C`pipe\*(C'\fR instead.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"syscall\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "sysopen \s-1FILEHANDLE,FILENAME,MODE\s0" 4
.IX Xref "sysopen"
.IX Item "sysopen FILEHANDLE,FILENAME,MODE"
.PD 0
.IP "sysopen \s-1FILEHANDLE,FILENAME,MODE,PERMS\s0" 4
.IX Item "sysopen FILEHANDLE,FILENAME,MODE,PERMS"
.PD
Opens the file whose filename is given by \s-1FILENAME,\s0 and associates it with
\&\s-1FILEHANDLE.\s0 If \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0 is an expression, its value is used as the real
filehandle wanted; an undefined scalar will be suitably autovivified. This
function calls the underlying operating system's \fBopen\fR\|(2) function with the
parameters \s-1FILENAME, MODE,\s0 and \s-1PERMS.\s0
.Sp
Returns true on success and \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR otherwise.
.Sp
The possible values and flag bits of the \s-1MODE\s0 parameter are
system-dependent; they are available via the standard module
\&\f(CW\*(C`Fcntl\*(C'\fR. See the documentation of your operating system's
\&\fBopen\fR\|(2) syscall to see
which values and flag bits are available. You may combine several flags
using the \f(CW\*(C`|\*(C'\fR\-operator.
.Sp
Some of the most common values are \f(CW\*(C`O_RDONLY\*(C'\fR for opening the file in
read-only mode, \f(CW\*(C`O_WRONLY\*(C'\fR for opening the file in write-only mode,
and \f(CW\*(C`O_RDWR\*(C'\fR for opening the file in read-write mode.
.IX Xref "O_RDONLY O_RDWR O_WRONLY"
.Sp
For historical reasons, some values work on almost every system
supported by Perl: 0 means read-only, 1 means write-only, and 2
means read/write. We know that these values do \fInot\fR work under
\&\s-1OS/390\s0 and on the Macintosh; you probably don't want to
use them in new code.
.Sp
If the file named by \s-1FILENAME\s0 does not exist and the
\&\f(CW\*(C`open\*(C'\fR call creates
it (typically because \s-1MODE\s0 includes the \f(CW\*(C`O_CREAT\*(C'\fR flag), then the value of
\&\s-1PERMS\s0 specifies the permissions of the newly created file. If you omit
the \s-1PERMS\s0 argument to \f(CW\*(C`sysopen\*(C'\fR,
Perl uses the octal value \f(CW0666\fR.
These permission values need to be in octal, and are modified by your
process's current \f(CW\*(C`umask\*(C'\fR.
.IX Xref "O_CREAT"
.Sp
In many systems the \f(CW\*(C`O_EXCL\*(C'\fR flag is available for opening files in
exclusive mode. This is \fBnot\fR locking: exclusiveness means here that
if the file already exists,
\&\f(CW\*(C`sysopen\*(C'\fR fails. \f(CW\*(C`O_EXCL\*(C'\fR may
not work
on network filesystems, and has no effect unless the \f(CW\*(C`O_CREAT\*(C'\fR flag
is set as well. Setting \f(CW\*(C`O_CREAT|O_EXCL\*(C'\fR prevents the file from
being opened if it is a symbolic link. It does not protect against
symbolic links in the file's path.
.IX Xref "O_EXCL"
.Sp
Sometimes you may want to truncate an already-existing file. This
can be done using the \f(CW\*(C`O_TRUNC\*(C'\fR flag. The behavior of
\&\f(CW\*(C`O_TRUNC\*(C'\fR with \f(CW\*(C`O_RDONLY\*(C'\fR is undefined.
.IX Xref "O_TRUNC"
.Sp
You should seldom if ever use \f(CW0644\fR as argument to
\&\f(CW\*(C`sysopen\*(C'\fR, because
that takes away the user's option to have a more permissive umask.
Better to omit it. See \f(CW\*(C`umask\*(C'\fR for more on this.
.Sp
Note that under Perls older than 5.8.0,
\&\f(CW\*(C`sysopen\*(C'\fR depends on the
\&\fBfdopen\fR\|(3) C library function. On many Unix systems, \fBfdopen\fR\|(3) is known
to fail when file descriptors exceed a certain value, typically 255. If
you need more file descriptors than that, consider using the
\&\f(CW\*(C`POSIX::open\*(C'\fR function. For Perls 5.8.0 and later,
PerlIO is (most often) the default.
.Sp
See perlopentut for a kinder, gentler explanation of opening files.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"sysopen\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "sysread \s-1FILEHANDLE,SCALAR,LENGTH,OFFSET\s0" 4
.IX Xref "sysread"
.IX Item "sysread FILEHANDLE,SCALAR,LENGTH,OFFSET"
.PD 0
.IP "sysread \s-1FILEHANDLE,SCALAR,LENGTH\s0" 4
.IX Item "sysread FILEHANDLE,SCALAR,LENGTH"
.PD
Attempts to read \s-1LENGTH\s0 bytes of data into variable \s-1SCALAR\s0 from the
specified \s-1FILEHANDLE,\s0 using \fBread\fR\|(2). It bypasses
buffered \s-1IO,\s0 so mixing this with other kinds of reads,
\&\f(CW\*(C`print\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`write\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`seek\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`tell\*(C'\fR, or \f(CW\*(C`eof\*(C'\fR can cause
confusion because the
perlio or stdio layers usually buffer data. Returns the number of
bytes actually read, \f(CW0\fR at end of file, or undef if there was an
error (in the latter case \f(CW$!\fR is also set). \s-1SCALAR\s0 will
be grown or
shrunk so that the last byte actually read is the last byte of the
scalar after the read.
.Sp
An \s-1OFFSET\s0 may be specified to place the read data at some place in the
string other than the beginning. A negative \s-1OFFSET\s0 specifies
placement at that many characters counting backwards from the end of
the string. A positive \s-1OFFSET\s0 greater than the length of \s-1SCALAR\s0
results in the string being padded to the required size with \f(CW"\e0"\fR
bytes before the result of the read is appended.
.Sp
There is no \fBsyseof()\fR function, which is ok, since
\&\f(CW\*(C`eof\*(C'\fR doesn't work well on device files (like ttys)
anyway. Use \f(CW\*(C`sysread\*(C'\fR and
check for a return value of 0 to decide whether you're done.
.Sp
Note that if the filehandle has been marked as \f(CW\*(C`:utf8\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`sysread\*(C'\fR will
throw an exception. The \f(CW\*(C`:encoding(...)\*(C'\fR layer implicitly
introduces the \f(CW\*(C`:utf8\*(C'\fR layer. See
\&\f(CW\*(C`binmode\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`open\*(C'\fR, and the open pragma.
.IP "sysseek \s-1FILEHANDLE,POSITION,WHENCE\s0" 4
.IX Xref "sysseek lseek"
.IX Item "sysseek FILEHANDLE,POSITION,WHENCE"
Sets \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0's system position \fIin bytes\fR using \fBlseek\fR\|(2). \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0 may
be an expression whose value gives the name of the filehandle. The values
for \s-1WHENCE\s0 are \f(CW0\fR to set the new position to \s-1POSITION\s0; \f(CW1\fR to set it
to the current position plus \s-1POSITION\s0; and \f(CW2\fR to set it to \s-1EOF\s0 plus
\&\s-1POSITION,\s0 typically negative.
.Sp
Note the emphasis on bytes: even if the filehandle has been set to operate
on characters (for example using the \f(CW\*(C`:encoding(UTF\-8)\*(C'\fR I/O layer), the
\&\f(CW\*(C`seek\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`tell\*(C'\fR, and
\&\f(CW\*(C`sysseek\*(C'\fR
family of functions use byte offsets, not character offsets,
because seeking to a character offset would be very slow in a \s-1UTF\-8\s0 file.
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`sysseek\*(C'\fR bypasses normal
buffered \s-1IO,\s0 so mixing it with reads other than
\&\f(CW\*(C`sysread\*(C'\fR (for example
\&\f(CW\*(C`readline\*(C'\fR or
\&\f(CW\*(C`read\*(C'\fR),
\&\f(CW\*(C`print\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`write\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`seek\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`tell\*(C'\fR, or \f(CW\*(C`eof\*(C'\fR may cause
confusion.
.Sp
For \s-1WHENCE,\s0 you may also use the constants \f(CW\*(C`SEEK_SET\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`SEEK_CUR\*(C'\fR,
and \f(CW\*(C`SEEK_END\*(C'\fR (start of the file, current position, end of the file)
from the Fcntl module. Use of the constants is also more portable
than relying on 0, 1, and 2. For example to define a \*(L"systell\*(R" function:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& use Fcntl \*(AqSEEK_CUR\*(Aq;
\& sub systell { sysseek($_[0], 0, SEEK_CUR) }
.Ve
.Sp
Returns the new position, or the undefined value on failure. A position
of zero is returned as the string \f(CW"0 but true"\fR; thus
\&\f(CW\*(C`sysseek\*(C'\fR returns
true on success and false on failure, yet you can still easily determine
the new position.
.IP "system \s-1LIST\s0" 4
.IX Xref "system shell"
.IX Item "system LIST"
.PD 0
.IP "system \s-1PROGRAM LIST\s0" 4
.IX Item "system PROGRAM LIST"
.PD
Does exactly the same thing as \f(CW\*(C`exec\*(C'\fR, except that a fork is
done first and the parent process waits for the child process to
exit. Note that argument processing varies depending on the
number of arguments. If there is more than one argument in \s-1LIST,\s0
or if \s-1LIST\s0 is an array with more than one value, starts the program
given by the first element of the list with arguments given by the
rest of the list. If there is only one scalar argument, the argument
is checked for shell metacharacters, and if there are any, the
entire argument is passed to the system's command shell for parsing
(this is \f(CW\*(C`/bin/sh \-c\*(C'\fR on Unix platforms, but varies on other
platforms). If there are no shell metacharacters in the argument,
it is split into words and passed directly to \f(CW\*(C`execvp\*(C'\fR, which is
more efficient. On Windows, only the \f(CW\*(C`system PROGRAM LIST\*(C'\fR syntax will
reliably avoid using the shell; \f(CW\*(C`system LIST\*(C'\fR, even with more than one
element, will fall back to the shell if the first spawn fails.
.Sp
Perl will attempt to flush all files opened for
output before any operation that may do a fork, but this may not be
supported on some platforms (see perlport). To be safe, you may need
to set \f(CW$|\fR (\f(CW$AUTOFLUSH\fR in English)
or call the \f(CW\*(C`autoflush\*(C'\fR method of \f(CW\*(C`IO::Handle\*(C'\fR
on any open handles.
.Sp
The return value is the exit status of the program as returned by the
\&\f(CW\*(C`wait\*(C'\fR call. To get the actual exit value, shift right by
eight (see below). See also \f(CW\*(C`exec\*(C'\fR. This is \fInot\fR what
you want to use to capture the output from a command; for that you
should use merely backticks or
\&\f(CW\*(C`qx//\*(C'\fR, as described in
\&\*(L"`STRING`\*(R" in perlop. Return value of \-1 indicates a failure to start
the program or an error of the \fBwait\fR\|(2) system call (inspect
\&\f(CW$!\fR for the reason).
.Sp
If you'd like to make \f(CW\*(C`system\*(C'\fR (and many other bits of
Perl) die on error, have a look at the autodie pragma.
.Sp
Like \f(CW\*(C`exec\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`system\*(C'\fR allows you to lie
to a program about its name if you use the \f(CW\*(C`system PROGRAM LIST\*(C'\fR
syntax. Again, see \f(CW\*(C`exec\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
Since \f(CW\*(C`SIGINT\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`SIGQUIT\*(C'\fR are ignored during the execution of
\&\f(CW\*(C`system\*(C'\fR, if you expect your program to terminate on
receipt of these signals you will need to arrange to do so yourself
based on the return value.
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& my @args = ("command", "arg1", "arg2");
\& system(@args) == 0
\& or die "system @args failed: $?";
.Ve
.Sp
If you'd like to manually inspect \f(CW\*(C`system\*(C'\fR's failure,
you can check all possible failure modes by inspecting
\&\f(CW$?\fR like this:
.Sp
.Vb 10
\& if ($? == \-1) {
\& print "failed to execute: $!\en";
\& }
\& elsif ($? & 127) {
\& printf "child died with signal %d, %s coredump\en",
\& ($? & 127), ($? & 128) ? \*(Aqwith\*(Aq : \*(Aqwithout\*(Aq;
\& }
\& else {
\& printf "child exited with value %d\en", $? >> 8;
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
Alternatively, you may inspect the value of
\&\f(CW\*(C`${^CHILD_ERROR_NATIVE}\*(C'\fR with the
\&\f(CW\*(C`W*()\*(C'\fR calls from the \s-1POSIX\s0 module.
.Sp
When \f(CW\*(C`system\*(C'\fR's arguments are executed indirectly by
the shell, results and return codes are subject to its quirks.
See \*(L"`STRING`\*(R" in perlop and \f(CW\*(C`exec\*(C'\fR for details.
.Sp
Since \f(CW\*(C`system\*(C'\fR does a \f(CW\*(C`fork\*(C'\fR and
\&\f(CW\*(C`wait\*(C'\fR it may affect a \f(CW\*(C`SIGCHLD\*(C'\fR handler. See perlipc for
details.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"system\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "syswrite \s-1FILEHANDLE,SCALAR,LENGTH,OFFSET\s0" 4
.IX Xref "syswrite"
.IX Item "syswrite FILEHANDLE,SCALAR,LENGTH,OFFSET"
.PD 0
.IP "syswrite \s-1FILEHANDLE,SCALAR,LENGTH\s0" 4
.IX Item "syswrite FILEHANDLE,SCALAR,LENGTH"
.IP "syswrite \s-1FILEHANDLE,SCALAR\s0" 4
.IX Item "syswrite FILEHANDLE,SCALAR"
.PD
Attempts to write \s-1LENGTH\s0 bytes of data from variable \s-1SCALAR\s0 to the
specified \s-1FILEHANDLE,\s0 using \fBwrite\fR\|(2). If \s-1LENGTH\s0 is
not specified, writes whole \s-1SCALAR.\s0 It bypasses buffered \s-1IO,\s0 so
mixing this with reads (other than \f(CW\*(C`sysread)\*(C'\fR),
\&\f(CW\*(C`print\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`write\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`seek\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`tell\*(C'\fR, or \f(CW\*(C`eof\*(C'\fR may cause
confusion because the perlio and stdio layers usually buffer data.
Returns the number of bytes actually written, or \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR
if there was an error (in this case the errno variable
\&\f(CW$!\fR is also set). If the \s-1LENGTH\s0 is greater than the
data available in the \s-1SCALAR\s0 after the \s-1OFFSET,\s0 only as much data as is
available will be written.
.Sp
An \s-1OFFSET\s0 may be specified to write the data from some part of the
string other than the beginning. A negative \s-1OFFSET\s0 specifies writing
that many characters counting backwards from the end of the string.
If \s-1SCALAR\s0 is of length zero, you can only use an \s-1OFFSET\s0 of 0.
.Sp
\&\fB\s-1WARNING\s0\fR: If the filehandle is marked \f(CW\*(C`:utf8\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`syswrite\*(C'\fR will raise an exception.
The \f(CW\*(C`:encoding(...)\*(C'\fR layer implicitly introduces the \f(CW\*(C`:utf8\*(C'\fR layer.
Alternately, if the handle is not marked with an encoding but you
attempt to write characters with code points over 255, raises an exception.
See \f(CW\*(C`binmode\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`open\*(C'\fR, and the open pragma.
.IP "tell \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0" 4
.IX Xref "tell"
.IX Item "tell FILEHANDLE"
.PD 0
.IP "tell" 4
.IX Item "tell"
.PD
Returns the current position \fIin bytes\fR for \s-1FILEHANDLE,\s0 or \-1 on
error. \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0 may be an expression whose value gives the name of
the actual filehandle. If \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0 is omitted, assumes the file
last read.
.Sp
Note the emphasis on bytes: even if the filehandle has been set to operate
on characters (for example using the \f(CW\*(C`:encoding(UTF\-8)\*(C'\fR I/O layer), the
\&\f(CW\*(C`seek\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`tell\*(C'\fR, and
\&\f(CW\*(C`sysseek\*(C'\fR
family of functions use byte offsets, not character offsets,
because seeking to a character offset would be very slow in a \s-1UTF\-8\s0 file.
.Sp
The return value of \f(CW\*(C`tell\*(C'\fR for the standard streams
like the \s-1STDIN\s0 depends on the operating system: it may return \-1 or
something else. \f(CW\*(C`tell\*(C'\fR on pipes, fifos, and
sockets usually returns \-1.
.Sp
There is no \f(CW\*(C`systell\*(C'\fR function. Use
\&\f(CW\*(C`sysseek($fh, 0, 1)\*(C'\fR for that.
.Sp
Do not use \f(CW\*(C`tell\*(C'\fR (or other buffered I/O
operations) on a filehandle that has been manipulated by
\&\f(CW\*(C`sysread\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`syswrite\*(C'\fR, or
\&\f(CW\*(C`sysseek\*(C'\fR. Those functions
ignore the buffering, while \f(CW\*(C`tell\*(C'\fR does not.
.IP "telldir \s-1DIRHANDLE\s0" 4
.IX Xref "telldir"
.IX Item "telldir DIRHANDLE"
Returns the current position of the \f(CW\*(C`readdir\*(C'\fR
routines on \s-1DIRHANDLE.\s0 Value may be given to
\&\f(CW\*(C`seekdir\*(C'\fR to access a particular location in
a directory. \f(CW\*(C`telldir\*(C'\fR has the same caveats
about possible directory compaction as the corresponding system library
routine.
.IP "tie \s-1VARIABLE,CLASSNAME,LIST\s0" 4
.IX Xref "tie"
.IX Item "tie VARIABLE,CLASSNAME,LIST"
This function binds a variable to a package class that will provide the
implementation for the variable. \s-1VARIABLE\s0 is the name of the variable
to be enchanted. \s-1CLASSNAME\s0 is the name of a class implementing objects
of correct type. Any additional arguments are passed to the
appropriate constructor
method of the class (meaning \f(CW\*(C`TIESCALAR\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`TIEHANDLE\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`TIEARRAY\*(C'\fR,
or \f(CW\*(C`TIEHASH\*(C'\fR). Typically these are arguments such as might be passed
to the \fBdbm_open\fR\|(3) function of C. The object returned by the
constructor is also returned by the
\&\f(CW\*(C`tie\*(C'\fR function, which would be useful
if you want to access other methods in \s-1CLASSNAME.\s0
.Sp
Note that functions such as \f(CW\*(C`keys\*(C'\fR and
\&\f(CW\*(C`values\*(C'\fR may return huge lists when used on large
objects, like \s-1DBM\s0 files. You may prefer to use the \f(CW\*(C`each\*(C'\fR function to iterate over such. Example:
.Sp
.Vb 6
\& # print out history file offsets
\& use NDBM_File;
\& tie(my %HIST, \*(AqNDBM_File\*(Aq, \*(Aq/usr/lib/news/history\*(Aq, 1, 0);
\& while (my ($key,$val) = each %HIST) {
\& print $key, \*(Aq = \*(Aq, unpack(\*(AqL\*(Aq, $val), "\en";
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
A class implementing a hash should have the following methods:
.Sp
.Vb 11
\& TIEHASH classname, LIST
\& FETCH this, key
\& STORE this, key, value
\& DELETE this, key
\& CLEAR this
\& EXISTS this, key
\& FIRSTKEY this
\& NEXTKEY this, lastkey
\& SCALAR this
\& DESTROY this
\& UNTIE this
.Ve
.Sp
A class implementing an ordinary array should have the following methods:
.Sp
.Vb 10
\& TIEARRAY classname, LIST
\& FETCH this, key
\& STORE this, key, value
\& FETCHSIZE this
\& STORESIZE this, count
\& CLEAR this
\& PUSH this, LIST
\& POP this
\& SHIFT this
\& UNSHIFT this, LIST
\& SPLICE this, offset, length, LIST
\& EXTEND this, count
\& DELETE this, key
\& EXISTS this, key
\& DESTROY this
\& UNTIE this
.Ve
.Sp
A class implementing a filehandle should have the following methods:
.Sp
.Vb 10
\& TIEHANDLE classname, LIST
\& READ this, scalar, length, offset
\& READLINE this
\& GETC this
\& WRITE this, scalar, length, offset
\& PRINT this, LIST
\& PRINTF this, format, LIST
\& BINMODE this
\& EOF this
\& FILENO this
\& SEEK this, position, whence
\& TELL this
\& OPEN this, mode, LIST
\& CLOSE this
\& DESTROY this
\& UNTIE this
.Ve
.Sp
A class implementing a scalar should have the following methods:
.Sp
.Vb 5
\& TIESCALAR classname, LIST
\& FETCH this,
\& STORE this, value
\& DESTROY this
\& UNTIE this
.Ve
.Sp
Not all methods indicated above need be implemented. See perltie,
Tie::Hash, Tie::Array, Tie::Scalar, and Tie::Handle.
.Sp
Unlike \f(CW\*(C`dbmopen\*(C'\fR, the
\&\f(CW\*(C`tie\*(C'\fR function will not
\&\f(CW\*(C`use\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`require\*(C'\fR a
module for you; you need to do that explicitly yourself. See DB_File
or the Config module for interesting
\&\f(CW\*(C`tie\*(C'\fR implementations.
.Sp
For further details see perltie, \f(CW\*(C`tied\*(C'\fR.
.IP "tied \s-1VARIABLE\s0" 4
.IX Xref "tied"
.IX Item "tied VARIABLE"
Returns a reference to the object underlying \s-1VARIABLE\s0 (the same value
that was originally returned by the
\&\f(CW\*(C`tie\*(C'\fR call that bound the variable
to a package.) Returns the undefined value if \s-1VARIABLE\s0 isn't tied to a
package.
.IP "time" 4
.IX Xref "time epoch"
.IX Item "time"
Returns the number of non-leap seconds since whatever time the system
considers to be the epoch, suitable for feeding to
\&\f(CW\*(C`gmtime\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`localtime\*(C'\fR. On most
systems the epoch is 00:00:00 \s-1UTC,\s0 January 1, 1970;
a prominent exception being Mac \s-1OS\s0 Classic which uses 00:00:00, January 1,
1904 in the current local time zone for its epoch.
.Sp
For measuring time in better granularity than one second, use the
Time::HiRes module from Perl 5.8 onwards (or from \s-1CPAN\s0 before then), or,
if you have \fBgettimeofday\fR\|(2), you may be able to use the
\&\f(CW\*(C`syscall\*(C'\fR interface of Perl. See perlfaq8
for details.
.Sp
For date and time processing look at the many related modules on \s-1CPAN.\s0
For a comprehensive date and time representation look at the
DateTime module.
.IP "times" 4
.IX Xref "times"
.IX Item "times"
Returns a four-element list giving the user and system times in
seconds for this process and any exited children of this process.
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& my ($user,$system,$cuser,$csystem) = times;
.Ve
.Sp
In scalar context, \f(CW\*(C`times\*(C'\fR returns \f(CW$user\fR.
.Sp
Children's times are only included for terminated children.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"times\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "tr///" 4
.IX Item "tr///"
The transliteration operator. Same as
\&\f(CW\*(C`y///\*(C'\fR. See
\&\*(L"Quote-Like Operators\*(R" in perlop.
.IP "truncate \s-1FILEHANDLE,LENGTH\s0" 4
.IX Xref "truncate"
.IX Item "truncate FILEHANDLE,LENGTH"
.PD 0
.IP "truncate \s-1EXPR,LENGTH\s0" 4
.IX Item "truncate EXPR,LENGTH"
.PD
Truncates the file opened on \s-1FILEHANDLE,\s0 or named by \s-1EXPR,\s0 to the
specified length. Raises an exception if truncate isn't implemented
on your system. Returns true if successful, \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR on
error.
.Sp
The behavior is undefined if \s-1LENGTH\s0 is greater than the length of the
file.
.Sp
The position in the file of \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0 is left unchanged. You may want to
call seek before writing to the
file.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"truncate\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "uc \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "uc uppercase toupper"
.IX Item "uc EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "uc" 4
.IX Item "uc"
.PD
Returns an uppercased version of \s-1EXPR.\s0 This is the internal function
implementing the \f(CW\*(C`\eU\*(C'\fR escape in double-quoted strings.
It does not attempt to do titlecase mapping on initial letters. See
\&\f(CW\*(C`ucfirst\*(C'\fR for that.
.Sp
If \s-1EXPR\s0 is omitted, uses \f(CW$_\fR.
.Sp
This function behaves the same way under various pragmas, such as in a locale,
as \f(CW\*(C`lc\*(C'\fR does.
.IP "ucfirst \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "ucfirst uppercase"
.IX Item "ucfirst EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "ucfirst" 4
.IX Item "ucfirst"
.PD
Returns the value of \s-1EXPR\s0 with the first character in uppercase
(titlecase in Unicode). This is the internal function implementing
the \f(CW\*(C`\eu\*(C'\fR escape in double-quoted strings.
.Sp
If \s-1EXPR\s0 is omitted, uses \f(CW$_\fR.
.Sp
This function behaves the same way under various pragmas, such as in a locale,
as \f(CW\*(C`lc\*(C'\fR does.
.IP "umask \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "umask"
.IX Item "umask EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "umask" 4
.IX Item "umask"
.PD
Sets the umask for the process to \s-1EXPR\s0 and returns the previous value.
If \s-1EXPR\s0 is omitted, merely returns the current umask.
.Sp
The Unix permission \f(CW\*(C`rwxr\-x\-\-\-\*(C'\fR is represented as three sets of three
bits, or three octal digits: \f(CW0750\fR (the leading 0 indicates octal
and isn't one of the digits). The \f(CW\*(C`umask\*(C'\fR value is such
a number representing disabled permissions bits. The permission (or
\&\*(L"mode\*(R") values you pass \f(CW\*(C`mkdir\*(C'\fR or
\&\f(CW\*(C`sysopen\*(C'\fR are modified by your
umask, so even if you tell
\&\f(CW\*(C`sysopen\*(C'\fR to create a file with
permissions \f(CW0777\fR, if your umask is \f(CW0022\fR, then the file will
actually be created with permissions \f(CW0755\fR. If your
\&\f(CW\*(C`umask\*(C'\fR were \f(CW0027\fR (group can't write; others can't
read, write, or execute), then passing
\&\f(CW\*(C`sysopen\*(C'\fR \f(CW0666\fR would create a
file with mode \f(CW0640\fR (because \f(CW\*(C`0666 &~ 027\*(C'\fR is \f(CW0640\fR).
.Sp
Here's some advice: supply a creation mode of \f(CW0666\fR for regular
files (in \f(CW\*(C`sysopen\*(C'\fR) and one of
\&\f(CW0777\fR for directories (in \f(CW\*(C`mkdir\*(C'\fR) and
executable files. This gives users the freedom of
choice: if they want protected files, they might choose process umasks
of \f(CW022\fR, \f(CW027\fR, or even the particularly antisocial mask of \f(CW077\fR.
Programs should rarely if ever make policy decisions better left to
the user. The exception to this is when writing files that should be
kept private: mail files, web browser cookies, \fI.rhosts\fR files, and
so on.
.Sp
If \fBumask\fR\|(2) is not implemented on your system and you are trying to
restrict access for \fIyourself\fR (i.e., \f(CW\*(C`(EXPR & 0700) > 0\*(C'\fR),
raises an exception. If \fBumask\fR\|(2) is not implemented and you are
not trying to restrict access for yourself, returns
\&\f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
Remember that a umask is a number, usually given in octal; it is \fInot\fR a
string of octal digits. See also \f(CW\*(C`oct\*(C'\fR, if all you have
is a string.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"umask\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "undef \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "undef undefine"
.IX Item "undef EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "undef" 4
.IX Item "undef"
.PD
Undefines the value of \s-1EXPR,\s0 which must be an lvalue. Use only on a
scalar value, an array (using \f(CW\*(C`@\*(C'\fR), a hash (using \f(CW\*(C`%\*(C'\fR), a subroutine
(using \f(CW\*(C`&\*(C'\fR), or a typeglob (using \f(CW\*(C`*\*(C'\fR). Saying \f(CW\*(C`undef $hash{$key}\*(C'\fR
will probably not do what you expect on most predefined variables or
\&\s-1DBM\s0 list values, so don't do that; see \f(CW\*(C`delete\*(C'\fR.
Always returns the undefined value.
You can omit the \s-1EXPR,\s0 in which case nothing is
undefined, but you still get an undefined value that you could, for
instance, return from a subroutine, assign to a variable, or pass as a
parameter. Examples:
.Sp
.Vb 9
\& undef $foo;
\& undef $bar{\*(Aqblurfl\*(Aq}; # Compare to: delete $bar{\*(Aqblurfl\*(Aq};
\& undef @ary;
\& undef %hash;
\& undef &mysub;
\& undef *xyz; # destroys $xyz, @xyz, %xyz, &xyz, etc.
\& return (wantarray ? (undef, $errmsg) : undef) if $they_blew_it;
\& select undef, undef, undef, 0.25;
\& my ($x, $y, undef, $z) = foo(); # Ignore third value returned
.Ve
.Sp
Note that this is a unary operator, not a list operator.
.IP "unlink \s-1LIST\s0" 4
.IX Xref "unlink delete remove rm del"
.IX Item "unlink LIST"
.PD 0
.IP "unlink" 4
.IX Item "unlink"
.PD
Deletes a list of files. On success, it returns the number of files
it successfully deleted. On failure, it returns false and sets
\&\f(CW$!\fR (errno):
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& my $unlinked = unlink \*(Aqa\*(Aq, \*(Aqb\*(Aq, \*(Aqc\*(Aq;
\& unlink @goners;
\& unlink glob "*.bak";
.Ve
.Sp
On error, \f(CW\*(C`unlink\*(C'\fR will not tell you which files it
could not remove.
If you want to know which files you could not remove, try them one
at a time:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& foreach my $file ( @goners ) {
\& unlink $file or warn "Could not unlink $file: $!";
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
Note: \f(CW\*(C`unlink\*(C'\fR will not attempt to delete directories
unless you are
superuser and the \fB\-U\fR flag is supplied to Perl. Even if these
conditions are met, be warned that unlinking a directory can inflict
damage on your filesystem. Finally, using \f(CW\*(C`unlink\*(C'\fR on
directories is not supported on many operating systems. Use
\&\f(CW\*(C`rmdir\*(C'\fR instead.
.Sp
If \s-1LIST\s0 is omitted, \f(CW\*(C`unlink\*(C'\fR uses \f(CW$_\fR.
.IP "unpack \s-1TEMPLATE,EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Xref "unpack"
.IX Item "unpack TEMPLATE,EXPR"
.PD 0
.IP "unpack \s-1TEMPLATE\s0" 4
.IX Item "unpack TEMPLATE"
.PD
\&\f(CW\*(C`unpack\*(C'\fR does the reverse of
\&\f(CW\*(C`pack\*(C'\fR: it takes a string
and expands it out into a list of values.
(In scalar context, it returns merely the first value produced.)
.Sp
If \s-1EXPR\s0 is omitted, unpacks the \f(CW$_\fR string.
See perlpacktut for an introduction to this function.
.Sp
The string is broken into chunks described by the \s-1TEMPLATE.\s0 Each chunk
is converted separately to a value. Typically, either the string is a result
of \f(CW\*(C`pack\*(C'\fR, or the characters of the string
represent a C structure of some kind.
.Sp
The \s-1TEMPLATE\s0 has the same format as in the
\&\f(CW\*(C`pack\*(C'\fR function.
Here's a subroutine that does substring:
.Sp
.Vb 4
\& sub substr {
\& my ($what, $where, $howmuch) = @_;
\& unpack("x$where a$howmuch", $what);
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
and then there's
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& sub ordinal { unpack("W",$_[0]); } # same as ord()
.Ve
.Sp
In addition to fields allowed in \f(CW\*(C`pack\*(C'\fR, you may
prefix a field with a %<number> to indicate that
you want a <number>\-bit checksum of the items instead of the items
themselves. Default is a 16\-bit checksum. The checksum is calculated by
summing numeric values of expanded values (for string fields the sum of
\&\f(CW\*(C`ord($char)\*(C'\fR is taken; for bit fields the sum of zeroes and ones).
.Sp
For example, the following
computes the same number as the System V sum program:
.Sp
.Vb 4
\& my $checksum = do {
\& local $/; # slurp!
\& unpack("%32W*", readline) % 65535;
\& };
.Ve
.Sp
The following efficiently counts the number of set bits in a bit vector:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& my $setbits = unpack("%32b*", $selectmask);
.Ve
.Sp
The \f(CW\*(C`p\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`P\*(C'\fR formats should be used with care. Since Perl
has no way of checking whether the value passed to
\&\f(CW\*(C`unpack\*(C'\fR
corresponds to a valid memory location, passing a pointer value that's
not known to be valid is likely to have disastrous consequences.
.Sp
If there are more pack codes or if the repeat count of a field or a group
is larger than what the remainder of the input string allows, the result
is not well defined: the repeat count may be decreased, or
\&\f(CW\*(C`unpack\*(C'\fR may produce empty strings or zeros,
or it may raise an exception.
If the input string is longer than one described by the \s-1TEMPLATE,\s0
the remainder of that input string is ignored.
.Sp
See \f(CW\*(C`pack\*(C'\fR for more examples and notes.
.IP "unshift \s-1ARRAY,LIST\s0" 4
.IX Xref "unshift"
.IX Item "unshift ARRAY,LIST"
Does the opposite of a \f(CW\*(C`shift\*(C'\fR. Or the opposite of a
\&\f(CW\*(C`push\*(C'\fR,
depending on how you look at it. Prepends list to the front of the
array and returns the new number of elements in the array.
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& unshift(@ARGV, \*(Aq\-e\*(Aq) unless $ARGV[0] =~ /^\-/;
.Ve
.Sp
Note the \s-1LIST\s0 is prepended whole, not one element at a time, so the
prepended elements stay in the same order. Use
\&\f(CW\*(C`reverse\*(C'\fR to do the reverse.
.Sp
Starting with Perl 5.14, an experimental feature allowed
\&\f(CW\*(C`unshift\*(C'\fR to take
a scalar expression. This experiment has been deemed unsuccessful, and was
removed as of Perl 5.24.
.IP "untie \s-1VARIABLE\s0" 4
.IX Xref "untie"
.IX Item "untie VARIABLE"
Breaks the binding between a variable and a package.
(See tie.)
Has no effect if the variable is not tied.
.IP "use Module \s-1VERSION LIST\s0" 4
.IX Xref "use module import"
.IX Item "use Module VERSION LIST"
.PD 0
.IP "use Module \s-1VERSION\s0" 4
.IX Item "use Module VERSION"
.IP "use Module \s-1LIST\s0" 4
.IX Item "use Module LIST"
.IP "use Module" 4
.IX Item "use Module"
.IP "use \s-1VERSION\s0" 4
.IX Item "use VERSION"
.PD
Imports some semantics into the current package from the named module,
generally by aliasing certain subroutine or variable names into your
package. It is exactly equivalent to
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& BEGIN { require Module; Module\->import( LIST ); }
.Ve
.Sp
except that Module \fImust\fR be a bareword.
The importation can be made conditional by using the if module.
.Sp
In the \f(CW\*(C`use VERSION\*(C'\fR form, \s-1VERSION\s0 may be either a v\-string such as
v5.24.1, which will be compared to \f(CW$^V\fR (aka
\&\f(CW$PERL_VERSION\fR), or a numeric argument of the form 5.024001, which will
be compared to \f(CW$]\fR. An exception is raised if \s-1VERSION\s0
is greater than the version of the current Perl interpreter; Perl will
not attempt to parse the rest of the file. Compare with
\&\f(CW\*(C`require\*(C'\fR, which can do a similar check at run
time. Symmetrically, \f(CW\*(C`no VERSION\*(C'\fR allows you to specify that you
want a version of Perl older than the specified one.
.Sp
Specifying \s-1VERSION\s0 as a numeric argument of the form 5.024001 should
generally be avoided as older less readable syntax compared to
v5.24.1. Before perl 5.8.0 released in 2002 the more verbose numeric
form was the only supported syntax, which is why you might see it in
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& use v5.24.1; # compile time version check
\& use 5.24.1; # ditto
\& use 5.024_001; # ditto; older syntax compatible with perl 5.6
.Ve
.Sp
This is often useful if you need to check the current Perl version before
\&\f(CW\*(C`use\*(C'\fRing library modules that won't work
with older versions of Perl.
(We try not to do this more than we have to.)
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`use VERSION\*(C'\fR also lexically enables all features available in the requested
version as defined by the feature pragma, disabling any features
not in the requested version's feature bundle. See feature.
Similarly, if the specified Perl version is greater than or equal to
5.12.0, strictures are enabled lexically as
with \f(CW\*(C`use strict\*(C'\fR. Any explicit use of
\&\f(CW\*(C`use strict\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`no strict\*(C'\fR overrides \f(CW\*(C`use VERSION\*(C'\fR, even if it comes
before it. Later use of \f(CW\*(C`use VERSION\*(C'\fR
will override all behavior of a previous
\&\f(CW\*(C`use VERSION\*(C'\fR, possibly removing the \f(CW\*(C`strict\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`feature\*(C'\fR added by
\&\f(CW\*(C`use VERSION\*(C'\fR. \f(CW\*(C`use VERSION\*(C'\fR does not
load the \fIfeature.pm\fR or \fIstrict.pm\fR
files.
.Sp
The \f(CW\*(C`BEGIN\*(C'\fR forces the \f(CW\*(C`require\*(C'\fR and
\&\f(CW\*(C`import\*(C'\fR to happen at compile time. The
\&\f(CW\*(C`require\*(C'\fR makes sure the module is loaded into
memory if it hasn't been yet. The \f(CW\*(C`import\*(C'\fR is not a
builtin; it's just an ordinary static method
call into the \f(CW\*(C`Module\*(C'\fR package to tell the module to import the list of
features back into the current package. The module can implement its
\&\f(CW\*(C`import\*(C'\fR method any way it likes, though most modules
just choose to derive their \f(CW\*(C`import\*(C'\fR method via
inheritance from the \f(CW\*(C`Exporter\*(C'\fR class that is defined in the
\&\f(CW\*(C`Exporter\*(C'\fR module. See Exporter. If no
\&\f(CW\*(C`import\*(C'\fR method can be found, then the call is skipped,
even if there is an \s-1AUTOLOAD\s0 method.
.Sp
If you do not want to call the package's \f(CW\*(C`import\*(C'\fR
method (for instance,
to stop your namespace from being altered), explicitly supply the empty list:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& use Module ();
.Ve
.Sp
That is exactly equivalent to
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& BEGIN { require Module }
.Ve
.Sp
If the \s-1VERSION\s0 argument is present between Module and \s-1LIST,\s0 then the
\&\f(CW\*(C`use\*(C'\fR will call the \f(CW\*(C`VERSION\*(C'\fR method in
class Module with the given version as an argument:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& use Module 12.34;
.Ve
.Sp
is equivalent to:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& BEGIN { require Module; Module\->VERSION(12.34) }
.Ve
.Sp
The default \f(CW\*(C`VERSION\*(C'\fR method,
inherited from the \f(CW\*(C`UNIVERSAL\*(C'\fR class, croaks if the given
version is larger than the value of the variable \f(CW$Module::VERSION\fR.
.Sp
The \s-1VERSION\s0 argument cannot be an arbitrary expression. It only counts
as a \s-1VERSION\s0 argument if it is a version number literal, starting with
either a digit or \f(CW\*(C`v\*(C'\fR followed by a digit. Anything that doesn't
look like a version literal will be parsed as the start of the \s-1LIST.\s0
Nevertheless, many attempts to use an arbitrary expression as a \s-1VERSION\s0
argument will appear to work, because Exporter's \f(CW\*(C`import\*(C'\fR method
handles numeric arguments specially, performing version checks rather
than treating them as things to export.
.Sp
Again, there is a distinction between omitting \s-1LIST\s0 (\f(CW\*(C`import\*(C'\fR called with no arguments) and an explicit empty \s-1LIST\s0 \f(CW\*(C`()\*(C'\fR
(\f(CW\*(C`import\*(C'\fR not called). Note that there is no comma
after \s-1VERSION\s0!
.Sp
Because this is a wide-open interface, pragmas (compiler directives)
are also implemented this way. Some of the currently implemented
pragmas are:
.Sp
.Vb 8
\& use constant;
\& use diagnostics;
\& use integer;
\& use sigtrap qw(SEGV BUS);
\& use strict qw(subs vars refs);
\& use subs qw(afunc blurfl);
\& use warnings qw(all);
\& use sort qw(stable);
.Ve
.Sp
Some of these pseudo-modules import semantics into the current
block scope (like \f(CW\*(C`strict\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`integer\*(C'\fR, unlike
ordinary modules, which import symbols into the current package (which
are effective through the end of the file).
.Sp
Because \f(CW\*(C`use\*(C'\fR takes effect at compile time,
it doesn't respect the ordinary flow control of the code being compiled.
In particular, putting a \f(CW\*(C`use\*(C'\fR inside the
false branch of a conditional doesn't prevent it
from being processed. If a module or pragma only needs to be loaded
conditionally, this can be done using the if pragma:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& use if $] < 5.008, "utf8";
\& use if WANT_WARNINGS, warnings => qw(all);
.Ve
.Sp
There's a corresponding \f(CW\*(C`no\*(C'\fR declaration
that unimports meanings imported by \f(CW\*(C`use\*(C'\fR,
i.e., it calls \f(CW\*(C`Module\->unimport(LIST)\*(C'\fR instead of
\&\f(CW\*(C`import\*(C'\fR. It behaves just as \f(CW\*(C`import\*(C'\fR
does with \s-1VERSION,\s0 an omitted or empty \s-1LIST,\s0
or no unimport method being found.
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& no integer;
\& no strict \*(Aqrefs\*(Aq;
\& no warnings;
.Ve
.Sp
Care should be taken when using the \f(CW\*(C`no VERSION\*(C'\fR form of \f(CW\*(C`no\*(C'\fR. It is
\&\fIonly\fR meant to be used to assert that the running Perl is of a earlier
version than its argument and \fInot\fR to undo the feature-enabling side effects
of \f(CW\*(C`use VERSION\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
See perlmodlib for a list of standard modules and pragmas. See perlrun
for the \f(CW\*(C`\-M\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`\-m\*(C'\fR command-line options to Perl that give
\&\f(CW\*(C`use\*(C'\fR functionality from the command-line.
.IP "utime \s-1LIST\s0" 4
.IX Xref "utime"
.IX Item "utime LIST"
Changes the access and modification times on each file of a list of
files. The first two elements of the list must be the \s-1NUMERIC\s0 access
and modification times, in that order. Returns the number of files
successfully changed. The inode change time of each file is set
to the current time. For example, this code has the same effect as the
Unix \fBtouch\fR\|(1) command when the files \fIalready exist\fR and belong to
the user running the program:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& #!/usr/bin/perl
\& my $atime = my $mtime = time;
\& utime $atime, $mtime, @ARGV;
.Ve
.Sp
Since Perl 5.8.0, if the first two elements of the list are
\&\f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR,
the \fButime\fR\|(2) syscall from your C library is called with a null second
argument. On most systems, this will set the file's access and
modification times to the current time (i.e., equivalent to the example
above) and will work even on files you don't own provided you have write
permission:
.Sp
.Vb 4
\& for my $file (@ARGV) {
\& utime(undef, undef, $file)
\& || warn "Couldn\*(Aqt touch $file: $!";
\& }
.Ve
.Sp
Under \s-1NFS\s0 this will use the time of the \s-1NFS\s0 server, not the time of
the local machine. If there is a time synchronization problem, the
\&\s-1NFS\s0 server and local machine will have different times. The Unix
\&\fBtouch\fR\|(1) command will in fact normally use this form instead of the
one shown in the first example.
.Sp
Passing only one of the first two elements as \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR is
equivalent to passing a 0 and will not have the effect described when
both are \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR. This also triggers an
uninitialized warning.
.Sp
On systems that support \fBfutimes\fR\|(2), you may pass filehandles among the
files. On systems that don't support \fBfutimes\fR\|(2), passing filehandles raises
an exception. Filehandles must be passed as globs or glob references to be
recognized; barewords are considered filenames.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"utime\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "values \s-1HASH\s0" 4
.IX Xref "values"
.IX Item "values HASH"
.PD 0
.IP "values \s-1ARRAY\s0" 4
.IX Item "values ARRAY"
.PD
In list context, returns a list consisting of all the values of the named
hash. In Perl 5.12 or later only, will also return a list of the values of
an array; prior to that release, attempting to use an array argument will
produce a syntax error. In scalar context, returns the number of values.
.Sp
Hash entries are returned in an apparently random order. The actual random
order is specific to a given hash; the exact same series of operations
on two hashes may result in a different order for each hash. Any insertion
into the hash may change the order, as will any deletion, with the exception
that the most recent key returned by \f(CW\*(C`each\*(C'\fR or
\&\f(CW\*(C`keys\*(C'\fR may be deleted without changing the order. So
long as a given hash is unmodified you may rely on
\&\f(CW\*(C`keys\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`values\*(C'\fR and
\&\f(CW\*(C`each\*(C'\fR to repeatedly return the same order
as each other. See \*(L"Algorithmic Complexity Attacks\*(R" in perlsec for
details on why hash order is randomized. Aside from the guarantees
provided here the exact details of Perl's hash algorithm and the hash
traversal order are subject to change in any release of Perl. Tied hashes
may behave differently to Perl's hashes with respect to changes in order on
insertion and deletion of items.
.Sp
As a side effect, calling \f(CW\*(C`values\*(C'\fR resets the \s-1HASH\s0 or
\&\s-1ARRAY\s0's internal iterator (see \f(CW\*(C`each\*(C'\fR) before yielding the
values. In particular,
calling \f(CW\*(C`values\*(C'\fR in void context resets the iterator
with no other overhead.
.Sp
Apart from resetting the iterator,
\&\f(CW\*(C`values @array\*(C'\fR in list context is the same as plain \f(CW@array\fR.
(We recommend that you use void context \f(CW\*(C`keys @array\*(C'\fR for this, but
reasoned that taking \f(CW\*(C`values @array\*(C'\fR out would require more
documentation than leaving it in.)
.Sp
Note that the values are not copied, which means modifying them will
modify the contents of the hash:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& for (values %hash) { s/foo/bar/g } # modifies %hash values
\& for (@hash{keys %hash}) { s/foo/bar/g } # same
.Ve
.Sp
Starting with Perl 5.14, an experimental feature allowed
\&\f(CW\*(C`values\*(C'\fR to take a
scalar expression. This experiment has been deemed unsuccessful, and was
removed as of Perl 5.24.
.Sp
To avoid confusing would-be users of your code who are running earlier
versions of Perl with mysterious syntax errors, put this sort of thing at
the top of your file to signal that your code will work \fIonly\fR on Perls of
a recent vintage:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& use 5.012; # so keys/values/each work on arrays
.Ve
.Sp
See also \f(CW\*(C`keys\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`each\*(C'\fR, and
\&\f(CW\*(C`sort\*(C'\fR.
.IP "vec \s-1EXPR,OFFSET,BITS\s0" 4
.IX Xref "vec bit bit vector"
.IX Item "vec EXPR,OFFSET,BITS"
Treats the string in \s-1EXPR\s0 as a bit vector made up of elements of
width \s-1BITS\s0 and returns the value of the element specified by \s-1OFFSET\s0
as an unsigned integer. \s-1BITS\s0 therefore specifies the number of bits
that are reserved for each element in the bit vector. This must
be a power of two from 1 to 32 (or 64, if your platform supports
that).
.Sp
If \s-1BITS\s0 is 8, \*(L"elements\*(R" coincide with bytes of the input string.
.Sp
If \s-1BITS\s0 is 16 or more, bytes of the input string are grouped into chunks
of size \s-1BITS/8,\s0 and each group is converted to a number as with
\&\f(CW\*(C`pack\*(C'\fR/\f(CW\*(C`unpack\*(C'\fR with
big-endian formats \f(CW\*(C`n\*(C'\fR/\f(CW\*(C`N\*(C'\fR (and analogously for BITS==64). See
\&\f(CW\*(C`pack\*(C'\fR for details.
.Sp
If bits is 4 or less, the string is broken into bytes, then the bits
of each byte are broken into 8/BITS groups. Bits of a byte are
numbered in a little-endian-ish way, as in \f(CW0x01\fR, \f(CW0x02\fR,
\&\f(CW0x04\fR, \f(CW0x08\fR, \f(CW0x10\fR, \f(CW0x20\fR, \f(CW0x40\fR, \f(CW0x80\fR. For example,
breaking the single input byte \f(CW\*(C`chr(0x36)\*(C'\fR into two groups gives a list
\&\f(CW\*(C`(0x6, 0x3)\*(C'\fR; breaking it into 4 groups gives \f(CW\*(C`(0x2, 0x1, 0x3, 0x0)\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`vec\*(C'\fR may also be assigned to, in which case
parentheses are needed
to give the expression the correct precedence as in
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& vec($image, $max_x * $x + $y, 8) = 3;
.Ve
.Sp
If the selected element is outside the string, the value 0 is returned.
If an element off the end of the string is written to, Perl will first
extend the string with sufficiently many zero bytes. It is an error
to try to write off the beginning of the string (i.e., negative \s-1OFFSET\s0).
.Sp
If the string happens to be encoded as \s-1UTF\-8\s0 internally (and thus has
the \s-1UTF8\s0 flag set), \f(CW\*(C`vec\*(C'\fR tries to convert it
to use a one-byte-per-character internal representation. However, if the
string contains characters with values of 256 or higher, that conversion
will fail, and a deprecation message will be raised. In that situation,
\&\f(CW\*(C`vec\*(C'\fR will operate on the underlying buffer regardless, in its internal
\&\s-1UTF\-8\s0 representation. In Perl 5.32, this will be a fatal error.
.Sp
Strings created with \f(CW\*(C`vec\*(C'\fR can also be
manipulated with the logical
operators \f(CW\*(C`|\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`&\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`^\*(C'\fR, and \f(CW\*(C`~\*(C'\fR. These operators will assume a bit
vector operation is desired when both operands are strings.
See \*(L"Bitwise String Operators\*(R" in perlop.
.Sp
The following code will build up an \s-1ASCII\s0 string saying \f(CW\*(AqPerlPerlPerl\*(Aq\fR.
The comments show the string after each step. Note that this code works
in the same way on big-endian or little-endian machines.
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& my $foo = \*(Aq\*(Aq;
\& vec($foo, 0, 32) = 0x5065726C; # \*(AqPerl\*(Aq
\&
\& # $foo eq "Perl" eq "\ex50\ex65\ex72\ex6C", 32 bits
\& print vec($foo, 0, 8); # prints 80 == 0x50 == ord(\*(AqP\*(Aq)
\&
\& vec($foo, 2, 16) = 0x5065; # \*(AqPerlPe\*(Aq
\& vec($foo, 3, 16) = 0x726C; # \*(AqPerlPerl\*(Aq
\& vec($foo, 8, 8) = 0x50; # \*(AqPerlPerlP\*(Aq
\& vec($foo, 9, 8) = 0x65; # \*(AqPerlPerlPe\*(Aq
\& vec($foo, 20, 4) = 2; # \*(AqPerlPerlPe\*(Aq . "\ex02"
\& vec($foo, 21, 4) = 7; # \*(AqPerlPerlPer\*(Aq
\& # \*(Aqr\*(Aq is "\ex72"
\& vec($foo, 45, 2) = 3; # \*(AqPerlPerlPer\*(Aq . "\ex0c"
\& vec($foo, 93, 1) = 1; # \*(AqPerlPerlPer\*(Aq . "\ex2c"
\& vec($foo, 94, 1) = 1; # \*(AqPerlPerlPerl\*(Aq
\& # \*(Aql\*(Aq is "\ex6c"
.Ve
.Sp
To transform a bit vector into a string or list of 0's and 1's, use these:
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& my $bits = unpack("b*", $vector);
\& my @bits = split(//, unpack("b*", $vector));
.Ve
.Sp
If you know the exact length in bits, it can be used in place of the \f(CW\*(C`*\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
Here is an example to illustrate how the bits actually fall in place:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& #!/usr/bin/perl \-wl
\&
\& print <<\*(AqEOT\*(Aq;
\& 0 1 2 3
\& unpack("V",$_) 01234567890123456789012345678901
\& \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-
\& EOT
\&
\& for $w (0..3) {
\& $width = 2**$w;
\& for ($shift=0; $shift < $width; ++$shift) {
\& for ($off=0; $off < 32/$width; ++$off) {
\& $str = pack("B*", "0"x32);
\& $bits = (1<<$shift);
\& vec($str, $off, $width) = $bits;
\& $res = unpack("b*",$str);
\& $val = unpack("V", $str);
\& write;
\& }
\& }
\& }
\&
\& format STDOUT =
\& vec($_,@#,@#) = @<< == @######### @>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
\& $off, $width, $bits, $val, $res
\& .
\& _\|_END_\|_
.Ve
.Sp
Regardless of the machine architecture on which it runs, the
example above should print the following table:
.Sp
.Vb 10
\& 0 1 2 3
\& unpack("V",$_) 01234567890123456789012345678901
\& \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-
\& vec($_, 0, 1) = 1 == 1 10000000000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 1, 1) = 1 == 2 01000000000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 2, 1) = 1 == 4 00100000000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 3, 1) = 1 == 8 00010000000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 4, 1) = 1 == 16 00001000000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 5, 1) = 1 == 32 00000100000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 6, 1) = 1 == 64 00000010000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 7, 1) = 1 == 128 00000001000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 8, 1) = 1 == 256 00000000100000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 9, 1) = 1 == 512 00000000010000000000000000000000
\& vec($_,10, 1) = 1 == 1024 00000000001000000000000000000000
\& vec($_,11, 1) = 1 == 2048 00000000000100000000000000000000
\& vec($_,12, 1) = 1 == 4096 00000000000010000000000000000000
\& vec($_,13, 1) = 1 == 8192 00000000000001000000000000000000
\& vec($_,14, 1) = 1 == 16384 00000000000000100000000000000000
\& vec($_,15, 1) = 1 == 32768 00000000000000010000000000000000
\& vec($_,16, 1) = 1 == 65536 00000000000000001000000000000000
\& vec($_,17, 1) = 1 == 131072 00000000000000000100000000000000
\& vec($_,18, 1) = 1 == 262144 00000000000000000010000000000000
\& vec($_,19, 1) = 1 == 524288 00000000000000000001000000000000
\& vec($_,20, 1) = 1 == 1048576 00000000000000000000100000000000
\& vec($_,21, 1) = 1 == 2097152 00000000000000000000010000000000
\& vec($_,22, 1) = 1 == 4194304 00000000000000000000001000000000
\& vec($_,23, 1) = 1 == 8388608 00000000000000000000000100000000
\& vec($_,24, 1) = 1 == 16777216 00000000000000000000000010000000
\& vec($_,25, 1) = 1 == 33554432 00000000000000000000000001000000
\& vec($_,26, 1) = 1 == 67108864 00000000000000000000000000100000
\& vec($_,27, 1) = 1 == 134217728 00000000000000000000000000010000
\& vec($_,28, 1) = 1 == 268435456 00000000000000000000000000001000
\& vec($_,29, 1) = 1 == 536870912 00000000000000000000000000000100
\& vec($_,30, 1) = 1 == 1073741824 00000000000000000000000000000010
\& vec($_,31, 1) = 1 == 2147483648 00000000000000000000000000000001
\& vec($_, 0, 2) = 1 == 1 10000000000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 1, 2) = 1 == 4 00100000000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 2, 2) = 1 == 16 00001000000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 3, 2) = 1 == 64 00000010000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 4, 2) = 1 == 256 00000000100000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 5, 2) = 1 == 1024 00000000001000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 6, 2) = 1 == 4096 00000000000010000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 7, 2) = 1 == 16384 00000000000000100000000000000000
\& vec($_, 8, 2) = 1 == 65536 00000000000000001000000000000000
\& vec($_, 9, 2) = 1 == 262144 00000000000000000010000000000000
\& vec($_,10, 2) = 1 == 1048576 00000000000000000000100000000000
\& vec($_,11, 2) = 1 == 4194304 00000000000000000000001000000000
\& vec($_,12, 2) = 1 == 16777216 00000000000000000000000010000000
\& vec($_,13, 2) = 1 == 67108864 00000000000000000000000000100000
\& vec($_,14, 2) = 1 == 268435456 00000000000000000000000000001000
\& vec($_,15, 2) = 1 == 1073741824 00000000000000000000000000000010
\& vec($_, 0, 2) = 2 == 2 01000000000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 1, 2) = 2 == 8 00010000000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 2, 2) = 2 == 32 00000100000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 3, 2) = 2 == 128 00000001000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 4, 2) = 2 == 512 00000000010000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 5, 2) = 2 == 2048 00000000000100000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 6, 2) = 2 == 8192 00000000000001000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 7, 2) = 2 == 32768 00000000000000010000000000000000
\& vec($_, 8, 2) = 2 == 131072 00000000000000000100000000000000
\& vec($_, 9, 2) = 2 == 524288 00000000000000000001000000000000
\& vec($_,10, 2) = 2 == 2097152 00000000000000000000010000000000
\& vec($_,11, 2) = 2 == 8388608 00000000000000000000000100000000
\& vec($_,12, 2) = 2 == 33554432 00000000000000000000000001000000
\& vec($_,13, 2) = 2 == 134217728 00000000000000000000000000010000
\& vec($_,14, 2) = 2 == 536870912 00000000000000000000000000000100
\& vec($_,15, 2) = 2 == 2147483648 00000000000000000000000000000001
\& vec($_, 0, 4) = 1 == 1 10000000000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 1, 4) = 1 == 16 00001000000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 2, 4) = 1 == 256 00000000100000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 3, 4) = 1 == 4096 00000000000010000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 4, 4) = 1 == 65536 00000000000000001000000000000000
\& vec($_, 5, 4) = 1 == 1048576 00000000000000000000100000000000
\& vec($_, 6, 4) = 1 == 16777216 00000000000000000000000010000000
\& vec($_, 7, 4) = 1 == 268435456 00000000000000000000000000001000
\& vec($_, 0, 4) = 2 == 2 01000000000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 1, 4) = 2 == 32 00000100000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 2, 4) = 2 == 512 00000000010000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 3, 4) = 2 == 8192 00000000000001000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 4, 4) = 2 == 131072 00000000000000000100000000000000
\& vec($_, 5, 4) = 2 == 2097152 00000000000000000000010000000000
\& vec($_, 6, 4) = 2 == 33554432 00000000000000000000000001000000
\& vec($_, 7, 4) = 2 == 536870912 00000000000000000000000000000100
\& vec($_, 0, 4) = 4 == 4 00100000000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 1, 4) = 4 == 64 00000010000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 2, 4) = 4 == 1024 00000000001000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 3, 4) = 4 == 16384 00000000000000100000000000000000
\& vec($_, 4, 4) = 4 == 262144 00000000000000000010000000000000
\& vec($_, 5, 4) = 4 == 4194304 00000000000000000000001000000000
\& vec($_, 6, 4) = 4 == 67108864 00000000000000000000000000100000
\& vec($_, 7, 4) = 4 == 1073741824 00000000000000000000000000000010
\& vec($_, 0, 4) = 8 == 8 00010000000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 1, 4) = 8 == 128 00000001000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 2, 4) = 8 == 2048 00000000000100000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 3, 4) = 8 == 32768 00000000000000010000000000000000
\& vec($_, 4, 4) = 8 == 524288 00000000000000000001000000000000
\& vec($_, 5, 4) = 8 == 8388608 00000000000000000000000100000000
\& vec($_, 6, 4) = 8 == 134217728 00000000000000000000000000010000
\& vec($_, 7, 4) = 8 == 2147483648 00000000000000000000000000000001
\& vec($_, 0, 8) = 1 == 1 10000000000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 1, 8) = 1 == 256 00000000100000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 2, 8) = 1 == 65536 00000000000000001000000000000000
\& vec($_, 3, 8) = 1 == 16777216 00000000000000000000000010000000
\& vec($_, 0, 8) = 2 == 2 01000000000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 1, 8) = 2 == 512 00000000010000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 2, 8) = 2 == 131072 00000000000000000100000000000000
\& vec($_, 3, 8) = 2 == 33554432 00000000000000000000000001000000
\& vec($_, 0, 8) = 4 == 4 00100000000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 1, 8) = 4 == 1024 00000000001000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 2, 8) = 4 == 262144 00000000000000000010000000000000
\& vec($_, 3, 8) = 4 == 67108864 00000000000000000000000000100000
\& vec($_, 0, 8) = 8 == 8 00010000000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 1, 8) = 8 == 2048 00000000000100000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 2, 8) = 8 == 524288 00000000000000000001000000000000
\& vec($_, 3, 8) = 8 == 134217728 00000000000000000000000000010000
\& vec($_, 0, 8) = 16 == 16 00001000000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 1, 8) = 16 == 4096 00000000000010000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 2, 8) = 16 == 1048576 00000000000000000000100000000000
\& vec($_, 3, 8) = 16 == 268435456 00000000000000000000000000001000
\& vec($_, 0, 8) = 32 == 32 00000100000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 1, 8) = 32 == 8192 00000000000001000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 2, 8) = 32 == 2097152 00000000000000000000010000000000
\& vec($_, 3, 8) = 32 == 536870912 00000000000000000000000000000100
\& vec($_, 0, 8) = 64 == 64 00000010000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 1, 8) = 64 == 16384 00000000000000100000000000000000
\& vec($_, 2, 8) = 64 == 4194304 00000000000000000000001000000000
\& vec($_, 3, 8) = 64 == 1073741824 00000000000000000000000000000010
\& vec($_, 0, 8) = 128 == 128 00000001000000000000000000000000
\& vec($_, 1, 8) = 128 == 32768 00000000000000010000000000000000
\& vec($_, 2, 8) = 128 == 8388608 00000000000000000000000100000000
\& vec($_, 3, 8) = 128 == 2147483648 00000000000000000000000000000001
.Ve
.IP "wait" 4
.IX Xref "wait"
.IX Item "wait"
Behaves like \fBwait\fR\|(2) on your system: it waits for a child
process to terminate and returns the pid of the deceased process, or
\&\f(CW\*(C`\-1\*(C'\fR if there are no child processes. The status is returned in
\&\f(CW$?\fR and
\&\f(CW\*(C`${^CHILD_ERROR_NATIVE}\*(C'\fR.
Note that a return value of \f(CW\*(C`\-1\*(C'\fR could mean that child processes are
being automatically reaped, as described in perlipc.
.Sp
If you use \f(CW\*(C`wait\*(C'\fR in your handler for
\&\f(CW$SIG{CHLD}\fR, it may accidentally wait for the child
created by \f(CW\*(C`qx\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`system\*(C'\fR.
See perlipc for details.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"wait\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "waitpid \s-1PID,FLAGS\s0" 4
.IX Xref "waitpid"
.IX Item "waitpid PID,FLAGS"
Waits for a particular child process to terminate and returns the pid of
the deceased process, or \f(CW\*(C`\-1\*(C'\fR if there is no such child process. A
non-blocking wait (with \s-1WNOHANG\s0 in \s-1FLAGS\s0) can return 0 if
there are child processes matching \s-1PID\s0 but none have terminated yet.
The status is returned in \f(CW$?\fR and
\&\f(CW\*(C`${^CHILD_ERROR_NATIVE}\*(C'\fR.
.Sp
A \s-1PID\s0 of \f(CW0\fR indicates to wait for any child process whose process group \s-1ID\s0 is
equal to that of the current process. A \s-1PID\s0 of less than \f(CW\*(C`\-1\*(C'\fR indicates to
wait for any child process whose process group \s-1ID\s0 is equal to \-PID. A \s-1PID\s0 of
\&\f(CW\*(C`\-1\*(C'\fR indicates to wait for any child process.
.Sp
If you say
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& use POSIX ":sys_wait_h";
\&
\& my $kid;
\& do {
\& $kid = waitpid(\-1, WNOHANG);
\& } while $kid > 0;
.Ve
.Sp
or
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& 1 while waitpid(\-1, WNOHANG) > 0;
.Ve
.Sp
then you can do a non-blocking wait for all pending zombie processes (see
\&\*(L"\s-1WAIT\*(R"\s0 in \s-1POSIX\s0).
Non-blocking wait is available on machines supporting either the
\&\fBwaitpid\fR\|(2) or \fBwait4\fR\|(2) syscalls. However, waiting for a particular
pid with \s-1FLAGS\s0 of \f(CW0\fR is implemented everywhere. (Perl emulates the
system call by remembering the status values of processes that have
exited but have not been harvested by the Perl script yet.)
.Sp
Note that on some systems, a return value of \f(CW\*(C`\-1\*(C'\fR could mean that child
processes are being automatically reaped. See perlipc for details,
and for other examples.
.Sp
Portability issues: \*(L"waitpid\*(R" in perlport.
.IP "wantarray" 4
.IX Xref "wantarray context"
.IX Item "wantarray"
Returns true if the context of the currently executing subroutine or
\&\f(CW\*(C`eval\*(C'\fR is looking for a list value. Returns false if the
context is
looking for a scalar. Returns the undefined value if the context is
looking for no value (void context).
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& return unless defined wantarray; # don\*(Aqt bother doing more
\& my @a = complex_calculation();
\& return wantarray ? @a : "@a";
.Ve
.Sp
\&\f(CW\*(C`wantarray\*(C'\fR's result is unspecified in the top level of a file,
in a \f(CW\*(C`BEGIN\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`UNITCHECK\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`CHECK\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`INIT\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`END\*(C'\fR block, or
in a \f(CW\*(C`DESTROY\*(C'\fR method.
.Sp
This function should have been named \fBwantlist()\fR instead.
.IP "warn \s-1LIST\s0" 4
.IX Xref "warn warning STDERR"
.IX Item "warn LIST"
Emits a warning, usually by printing it to \f(CW\*(C`STDERR\*(C'\fR. \f(CW\*(C`warn\*(C'\fR interprets
its operand \s-1LIST\s0 in the same way as \f(CW\*(C`die\*(C'\fR, but is slightly different
in what it defaults to when \s-1LIST\s0 is empty or makes an empty string.
If it is empty and \f(CW$@\fR already contains an exception
value then that value is used after appending \f(CW"\et...caught"\fR. If it
is empty and \f(CW$@\fR is also empty then the string \f(CW"Warning: Something\*(Aqs
wrong"\fR is used.
.Sp
By default, the exception derived from the operand \s-1LIST\s0 is stringified
and printed to \f(CW\*(C`STDERR\*(C'\fR. This behaviour can be altered by installing
a \f(CW$SIG{_\|_WARN_\|_}\fR handler. If there is such a
handler then no message is automatically printed; it is the handler's
responsibility to deal with the exception
as it sees fit (like, for instance, converting it into a
\&\f(CW\*(C`die\*(C'\fR). Most
handlers must therefore arrange to actually display the
warnings that they are not prepared to deal with, by calling
\&\f(CW\*(C`warn\*(C'\fR
again in the handler. Note that this is quite safe and will not
produce an endless loop, since \f(CW\*(C`_\|_WARN_\|_\*(C'\fR hooks are not called from
inside one.
.Sp
You will find this behavior is slightly different from that of
\&\f(CW$SIG{_\|_DIE_\|_}\fR handlers (which don't suppress the
error text, but can instead call \f(CW\*(C`die\*(C'\fR again to change
it).
.Sp
Using a \f(CW\*(C`_\|_WARN_\|_\*(C'\fR handler provides a powerful way to silence all
warnings (even the so-called mandatory ones). An example:
.Sp
.Vb 7
\& # wipe out *all* compile\-time warnings
\& BEGIN { $SIG{\*(Aq_\|_WARN_\|_\*(Aq} = sub { warn $_[0] if $DOWARN } }
\& my $foo = 10;
\& my $foo = 20; # no warning about duplicate my $foo,
\& # but hey, you asked for it!
\& # no compile\-time or run\-time warnings before here
\& $DOWARN = 1;
\&
\& # run\-time warnings enabled after here
\& warn "\e$foo is alive and $foo!"; # does show up
.Ve
.Sp
See perlvar for details on setting \f(CW%SIG\fR entries
and for more
examples. See the Carp module for other kinds of warnings using its
\&\f(CW\*(C`carp\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`cluck\*(C'\fR functions.
.IP "write \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0" 4
.IX Xref "write"
.IX Item "write FILEHANDLE"
.PD 0
.IP "write \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
.IX Item "write EXPR"
.IP "write" 4
.IX Item "write"
.PD
Writes a formatted record (possibly multi-line) to the specified \s-1FILEHANDLE,\s0
using the format associated with that file. By default the format for
a file is the one having the same name as the filehandle, but the
format for the current output channel (see the
\&\f(CW\*(C`select\*(C'\fR function) may be set explicitly by
assigning the name of the format to the \f(CW$~\fR variable.
.Sp
Top of form processing is handled automatically: if there is insufficient
room on the current page for the formatted record, the page is advanced by
writing a form feed and a special top-of-page
format is used to format the new
page header before the record is written. By default, the top-of-page
format is the name of the filehandle with \f(CW\*(C`_TOP\*(C'\fR appended, or \f(CW\*(C`top\*(C'\fR
in the current package if the former does not exist. This would be a
problem with autovivified filehandles, but it may be dynamically set to the
format of your choice by assigning the name to the \f(CW$^\fR
variable while that filehandle is selected. The number of lines
remaining on the current page is in variable \f(CW\*(C`$\-\*(C'\fR, which
can be set to \f(CW0\fR to force a new page.
.Sp
If \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0 is unspecified, output goes to the current default output
channel, which starts out as \s-1STDOUT\s0 but may be changed by the
\&\f(CW\*(C`select\*(C'\fR operator. If the \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0 is an \s-1EXPR,\s0
then the expression
is evaluated and the resulting string is used to look up the name of
the \s-1FILEHANDLE\s0 at run time. For more on formats, see perlform.
.Sp
Note that write is \fInot\fR the opposite of
\&\f(CW\*(C`read\*(C'\fR. Unfortunately.
.IP "y///" 4
.IX Item "y///"
The transliteration operator. Same as
\&\f(CW\*(C`tr///\*(C'\fR. See
\&\*(L"Quote-Like Operators\*(R" in perlop.
.SS "Non-function Keywords by Cross-reference"
.IX Subsection "Non-function Keywords by Cross-reference"
\fIperldata\fR
.IX Subsection "perldata"
.IP "_\|_DATA_\|_" 4
.IX Item "__DATA__"
.PD 0
.IP "_\|_END_\|_" 4
.IX Item "__END__"
.PD
These keywords are documented in \*(L"Special Literals\*(R" in perldata.
.PP
\fIperlmod\fR
.IX Subsection "perlmod"
.IP "\s-1BEGIN\s0" 4
.IX Item "BEGIN"
.PD 0
.IP "\s-1CHECK\s0" 4
.IX Item "CHECK"
.IP "\s-1END\s0" 4
.IX Item "END"
.IP "\s-1INIT\s0" 4
.IX Item "INIT"
.IP "\s-1UNITCHECK\s0" 4
.IX Item "UNITCHECK"
.PD
These compile phase keywords are documented in \*(L"\s-1BEGIN, UNITCHECK, CHECK, INIT\s0 and \s-1END\*(R"\s0 in perlmod.
.PP
\fIperlobj\fR
.IX Subsection "perlobj"
.IP "\s-1DESTROY\s0" 4
.IX Item "DESTROY"
This method keyword is documented in \*(L"Destructors\*(R" in perlobj.
.PP
\fIperlop\fR
.IX Subsection "perlop"
.IP "and" 4
.IX Item "and"
.PD 0
.IP "cmp" 4
.IX Item "cmp"
.IP "eq" 4
.IX Item "eq"
.IP "ge" 4
.IX Item "ge"
.IP "gt" 4
.IX Item "gt"
.IP "le" 4
.IX Item "le"
.IP "lt" 4
.IX Item "lt"
.IP "ne" 4
.IX Item "ne"
.IP "not" 4
.IX Item "not"
.IP "or" 4
.IX Item "or"
.IP "x" 4
.IX Item "x"
.IP "xor" 4
.IX Item "xor"
.PD
These operators are documented in perlop.
.PP
\fIperlsub\fR
.IX Subsection "perlsub"
.IP "\s-1AUTOLOAD\s0" 4
.IX Item "AUTOLOAD"
This keyword is documented in \*(L"Autoloading\*(R" in perlsub.
.PP
\fIperlsyn\fR
.IX Subsection "perlsyn"
.IP "else" 4
.IX Item "else"
.PD 0
.IP "elsif" 4
.IX Item "elsif"
.IP "for" 4
.IX Item "for"
.IP "foreach" 4
.IX Item "foreach"
.IP "if" 4
.IX Item "if"
.IP "unless" 4
.IX Item "unless"
.IP "until" 4
.IX Item "until"
.IP "while" 4
.IX Item "while"
.PD
These flow-control keywords are documented in \*(L"Compound Statements\*(R" in perlsyn.
.IP "elseif" 4
.IX Item "elseif"
The \*(L"else if\*(R" keyword is spelled \f(CW\*(C`elsif\*(C'\fR in Perl. There's no \f(CW\*(C`elif\*(C'\fR
or \f(CW\*(C`else if\*(C'\fR either. It does parse \f(CW\*(C`elseif\*(C'\fR, but only to warn you
about not using it.
.Sp
See the documentation for flow-control keywords in \*(L"Compound
Statements\*(R" in perlsyn.
.IP "default" 4
.IX Item "default"
.PD 0
.IP "given" 4
.IX Item "given"
.IP "when" 4
.IX Item "when"
.PD
These flow-control keywords related to the experimental switch feature are
documented in \*(L"Switch Statements\*(R" in perlsyn.