NAME
Path::Class::File - Objects representing files
VERSION
version 0.37
SYNOPSIS
use Path::Class; # Exports file() by default
my $file = file('foo', 'bar.txt'); # Path::Class::File object
my $file = Path::Class::File->new('foo', 'bar.txt'); # Same thing
# Stringifies to 'foo/bar.txt' on Unix, 'foo\bar.txt' on Windows, etc.
print "file: $file\n";
if ($file->is_absolute) { ... }
if ($file->is_relative) { ... }
my $v = $file->volume; # Could be 'C:' on Windows, empty string
# on Unix, 'Macintosh HD:' on Mac OS
$file->cleanup; # Perform logical cleanup of pathname
$file->resolve; # Perform physical cleanup of pathname
my $dir = $file->dir; # A Path::Class::Dir object
my $abs = $file->absolute; # Transform to absolute path
my $rel = $file->relative; # Transform to relative path
DESCRIPTION
The Path::Class::File
class contains functionality for manipulating file names in a cross-platform way.
METHODS
- $file = Path::Class::File->new( <dir1>, <dir2>, ..., <file> )
- $file = file( <dir1>, <dir2>, ..., <file> )
-
Creates a new
Path::Class::File
object and returns it. The arguments specify the path to the file. Any volume may also be specified as the first argument, or as part of the first argument. You can use platform-neutral syntax:my $file = file( 'foo', 'bar', 'baz.txt' );
or platform-native syntax:
my $file = file( 'foo/bar/baz.txt' );
or a mixture of the two:
my $file = file( 'foo/bar', 'baz.txt' );
All three of the above examples create relative paths. To create an absolute path, either use the platform native syntax for doing so:
my $file = file( '/var/tmp/foo.txt' );
or use an empty string as the first argument:
my $file = file( '', 'var', 'tmp', 'foo.txt' );
If the second form seems awkward, that's somewhat intentional - paths like
/var/tmp
or\Windows
aren't cross-platform concepts in the first place, so they probably shouldn't appear in your code if you're trying to be cross-platform. The first form is perfectly fine, because paths like this may come from config files, user input, or whatever. - $file->stringify
-
This method is called internally when a
Path::Class::File
object is used in a string context, so the following are equivalent:$string = $file->stringify; $string = "$file";
- $file->volume
-
Returns the volume (e.g.
C:
on Windows,Macintosh HD:
on Mac OS, etc.) of the object, if any. Otherwise, returns the empty string. - $file->basename
-
Returns the name of the file as a string, without the directory portion (if any).
- $file->components
-
Returns a list of the directory components of this file, followed by the basename.
Note: unlike
$dir->components
, this method currently does not accept any arguments to select which elements of the list will be returned. It may do so in the future. Currently it throws an exception if such arguments are present. - $file->is_dir
-
Returns a boolean value indicating whether this object represents a directory. Not surprisingly,
Path::Class::File
objects always return false, and Path::Class::Dir objects always return true. - $file->is_absolute
-
Returns true or false depending on whether the file refers to an absolute path specifier (like
/usr/local/foo.txt
or\Windows\Foo.txt
). - $file->is_relative
-
Returns true or false depending on whether the file refers to a relative path specifier (like
lib/foo.txt
or.\Foo.txt
). - $file->cleanup
-
Performs a logical cleanup of the file path. For instance:
my $file = file('/foo//baz/./foo.txt')->cleanup; # $file now represents '/foo/baz/foo.txt';
- $dir->resolve
-
Performs a physical cleanup of the file path. For instance:
my $file = file('/foo/baz/../foo.txt')->resolve; # $file now represents '/foo/foo.txt', assuming no symlinks
This actually consults the filesystem to verify the validity of the path.
- $dir = $file->dir
-
Returns a
Path::Class::Dir
object representing the directory containing this file. - $dir = $file->parent
-
A synonym for the
dir()
method. - $abs = $file->absolute
-
Returns a
Path::Class::File
object representing$file
as an absolute path. An optional argument, given as either a string or a Path::Class::Dir object, specifies the directory to use as the base of relativity - otherwise the current working directory will be used. - $rel = $file->relative
-
Returns a
Path::Class::File
object representing$file
as a relative path. An optional argument, given as either a string or aPath::Class::Dir
object, specifies the directory to use as the base of relativity - otherwise the current working directory will be used. - $foreign = $file->as_foreign($type)
-
Returns a
Path::Class::File
object representing$file
as it would be specified on a system of type$type
. Known types includeUnix
,Win32
,Mac
,VMS
, andOS2
, i.e. anything for which there is a subclass ofFile::Spec
.Any generated objects (subdirectories, files, parents, etc.) will also retain this type.
- $foreign = Path::Class::File->new_foreign($type, @args)
-
Returns a
Path::Class::File
object representing a file as it would be specified on a system of type$type
. Known types includeUnix
,Win32
,Mac
,VMS
, andOS2
, i.e. anything for which there is a subclass ofFile::Spec
.The arguments in
@args
are the same as they would be specified innew()
. - $fh = $file->open($mode, $permissions)
-
Passes the given arguments, including
$file
, toIO::File->new
(which in turn callsIO::File->open
and returns the result as an IO::File object. If the opening fails,undef
is returned and$!
is set. - $fh = $file->openr()
-
A shortcut for
$fh = $file->open('r') or croak "Can't read $file: $!";
- $fh = $file->openw()
-
A shortcut for
$fh = $file->open('w') or croak "Can't write to $file: $!";
- $fh = $file->opena()
-
A shortcut for
$fh = $file->open('a') or croak "Can't append to $file: $!";
- $file->touch
-
Sets the modification and access time of the given file to right now, if the file exists. If it doesn't exist,
touch()
will make it exist, and - YES! - set its modification and access time to now. - $file->slurp()
-
In a scalar context, returns the contents of
$file
in a string. In a list context, returns the lines of$file
(according to how$/
is set) as a list. If the file can't be read, this method will throw an exception.If you want
chomp()
run on each line of the file, pass a true value for thechomp
orchomped
parameters:my @lines = $file->slurp(chomp => 1);
You may also use the
iomode
parameter to pass in an IO mode to use when opening the file, usually IO layers (though anything accepted by the MODE argument ofopen()
is accepted here). Just make sure it's a reading mode.my @lines = $file->slurp(iomode => ':crlf'); my $lines = $file->slurp(iomode => '<:encoding(UTF-8)');
The default
iomode
isr
.Lines can also be automatically split, mimicking the perl command-line option
-a
by using thesplit
parameter. If this parameter is used, each line will be returned as an array ref.my @lines = $file->slurp( chomp => 1, split => qr/\s*,\s*/ );
The
split
parameter can only be used in a list context. - $file->spew( $content );
-
The opposite of "slurp", this takes a list of strings and prints them to the file in write mode. If the file can't be written to, this method will throw an exception.
The content to be written can be either an array ref or a plain scalar. If the content is an array ref then each entry in the array will be written to the file.
You may use the
iomode
parameter to pass in an IO mode to use when opening the file, just like "slurp" supports.$file->spew(iomode => '>:raw', $content);
The default
iomode
isw
. - $file->spew_lines( $content );
-
Just like
spew
, but, if $content is a plain scalar, appends $/ to it, or, if $content is an array ref, appends $/ to each element of the array.Can also take an
iomode
parameter likespew
. Again, the defaultiomode
isw
. - $file->traverse(sub { ... }, @args)
-
Calls the given callback on $file. This doesn't do much on its own, but see the associated documentation in Path::Class::Dir.
- $file->remove()
-
This method will remove the file in a way that works well on all platforms, and returns a boolean value indicating whether or not the file was successfully removed.
remove()
is better than simply calling Perl'sunlink()
function, because on some platforms (notably VMS) you actually may need to callunlink()
several times before all versions of the file are gone - theremove()
method handles this process for you. - $st = $file->stat()
-
Invokes
File::stat::stat()
on this file and returns a File::stat object representing the result. - $st = $file->lstat()
-
Same as
stat()
, but if$file
is a symbolic link,lstat()
stats the link instead of the file the link points to. - $class = $file->dir_class()
-
Returns the class which should be used to create directory objects.
Generally overridden whenever this class is subclassed.
- $copy = $file->copy_to( $dest );
-
Copies the
$file
to$dest
. It returns a Path::Class::File object when successful,undef
otherwise. - $moved = $file->move_to( $dest );
-
Moves the
$file
to$dest
, and updates$file
accordingly.It returns
$file
is successful,undef
otherwise.
AUTHOR
Ken Williams, kwilliams@cpan.org