NAME

Net::BitTorrent::File - Object for manipulating .torrent files

SYNOPSIS

use Net::BitTorrent::File

# Empty N::BT::File object, ready to be filled with info
my $torrent = new Net::BitTorrent::File;

# Or, create one from a existing .torrent file
my $fromfile = new Net::BitTorrent::File ('somefile.torrent');

$torrent->name('Some_File_to_distribute.tar.gz');
$torrent->announce('http://address.of.tracker:6695');
# etc.

print $torrent->name()."\n";
# would print "Some_File_to_distribute.tar.gz" in this case.

DESCRIPTION

This module handles loading and saveing of .torrent files as well as providing a convenient way to store torrent file info in memory. Most users of the module will most likely just call the new method with the name of a existing torrent file and use the data from that.

USAGE

The same method is used for setting and retrieving a value, and the methods have the same name as the key in the torrent file, such as name(), and announce(). If the method is called with no arguments or a undefined value, then the current value is returned, otherwise its set to the value passed in.

There are two methods for generating info based on torrent data, but not stored within the torrent itself. These are gen_info_hash() and gen_pieces_array(). You can use the methods info_hash() and pieces_array() to return the calculated values after calling there respective gen_X() methods.

info_hash() returns the SHA1 hash of the info portion of the torrent which is used in the bittorrent protocol.

pieces_array() returns a array ref of the pieces field of the torrent split into the individual 20 byte SHA1 hashes. For further details on what exactly these are used for, see the docs for the bittorrent protocol mentioned in the SEE ALSO section.

Methods

• new( [$filename] )

  Creates a new Net::BitTorrent::File object, and if a filename is supplied will call the load method with that filename.

• load( $filename )

  Loads the file passed into it and generates the info_hash and pieces_array propertys.

• save( $filename )

  Saves the torrent to $filename. Note that info_hash and pieces_array are not saved to the torrent file and must be regenerated when the torrent is loaded (but the load() method does this for you anyway).

• info_hash( [$new_value] )

  When called with no arguments returns the info_hash value, otherwise it sets it to the value in $new_value. Note: Its very unlikely anyone will be using to set the value of info_hash, rather you should populate all the info fields then call gen_info_hash() to set this property.

• gen_info_hash( )

  Calculates the SHA1 hash of the torrents info field and stores this in the info_hash property which can be retrieved using the info_hash() method.

• pieces_array( [$new_array] )

  When called with no arguments returns a array ref whose values are the SHA1 hashes contained in the pieces property. To set this value, do not use this method, rather use the gen_pieces_array() method, after setting the pieces property.

• gen_pieces_array( )

  Divides the pieces property into its component 20 byte SHA1 hashes, and stores them as a array ref in the pieces_array property.

• name( [$value] )

  When called with no arguments returns the name propertys current value, else it sets it to $value. If this value is changed, the info_hash property needs to be regenerated.

• announce( [$value] )

  When called with no arguments returns the announce propertys current value, else it sets it to $value.

• piece_length( [$value] )

  When called with no arguments returns the piece_length propertys current value, else it sets it to $value. If this value is changed, the info_hash property needs to be regenerated.

• length( [$value] )

  When called with no arguments returns the length propertys current value, else it sets it to $value. If this value is changed, the info_hash property needs to be regenerated.

• pieces( [$value] )

  When called with no arguments returns the pieces propertys current value, else it sets it to $value. If this value is changed, the info_hash and pieces_array propertys need to be regenerated.

• files( [$value] )

  When called with no arguments returns the files propertys current value, else it sets it to $value. $value should be a array ref filled with hash refs containing the keys path and length. If this value is changed, the info_hash property needs to be regenerated.

• info( [$value] )

  When called with no arguments returns the info propertys current value, else it sets it to $value. $value should be a hash ref containing the keys files, pieces, length, piece_length, and name. If this value is changed, the info_hash property needs to be regenerated.

BUGS

None that I know of yet.

SUPPORT

Any bugs/suggestions/problems, feel free to send me a e-mail, I'm usually glad to help, and enjoy hearing from people using my code. My e-mail is listed in the AUTHOR section.

AUTHOR

R. Kyle Murphy
orclev@rejectedmaterial.com

COPYRIGHT

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

The full text of the license can be found in the LICENSE file included with this module.

SEE ALSO

Convert::Bencode, http://bitconjurer.org/BitTorrent/protocol.html