NAME

PDL::Doc::Perldl - commands for accessing PDL doc database from 'perldl' shell

DESCRIPTION

This module provides a set of functions to access the PDL documentation database, for use from the perldl shell as well as the pdldoc command-line program.

Autoload files are also matched, via a search of the PDLLIB autoloader tree. That behavior can be switched off with the variable $PERLDL::STRICT_DOCS (true: don't search autoload tree; false: search the autoload tree.)

In the interest of brevity, functions that print module names (at the moment just "apropos" and "usage") use some shorthand notation for module names. Currently-implemented shorthands are

• P:: (short for PDL::)

• P::G:: (short for PDL::Graphics::)

To turn this feature off, set the variable $PERLDL::long_mod_names to a true value. The feature is assumed to be on for the purposes of this documentation.

SYNOPSIS

use PDL::Doc::Perldl; # Load all documentation functions

FUNCTIONS

apropos

Regex search PDL documentation database

apropos 'text'

pdl> apropos 'pic'
PDL::IO::Pic    P::IO::Pic  Module: image I/O for PDL
grabpic3d       P::G::TriD  Grab a 3D image from the screen.
rim             P::IO::Pic  Read images in most formats, with improved RGB handling.
rpic            P::IO::Pic  Read images in many formats with automatic format detection.
rpiccan         P::IO::Pic  Test which image formats can be read/written
wim             P::IO::Pic  Write a pdl to an image file with selected type (or using filename extensions)
wmpeg           P::IO::Pic  Write an image sequence (a (3,x,y,n) byte pdl) as an animation.
wpic            P::IO::Pic  Write images in many formats with automatic format selection.
wpiccan         P::IO::Pic  Test which image formats can be read/written

To find all the manuals that come with PDL, try

apropos 'manual:'

and to get quick info about PDL modules say

apropos 'module:'

You get more detailed info about a PDL function/module/manual with the help function

PDL::Doc::Perldl::search_docs

Internal routine to search docs database and autoload files

PDL::Doc::Perldl::finddoc

Internal interface to the PDL documentation searcher

find_autodoc

Internal routine that finds and returns documentation in the PDL::AutoLoader path, if it exists.

You feed in a topic and it searches for the file "${topic}.pdl". If that exists, then the filename gets returned in a match structure appropriate for the rest of finddoc.

usage, badinfo

Prints usage information for a PDL function

Usage: usage func

pdl> usage inner
inner           P::Primitive  Inner product over one dimension
  Signature:
    (a(n); b(n); [o]c())
     Types: (sbyte byte short ushort long ulong indx ulonglong longlong
       float double ldouble cfloat cdouble cldouble)
  Usage:
    $c = inner($a, $b);
    inner($a, $b, $c);  # all arguments given
    $c = $a->inner($b); # method call
    $a->inner($b, $c);
  Bad value support:
    If "a() * b()" contains only bad data,
    c() is set bad. Otherwise c() will have its bad flag cleared,
    as it will not contain any bad values.

sig

prints signature of PDL function

sig 'func'

The signature is the normal dimensionality of the function's arguments. Calling with different dimensions doesn't break -- it causes broadcasting. See PDL::PP and PDL::Broadcasting for details.

pdl> sig 'outer'
  Signature: outer(a(n); b(m); [o]c(n,m))

whatis

Describe a perl and/or PDL variable or expression. Useful for determining the type of an expression, identifying the keys in a hash or a data structure, or examining WTF an unknown object is.

Usage: whatis $var
       whatis <expression>

help

print documentation about a PDL function or module or show a PDL manual

In the case of multiple matches, the first command found is printed out, and the remaining commands listed, along with the names of their modules.

Usage: help 'func'

pdl> help 'PDL::Tutorials' # show the guide to PDL tutorials
pdl> help 'PDL::Slices'    # show the docs in the PDL::Slices module
pdl> help 'slice'          # show docs on the 'slice' function

cpanm PDL

perl -MCPAN -e shell
install PDL