NAME

Path::Class::Versioned - A simple module for managing versioned file names

SYNOPSIS

use Path::Class::Versioned;

# typical usage for files ...

my $v = Path::Class::Versioned->new(
    name_pattern => [ 'MyBackups-v', undef, '.zip' ],
    parent       => [ $FindBin::Bin, 'backups' ] # coerced into Path::Class::Dir
);

# create the next filename in the
# sequence as specified by the
# name pattern above.
my $next_file_name = $v->next_name; # defaults to files ...

# create an instance of Path::Class::File
# that represents that next file name
my $file = $v->next_file;

# typical usage for directories ...

my $v = Path::Class::Versioned->new(
    name_pattern => [ 'MyBackupDirectory-v', undef ],
    parent       => Path::Class::Dir->new() # will use current dir
);

# just like the file example, but
# tell it to match against directories
# instead of files
my $next_dir_name = $v->next_name(dir => 1);

# create an instance of Path::Class::Dir
# that represents that next directory name
my $subdir = $v->next_dir;

DESCRIPTION

C'mon, you know you have done this too, so why bother writing it over and over again, just use this module.

This module aims to provide a simple, yet sophisticated way of creating and managing versioned files by name. It is a poor substitute for using a real VCS (version control system) or some more sophisticated versioning module that utilizes diffs, etc. However, there are some times when you just don't need that level of control, and just need to back stuff up in a simple way, so here it is.

ATTRIBUTES

These attributes should be set through the constructor, all are required except for the version_format which will default to just printing the number.

name_pattern

This is expected to be an ArrayRef made up of strings, stringify-able objects and exactly one undef value. The undef value will serve as the placeholder for the version number. Here are some example formats and the names they create.

For a simple sequentially named file set, with no extra version formatting you might do something like this:

[ 'Foo-v', undef, '.txt' ]
# Foo-v1.txt, Foo-v2.txt, etc ...

For a simple date-stamped directory set with a version_format of %02d you might do something like this:

[ 'Baz-', $datetime, '-v', undef ]
 # Baz-2008-05-12-v01/, Baz-2008-05-12-v02/

It is assumed that your $datetime instance already has the formatter set to produce the specified string. Something like this has the benefit of making it very simple to create dated files/directories, but not have to worry about overwriting something in the same day.

version_format

This is a format string which will be passed to sprintf in order to format the version number. It defaults to just returning the number itself.

parent

This is a Path::Class::Dir object representing the parent directory, it is the contents of this directory which will be inspected to determine the next name to be created.

Alternately you can specify an ArrayRef of strings, or a string itself and those will be coerced into a Path::Class::Dir object. We use the type created by the MooseX::Types::Path::Class module, please refer that for more details.

METHODS

next_name (dir = Bool, file => Bool)>

Returns the next file name (if the file boolean argument is true) or the next directory name (if the dir boolean argument is true). It defaults to the a file name.

next_file

Returns a Path::Class::File object for the value of next_name(file = 1)>.

next_dir

Returns a Path::Class::Dir object for the value of next_name(dir = 1)>.

BUGS

All complex software has bugs lurking in it, and this module is no exception. If you find a bug please either email me, or add the bug to cpan-RT.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

NO ONE IS INNOCENT! Here are the names of those who are especially guilty.

Thanks to perigrin for holding back the snide comments when I suggested this module.

Thanks to rjbs for the module name (although he may deny any involvment).

AUTHOR

Stevan Little <stevan.little@iinteractive.com>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

Copyright 2008 Infinity Interactive, Inc.

http://www.iinteractive.com

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