Config::Record(3pm)					User Contributed Perl Documentation				       Config::Record(3pm)

NAME

       Config::Record - Configuration file access

SYNOPSIS

	 use Config::Record;

	 # Create an empty record & then load from file
	 my $config = Config::Record->new();
	 $config->load("/etc/myapp.cfg");

	 # Create & load, then save to filename
	 my $config = Config::Record->new(file => "/etc/myapp.cfg");
	 $config->save("/etc/myapp.cfg");

	 # Load / save from filehandle
	 my $fh = IO::File->new("/etc/myapp.cfg");
	 my $config = Config::Record->new(file => $fh);
	 $config->save($fh);

	 # Get a config value, throw error if not found
	 my $value = $config->get("foo");

	 # Get a config value, return 'eek' if not found
	 my $value = $config->get("foo", "eek");

	 # Set a value
	 $config->set("foobar", "wizz");

	 # Get a deep config value (ie nested hash)
	 my $value = $config->get("foo/bar", "eek");

	 # Get first element of an array param
	 my $value = $config->get("people/[0]/forename");

	 # Get the raw hash reference forming the record
	 my $record = $config->record();

	 # Get a new config object rooted at a sub-hash
	 my $config = $config->view("foo");

DESCRIPTION

       This module provides an API for loading and saving of simple configuration file records. Entries in the configuration file are essentially
       key,value pairs, with the key and values separated by a single equals symbol. The "key" consists only of alphanumeric characters. There are
       three types of values, scalar values can contain anything except newlines. Trailing whitespace will be trimmed unless the value is
       surrounded in double quotes. eg

	 foo = Wizz
	 foo = "Wizz....    "

       Long lines can be split with a backslash character, without introducing newlines. Without double quotes, whitespace at beginning and end of
       lines will be trimmed eg

	 foo = This is a long 
	       line of text
	 foo = "This is a long " 
	       "line of text"

       Multi-line strings can be provided as 'HERE' documents, eg

	 foo = <<EOF
       This is a multiple paragraph
       block of text with newlines
       preserved
       EOF

       Array values  consist of a single right round bracket, following by one "value" per line, terminated by a single left round bracket. eg

	 foo = (
	   Wizz
	   "Wizz...    "
	 )

       Hash values consist of a single right curly bracket, followed by one key,value pair per line, terminated by a single left curly bracket.
       eg

	 foo = {
	   one = Wizz
	   two = "Wizz....  "
	 }

       Arrays and hashes can be nested to arbitrary depth.

EXAMPLE

	 name = Foo
	 title = "Wizz bang wallop"
	 eek = (
	   OOhh
	   Aahhh
	   Wizz
	 )
	 people = (
	   {
	     forename = John
	     surnamne = Doe
	   }
	   {
	     forename = Some
	     surname = One
	   }
	 )
	 wizz = {
	   foo = "Elk"
	   ooh = "fds"
	 }

EXTRA PARSER FEATURES

       The syntax described thus far is classed as the base feature set. By passing the "features" parameter when creating an instance of the
       "Config::Record" class, it is possible to turn on certain extra features

   QUOTED NON-ALPHANUMERIC KEYS
       The keys for configuration parameters are normally restricted to only contain the characters 'a-Z', '0-9', '_', '-' and '.'. Sometimes it
       is desirable to allow arbitrary characters for keys. If this capability is required then the "quotedkeys" parameter can be set.

       EXAMPLE

	 name = Foo
	 title = "Wizz bang wallop"
	 " some parameter " = (
	    foo
	    bar
	 }
	 "an embeded " quote" = bar
	 "an embeded \ backslash" = wizz

   EXTERNAL INCLUDE FILES
       With large configuration files it can be desirable to split them into a number of smaller files. If this capability is required, then the
       "includes" feature can be requested. Each included file must follow the syntax rules already described.

       EXAMPLE

       In the main file

	 name = Foo
	 title = "Wizz bang wallop"
	 foo = @include(somefile.cfg)

       And in somefile.cfg

	 firstname = Joe
	 lastname = Blogs

       Is equivalent to

	 name = Foo
	 title = "Wizz bang wallop"
	 foo = {
	   firstname = Joe
	   lastname = Blogs
	 }

METHODS

       my $config = Config::Record->new([file => $file], [features => \%features]);
	   Creates a new config object, loading parameters from the file specified by the "file" parameter. The "file" parameter can either be a
	   string representing a fully qualified filename, or a IO::Handle object. If the "file" parameter is a string, this filename will be
	   saved and future calls to "load" or "save" are permitted to omit the filename. If the "file" parameter is not supplied then an empty
	   configuration record is created.

	   The "features" parameter allows extra parser features to be enabled.  The two valid keys for the associated hash as "includes" and
	   "quotedkeys" as described earlier in this document.

       $config->load([$file]);
	   Loads and parses a configuration record. The "file" parameter can either be a string representing a fully qualified filename, or an
	   IO::Handle object. The $file parameter may be omitted, if a filename was specified in the constructor, or in previous calls to "load"
	   or "save". Prior to loading the record, the current contents of this configuration are cleared.

       $config->save([$file]);
	   Saves the configuration record to a file. The "file" parameter can either be a string representing a fully qualified filename, or an
	   IO::Handle object opened for writing. The $file parameter may be omitted, if a filename was specified  in the constructor, or in
	   previous calls to "load" or "save".

       my $value = $config->get($key[, $default]);
	   Gets the value of a configuration parameter corresponding to the name "key". If there is no value in the record, then the optional
	   "default" is returned.

       $config->set($key, $value);
	   Sets the value of a configuration parameter corresponding to the name "key".

       $config->view($key)
	   Return a new Config::Record object, rooted at the specified key.  If the key doesn't resolve to a hash reference an error will be
	   raised.

       my $record = $config->record();
	   Retrieves a hash reference for the entire configuration record. Currently this is the actual internal storage record, so changes will
	   modify the configuration. In the next release this will be changed to be a deep clone of the internal storage record.

BUGS

       Config::Record has the following limitations

       o   If you load and then save a configuration file all comments are removed & whitespace normalized.

       o   Ordering of elements in hash ref are not preserved across load and save sequence

       These limitations may be fixed in a future release if there is demand from users...

AUTHORS

       Daniel Berrange <dan@berrange.com>

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (C) 2000-2007 Daniel P. Berrange <dan@berrange.com>

SEE ALSO

       perl(1)

perl v5.12.4							    2011-10-12						       Config::Record(3pm)