Probe::Perl(3pm)					User Contributed Perl Documentation					  Probe::Perl(3pm)

NAME

       Probe::Perl - Information about the currently running perl

SYNOPSIS

	use Probe::Perl;
	$p = Probe::Perl->new();

	# Version of this perl as a floating point number
	$ver = $p->perl_version();
	$ver = Probe::Perl->perl_version();

	# Convert a multi-dotted string to a floating point number
	$ver = $p->perl_version_to_float($ver);
	$ver = Probe::Perl->perl_version_to_float($ver);

	# Check if the given perl is the same as the one currently running
	$bool = $p->perl_is_same($perl_path);
	$bool = Probe::Perl->perl_is_same($perl_path);

	# Find a path to the currently-running perl
	$path = $p->find_perl_interpreter();
	$path = Probe::Perl->find_perl_interpreter();

	# Get @INC before run-time additions
	@paths = $p->perl_inc();
	@paths = Probe::Perl->perl_inc();

	# Get the general type of operating system
	$type = $p->os_type();
	$type = Probe::Perl->os_type();

	# Access Config.pm values
	$val = $p->config('foo');
	$val = Probe::Perl->config('foo');
	$p->config('foo' => 'bar');  # Set locally
	$p->config_revert('foo');  # Revert

DESCRIPTION

       This module provides methods for obtaining information about the currently running perl interpreter.  It originally began life as code in
       the "Module::Build" project, but has been externalized here for general use.

METHODS

       new()
	   Creates a new Probe::Perl object and returns it.  Most methods in the Probe::Perl packages are available as class methods, so you don't
	   always need to create a new object.	But if you want to create a mutable view of the "Config.pm" data, it's necessary to create an
	   object to store the values in.

       config( $key [, $value] )
	   Returns the "Config.pm" value associated with $key.	If $value is also specified, then the value is set to $value for this view of the
	   data.  In this case, "config()" must be called as an object method, not a class method.

       config_revert( $key )
	   Removes any user-assigned value in this view of the "Config.pm" data.

       find_perl_interpreter( )
	   Returns the absolute path of this perl interpreter.	This is actually sort of a tricky thing to discover sometimes - in these cases we
	   use "perl_is_same()" to verify.

       perl_version( )
	   Returns the version of this perl interpreter as a perl-styled version number using "perl_version_to_float()".  Uses $^V if your perl is
	   recent enough, otherwise uses $].

       perl_version_to_float( $version )
	   Formats $version as a perl-styled version number like 5.008001.

       perl_is_same( $perl )
	   Given the name of a perl interpreter, this method determines if it has the same configuration as the one represented by the current
	   perl instance.  Usually this means it's exactly the same

       perl_inc( )
	   Returns a list of directories in this perl's @INC path, before any entries from "use lib", $ENV{PERL5LIB}, or "-I" switches are added.

       os_type( [$osname] )
	   Returns a generic OS type (e.g. "Unix", "Windows", "MacOS") for the given OS name. If no OS name is given it uses the value in $^O,
	   which is the same as $Config{osname}.

AUTHOR

       Randy W. Sims <randys@thepierianspring.org>

       Based partly on code from the Module::Build project, by Ken Williams <kwilliams@cpan.org> and others.

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright 2005 Ken Williams and Randy Sims.  All rights reserved.

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

perl v5.10.0							    2005-04-06							  Probe::Perl(3pm)