NAME¶
PerlIO::via - Helper class for PerlIO layers implemented in perl
SYNOPSIS¶
use PerlIO::via::Layer;
open($fh,"<:via(Layer)",...);
use Some::Other::Package;
open($fh,">:via(Some::Other::Package)",...);
DESCRIPTION¶
The PerlIO::via module allows you to develop PerlIO layers in Perl, without
having to go into the nitty gritty of programming C with XS as the interface
to Perl.
One example module, PerlIO::via::QuotedPrint, is included with Perl 5.8.0, and
more example modules are available from CPAN, such as PerlIO::via::StripHTML
and PerlIO::via::Base64. The PerlIO::via::StripHTML module for instance,
allows you to say:
use PerlIO::via::StripHTML;
open( my $fh, "<:via(StripHTML)", "index.html" );
my @line = <$fh>;
to obtain the text of an HTML-file in an array with all the HTML-tags
automagically removed.
Please note that if the layer is created in the PerlIO::via:: namespace, it does
not have to be fully qualified. The PerlIO::via module will prefix the
PerlIO::via:: namespace if the specified modulename does not exist as a fully
qualified module name.
EXPECTED METHODS¶
To create a Perl module that implements a PerlIO layer in Perl (as opposed to in
C using XS as the interface to Perl), you need to supply some of the following
subroutines. It is recommended to create these Perl modules in the
PerlIO::via:: namespace, so that they can easily be located on CPAN and use
the default namespace feature of the PerlIO::via module itself.
Please note that this is an area of recent development in Perl and that the
interface described here is therefore still subject to change (and hopefully
will have better documentation and more examples).
In the method descriptions below
$fh will be a reference to
a glob which can be treated as a perl file handle. It refers to the layer
below.
$fh is not passed if the layer is at the bottom of
the stack, for this reason and to maintain some level of
"compatibility" with TIEHANDLE classes it is passed last.
- $class->PUSHED([$mode,[$fh]])
- Should return an object or the class, or -1 on failure.
(Compare TIEHANDLE.) The arguments are an optional mode string
("r", "w", "w+", ...) and a filehandle for
the PerlIO layer below. Mandatory.
When the layer is pushed as part of an "open" call,
"PUSHED" will be called before the actual open occurs,
whether that be via "OPEN", "SYSOPEN",
"FDOPEN" or by letting a lower layer do the open.
- $obj->POPPED([$fh])
- Optional - called when the layer is about to be
removed.
- $obj->UTF8($bellowFlag,[$fh])
- Optional - if present it will be called immediately after
PUSHED has returned. It should return a true value if the layer expects
data to be UTF-8 encoded. If it returns true, the result is as if the
caller had done
":via(YourClass):utf8"
If not present or if it returns false, then the stream is left with the
UTF-8 flag clear. The $bellowFlag argument will be
true if there is a layer below and that layer was expecting UTF-8.
- $obj->OPEN($path,$mode,[$fh])
- Optional - if not present a lower layer does the open. If
present, called for normal opens after the layer is pushed. This function
is subject to change as there is no easy way to get a lower layer to do
the open and then regain control.
- $obj->BINMODE([$fh])
- Optional - if not present the layer is popped on
binmode($fh) or when ":raw" is pushed. If present it should
return 0 on success, -1 on error, or undef to pop the layer.
- $obj->FDOPEN($fd,[$fh])
- Optional - if not present a lower layer does the open. If
present, called after the layer is pushed for opens which pass a numeric
file descriptor. This function is subject to change as there is no easy
way to get a lower layer to do the open and then regain control.
- $obj->SYSOPEN($path,$imode,$perm,[$fh])
- Optional - if not present a lower layer does the open. If
present, called after the layer is pushed for sysopen style opens which
pass a numeric mode and permissions. This function is subject to change as
there is no easy way to get a lower layer to do the open and then regain
control.
- $obj->FILENO($fh)
- Returns a numeric value for a Unix-like file descriptor.
Returns -1 if there isn't one. Optional. Default is fileno($fh).
- $obj->READ($buffer,$len,$fh)
- Returns the number of octets placed in $buffer (must be
less than or equal to $len). Optional. Default is to use FILL
instead.
- $obj->WRITE($buffer,$fh)
- Returns the number of octets from $buffer that have been
successfully written.
- $obj->FILL($fh)
- Should return a string to be placed in the buffer.
Optional. If not provided, must provide READ or reject handles open for
reading in PUSHED.
- $obj->CLOSE($fh)
- Should return 0 on success, -1 on error. Optional.
- $obj->SEEK($posn,$whence,$fh)
- Should return 0 on success, -1 on error. Optional. Default
is to fail, but that is likely to be changed in future.
- $obj->TELL($fh)
- Returns file position. Optional. Default to be
determined.
- $obj->UNREAD($buffer,$fh)
- Returns the number of octets from $buffer that have been
successfully saved to be returned on future FILL/READ calls. Optional.
Default is to push data into a temporary layer above this one.
- $obj->FLUSH($fh)
- Flush any buffered write data. May possibly be called on
readable handles too. Should return 0 on success, -1 on error.
- $obj->SETLINEBUF($fh)
- Optional. No return.
- $obj->CLEARERR($fh)
- Optional. No return.
- $obj->ERROR($fh)
- Optional. Returns error state. Default is no error until a
mechanism to signal error (die?) is worked out.
- $obj->EOF($fh)
- Optional. Returns end-of-file state. Default is a function
of the return value of FILL or READ.
EXAMPLES¶
Check the PerlIO::via:: namespace on CPAN for examples of PerlIO layers
implemented in Perl. To give you an idea how simple the implementation of a
PerlIO layer can look, a simple example is included here.
Example - a Hexadecimal Handle¶
Given the following module, PerlIO::via::Hex :
package PerlIO::via::Hex;
sub PUSHED
{
my ($class,$mode,$fh) = @_;
# When writing we buffer the data
my $buf = '';
return bless \$buf,$class;
}
sub FILL
{
my ($obj,$fh) = @_;
my $line = <$fh>;
return (defined $line) ? pack("H*", $line) : undef;
}
sub WRITE
{
my ($obj,$buf,$fh) = @_;
$$obj .= unpack("H*", $buf);
return length($buf);
}
sub FLUSH
{
my ($obj,$fh) = @_;
print $fh $$obj or return -1;
$$obj = '';
return 0;
}
1;
The following code opens up an output handle that will convert any output to a
hexadecimal dump of the output bytes: for example "A" will be
converted to "41" (on ASCII-based machines, on EBCDIC platforms the
"A" will become "c1")
use PerlIO::via::Hex;
open(my $fh, ">:via(Hex)", "foo.hex");
and the following code will read the hexdump in and convert it on the fly back
into bytes:
open(my $fh, "<:via(Hex)", "foo.hex");