NAME
Config::Tiny - Read/Write .ini style files with as little code as
possible
SYNOPSIS
# In your configuration file
rootproperty=blah
[section]
one=twp
three= four
Foo =Bar
empty=
# In your program
use Config::Tiny;
# Create a config
my $Config = Config::Tiny->new();
# Open the config
$Config = Config::Tiny->read( 'file.conf' );
# Reading properties
my $rootproperty = $Config->{_}->{rootproperty};
my $one = $Config->{section}->{one};
my $Foo = $Config->{section}->{Foo};
# Changing data
$Config->{newsection} = { this => 'that' }; # Add a section
$Config->{section}->{Foo} = 'Not Bar!'; # Change a value
delete $Config->{_}; # Delete a value or section
# Save a config
$Config->write( 'file.conf' );
DESCRIPTION
"Config::Tiny" is a perl class to read and write .ini style
configuration files with as little code as possible, reducing load time
and memory overhead. Most of the time it is accepted that Perl
applications use a lot of memory and modules. The "::Tiny" family of
modules is specifically intended to provide an ultralight alternative to
the standard modules.
This module is primarily for reading human written files, and anything
we write shouldn't need to have documentation/comments. If you need
something with more power move up to Config::Simple, Config::General or
one of the many other "Config::" modules. To rephrase, Config::Tiny does
not preserve your comments, whitespace, or the order of your config
file.
CONFIGURATION FILE SYNTAX
Files are the same format as for windows .ini files. For example:
[section]
var1=value1
var2=value2
If a property is outside of a section at the beginning of a file, it
will be assigned to the "root section", available at "$Config->{_}".
Lines starting with '#' or ';' are considered comments and ignored, as
are blank lines.
When writing back to the config file, all comments, custom whitespace,
and the ordering of your config file elements is discarded. If you need
to keep the human elements of a config when writing back, upgrade to
something better, this module is not for you.
METHODS
new
The constructor "new" creates and returns an empty "Config::Tiny"
object.
read $filename
The "read" constructor reads a config file, and returns a new
"Config::Tiny" object containing the properties in the file.
Returns the object on success, or "undef" on error.
When "read" fails, "Config::Tiny" sets an error message internally you
can recover via "<Config::Tiny-"errstr>>. Although in some cases a
failed "read" will also set the operating system error variable $!, not
all errors do and you should not rely on using the $! variable.
read_string $string;
The "read_string" method takes as argument the contents of a config file
as a string and returns the "Config::Tiny" object for it.
write $filename
The "write" method generates the file content for the properties, and
writes it to disk to the filename specified.
Returns true on success or "undef" on error.
write_string
Generates the file content for the object and returns it as a string.
errstr
When an error occurs, you can retrieve the error message either from the
$Config::Tiny::errstr variable, or using the "errstr()" method.
property_string
This method is called to produce the string used to represent the
property in a section. It is passed the section name and property name.
set
This is a convenience is called to set a value found in the parsed
config string. It is passed the section name, property name, and value.
SUPPORT
Bugs should be reported via the CPAN bug tracker at
<http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=Config-Tiny>
For other issues, or commercial enhancement or support, contact the
author.
AUTHOR
Adam Kennedy <adamk@cpan.org>
ACKNOWLEGEMENTS
Thanks to Sherzod Ruzmetov <sherzodr@cpan.org> for Config::Simple, which
inspired this module by being not quite "simple" enough for me :)
SEE ALSO
Config::Simple, Config::General, ali.as
COPYRIGHT
Copyright 2002 - 2007 Adam Kennedy.
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the same terms as Perl itself.
The full text of the license can be found in the LICENSE file included
with this module.