| PerlIO - On demand loader for PerlIO layers and root of PerlIO::* name space |
PerlIO - On demand loader for PerlIO layers and root of PerlIO::* name space
open($fh, "<:crlf", "my.txt"); # support platform-native and
# CRLF text files
open($fh, "<", "his.jpg"); # portably open a binary file for reading binmode($fh);
Shell:
PERLIO=perlio perl ....
When an undefined layer 'foo' is encountered in an open or
binmode layer specification then C code performs the equivalent of:
use PerlIO 'foo';
The perl code in PerlIO.pm then attempts to locate a layer by doing
require PerlIO::foo;
Otherwise the PerlIO package is a place holder for additional
PerlIO related functions.
The following layers are currently defined:
fread, fwrite and fseek/ftell etc. Note
that as this is ``real'' stdio it will ignore any layers beneath it and
go straight to the operating system via the C library as usual.
sv_gets which implements perl's readline/<>
and in general attempts to minimize data copying.
:perlio will insert a :unix layer below itself to do low level IO.
It currently does not mimic MS-DOS as far as treating of Control-Z as being an end-of-file marker.
Based on the :perlio layer.
(CAUTION: This layer does not validate byte sequences. For reading input,
you should instead use :encoding(UTF-8) instead of bare :utf8.)
Here is how to write your native data out using UTF-8 (or UTF-EBCDIC) and then read it back in.
open(F, ">:utf8", "data.utf");
print F $out;
close(F);
open(F, "<:utf8", "data.utf");
$in = <F>;
close(F);
:utf8 layer. It turns off the flag
on the layer below so that data read from it is considered to
be ``octets'' i.e. characters in the range 0..255 only. Likewise
on output perl will warn if a ``wide'' character is written
to a such a stream.
:raw layer is defined as being identical to calling
binmode($fh) - the stream is made suitable for passing binary data,
i.e. each byte is passed as-is. The stream will still be
buffered.
In Perl 5.6 and some books the :raw layer (previously sometimes also
referred to as a ``discipline'') is documented as the inverse of the
:crlf layer. That is no longer the case - other layers which would
alter the binary nature of the stream are also disabled. If you want UNIX
line endings on a platform that normally does CRLF translation, but still
want UTF-8 or encoding defaults, the appropriate thing to do is to add
:perlio to the PERLIO environment variable.
The implementation of :raw is as a pseudo-layer which when ``pushed''
pops itself and then any layers which do not declare themselves as suitable
for binary data. (Undoing :utf8 and :crlf are implemented by clearing
flags rather than popping layers but that is an implementation detail.)
As a consequence of the fact that :raw normally pops layers,
it usually only makes sense to have it as the only or first element in
a layer specification. When used as the first element it provides
a known base on which to build e.g.
open($fh,":raw:utf8",...)
will construct a ``binary'' stream, but then enable UTF-8 translation.
:pop only works on
real layers and will not undo the effects of pseudo layers like
:utf8. An example of a possible use might be:
open($fh,...)
...
binmode($fh,":encoding(...)"); # next chunk is encoded
...
binmode($fh,":pop"); # back to un-encoded
A more elegant (and safer) interface is needed.
It is possible to write custom layers in addition to the above builtin ones, both in C/XS and Perl. Two such layers (and one example written in Perl using the latter) come with the Perl distribution.
:encoding(ENCODING) either in open() or binmode() to install
a layer that transparently does character set and encoding transformations,
for example from Shift-JIS to Unicode. Note that under stdio
an :encoding also enables :utf8. See the PerlIO::encoding manpage
for more information.
mmap() to
make a (whole) file appear in the process's address space, and then
using that as PerlIO's ``buffer''. This may be faster in certain
circumstances for large files, and may result in less physical memory
use when multiple processes are reading the same file.
Files which are not mmap()-able revert to behaving like the :perlio
layer. Writes also behave like the :perlio layer, as mmap() for write
needs extra house-keeping (to extend the file) which negates any advantage.
The :mmap layer will not exist if the platform does not support mmap().
:via(MODULE) either in open() or binmode() to install a layer
that does whatever transformation (for example compression /
decompression, encryption / decryption) to the filehandle.
See the PerlIO::via manpage for more information.
To get a binary stream an alternate method is to use:
open($fh,"whatever")
binmode($fh);
this has the advantage of being backward compatible with how such things have had to be coded on some platforms for years.
To get an unbuffered stream specify an unbuffered layer (e.g. :unix)
in the open call:
open($fh,"<:unix",$path)
If the platform is MS-DOS like and normally does CRLF to ``\n'' translation for text files then the default layers are :
unix crlf
(The low level ``unix'' layer may be replaced by a platform specific low level layer.)
Otherwise if Configure found out how to do ``fast'' IO using the system's
stdio, then the default layers are:
unix stdio
Otherwise the default layers are
unix perlio
These defaults may change once perlio has been better tested and tuned.
The default can be overridden by setting the environment variable
PERLIO to a space separated list of layers (unix or platform low
level layer is always pushed first).
This can be used to see the effect of/bugs in the various layers e.g.
cd .../perl/t PERLIO=stdio ./perl harness PERLIO=perlio ./perl harness
For the various values of PERLIO see PERLIO in the perlrun manpage.
The following returns the names of the PerlIO layers on a filehandle.
my @layers = PerlIO::get_layers($fh); # Or FH, *FH, "FH".
The layers are returned in the order an open() or binmode() call would
use them. Note that the ``default stack'' depends on the operating
system and on the Perl version, and both the compile-time and
runtime configurations of Perl.
The following table summarizes the default layers on UNIX-like and
DOS-like platforms and depending on the setting of $ENV{PERLIO}:
PERLIO UNIX-like DOS-like ------ --------- -------- unset / "" unix perlio / stdio [1] unix crlf stdio unix perlio / stdio [1] stdio perlio unix perlio unix perlio
# [1] "stdio" if Configure found out how to do "fast stdio" (depends # on the stdio implementation) and in Perl 5.8, otherwise "unix perlio"
By default the layers from the input side of the filehandle are
returned; to get the output side, use the optional output argument:
my @layers = PerlIO::get_layers($fh, output => 1);
(Usually the layers are identical on either side of a filehandle but
for example with sockets there may be differences, or if you have
been using the open pragma.)
There is no set_layers(), nor does get_layers() return a tied array
mirroring the stack, or anything fancy like that. This is not
accidental or unintentional. The PerlIO layer stack is a bit more
complicated than just a stack (see for example the behaviour of :raw).
You are supposed to use open() and binmode() to manipulate the stack.
Implementation details follow, please close your eyes.
The arguments to layers are by default returned in parentheses after
the name of the layer, and certain layers (like utf8) are not real
layers but instead flags on real layers; to get all of these returned
separately, use the optional details argument:
my @layer_and_args_and_flags = PerlIO::get_layers($fh, details => 1);
The result will be up to be three times the number of layers:
the first element will be a name, the second element the arguments
(unspecified arguments will be undef), the third element the flags,
the fourth element a name again, and so forth.
You may open your eyes now.
Nick Ing-Simmons <nick@ing-simmons.net>
binmode in the perlfunc manpage, open in the perlfunc manpage, the perlunicode manpage, the perliol manpage, the Encode manpage
| PerlIO - On demand loader for PerlIO layers and root of PerlIO::* name space |