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NAME

Config::YAML - Simple configuration automation

VERSION

Version 1.42

SYNOPSIS

Config::YAML is a somewhat object-oriented wrapper around the YAML module which makes reading and writing configuration files simple. Handling multiple config files (e.g. system and per-user configuration, or a gallery app with per-directory configuration) is a snap.

    use Config::YAML;

    # create Config::YAML object with any desired initial options
    # parameters; load system config; set alternate output file
    my $c = Config::YAML->new( config => "/usr/share/foo/globalconf",
                               output => "~/.foorc",
                               param1 => value1,
                               param2 => value2,
                               ...
                               paramN => valueN,
                             );

    # integrate user's own config
    $c->read("~/.foorc");

    # integrate command line args using Getopt::Long
    $rc = GetOptions ( $c,
                       'param1|p!',
                       'param2|P',
                       'paramN|n',
                     );

    # Write configuration state to disk
    $c->write;

    # simply get params back for use...
    do_something() unless $c->{param1};
    # or get them more OO-ly if that makes you feel better
    my $value = $c->get_param2;

METHODS

new

Creates a new Config::YAML object.

    my $c = Config::YAML->new( config => initial_config, 
                               output => output_config
                             );

The config parameter specifies the file to be read in during object creation. It is required, and must be the first parameter given. If the second parameter is output, then it is used to specify the file to which configuration data will later be written out. This positional dependancy makes it possible to have parameters named "config" and/or "output" in config files.

Initial configuration values can be passed as subsequent parameters to the constructor:

    my $c = Config::YAML->new( config => "~/.foorc",
                               foo    => "abc",
                               bar    => "xyz",
                               baz    => [ 1, 2, 3 ],
                             );

get_*/set_*

If you'd prefer not to directly molest the object to store and retrieve configuration data, autoloading methods of the forms get_[param] and set_[param] are provided. Continuing from the previous example:

    print $c->get_foo;      # prints "abc"
    my $val = $c->get_quux; # $c->{quux} doesn't exist; returns undef

    $c->set_bar(30);     # $c->{bar} now equals 30, not "xyz"
    my @list = qw(alpha beta gamma);
    $c->set_baz(\@list); # $c->{baz} now a reference to @list

fold

Convenience method for folding multiple values into the config object at once. Requires a hashref as its argument.

    $prefs{theme}  = param(theme);
    $prefs{format} = param(format);
    $prefs{sortby} = param(order);

    $c->fold(\%prefs);

    my $format = $c->get_format; # value matches that of param(format)

read

Imports a YAML-formatted config file.

    $c->read('/usr/share/fooapp/fooconf');

read() is called at object creation and imports the file specified by new(config=>), so there is no need to call it manually unless multiple config files exist.

write

Dump current configuration state to a YAML-formatted flat file.

    $c->write;

The file to be written is specified in the constructor call. See the new method documentation for details.

DEPRECATED METHODS

These methods have been superceded and will likely be removed in the next release.

get

Returns the value of a parameter.

    print $c->get('foo');

set

Sets the value of a parameter:

    $c->set('foo',1);

    my @paints = qw( oil acrylic tempera );
    $c->set('paints', \@paints);

AUTHOR

Shawn Boyette (<mdxi@cpan.org>)

Original implementation by Kirrily "Skud" Robert (as YAML::ConfigFile).

BUGS

  • Config::YAML ignores the YAML document separation string (---) because it has no concept of multiple targets for the data coming from a config file.

Please report any bugs or feature requests to bug-yaml-configfile@rt.cpan.org, or through the web interface at http://rt.cpan.org. I will be notified, and then you'll automatically be notified of progress on your bug as I make changes.

COPYRIGHT & LICENSE

Copyright 2004 Shawn Boyette, All Rights Reserved.

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