NAME

Config::Terse is laconic configuration files parser.

SYNOPSIS

    #!/usr/bin/perl
    use strict;
    use Config::Terse;

    my $cfg = terse_config_load( 'try.cfg' );

    use Data::Dumper;
    print Dumper( $cfg );

DESCRIPTION

Config::Terse parses configuration files with very compact syntax, which may seem rude or unfriendly. It provides sections with keyword/value pairs, sections inheritance and named groups of sections.

Each line in the config file contains whitespace-delimited key and value:

  key         value
  anotherkey  other value
  koe         ne se chete

Sections begin with equal sign on new line, followed by the section name:

  =newsection
  
  sectionkey1  value
  newkey       value

Sections may inherit other sections. Inherited sections are specified with plus sign and name after the section name:

  =newsection  +othersection1  +othersection2  ...

Sections may be grouped in groupss. Group names are specified with "at" sign (@) followed by the group name, after the section name:

  =apple  @fruits
  

Inheritance and groups can be combined but order is important! All inherited sections specified before group is taken from the main (root) sections. Inherited sections after group name is taken from the same group (if such exists.

Sections can be added to multiple groups. They will be linked together and changing one section key will be visible in the other groups.

Here is an example:

  =green
    color  green
    
  =tree  @fruits
    isatree  yes
    
  =apple +green  @fruits  +tree
    name  this is a green apple tree
    

The "apple" section will inherit "green" section, then will be put in the "fruits" group and finally will inherit the "tree" section from "fruits".

All section and key names are converted to upper case by default.

The result perl hash structure for all the examples combined will be:

  $VAR1 = {
            'GREEN' => {
                         'COLOR' => 'green'
                       },
            'MAIN' => {
                        'ANOTHERKEY' => 'other value',
                        'KEY' => 'value',
                        'KOE' => 'ne se chete'
                      },
            'FRUITS' => {
                          'TREE' => {
                                      'ISATREE' => 'yes'
                                    },
                          'APPLE' => {
                                       'COLOR' => 'green',
                                       'NAME' => 'this is a green apple tree',
                                       'ISATREE' => 'yes'
                                     }
                        },
            'NEWSECTION' => {
                              'SECTIONKEY1' => 'value',
                              'NEWKEY' => 'value'
                            }
          };

Default section name is 'MAIN'. It is used for keys in files without any sections or for keys in the leading part of a file where no section has been defined yet. Default section name can be changed with 'MAIN' option and will be modified by the 'CASE' option. See 'OPTIONS' section below.

OPTIONS

Few options can be added when loading new config file:

    # make all sections and keys names upper case (default)
    my $cfg = terse_config_load( 'try.cfg', CASE => 'UC' );
  
    # make all sections and keys names lower case
    my $cfg = terse_config_load( 'try.cfg', CASE => 'LC' );

    # leave all sections and keys names asis, no case conversion
    my $cfg = terse_config_load( 'try.cfg', CASE => 'NC' );

    # keep sections and keys in the order they were seen
    my $cfg = terse_config_load( 'try.cfg', ORDERED => 1 );

    # set MAIN section name
    my $cfg = terse_config_load( 'try.cfg', MAIN => '*' );

    # combined options
    my $cfg = terse_config_load( 'try.cfg', CASE    => 'LC', 
                                            MAIN    => '*', 
                                            ORDERED => 1 );

GITHUB REPOSITORY

  https://github.com/cade-vs/perl-config-terse
  
  git clone git://github.com/cade-vs/perl-config-terse.git

AUTHOR

  Vladi Belperchinov-Shabanski "Cade"

  <cade@biscom.net> <cade@datamax.bg> <cade@cpan.org>

  http://cade.datamax.bg