NAME

Unicode::Util - Unicode grapheme-level versions of core Perl functions

VERSION

This document describes Unicode::Util v0.10.

SYNOPSIS

    use Unicode::Util qw( grapheme_length grapheme_reverse );

    # grapheme cluster ю́ (Cyrillic small letter yu, combining acute accent)
    my $grapheme = "ю\x{301}";

    say length($grapheme);           # 2 (length in code points)
    say grapheme_length($grapheme);  # 1 (length in grapheme clusters)

    # Spın̈al Tap; n̈ = Latin small letter n, combining diaeresis
    my $band = "Spın\x{308}al Tap";

    say scalar reverse $band;     # paT länıpS
    say grapheme_reverse($band);  # paT lan̈ıpS

DESCRIPTION

This module provides versions of core Perl string functions tailored to work on Unicode grapheme clusters, which are what users perceive as characters, as opposed to code points, which are what Perl considers characters.

FUNCTIONS

These functions all operate on character strings, not byte strings. They are implemented using the \X character class, which was introduced in Perl v5.6 and significantly improved in v5.12 to properly match Unicode extended grapheme clusters. An example of a notable change is that CR+LF <0x0D 0x0A> is now considered a single grapheme cluster instead of two. For that reason, as well as additional Unicode improvements, Perl v5.12 or greater is strongly recommended, both for use with this module and as a language in general.

These functions may each be exported explicitly or by using the :all tag for everything.

grapheme_length($string)
grapheme_length

Works like length except the length is in number of grapheme clusters.

grapheme_chop($string)
grapheme_chop(@array)
grapheme_chop(%hash)
grapheme_chop

Works like chop except it operates on the last grapheme cluster.

grapheme_reverse($string)
grapheme_reverse(@list)
grapheme_reverse

Works like reverse except it reverses grapheme clusters in scalar context.

grapheme_index($string, $substring, $position)
grapheme_index($string, $substring)

Works like index except the position is in grapheme clusters.

grapheme_rindex($string, $substring, $position)
grapheme_rindex($string, $substring)

Works like rindex except the position is in grapheme clusters.

grapheme_substr($string, $offset, $length, $replacement)
grapheme_substr($string, $offset, $length)
grapheme_substr($string, $offset)

Works like substr except the offset and length are in grapheme clusters.

SEE ALSO

AUTHOR

Nick Patch <patch@cpan.org>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

© 2011–2013 Nick Patch

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