NAME

Path::Class::Dir - Objects representing directories

SYNOPSIS

  use Path::Class qw(dir);  # Export a short constructor
  
  my $dir = dir('foo', 'bar');       # Path::Class::Dir object
  my $dir = Path::Class::Dir->new('foo', 'bar');  # Same thing
  
  # Stringifies to 'foo/bar' on Unix, 'foo\bar' on Windows, etc.
  print "dir: $dir\n";
  
  if ($dir->is_absolute) { ... }
  
  my $v = $dir->volume; # Could be 'C:' on Windows, empty string
                        # on Unix, 'Macintosh HD:' on Mac OS
  
  $dir->cleanup; # Perform logical cleanup of pathname
  
  my $file = $dir->file('file.txt'); # A file in this directory
  my $subdir = $dir->subdir('george'); # A subdirectory
  my $parent = $dir->parent; # The parent directory, 'foo'
  
  my $abs = $dir->absolute; # Transform to absolute path
  my $rel = $abs->relative; # Transform to relative path
  my $rel = $abs->relative('/foo'); # Relative to /foo
  
  print $dir->as_foreign('MacOS'); # :foo:bar:
  print $dir->as_foreign('Win32'); #  foo\bar

  # Iterate with IO::Dir methods:
  my $handle = $dir->open;
  while (my $file = $handle->read) {
    $file = $dir->file($file);  # Turn into Path::Class::File object
    ...
  }
  
  # Iterate with Path::Class methods:
  while (my $file = $dir->next) {
    # $file is a Path::Class::File or Path::Class::Dir object
    ...
  }

DESCRIPTION

The Path::Class::Dir class contains functionality for manipulating directory names in a cross-platform way.

METHODS

$dir = Path::Class::Dir->new( <dir1>, <dir2>, ... )

$dir = dir( <dir1>, <dir2>, ... )

Creates a new Path::Class::Dir object and returns it. The arguments specify names of directories which will be joined to create a single directory object. A volume may also be specified as the first argument, or as part of the first argument. You can use platform-neutral syntax:

  my $dir = dir( 'foo', 'bar', 'baz' );

or platform-native syntax:

  my $dir = dir( 'foo/bar/baz' );

or a mixture of the two:

  my $dir = dir( 'foo/bar', 'baz' );

All three of the above examples create relative paths. To create an absolute path, either use the platform native syntax for doing so:

  my $dir = dir( '/var/tmp' );

or use an empty string as the first argument:

  my $dir = dir( '', 'var', 'tmp' );

If the second form seems awkward, that's somewhat intentional - paths like /var/tmp or \Windows aren't cross-platform concepts in the first place (many non-Unix platforms don't have a notion of a "root directory"), so they probably shouldn't appear in your code if you're trying to be cross-platform. The first form is perfectly natural, because paths like this may come from config files, user input, or whatever.

As a special case, since it doesn't otherwise mean anything useful and it's convenient to define this way, Path::Class::Dir->new() (or dir()) refers to the current directory (File::Spec->curdir). To get the current directory as an absolute path, do dir()->absolute.

$dir->stringify

This method is called internally when a Path::Class::Dir object is used in a string context, so the following are equivalent:

  $string = $dir->stringify;
  $string = "$dir";

$dir->volume

Returns the volume (e.g. C: on Windows, Macintosh HD: on Mac OS, etc.) of the directory object, if any. Otherwise, returns the empty string.

$dir->is_absolute

Returns true or false depending on whether the directory refers to an absolute path specifier (like /usr/local or \Windows).

$dir->cleanup

Performs a logical cleanup of the file path. For instance:

  my $dir = dir('/foo//baz/./foo')->cleanup;
  # $dir now represents '/foo/baz/foo';

$file = $dir->file( <dir1>, <dir2>, ..., <file> )

Returns a Path::Class::File object representing an entry in $dir or one of its subdirectories. Internally, this just calls Path::Class::File->new( @_ ).

$subdir = $dir->subdir( <dir1>, <dir2>, ... )

Returns a new Path::Class::Dir object representing a subdirectory of $dir.

$parent = $dir->parent

Returns the parent directory of $dir. Note that this is the logical parent, not necessarily the physical parent. It really means we just chop off entries from the end of the directory list until we cain't chop no more. If the directory is relative, we start using the relative forms of parent directories.

The following code demonstrates the behavior on absolute and relative directories:

  $dir = dir('/foo/bar');
  for (1..6) {
    print "Absolute: $dir\n";
    $dir = $dir->parent;
  }
  
  $dir = dir('foo/bar');
  for (1..6) {
    print "Relative: $dir\n";
    $dir = $dir->parent;
  }
  
  ########### Output on Unix ################
  Absolute: /foo/bar
  Absolute: /foo
  Absolute: /
  Absolute: /
  Absolute: /
  Absolute: /
  Relative: foo/bar
  Relative: foo
  Relative: .
  Relative: ..
  Relative: ../..
  Relative: ../../..

$abs = $dir->absolute

Returns a Path::Class::Dir object representing $dir as an absolute path. An optional argument, given as either a string or a Path::Class::Dir object, specifies the directory to use as the base of relativity - otherwise the current working directory will be used.

$rel = $dir->relative

Returns a Path::Class::Dir object representing $dir as a relative path. An optional argument, given as either a string or a Path::Class::Dir object, specifies the directory to use as the base of relativity - otherwise the current working directory will be used.

$foreign = $dir->as_foreign($type)

Returns a Path::Class::Dir object representing $dir as it would be specified on a system of type $type. Known types include Unix, Win32, Mac, VMS, and OS2, i.e. anything for which there is a subclass of File::Spec.

Any generated objects (subdirectories, files, parents, etc.) will also retain this type.

$foreign = Path::Class::Dir->new_foreign($type, @args)

Returns a Path::Class::Dir object representing $dir as it would be specified on a system of type $type. Known types include Unix, Win32, Mac, VMS, and OS2, i.e. anything for which there is a subclass of File::Spec.

The arguments in @args are the same as they would be specified in new().

$fh = $dir->open()

Passes $dir to IO::Dir->open and returns the result as an IO::Dir object. If the opening fails, undef is returned and $! is set.

$dir->mkpath($verbose, $mode)

Passes all arguments, including $dir, to Path::Class::mkpath() and returns the result (a list of all directories created).

$dir->rmtree($verbose, $cautious)

Passes all arguments, including $dir, to Path::Class::rmtree() and returns the result (the number of files successfully deleted).

$dir_or_file = $dir->next()

A convenient way to iterate through directory contents. The first time next() is called, it will open() the directory and read the first item from it, returning the result as a Path::Class::Dir or Path::Class::File object (depending, of course, on its actual type). Each subsequent call to next() will simply iterate over the directory's contents, until there are no more items in the directory, and then the undefined value is returned. For example, to iterate over all the regular files in a directory:

  while (my $file = $dir->next) {
    next unless -f $file;
    my $fh = $file->open('r') or die "Can't read $file: $!";
    ...
  }

AUTHOR

Ken Williams, ken@mathforum.org

SEE ALSO

Path::Class, Path::Class::File, File::Spec