NAME

Algorithm::Dependency::Source::File - File source for dependency heirachys

DESCRIPTION

Algorithm::Dependency::Source::File implements a source where the items are stored in a flat file or a relatively simple format.

File Format

The file should be an ordinary text file, consisting of a series of lines, with each line completely containing the information for a single item. Blank lines, or lines beginning with the hash character '#' will be ignored as comments.

For a single item line, only word characters will be used. A 'word character' consists of all letters and numbers, and the underscore '_' character. Anything that is not a word character will be assumed to be a seperator.

The first word will be used as the name or id of the item, and any further words in the line will be used as other items that this one depends on. For example, all of the following are legal.

  # A single item with no dependencies
  Foo

  # Another item that depends on the first one
  Bar Foo

  # Depending on multiple others
  Bin Foo Bar

  # We can use different seperators
  One:Two|Three-Four+Five=Six Seven

  # We can also use multiple non-word characters as seperators
  This&*&^*&File:  is& & & :::REALLY()Neat

From the examples above, it should be easy to create your own files.

METHODS

This documents the methods differing from the ordinary Algorithm::Dependency::Source methods.

new $filename

When constructing a new Algorithm::Dependency::Source::File object, an argument should be provided of the name of the file to use. The constructor will check that the file exists, and is readable, returning undef otherwise.

SUPPORT

To file a bug against this module, use the CPAN bug tracking system

http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=Algorithm-Dependency

For other comments, contact the author.

AUTHOR

Adam Kennedy, http://ali.as/, cpan@ali.as

SEE ALSO

Algorithm::Dependency

COPYRIGHT

Copyright (c) 2003 - 2005 Adam Kennedy.

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

The full text of the license can be found in the LICENSE file included with this module.