NAME

Path::Class::File - Objects representing files

SYNOPSIS 

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

DESCRIPTION

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

METHODS

$file = Path::Class::File->new( <dir1>, <dir2>, ..., <file> )
$file = file( <dir1>, <dir2>, ..., <file> )

Creates a new Path::Class::File object and returns it. The arguments specify the path to the file. Any volume may also be specified as the first argument, or as part of the first argument. You can use platform-neutral syntax: 

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

or platform-native syntax: 

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

or a mixture of the two: 

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

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/foo.txt' );

or use an empty string as the first argument: 

  my $dir = dir( '', 'var', 'tmp', 'foo.txt' );

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, so they probably shouldn't appear in your code if you're trying to be cross-platform. The first form is perfectly fine, because paths like this may come from config files, user input, or whatever.

$file->stringify

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

  $string = $file->stringify;
  $string = "$file";
$file->volume
Returns the volume (e.g. C: on Windows, Macintosh HD: on Mac OS, etc.) of the object, if any. Otherwise, returns the empty string.
$file->basename
Returns the name of the file as a string, without the directory portion (if any).
$file->is_dir
Returns a boolean value indicating whether this object represents a directory. Not surprisingly, Path::Class::File objects always return false, and Path::Class::Dir objects always return true.
$file->is_absolute
Returns true or false depending on whether the file refers to an absolute path specifier (like /usr/local/foo.txt or \Windows\Foo.txt).
$file->cleanup

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

  my $file = file('/foo//baz/./foo.txt')->cleanup;
  # $file now represents '/foo/baz/foo.txt';
$dir = $file->dir
Returns a Path::Class::Dir object representing the directory containing this file.
$dir = $file->parent
A synonym for the dir() method.
$abs = $file->absolute
Returns a Path::Class::File object representing $file 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 = $file->relative
Returns a Path::Class::File object representing $file 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 = $file->as_foreign($type)

Returns a Path::Class::File object representing $file 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.

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

Returns a Path::Class::File object representing a file 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 = $file->open($mode, $permissions)
Passes the given arguments, including $file, to IO::File->new (which in turn calls IO::File->open and returns the result as an IO::File object. If the opening fails, undef is returned and $! is set.
$fh = $file->openr()

A shortcut for 

 $fh = $file->open('r') or die "Can't read $file: $!";
$fh = $file->openw()

A shortcut for 

 $fh = $file->open('w') or die "Can't write $file: $!";
$file->touch
Sets the modification and access time of the given file to right now, if the file exists. If it doesn't exist, touch() will make it exist, and - YES! - set its modification and access time to now.
$file->slurp()

In a scalar context, returns the contents of $file in a string. In a list context, returns the lines of $file (according to how $/ is set) as a list. If the file can't be read, this method will throw an exception.

If you want chomp() run on each line of the file, pass a true value for the chomp or chomped parameters: 

  my @lines = $file->slurp(chomp => 1);
$file->remove()

This method will remove the file in a way that works well on all platforms, and returns a boolean value indicating whether or not the file was successfully removed.

remove() is better than simply calling Perl's unlink() function, because on some platforms (notably VMS) you actually may need to call unlink() several times before all versions of the file are gone - the remove() method handles this process for you.

$st = $file->stat()
Invokes File::stat::stat() on this file and returns a File::stat object representing the result.
$st = $file->lstat()
Same as stat(), but if $file is a symbolic link, lstat() stats the link instead of the file the link points to.

AUTHOR

Ken Williams, ken@mathforum.org

SEE ALSO

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