NAME

Pod::Escapes -- for resolving Pod E<...> sequences

SYNOPSIS

  use Pod::Escapes qw(e2char);
  ...la la la, parsing POD, la la la...
  $text = e2char($e_node->label);
  unless(defined $text) {
    print "Unknown E sequence \"", $e_node->label, "\"!";
  }
  ...else print/interpolate $text...

DESCRIPTION

This module provides things that are useful in decoding Pod E<...> sequences. Presumably, it should be used only by Pod parsers and/or formatters.

By default, Pod::Escapes exports none of its symbols. But you can request any of them to be exported. Either request them individually, as with use Pod::Escapes qw(symbolname symbolname2...);, or you can do use Pod::Escapes qw(:ALL); to get all exportable symbols.

GOODIES

e2char($e_content)

Given a name or number that could appear in a E<name_or_num> sequence, this returns the string that it stands for. For example, e2char('sol'), e2char('47'), e2char('0x2F'), and e2char('057') all return "/", because E<sol>, E<47>, E<0x2f>, and E<057>, all mean "/". If the name has no known value (as with a name of "qacute") or is syntactally invalid (as with a name of "1/4"), this returns undef.

e2charnum($e_content)

Given a name or number that could appear in a E<name_or_num> sequence, this returns the number of the Unicode character that this stands for. For example, e2char('sol'), e2char('47'), e2char('0x2F'), and e2char('057') all return 47, because E<sol>, E<47>, E<0x2f>, and E<057>, all mean "/", whose Unicode number is 47. If the name has no known value (as with a name of "qacute") or is syntactally invalid (as with a name of "1/4"), this returns undef.

$Name2character{name}

Maps from names (as in E<name>) like "eacute" or "sol" to the string that each stands for. Note that this does not include numerics (like "64" or "x981c"). Under old Perl versions (before 5.7) you get a "?" in place of characters whose Unicode value is over 255.

$Name2character_number{name}

Maps from names (as in E<name>) like "eacute" or "sol" to the Unicode value that each stands for. For example, $Name2character_number{'eacute'} is 201, and $Name2character_number{'eacute'} is 8364. You get the correct Unicode value, regardless of the version of Perl you're using -- which differs from %Name2character's behavior under pre-5.7 Perls.

Note that this hash does not include numerics (like "64" or "x981c").

$Latin1Code_to_fallback{integer}

For numbers in the range 160 (0x00A0) to 255 (0x00FF), this maps from the character code for a Latin-1 character (like 233 for lowercase e-acute) to the US-ASCII character that best aproximates it (like "e"). You may find this useful if you are rendering POD in a format that you think deals well only with US-ASCII characters.

$Latin1Char_to_fallback{character}

Just as above, but maps from characters (like "\xE9", lowercase e-acute) to characters (like "e").

$Code2USASCII{integer}

This maps from US-ASCII codes (like 32) to the corresponding character (like space, for 32). Only characters 32 to 126 are defined. This is meant for use by e2char($x) when it senses that it's running on a non-ASCII platform (where chr(32) doesn't get you a space -- but $Code2USASCII{32} will). It's documented here just in case you might find it useful.

CAVEATS

On Perl versions before 5.7, Unicode characters with a value over 255 (like lambda or emdash) can't be conveyed. This module does work under such early Perl versions, but in the place of each such character, you get a "?". Latin-1 characters (characters 160-255) are unaffected.

Under EBCDIC platforms, e2char($n) may not always be the same as chr(e2charnum($n)), and ditto for $Name2character{$name} and chr($Name2character_number{$name}).

COPYRIGHT AND DISCLAIMERS

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

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but without any warranty; without even the implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

Portions of the data tables in this module are derived from the entity declarations in the W3C XHTML specification.

Currently (October 2001), that's these three:

 http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml-lat1.ent
 http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml-special.ent
 http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml-symbol.ent

AUTHOR

Sean M. Burke sburke@cpan.org