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1 | =head1 NAME |
2 | |
3 | perl - Practical Extraction and Report Language |
4 | |
5 | =head1 SYNOPSIS |
6 | |
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7 | B<perl> S<[ B<-sTuU> ]> S<[ B<-hv> ] [ B<-V>[:I<configvar>] ]> |
8 | S<[ B<-cw> ] [ B<-d>[:I<debugger>] ] [ B<-D>[I<number/list>] ]> |
9 | S<[ B<-pna> ] [ B<-F>I<pattern> ] [ B<-l>[I<octal>] ] [ B<-0>[I<octal>] ]> |
10 | S<[ B<-I>I<dir> ] [ B<-m>[B<->]I<module> ] [ B<-M>[B<->]I<'module...'> ]> |
11 | S<[ B<-P> ]> S<[ B<-S> ]> S<[ B<-x>[I<dir>] ]> |
12 | S<[ B<-i>[I<extension>] ]> S<[ B<-e> I<'command'> ] |
13 | [ B<--> ] [ I<programfile> ] [ I<argument> ]...> |
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14 | |
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15 | If you're new to Perl, you should start with L<perlintro>, which is a |
16 | general intro for beginners and provides some background to help you |
17 | navigate the rest of Perl's extensive documentation. |
18 | |
19 | For ease of access, the Perl manual has been split up into several sections. |
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20 | |
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21 | =head2 Overview |
22 | |
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23 | perl Perl overview (this section) |
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24 | perlintro Perl introduction for beginners |
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25 | perltoc Perl documentation table of contents |
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26 | |
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27 | =head2 Tutorials |
28 | |
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29 | perlreftut Perl references short introduction |
30 | perldsc Perl data structures intro |
31 | perllol Perl data structures: arrays of arrays |
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32 | |
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33 | perlrequick Perl regular expressions quick start |
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34 | perlretut Perl regular expressions tutorial |
35 | |
36 | perlboot Perl OO tutorial for beginners |
37 | perltoot Perl OO tutorial, part 1 |
38 | perltooc Perl OO tutorial, part 2 |
39 | perlbot Perl OO tricks and examples |
40 | |
41 | perlstyle Perl style guide |
42 | |
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43 | perlcheat Perl cheat sheet |
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44 | perltrap Perl traps for the unwary |
45 | perldebtut Perl debugging tutorial |
46 | |
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47 | perlfaq Perl frequently asked questions |
48 | perlfaq1 General Questions About Perl |
49 | perlfaq2 Obtaining and Learning about Perl |
50 | perlfaq3 Programming Tools |
51 | perlfaq4 Data Manipulation |
52 | perlfaq5 Files and Formats |
53 | perlfaq6 Regexes |
54 | perlfaq7 Perl Language Issues |
55 | perlfaq8 System Interaction |
56 | perlfaq9 Networking |
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57 | |
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58 | =head2 Reference Manual |
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59 | |
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60 | perlsyn Perl syntax |
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61 | perldata Perl data structures |
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62 | perlop Perl operators and precedence |
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63 | perlsub Perl subroutines |
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64 | perlfunc Perl built-in functions |
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65 | perlopentut Perl open() tutorial |
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66 | perlpacktut Perl pack() and unpack() tutorial |
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67 | perlpod Perl plain old documentation |
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68 | perlpodspec Perl plain old documentation format specification |
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69 | perlrun Perl execution and options |
70 | perldiag Perl diagnostic messages |
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71 | perllexwarn Perl warnings and their control |
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72 | perldebug Perl debugging |
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73 | perlvar Perl predefined variables |
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74 | perlre Perl regular expressions, the rest of the story |
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75 | perlreref Perl regular expressions quick reference |
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76 | perlref Perl references, the rest of the story |
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77 | perlform Perl formats |
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78 | perlobj Perl objects |
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79 | perltie Perl objects hidden behind simple variables |
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80 | perldbmfilter Perl DBM filters |
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81 | |
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82 | perlipc Perl interprocess communication |
83 | perlfork Perl fork() information |
84 | perlnumber Perl number semantics |
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85 | |
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86 | perlthrtut Perl threads tutorial |
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87 | perlothrtut Old Perl threads tutorial |
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88 | |
89 | perlport Perl portability guide |
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90 | perllocale Perl locale support |
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91 | perluniintro Perl Unicode introduction |
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92 | perlunicode Perl Unicode support |
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93 | perlebcdic Considerations for running Perl on EBCDIC platforms |
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94 | |
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95 | perlsec Perl security |
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96 | |
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97 | perlmod Perl modules: how they work |
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98 | perlmodlib Perl modules: how to write and use |
99 | perlmodstyle Perl modules: how to write modules with style |
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100 | perlmodinstall Perl modules: how to install from CPAN |
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101 | perlnewmod Perl modules: preparing a new module for distribution |
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102 | |
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103 | perlutil utilities packaged with the Perl distribution |
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104 | |
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105 | perlcompile Perl compiler suite intro |
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106 | |
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107 | perlfilter Perl source filters |
108 | |
109 | =head2 Internals and C Language Interface |
110 | |
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111 | perlembed Perl ways to embed perl in your C or C++ application |
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112 | perldebguts Perl debugging guts and tips |
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113 | perlxstut Perl XS tutorial |
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114 | perlxs Perl XS application programming interface |
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115 | perlclib Internal replacements for standard C library functions |
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116 | perlguts Perl internal functions for those doing extensions |
117 | perlcall Perl calling conventions from C |
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118 | |
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119 | perlapi Perl API listing (autogenerated) |
120 | perlintern Perl internal functions (autogenerated) |
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121 | perliol C API for Perl's implementation of IO in Layers |
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122 | perlapio Perl internal IO abstraction interface |
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123 | |
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124 | perlhack Perl hackers guide |
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125 | |
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126 | =head2 Miscellaneous |
127 | |
128 | perlbook Perl book information |
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129 | perltodo Perl things to do |
130 | |
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131 | perldoc Look up Perl documentation in Pod format |
132 | |
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133 | perlhist Perl history records |
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134 | perldelta Perl changes since previous version |
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135 | perl590delta Perl changes in version 5.9.0 |
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136 | perl583delta Perl changes in version 5.8.3 |
137 | perl582delta Perl changes in version 5.8.2 |
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138 | perl581delta Perl changes in version 5.8.1 |
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139 | perl58delta Perl changes in version 5.8.0 |
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140 | perl573delta Perl changes in version 5.7.3 |
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141 | perl572delta Perl changes in version 5.7.2 |
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142 | perl571delta Perl changes in version 5.7.1 |
143 | perl570delta Perl changes in version 5.7.0 |
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144 | perl561delta Perl changes in version 5.6.1 |
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145 | perl56delta Perl changes in version 5.6 |
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146 | perl5005delta Perl changes in version 5.005 |
147 | perl5004delta Perl changes in version 5.004 |
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148 | |
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149 | perlartistic Perl Artistic License |
150 | perlgpl GNU General Public License |
151 | |
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152 | =head2 Language-Specific |
153 | |
154 | perlcn Perl for Simplified Chinese (in EUC-CN) |
155 | perljp Perl for Japanese (in EUC-JP) |
156 | perlko Perl for Korean (in EUC-KR) |
157 | perltw Perl for Traditional Chinese (in Big5) |
158 | |
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159 | =head2 Platform-Specific |
160 | |
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161 | perlaix Perl notes for AIX |
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162 | perlamiga Perl notes for AmigaOS |
163 | perlapollo Perl notes for Apollo DomainOS |
164 | perlbeos Perl notes for BeOS |
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165 | perlbs2000 Perl notes for POSIX-BC BS2000 |
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166 | perlce Perl notes for WinCE |
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167 | perlcygwin Perl notes for Cygwin |
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168 | perldgux Perl notes for DG/UX |
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169 | perldos Perl notes for DOS |
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170 | perlepoc Perl notes for EPOC |
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171 | perlfreebsd Perl notes for FreeBSD |
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172 | perlhpux Perl notes for HP-UX |
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173 | perlhurd Perl notes for Hurd |
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174 | perlirix Perl notes for Irix |
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175 | perlmachten Perl notes for Power MachTen |
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176 | perlmacos Perl notes for Mac OS (Classic) |
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177 | perlmacosx Perl notes for Mac OS X |
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178 | perlmint Perl notes for MiNT |
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179 | perlmpeix Perl notes for MPE/iX |
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180 | perlnetware Perl notes for NetWare |
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181 | perlos2 Perl notes for OS/2 |
182 | perlos390 Perl notes for OS/390 |
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183 | perlos400 Perl notes for OS/400 |
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184 | perlplan9 Perl notes for Plan 9 |
185 | perlqnx Perl notes for QNX |
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186 | perlsolaris Perl notes for Solaris |
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187 | perltru64 Perl notes for Tru64 |
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188 | perluts Perl notes for UTS |
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189 | perlvmesa Perl notes for VM/ESA |
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190 | perlvms Perl notes for VMS |
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191 | perlvos Perl notes for Stratus VOS |
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192 | perlwin32 Perl notes for Windows |
193 | |
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194 | |
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195 | By default, the manpages listed above are installed in the |
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196 | F</usr/local/man/> directory. |
197 | |
198 | Extensive additional documentation for Perl modules is available. The |
199 | default configuration for perl will place this additional documentation |
200 | in the F</usr/local/lib/perl5/man> directory (or else in the F<man> |
201 | subdirectory of the Perl library directory). Some of this additional |
202 | documentation is distributed standard with Perl, but you'll also find |
203 | documentation for third-party modules there. |
204 | |
205 | You should be able to view Perl's documentation with your man(1) |
206 | program by including the proper directories in the appropriate start-up |
207 | files, or in the MANPATH environment variable. To find out where the |
208 | configuration has installed the manpages, type: |
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209 | |
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210 | perl -V:man.dir |
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211 | |
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212 | If the directories have a common stem, such as F</usr/local/man/man1> |
213 | and F</usr/local/man/man3>, you need only to add that stem |
214 | (F</usr/local/man>) to your man(1) configuration files or your MANPATH |
215 | environment variable. If they do not share a stem, you'll have to add |
216 | both stems. |
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217 | |
218 | If that doesn't work for some reason, you can still use the |
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219 | supplied F<perldoc> script to view module information. You might |
220 | also look into getting a replacement man program. |
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221 | |
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222 | If something strange has gone wrong with your program and you're not |
223 | sure where you should look for help, try the B<-w> switch first. It |
224 | will often point out exactly where the trouble is. |
225 | |
226 | =head1 DESCRIPTION |
227 | |
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228 | Perl is a language optimized for scanning arbitrary |
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229 | text files, extracting information from those text files, and printing |
230 | reports based on that information. It's also a good language for many |
231 | system management tasks. The language is intended to be practical |
232 | (easy to use, efficient, complete) rather than beautiful (tiny, |
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233 | elegant, minimal). |
234 | |
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235 | Perl combines (in the author's opinion, anyway) some of the best |
236 | features of C, B<sed>, B<awk>, and B<sh>, so people familiar with |
237 | those languages should have little difficulty with it. (Language |
238 | historians will also note some vestiges of B<csh>, Pascal, and even |
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239 | BASIC-PLUS.) Expression syntax corresponds closely to C |
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240 | expression syntax. Unlike most Unix utilities, Perl does not |
241 | arbitrarily limit the size of your data--if you've got the memory, |
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242 | Perl can slurp in your whole file as a single string. Recursion is of |
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243 | unlimited depth. And the tables used by hashes (sometimes called |
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244 | "associative arrays") grow as necessary to prevent degraded |
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245 | performance. Perl can use sophisticated pattern matching techniques to |
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246 | scan large amounts of data quickly. Although optimized for |
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247 | scanning text, Perl can also deal with binary data, and can make dbm |
248 | files look like hashes. Setuid Perl scripts are safer than C programs |
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249 | through a dataflow tracing mechanism that prevents many stupid |
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250 | security holes. |
251 | |
252 | If you have a problem that would ordinarily use B<sed> or B<awk> or |
253 | B<sh>, but it exceeds their capabilities or must run a little faster, |
254 | and you don't want to write the silly thing in C, then Perl may be for |
255 | you. There are also translators to turn your B<sed> and B<awk> |
256 | scripts into Perl scripts. |
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257 | |
258 | But wait, there's more... |
259 | |
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260 | Begun in 1993 (see L<perlhist>), Perl version 5 is nearly a complete |
261 | rewrite that provides the following additional benefits: |
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262 | |
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263 | =over 4 |
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264 | |
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265 | =item * |
266 | |
267 | modularity and reusability using innumerable modules |
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268 | |
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269 | Described in L<perlmod>, L<perlmodlib>, and L<perlmodinstall>. |
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270 | |
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271 | =item * |
272 | |
273 | embeddable and extensible |
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274 | |
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275 | Described in L<perlembed>, L<perlxstut>, L<perlxs>, L<perlcall>, |
276 | L<perlguts>, and L<xsubpp>. |
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277 | |
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278 | =item * |
279 | |
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280 | roll-your-own magic variables (including multiple simultaneous DBM |
281 | implementations) |
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282 | |
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283 | Described in L<perltie> and L<AnyDBM_File>. |
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284 | |
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285 | =item * |
286 | |
287 | subroutines can now be overridden, autoloaded, and prototyped |
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288 | |
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289 | Described in L<perlsub>. |
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290 | |
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291 | =item * |
292 | |
293 | arbitrarily nested data structures and anonymous functions |
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294 | |
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295 | Described in L<perlreftut>, L<perlref>, L<perldsc>, and L<perllol>. |
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296 | |
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297 | =item * |
298 | |
299 | object-oriented programming |
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300 | |
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301 | Described in L<perlobj>, L<perlboot>, L<perltoot>, L<perltooc>, |
302 | and L<perlbot>. |
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303 | |
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304 | =item * |
305 | |
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306 | support for light-weight processes (threads) |
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307 | |
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308 | Described in L<perlthrtut> and L<threads>. |
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309 | |
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310 | =item * |
311 | |
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312 | support for Unicode, internationalization, and localization |
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313 | |
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314 | Described in L<perluniintro>, L<perllocale> and L<Locale::Maketext>. |
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315 | |
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316 | =item * |
317 | |
318 | lexical scoping |
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319 | |
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320 | Described in L<perlsub>. |
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321 | |
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322 | =item * |
323 | |
324 | regular expression enhancements |
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325 | |
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326 | Described in L<perlre>, with additional examples in L<perlop>. |
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327 | |
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328 | =item * |
329 | |
330 | enhanced debugger and interactive Perl environment, |
331 | with integrated editor support |
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332 | |
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333 | Described in L<perldebtut>, L<perldebug> and L<perldebguts>. |
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334 | |
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335 | =item * |
336 | |
337 | POSIX 1003.1 compliant library |
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338 | |
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339 | Described in L<POSIX>. |
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340 | |
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341 | =back |
342 | |
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343 | Okay, that's I<definitely> enough hype. |
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344 | |
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345 | =head1 AVAILABILITY |
346 | |
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347 | Perl is available for most operating systems, including virtually |
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348 | all Unix-like platforms. See L<perlport/"Supported Platforms"> |
349 | for a listing. |
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350 | |
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351 | =head1 ENVIRONMENT |
352 | |
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353 | See L<perlrun>. |
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354 | |
355 | =head1 AUTHOR |
356 | |
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357 | Larry Wall <larry@wall.org>, with the help of oodles of other folks. |
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358 | |
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359 | If your Perl success stories and testimonials may be of help to others |
360 | who wish to advocate the use of Perl in their applications, |
361 | or if you wish to simply express your gratitude to Larry and the |
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362 | Perl developers, please write to perl-thanks@perl.org . |
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363 | |
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364 | =head1 FILES |
365 | |
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366 | "@INC" locations of perl libraries |
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367 | |
368 | =head1 SEE ALSO |
369 | |
370 | a2p awk to perl translator |
371 | s2p sed to perl translator |
372 | |
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373 | http://www.perl.com/ the Perl Home Page |
374 | http://www.cpan.org/ the Comprehensive Perl Archive |
375 | http://www.perl.org/ Perl Mongers (Perl user groups) |
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376 | |
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377 | =head1 DIAGNOSTICS |
378 | |
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379 | The C<use warnings> pragma (and the B<-w> switch) produces some |
380 | lovely diagnostics. |
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381 | |
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382 | See L<perldiag> for explanations of all Perl's diagnostics. The C<use |
383 | diagnostics> pragma automatically turns Perl's normally terse warnings |
384 | and errors into these longer forms. |
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385 | |
386 | Compilation errors will tell you the line number of the error, with an |
387 | indication of the next token or token type that was to be examined. |
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388 | (In a script passed to Perl via B<-e> switches, each |
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389 | B<-e> is counted as one line.) |
390 | |
391 | Setuid scripts have additional constraints that can produce error |
392 | messages such as "Insecure dependency". See L<perlsec>. |
393 | |
394 | Did we mention that you should definitely consider using the B<-w> |
395 | switch? |
396 | |
397 | =head1 BUGS |
398 | |
399 | The B<-w> switch is not mandatory. |
400 | |
401 | Perl is at the mercy of your machine's definitions of various |
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402 | operations such as type casting, atof(), and floating-point |
403 | output with sprintf(). |
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404 | |
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405 | If your stdio requires a seek or eof between reads and writes on a |
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406 | particular stream, so does Perl. (This doesn't apply to sysread() |
407 | and syswrite().) |
408 | |
409 | While none of the built-in data types have any arbitrary size limits |
410 | (apart from memory size), there are still a few arbitrary limits: a |
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411 | given variable name may not be longer than 251 characters. Line numbers |
412 | displayed by diagnostics are internally stored as short integers, |
413 | so they are limited to a maximum of 65535 (higher numbers usually being |
414 | affected by wraparound). |
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415 | |
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416 | You may mail your bug reports (be sure to include full configuration |
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417 | information as output by the myconfig program in the perl source |
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418 | tree, or by C<perl -V>) to perlbug@perl.org . If you've succeeded |
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419 | in compiling perl, the B<perlbug> script in the F<utils/> subdirectory |
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420 | can be used to help mail in a bug report. |
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421 | |
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422 | Perl actually stands for Pathologically Eclectic Rubbish Lister, but |
423 | don't tell anyone I said that. |
424 | |
425 | =head1 NOTES |
426 | |
427 | The Perl motto is "There's more than one way to do it." Divining |
428 | how many more is left as an exercise to the reader. |
429 | |
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430 | The three principal virtues of a programmer are Laziness, |
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431 | Impatience, and Hubris. See the Camel Book for why. |
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432 | |