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1 | =head1 NAME |
2 | |
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3 | perlfaq - frequently asked questions about Perl ($Date: 2002/03/11 21:32:23 $) |
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4 | |
5 | =head1 DESCRIPTION |
6 | |
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7 | The perlfaq is structured into the following documents: |
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8 | |
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9 | |
40d4dc3e |
10 | =head2 perlfaq: Structural overview of the FAQ. |
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11 | |
12 | This document. |
13 | |
40d4dc3e |
14 | =head2 L<perlfaq1>: General Questions About Perl |
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15 | |
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16 | Very general, high-level questions about Perl. |
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17 | |
65acb1b1 |
18 | =over 4 |
19 | |
40d4dc3e |
20 | =item * |
21 | |
22 | What is Perl? |
23 | |
24 | =item * |
25 | |
26 | Who supports Perl? Who develops it? Why is it free? |
27 | |
28 | =item * |
29 | |
30 | Which version of Perl should I use? |
31 | |
32 | =item * |
33 | |
34 | What are perl4 and perl5? |
35 | |
36 | =item * |
37 | |
38 | What is perl6? |
65acb1b1 |
39 | |
40d4dc3e |
40 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
41 | |
40d4dc3e |
42 | How stable is Perl? |
65acb1b1 |
43 | |
40d4dc3e |
44 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
45 | |
40d4dc3e |
46 | Is Perl difficult to learn? |
65acb1b1 |
47 | |
40d4dc3e |
48 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
49 | |
40d4dc3e |
50 | How does Perl compare with other languages like Java, Python, REXX, Scheme, or Tcl? |
65acb1b1 |
51 | |
40d4dc3e |
52 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
53 | |
40d4dc3e |
54 | Can I do [task] in Perl? |
65acb1b1 |
55 | |
40d4dc3e |
56 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
57 | |
40d4dc3e |
58 | When shouldn't I program in Perl? |
65acb1b1 |
59 | |
40d4dc3e |
60 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
61 | |
40d4dc3e |
62 | What's the difference between "perl" and "Perl"? |
65acb1b1 |
63 | |
40d4dc3e |
64 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
65 | |
40d4dc3e |
66 | Is it a Perl program or a Perl script? |
67 | |
68 | =item * |
69 | |
70 | What is a JAPH? |
71 | |
72 | =item * |
73 | |
74 | Where can I get a list of Larry Wall witticisms? |
75 | |
76 | =item * |
77 | |
ae3d0b9f |
78 | How can I convince my sysadmin/supervisor/employees to use version 5/5.6.1/Perl instead of some other language? |
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79 | |
80 | =back |
81 | |
82 | |
40d4dc3e |
83 | =head2 L<perlfaq2>: Obtaining and Learning about Perl |
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84 | |
ae3d0b9f |
85 | Where to find source and documentation for Perl, support, |
68dc0745 |
86 | and related matters. |
87 | |
65acb1b1 |
88 | =over 4 |
89 | |
40d4dc3e |
90 | =item * |
91 | |
92 | What machines support Perl? Where do I get it? |
93 | |
94 | =item * |
95 | |
96 | How can I get a binary version of Perl? |
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97 | |
40d4dc3e |
98 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
99 | |
40d4dc3e |
100 | I don't have a C compiler on my system. How can I compile perl? |
65acb1b1 |
101 | |
40d4dc3e |
102 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
103 | |
40d4dc3e |
104 | I copied the Perl binary from one machine to another, but scripts don't work. |
65acb1b1 |
105 | |
40d4dc3e |
106 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
107 | |
40d4dc3e |
108 | I grabbed the sources and tried to compile but gdbm/dynamic loading/malloc/linking/... failed. How do I make it work? |
65acb1b1 |
109 | |
40d4dc3e |
110 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
111 | |
40d4dc3e |
112 | What modules and extensions are available for Perl? What is CPAN? What does CPAN/src/... mean? |
65acb1b1 |
113 | |
40d4dc3e |
114 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
115 | |
40d4dc3e |
116 | Is there an ISO or ANSI certified version of Perl? |
65acb1b1 |
117 | |
40d4dc3e |
118 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
119 | |
40d4dc3e |
120 | Where can I get information on Perl? |
65acb1b1 |
121 | |
40d4dc3e |
122 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
123 | |
40d4dc3e |
124 | What are the Perl newsgroups on Usenet? Where do I post questions? |
65acb1b1 |
125 | |
40d4dc3e |
126 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
127 | |
40d4dc3e |
128 | Where should I post source code? |
65acb1b1 |
129 | |
40d4dc3e |
130 | =item * |
131 | |
132 | Perl Books |
133 | |
134 | =item * |
135 | |
136 | Perl in Magazines |
137 | |
138 | =item * |
139 | |
140 | Perl on the Net: FTP and WWW Access |
141 | |
142 | =item * |
143 | |
144 | What mailing lists are there for Perl? |
145 | |
146 | =item * |
147 | |
148 | Archives of comp.lang.perl.misc |
149 | |
150 | =item * |
151 | |
152 | Where can I buy a commercial version of Perl? |
153 | |
154 | =item * |
155 | |
156 | Where do I send bug reports? |
157 | |
158 | =item * |
159 | |
ae3d0b9f |
160 | What is perl.com? Perl Mongers? pm.org? perl.org? cpan.org? |
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161 | |
162 | =back |
163 | |
164 | |
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165 | =head2 L<perlfaq3>: Programming Tools |
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166 | |
167 | Programmer tools and programming support. |
168 | |
65acb1b1 |
169 | =over 4 |
170 | |
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171 | =item * |
172 | |
173 | How do I do (anything)? |
174 | |
175 | =item * |
176 | |
177 | How can I use Perl interactively? |
178 | |
179 | =item * |
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180 | |
40d4dc3e |
181 | Is there a Perl shell? |
65acb1b1 |
182 | |
40d4dc3e |
183 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
184 | |
40d4dc3e |
185 | How do I debug my Perl programs? |
65acb1b1 |
186 | |
40d4dc3e |
187 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
188 | |
40d4dc3e |
189 | How do I profile my Perl programs? |
65acb1b1 |
190 | |
40d4dc3e |
191 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
192 | |
40d4dc3e |
193 | How do I cross-reference my Perl programs? |
65acb1b1 |
194 | |
40d4dc3e |
195 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
196 | |
40d4dc3e |
197 | Is there a pretty-printer (formatter) for Perl? |
65acb1b1 |
198 | |
40d4dc3e |
199 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
200 | |
40d4dc3e |
201 | Is there a ctags for Perl? |
65acb1b1 |
202 | |
40d4dc3e |
203 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
204 | |
40d4dc3e |
205 | Is there an IDE or Windows Perl Editor? |
65acb1b1 |
206 | |
40d4dc3e |
207 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
208 | |
40d4dc3e |
209 | Where can I get Perl macros for vi? |
65acb1b1 |
210 | |
40d4dc3e |
211 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
212 | |
40d4dc3e |
213 | Where can I get perl-mode for emacs? |
65acb1b1 |
214 | |
40d4dc3e |
215 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
216 | |
40d4dc3e |
217 | How can I use curses with Perl? |
65acb1b1 |
218 | |
40d4dc3e |
219 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
220 | |
40d4dc3e |
221 | How can I use X or Tk with Perl? |
65acb1b1 |
222 | |
40d4dc3e |
223 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
224 | |
40d4dc3e |
225 | How can I generate simple menus without using CGI or Tk? |
65acb1b1 |
226 | |
40d4dc3e |
227 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
228 | |
40d4dc3e |
229 | How can I make my Perl program run faster? |
65acb1b1 |
230 | |
40d4dc3e |
231 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
232 | |
40d4dc3e |
233 | How can I make my Perl program take less memory? |
234 | |
235 | =item * |
236 | |
237 | Is it unsafe to return a pointer to local data? |
238 | |
239 | =item * |
240 | |
241 | How can I free an array or hash so my program shrinks? |
242 | |
243 | =item * |
244 | |
245 | How can I make my CGI script more efficient? |
246 | |
247 | =item * |
248 | |
249 | How can I hide the source for my Perl program? |
250 | |
251 | =item * |
252 | |
253 | How can I compile my Perl program into byte code or C? |
254 | |
255 | =item * |
256 | |
257 | How can I compile Perl into Java? |
258 | |
259 | =item * |
260 | |
261 | How can I get C<#!perl> to work on [MS-DOS,NT,...]? |
262 | |
263 | =item * |
264 | |
265 | Can I write useful Perl programs on the command line? |
266 | |
267 | =item * |
268 | |
269 | Why don't Perl one-liners work on my DOS/Mac/VMS system? |
270 | |
271 | =item * |
272 | |
273 | Where can I learn about CGI or Web programming in Perl? |
274 | |
275 | =item * |
276 | |
277 | Where can I learn about object-oriented Perl programming? |
278 | |
279 | =item * |
280 | |
281 | Where can I learn about linking C with Perl? [h2xs, xsubpp] |
282 | |
283 | =item * |
284 | |
285 | I've read perlembed, perlguts, etc., but I can't embed perl in |
a6dd486b |
286 | my C program; what am I doing wrong? |
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287 | |
40d4dc3e |
288 | =item * |
289 | |
ae3d0b9f |
290 | When I tried to run my script, I got this message. What does it mean? |
65acb1b1 |
291 | |
40d4dc3e |
292 | =item * |
293 | |
294 | What's MakeMaker? |
65acb1b1 |
295 | |
296 | =back |
297 | |
298 | |
40d4dc3e |
299 | =head2 L<perlfaq4>: Data Manipulation |
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300 | |
301 | Manipulating numbers, dates, strings, arrays, hashes, and |
302 | miscellaneous data issues. |
303 | |
65acb1b1 |
304 | =over 4 |
305 | |
40d4dc3e |
306 | =item * |
307 | |
308 | Why am I getting long decimals (eg, 19.9499999999999) instead of the numbers I should be getting (eg, 19.95)? |
309 | |
310 | =item * |
311 | |
312 | Why isn't my octal data interpreted correctly? |
313 | |
314 | =item * |
315 | |
316 | Does Perl have a round() function? What about ceil() and floor()? Trig functions? |
317 | |
318 | =item * |
319 | |
ae3d0b9f |
320 | How do I convert between numeric representations? |
40d4dc3e |
321 | |
322 | =item * |
323 | |
324 | Why doesn't & work the way I want it to? |
65acb1b1 |
325 | |
40d4dc3e |
326 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
327 | |
40d4dc3e |
328 | How do I multiply matrices? |
65acb1b1 |
329 | |
40d4dc3e |
330 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
331 | |
40d4dc3e |
332 | How do I perform an operation on a series of integers? |
65acb1b1 |
333 | |
40d4dc3e |
334 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
335 | |
40d4dc3e |
336 | How can I output Roman numerals? |
65acb1b1 |
337 | |
40d4dc3e |
338 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
339 | |
40d4dc3e |
340 | Why aren't my random numbers random? |
65acb1b1 |
341 | |
40d4dc3e |
342 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
343 | |
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344 | How do I get a random number between X and Y? |
345 | |
346 | =item * |
347 | |
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348 | How do I find the week-of-the-year/day-of-the-year? |
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349 | |
40d4dc3e |
350 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
351 | |
40d4dc3e |
352 | How do I find the current century or millennium? |
65acb1b1 |
353 | |
40d4dc3e |
354 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
355 | |
40d4dc3e |
356 | How can I compare two dates and find the difference? |
65acb1b1 |
357 | |
40d4dc3e |
358 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
359 | |
40d4dc3e |
360 | How can I take a string and turn it into epoch seconds? |
65acb1b1 |
361 | |
40d4dc3e |
362 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
363 | |
40d4dc3e |
364 | How can I find the Julian Day? |
65acb1b1 |
365 | |
40d4dc3e |
366 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
367 | |
40d4dc3e |
368 | How do I find yesterday's date? |
65acb1b1 |
369 | |
40d4dc3e |
370 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
371 | |
40d4dc3e |
372 | Does Perl have a Year 2000 problem? Is Perl Y2K compliant? |
65acb1b1 |
373 | |
40d4dc3e |
374 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
375 | |
40d4dc3e |
376 | How do I validate input? |
65acb1b1 |
377 | |
40d4dc3e |
378 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
379 | |
40d4dc3e |
380 | How do I unescape a string? |
65acb1b1 |
381 | |
40d4dc3e |
382 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
383 | |
40d4dc3e |
384 | How do I remove consecutive pairs of characters? |
385 | |
386 | =item * |
387 | |
388 | How do I expand function calls in a string? |
389 | |
390 | =item * |
391 | |
392 | How do I find matching/nesting anything? |
393 | |
394 | =item * |
395 | |
396 | How do I reverse a string? |
397 | |
398 | =item * |
399 | |
400 | How do I expand tabs in a string? |
401 | |
402 | =item * |
403 | |
404 | How do I reformat a paragraph? |
405 | |
406 | =item * |
407 | |
408 | How can I access/change the first N letters of a string? |
409 | |
410 | =item * |
411 | |
412 | How do I change the Nth occurrence of something? |
413 | |
414 | =item * |
415 | |
416 | How can I count the number of occurrences of a substring within a string? |
417 | |
418 | =item * |
419 | |
420 | How do I capitalize all the words on one line? |
421 | |
422 | =item * |
423 | |
424 | How can I split a [character] delimited string except when inside |
65acb1b1 |
425 | [character]? (Comma-separated files) |
426 | |
40d4dc3e |
427 | =item * |
428 | |
429 | How do I strip blank space from the beginning/end of a string? |
430 | |
431 | =item * |
432 | |
433 | How do I pad a string with blanks or pad a number with zeroes? |
434 | |
435 | =item * |
436 | |
437 | How do I extract selected columns from a string? |
438 | |
439 | =item * |
440 | |
441 | How do I find the soundex value of a string? |
442 | |
443 | =item * |
444 | |
445 | How can I expand variables in text strings? |
446 | |
447 | =item * |
448 | |
449 | What's wrong with always quoting "$vars"? |
450 | |
451 | =item * |
452 | |
453 | Why don't my <<HERE documents work? |
454 | |
455 | =item * |
456 | |
457 | What is the difference between a list and an array? |
458 | |
459 | =item * |
460 | |
461 | What is the difference between $array[1] and @array[1]? |
462 | |
463 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
464 | |
40d4dc3e |
465 | How can I remove duplicate elements from a list or array? |
65acb1b1 |
466 | |
40d4dc3e |
467 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
468 | |
ae3d0b9f |
469 | How can I tell whether a certain element is contained in a list or array? |
65acb1b1 |
470 | |
40d4dc3e |
471 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
472 | |
40d4dc3e |
473 | How do I compute the difference of two arrays? How do I compute the intersection of two arrays? |
65acb1b1 |
474 | |
40d4dc3e |
475 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
476 | |
40d4dc3e |
477 | How do I test whether two arrays or hashes are equal? |
65acb1b1 |
478 | |
40d4dc3e |
479 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
480 | |
40d4dc3e |
481 | How do I find the first array element for which a condition is true? |
65acb1b1 |
482 | |
40d4dc3e |
483 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
484 | |
40d4dc3e |
485 | How do I handle linked lists? |
65acb1b1 |
486 | |
40d4dc3e |
487 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
488 | |
40d4dc3e |
489 | How do I handle circular lists? |
65acb1b1 |
490 | |
40d4dc3e |
491 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
492 | |
40d4dc3e |
493 | How do I shuffle an array randomly? |
65acb1b1 |
494 | |
40d4dc3e |
495 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
496 | |
40d4dc3e |
497 | How do I process/modify each element of an array? |
65acb1b1 |
498 | |
40d4dc3e |
499 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
500 | |
40d4dc3e |
501 | How do I select a random element from an array? |
65acb1b1 |
502 | |
40d4dc3e |
503 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
504 | |
40d4dc3e |
505 | How do I permute N elements of a list? |
65acb1b1 |
506 | |
40d4dc3e |
507 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
508 | |
40d4dc3e |
509 | How do I sort an array by (anything)? |
65acb1b1 |
510 | |
40d4dc3e |
511 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
512 | |
40d4dc3e |
513 | How do I manipulate arrays of bits? |
65acb1b1 |
514 | |
40d4dc3e |
515 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
516 | |
40d4dc3e |
517 | Why does defined() return true on empty arrays and hashes? |
65acb1b1 |
518 | |
40d4dc3e |
519 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
520 | |
40d4dc3e |
521 | How do I process an entire hash? |
65acb1b1 |
522 | |
40d4dc3e |
523 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
524 | |
40d4dc3e |
525 | What happens if I add or remove keys from a hash while iterating over it? |
65acb1b1 |
526 | |
40d4dc3e |
527 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
528 | |
40d4dc3e |
529 | How do I look up a hash element by value? |
65acb1b1 |
530 | |
40d4dc3e |
531 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
532 | |
40d4dc3e |
533 | How can I know how many entries are in a hash? |
65acb1b1 |
534 | |
40d4dc3e |
535 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
536 | |
40d4dc3e |
537 | How do I sort a hash (optionally by value instead of key)? |
65acb1b1 |
538 | |
40d4dc3e |
539 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
540 | |
40d4dc3e |
541 | How can I always keep my hash sorted? |
65acb1b1 |
542 | |
40d4dc3e |
543 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
544 | |
40d4dc3e |
545 | What's the difference between "delete" and "undef" with hashes? |
65acb1b1 |
546 | |
40d4dc3e |
547 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
548 | |
40d4dc3e |
549 | Why don't my tied hashes make the defined/exists distinction? |
65acb1b1 |
550 | |
40d4dc3e |
551 | =item * |
552 | |
553 | How do I reset an each() operation part-way through? |
554 | |
555 | =item * |
556 | |
557 | How can I get the unique keys from two hashes? |
558 | |
559 | =item * |
560 | |
561 | How can I store a multidimensional array in a DBM file? |
562 | |
563 | =item * |
564 | |
565 | How can I make my hash remember the order I put elements into it? |
566 | |
567 | =item * |
568 | |
569 | Why does passing a subroutine an undefined element in a hash create it? |
570 | |
571 | =item * |
572 | |
573 | How can I make the Perl equivalent of a C structure/C++ class/hash or array of hashes or arrays? |
574 | |
575 | =item * |
576 | |
577 | How can I use a reference as a hash key? |
578 | |
579 | =item * |
580 | |
581 | How do I handle binary data correctly? |
582 | |
583 | =item * |
584 | |
585 | How do I determine whether a scalar is a number/whole/integer/float? |
586 | |
587 | =item * |
588 | |
589 | How do I keep persistent data across program calls? |
590 | |
591 | =item * |
592 | |
593 | How do I print out or copy a recursive data structure? |
594 | |
595 | =item * |
596 | |
597 | How do I define methods for every class/object? |
598 | |
599 | =item * |
600 | |
601 | How do I verify a credit card checksum? |
602 | |
603 | =item * |
604 | |
605 | How do I pack arrays of doubles or floats for XS code? |
65acb1b1 |
606 | |
607 | =back |
608 | |
609 | |
40d4dc3e |
610 | =head2 L<perlfaq5>: Files and Formats |
68dc0745 |
611 | |
ae3d0b9f |
612 | I/O and the "f" issues: filehandles, flushing, formats, and footers. |
68dc0745 |
613 | |
65acb1b1 |
614 | =over 4 |
615 | |
40d4dc3e |
616 | =item * |
617 | |
618 | How do I flush/unbuffer an output filehandle? Why must I do this? |
619 | |
620 | =item * |
621 | |
622 | How do I change one line in a file/delete a line in a file/insert a line in the middle of a file/append to the beginning of a file? |
623 | |
624 | =item * |
625 | |
626 | How do I count the number of lines in a file? |
627 | |
628 | =item * |
629 | |
630 | How do I make a temporary file name? |
631 | |
632 | =item * |
633 | |
634 | How can I manipulate fixed-record-length files? |
635 | |
636 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
637 | |
40d4dc3e |
638 | How can I make a filehandle local to a subroutine? How do I pass filehandles between subroutines? How do I make an array of filehandles? |
65acb1b1 |
639 | |
40d4dc3e |
640 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
641 | |
40d4dc3e |
642 | How can I use a filehandle indirectly? |
65acb1b1 |
643 | |
40d4dc3e |
644 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
645 | |
40d4dc3e |
646 | How can I set up a footer format to be used with write()? |
65acb1b1 |
647 | |
40d4dc3e |
648 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
649 | |
40d4dc3e |
650 | How can I write() into a string? |
65acb1b1 |
651 | |
40d4dc3e |
652 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
653 | |
40d4dc3e |
654 | How can I output my numbers with commas added? |
65acb1b1 |
655 | |
40d4dc3e |
656 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
657 | |
40d4dc3e |
658 | How can I translate tildes (~) in a filename? |
65acb1b1 |
659 | |
40d4dc3e |
660 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
661 | |
40d4dc3e |
662 | How come when I open a file read-write it wipes it out? |
65acb1b1 |
663 | |
40d4dc3e |
664 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
665 | |
40d4dc3e |
666 | Why do I sometimes get an "Argument list too long" when I use <*>? |
65acb1b1 |
667 | |
40d4dc3e |
668 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
669 | |
40d4dc3e |
670 | Is there a leak/bug in glob()? |
65acb1b1 |
671 | |
40d4dc3e |
672 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
673 | |
40d4dc3e |
674 | How can I open a file with a leading ">" or trailing blanks? |
65acb1b1 |
675 | |
40d4dc3e |
676 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
677 | |
40d4dc3e |
678 | How can I reliably rename a file? |
65acb1b1 |
679 | |
40d4dc3e |
680 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
681 | |
40d4dc3e |
682 | How can I lock a file? |
d92eb7b0 |
683 | |
40d4dc3e |
684 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
685 | |
40d4dc3e |
686 | Why can't I just open(FH, ">file.lock")? |
65acb1b1 |
687 | |
40d4dc3e |
688 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
689 | |
40d4dc3e |
690 | I still don't get locking. I just want to increment the number in the file. How can I do this? |
65acb1b1 |
691 | |
40d4dc3e |
692 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
693 | |
f52f3be2 |
694 | All I want to do is append a small amount of text to the end of a file. Do I still have to use locking? |
05caf3a7 |
695 | |
696 | =item * |
697 | |
40d4dc3e |
698 | How do I randomly update a binary file? |
65acb1b1 |
699 | |
40d4dc3e |
700 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
701 | |
40d4dc3e |
702 | How do I get a file's timestamp in perl? |
65acb1b1 |
703 | |
40d4dc3e |
704 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
705 | |
40d4dc3e |
706 | How do I set a file's timestamp in perl? |
65acb1b1 |
707 | |
40d4dc3e |
708 | =item * |
709 | |
710 | How do I print to more than one file at once? |
711 | |
712 | =item * |
713 | |
714 | How can I read in an entire file all at once? |
715 | |
716 | =item * |
717 | |
718 | How can I read in a file by paragraphs? |
719 | |
720 | =item * |
721 | |
722 | How can I read a single character from a file? From the keyboard? |
723 | |
724 | =item * |
725 | |
726 | How can I tell whether there's a character waiting on a filehandle? |
727 | |
728 | =item * |
729 | |
730 | How do I do a C<tail -f> in perl? |
731 | |
732 | =item * |
733 | |
734 | How do I dup() a filehandle in Perl? |
735 | |
736 | =item * |
737 | |
738 | How do I close a file descriptor by number? |
739 | |
740 | =item * |
741 | |
742 | Why can't I use "C:\temp\foo" in DOS paths? What doesn't `C:\temp\foo.exe` work? |
743 | |
744 | =item * |
745 | |
746 | Why doesn't glob("*.*") get all the files? |
747 | |
748 | =item * |
749 | |
750 | Why does Perl let me delete read-only files? Why does C<-i> clobber protected files? Isn't this a bug in Perl? |
751 | |
752 | =item * |
753 | |
754 | How do I select a random line from a file? |
755 | |
756 | =item * |
757 | |
758 | Why do I get weird spaces when I print an array of lines? |
65acb1b1 |
759 | |
760 | =back |
761 | |
762 | |
ae3d0b9f |
763 | =head2 L<perlfaq6>: Regular Expressions |
68dc0745 |
764 | |
765 | Pattern matching and regular expressions. |
766 | |
65acb1b1 |
767 | =over 4 |
768 | |
40d4dc3e |
769 | =item * |
770 | |
771 | How can I hope to use regular expressions without creating illegible and unmaintainable code? |
772 | |
773 | =item * |
774 | |
775 | I'm having trouble matching over more than one line. What's wrong? |
776 | |
777 | =item * |
778 | |
779 | How can I pull out lines between two patterns that are themselves on different lines? |
780 | |
781 | =item * |
782 | |
783 | I put a regular expression into $/ but it didn't work. What's wrong? |
784 | |
785 | =item * |
786 | |
787 | How do I substitute case insensitively on the LHS while preserving case on the RHS? |
788 | |
789 | =item * |
790 | |
791 | How can I make C<\w> match national character sets? |
792 | |
793 | =item * |
794 | |
795 | How can I match a locale-smart version of C</[a-zA-Z]/>? |
65acb1b1 |
796 | |
40d4dc3e |
797 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
798 | |
40d4dc3e |
799 | How can I quote a variable to use in a regex? |
65acb1b1 |
800 | |
40d4dc3e |
801 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
802 | |
40d4dc3e |
803 | What is C</o> really for? |
65acb1b1 |
804 | |
40d4dc3e |
805 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
806 | |
40d4dc3e |
807 | How do I use a regular expression to strip C style comments from a file? |
65acb1b1 |
808 | |
40d4dc3e |
809 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
810 | |
40d4dc3e |
811 | Can I use Perl regular expressions to match balanced text? |
65acb1b1 |
812 | |
40d4dc3e |
813 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
814 | |
40d4dc3e |
815 | What does it mean that regexes are greedy? How can I get around it? |
65acb1b1 |
816 | |
40d4dc3e |
817 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
818 | |
40d4dc3e |
819 | How do I process each word on each line? |
65acb1b1 |
820 | |
40d4dc3e |
821 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
822 | |
40d4dc3e |
823 | How can I print out a word-frequency or line-frequency summary? |
65acb1b1 |
824 | |
40d4dc3e |
825 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
826 | |
40d4dc3e |
827 | How can I do approximate matching? |
65acb1b1 |
828 | |
40d4dc3e |
829 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
830 | |
40d4dc3e |
831 | How do I efficiently match many regular expressions at once? |
65acb1b1 |
832 | |
40d4dc3e |
833 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
834 | |
40d4dc3e |
835 | Why don't word-boundary searches with C<\b> work for me? |
65acb1b1 |
836 | |
40d4dc3e |
837 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
838 | |
40d4dc3e |
839 | Why does using $&, $`, or $' slow my program down? |
840 | |
841 | =item * |
842 | |
843 | What good is C<\G> in a regular expression? |
844 | |
845 | =item * |
846 | |
847 | Are Perl regexes DFAs or NFAs? Are they POSIX compliant? |
848 | |
849 | =item * |
850 | |
851 | What's wrong with using grep or map in a void context? |
852 | |
853 | =item * |
854 | |
855 | How can I match strings with multibyte characters? |
856 | |
857 | =item * |
858 | |
859 | How do I match a pattern that is supplied by the user? |
65acb1b1 |
860 | |
861 | =back |
862 | |
863 | |
40d4dc3e |
864 | =head2 L<perlfaq7>: General Perl Language Issues |
68dc0745 |
865 | |
866 | General Perl language issues that don't clearly fit into any of the |
867 | other sections. |
868 | |
65acb1b1 |
869 | =over 4 |
870 | |
40d4dc3e |
871 | =item * |
872 | |
873 | Can I get a BNF/yacc/RE for the Perl language? |
874 | |
875 | =item * |
876 | |
877 | What are all these $@%&* punctuation signs, and how do I know when to use them? |
878 | |
879 | =item * |
880 | |
881 | Do I always/never have to quote my strings or use semicolons and commas? |
882 | |
883 | =item * |
884 | |
885 | How do I skip some return values? |
886 | |
887 | =item * |
888 | |
889 | How do I temporarily block warnings? |
890 | |
891 | =item * |
892 | |
893 | What's an extension? |
894 | |
895 | =item * |
896 | |
897 | Why do Perl operators have different precedence than C operators? |
898 | |
899 | =item * |
900 | |
901 | How do I declare/create a structure? |
902 | |
903 | =item * |
904 | |
905 | How do I create a module? |
906 | |
907 | =item * |
908 | |
909 | How do I create a class? |
910 | |
911 | =item * |
912 | |
913 | How can I tell if a variable is tainted? |
914 | |
915 | =item * |
916 | |
917 | What's a closure? |
918 | |
919 | =item * |
920 | |
921 | What is variable suicide and how can I prevent it? |
922 | |
923 | =item * |
924 | |
925 | How can I pass/return a {Function, FileHandle, Array, Hash, Method, Regex}? |
65acb1b1 |
926 | |
40d4dc3e |
927 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
928 | |
40d4dc3e |
929 | How do I create a static variable? |
65acb1b1 |
930 | |
40d4dc3e |
931 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
932 | |
40d4dc3e |
933 | What's the difference between dynamic and lexical (static) scoping? Between local() and my()? |
65acb1b1 |
934 | |
40d4dc3e |
935 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
936 | |
40d4dc3e |
937 | How can I access a dynamic variable while a similarly named lexical is in scope? |
65acb1b1 |
938 | |
40d4dc3e |
939 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
940 | |
40d4dc3e |
941 | What's the difference between deep and shallow binding? |
65acb1b1 |
942 | |
40d4dc3e |
943 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
944 | |
40d4dc3e |
945 | Why doesn't "my($foo) = <FILE>;" work right? |
65acb1b1 |
946 | |
40d4dc3e |
947 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
948 | |
40d4dc3e |
949 | How do I redefine a builtin function, operator, or method? |
65acb1b1 |
950 | |
40d4dc3e |
951 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
952 | |
40d4dc3e |
953 | What's the difference between calling a function as &foo and foo()? |
65acb1b1 |
954 | |
40d4dc3e |
955 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
956 | |
40d4dc3e |
957 | How do I create a switch or case statement? |
65acb1b1 |
958 | |
40d4dc3e |
959 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
960 | |
40d4dc3e |
961 | How can I catch accesses to undefined variables/functions/methods? |
65acb1b1 |
962 | |
40d4dc3e |
963 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
964 | |
40d4dc3e |
965 | Why can't a method included in this same file be found? |
65acb1b1 |
966 | |
40d4dc3e |
967 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
968 | |
40d4dc3e |
969 | How can I find out my current package? |
65acb1b1 |
970 | |
40d4dc3e |
971 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
972 | |
40d4dc3e |
973 | How can I comment out a large block of perl code? |
65acb1b1 |
974 | |
40d4dc3e |
975 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
976 | |
40d4dc3e |
977 | How do I clear a package? |
65acb1b1 |
978 | |
40d4dc3e |
979 | =item * |
980 | |
981 | How can I use a variable as a variable name? |
d92eb7b0 |
982 | |
65acb1b1 |
983 | =back |
984 | |
985 | |
40d4dc3e |
986 | =head2 L<perlfaq8>: System Interaction |
68dc0745 |
987 | |
988 | Interprocess communication (IPC), control over the user-interface |
989 | (keyboard, screen and pointing devices). |
990 | |
65acb1b1 |
991 | =over 4 |
992 | |
40d4dc3e |
993 | =item * |
994 | |
995 | How do I find out which operating system I'm running under? |
996 | |
997 | =item * |
998 | |
999 | How come exec() doesn't return? |
1000 | |
1001 | =item * |
1002 | |
1003 | How do I do fancy stuff with the keyboard/screen/mouse? |
1004 | |
1005 | =item * |
1006 | |
1007 | How do I print something out in color? |
1008 | |
1009 | =item * |
1010 | |
1011 | How do I read just one key without waiting for a return key? |
1012 | |
1013 | =item * |
1014 | |
1015 | How do I check whether input is ready on the keyboard? |
1016 | |
1017 | =item * |
1018 | |
1019 | How do I clear the screen? |
1020 | |
1021 | =item * |
1022 | |
1023 | How do I get the screen size? |
1024 | |
1025 | =item * |
1026 | |
1027 | How do I ask the user for a password? |
1028 | |
1029 | =item * |
1030 | |
1031 | How do I read and write the serial port? |
1032 | |
1033 | =item * |
1034 | |
1035 | How do I decode encrypted password files? |
1036 | |
1037 | =item * |
1038 | |
1039 | How do I start a process in the background? |
1040 | |
1041 | =item * |
1042 | |
1043 | How do I trap control characters/signals? |
1044 | |
1045 | =item * |
1046 | |
1047 | How do I modify the shadow password file on a Unix system? |
1048 | |
1049 | =item * |
1050 | |
1051 | How do I set the time and date? |
1052 | |
1053 | =item * |
1054 | |
1055 | How can I sleep() or alarm() for under a second? |
1056 | |
1057 | =item * |
1058 | |
1059 | How can I measure time under a second? |
1060 | |
1061 | =item * |
1062 | |
1063 | How can I do an atexit() or setjmp()/longjmp()? (Exception handling) |
1064 | |
1065 | =item * |
1066 | |
1067 | Why doesn't my sockets program work under System V (Solaris)? What does the error message "Protocol not supported" mean? |
65acb1b1 |
1068 | |
40d4dc3e |
1069 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1070 | |
40d4dc3e |
1071 | How can I call my system's unique C functions from Perl? |
65acb1b1 |
1072 | |
40d4dc3e |
1073 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1074 | |
40d4dc3e |
1075 | Where do I get the include files to do ioctl() or syscall()? |
65acb1b1 |
1076 | |
40d4dc3e |
1077 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1078 | |
40d4dc3e |
1079 | Why do setuid perl scripts complain about kernel problems? |
65acb1b1 |
1080 | |
40d4dc3e |
1081 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1082 | |
40d4dc3e |
1083 | How can I open a pipe both to and from a command? |
65acb1b1 |
1084 | |
40d4dc3e |
1085 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1086 | |
40d4dc3e |
1087 | Why can't I get the output of a command with system()? |
65acb1b1 |
1088 | |
40d4dc3e |
1089 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1090 | |
40d4dc3e |
1091 | How can I capture STDERR from an external command? |
65acb1b1 |
1092 | |
40d4dc3e |
1093 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1094 | |
40d4dc3e |
1095 | Why doesn't open() return an error when a pipe open fails? |
65acb1b1 |
1096 | |
40d4dc3e |
1097 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1098 | |
40d4dc3e |
1099 | What's wrong with using backticks in a void context? |
65acb1b1 |
1100 | |
40d4dc3e |
1101 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1102 | |
40d4dc3e |
1103 | How can I call backticks without shell processing? |
65acb1b1 |
1104 | |
40d4dc3e |
1105 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1106 | |
40d4dc3e |
1107 | Why can't my script read from STDIN after I gave it EOF (^D on Unix, ^Z on MS-DOS)? |
65acb1b1 |
1108 | |
40d4dc3e |
1109 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1110 | |
40d4dc3e |
1111 | How can I convert my shell script to perl? |
65acb1b1 |
1112 | |
40d4dc3e |
1113 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1114 | |
40d4dc3e |
1115 | Can I use perl to run a telnet or ftp session? |
65acb1b1 |
1116 | |
40d4dc3e |
1117 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1118 | |
40d4dc3e |
1119 | How can I write expect in Perl? |
65acb1b1 |
1120 | |
40d4dc3e |
1121 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1122 | |
40d4dc3e |
1123 | Is there a way to hide perl's command line from programs such as "ps"? |
65acb1b1 |
1124 | |
40d4dc3e |
1125 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1126 | |
40d4dc3e |
1127 | I {changed directory, modified my environment} in a perl script. How come the change disappeared when I exited the script? How do I get my changes to be visible? |
65acb1b1 |
1128 | |
40d4dc3e |
1129 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1130 | |
40d4dc3e |
1131 | How do I close a process's filehandle without waiting for it to complete? |
65acb1b1 |
1132 | |
40d4dc3e |
1133 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1134 | |
40d4dc3e |
1135 | How do I fork a daemon process? |
65acb1b1 |
1136 | |
40d4dc3e |
1137 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1138 | |
40d4dc3e |
1139 | How do I find out if I'm running interactively or not? |
65acb1b1 |
1140 | |
40d4dc3e |
1141 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1142 | |
40d4dc3e |
1143 | How do I timeout a slow event? |
65acb1b1 |
1144 | |
40d4dc3e |
1145 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1146 | |
40d4dc3e |
1147 | How do I set CPU limits? |
65acb1b1 |
1148 | |
40d4dc3e |
1149 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1150 | |
40d4dc3e |
1151 | How do I avoid zombies on a Unix system? |
65acb1b1 |
1152 | |
40d4dc3e |
1153 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1154 | |
40d4dc3e |
1155 | How do I use an SQL database? |
65acb1b1 |
1156 | |
40d4dc3e |
1157 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1158 | |
40d4dc3e |
1159 | How do I make a system() exit on control-C? |
65acb1b1 |
1160 | |
40d4dc3e |
1161 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1162 | |
40d4dc3e |
1163 | How do I open a file without blocking? |
1164 | |
1165 | =item * |
1166 | |
1167 | How do I install a module from CPAN? |
1168 | |
1169 | =item * |
1170 | |
1171 | What's the difference between require and use? |
1172 | |
1173 | =item * |
1174 | |
1175 | How do I keep my own module/library directory? |
1176 | |
1177 | =item * |
1178 | |
1179 | How do I add the directory my program lives in to the module/library search path? |
1180 | |
1181 | =item * |
1182 | |
1183 | How do I add a directory to my include path at runtime? |
1184 | |
1185 | =item * |
1186 | |
1187 | What is socket.ph and where do I get it? |
65acb1b1 |
1188 | |
1189 | =back |
1190 | |
1191 | |
40d4dc3e |
1192 | =head2 L<perlfaq9>: Networking |
68dc0745 |
1193 | |
ae3d0b9f |
1194 | Networking, the internet, and a few on the web. |
68dc0745 |
1195 | |
65acb1b1 |
1196 | =over 4 |
1197 | |
40d4dc3e |
1198 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1199 | |
ae3d0b9f |
1200 | What is the correct form of response from a CGI script? |
1201 | |
1202 | =item * |
1203 | |
40d4dc3e |
1204 | My CGI script runs from the command line but not the browser. (500 Server Error) |
65acb1b1 |
1205 | |
40d4dc3e |
1206 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1207 | |
40d4dc3e |
1208 | How can I get better error messages from a CGI program? |
65acb1b1 |
1209 | |
40d4dc3e |
1210 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1211 | |
40d4dc3e |
1212 | How do I remove HTML from a string? |
65acb1b1 |
1213 | |
40d4dc3e |
1214 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1215 | |
40d4dc3e |
1216 | How do I extract URLs? |
65acb1b1 |
1217 | |
40d4dc3e |
1218 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1219 | |
40d4dc3e |
1220 | How do I download a file from the user's machine? How do I open a file on another machine? |
65acb1b1 |
1221 | |
40d4dc3e |
1222 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1223 | |
40d4dc3e |
1224 | How do I make a pop-up menu in HTML? |
65acb1b1 |
1225 | |
40d4dc3e |
1226 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1227 | |
40d4dc3e |
1228 | How do I fetch an HTML file? |
65acb1b1 |
1229 | |
40d4dc3e |
1230 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1231 | |
40d4dc3e |
1232 | How do I automate an HTML form submission? |
65acb1b1 |
1233 | |
40d4dc3e |
1234 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1235 | |
40d4dc3e |
1236 | How do I decode or create those %-encodings on the web? |
65acb1b1 |
1237 | |
40d4dc3e |
1238 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1239 | |
40d4dc3e |
1240 | How do I redirect to another page? |
65acb1b1 |
1241 | |
40d4dc3e |
1242 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1243 | |
40d4dc3e |
1244 | How do I put a password on my web pages? |
65acb1b1 |
1245 | |
40d4dc3e |
1246 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1247 | |
40d4dc3e |
1248 | How do I edit my .htpasswd and .htgroup files with Perl? |
65acb1b1 |
1249 | |
40d4dc3e |
1250 | =item * |
1251 | |
1252 | How do I make sure users can't enter values into a form that cause my CGI script to do bad things? |
1253 | |
1254 | =item * |
1255 | |
1256 | How do I parse a mail header? |
1257 | |
1258 | =item * |
1259 | |
1260 | How do I decode a CGI form? |
1261 | |
1262 | =item * |
65acb1b1 |
1263 | |
40d4dc3e |
1264 | How do I check a valid mail address? |
1265 | |
1266 | =item * |
1267 | |
1268 | How do I decode a MIME/BASE64 string? |
1269 | |
1270 | =item * |
1271 | |
1272 | How do I return the user's mail address? |
1273 | |
1274 | =item * |
1275 | |
1276 | How do I send mail? |
1277 | |
1278 | =item * |
1279 | |
ae3d0b9f |
1280 | How do I use MIME to make an attachment to a mail message? |
1281 | |
1282 | =item * |
1283 | |
40d4dc3e |
1284 | How do I read mail? |
1285 | |
1286 | =item * |
1287 | |
1288 | How do I find out my hostname/domainname/IP address? |
1289 | |
1290 | =item * |
1291 | |
1292 | How do I fetch a news article or the active newsgroups? |
1293 | |
1294 | =item * |
1295 | |
1296 | How do I fetch/put an FTP file? |
1297 | |
1298 | =item * |
1299 | |
1300 | How can I do RPC in Perl? |
65acb1b1 |
1301 | |
68dc0745 |
1302 | =back |
1303 | |
40d4dc3e |
1304 | |
1305 | =head1 About the perlfaq documents |
1306 | |
1307 | =head2 Where to get the perlfaq |
68dc0745 |
1308 | |
1309 | This document is posted regularly to comp.lang.perl.announce and |
06a5f41f |
1310 | several other related newsgroups. It is available on many |
1311 | web sites: http://www.perldoc.com/ and http://perlfaq.cpan.org/ . |
68dc0745 |
1312 | |
40d4dc3e |
1313 | =head2 How to contribute to the perlfaq |
68dc0745 |
1314 | |
1315 | You may mail corrections, additions, and suggestions to |
06a5f41f |
1316 | perlfaq-workers@perl.org . This alias should not be |
c8db1d39 |
1317 | used to I<ask> FAQs. It's for fixing the current FAQ. |
65acb1b1 |
1318 | Send questions to the comp.lang.perl.misc newsgroup. |
68dc0745 |
1319 | |
1320 | =head2 What will happen if you mail your Perl programming problems to the authors |
1321 | |
1322 | Your questions will probably go unread, unless they're suggestions of |
1323 | new questions to add to the FAQ, in which case they should have gone |
06a5f41f |
1324 | to the perlfaq-workers@perl.org instead. |
68dc0745 |
1325 | |
1326 | You should have read section 2 of this faq. There you would have |
1327 | learned that comp.lang.perl.misc is the appropriate place to go for |
1328 | free advice. If your question is really important and you require a |
1329 | prompt and correct answer, you should hire a consultant. |
1330 | |
1331 | =head1 Credits |
1332 | |
1333 | When I first began the Perl FAQ in the late 80s, I never realized it |
1334 | would have grown to over a hundred pages, nor that Perl would ever become |
1335 | so popular and widespread. This document could not have been written |
1336 | without the tremendous help provided by Larry Wall and the rest of the |
1337 | Perl Porters. |
1338 | |
1339 | =head1 Author and Copyright Information |
1340 | |
0bc0ad85 |
1341 | Copyright (c) 1997-2002 Tom Christiansen and Nathan Torkington. |
68dc0745 |
1342 | All rights reserved. |
1343 | |
c8db1d39 |
1344 | =head2 Bundled Distributions |
68dc0745 |
1345 | |
5a7beb56 |
1346 | This documentation is free; you can redistribute it and/or modify it |
1347 | under the same terms as Perl itself. |
68dc0745 |
1348 | |
c8db1d39 |
1349 | Irrespective of its distribution, all code examples in these files |
1350 | are hereby placed into the public domain. You are permitted and |
1351 | encouraged to use this code in your own programs for fun |
1352 | or for profit as you see fit. A simple comment in the code giving |
1353 | credit would be courteous but is not required. |
68dc0745 |
1354 | |
1355 | =head2 Disclaimer |
1356 | |
1357 | This information is offered in good faith and in the hope that it may |
1358 | be of use, but is not guaranteed to be correct, up to date, or suitable |
1359 | for any particular purpose whatsoever. The authors accept no liability |
1360 | in respect of this information or its use. |
1361 | |
1362 | =head1 Changes |
1363 | |
1364 | =over 4 |
1365 | |
a6dd486b |
1366 | =item 1/November/2000 |
1367 | |
1368 | A few grammatical fixes and updates implemented by John Borwick. |
1369 | |
d92eb7b0 |
1370 | =item 23/May/99 |
1371 | |
87275199 |
1372 | Extensive updates from the net in preparation for 5.6 release. |
d92eb7b0 |
1373 | |
1374 | =item 13/April/99 |
1375 | |
1376 | More minor touch-ups. Added new question at the end |
1377 | of perlfaq7 on variable names within variables. |
1378 | |
65acb1b1 |
1379 | =item 7/January/99 |
1380 | |
8305e449 |
1381 | Small touch ups here and there. Added all questions in this |
65acb1b1 |
1382 | document as a sort of table of contents. |
1383 | |
707102d0 |
1384 | =item 22/June/98 |
c8db1d39 |
1385 | |
1386 | Significant changes throughout in preparation for the 5.005 |
1387 | release. |
1388 | |
fc36a67e |
1389 | =item 24/April/97 |
1390 | |
1391 | Style and whitespace changes from Chip, new question on reading one |
1392 | character at a time from a terminal using POSIX from Tom. |
1393 | |
46fc3d4c |
1394 | =item 23/April/97 |
1395 | |
1396 | Added http://www.oasis.leo.org/perl/ to L<perlfaq2>. Style fix to |
1397 | L<perlfaq3>. Added floating point precision, fixed complex number |
1398 | arithmetic, cross-references, caveat for Text::Wrap, alternative |
1399 | answer for initial capitalizing, fixed incorrect regexp, added example |
1400 | of Tie::IxHash to L<perlfaq4>. Added example of passing and storing |
1401 | filehandles, added commify to L<perlfaq5>. Restored variable suicide, |
1402 | and added mass commenting to L<perlfaq7>. Added Net::Telnet, fixed |
1403 | backticks, added reader/writer pair to telnet question, added FindBin, |
1404 | grouped module questions together in L<perlfaq8>. Expanded caveats |
1405 | for the simple URL extractor, gave LWP example, added CGI security |
5a964f20 |
1406 | question, expanded on the mail address answer in L<perlfaq9>. |
46fc3d4c |
1407 | |
3fe9a6f1 |
1408 | =item 25/March/97 |
1409 | |
1410 | Added more info to the binary distribution section of L<perlfaq2>. |
1411 | Added Net::Telnet to L<perlfaq6>. Fixed typos in L<perlfaq8>. Added |
1412 | mail sending example to L<perlfaq9>. Added Merlyn's columns to |
1413 | L<perlfaq2>. |
1414 | |
46fc3d4c |
1415 | =item 18/March/97 |
3fe9a6f1 |
1416 | |
1417 | Added the DATE to the NAME section, indicating which sections have |
1418 | changed. |
1419 | |
1420 | Mentioned SIGPIPE and L<perlipc> in the forking open answer in |
1421 | L<perlfaq8>. |
1422 | |
1423 | Fixed description of a regular expression in L<perlfaq4>. |
1424 | |
68dc0745 |
1425 | =item 17/March/97 Version |
1426 | |
1427 | Various typos fixed throughout. |
1428 | |
1429 | Added new question on Perl BNF on L<perlfaq7>. |
1430 | |
1431 | =item Initial Release: 11/March/97 |
1432 | |
1433 | This is the initial release of version 3 of the FAQ; consequently there |
1434 | have been no changes since its initial release. |
1435 | |
1436 | =back |