Once again syncing after too long an absence

[p5sagit/p5-mst-13.2.git] / ext / IO / lib / IO / Seekable.pm

diff --git a/ext/IO/lib/IO/Seekable.pm b/ext/IO/lib/IO/Seekable.pm
index e09d48b..243a971 100644 (file)
--- a/ext/IO/lib/IO/Seekable.pm
+++ b/ext/IO/lib/IO/Seekable.pm
@@ -18,19 +18,69 @@ C<IO::Seekable> does not have a constructor of its own as it is intended to
 be inherited by other C<IO::Handle> based objects. It provides methods
 which allow seeking of the file descriptors.
 
-If the C functions fgetpos() and fsetpos() are available, then
-C<$io-E<lt>getpos> returns an opaque value that represents the
-current position of the IO::File, and C<$io-E<gt>setpos(POS)> uses
-that value to return to a previously visited position.
+=over 4
 
+=item $io->getpos
+
+Returns an opaque value that represents the current position of the
+IO::File, or C<undef> if this is not possible (eg an unseekable stream such
+as a terminal, pipe or socket). If the fgetpos() function is available in
+your C library it is used to implements getpos, else perl emulates getpos
+using C's ftell() function.
+
+=item $io->setpos
+
+Uses the value of a previous getpos call to return to a previously visited
+position. Returns "0 but true" on success, C<undef> on failure.
+
+=back
+  
 See L<perlfunc> for complete descriptions of each of the following
 supported C<IO::Seekable> methods, which are just front ends for the
 corresponding built-in functions:
 
-  $io->seek( POS, WHENCE )
-  $io->sysseek( POS, WHENCE )
-  $io->tell
+=over 4
+
+=item $io->setpos ( POS, WHENCE )
+
+Seek the IO::File to position POS, relative to WHENCE:
+
+=over 8
+
+=item WHENCE=0 (SEEK_SET)
+
+POS is absolute position. (Seek relative to the start of the file)
+
+=item WHENCE=1 (SEEK_CUR)
+
+POS is an offset from the current position. (Seek relative to current)
+
+=item WHENCE=1 (SEEK_END)
+
+POS is an offset from the end of the file. (Seek relative to end)
+
+=back
+
+The SEEK_* constants can be imported from the C<Fcntl> module if you
+don't wish to use the numbers C<0> C<1> or C<2> in your code.
+
+Returns C<1> upon success, C<0> otherwise.
+
+=item $io->sysseek( POS, WHENCE )
+
+Similar to $io->seek, but sets the IO::File's position using the system
+call lseek(2) directly, so will confuse most perl IO operators except
+sysread and syswrite (see L<perlfunc> for full details)
+
+Returns the new position, or C<undef> on failure.  A position
+of zero is returned as the string C<"0 but true">
+
+=item $io->tell
+
+Returns the IO::File's current position, or -1 on error.
 
+=back
+  
 =head1 SEE ALSO
 
 L<perlfunc>,