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PerlIO::via(3pm)       Perl Programmers Reference Guide       PerlIO::via(3pm)

NAME
       PerlIO::via - Helper class for PerlIO layers implemented in perl
SYNOPSIS
          use PerlIO::via::Layer;
          open($fh,"<:via(Layer)",...);
          use Some::Other::Package;
          open($fh,">:via(Some::Other::Package)",...);
DESCRIPTION
       The PerlIO::via module allows you to develop PerlIO layers in Perl,
       without having to go into the nitty gritty of programming C with XS as
       the interface to Perl.
       One example module, PerlIO::via::QuotedPrint, is included with Perl
       5.8.0, and more example modules are available from CPAN, such as
       PerlIO::via::StripHTML and PerlIO::via::Base64.  The
       PerlIO::via::StripHTML module for instance, allows you to say:
               use PerlIO::via::StripHTML;
               open( my $fh, "<:via(StripHTML)", "index.html" );
               my @line = <$fh>;
       to obtain the text of an HTML-file in an array with all the HTML-tags
       automagically removed.
       Please note that if the layer is created in the PerlIO::via::
       namespace, it does not have to be fully qualified.  The PerlIO::via
       module will prefix the PerlIO::via:: namespace if the specified
       modulename does not exist as a fully qualified module name.
EXPECTED METHODS
       To create a Perl module that implements a PerlIO layer in Perl (as
       opposed to in C using XS as the interface to Perl), you need to supply
       some of the following subroutines.  It is recommended to create these
       Perl modules in the PerlIO::via:: namespace, so that they can easily be
       located on CPAN and use the default namespace feature of the
       PerlIO::via module itself.
       Please note that this is an area of recent development in Perl and that
       the interface described here is therefore still subject to change (and
       hopefully will have better documentation and more examples).
       In the method descriptions below $fh will be a reference to a glob
       which can be treated as a perl file handle.  It refers to the layer
       below. $fh is not passed if the layer is at the bottom of the stack,
       for this reason and to maintain some level of "compatibility" with
       TIEHANDLE classes it is passed last.
       $class->PUSHED([$mode,[$fh]])
           Should return an object or the class, or -1 on failure.  (Compare
           TIEHANDLE.)  The arguments are an optional mode string ("r", "w",
           "w+", ...) and a filehandle for the PerlIO layer below.  Mandatory.
           When the layer is pushed as part of an "open" call, "PUSHED" will
           be called before the actual open occurs, whether that be via
           "OPEN", "SYSOPEN", "FDOPEN" or by letting a lower layer do the
           open.
       $obj->POPPED([$fh])
           Optional - called when the layer is about to be removed.
       $obj->UTF8($belowFlag,[$fh])
           Optional - if present it will be called immediately after PUSHED
           has returned. It should return a true value if the layer expects
           data to be UTF-8 encoded. If it returns true, the result is as if
           the caller had done
              ":via(YourClass):utf8"
           If not present or if it returns false, then the stream is left with
           the UTF-8 flag clear.  The $belowFlag argument will be true if
           there is a layer below and that layer was expecting UTF-8.
       $obj->OPEN($path,$mode,[$fh])
           Optional - if not present a lower layer does the open.  If present,
           called for normal opens after the layer is pushed.  This function
           is subject to change as there is no easy way to get a lower layer
           to do the open and then regain control.
       $obj->BINMODE([$fh])
           Optional - if not present the layer is popped on binmode($fh) or
           when ":raw" is pushed. If present it should return 0 on success, -1
           on error, or undef to pop the layer.
       $obj->FDOPEN($fd,[$fh])
           Optional - if not present a lower layer does the open.  If present,
           called after the layer is pushed for opens which pass a numeric
           file descriptor.  This function is subject to change as there is no
           easy way to get a lower layer to do the open and then regain
           control.
       $obj->SYSOPEN($path,$imode,$perm,[$fh])
           Optional - if not present a lower layer does the open.  If present,
           called after the layer is pushed for sysopen style opens which pass
           a numeric mode and permissions.  This function is subject to change
           as there is no easy way to get a lower layer to do the open and
           then regain control.
       $obj->FILENO($fh)
           Returns a numeric value for a Unix-like file descriptor. Returns -1
           if there isn't one.  Optional.  Default is fileno($fh).
       $obj->READ($buffer,$len,$fh)
           Returns the number of octets placed in $buffer (must be less than
           or equal to $len).  Optional.  Default is to use FILL instead.
       $obj->WRITE($buffer,$fh)
           Returns the number of octets from $buffer that have been
           successfully written.
       $obj->FILL($fh)
           Should return a string to be placed in the buffer.  Optional. If
           not provided, must provide READ or reject handles open for reading
           in PUSHED.
       $obj->CLOSE($fh)
           Should return 0 on success, -1 on error.  Optional.
       $obj->SEEK($posn,$whence,$fh)
           Should return 0 on success, -1 on error.  Optional.  Default is to
           fail, but that is likely to be changed in future.
       $obj->TELL($fh)
           Returns file position.  Optional.  Default to be determined.
       $obj->UNREAD($buffer,$fh)
           Returns the number of octets from $buffer that have been
           successfully saved to be returned on future FILL/READ calls.
           Optional.  Default is to push data into a temporary layer above
           this one.
       $obj->FLUSH($fh)
           Flush any buffered write data.  May possibly be called on readable
           handles too.  Should return 0 on success, -1 on error.
       $obj->SETLINEBUF($fh)
           Optional. No return.
       $obj->CLEARERR($fh)
           Optional. No return.
       $obj->ERROR($fh)
           Optional. Returns error state. Default is no error until a
           mechanism to signal error (die?) is worked out.
       $obj->EOF($fh)
           Optional. Returns end-of-file state. Default is a function of the
           return value of FILL or READ.
EXAMPLES
       Check the PerlIO::via:: namespace on CPAN for examples of PerlIO layers
       implemented in Perl.  To give you an idea how simple the implementation
       of a PerlIO layer can look, a simple example is included here.
   Example - a Hexadecimal Handle
       Given the following module, PerlIO::via::Hex :
           package PerlIO::via::Hex;
           sub PUSHED
           {
            my ($class,$mode,$fh) = @_;
            # When writing we buffer the data
            my $buf = '';
            return bless \$buf,$class;
           }
           sub FILL
           {
            my ($obj,$fh) = @_;
            my $line = <$fh>;
            return (defined $line) ? pack("H*", $line) : undef;
           }
           sub WRITE
           {
            my ($obj,$buf,$fh) = @_;
            $$obj .= unpack("H*", $buf);
            return length($buf);
           }
           sub FLUSH
           {
            my ($obj,$fh) = @_;
            print $fh $$obj or return -1;
            $$obj = '';
            return 0;
           }
           1;
       The following code opens up an output handle that will convert any
       output to a hexadecimal dump of the output bytes: for example "A" will
       be converted to "41" (on ASCII-based machines, on EBCDIC platforms the
       "A" will become "c1")
           use PerlIO::via::Hex;
           open(my $fh, ">:via(Hex)", "foo.hex");
       and the following code will read the hexdump in and convert it on the
       fly back into bytes:
           open(my $fh, "<:via(Hex)", "foo.hex");

perl v5.16.3                      2013-03-04                  PerlIO::via(3pm)