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SDBM_File(3pm)         Perl Programmers Reference Guide         SDBM_File(3pm)
NAME
       SDBM_File - Tied access to sdbm files
SYNOPSIS
        use Fcntl;   # For O_RDWR, O_CREAT, etc.
        use SDBM_File;
        tie(%h, 'SDBM_File', 'filename', O_RDWR|O_CREAT, 0666)
          or die "Couldn't tie SDBM file 'filename': $!; aborting";
        # Now read and change the hash
        $h{newkey} = newvalue;
        print $h{oldkey};
        ...
        untie %h;
DESCRIPTION
       "SDBM_File" establishes a connection between a Perl hash variable and a
       file in SDBM_File format.  You can manipulate the data in the file just
       as if it were in a Perl hash, but when your program exits, the data
       will remain in the file, to be used the next time your program runs.
   Tie
       Use "SDBM_File" with the Perl built-in "tie" function to establish the
       connection between the variable and the file.
           tie %hash, 'SDBM_File', $basename, $modeflags, $perms;
           tie %hash, 'SDBM_File', $dirfile,  $modeflags, $perms, $pagfilename;
       $basename is the base filename for the database.  The database is two
       files with ".dir" and ".pag" extensions appended to $basename,
           $basename.dir     (or .sdbm_dir on VMS, per DIRFEXT constant)
           $basename.pag
       The two filenames can also be given separately in full as $dirfile and
       $pagfilename.  This suits for two files without ".dir" and ".pag"
       extensions, perhaps for example two files from File::Temp.
       $modeflags can be the following constants from the "Fcntl" module (in
       the style of the open(2) system call),
           O_RDONLY          read-only access
           O_WRONLY          write-only access
           O_RDWR            read and write access
       If you want to create the file if it does not already exist then
       bitwise-OR ("|") "O_CREAT" too.  If you omit "O_CREAT" and the database
       does not already exist then the "tie" call will fail.
           O_CREAT           create database if doesn't already exist
       $perms is the file permissions bits to use if new database files are
       created.  This parameter is mandatory even when not creating a new
       database.  The permissions will be reduced by the user's umask so the
       usual value here would be 0666, or if some very private data then 0600.
       (See "umask" in perlfunc.)
EXPORTS
       SDBM_File optionally exports the following constants:
       o   "PAGFEXT" - the extension used for the page file, usually ".pag".
       o   "DIRFEXT" - the extension used for the directory file, ".dir"
           everywhere but VMS, where it is ".sdbm_dir".
       o   "PAIRMAX" - the maximum size of a stored hash entry, including the
           length of both the key and value.
       These constants can also be used with fully qualified names, eg.
       "SDBM_File::PAGFEXT".
DIAGNOSTICS
       On failure, the "tie" call returns an undefined value and probably sets
       $! to contain the reason the file could not be tied.
   "sdbm store returned -1, errno 22, key "..." at ..."
       This warning is emitted when you try to store a key or a value that is
       too long.  It means that the change was not recorded in the database.
       See BUGS AND WARNINGS below.
BUGS AND WARNINGS
       There are a number of limits on the size of the data that you can store
       in the SDBM file.  The most important is that the length of a key, plus
       the length of its associated value, may not exceed 1008 bytes.
       See "tie" in perlfunc, perldbmfilter, Fcntl
perl v5.26.3                      2018-03-01                    SDBM_File(3pm)