README

NAME
    Path::Class - Cross-platform path specification manipulation

SYNOPSIS
      use Path::Class;
  
      my $dir  = dir('foo', 'bar');       # Path::Class::Dir object
      my $file = file('bob', 'file.txt'); # Path::Class::File object
  
      # Stringifies to 'foo/bar' on Unix, 'foo\bar' on Windows, etc.
      print "dir: $dir\n";
  
      # Stringifies to 'bob/file.txt' on Unix, 'bob\file.txt' on Windows
      print "file: $file\n";
  
      my $subdir  = $dir->subdir('baz');  # foo/bar/baz
      my $parent  = $subdir->parent;      # foo/bar
      my $parent2 = $parent->parent;      # foo
  
      my $dir2 = $file->dir;              # bob

      # Work with foreign paths
      use Path::Class qw(foreign_file foreign_dir);
      my $file = foreign_file('Mac', ':foo:file.txt');
      print $file->dir;                   # :foo:
      print $file->as_foreign('Win32');   # foo\file.txt
  
      # Interact with the underlying filesystem:
  
      # $dir_handle is an IO::Dir object
      my $dir_handle = $dir->open or die "Can't read $dir: $!";
  
      # $file_handle is an IO::File object
      my $file_handle = $file->open($mode) or die "Can't read $file: $!";

DESCRIPTION
    "Path::Class" is a module for manipulation of file and directory
    specifications (strings describing their locations, like
    '/home/ken/foo.txt' or 'C:\Windows\Foo.txt') in a cross-platform manner.
    It supports pretty much every platform Perl runs on, including Unix,
    Windows, Mac, VMS, Epoc, Cygwin, OS/2, and NetWare.

    The well-known module "File::Spec" also provides this service, but it's
    sort of awkward to use well, so people sometimes avoid it, or use it in
    a way that won't actually work properly on platforms significantly
    different than the ones they've tested their code on.

    In fact, "Path::Class" uses "File::Spec" internally, wrapping all the
    unsightly details so you can concentrate on your application code.
    Whereas "File::Spec" provides functions for some common path
    manipulations, "Path::Class" provides an object-oriented model of the
    world of path specifications and their underlying semantics.
    "File::Spec" doesn't create any objects, and its classes represent the
    different ways in which paths must be manipulated on various platforms
    (not a very intuitive concept). "Path::Class" creates objects
    representing files and directories, and provides methods that relate
    them to each other. For instance, the following "File::Spec" code:

     my $absolute = File::Spec->file_name_is_absolute(
                      File::Spec->catfile( @dirs, $file )
                    );

    can be written using "Path::Class" as

     my $absolute = Path::Class::File->new( @dirs, $file )->is_absolute;

    or even as

     my $absolute = file( @dirs, $file )->is_absolute;

    Similar readability improvements should happen all over the place when
    using "Path::Class".

    Using "Path::Class" can help solve real problems in your code too - for
    instance, how many people actually take the "volume" (like "C:" on
    Windows) into account when writing "File::Spec"-using code? I thought
    not. But if you use "Path::Class", your file and directory objects will
    know what volumes they refer to and do the right thing.

    The guts of the "Path::Class" code live in the "Path::Class::File" and
    "Path::Class::Dir" modules, so please see those modules' documentation
    for more details about how to use them.

  EXPORT
    The following functions are exported by default.

    file
        A synonym for "Path::Class::File->new".

    dir A synonym for "Path::Class::Dir->new".

    If you would like to prevent their export, you may explicitly pass an
    empty list to perl's "use", i.e. "use Path::Class ()".

    The following are exported only on demand.

    foreign_file
        A synonym for "Path::Class::File->new_foreign".

    foreign_dir
        A synonym for "Path::Class::Dir->new_foreign".

AUTHOR
    Ken Williams, KWILLIAMS@cpan.org

COPYRIGHT
    Copyright (c) Ken Williams. All rights reserved.

    This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
    under the same terms as Perl itself.

SEE ALSO
    Path::Class::Dir, Path::Class::File, File::Spec