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.\" ========================================================================
.\"
.IX Title "PERL 1"
.TH PERL 1 "2002-11-24" "perl v5.8.0" "Perl Programmers Reference Guide"
.SH "NAME"
perl \- Practical Extraction and Report Language
.SH "SYNOPSIS"
.IX Header "SYNOPSIS"
\&\fBperl\fR [\ \fB\-sTuU\fR\ ] [\ \fB\-hv\fR\ ]\ [\ \fB\-V\fR[:\fIconfigvar\fR]\ ]
[\ \fB\-cw\fR\ ]\ [\ \fB\-d\fR[:\fIdebugger\fR]\ ]\ [\ \fB\-D\fR[\fInumber/list\fR]\ ]
[\ \fB\-pna\fR\ ]\ [\ \fB\-F\fR\fIpattern\fR\ ]\ [\ \fB\-l\fR[\fIoctal\fR]\ ]\ [\ \fB\-0\fR[\fIoctal\fR]\ ]
[\ \fB\-I\fR\fIdir\fR\ ]\ [\ \fB\-m\fR[\fB\-\fR]\fImodule\fR\ ]\ [\ \fB\-M\fR[\fB\-\fR]\fI'module...'\fR\ ]
[\ \fB\-P\fR\ ] [\ \fB\-S\fR\ ] [\ \fB\-x\fR[\fIdir\fR]\ ]
[\ \fB\-i\fR[\fIextension\fR]\ ] [\ \fB\-e\fR\ \fI'command'\fR\ ]\ [\ \fB\-\-\fR\ ]\ [\ \fIprogramfile\fR\ ]\ [\ \fIargument\fR\ ]...
.PP
If you're new to Perl, you should start with perlintro, which is a
general intro for beginners and provides some background to help you
navigate the rest of Perl's extensive documentation.
.PP
For ease of access, the Perl manual has been split up into several sections.
.Sh "Overview"
.IX Subsection "Overview"
.Vb 3
\& perl Perl overview (this section)
\& perlintro Perl introduction for beginners
\& perltoc Perl documentation table of contents
.Ve
.Sh "Tutorials"
.IX Subsection "Tutorials"
.Vb 3
\& perlreftut Perl references short introduction
\& perldsc Perl data structures intro
\& perllol Perl data structures: arrays of arrays
.Ve
.PP
.Vb 2
\& perlrequick Perl regular expressions quick start
\& perlretut Perl regular expressions tutorial
.Ve
.PP
.Vb 4
\& perlboot Perl OO tutorial for beginners
\& perltoot Perl OO tutorial, part 1
\& perltooc Perl OO tutorial, part 2
\& perlbot Perl OO tricks and examples
.Ve
.PP
.Vb 1
\& perlstyle Perl style guide
.Ve
.PP
.Vb 2
\& perltrap Perl traps for the unwary
\& perldebtut Perl debugging tutorial
.Ve
.PP
.Vb 10
\& perlfaq Perl frequently asked questions
\& perlfaq1 General Questions About Perl
\& perlfaq2 Obtaining and Learning about Perl
\& perlfaq3 Programming Tools
\& perlfaq4 Data Manipulation
\& perlfaq5 Files and Formats
\& perlfaq6 Regexes
\& perlfaq7 Perl Language Issues
\& perlfaq8 System Interaction
\& perlfaq9 Networking
.Ve
.Sh "Reference Manual"
.IX Subsection "Reference Manual"
.Vb 20
\& perlsyn Perl syntax
\& perldata Perl data structures
\& perlop Perl operators and precedence
\& perlsub Perl subroutines
\& perlfunc Perl built-in functions
\& perlopentut Perl open() tutorial
\& perlpacktut Perl pack() and unpack() tutorial
\& perlpod Perl plain old documentation
\& perlpodspec Perl plain old documentation format specification
\& perlrun Perl execution and options
\& perldiag Perl diagnostic messages
\& perllexwarn Perl warnings and their control
\& perldebug Perl debugging
\& perlvar Perl predefined variables
\& perlre Perl regular expressions, the rest of the story
\& perlref Perl references, the rest of the story
\& perlform Perl formats
\& perlobj Perl objects
\& perltie Perl objects hidden behind simple variables
\& perldbmfilter Perl DBM filters
.Ve
.PP
.Vb 3
\& perlipc Perl interprocess communication
\& perlfork Perl fork() information
\& perlnumber Perl number semantics
.Ve
.PP
.Vb 2
\& perlthrtut Perl threads tutorial
\& perlothrtut Old Perl threads tutorial
.Ve
.PP
.Vb 5
\& perlport Perl portability guide
\& perllocale Perl locale support
\& perluniintro Perl Unicode introduction
\& perlunicode Perl Unicode support
\& perlebcdic Considerations for running Perl on EBCDIC platforms
.Ve
.PP
.Vb 1
\& perlsec Perl security
.Ve
.PP
.Vb 5
\& perlmod Perl modules: how they work
\& perlmodlib Perl modules: how to write and use
\& perlmodstyle Perl modules: how to write modules with style
\& perlmodinstall Perl modules: how to install from CPAN
\& perlnewmod Perl modules: preparing a new module for distribution
.Ve
.PP
.Vb 1
\& perlutil utilities packaged with the Perl distribution
.Ve
.PP
.Vb 1
\& perlcompile Perl compiler suite intro
.Ve
.PP
.Vb 1
\& perlfilter Perl source filters
.Ve
.Sh "Internals and C Language Interface"
.IX Subsection "Internals and C Language Interface"
.Vb 7
\& perlembed Perl ways to embed perl in your C or C++ application
\& perldebguts Perl debugging guts and tips
\& perlxstut Perl XS tutorial
\& perlxs Perl XS application programming interface
\& perlclib Internal replacements for standard C library functions
\& perlguts Perl internal functions for those doing extensions
\& perlcall Perl calling conventions from C
.Ve
.PP
.Vb 4
\& perlapi Perl API listing (autogenerated)
\& perlintern Perl internal functions (autogenerated)
\& perliol C API for Perl's implementation of IO in Layers
\& perlapio Perl internal IO abstraction interface
.Ve
.PP
.Vb 1
\& perlhack Perl hackers guide
.Ve
.Sh "Miscellaneous"
.IX Subsection "Miscellaneous"
.Vb 2
\& perlbook Perl book information
\& perltodo Perl things to do
.Ve
.PP
.Vb 9
\& perlhist Perl history records
\& perldelta Perl changes since previous version
\& perl572delta Perl changes in version 5.7.2
\& perl571delta Perl changes in version 5.7.1
\& perl570delta Perl changes in version 5.7.0
\& perl561delta Perl changes in version 5.6.1
\& perl56delta Perl changes in version 5.6
\& perl5005delta Perl changes in version 5.005
\& perl5004delta Perl changes in version 5.004
.Ve
.Sh "Language-Specific"
.IX Subsection "Language-Specific"
.Vb 4
\& perlcn Perl for Simplified Chinese (in EUC-CN)
\& perljp Perl for Japanese (in EUC-JP)
\& perlko Perl for Korean (in EUC-KR)
\& perltw Perl for Traditional Chinese (in Big5)
.Ve
.Sh "Platform-Specific"
.IX Subsection "Platform-Specific"
.Vb 30
\& perlaix Perl notes for AIX
\& perlamiga Perl notes for AmigaOS
\& perlapollo Perl notes for Apollo DomainOS
\& perlbeos Perl notes for BeOS
\& perlbs2000 Perl notes for POSIX-BC BS2000
\& perlce Perl notes for WinCE
\& perlcygwin Perl notes for Cygwin
\& perldgux Perl notes for DG/UX
\& perldos Perl notes for DOS
\& perlepoc Perl notes for EPOC
\& perlfreebsd Perl notes for FreeBSD
\& perlhpux Perl notes for HP-UX
\& perlhurd Perl notes for Hurd
\& perlirix Perl notes for Irix
\& perlmachten Perl notes for Power MachTen
\& perlmacos Perl notes for Mac OS (Classic)
\& perlmint Perl notes for MiNT
\& perlmpeix Perl notes for MPE/iX
\& perlnetware Perl notes for NetWare
\& perlos2 Perl notes for OS/2
\& perlos390 Perl notes for OS/390
\& perlplan9 Perl notes for Plan 9
\& perlqnx Perl notes for QNX
\& perlsolaris Perl notes for Solaris
\& perltru64 Perl notes for Tru64
\& perluts Perl notes for UTS
\& perlvmesa Perl notes for VM/ESA
\& perlvms Perl notes for VMS
\& perlvos Perl notes for Stratus VOS
\& perlwin32 Perl notes for Windows
.Ve
.PP
By default, the manpages listed above are installed in the
\&\fI/usr/local/man/\fR directory.
.PP
Extensive additional documentation for Perl modules is available. The
default configuration for perl will place this additional documentation
in the \fI/usr/local/lib/perl5/man\fR directory (or else in the \fIman\fR
subdirectory of the Perl library directory). Some of this additional
documentation is distributed standard with Perl, but you'll also find
documentation for third-party modules there.
.PP
You should be able to view Perl's documentation with your \fIman\fR\|(1)
program by including the proper directories in the appropriate start-up
files, or in the \s-1MANPATH\s0 environment variable. To find out where the
configuration has installed the manpages, type:
.PP
.Vb 1
\& perl -V:man.dir
.Ve
.PP
If the directories have a common stem, such as \fI/usr/local/man/man1\fR
and \fI/usr/local/man/man3\fR, you need only to add that stem
(\fI/usr/local/man\fR) to your \fIman\fR\|(1) configuration files or your \s-1MANPATH\s0
environment variable. If they do not share a stem, you'll have to add
both stems.
.PP
If that doesn't work for some reason, you can still use the
supplied \fIperldoc\fR script to view module information. You might
also look into getting a replacement man program.
.PP
If something strange has gone wrong with your program and you're not
sure where you should look for help, try the \fB\-w\fR switch first. It
will often point out exactly where the trouble is.
.SH "DESCRIPTION"
.IX Header "DESCRIPTION"
Perl is a language optimized for scanning arbitrary
text files, extracting information from those text files, and printing
reports based on that information. It's also a good language for many
system management tasks. The language is intended to be practical
(easy to use, efficient, complete) rather than beautiful (tiny,
elegant, minimal).
.PP
Perl combines (in the author's opinion, anyway) some of the best
features of C, \fBsed\fR, \fBawk\fR, and \fBsh\fR, so people familiar with
those languages should have little difficulty with it. (Language
historians will also note some vestiges of \fBcsh\fR, Pascal, and even
\&\s-1BASIC\-PLUS\s0.) Expression syntax corresponds closely to C
expression syntax. Unlike most Unix utilities, Perl does not
arbitrarily limit the size of your data\*(--if you've got the memory,
Perl can slurp in your whole file as a single string. Recursion is of
unlimited depth. And the tables used by hashes (sometimes called
\&\*(L"associative arrays\*(R") grow as necessary to prevent degraded
performance. Perl can use sophisticated pattern matching techniques to
scan large amounts of data quickly. Although optimized for
scanning text, Perl can also deal with binary data, and can make dbm
files look like hashes. Setuid Perl scripts are safer than C programs
through a dataflow tracing mechanism that prevents many stupid
security holes.
.PP
If you have a problem that would ordinarily use \fBsed\fR or \fBawk\fR or
\&\fBsh\fR, but it exceeds their capabilities or must run a little faster,
and you don't want to write the silly thing in C, then Perl may be for
you. There are also translators to turn your \fBsed\fR and \fBawk\fR
scripts into Perl scripts.
.PP
But wait, there's more...
.PP
Begun in 1993 (see perlhist), Perl version 5 is nearly a complete
rewrite that provides the following additional benefits:
.IP "\(bu" 4
modularity and reusability using innumerable modules
.Sp
Described in perlmod, perlmodlib, and perlmodinstall.
.IP "\(bu" 4
embeddable and extensible
.Sp
Described in perlembed, perlxstut, perlxs, perlcall,
perlguts, and xsubpp.
.IP "\(bu" 4
roll-your-own magic variables (including multiple simultaneous \s-1DBM\s0 implementations)
.Sp
Described in perltie and AnyDBM_File.
.IP "\(bu" 4
subroutines can now be overridden, autoloaded, and prototyped
.Sp
Described in perlsub.
.IP "\(bu" 4
arbitrarily nested data structures and anonymous functions
.Sp
Described in perlreftut, perlref, perldsc, and perllol.
.IP "\(bu" 4
object-oriented programming
.Sp
Described in perlobj, perlboot, perltoot, perltooc,
and perlbot.
.IP "\(bu" 4
compilability into C code or Perl bytecode
.Sp
Described in B and B::Bytecode.
.IP "\(bu" 4
support for light-weight processes (threads)
.Sp
Described in perlthrtut and Thread.
.IP "\(bu" 4
support for internationalization, localization, and Unicode
.Sp
Described in perllocale and utf8.
.IP "\(bu" 4
lexical scoping
.Sp
Described in perlsub.
.IP "\(bu" 4
regular expression enhancements
.Sp
Described in perlre, with additional examples in perlop.
.IP "\(bu" 4
enhanced debugger and interactive Perl environment,
with integrated editor support
.Sp
Described in perldebtut, perldebug and perldebguts.
.IP "\(bu" 4
\&\s-1POSIX\s0 1003.1 compliant library
.Sp
Described in \s-1POSIX\s0.
.PP
Okay, that's \fIdefinitely\fR enough hype.
.SH "AVAILABILITY"
.IX Header "AVAILABILITY"
Perl is available for most operating systems, including virtually
all Unix-like platforms. See \*(L"Supported Platforms\*(R" in perlport
for a listing.
.SH "ENVIRONMENT"
.IX Header "ENVIRONMENT"
See perlrun.
.SH "AUTHOR"
.IX Header "AUTHOR"
Larry Wall <larry@wall.org>, with the help of oodles of other folks.
.PP
If your Perl success stories and testimonials may be of help to others
who wish to advocate the use of Perl in their applications,
or if you wish to simply express your gratitude to Larry and the
Perl developers, please write to perl\-thanks@perl.org .
.SH "FILES"
.IX Header "FILES"
.Vb 1
\& "@INC" locations of perl libraries
.Ve
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.IX Header "SEE ALSO"
.Vb 2
\& a2p awk to perl translator
\& s2p sed to perl translator
.Ve
.PP
.Vb 3
\& http://www.perl.com/ the Perl Home Page
\& http://www.cpan.org/ the Comprehensive Perl Archive
\& http://www.perl.org/ Perl Mongers (Perl user groups)
.Ve
.SH "DIAGNOSTICS"
.IX Header "DIAGNOSTICS"
The \f(CW\*(C`use warnings\*(C'\fR pragma (and the \fB\-w\fR switch) produces some
lovely diagnostics.
.PP
See perldiag for explanations of all Perl's diagnostics. The \f(CW\*(C`use
diagnostics\*(C'\fR pragma automatically turns Perl's normally terse warnings
and errors into these longer forms.
.PP
Compilation errors will tell you the line number of the error, with an
indication of the next token or token type that was to be examined.
(In a script passed to Perl via \fB\-e\fR switches, each
\&\fB\-e\fR is counted as one line.)
.PP
Setuid scripts have additional constraints that can produce error
messages such as \*(L"Insecure dependency\*(R". See perlsec.
.PP
Did we mention that you should definitely consider using the \fB\-w\fR
switch?
.SH "BUGS"
.IX Header "BUGS"
The \fB\-w\fR switch is not mandatory.
.PP
Perl is at the mercy of your machine's definitions of various
operations such as type casting, \fIatof()\fR, and floating-point
output with \fIsprintf()\fR.
.PP
If your stdio requires a seek or eof between reads and writes on a
particular stream, so does Perl. (This doesn't apply to \fIsysread()\fR
and \fIsyswrite()\fR.)
.PP
While none of the built-in data types have any arbitrary size limits
(apart from memory size), there are still a few arbitrary limits: a
given variable name may not be longer than 251 characters. Line numbers
displayed by diagnostics are internally stored as short integers,
so they are limited to a maximum of 65535 (higher numbers usually being
affected by wraparound).
.PP
You may mail your bug reports (be sure to include full configuration
information as output by the myconfig program in the perl source
tree, or by \f(CW\*(C`perl \-V\*(C'\fR) to perlbug@perl.org . If you've succeeded
in compiling perl, the \fBperlbug\fR script in the \fIutils/\fR subdirectory
can be used to help mail in a bug report.
.PP
Perl actually stands for Pathologically Eclectic Rubbish Lister, but
don't tell anyone I said that.
.SH "NOTES"
.IX Header "NOTES"
The Perl motto is \*(L"There's more than one way to do it.\*(R" Divining
how many more is left as an exercise to the reader.
.PP
The three principal virtues of a programmer are Laziness,
Impatience, and Hubris. See the Camel Book for why.
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