config_data

CONFIG_DATA(1)	     User Contributed Perl Documentation       CONFIG_DATA(1)



NAME
       config_data - Query or change configuration of Perl modules

SYNOPSIS
	 # Get config/feature values
	 config_data --module Foo::Bar --feature bazzable
	 config_data --module Foo::Bar --config magic_number

	 # Set config/feature values
	 config_data --module Foo::Bar --set_feature bazzable=1
	 config_data --module Foo::Bar --set_config magic_number=42

	 # Print a usage message
	 config_data --help

DESCRIPTION
       The "config_data" tool provides a command-line interface to the con-
       figuration of Perl modules.  By "configuration", we mean something
       akin to "user preferences" or "local settings".	This is a formaliza-
       tion and abstraction of the systems that people like Andreas Koenig
       ("CPAN::Config"), Jon Swartz ("HTML::Mason::Config"), Andy Wardley
       ("Template::Config"), and Larry Wall (perl’s own Config.pm) have
       developed independently.

       The configuration system emplyed here was developed in the context of
       "Module::Build".	 Under this system, configuration information for a
       module "Foo", for example, is stored in a module called "Foo::Config-
       Data") (I would have called it "Foo::Config", but that was taken by
       all those other systems mentioned in the previous paragraph...).
       These "...::ConfigData" modules contain the configuration data, as
       well as publically accessible methods for querying and setting (yes,
       actually re-writing) the configuration data.  The "config_data" script
       (whose docs you are currently reading) is merely a front-end for those
       methods.	 If you wish, you may create alternate front-ends.

       The two types of data that may be stored are called "config" values
       and "feature" values.  A "config" value may be any perl scalar,
       including references to complex data structures.	 It must, however, be
       serializable using "Data::Dumper".  A "feature" is a boolean (1 or 0)
       value.

USAGE
       This script functions as a basic getter/setter wrapper around the con-
       figuration of a single module.  On the command line, specify which
       module’s configuration you’re interested in, and pass options to get
       or set "config" or "feature" values.  The following options are sup-
       ported:

       module
	   Specifies the name of the module to configure (required).

       feature
	   When passed the name of a "feature", shows its value.  The value
	   will be 1 if the feature is enabled, 0 if the feature is not
	   enabled, or empty if the feature is unknown.	 When no feature name
	   is supplied, the names and values of all known features will be
	   shown.

       config
	   When passed the name of a "config" entry, shows its value.  The
	   value will be displayed using "Data::Dumper" (or similar) as perl
	   code.  When no config name is supplied, the names and values of
	   all known config entries will be shown.

       set_feature
	   Sets the given "feature" to the given boolean value.	 Specify the
	   value as either 1 or 0.

       set_config
	   Sets the given "config" entry to the given value.

       eval
	   If the "--eval" option is used, the values in "set_config" will be
	   evaluated as perl code before being stored.	This allows moder-
	   ately complicated data structures to be stored.  For really com-
	   plicated structures, you probably shouldn’t use this command-line
	   interface, just use the Perl API instead.

       help
	   Prints a help message, including a few examples, and exits.

AUTHOR
       Ken Williams, kwilliams@cpan.org

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright (c) 1999, 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
       Module::Build(3), perl(1).



perl v5.8.8			  2009-05-27		       CONFIG_DATA(1)