config_data - phpMan

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 configuration of
Perl modules. By "configuration", we mean something akin to "user preferences" or
"local settings". This is a formalization and abstraction of the systems that peo-
ple 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 "Mod-
ule::Build". Under this system, configuration information for a module "Foo", for
example, is stored in a module called "Foo::ConfigData") (I would have called it
"Foo::Config", but that was taken by all those other systems mentioned in the pre-
vious paragraph...). These "...::ConfigData" modules contain the configuration
data, as well as publically accessible methods for querying and setting (yes, actu-
ally 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 "fea-
ture" is a boolean (1 or 0) value.

USAGE
This script functions as a basic getter/setter wrapper around the configuration 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 supported:

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 fea-
ture 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 moderately complicated data struc-
tures to be stored. For really complicated 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 AT cpan.org

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