# phpman > man > ExtUtils::Packlist

## NAME
    [ExtUtils::Packlist](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/ExtUtils%3A%3APacklist/markdown) - manage .packlist files

## SYNOPSIS
       use [ExtUtils::Packlist](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/ExtUtils%3A%3APacklist/markdown);
       my ($pl) = [ExtUtils::Packlist](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/ExtUtils%3A%3APacklist/markdown)->new('.packlist');
       $pl->read('/an/old/.packlist');
       my @missing_files = $pl->validate();
       $pl->write('/a/new/.packlist');

       $pl->{'/some/file/name'}++;
          or
       $pl->{'/some/other/file/name'} = { type => 'file',
                                          from => '/some/file' };

## DESCRIPTION
    [ExtUtils::Packlist](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/ExtUtils%3A%3APacklist/markdown) provides a standard way to manage .packlist files. Functions are provided to
    read and write .packlist files. The original .packlist format is a simple list of absolute
    pathnames, one per line. In addition, this package supports an extended format, where as well as
    a filename each line may contain a list of attributes in the form of a space separated list of
    key=value pairs. This is used by the installperl script to differentiate between files and
    links, for example.

## USAGE
    The hash reference returned by the new() function can be used to examine and modify the contents
    of the .packlist. Items may be added/deleted from the .packlist by modifying the hash. If the
    value associated with a hash key is a scalar, the entry written to the .packlist by any
    subsequent write() will be a simple filename. If the value is a hash, the entry written will be
    the filename followed by the key=value pairs from the hash. Reading back the .packlist will
    recreate the original entries.

## FUNCTIONS
### new
        This takes an optional parameter, the name of a .packlist. If the file exists, it will be
        opened and the contents of the file will be read. The new() method returns a reference to a
        hash. This hash holds an entry for each line in the .packlist. In the case of old-style
        .packlists, the value associated with each key is undef. In the case of new-style
        .packlists, the value associated with each key is a hash containing the key=value pairs
        following the filename in the .packlist.

### read
        This takes an optional parameter, the name of the .packlist to be read. If no file is
        specified, the .packlist specified to new() will be read. If the .packlist does not exist,
        [Carp::croak](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Carp%3A%3Acroak/markdown) will be called.

### write
        This takes an optional parameter, the name of the .packlist to be written. If no file is
        specified, the .packlist specified to new() will be overwritten.

### validate
        This checks that every file listed in the .packlist actually exists. If an argument which
        evaluates to true is given, any missing files will be removed from the internal hash. The
        return value is a list of the missing files, which will be empty if they all exist.

### packlist_file
        This returns the name of the associated .packlist file

## EXAMPLE
    Here's "modrm", a little utility to cleanly remove an installed module.

        #!/usr/local/bin/perl -w

        use strict;
        use [IO::Dir](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/IO%3A%3ADir/markdown);
        use [ExtUtils::Packlist](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/ExtUtils%3A%3APacklist/markdown);
        use [ExtUtils::Installed](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/ExtUtils%3A%3AInstalled/markdown);

        sub emptydir($) {
            my ($dir) = @_;
            my $dh = [IO::Dir](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/IO%3A%3ADir/markdown)->new($dir) || [return(0)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/return/0/markdown);
            my @count = $dh->read();
            $dh->close();
            return(@count == 2 ? 1 : 0);
        }

        # Find all the installed packages
        print("Finding all installed modules...\n");
        my $installed = [ExtUtils::Installed](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/ExtUtils%3A%3AInstalled/markdown)->new();

        foreach my $module (grep(!/^Perl$/, $installed->modules())) {
           my $version = $installed->version($module) || "???";
           print("Found module $module Version $version\n");
           print("Do you want to delete $module? [n] ");
           my $r = <STDIN>; chomp($r);
           if ($r && $r =~ /^y/i) {
              # Remove all the files
              foreach my $file (sort($installed->files($module))) {
                 print("rm $file\n");
                 unlink($file);
              }
              my $pf = $installed->packlist($module)->packlist_file();
              print("rm $pf\n");
              unlink($pf);
              foreach my $dir (sort($installed->directory_tree($module))) {
                 if (emptydir($dir)) {
                    print("rmdir $dir\n");
                    rmdir($dir);
                 }
              }
           }
        }

## AUTHOR
    Alan Burlison <<Alan.Burlison@uk.sun.com>>