# phpman > man > Pod::Simple::SimpleTree

## NAME
    [Pod::Simple::SimpleTree](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Pod%3A%3ASimple%3A%3ASimpleTree/markdown) -- parse Pod into a simple parse tree

## SYNOPSIS
      % cat ptest.pod

      =head1 PIE

      I like B<pie>!

      % perl -[MPod::Simple::SimpleTree](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/MPod%3A%3ASimple%3A%3ASimpleTree/markdown) -[MData::Dumper](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/MData%3A%3ADumper/markdown) -e \
         "print Dumper([Pod::Simple::SimpleTree](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Pod%3A%3ASimple%3A%3ASimpleTree/markdown)->new->parse_file(shift)->root)" \
         ptest.pod

      $VAR1 = [
                'Document',
                { 'start_line' => 1 },
                [
                  'head1',
                  { 'start_line' => 1 },
                  'PIE'
                ],
                [
                  'Para',
                  { 'start_line' => 3 },
                  'I like ',
                  [
                    'B',
                    {},
                    'pie'
                  ],
                  '!'
                ]
              ];

## DESCRIPTION
    This class is of interest to people writing a Pod processor/formatter.

    This class takes Pod and parses it, returning a parse tree made just of arrayrefs, and hashrefs,
    and strings.

    This is a subclass of [Pod::Simple](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Pod%3A%3ASimple/markdown) and inherits all its methods.

    This class is inspired by [XML::Parser](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/XML%3A%3AParser/markdown)'s "Tree" parsing-style, although it doesn't use exactly
    the same LoL format.

## METHODS
    At the end of the parse, call "$parser->root" to get the tree's top node.

## Tree Contents
    Every element node in the parse tree is represented by an arrayref of the form: "[
    *elementname*, \%attributes, *...subnodes...* ]". See the example tree dump in the Synopsis,
    above.

    Every text node in the tree is represented by a simple (non-ref) string scalar. So you can test
    "ref($node)" to see whether you have an element node or just a text node.

    The top node in the tree is "[ 'Document', \%attributes, *...subnodes...* ]"

## SEE ALSO
    [Pod::Simple](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Pod%3A%3ASimple/markdown)

    perllol

    The "Tree" subsubsection in [XML::Parser](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/XML%3A%3AParser/markdown)

## SUPPORT
    Questions or discussion about POD and [Pod::Simple](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Pod%3A%3ASimple/markdown) should be sent to the <pod-people@perl.org> mail
    list. Send an empty email to <pod-people-subscribe@perl.org> to subscribe.

    This module is managed in an open GitHub repository, <<https://github.com/perl-pod/pod-simple/>>.
    Feel free to fork and contribute, or to clone <git://github.com/perl-pod/pod-simple.git> and
    send patches!

    Patches against [Pod::Simple](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Pod%3A%3ASimple/markdown) are welcome. Please send bug reports to
    <<bug-pod-simple@rt.cpan.org>>.

## COPYRIGHT AND DISCLAIMERS
    Copyright (c) 2002 Sean M. Burke.

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

    This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but without any warranty;
    without even the implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

## AUTHOR
    [Pod::Simple](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Pod%3A%3ASimple/markdown) was created by Sean M. Burke <<sburke@cpan.org>>. But don't bother him, he's retired.

    [Pod::Simple](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Pod%3A%3ASimple/markdown) is maintained by:

    *   Allison Randal "<allison@perl.org>"

    *   Hans Dieter Pearcey "<hdp@cpan.org>"

    *   David E. Wheeler "<dwheeler@cpan.org>"