phpman > perldoc > File::HomeDir(3pm)

NAME
    File::HomeDir - Find your home and other directories on any platform

SYNOPSIS
      use File::HomeDir;

      # Modern Interface (Current User)
      $home     = File::HomeDir->my_home;
      $desktop  = File::HomeDir->my_desktop;
      $docs     = File::HomeDir->my_documents;
      $music    = File::HomeDir->my_music;
      $pics     = File::HomeDir->my_pictures;
      $videos   = File::HomeDir->my_videos;
      $data     = File::HomeDir->my_data;
      $dist     = File::HomeDir->my_dist_data('File-HomeDir');
      $dist     = File::HomeDir->my_dist_config('File-HomeDir');

      # Modern Interface (Other Users)
      $home    = File::HomeDir->users_home('foo');
      $desktop = File::HomeDir->users_desktop('foo');
      $docs    = File::HomeDir->users_documents('foo');
      $music   = File::HomeDir->users_music('foo');
      $pics    = File::HomeDir->users_pictures('foo');
      $video   = File::HomeDir->users_videos('foo');
      $data    = File::HomeDir->users_data('foo');

DESCRIPTION
    File::HomeDir is a module for locating the directories that are "owned" by a user (typically
    your user) and to solve the various issues that arise trying to find them consistently across a
    wide variety of platforms.

    The end result is a single API that can find your resources on any platform, making it
    relatively trivial to create Perl software that works elegantly and correctly no matter where
    you run it.

  Platform Neutrality
    In the Unix world, many different types of data can be mixed together in your home directory
    (although on some Unix platforms this is no longer the case, particularly for "desktop"-oriented
    platforms).

    On some non-Unix platforms, separate directories are allocated for different types of data and
    have been for a long time.

    When writing applications on top of File::HomeDir, you should thus always try to use the most
    specific method you can. User documents should be saved in "my_documents", data that supports an
    application but isn't normally editing by the user directory should go into "my_data".

    On platforms that do not make any distinction, all these different methods will harmlessly
    degrade to the main home directory, but on platforms that care File::HomeDir will always try to
    Do The Right Thing(tm).

METHODS
    Two types of methods are provided. The "my_method" series of methods for finding resources for
    the current user, and the "users_method" (read as "user's method") series for finding resources
    for arbitrary users.

    This split is necessary, as on most platforms it is much easier to find information about the
    current user compared to other users, and indeed on a number you cannot find out information
    such as "users_desktop" at all, due to security restrictions.

    All methods will double check (using a "-d" test) that a directory actually exists before
    returning it, so you may trust in the values that are returned (subject to the usual caveats of
    race conditions of directories being deleted at the moment between a directory being returned
    and you using it).

    However, because in some cases platforms may not support the concept of home directories at all,
    any method may return "undef" (both in scalar and list context) to indicate that there is no
    matching directory on the system.

    For example, most untrusted 'nobody'-type users do not have a home directory. So any modules
    that are used in a CGI application that at some level of recursion use your code, will result in
    calls to File::HomeDir returning undef, even for a basic home() call.

  my_home
    The "my_home" method takes no arguments and returns the main home/profile directory for the
    current user.

    If the distinction is important to you, the term "current" refers to the real user, and not the
    effective user.

    This is also the case for all of the other "my" methods.

    Returns the directory path as a string, "undef" if the current user does not have a home
    directory, or dies on error.

  my_desktop
    The "my_desktop" method takes no arguments and returns the "desktop" directory for the current
    user.

    Due to the diversity and complexity of implementations required to deal with implementing the
    required functionality fully and completely, the "my_desktop" method may or may not be
    implemented on each platform.

    That said, I am extremely interested in code to implement "my_desktop" on Unix, as long as it is
    capable of dealing (as the Windows implementation does) with internationalization. It should
    also avoid false positive results by making sure it only returns the appropriate directories for
    the appropriate platforms.

    Returns the directory path as a string, "undef" if the current user does not have a desktop
    directory, or dies on error.

  my_documents
    The "my_documents" method takes no arguments and returns the directory (for the current user)
    where the user's documents are stored.

    Returns the directory path as a string, "undef" if the current user does not have a documents
    directory, or dies on error.

  my_music
    The "my_music" method takes no arguments and returns the directory where the current user's
    music is stored.

    No bias is made to any particular music type or music program, rather the concept of a directory
    to hold the user's music is made at the level of the underlying operating system or (at least)
    desktop environment.

    Returns the directory path as a string, "undef" if the current user does not have a suitable
    directory, or dies on error.

  my_pictures
    The "my_pictures" method takes no arguments and returns the directory where the current user's
    pictures are stored.

    No bias is made to any particular picture type or picture program, rather the concept of a
    directory to hold the user's pictures is made at the level of the underlying operating system or
    (at least) desktop environment.

    Returns the directory path as a string, "undef" if the current user does not have a suitable
    directory, or dies on error.

  my_videos
    The "my_videos" method takes no arguments and returns the directory where the current user's
    videos are stored.

    No bias is made to any particular video type or video program, rather the concept of a directory
    to hold the user's videos is made at the level of the underlying operating system or (at least)
    desktop environment.

    Returns the directory path as a string, "undef" if the current user does not have a suitable
    directory, or dies on error.

  my_data
    The "my_data" method takes no arguments and returns the directory where local applications
    should store their internal data for the current user.

    Generally an application would create a subdirectory such as ".foo", beneath this directory, and
    store its data there. By creating your directory this way, you get an accurate result on the
    maximum number of platforms. But see the documentation about "my_dist_config()" or
    "my_dist_data()" below.

    For example, on Unix you get "~/.foo" and on Win32 you get "~/Local Settings/Application
    Data/.foo"

    Returns the directory path as a string, "undef" if the current user does not have a data
    directory, or dies on error.

  my_dist_config
      File::HomeDir->my_dist_config( $dist [, \%params] );

      # For example...

      File::HomeDir->my_dist_config( 'File-HomeDir' );
      File::HomeDir->my_dist_config( 'File-HomeDir', { create => 1 } );

    The "my_dist_config" method takes a distribution name as argument and returns an
    application-specific directory where they should store their internal configuration.

    The base directory will be either "my_config" if the platform supports it, or "my_documents"
    otherwise. The subdirectory itself will be "BASE/Perl/Dist-Name". If the base directory is the
    user's home directory, "my_dist_config" will be in "~/.perl/Dist-Name" (and thus be hidden on
    all Unixes).

    The optional last argument is a hash reference to tweak the method behaviour. The following hash
    keys are recognized:

    *   create

        Passing a true value to this key will force the creation of the directory if it doesn't
        exist (remember that "File::HomeDir"'s policy is to return "undef" if the directory doesn't
        exist).

        Defaults to false, meaning no automatic creation of directory.

  my_dist_data
      File::HomeDir->my_dist_data( $dist [, \%params] );

      # For example...

      File::HomeDir->my_dist_data( 'File-HomeDir' );
      File::HomeDir->my_dist_data( 'File-HomeDir', { create => 1 } );

    The "my_dist_data" method takes a distribution name as argument and returns an
    application-specific directory where they should store their internal data.

    This directory will be of course a subdirectory of "my_data". Platforms supporting data-specific
    directories will use "DATA_DIR/perl/dist/Dist-Name" following the common
    "DATA/vendor/application" pattern. If the "my_data" directory is the user's home directory,
    "my_dist_data" will be in "~/.perl/dist/Dist-Name" (and thus be hidden on all Unixes).

    The optional last argument is a hash reference to tweak the method behaviour. The following hash
    keys are recognized:

    *   create

        Passing a true value to this key will force the creation of the directory if it doesn't
        exist (remember that "File::HomeDir"'s policy is to return "undef" if the directory doesn't
        exist).

        Defaults to false, meaning no automatic creation of directory.

  users_home
      $home = File::HomeDir->users_home('foo');

    The "users_home" method takes a single parameter and is used to locate the parent home/profile
    directory for an identified user on the system.

    While most of the time this identifier would be some form of user name, it is permitted to vary
    per-platform to support user ids or UUIDs as applicable for that platform.

    Returns the directory path as a string, "undef" if that user does not have a home directory, or
    dies on error.

  users_documents
      $docs = File::HomeDir->users_documents('foo');

    Returns the directory path as a string, "undef" if that user does not have a documents
    directory, or dies on error.

  users_data
      $data = File::HomeDir->users_data('foo');

    Returns the directory path as a string, "undef" if that user does not have a data directory, or
    dies on error.

  users_desktop
      $docs = File::HomeDir->users_desktop('foo');

    Returns the directory path as a string, "undef" if that user does not have a desktop directory,
    or dies on error.

  users_music
      $docs = File::HomeDir->users_music('foo');

    Returns the directory path as a string, "undef" if that user does not have a music directory, or
    dies on error.

  users_pictures
      $docs = File::HomeDir->users_pictures('foo');

    Returns the directory path as a string, "undef" if that user does not have a pictures directory,
    or dies on error.

  users_videos
      $docs = File::HomeDir->users_videos('foo');

    Returns the directory path as a string, "undef" if that user does not have a videos directory,
    or dies on error.

FUNCTIONS
  home
      use File::HomeDir;
      $home = home();
      $home = home('foo');
      $home = File::HomeDir::home();
      $home = File::HomeDir::home('foo');

    The "home" function is exported by default and is provided for compatibility with legacy
    applications. In new applications, you should use the newer method-based interface above.

    Returns the directory path to a named user's home/profile directory.

    If provided no parameter, returns the directory path to the current user's home/profile
    directory.

TO DO
    *   Add more granularity to Unix, and add support to VMS and other esoteric platforms, so we can
        consider going core.

    *   Add consistent support for users_* methods

SUPPORT
    This module is stored in an Open Repository at the following address.

    <http://svn.ali.as/cpan/trunk/File-HomeDir>

    Write access to the repository is made available automatically to any published CPAN author, and
    to most other volunteers on request.

    If you are able to submit your bug report in the form of new (failing) unit tests, or can apply
    your fix directly instead of submitting a patch, you are strongly encouraged to do so as the
    author currently maintains over 100 modules and it can take some time to deal with non-Critical
    bug reports or patches.

    This will guarantee that your issue will be addressed in the next release of the module.

    If you cannot provide a direct test or fix, or don't have time to do so, then regular bug
    reports are still accepted and appreciated via the CPAN bug tracker.

    <http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=File-HomeDir>

    For other issues, for commercial enhancement or support, or to have your write access enabled
    for the repository, contact the author at the email address above.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
    The biggest acknowledgement goes to Chris Nandor, who wielded his legendary Mac-fu and turned my
    initial fairly ordinary Darwin implementation into something that actually worked properly
    everywhere, and then donated a Mac OS X license to allow it to be maintained properly.

AUTHORS
    Adam Kennedy <adamk AT cpan.org>

    Sean M. Burke <sburke AT cpan.org>

    Chris Nandor <cnandor AT cpan.org>

    Stephen Steneker <stennie AT cpan.org>

SEE ALSO
    File::ShareDir, File::HomeDir::Win32 (legacy)

COPYRIGHT
    Copyright 2005 - 2012 Adam Kennedy.

    Copyright 2017 - 2020 Jens Rehsack

    Some parts copyright 2000 Sean M. Burke.

    Some parts copyright 2006 Chris Nandor.

    Some parts copyright 2006 Stephen Steneker.

    Some parts copyright 2009-2011 Jérôme Quelin.

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

    The full text of the license can be found in the LICENSE file included with this module.