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NAME
IO::Zlib - IO:: style interface to Compress::Zlib
SYNOPSIS
With any version of Perl 5 you can use the basic OO interface:
use IO::Zlib;
$fh = new IO::Zlib;
if ($fh->open("file.gz", "rb")) {
print <$fh>;
$fh->close;
}
$fh = IO::Zlib->new("file.gz", "wb9");
if (defined $fh) {
print $fh "bar\n";
$fh->close;
}
$fh = IO::Zlib->new("file.gz", "rb");
if (defined $fh) {
print <$fh>;
undef $fh; # automatically closes the file
}
With Perl 5.004 you can also use the TIEHANDLE interface to access
compressed files just like ordinary files:
use IO::Zlib;
tie *FILE, 'IO::Zlib', "file.gz", "wb";
print FILE "line 1\nline2\n";
tie *FILE, 'IO::Zlib', "file.gz", "rb";
while (<FILE>) { print "LINE: ", $_ };
DESCRIPTION
"IO::Zlib" provides an IO:: style interface to Compress::Zlib and hence
to gzip/zlib compressed files. It provides many of the same methods as
the IO::Handle interface.
Starting from IO::Zlib version 1.02, IO::Zlib can also use an external
gzip command. The default behaviour is to try to use an external gzip if
no "Compress::Zlib" can be loaded, unless explicitly disabled by
use IO::Zlib qw(:gzip_external 0);
If explicitly enabled by
use IO::Zlib qw(:gzip_external 1);
then the external gzip is used instead of "Compress::Zlib".
CONSTRUCTOR
new ( [ARGS] )
Creates an "IO::Zlib" object. If it receives any parameters, they
are passed to the method "open"; if the open fails, the object is
destroyed. Otherwise, it is returned to the caller.
OBJECT METHODS
open ( FILENAME, MODE )
"open" takes two arguments. The first is the name of the file to
open and the second is the open mode. The mode can be anything
acceptable to Compress::Zlib and by extension anything acceptable to
*zlib* (that basically means POSIX fopen() style mode strings plus
an optional number to indicate the compression level).
opened
Returns true if the object currently refers to a opened file.
close
Close the file associated with the object and disassociate the file
from the handle. Done automatically on destroy.
getc
Return the next character from the file, or undef if none remain.
getline
Return the next line from the file, or undef on end of string. Can
safely be called in an array context. Currently ignores $/
($INPUT_RECORD_SEPARATOR or $RS when English is in use) and treats
lines as delimited by "\n".
getlines
Get all remaining lines from the file. It will croak() if
accidentally called in a scalar context.
print ( ARGS... )
Print ARGS to the file.
read ( BUF, NBYTES, [OFFSET] )
Read some bytes from the file. Returns the number of bytes actually
read, 0 on end-of-file, undef on error.
eof Returns true if the handle is currently positioned at end of file?
seek ( OFFSET, WHENCE )
Seek to a given position in the stream. Not yet supported.
tell
Return the current position in the stream, as a numeric offset. Not
yet supported.
setpos ( POS )
Set the current position, using the opaque value returned by
"getpos()". Not yet supported.
getpos ( POS )
Return the current position in the string, as an opaque object. Not
yet supported.
USING THE EXTERNAL GZIP
If the external gzip is used, the following "open"s are used:
open(FH, "gzip -dc $filename |") # for read opens
open(FH, " | gzip > $filename") # for write opens
You can modify the 'commands' for example to hardwire an absolute path
by e.g.
use IO::Zlib ':gzip_read_open' => '/some/where/gunzip -c %s |';
use IO::Zlib ':gzip_write_open' => '| /some/where/gzip.exe > %s';
The %s is expanded to be the filename ("sprintf" is used, so be careful
to escape any other "%" signs). The 'commands' are checked for sanity -
they must contain the %s, and the read open must end with the pipe sign,
and the write open must begin with the pipe sign.
CLASS METHODS
has_Compress_Zlib
Returns true if "Compress::Zlib" is available. Note that this does
not mean that "Compress::Zlib" is being used: see "gzip_external"
and gzip_used.
gzip_external
Undef if an external gzip can be used if "Compress::Zlib" is not
available (see "has_Compress_Zlib"), true if an external gzip is
explicitly used, false if an external gzip must not be used. See
"gzip_used".
gzip_used
True if an external gzip is being used, false if not.
gzip_read_open
Return the 'command' being used for opening a file for reading using
an external gzip.
gzip_write_open
Return the 'command' being used for opening a file for writing using
an external gzip.
DIAGNOSTICS
IO::Zlib::getlines: must be called in list context
If you want read lines, you must read in list context.
IO::Zlib::gzopen_external: mode '...' is illegal
Use only modes 'rb' or 'wb' or /wb[1-9]/.
IO::Zlib::import: '...' is illegal
The known import symbols are the ":gzip_external",
":gzip_read_open", and ":gzip_write_open". Anything else is not
recognized.
IO::Zlib::import: ':gzip_external' requires an argument
The ":gzip_external" requires one boolean argument.
IO::Zlib::import: 'gzip_read_open' requires an argument
The ":gzip_external" requires one string argument.
IO::Zlib::import: 'gzip_read' '...' is illegal
The ":gzip_read_open" argument must end with the pipe sign (|) and
have the %s for the filename. See "USING THE EXTERNAL GZIP".
IO::Zlib::import: 'gzip_write_open' requires an argument
The ":gzip_external" requires one string argument.
IO::Zlib::import: 'gzip_write_open' '...' is illegal
The ":gzip_write_open" argument must begin with the pipe sign (|)
and have the %s for the filename. An output redirect (>) is also
often a good idea, depending on your operating system shell syntax.
See "USING THE EXTERNAL GZIP".
IO::Zlib::import: no Compress::Zlib and no external gzip
Given that we failed to load "Compress::Zlib" and that the use of an
external gzip was disabled, IO::Zlib has not much chance of working.
IO::Zlib::open: needs a filename
No filename, no open.
IO::Zlib::READ: NBYTES must be specified
We must know how much to read.
IO::Zlib::WRITE: too long LENGTH
The LENGTH must be less than or equal to the buffer size.
SEE ALSO
perlfunc, "I/O Operators" in perlop, IO::Handle, Compress::Zlib
HISTORY
Created by Tom Hughes <tom AT compton.nu>.
Support for external gzip added by Jarkko Hietaniemi <jhi AT iki.fi>.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 1998-2004 Tom Hughes <tom AT compton.nu>. All rights
reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.
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