# Path::Class - Cross-platform path specification manipulation - perldoc - [phpMan]

## NAME
    [Path::Class](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Path%3A%3AClass/markdown) - Cross-platform path specification manipulation

## VERSION
    version 0.37

## SYNOPSIS
      use [Path::Class](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Path%3A%3AClass/markdown);

      my $dir  = dir('foo', 'bar');       # [Path::Class::Dir](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Path%3A%3AClass%3A%3ADir/markdown) object
      my $file = file('bob', 'file.txt'); # [Path::Class::File](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Path%3A%3AClass%3A%3AFile/markdown) object

      # Stringifies to 'foo/bar' on Unix, 'foo\bar' on Windows, etc.
      print "dir: $dir\n";

      # Stringifies to 'bob/file.txt' on Unix, 'bob\file.txt' on Windows
      print "file: $file\n";

      my $subdir  = $dir->subdir('baz');  # foo/bar/baz
      my $parent  = $subdir->parent;      # foo/bar
      my $parent2 = $parent->parent;      # foo

      my $dir2 = $file->dir;              # bob

      # Work with foreign paths
      use [Path::Class](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Path%3A%3AClass/markdown) qw(foreign_file foreign_dir);
      my $file = foreign_file('Mac', ':foo:file.txt');
      print $file->dir;                   # :foo:
      print $file->as_foreign('Win32');   # foo\file.txt

      # Interact with the underlying filesystem:

      # $dir_handle is an [IO::Dir](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/IO%3A%3ADir/markdown) object
      my $dir_handle = $dir->open or die "Can't read $dir: $!";

      # $file_handle is an [IO::File](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/IO%3A%3AFile/markdown) object
      my $file_handle = $file->open($mode) or die "Can't read $file: $!";

## DESCRIPTION
    "[Path::Class](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Path%3A%3AClass/markdown)" is a module for manipulation of file and directory specifications (strings
    describing their locations, like '/home/ken/foo.txt' or 'C:\Windows\Foo.txt') in a
    cross-platform manner. It supports pretty much every platform Perl runs on, including Unix,
    Windows, Mac, VMS, Epoc, Cygwin, OS/2, and NetWare.

    The well-known module [File::Spec](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/File%3A%3ASpec/markdown) also provides this service, but it's sort of awkward to use
    well, so people sometimes avoid it, or use it in a way that won't actually work properly on
    platforms significantly different than the ones they've tested their code on.

    In fact, "[Path::Class](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Path%3A%3AClass/markdown)" uses "[File::Spec](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/File%3A%3ASpec/markdown)" internally, wrapping all the unsightly details so you
    can concentrate on your application code. Whereas "[File::Spec](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/File%3A%3ASpec/markdown)" provides functions for some
    common path manipulations, "[Path::Class](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Path%3A%3AClass/markdown)" provides an object-oriented model of the world of path
    specifications and their underlying semantics. "[File::Spec](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/File%3A%3ASpec/markdown)" doesn't create any objects, and its
    classes represent the different ways in which paths must be manipulated on various platforms
    (not a very intuitive concept). "[Path::Class](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Path%3A%3AClass/markdown)" creates objects representing files and
    directories, and provides methods that relate them to each other. For instance, the following
    "[File::Spec](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/File%3A%3ASpec/markdown)" code:

     my $absolute = [File::Spec](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/File%3A%3ASpec/markdown)->file_name_is_absolute(
                      [File::Spec](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/File%3A%3ASpec/markdown)->catfile( @dirs, $file )
                    );

    can be written using "[Path::Class](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Path%3A%3AClass/markdown)" as

     my $absolute = [Path::Class::File](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Path%3A%3AClass%3A%3AFile/markdown)->new( @dirs, $file )->is_absolute;

    or even as

     my $absolute = file( @dirs, $file )->is_absolute;

    Similar readability improvements should happen all over the place when using "[Path::Class](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Path%3A%3AClass/markdown)".

    Using "[Path::Class](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Path%3A%3AClass/markdown)" can help solve real problems in your code too - for instance, how many
    people actually take the "volume" (like "C:" on Windows) into account when writing
    "[File::Spec](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/File%3A%3ASpec/markdown)"-using code? I thought not. But if you use "[Path::Class](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Path%3A%3AClass/markdown)", your file and directory
    objects will know what volumes they refer to and do the right thing.

    The guts of the "[Path::Class](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Path%3A%3AClass/markdown)" code live in the [Path::Class::File](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Path%3A%3AClass%3A%3AFile/markdown) and [Path::Class::Dir](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Path%3A%3AClass%3A%3ADir/markdown) modules,
    so please see those modules' documentation for more details about how to use them.

  EXPORT
    The following functions are exported by default.

    file
        A synonym for "[Path::Class::File](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Path%3A%3AClass%3A%3AFile/markdown)->new".

    dir A synonym for "[Path::Class::Dir](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Path%3A%3AClass%3A%3ADir/markdown)->new".

    If you would like to prevent their export, you may explicitly pass an empty list to perl's
    "use", i.e. "use [Path::Class](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Path%3A%3AClass/markdown) ()".

    The following are exported only on demand.

    foreign_file
        A synonym for "[Path::Class::File](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Path%3A%3AClass%3A%3AFile/markdown)->new_foreign".

    foreign_dir
        A synonym for "[Path::Class::Dir](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Path%3A%3AClass%3A%3ADir/markdown)->new_foreign".

    tempdir
        Create a new [Path::Class::Dir](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Path%3A%3AClass%3A%3ADir/markdown) instance pointed to temporary directory.

          my $temp = [Path::Class::tempdir](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Path%3A%3AClass%3A%3Atempdir/markdown)(CLEANUP => 1);

        A synonym for "[Path::Class::Dir](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Path%3A%3AClass%3A%3ADir/markdown)->new([File::Temp::tempdir](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/File%3A%3ATemp%3A%3Atempdir/markdown)(@_))".

## Notes on Cross-Platform Compatibility
    Although it is much easier to write cross-platform-friendly code with this module than with
    "[File::Spec](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/File%3A%3ASpec/markdown)", there are still some issues to be aware of.

    *   On some platforms, notably VMS and some older versions of DOS (I think), all filenames must
        have an extension. Thus if you create a file called foo/bar and then ask for a list of files
        in the directory foo, you may find a file called bar. instead of the bar you were expecting.
        Thus it might be a good idea to use an extension in the first place.

## AUTHOR
    Ken Williams, <KWILLIAMS@cpan.org>

## COPYRIGHT
    Copyright (c) Ken Williams. All rights reserved.

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

## SEE ALSO
    [Path::Class::Dir](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Path%3A%3AClass%3A%3ADir/markdown), [Path::Class::File](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Path%3A%3AClass%3A%3AFile/markdown), [File::Spec](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/File%3A%3ASpec/markdown)