# Path::Class - phpMan

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

## VERSION
    version 0.37

## SYNOPSIS
      use [Path::Class];

      my $dir  = dir('foo', 'bar');       # [Path::Class::Dir] object
      my $file = file('bob', 'file.txt'); # [Path::Class::File] 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] 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] object
      my $dir_handle = $dir->open or die "Can't read $dir: $!";

      # $file_handle is an [IO::File] object
      my $file_handle = $file->open($mode) or die "Can't read $file: $!";

## DESCRIPTION
    "[Path::Class]" 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] 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]" uses "[File::Spec]" internally, wrapping all the
    unsightly details so you can concentrate on your application code.
    Whereas "[File::Spec]" provides functions for some common path
    manipulations, "[Path::Class]" provides an object-oriented model of the
    world of path specifications and their underlying semantics.
    "[File::Spec]" 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]" creates objects
    representing files and directories, and provides methods that relate
    them to each other. For instance, the following "[File::Spec]" code:

     my $absolute = [File::Spec]->file_name_is_absolute(
                      [File::Spec]->catfile( @dirs, $file )
                    );

    can be written using "[Path::Class]" as

     my $absolute = [Path::Class::File]->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]".

    Using "[Path::Class]" 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]"-using code? I thought
    not. But if you use "[Path::Class]", your file and directory objects will
    know what volumes they refer to and do the right thing.

    The guts of the "[Path::Class]" code live in the [Path::Class::File] and
    [Path::Class::Dir] 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]->new".

    dir A synonym for "[Path::Class::Dir]->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] ()".

    The following are exported only on demand.

    foreign_file
        A synonym for "[Path::Class::File]->new_foreign".

    foreign_dir
        A synonym for "[Path::Class::Dir]->new_foreign".

    tempdir
        Create a new [Path::Class::Dir] instance pointed to temporary
        directory.

          my $temp = [Path::Class::tempdir](CLEANUP => 1);

        A synonym for "[Path::Class::Dir]->new([File::Temp::tempdir](@_))".

Notes on Cross-Platform Compatibility
    Although it is much easier to write cross-platform-friendly code with
    this module than with "[File::Spec]", 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], [Path::Class::File], [File::Spec]