Config::Tiny(3pm) User Contributed Perl Documentation Config::Tiny(3pm)
NAME
Config::Tiny - Read/Write .ini style files with as little code as
possible
SYNOPSIS
# In your configuration file
rootproperty=blah
[section]
one=twp
three= four
Foo =Bar
empty=
# In your program
use Config::Tiny;
# Create an empty config
my $Config = Config::Tiny->new;
# Create a config with data
my $config = Config::Tiny->new({
_ => { rootproperty => "Bar" },
section => { one => "value", Foo => 42 } });
# Open the config
$Config = Config::Tiny->read( 'file.conf' );
$Config = Config::Tiny->read( 'file.conf', 'utf8' ); # Neither ':' nor '<:' prefix!
$Config = Config::Tiny->read( 'file.conf', 'encoding(iso-8859-1)');
# Reading properties
my $rootproperty = $Config->{_}->{rootproperty};
my $one = $Config->{section}->{one};
my $Foo = $Config->{section}->{Foo};
# Changing data
$Config->{newsection} = { this => 'that' }; # Add a section
$Config->{section}->{Foo} = 'Not Bar!'; # Change a value
delete $Config->{_}; # Delete a value or section
# Save a config
$Config->write( 'file.conf' );
$Config->write( 'file.conf', 'utf8' ); # Neither ':' nor '>:' prefix!
# Shortcuts
my($rootproperty) = $$Config{_}{rootproperty};
my($config) = Config::Tiny -> read_string('alpha=bet');
my($value) = $$config{_}{alpha}; # $value is 'bet'.
my($config) = Config::Tiny -> read_string("[init]\nalpha=bet");
my($value) = $$config{init}{alpha}; # $value is 'bet'.
DESCRIPTION
"Config::Tiny" is a Perl class to read and write .ini style
configuration files with as little code as possible, reducing load time
and memory overhead.
Most of the time it is accepted that Perl applications use a lot of
memory and modules.
The *::Tiny family of modules is specifically intended to provide an
ultralight alternative to the standard modules.
This module is primarily for reading human written files, and anything
we write shouldn't need to have documentation/comments. If you need
something with more power move up to Config::Simple, Config::General or
one of the many other "Config::*" modules.
Lastly, Config::Tiny does not preserve your comments, whitespace, or
the order of your config file.
See Config::Tiny::Ordered (and possibly others) for the preservation of
the order of the entries in the file.
CONFIGURATION FILE SYNTAX
Files are the same format as for MS Windows "*.ini" files. For example:
[section]
var1=value1
var2=value2
If a property is outside of a section at the beginning of a file, it
will be assigned to the "root section", available at "$Config->{_}".
Lines starting with '#' or ';' are considered comments and ignored, as
are blank lines.
When writing back to the config file, all comments, custom whitespace,
and the ordering of your config file elements are discarded. If you
need to keep the human elements of a config when writing back, upgrade
to something better, this module is not for you.
METHODS
errstr()
Returns a string representing the most recent error, or the empty
string.
You can also retrieve the error message from the $Config::Tiny::errstr
variable.
new([$config])
Here, the [] indicate an optional parameter.
The constructor "new" creates and returns a "Config::Tiny" object.
This will normally be a new, empty configuration, but you may also pass
a hashref here which will be turned into an object of this class. This
hashref should have a structure suitable for a configuration file, that
is, a hash of hashes where the key "_" is treated specially as the root
section.
read($filename, [$encoding])
Here, the [] indicate an optional parameter.
The "read" constructor reads a config file, $filename, and returns a
new "Config::Tiny" object containing the properties in the file.
$encoding may be used to indicate the encoding of the file, e.g. 'utf8'
or 'encoding(iso-8859-1)'.
Do not add a prefix to $encoding, such as '<' or '<:'.
Returns the object on success, or "undef" on error.
When "read" fails, "Config::Tiny" sets an error message internally you
can recover via "Config::Tiny->errstr". Although in some cases a failed
"read" will also set the operating system error variable $!, not all
errors do and you should not rely on using the $! variable.
See t/04.utf8.t and t/04.utf8.txt.
read_string($string)
The "read_string" method takes as argument the contents of a config
file as a string and returns the "Config::Tiny" object for it.
write($filename, [$encoding])
Here, the [] indicate an optional parameter.
The "write" method generates the file content for the properties, and
writes it to disk to the filename specified.
$encoding may be used to indicate the encoding of the file, e.g. 'utf8'
or 'encoding(iso-8859-1)'.
Do not add a prefix to $encoding, such as '>' or '>:'.
Returns true on success or "undef" on error.
See t/04.utf8.t and t/04.utf8.txt.
write_string()
Generates the file content for the object and returns it as a string.
FAQ
What happens if a key is repeated?
The last value is retained, overwriting any previous values.
See t/06.repeat.key.t.
Why can't I put comments at the ends of lines?
o The # char is only introduces a comment when it's at the start of a
line.
So a line like:
key=value # A comment
Sets key to 'value # A comment', which, presumably, you did not
intend.
This conforms to the syntax discussed in "CONFIGURATION FILE
SYNTAX".
o Comments matching /\s\;\s.+$//g; are ignored.
This means you can't preserve the suffix using:
key = Prefix ; Suffix
Result: key is now 'Prefix'.
But you can do this:
key = Prefix;Suffix
Result: key is now 'Prefix;Suffix'.
Or this:
key = Prefix; Suffix
Result: key is now 'Prefix; Suffix'.
See t/07.trailing.comment.t.
Why can't I omit the '=' signs?
E.g.:
[Things]
my =
list =
of =
things =
Instead of:
[Things]
my
list
of
things
Because the use of '=' signs is a type of mandatory documentation. It
indicates that that section contains 4 items, and not 1 odd item split
over 4 lines.
Why do I have to assign the result of a method call to a variable?
This question comes from RT#85386.
Yes, the syntax may seem odd, but you don't have to call both new() and
read_string().
Try:
perl -MData::Dumper -MConfig::Tiny -E 'my $c=Config::Tiny->read_string("one=s"); say Dumper $c'
Or:
my($config) = Config::Tiny -> read_string('alpha=bet');
my($value) = $$config{_}{alpha}; # $value is 'bet'.
Or even, a bit ridiculously:
my($value) = ${Config::Tiny -> read_string('alpha=bet')}{_}{alpha}; # $value is 'bet'.
Can I use a file called '0' (zero)?
Yes. See t/05.zero.t (test code) and t/0 (test data).
CAVEATS
Some edge cases in section headers are not supported, and additionally
may not be detected when writing the config file.
Specifically, section headers with leading whitespace, trailing
whitespace, or newlines anywhere in the section header, will not be
written correctly to the file and may cause file corruption.
Repository
<https://github.com/ronsavage/Config-Tiny.git>
SUPPORT
Bugs should be reported via the CPAN bug tracker at
<https://github.com/ronsavage/Config-Tiny/issues>
For other issues, or commercial enhancement or support, contact the
author.
AUTHOR
Adam Kennedy <adamk@cpan.org>
Maintanence from V 2.15: Ron Savage <http://savage.net.au/>.
ACKNOWLEGEMENTS
Thanks to Sherzod Ruzmetov <sherzodr@cpan.org> for Config::Simple,
which inspired this module by being not quite "simple" enough for me
:).
SEE ALSO
See, amongst many: Config::Simple and Config::General.
See Config::Tiny::Ordered (and possibly others) for the preservation of
the order of the entries in the file.
IOD. Ini On Drugs.
IOD::Examples
App::IODUtils
Config::IOD::Reader
Config::Perl::V. Config data from Perl itself.
Config::Onion
Config::IniFiles
Config::INIPlus
Config::Hash. Allows nested data.
Config::MVP. Author: RJBS. Uses Moose. Extremely complex.
Config::TOML. See next few lines:
<https://github.com/dlc/toml>
<https://github.com/alexkalderimis/config-toml.pl>. 1 Star rating.
<https://github.com/toml-lang/toml>
COPYRIGHT
Copyright 2002 - 2011 Adam Kennedy.
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.
perl v5.34.0 2022-10-22 Config::Tiny(3pm)
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