Config::Tiny(3)

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 a config
    my $Config = Config::Tiny->new;

    # Open the config
    $Config = Config::Tiny->read( 'file.conf' );

    # 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' );

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. To rephrase, Config::Tiny does not preserve your comments, whitespace, or the order of your config file.

CONFIGURATION FILE SYNTAX
Files are the same format as for 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 is 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

  new
The constructor "new" creates and returns an empty "Config::Tiny" object.

  read $filename
The "read" constructor reads a config file, and returns a new "Config::Tiny" object containing the properties in the file.

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.

  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
The "write" method generates the file content for the properties, and writes it to disk to the filename specified.

Returns true on success or "undef" on error.

  write_string
Generates the file content for the object and returns it as a string.

  errstr
When an error occurs, you can retrieve the error message either from the $Config::Tiny::errstr variable, or using the "errstr()" method.

CAVEATS

  Unsupported Section Headers
Some edge cases in section headers are not support, 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.

SUPPORT
Bugs should be reported via the CPAN bug tracker at

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

For other issues, or commercial enhancement or support, contact the author.

AUTHOR
Adam Kennedy <adamk@cpan.org>

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
Config::Simple, Config::General, ali.as

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.