NAME File::Edit::Portable - Read and write files while keeping the original line-endings intact, no matter the platform. SYNOPSIS use File::Edit::Portable; my $rw = File::Edit::Portable->new; # edit file in a loop, and re-write it with its original line endings my $fh = $rw->read('file.txt'); my $wfh = $rw->tempfile; while (<$fh>){ ... print $wfh $_; } $rw->write(contents => $wfh); # read a file, replacing original file's line endings with # that of the local platform's default my $fh = $rw->read('file.txt'); # get an array of the file's contents, with line endings stripped off my @contents = $rw->read('file.txt'); # write out a file using original file's record separator $rw->write(contents => \@contents); # replace original file's record separator with a new one $rw->write(recsep => "\r\n", contents => \@contents); # rewrite all files in a directory recursively with local # platform's default record separator $rw->dir(dir => '/path/to/files'); # insert new data into a file after a specified line number $rw->splice(file => $file, line => $num, insert => \@contents); # insert new data into a file after a found search term $rw->splice(file => $file, find => 'term', insert => \@contents); DESCRIPTION The default behaviour of perl is to read and write files using the Operating System's (OS) default record separator (line ending). If you open a file on an OS where the record separators are that of another OS, things can and do break. This module will read in a file, keep track of the file's current record separators regardless of the OS, and save them for later writing. It can return either a file handle (in scalar context) that has had its line endings replaced with that of the local OS platform, or an array of the file's contents (in list context) with line endings stripped off. You can then modify this array and send it back in for writing to the same file or a new file, where the original file's line endings will be re-appended (or a custom ending if you so choose). Uses are for dynamically reading/writing files while on one Operating System, but you don't know whether the record separators are platform-standard. Shared storage between multpile platforms are a good use case. This module affords you the ability to not have to check each file, and is very useful in looping over a directory where various files may have been written by different platforms. METHODS new Returns a new File::Edit::Portable object. read('filename') In scalar context, will return a read-only file handle to a copy of the file that has had its line endings replaced with those of the local OS platform's record separator. In list context, will return an array, where each element is a line from the file, with all line endings stripped off. In both cases, we save the line endings that were found in the original file (which is used when write() is used, by default). write Writes the data back to the original file, or alternately a new file. Returns 1 on success. If you inadvertantly append newlines to the new elements of the contents array, we'll strip them off before appending the real newlines. Parameters: file => 'file': Not needed if you've used read() to open the file. copy => 'file2': Set this if you want to write to an alternate (new) file, rather than the original. contents => \@contents: Mandatory, (it often contains a reference to the array that was returned by read() in list context (after editing)), but the value can be any array, or a file handle (using handles is far less memory-intensive). recsep => "\r\n": Optional, a double-quoted string of any characters you want to write as the line ending (record separator). This value will override what was found in the read() call. Common ones are "\r\n" for Windows, "\n" for Unix and "\r" for Mac. splice Inserts new data into a file after a specified line number or search term. Parameters: file => 'file.name': Mandatory. insert => \@contents: Mandatory - an array reference containing the contents to merge into the file. copy => 'newfile.name': Optional - we'll read from file, but we'll write to this new file. line => 23: Optional - Merge the contents on the line following the one specified here. find => 'search term': Optional - Merge the contents into the file on the line following the first find of the search term. The search term is put into qr, so single quotes are recommended, and all regex patterns are honoured. limit => Integer: Optional: When splicing with the 'find' param, set this to the number of finds to insert after. Default is stop after the first find. Set to 0 will insert after all finds. NOTE: Although both are optional, at least one of line or find must be sent in. Returns an array of the modified file contents. dir Rewrites the line endings in some or all files within a directory structure recursively. Returns an array of the names of the files found. Parameters: dir => '/path/to/files': Mandatory. types => ['*.txt', '*.dat']: Optional. Specify wildcard combinations for files to work on. We'll accept anything that File::Find::Rule::name() method does. If not supplied, we work on all files. maxdepth => 1: Optional: Specify how many levels of recursion to do after entering the directory. We'll do a full recurse through all sub-directories if this parameter is not set. recsep => "\r\n": Optional: If this parameter is not sent in, we'll replace the line endings with that of the current platform we're operating on. Otherwise, we'll use the double-quoted value sent in. list => 1 If set, we'll return an array of the names of the files found, but won't take any editing action on them. Default is disabled. recsep('file', 'hex') Returns the record separator found within the file. If the file is empty, we'll return the local platform's default record separator. If the optional string parameter 'hex' is sent in, we'll return the record separator in hex format. Otherwise, by default, it's returned in string form. platform_recsep('hex') Returns the the current platform's (OS) record separator. If the optional string value "hex" is sent in, we'll return the recsep in hex format. Otherwise, we'll return it in as-is string format. tempfile Returns a file handle in write mode to an empty temp file. AUTHOR Steve Bertrand, BUGS Please report any bugs or feature requests to bug-file-edit-portable at rt.cpan.org, or through the web interface at http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=File-Edit-Portable. I will be notified, and then you'll automatically be notified of progress on your bug as I make changes. REPOSITORY https://github.com/stevieb9/file-edit-portable BUILD RESULTS Travis-CI: https://travis-ci.org/stevieb9/file-edit-portable CPAN Testers: http://matrix.cpantesters.org/?dist=File-Edit-Portable SUPPORT You can find documentation for this module with the perldoc command. perldoc File::Edit::Portable You can also look for information at: * RT: CPAN's request tracker (report bugs here) http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/Bugs.html?Dist=File-Edit-Portable * Search CPAN http://search.cpan.org/dist/File-Edit-Portable/ LICENSE AND COPYRIGHT Copyright 2015 Steve Bertrand. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of either: the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; or the Artistic License. See http://dev.perl.org/licenses/ for more information.