CONFIG_DATA(1)
NAME
config_data - Query or change configuration of Perl modules
SYNOPSIS
# Get config/feature values config_data --module Foo::Bar --feature bazzable config_data --module Foo::Bar --config magic_number # Set config/feature values config_data --module Foo::Bar --set_feature bazzable=1 config_data --module Foo::Bar --set_config magic_number=42 # Print a usage message config_data --help
DESCRIPTION
The "config_data" tool provides a command-line interface to the
configuration of Perl modules. By "configuration", we mean something
akin to "user preferences" or "local settings". This is a
formalization and abstraction of the systems that people like Andreas
Koenig ("CPAN::Config"), Jon Swartz ("HTML::Mason::Config"), Andy
Wardley ("Template::Config"), and Larry Wall (perl's own Config.pm)
have developed independently.
The configuration system emplyed here was developed in the context of
"Module::Build". Under this system, configuration information for a
module "Foo", for example, is stored in a module called
"Foo::ConfigData") (I would have called it "Foo::Config", but that was
taken by all those other systems mentioned in the previous
paragraph...). These "...::ConfigData" modules contain the
configuration data, as well as publically accessible methods for
querying and setting (yes, actually re-writing) the configuration data.
The "config_data" script (whose docs you are currently reading) is
merely a front-end for those methods. If you wish, you may create
alternate front-ends.
The two types of data that may be stored are called "config" values and
"feature" values. A "config" value may be any perl scalar, including
references to complex data structures. It must, however, be
serializable using "Data::Dumper". A "feature" is a boolean (1 or 0)
value.
USAGE
This script functions as a basic getter/setter wrapper around the
configuration of a single module. On the command line, specify which
module's configuration you're interested in, and pass options to get or
set "config" or "feature" values. The following options are supported:
- module
- Specifies the name of the module to configure (required).
- feature
- When passed the name of a "feature", shows its value. The value
will be 1 if the feature is enabled, 0 if the feature is not
enabled, or empty if the feature is unknown. When no feature name is supplied, the names and values of all known features will be
shown. - config
- When passed the name of a "config" entry, shows its value. The
value will be displayed using "Data::Dumper" (or similar) as perl
code. When no config name is supplied, the names and values of all known config entries will be shown. - set_feature
- Sets the given "feature" to the given boolean value. Specify the
value as either 1 or 0. - set_config
- Sets the given "config" entry to the given value.
- eval
- If the "--eval" option is used, the values in "set_config" will be
evaluated as perl code before being stored. This allows moderately
complicated data structures to be stored. For really complicated
structures, you probably shouldn't use this command-line interface, just use the Perl API instead. - help
- Prints a help message, including a few examples, and exits.
AUTHOR
Ken Williams, kwilliams@cpan.org
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 1999, 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.