CONFIG_DATA(1)         Perl Programmers Reference Guide         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 employed 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 publicly 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.

SEE ALSO
       Module::Build(3), perl(1).



perl v5.20.2                      2016-02-26                    CONFIG_DATA(1)
