Config::Tiny - Read/Write .ini style files with as little code as possible
# 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'.
"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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The "read_string" method takes as argument the contents of a config
file as a string and returns the "Config::Tiny" object for it.
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.
Generates the file content for the object and returns it as a string.
The last value is retained, overwriting any previous values.
See t/06.repeat.key.t.
- 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.
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.
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'.
Yes. See t/05.zero.t (test code) and t/0 (test data).
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.
<
https://github.com/ronsavage/Config-Tiny.git>
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.
Adam Kennedy <
[email protected]>
Maintanence from V 2.15: Ron Savage <
http://savage.net.au/>.
Thanks to Sherzod Ruzmetov <
[email protected]> for Config::Simple, which
inspired this module by being not quite "simple" enough for me :).
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 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.