Path::Tiny - File path utility

version 0.004

use Path::Tiny;

# creating Path::Tiny objects

$dir = path("/tmp");
$foo = path("foo.txt");

$subdir = $dir->child("foo");
$bar = $subdir->child("bar.txt");

# stringifies as cleaned up path

$file = path("./foo.txt");
print $file; # "foo.txt"

# reading files

$guts = $file->slurp;
$guts = $file->slurp_utf8;

@lines = $file->lines;
@lines = $file->lines_utf8;

$head = $file->lines( {count => 1} );

# writing files

$bar->spew( @data );
$bar->spew_utf8( @data );

# reading directories

for ( $dir->children ) { ... }

$iter = $dir->iterator;
while ( my $next = $iter->() ) { ... }

This module attempts to provide a small, fast utility for working with file paths. It is friendlier to use than File::Spec and provides easy access to functions from several other core file handling modules.

It doesn't attempt to be as full-featured as IO::All or Path::Class, nor does it try to work for anything except Unix-like and Win32 platforms. Even then, it might break if you try something particularly obscure or tortuous. (Quick! What does this mean: ///../../..//./././a//b/.././c/././? And how does it differ on Win32?)

All paths are forced to have Unix-style forward slashes. Stringifying the object gives you back the path (after some clean up).

$path = path("foo/bar");
$path = path("/tmp/file.txt");
$path = path(); # like path(".")

Constructs a Path::Tiny object. It doesn't matter if you give a file or directory path. It's still up to you to call directory-like methods only on directories and file-like methods only on files. This function is exported automatically by default.

$path = Path::Tiny->new("foo/bar");

This is just like path, but with method call overhead. (Why would you do that?)

$path = Path::Tiny->rootdir; # /

Gives you File::Spec->rootdir as a Path::Tiny object if you're too picky for path("/").

$temp = Path::Tiny->tempfile( @options );

This passes the options to File::Temp->new and returns a Path::Tiny object with the file name. If you want a template, you must use a TEMPLATE named argument. The TMPDIR option is enabled by default.

The resulting File::Temp object is cached. When the Path::Tiny object is destroyed, the File::Temp object will be as well.

$temp = Path::Tiny->tempdir( @options );

This is just like tempfile, except it calls File::Temp->newdir instead.

$abs = path("foo/bar")->absolute;
$abs = path("foo/bar")->absolute("/tmp");

Returns a new Path::Tiny object with an absolute path. Unless an argument is given, the current directory is used as the absolute base path. The argument must be absolute or you won't get an absolute result.

path("foo.txt")->append(@data);
path("foo.txt")->append({binmode => ":raw"}, @data);

Appends data to a file. The file is locked with flock prior to writing. An optional hash reference may be used to pass options. The only option is binmode, which is passed to binmode() on the handle used for writing.

path("foo.txt")->append_raw(@data);

This is like append with a binmode of :unix for fast, unbuffered, raw write.

path("foo.txt")->append_utf8(@data);

This is like append with a binmode of :encoding(UTF-8).

$name = path("foo/bar.txt")->basename; # bar.txt

Returns the file portion or last directory portion of a path.

$file = path("/tmp")->child("foo.txt"); # "/tmp/foo.txt"
$file = path("/tmp")->child(@parts);

Returns a new Path::Tiny object relative to the original. Works like catfile or catdir from File::Spec, but without caring about file or directories.

@paths = path("/tmp")->children;

Returns a list of Path::Tiny objects for all file and directories within a directory. Excludes "." and ".." automatically.

path("/tmp/foo.txt")->copy("/tmp/bar.txt");

Copies a file using File::Copy's copy function.

$name = path("/tmp/foo.txt")->dirname; # "/tmp/"

Returns the directory name portion of the path. This is roughly equivalent to what File::Spec would give from splitpath and thus usually has the trailing slash. If that's not desired, stringify directories or call parent on files.

if ( path("/tmp")->exists ) { ... }

Just like -e.

$fh = path("/tmp/foo.txt")->filehandle($mode, $binmode);

Returns an open file handle. The $mode argument must be a Perl-style read/write mode string ("<" ,">", "<<", etc.). If a $binmode is given, it is passed to binmode on the handle.

See openr, openw, openrw, and opena for sugar.

if ( path("/tmp")->is_absolute ) { ... }

Boolean for whether the path appears absolute or not.

if ( path("/tmp")->is_dir ) { ... }

Just like -d. This means it actually has to exist on the filesystem. Until then, it's just a path.

if ( path("/tmp")->is_file ) { ... }

Just like -f. This means it actually has to exist on the filesystem. Until then, it's just a path.

if ( path("/tmp")->is_relative ) { ... }

Boolean for whether the path appears relative or not.

$iter = path("/tmp")->iterator;
while ( $path = $iter->() ) {
    ...
}

Returns a code reference that walks a directory lazily. Each invocation returns a Path::Tiny object or undef when the iterator is exhausted.

This iterator is not recursive. For recursive iteration, use Path::Iterator::Rule instead.

@contents = path("/tmp/foo.txt")->lines;
@contents = path("/tmp/foo.txt")->lines(\%options);

Returns a list of lines from a file. Optionally takes a hash-reference of options. Valid options are binmode, count and chomp. If binmode is provided, it will be set on the handle prior to reading. If count is provided, up to that many lines will be returned. If chomp is set, lines will be chomped before being returned.

@contents = path("/tmp/foo.txt")->lines_raw;

This is like lines with a binmode of :raw. We use :raw instead of :unix so PerlIO buffering can manage reading by line.

@contents = path("/tmp/foo.txt")->lines_utf8;

This is like lines with a binmode of :encoding(UTF-8).

$stat = path("/some/symlink")->lstat;

Like calling lstat from File::stat.

path("foo/bar/baz")->mkpath;
path("foo/bar/baz")->mkpath( \%options );

Like calling make_path from File::Path. An optional hash reference is passed through to make_path.

path("foo.txt")->move("bar.txt");

Just like rename.

$fh = path("foo.txt")->openr($binmode);  # read
$fh = path("foo.txt")->openr_raw;
$fh = path("foo.txt")->openr_utf8;

$fh = path("foo.txt")->openw($binmode);  # write
$fh = path("foo.txt")->openw_raw;
$fh = path("foo.txt")->openw_utf8;

$fh = path("foo.txt")->opena($binmode);  # append
$fh = path("foo.txt")->opena_raw;
$fh = path("foo.txt")->opena_utf8;

$fh = path("foo.txt")->openrw($binmode); # read/write
$fh = path("foo.txt")->openrw_raw;
$fh = path("foo.txt")->openrw_utf8;

Returns a file handle opened in the specified mode. The openr style methods take a single binmode argument. All of the open* methods have open*_raw and open*_utf8 equivalents that use :raw and :encoding(UTF-8), respectively.

$parent = path("foo/bar/baz")->parent; # foo/bar
$parent = path("foo/wibble.txt")->parent; # foo

Returns a Path::Tiny object corresponding to the parent directory of the original directory or file.

$rel = path("/tmp/foo/bar")->relative("/tmp"); # foo/bar

Returns a Path::Tiny object with a relative path name. Given the trickiness of this, it's a thin wrapper around File::Spec->abs2rel().

# directory
path("foo/bar/baz")->remove;
path("foo/bar/baz")->remove( \%options );

# file
path("foo.txt")->remove;

For directories, this is like like calling remove_tree from File::Path. An optional hash reference is passed through to remove_tree.

For files, the file is unlinked if it exists. Unlike unlink, if the file does not exist, this silently does nothing and returns a true value anyway.

$data = path("foo.txt")->slurp;
$data = path("foo.txt")->slurp( {binmode => ":raw"} );

Reads file contents into a scalar. Takes an optional hash reference may be used to pass options. The only option is binmode, which is passed to binmode() on the handle used for reading.

$data = path("foo.txt")->slurp_raw;

This is like slurp with a binmode of :unix for a fast, unbuffered, raw read.

$data = path("foo.txt")->slurp_utf8;

This is like slurp with a binmode of :encoding(UTF-8).

path("foo.txt")->spew(@data);
path("foo.txt")->spew({binmode => ":raw"}, @data);

Writes data to a file atomically. The file is written to a temporary file in the same directory, then renamed over the original. An optional hash reference may be used to pass options. The only option is binmode, which is passed to binmode() on the handle used for writing.

path("foo.txt")->spew_raw(@data);

This is like spew with a binmode of :unix for a fast, unbuffered, raw write.

path("foo.txt")->spew_utf8(@data);

This is like spew with a binmode of :encoding(UTF-8).

$stat = path("foo.txt")->stat;

Like calling stat from File::stat.

$path = path("foo.txt");
say $path->stringify; # same as "$path"

Returns a string representation of the path.

path("foo.txt")->touch;

Like the Unix touch utility. Creates the file if it doesn't exist, or else changes the modification and access times to the current time.

$vol = path("/tmp/foo.txt")->volume;

Returns the volume portion of the path. This is equivalent equivalent to what File::Spec would give from splitpath and thus usually is the empty string on Unix-like operating systems.

All the *_utf8 methods use encoding(UTF-8), which is the stricter mode. However, this can be significantly slower than :utf8. If you need performance and can accept the security risk, slurp({binmode = ":utf8"}) might be faster.

Another option might be to read using :raw and then pass the result to Encode::decode yourself.

• File::Fu

• IO::All

• Path::Class

Probably others. Let me know if you want me to add a module to the list.

I benchmarked a naive file-finding task: finding all *.pm files in @INC. I tested Path::Iterator::Rule and different subclasses of it that do file manipulations using file path helpers Path::Class, IO::All, File::Fu and Path::Tiny.

Path::Iterator::Rule    0.474s (no objects)
Path::Tiny::Rule        0.938s (not on CPAN)
IO::All::Rule           1.355s
File::Fu::Rule          1.437s (not on CPAN)
Path::Class::Rule       4.673s

This benchmark heavily stressed object creation and determination of a file's basename.

Please report any bugs or feature requests through the issue tracker at https://github.com/dagolden/path-tiny/issues. You will be notified automatically of any progress on your issue.

This is open source software. The code repository is available for public review and contribution under the terms of the license.

https://github.com/dagolden/path-tiny

git clone git://github.com/dagolden/path-tiny.git

David Golden <[email protected]>

This software is Copyright (c) 2013 by David Golden.

This is free software, licensed under:

The Apache License, Version 2.0, January 2004