This is Info file perl.info, produced by Makeinfo version 1.68 from the input file bigperl.texi. settitle perl  File: perl.info, Node: perl5005delta, Next: perl5004delta, Prev: perldelta, Up: Top what's new for perl5.005 ************************ NAME ==== perldelta - what's new for perl5.005 DESCRIPTION =========== This document describes differences between the 5.004 release and this one. About the new versioning system =============================== Perl is now developed on two tracks: a maintenance track that makes small, safe updates to released production versions with emphasis on compatibility; and a development track that pursues more aggressive evolution. Maintenance releases (which should be considered production quality) have subversion numbers that run from 1 to 49, and development releases (which should be considered "alpha" quality) run from 50 to 99. Perl 5.005 is the combined product of the new dual-track development scheme. Incompatible Changes ==================== WARNING: This version is not binary compatible with Perl 5.004. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Starting with Perl 5.004_50 there were many deep and far-reaching changes to the language internals. If you have dynamically loaded extensions that you built under perl 5.003 or 5.004, you can continue to use them with 5.004, but you will need to rebuild and reinstall those extensions to use them 5.005. See INSTALL for detailed instructions on how to upgrade. Default installation structure has changed ------------------------------------------ The new Configure defaults are designed to allow a smooth upgrade from 5.004 to 5.005, but you should read INSTALL for a detailed discussion of the changes in order to adapt them to your system. Perl Source Compatibility ------------------------- When none of the experimental features are enabled, there should be very few user-visible Perl source compatibility issues. If threads are enabled, then some caveats apply. `@_' and $_ become lexical variables. The effect of this should be largely transparent to the user, but there are some boundary conditions under which user will need to be aware of the issues. For example, `local(@_)' results in a "Can't localize lexical variable @_ ..." message. This may be enabled in a future version. Some new keywords have been introduced. These are generally expected to have very little impact on compatibility. See `New `INIT' in this node keyword', `New `lock' in this node keyword', and `New `qr' in this node operator'. Certain barewords are now reserved. Use of these will provoke a warning if you have asked for them with the -w switch. See ``our' in this node is now a reserved word'. C Source Compatibility ---------------------- There have been a large number of changes in the internals to support the new features in this release. Core sources now require ANSI C compiler An ANSI C compiler is now required to build perl. See INSTALL. All Perl global variables must now be referenced with an explicit prefix All Perl global variables that are visible for use by extensions now have a `PL_' prefix. New extensions should not refer to perl globals by their unqualified names. To preserve sanity, we provide limited backward compatibility for globals that are being widely used like sv_undef and `na' (which should now be written as PL_sv_undef, PL_na etc.) If you find that your XS extension does not compile anymore because a perl global is not visible, try adding a `PL_' prefix to the global and rebuild. It is strongly recommended that all functions in the Perl API that don't begin with `perl' be referenced with a Perl_ prefix. The bare function names without the Perl_ prefix are supported with macros, but this support may cease in a future release. See `"API LISTING"', *Note Perlguts: perlguts,. Enabling threads has source compatibility issues Perl built with threading enabled requires extensions to use the new `dTHR' macro to initialize the handle to access per-thread data. If you see a compiler error that talks about the variable `thr' not being declared (when building a module that has XS code), you need to add `dTHR;' at the beginning of the block that elicited the error. The API function `perl_get_sv("@",FALSE)' should be used instead of directly accessing perl globals as `GvSV(errgv)'. The API call is backward compatible with existing perls and provides source compatibility with threading is enabled. See `"C Source Compatibility"' in this node for more information. Binary Compatibility -------------------- This version is NOT binary compatible with older versions. All extensions will need to be recompiled. Further binaries built with threads enabled are incompatible with binaries built without. This should largely be transparent to the user, as all binary incompatible configurations have their own unique architecture name, and extension binaries get installed at unique locations. This allows coexistence of several configurations in the same directory hierarchy. See INSTALL. Security fixes may affect compatibility --------------------------------------- A few taint leaks and taint omissions have been corrected. This may lead to "failure" of scripts that used to work with older versions. Compiling with -DINCOMPLETE_TAINTS provides a perl with minimal amounts of changes to the tainting behavior. But note that the resulting perl will have known insecurities. Oneliners with the -e switch do not create temporary files anymore. Relaxed new mandatory warnings introduced in 5.004 -------------------------------------------------- Many new warnings that were introduced in 5.004 have been made optional. Some of these warnings are still present, but perl's new features make them less often a problem. See `New Diagnostics' in this node. Licensing --------- Perl has a new Social Contract for contributors. See `Porting/Contract'. The license included in much of the Perl documentation has changed. Most of the Perl documentation was previously under the implicit GNU General Public License or the Artistic License (at the user's choice). Now much of the documentation unambiguously states the terms under which it may be distributed. Those terms are in general much less restrictive than the GNU GPL. See *Note Perl: perl, and the individual perl man pages listed therein. Core Changes ============ Threads ------- WARNING: Threading is considered an *experimental* feature. Details of the implementation may change without notice. There are known limitations and some bugs. These are expected to be fixed in future versions. See `README.threads'. Compiler -------- WARNING: The Compiler and related tools are considered *experimental*. Features may change without notice, and there are known limitations and bugs. Since the compiler is fully external to perl, the default configuration will build and install it. The Compiler produces three different types of transformations of a perl program. The C backend generates C code that captures perl's state just before execution begins. It eliminates the compile-time overheads of the regular perl interpreter, but the run-time performance remains comparatively the same. The CC backend generates optimized C code equivalent to the code path at run-time. The CC backend has greater potential for big optimizations, but only a few optimizations are implemented currently. The Bytecode backend generates a platform independent bytecode representation of the interpreter's state just before execution. Thus, the Bytecode back end also eliminates much of the compilation overhead of the interpreter. The compiler comes with several valuable utilities. B::Lint is an experimental module to detect and warn about suspicious code, especially the cases that the -w switch does not detect. B::Deparse can be used to demystify perl code, and understand how perl optimizes certain constructs. B::Xref generates cross reference reports of all definition and use of variables, subroutines and formats in a program. B::Showlex show the lexical variables used by a subroutine or file at a glance. perlcc is a simple frontend for compiling perl. See `ext/B/README', *Note B: (pm.info)B,, and the respective compiler modules. Regular Expressions ------------------- Perl's regular expression engine has been seriously overhauled, and many new constructs are supported. Several bugs have been fixed. Here is an itemized summary: Many new and improved optimizations Changes in the RE engine: Unneeded nodes removed; Substrings merged together; New types of nodes to process (SUBEXPR)* and similar expressions quickly, used if the SUBEXPR has no side effects and matches strings of the same length; Better optimizations by lookup for constant substrings; Better search for constants substrings anchored by $ ; Changes in Perl code using RE engine: More optimizations to s/longer/short/; study() was not working; /blah/ may be optimized to an analogue of index() if $& $` $' not seen; Unneeded copying of matched-against string removed; Only matched part of the string is copying if $` $' were not seen; Many bug fixes Note that only the major bug fixes are listed here. See Changes for others. Backtracking might not restore start of $3. No feedback if max count for * or + on "complex" subexpression was reached, similarly (but at compile time) for {3,34567} Primitive restrictions on max count introduced to decrease a possibility of a segfault; (ZERO-LENGTH)* could segfault; (ZERO-LENGTH)* was prohibited; Long REs were not allowed; /RE/g could skip matches at the same position after a zero-length match; New regular expression constructs The following new syntax elements are supported: (?<=RE) (?RE) \z New operator for precompiled regular expressions See `New `qr' in this node operator'. Other improvements Better debugging output (possibly with colors), even from non-debugging Perl; RE engine code now looks like C, not like assembler; Behaviour of RE modifiable by `use re' directive; Improved documentation; Test suite significantly extended; Syntax [:^upper:] etc., reserved inside character classes; Incompatible changes (?i) localized inside enclosing group; $( is not interpolated into RE any more; /RE/g may match at the same position (with non-zero length) after a zero-length match (bug fix). See *Note Perlre: perlre, and *Note Perlop: perlop,. Improved malloc() ----------------- See banner at the beginning of `malloc.c' for details. Quicksort is internally implemented ----------------------------------- Perl now contains its own highly optimized qsort() routine. The new qsort() is resistant to inconsistent comparison functions, so Perl's `sort()' will not provoke coredumps any more when given poorly written sort subroutines. (Some C library `qsort()'s that were being used before used to have this problem.) In our testing, the new `qsort()' required the minimal number of pair-wise compares on average, among all known `qsort()' implementations. See `perlfunc/sort'. Reliable signals ---------------- Perl's signal handling is susceptible to random crashes, because signals arrive asynchronously, and the Perl runtime is not reentrant at arbitrary times. However, one experimental implementation of reliable signals is available when threads are enabled. See `Thread::Signal'. Also see INSTALL for how to build a Perl capable of threads. Reliable stack pointers ----------------------- The internals now reallocate the perl stack only at predictable times. In particular, magic calls never trigger reallocations of the stack, because all reentrancy of the runtime is handled using a "stack of stacks". This should improve reliability of cached stack pointers in the internals and in XSUBs. More generous treatment of carriage returns ------------------------------------------- Perl used to complain if it encountered literal carriage returns in scripts. Now they are mostly treated like whitespace within program text. Inside string literals and here documents, literal carriage returns are ignored if they occur paired with linefeeds, or get interpreted as whitespace if they stand alone. This behavior means that literal carriage returns in files should be avoided. You can get the older, more compatible (but less generous) behavior by defining the preprocessor symbol `PERL_STRICT_CR' when building perl. Of course, all this has nothing whatever to do with how escapes like `\r' are handled within strings. Note that this doesn't somehow magically allow you to keep all text files in DOS format. The generous treatment only applies to files that perl itself parses. If your C compiler doesn't allow carriage returns in files, you may still be unable to build modules that need a C compiler. Memory leaks ------------ substr, pos and vec don't leak memory anymore when used in lvalue context. Many small leaks that impacted applications that embed multiple interpreters have been fixed. Better support for multiple interpreters ---------------------------------------- The build-time option `-DMULTIPLICITY' has had many of the details reworked. Some previously global variables that should have been per-interpreter now are. With care, this allows interpreters to call each other. See the `PerlInterp' extension on CPAN. Behavior of local() on array and hash elements is now well-defined ------------------------------------------------------------------ See `"Temporary Values via local()"', *Note Perlsub: perlsub,. `%!' is transparently tied to the *Note Errno: (pm.info)Errno, module --------------------------------------------------------------------- See *Note Perlvar: perlvar,, and *Note Errno: (pm.info)Errno,. Pseudo-hashes are supported --------------------------- See *Note Perlref: perlref,. `EXPR foreach EXPR' is supported -------------------------------- See *Note Perlsyn: perlsyn,. Keywords can be globally overridden ----------------------------------- See *Note Perlsub: perlsub,. $^E is meaningful on Win32 -------------------------- See *Note Perlvar: perlvar,. `foreach (1..1000000)' optimized -------------------------------- `foreach (1..1000000)' is now optimized into a counting loop. It does not try to allocate a 1000000-size list anymore. `Foo::' can be used as implicitly quoted package name ----------------------------------------------------- Barewords caused unintuitive behavior when a subroutine with the same name as a package happened to be defined. Thus, `new Foo @args', use the result of the call to `Foo()' instead of `Foo' being treated as a literal. The recommended way to write barewords in the indirect object slot is `new Foo:: @args'. Note that the method new() is called with a first argument of `Foo', not `Foo::' when you do that. `exists $Foo::{Bar::}' tests existence of a package --------------------------------------------------- It was impossible to test for the existence of a package without actually creating it before. Now `exists $Foo::{Bar::}' can be used to test if the `Foo::Bar' namespace has been created. Better locale support --------------------- See *Note Perllocale: perllocale,. Experimental support for 64-bit platforms ----------------------------------------- Perl5 has always had 64-bit support on systems with 64-bit longs. Starting with 5.005, the beginnings of experimental support for systems with 32-bit long and 64-bit 'long long' integers has been added. If you add -DUSE_LONG_LONG to your ccflags in config.sh (or manually define it in perl.h) then perl will be built with 'long long' support. There will be many compiler warnings, and the resultant perl may not work on all systems. There are many other issues related to third-party extensions and libraries. This option exists to allow people to work on those issues. prototype() returns useful results on builtins ---------------------------------------------- See `prototype', *Note Perlfunc: perlfunc,. Extended support for exception handling --------------------------------------- `die()' now accepts a reference value, and `$@' gets set to that value in exception traps. This makes it possible to propagate exception objects. This is an undocumented *experimental* feature. Re-blessing in DESTROY() supported for chaining DESTROY() methods ----------------------------------------------------------------- See `Destructors', *Note Perlobj: perlobj,. All printf format conversions are handled internally ---------------------------------------------------- See `printf', *Note Perlfunc: perlfunc,. New `INIT' keyword ------------------ `INIT' subs are like BEGIN and END, but they get run just before the perl runtime begins execution. e.g., the Perl Compiler makes use of `INIT' blocks to initialize and resolve pointers to XSUBs. New lock keyword ---------------- The lock keyword is the fundamental synchronization primitive in threaded perl. When threads are not enabled, it is currently a noop. To minimize impact on source compatibility this keyword is "weak", i.e., any user-defined subroutine of the same name overrides it, unless a `use Thread' has been seen. New `qr//' operator ------------------- The `qr//' operator, which is syntactically similar to the other quote-like operators, is used to create precompiled regular expressions. This compiled form can now be explicitly passed around in variables, and interpolated in other regular expressions. See *Note Perlop: perlop,. our is now a reserved word -------------------------- Calling a subroutine with the name our will now provoke a warning when using the -w switch. Tied arrays are now fully supported ----------------------------------- See *Note Tie/Array: (pm.info)Tie/Array,. Tied handles support is better ------------------------------ Several missing hooks have been added. There is also a new base class for TIEARRAY implementations. See *Note Tie/Array: (pm.info)Tie/Array,. 4th argument to substr ---------------------- substr() can now both return and replace in one operation. The optional 4th argument is the replacement string. See `substr', *Note Perlfunc: perlfunc,. Negative LENGTH argument to splice ---------------------------------- splice() with a negative LENGTH argument now work similar to what the LENGTH did for substr(). Previously a negative LENGTH was treated as 0. See `splice', *Note Perlfunc: perlfunc,. Magic lvalues are now more magical ---------------------------------- When you say something like `substr($x, 5) = "hi"', the scalar returned by substr() is special, in that any modifications to it affect $x. (This is called a 'magic lvalue' because an 'lvalue' is something on the left side of an assignment.) Normally, this is exactly what you would expect to happen, but Perl uses the same magic if you use substr(), pos(), or vec() in a context where they might be modified, like taking a reference with \ or as an argument to a sub that modifies `@_'. In previous versions, this 'magic' only went one way, but now changes to the scalar the magic refers to ($x in the above example) affect the magic lvalue too. For instance, this code now acts differently: $x = "hello"; sub printit { $x = "g'bye"; print $_[0], "\n"; } printit(substr($x, 0, 5)); In previous versions, this would print "hello", but it now prints "g'bye". <> now reads in records ----------------------- If $/ is a reference to an integer, or a scalar that holds an integer, <> will read in records instead of lines. For more info, see `$', *Note Perlvar: perlvar,. Supported Platforms =================== Configure has many incremental improvements. Site-wide policy for building perl can now be made persistent, via Policy.sh. Configure also records the command-line arguments used in `config.sh'. New Platforms ------------- BeOS is now supported. See `README.beos'. DOS is now supported under the DJGPP tools. See `README.dos' (installed as *Note Perldos: perldos, on some systems). MiNT is now supported. See `README.mint'. MPE/iX is now supported. See `README.mpeix'. MVS (aka OS390, aka Open Edition) is now supported. See `README.os390' (installed as *Note Perlos390: perlos390, on some systems). Stratus VOS is now supported. See `README.vos'. Changes in existing support --------------------------- Win32 support has been vastly enhanced. Support for Perl Object, a C++ encapsulation of Perl. GCC and EGCS are now supported on Win32. See `README.win32', aka *Note Perlwin32: perlwin32,. VMS configuration system has been rewritten. See `README.vms' (installed as `README_vms' in this node on some systems). The hints files for most Unix platforms have seen incremental improvements. Modules and Pragmata ==================== New Modules ----------- B Perl compiler and tools. See *Note B: (pm.info)B,. Data::Dumper A module to pretty print Perl data. See *Note Data/Dumper: (pm.info)Data/Dumper,. Dumpvalue A module to dump perl values to the screen. See *Note Dumpvalue: (pm.info)Dumpvalue,. Errno A module to look up errors more conveniently. See *Note Errno: (pm.info)Errno,. File::Spec A portable API for file operations. ExtUtils::Installed Query and manage installed modules. ExtUtils::Packlist Manipulate .packlist files. Fatal Make functions/builtins succeed or die. IPC::SysV Constants and other support infrastructure for System V IPC operations in perl. Test A framework for writing testsuites. Tie::Array Base class for tied arrays. Tie::Handle Base class for tied handles. Thread Perl thread creation, manipulation, and support. attrs Set subroutine attributes. fields Compile-time class fields. re Various pragmata to control behavior of regular expressions. Changes in existing modules --------------------------- Benchmark You can now run tests for x seconds instead of guessing the right number of tests to run. Carp Carp has a new function cluck(). cluck() warns, like carp(), but also adds a stack backtrace to the error message, like confess(). CGI CGI has been updated to version 2.42. Fcntl More Fcntl constants added: F_SETLK64, F_SETLKW64, O_LARGEFILE for large (more than 4G) file access (the 64-bit support is not yet working, though, so no need to get overly excited), Free/Net/OpenBSD locking behaviour flags F_FLOCK, F_POSIX, Linux F_SHLCK, and O_ACCMODE: the mask of O_RDONLY, O_WRONLY, and O_RDWR. Math::Complex The accessors methods Re, Im, arg, abs, rho, theta, methods can ($z->Re()) now also act as mutators ($z->Re(3)). Math::Trig A little bit of radial trigonometry (cylindrical and spherical) added, for example the great circle distance. POSIX POSIX now has its own platform-specific hints files. DB_File DB_File supports version 2.x of Berkeley DB. See `ext/DB_File/Changes'. MakeMaker MakeMaker now supports writing empty makefiles, provides a way to specify that site umask() policy should be honored. There is also better support for manipulation of .packlist files, and getting information about installed modules. Extensions that have both architecture-dependent and architecture-independent files are now always installed completely in the architecture-dependent locations. Previously, the shareable parts were shared both across architectures and across perl versions and were therefore liable to be overwritten with newer versions that might have subtle incompatibilities. CPAN See and *Note CPAN: (pm.info)CPAN,. Cwd Cwd::cwd is faster on most platforms. Benchmark Keeps better time. Utility Changes =============== h2ph and related utilities have been vastly overhauled. perlcc, a new experimental front end for the compiler is available. The crude GNU configure emulator is now called `configure.gnu' to avoid trampling on Configure under case-insensitive filesystems. perldoc used to be rather slow. The slower features are now optional. In particular, case-insensitive searches need the -i switch, and recursive searches need -r. You can set these switches in the `PERLDOC' environment variable to get the old behavior. Documentation Changes ===================== Config.pm now has a glossary of variables. `Porting/patching.pod' has detailed instructions on how to create and submit patches for perl. *Note Perlport: perlport, specifies guidelines on how to write portably. *Note Perlmodinstall: perlmodinstall, describes how to fetch and install modules from CPAN sites. Some more Perl traps are documented now. See *Note Perltrap: perltrap,. *Note Perlopentut: perlopentut, gives a tutorial on using open(). *Note Perlreftut: perlreftut, gives a tutorial on references. *Note Perlthrtut: perlthrtut, gives a tutorial on threads. New Diagnostics =============== Ambiguous call resolved as CORE::%s(), qualify as such or use & (W) A subroutine you have declared has the same name as a Perl keyword, and you have used the name without qualification for calling one or the other. Perl decided to call the builtin because the subroutine is not imported. To force interpretation as a subroutine call, either put an ampersand before the subroutine name, or qualify the name with its package. Alternatively, you can import the subroutine (or pretend that it's imported with the `use subs' pragma). To silently interpret it as the Perl operator, use the `CORE::' prefix on the operator (e.g. `CORE::log($x)') or by declaring the subroutine to be an object method (see *Note Attrs: (pm.info)attrs,). Bad index while coercing array into hash (F) The index looked up in the hash found as the 0'th element of a pseudo-hash is not legal. Index values must be at 1 or greater. See *Note Perlref: perlref,. Bareword "%s" refers to nonexistent package (W) You used a qualified bareword of the form `Foo::', but the compiler saw no other uses of that namespace before that point. Perhaps you need to predeclare a package? Can't call method "%s" on an undefined value (F) You used the syntax of a method call, but the slot filled by the object reference or package name contains an undefined value. Something like this will reproduce the error: $BADREF = 42; process $BADREF 1,2,3; $BADREF->process(1,2,3); Can't check filesystem of script "%s" for nosuid (P) For some reason you can't check the filesystem of the script for nosuid. Can't coerce array into hash (F) You used an array where a hash was expected, but the array has no information on how to map from keys to array indices. You can do that only with arrays that have a hash reference at index 0. Can't goto subroutine from an eval-string (F) The "goto subroutine" call can't be used to jump out of an eval "string". (You can use it to jump out of an eval {BLOCK}, but you probably don't want to.) Can't localize pseudo-hash element (F) You said something like `< local $ar-'{'key'} >>, where $ar is a reference to a pseudo-hash. That hasn't been implemented yet, but you can get a similar effect by localizing the corresponding array element directly - `< local $ar-'[$ar->[0]{'key'}] >>. Can't use %%! because Errno.pm is not available (F) The first time the %! hash is used, perl automatically loads the Errno.pm module. The Errno module is expected to tie the %! hash to provide symbolic names for $! errno values. Cannot find an opnumber for "%s" (F) A string of a form `CORE::word' was given to prototype(), but there is no builtin with the name word. Character class syntax [. .] is reserved for future extensions (W) Within regular expression character classes ([]) the syntax beginning with "[." and ending with ".]" is reserved for future extensions. If you need to represent those character sequences inside a regular expression character class, just quote the square brackets with the backslash: "\[." and ".\]". Character class syntax [: :] is reserved for future extensions (W) Within regular expression character classes ([]) the syntax beginning with "[:" and ending with ":]" is reserved for future extensions. If you need to represent those character sequences inside a regular expression character class, just quote the square brackets with the backslash: "\[:" and ":\]". Character class syntax [= =] is reserved for future extensions (W) Within regular expression character classes ([]) the syntax beginning with "[=" and ending with "=]" is reserved for future extensions. If you need to represent those character sequences inside a regular expression character class, just quote the square brackets with the backslash: "\[=" and "=\]". %s: Eval-group in insecure regular expression (F) Perl detected tainted data when trying to compile a regular expression that contains the `(?{ ... })' zero-width assertion, which is unsafe. See `(?{ code })', *Note Perlre: perlre,, and `(?{ code })', *Note Perlsec: perlsec,. %s: Eval-group not allowed, use re 'eval' (F) A regular expression contained the `(?{ ... })' zero-width assertion, but that construct is only allowed when the `use re 'eval'' pragma is in effect. See `(?{ code })', *Note Perlre: perlre,. %s: Eval-group not allowed at run time (F) Perl tried to compile a regular expression containing the `(?{ ... })' zero-width assertion at run time, as it would when the pattern contains interpolated values. Since that is a security risk, it is not allowed. If you insist, you may still do this by explicitly building the pattern from an interpolated string at run time and using that in an eval(). See `(?{ code })', *Note Perlre: perlre,. Explicit blessing to " (assuming package main) (W) You are blessing a reference to a zero length string. This has the effect of blessing the reference into the package main. This is usually not what you want. Consider providing a default target package, e.g. bless($ref, $p || 'MyPackage'); Illegal hex digit ignored (W) You may have tried to use a character other than 0 - 9 or A - F in a hexadecimal number. Interpretation of the hexadecimal number stopped before the illegal character. No such array field (F) You tried to access an array as a hash, but the field name used is not defined. The hash at index 0 should map all valid field names to array indices for that to work. No such field "%s" in variable %s of type %s (F) You tried to access a field of a typed variable where the type does not know about the field name. The field names are looked up in the %FIELDS hash in the type package at compile time. The %FIELDS hash is usually set up with the 'fields' pragma. Out of memory during ridiculously large request (F) You can't allocate more than 2^31+"small amount" bytes. This error is most likely to be caused by a typo in the Perl program. e.g., `$arr[time]' instead of `$arr[$time]'. Range iterator outside integer range (F) One (or both) of the numeric arguments to the range operator ".." are outside the range which can be represented by integers internally. One possible workaround is to force Perl to use magical string increment by prepending "0" to your numbers. Recursive inheritance detected while looking for method '%s' in package '%s' (F) More than 100 levels of inheritance were encountered while invoking a method. Probably indicates an unintended loop in your inheritance hierarchy. Reference found where even-sized list expected (W) You gave a single reference where Perl was expecting a list with an even number of elements (for assignment to a hash). This usually means that you used the anon hash constructor when you meant to use parens. In any case, a hash requires key/value *pairs*. %hash = { one => 1, two => 2, }; # WRONG %hash = [ qw/ an anon array / ]; # WRONG %hash = ( one => 1, two => 2, ); # right %hash = qw( one 1 two 2 ); # also fine Undefined value assigned to typeglob (W) An undefined value was assigned to a typeglob, a la `*foo = undef'. This does nothing. It's possible that you really mean `undef *foo'. Use of reserved word "%s" is deprecated (D) The indicated bareword is a reserved word. Future versions of perl may use it as a keyword, so you're better off either explicitly quoting the word in a manner appropriate for its context of use, or using a different name altogether. The warning can be suppressed for subroutine names by either adding a & prefix, or using a package qualifier, e.g. `&our()', or `Foo::our()'. perl: warning: Setting locale failed. (S) The whole warning message will look something like: perl: warning: Setting locale failed. perl: warning: Please check that your locale settings: LC_ALL = "En_US", LANG = (unset) are supported and installed on your system. perl: warning: Falling back to the standard locale ("C"). Exactly what were the failed locale settings varies. In the above the settings were that the LC_ALL was "En_US" and the LANG had no value. This error means that Perl detected that you and/or your system administrator have set up the so-called variable system but Perl could not use those settings. This was not dead serious, fortunately: there is a "default locale" called "C" that Perl can and will use, the script will be run. Before you really fix the problem, however, you will get the same error message each time you run Perl. How to really fix the problem can be found in `"LOCALE PROBLEMS"', *Note Perllocale: perllocale,. Obsolete Diagnostics ==================== Can't mktemp() (F) The mktemp() routine failed for some reason while trying to process a -e switch. Maybe your /tmp partition is full, or clobbered. Removed because -e doesn't use temporary files any more. Can't write to temp file for -e: %s (F) The write routine failed for some reason while trying to process a -e switch. Maybe your /tmp partition is full, or clobbered. Removed because -e doesn't use temporary files any more. Cannot open temporary file (F) The create routine failed for some reason while trying to process a -e switch. Maybe your /tmp partition is full, or clobbered. Removed because -e doesn't use temporary files any more. regexp too big (F) The current implementation of regular expressions uses shorts as address offsets within a string. Unfortunately this means that if the regular expression compiles to longer than 32767, it'll blow up. Usually when you want a regular expression this big, there is a better way to do it with multiple statements. See *Note Perlre: perlre,. Configuration Changes ===================== You can use "Configure -Uinstallusrbinperl" which causes installperl to skip installing perl also as /usr/bin/perl. This is useful if you prefer not to modify /usr/bin for some reason or another but harmful because many scripts assume to find Perl in /usr/bin/perl. BUGS ==== If you find what you think is a bug, you might check the headers of recently posted articles in the comp.lang.perl.misc newsgroup. There may also be information at http://www.perl.com/perl/, the Perl Home Page. If you believe you have an unreported bug, please run the *perlbug* program included with your release. Make sure you trim your bug down to a tiny but sufficient test case. Your bug report, along with the output of `perl -V', will be sent off to <`perlbug@perl.com'> to be analysed by the Perl porting team. SEE ALSO ======== The Changes file for exhaustive details on what changed. The INSTALL file for how to build Perl. The README file for general stuff. The `Artistic' and `Copying' files for copyright information. HISTORY ======= Written by Gurusamy Sarathy <`gsar@activestate.com'>, with many contributions from The Perl Porters. Send omissions or corrections to <`perlbug@perl.com'>.  File: perl.info, Node: perlamiga, Next: perlcygwin, Prev: perlhist, Up: Top Perl under Amiga OS ******************* NAME ==== perlamiga - Perl under Amiga OS SYNOPSIS ======== One can read this document in the following formats: man perlamiga multiview perlamiga.guide to list some (not all may be available simultaneously), or it may be read *as is*: either as `README.amiga', or `pod/perlamiga.pod'. DESCRIPTION =========== Prerequisites ------------- *Unix emulation for AmigaOS: ixemul.library* You need the Unix emulation for AmigaOS, whose most important part is *ixemul.library*. For a minimum setup, get the following archives from ftp://ftp.ninemoons.com/pub/ade/current or a mirror: ixemul-46.0-bin.lha ixemul-46.0-env-bin.lha pdksh-4.9-bin.lha ADE-misc-bin.lha Note that there might be newer versions available by the time you read this. Note also that this is a minimum setup; you might want to add other packages of *ADE* (the *Amiga Developers Environment*). *Version of Amiga OS* You need at the very least AmigaOS version 2.0. Recommended is version 3.1. Starting Perl programs under AmigaOS ------------------------------------ Start your Perl program foo with arguments `arg1 arg2 arg3' the same way as on any other platform, by perl foo arg1 arg2 arg3 If you want to specify perl options `-my_opts' to the perl itself (as opposed to to your program), use perl -my_opts foo arg1 arg2 arg3 Alternately, you can try to get a replacement for the system's Execute command that honors the #!/usr/bin/perl syntax in scripts and set the s-Bit of your scripts. Then you can invoke your scripts like under UNIX with foo arg1 arg2 arg3 (Note that having *nixish full path to perl `/usr/bin/perl' is not necessary, `perl' would be enough, but having full path would make it easier to use your script under *nix.) Shortcomings of Perl under AmigaOS ---------------------------------- Perl under AmigaOS lacks some features of perl under UNIX because of deficiencies in the UNIX-emulation, most notably: fork() some features of the UNIX filesystem regarding link count and file dates inplace operation (the -i switch) without backup file umask() works, but the correct permissions are only set when the file is finally close()d INSTALLATION ============ Change to the installation directory (most probably ADE:), and extract the binary distribution: lha -mraxe x perl-5.003-bin.lha or tar xvzpf perl-5.003-bin.tgz (Of course you need lha or tar and gunzip for this.) For installation of the Unix emulation, read the appropriate docs. Accessing documentation ======================= Manpages -------- If you have man installed on your system, and you installed perl manpages, use something like this: man perlfunc man less man ExtUtils.MakeMaker to access documentation for different components of Perl. Start with man perl Note: You have to modify your man.conf file to search for manpages in the /ade/lib/perl5/man/man3 directory, or the man pages for the perl library will not be found. Note that dot (.) is used as a package separator for documentation for packages, and as usual, sometimes you need to give the section - 3 above - to avoid shadowing by the *less(1) manpage*. HTML ---- If you have some WWW browser available, you can build HTML docs. Cd to directory with `.pod' files, and do like this cd /ade/lib/perl5/pod pod2html After this you can direct your browser the file `perl.html' in this directory, and go ahead with reading docs. Alternatively you may be able to get these docs prebuilt from CPAN. GNU info files -------------- Users of `Emacs' would appreciate it very much, especially with `CPerl' mode loaded. You need to get latest `pod2info' from CPAN, or, alternately, prebuilt info pages. `LaTeX' docs ------------ can be constructed using `pod2latex'. BUILD ===== Here we discuss how to build Perl under AmigaOS. Prerequisites ------------- You need to have the latest *ADE* (Amiga Developers Environment) from ftp://ftp.ninemoons.com/pub/ade/current. Also, you need a lot of free memory, probably at least 8MB. Getting the perl source ----------------------- You can either get the latest perl-for-amiga source from Ninemoons and extract it with: tar xvzpf perl-5.004-src.tgz or get the official source from CPAN: http://www.perl.com/CPAN/src/5.0 Extract it like this tar xvzpf perl5.004.tar.gz You will see a message about errors while extracting Configure. This is normal and expected. (There is a conflict with a similarly-named file configure, but it causes no harm.) Making ------ sh configure.gnu --prefix=/ade Now make Testing ------- Now run make test Some tests will be skipped because they need the fork() function: `io/pipe.t', `op/fork.t', `lib/filehand.t', `lib/open2.t', `lib/open3.t', `lib/io_pipe.t', `lib/io_sock.t' Installing the built perl ------------------------- Run make install AUTHOR ====== Norbert Pueschel, pueschel@imsdd.meb.uni-bonn.de SEE ALSO ======== perl(1).  File: perl.info, Node: perlapi, Next: perlintern, Prev: perlcall, Up: Top autogenerated documentation for the perl public API *************************************************** NAME ==== perlapi - autogenerated documentation for the perl public API DESCRIPTION =========== This file contains the documentation of the perl public API generated by embed.pl, specifically a listing of functions, macros, flags, and variables that may be used by extension writers. The interfaces of any functions that are not listed here are subject to change without notice. For this reason, blindly using functions listed in proto.h is to be avoided when writing extensions. Note that all Perl API global variables must be referenced with the `PL_' prefix. Some macros are provided for compatibility with the older, unadorned names, but this support may be disabled in a future release. The listing is alphabetical, case insensitive. AvFILL Same as `av_len()'. Deprecated, use `av_len()' instead. int AvFILL(AV* av) av_clear Clears an array, making it empty. Does not free the memory used by the array itself. void av_clear(AV* ar) av_extend Pre-extend an array. The key is the index to which the array should be extended. void av_extend(AV* ar, I32 key) av_fetch Returns the SV at the specified index in the array. The key is the index. If `lval' is set then the fetch will be part of a store. Check that the return value is non-null before dereferencing it to a `SV*'. See `"Understanding the Magic of Tied Hashes and Arrays"', *Note Perlguts: perlguts, for more information on how to use this function on tied arrays. SV** av_fetch(AV* ar, I32 key, I32 lval) av_len Returns the highest index in the array. Returns -1 if the array is empty. I32 av_len(AV* ar) av_make Creates a new AV and populates it with a list of SVs. The SVs are copied into the array, so they may be freed after the call to av_make. The new AV will have a reference count of 1. AV* av_make(I32 size, SV** svp) av_pop Pops an SV off the end of the array. Returns `&PL_sv_undef' if the array is empty. SV* av_pop(AV* ar) av_push Pushes an SV onto the end of the array. The array will grow automatically to accommodate the addition. void av_push(AV* ar, SV* val) av_shift Shifts an SV off the beginning of the array. SV* av_shift(AV* ar) av_store Stores an SV in an array. The array index is specified as key. The return value will be NULL if the operation failed or if the value did not need to be actually stored within the array (as in the case of tied arrays). Otherwise it can be dereferenced to get the original `SV*'. Note that the caller is responsible for suitably incrementing the reference count of val before the call, and decrementing it if the function returned NULL. See `"Understanding the Magic of Tied Hashes and Arrays"', *Note Perlguts: perlguts, for more information on how to use this function on tied arrays. SV** av_store(AV* ar, I32 key, SV* val) av_undef Undefines the array. Frees the memory used by the array itself. void av_undef(AV* ar) av_unshift Unshift the given number of undef values onto the beginning of the array. The array will grow automatically to accommodate the addition. You must then use av_store to assign values to these new elements. void av_unshift(AV* ar, I32 num) call_argv Performs a callback to the specified Perl sub. See *Note Perlcall: perlcall,. NOTE: the perl_ form of this function is deprecated. I32 call_argv(const char* sub_name, I32 flags, char** argv) call_method Performs a callback to the specified Perl method. The blessed object must be on the stack. See *Note Perlcall: perlcall,. NOTE: the perl_ form of this function is deprecated. I32 call_method(const char* methname, I32 flags) call_pv Performs a callback to the specified Perl sub. See *Note Perlcall: perlcall,. NOTE: the perl_ form of this function is deprecated. I32 call_pv(const char* sub_name, I32 flags) call_sv Performs a callback to the Perl sub whose name is in the SV. See *Note Perlcall: perlcall,. NOTE: the perl_ form of this function is deprecated. I32 call_sv(SV* sv, I32 flags) CLASS Variable which is setup by xsubpp to indicate the class name for a C++ XS constructor. This is always a `char*'. See THIS. char* CLASS Copy The XSUB-writer's interface to the C memcpy function. The src is the source, dest is the destination, `nitems' is the number of items, and type is the type. May fail on overlapping copies. See also Move. void Copy(void* src, void* dest, int nitems, type) croak This is the XSUB-writer's interface to Perl's die function. Use this function the same way you use the C printf function. See warn. void croak(const char* pat, ...) CvSTASH Returns the stash of the CV. HV* CvSTASH(CV* cv) dMARK Declare a stack marker variable, mark, for the XSUB. See MARK and dORIGMARK. dMARK; dORIGMARK Saves the original stack mark for the XSUB. See ORIGMARK. dORIGMARK; dSP Declares a local copy of perl's stack pointer for the XSUB, available via the SP macro. See SP. dSP; dXSARGS Sets up stack and mark pointers for an XSUB, calling dSP and dMARK. This is usually handled automatically by xsubpp. Declares the items variable to indicate the number of items on the stack. dXSARGS; dXSI32 Sets up the ix variable for an XSUB which has aliases. This is usually handled automatically by xsubpp. dXSI32; ENTER Opening bracket on a callback. See LEAVE and *Note Perlcall: perlcall,. ENTER; eval_pv Tells Perl to eval the given string and return an SV* result. NOTE: the perl_ form of this function is deprecated. SV* eval_pv(const char* p, I32 croak_on_error) eval_sv Tells Perl to eval the string in the SV. NOTE: the perl_ form of this function is deprecated. I32 eval_sv(SV* sv, I32 flags) EXTEND Used to extend the argument stack for an XSUB's return values. Once used, guarrantees that there is room for at least `nitems' to be pushed onto the stack. void EXTEND(SP, int nitems) fbm_compile Analyses the string in order to make fast searches on it using fbm_instr() - the Boyer-Moore algorithm. void fbm_compile(SV* sv, U32 flags) fbm_instr Returns the location of the SV in the string delimited by str and `strend'. It returns Nullch if the string can't be found. The sv does not have to be fbm_compiled, but the search will not be as fast then. char* fbm_instr(unsigned char* big, unsigned char* bigend, SV* littlesv, U32 flags) FREETMPS Closing bracket for temporaries on a callback. See SAVETMPS and *Note Perlcall: perlcall,. FREETMPS; get_av Returns the AV of the specified Perl array. If create is set and the Perl variable does not exist then it will be created. If create is not set and the variable does not exist then NULL is returned. NOTE: the perl_ form of this function is deprecated. AV* get_av(const char* name, I32 create) get_cv Returns the CV of the specified Perl subroutine. If create is set and the Perl subroutine does not exist then it will be declared (which has the same effect as saying `sub name;'). If create is not set and the subroutine does not exist then NULL is returned. NOTE: the perl_ form of this function is deprecated. CV* get_cv(const char* name, I32 create) get_hv Returns the HV of the specified Perl hash. If create is set and the Perl variable does not exist then it will be created. If create is not set and the variable does not exist then NULL is returned. NOTE: the perl_ form of this function is deprecated. HV* get_hv(const char* name, I32 create) get_sv Returns the SV of the specified Perl scalar. If create is set and the Perl variable does not exist then it will be created. If create is not set and the variable does not exist then NULL is returned. NOTE: the perl_ form of this function is deprecated. SV* get_sv(const char* name, I32 create) GIMME A backward-compatible version of GIMME_V which can only return G_SCALAR or G_ARRAY; in a void context, it returns G_SCALAR. Deprecated. Use GIMME_V instead. U32 GIMME GIMME_V The XSUB-writer's equivalent to Perl's wantarray. Returns G_VOID, G_SCALAR or G_ARRAY for void, scalar or array context, respectively. U32 GIMME_V GvSV Return the SV from the GV. SV* GvSV(GV* gv) gv_fetchmeth Returns the glob with the given name and a defined subroutine or NULL. The glob lives in the given stash, or in the stashes accessible via @ISA and @UNIVERSAL. The argument level should be either 0 or -1. If `level==0', as a side-effect creates a glob with the given name in the given stash which in the case of success contains an alias for the subroutine, and sets up caching info for this glob. Similarly for all the searched stashes. This function grants `"SUPER"' token as a postfix of the stash name. The GV returned from gv_fetchmeth may be a method cache entry, which is not visible to Perl code. So when calling call_sv, you should not use the GV directly; instead, you should use the method's CV, which can be obtained from the GV with the `GvCV' macro. GV* gv_fetchmeth(HV* stash, const char* name, STRLEN len, I32 level) gv_fetchmethod See `gv_fetchmethod_autoload' in this node. GV* gv_fetchmethod(HV* stash, const char* name) gv_fetchmethod_autoload Returns the glob which contains the subroutine to call to invoke the method on the stash. In fact in the presence of autoloading this may be the glob for "AUTOLOAD". In this case the corresponding variable $AUTOLOAD is already setup. The third parameter of gv_fetchmethod_autoload determines whether AUTOLOAD lookup is performed if the given method is not present: non-zero means yes, look for AUTOLOAD; zero means no, don't look for AUTOLOAD. Calling gv_fetchmethod is equivalent to calling gv_fetchmethod_autoload with a non-zero `autoload' parameter. These functions grant `"SUPER"' token as a prefix of the method name. Note that if you want to keep the returned glob for a long time, you need to check for it being "AUTOLOAD", since at the later time the call may load a different subroutine due to $AUTOLOAD changing its value. Use the glob created via a side effect to do this. These functions have the same side-effects and as gv_fetchmeth with `level==0'. name should be writable if contains ':' or `' '''. The warning against passing the GV returned by gv_fetchmeth to call_sv apply equally to these functions. GV* gv_fetchmethod_autoload(HV* stash, const char* name, I32 autoload) gv_stashpv Returns a pointer to the stash for a specified package. name should be a valid UTF-8 string. If create is set then the package will be created if it does not already exist. If create is not set and the package does not exist then NULL is returned. HV* gv_stashpv(const char* name, I32 create) gv_stashsv Returns a pointer to the stash for a specified package, which must be a valid UTF-8 string. See gv_stashpv. HV* gv_stashsv(SV* sv, I32 create) G_ARRAY Used to indicate array context. See GIMME_V, GIMME and *Note Perlcall: perlcall,. G_DISCARD Indicates that arguments returned from a callback should be discarded. See *Note Perlcall: perlcall,. G_EVAL Used to force a Perl eval wrapper around a callback. See *Note Perlcall: perlcall,. G_NOARGS Indicates that no arguments are being sent to a callback. See *Note Perlcall: perlcall,. G_SCALAR Used to indicate scalar context. See GIMME_V, GIMME, and *Note Perlcall: perlcall,. G_VOID Used to indicate void context. See GIMME_V and *Note Perlcall: perlcall,. HEf_SVKEY This flag, used in the length slot of hash entries and magic structures, specifies the structure contains a `SV*' pointer where a `char*' pointer is to be expected. (For information only-not to be used). HeHASH Returns the computed hash stored in the hash entry. U32 HeHASH(HE* he) HeKEY Returns the actual pointer stored in the key slot of the hash entry. The pointer may be either `char*' or `SV*', depending on the value of `HeKLEN()'. Can be assigned to. The `HePV()' or `HeSVKEY()' macros are usually preferable for finding the value of a key. void* HeKEY(HE* he) HeKLEN If this is negative, and amounts to HEf_SVKEY, it indicates the entry holds an `SV*' key. Otherwise, holds the actual length of the key. Can be assigned to. The `HePV()' macro is usually preferable for finding key lengths. STRLEN HeKLEN(HE* he) HePV Returns the key slot of the hash entry as a `char*' value, doing any necessary dereferencing of possibly `SV*' keys. The length of the string is placed in len (this is a macro, so do not use `&len'). If you do not care about what the length of the key is, you may use the global variable PL_na, though this is rather less efficient than using a local variable. Remember though, that hash keys in perl are free to contain embedded nulls, so using `strlen()' or similar is not a good way to find the length of hash keys. This is very similar to the `SvPV()' macro described elsewhere in this document. char* HePV(HE* he, STRLEN len) HeSVKEY Returns the key as an `SV*', or Nullsv if the hash entry does not contain an `SV*' key. SV* HeSVKEY(HE* he) HeSVKEY_force Returns the key as an `SV*'. Will create and return a temporary mortal `SV*' if the hash entry contains only a `char*' key. SV* HeSVKEY_force(HE* he) HeSVKEY_set Sets the key to a given `SV*', taking care to set the appropriate flags to indicate the presence of an `SV*' key, and returns the same `SV*'. SV* HeSVKEY_set(HE* he, SV* sv) HeVAL Returns the value slot (type `SV*') stored in the hash entry. SV* HeVAL(HE* he) HvNAME Returns the package name of a stash. See SvSTASH, CvSTASH. char* HvNAME(HV* stash) hv_clear Clears a hash, making it empty. void hv_clear(HV* tb) hv_delete Deletes a key/value pair in the hash. The value SV is removed from the hash and returned to the caller. The `klen' is the length of the key. The flags value will normally be zero; if set to G_DISCARD then NULL will be returned. SV* hv_delete(HV* tb, const char* key, U32 klen, I32 flags) hv_delete_ent Deletes a key/value pair in the hash. The value SV is removed from the hash and returned to the caller. The flags value will normally be zero; if set to G_DISCARD then NULL will be returned. hash can be a valid precomputed hash value, or 0 to ask for it to be computed. SV* hv_delete_ent(HV* tb, SV* key, I32 flags, U32 hash) hv_exists Returns a boolean indicating whether the specified hash key exists. The `klen' is the length of the key. bool hv_exists(HV* tb, const char* key, U32 klen) hv_exists_ent Returns a boolean indicating whether the specified hash key exists. hash can be a valid precomputed hash value, or 0 to ask for it to be computed. bool hv_exists_ent(HV* tb, SV* key, U32 hash) hv_fetch Returns the SV which corresponds to the specified key in the hash. The `klen' is the length of the key. If `lval' is set then the fetch will be part of a store. Check that the return value is non-null before dereferencing it to a `SV*'. See `"Understanding the Magic of Tied Hashes and Arrays"', *Note Perlguts: perlguts, for more information on how to use this function on tied hashes. SV** hv_fetch(HV* tb, const char* key, U32 klen, I32 lval) hv_fetch_ent Returns the hash entry which corresponds to the specified key in the hash. hash must be a valid precomputed hash number for the given key, or 0 if you want the function to compute it. IF `lval' is set then the fetch will be part of a store. Make sure the return value is non-null before accessing it. The return value when `tb' is a tied hash is a pointer to a static location, so be sure to make a copy of the structure if you need to store it somewhere. See `"Understanding the Magic of Tied Hashes and Arrays"', *Note Perlguts: perlguts, for more information on how to use this function on tied hashes. HE* hv_fetch_ent(HV* tb, SV* key, I32 lval, U32 hash) hv_iterinit Prepares a starting point to traverse a hash table. Returns the number of keys in the hash (i.e. the same as `HvKEYS(tb)'). The return value is currently only meaningful for hashes without tie magic. NOTE: Before version 5.004_65, hv_iterinit used to return the number of hash buckets that happen to be in use. If you still need that esoteric value, you can get it through the macro `HvFILL(tb)'. I32 hv_iterinit(HV* tb) hv_iterkey Returns the key from the current position of the hash iterator. See hv_iterinit. char* hv_iterkey(HE* entry, I32* retlen) hv_iterkeysv Returns the key as an `SV*' from the current position of the hash iterator. The return value will always be a mortal copy of the key. Also see hv_iterinit. SV* hv_iterkeysv(HE* entry) hv_iternext Returns entries from a hash iterator. See hv_iterinit. HE* hv_iternext(HV* tb) hv_iternextsv Performs an hv_iternext, hv_iterkey, and hv_iterval in one operation. SV* hv_iternextsv(HV* hv, char** key, I32* retlen) hv_iterval Returns the value from the current position of the hash iterator. See hv_iterkey. SV* hv_iterval(HV* tb, HE* entry) hv_magic Adds magic to a hash. See sv_magic. void hv_magic(HV* hv, GV* gv, int how) hv_store Stores an SV in a hash. The hash key is specified as key and `klen' is the length of the key. The hash parameter is the precomputed hash value; if it is zero then Perl will compute it. The return value will be NULL if the operation failed or if the value did not need to be actually stored within the hash (as in the case of tied hashes). Otherwise it can be dereferenced to get the original `SV*'. Note that the caller is responsible for suitably incrementing the reference count of val before the call, and decrementing it if the function returned NULL. See `"Understanding the Magic of Tied Hashes and Arrays"', *Note Perlguts: perlguts, for more information on how to use this function on tied hashes. SV** hv_store(HV* tb, const char* key, U32 klen, SV* val, U32 hash) hv_store_ent Stores val in a hash. The hash key is specified as key. The hash parameter is the precomputed hash value; if it is zero then Perl will compute it. The return value is the new hash entry so created. It will be NULL if the operation failed or if the value did not need to be actually stored within the hash (as in the case of tied hashes). Otherwise the contents of the return value can be accessed using the `He???' macros described here. Note that the caller is responsible for suitably incrementing the reference count of val before the call, and decrementing it if the function returned NULL. See `"Understanding the Magic of Tied Hashes and Arrays"', *Note Perlguts: perlguts, for more information on how to use this function on tied hashes. HE* hv_store_ent(HV* tb, SV* key, SV* val, U32 hash) hv_undef Undefines the hash. void hv_undef(HV* tb) isALNUM Returns a boolean indicating whether the C `char' is an ascii alphanumeric character or digit. bool isALNUM(char ch) isALPHA Returns a boolean indicating whether the C `char' is an ascii alphabetic character. bool isALPHA(char ch) isDIGIT Returns a boolean indicating whether the C `char' is an ascii digit. bool isDIGIT(char ch) isLOWER Returns a boolean indicating whether the C `char' is a lowercase character. bool isLOWER(char ch) isSPACE Returns a boolean indicating whether the C `char' is whitespace. bool isSPACE(char ch) isUPPER Returns a boolean indicating whether the C `char' is an uppercase character. bool isUPPER(char ch) items Variable which is setup by xsubpp to indicate the number of items on the stack. See `"Variable-length Parameter Lists"', *Note Perlxs: perlxs,. I32 items ix Variable which is setup by xsubpp to indicate which of an XSUB's aliases was used to invoke it. See `"The ALIAS: Keyword"', *Note Perlxs: perlxs,. I32 ix LEAVE Closing bracket on a callback. See ENTER and *Note Perlcall: perlcall,. LEAVE; looks_like_number Test if an the content of an SV looks like a number (or is a number). I32 looks_like_number(SV* sv) MARK Stack marker variable for the XSUB. See dMARK. mg_clear Clear something magical that the SV represents. See sv_magic. int mg_clear(SV* sv) mg_copy Copies the magic from one SV to another. See sv_magic. int mg_copy(SV* sv, SV* nsv, const char* key, I32 klen) mg_find Finds the magic pointer for type matching the SV. See sv_magic. MAGIC* mg_find(SV* sv, int type) mg_free Free any magic storage used by the SV. See sv_magic. int mg_free(SV* sv) mg_get Do magic after a value is retrieved from the SV. See sv_magic. int mg_get(SV* sv) mg_length Report on the SV's length. See sv_magic. U32 mg_length(SV* sv) mg_magical Turns on the magical status of an SV. See sv_magic. void mg_magical(SV* sv) mg_set Do magic after a value is assigned to the SV. See sv_magic. int mg_set(SV* sv) Move The XSUB-writer's interface to the C memmove function. The src is the source, dest is the destination, `nitems' is the number of items, and type is the type. Can do overlapping moves. See also Copy. void Move(void* src, void* dest, int nitems, type) New The XSUB-writer's interface to the C malloc function. void New(int id, void* ptr, int nitems, type) newAV Creates a new AV. The reference count is set to 1. AV* newAV() Newc The XSUB-writer's interface to the C malloc function, with cast. void Newc(int id, void* ptr, int nitems, type, cast) newCONSTSUB Creates a constant sub equivalent to Perl `sub FOO () { 123 }' which is eligible for inlining at compile-time. void newCONSTSUB(HV* stash, char* name, SV* sv) newHV Creates a new HV. The reference count is set to 1. HV* newHV() newRV_inc Creates an RV wrapper for an SV. The reference count for the original SV is incremented. SV* newRV_inc(SV* sv) newRV_noinc Creates an RV wrapper for an SV. The reference count for the original SV is not incremented. SV* newRV_noinc(SV *sv) NEWSV Creates a new SV. A non-zero len parameter indicates the number of bytes of preallocated string space the SV should have. An extra byte for a tailing NUL is also reserved. (SvPOK is not set for the SV even if string space is allocated.) The reference count for the new SV is set to 1. id is an integer id between 0 and 1299 (used to identify leaks). SV* NEWSV(int id, STRLEN len) newSViv Creates a new SV and copies an integer into it. The reference count for the SV is set to 1. SV* newSViv(IV i) newSVnv Creates a new SV and copies a floating point value into it. The reference count for the SV is set to 1. SV* newSVnv(NV n) newSVpv Creates a new SV and copies a string into it. The reference count for the SV is set to 1. If len is zero, Perl will compute the length using strlen(). For efficiency, consider using newSVpvn instead. SV* newSVpv(const char* s, STRLEN len) newSVpvf Creates a new SV an initialize it with the string formatted like sprintf. SV* newSVpvf(const char* pat, ...) newSVpvn Creates a new SV and copies a string into it. The reference count for the SV is set to 1. Note that if len is zero, Perl will create a zero length string. You are responsible for ensuring that the source string is at least len bytes long. SV* newSVpvn(const char* s, STRLEN len) newSVrv Creates a new SV for the RV, rv, to point to. If rv is not an RV then it will be upgraded to one. If `classname' is non-null then the new SV will be blessed in the specified package. The new SV is returned and its reference count is 1. SV* newSVrv(SV* rv, const char* classname) newSVsv Creates a new SV which is an exact duplicate of the original SV. SV* newSVsv(SV* old) newSVuv Creates a new SV and copies an unsigned integer into it. The reference count for the SV is set to 1. SV* newSVuv(UV u) newXS Used by xsubpp to hook up XSUBs as Perl subs. newXSproto Used by xsubpp to hook up XSUBs as Perl subs. Adds Perl prototypes to the subs. Newz The XSUB-writer's interface to the C malloc function. The allocated memory is zeroed with `memzero'. void Newz(int id, void* ptr, int nitems, type) Nullav Null AV pointer. Nullch Null character pointer. Nullcv Null CV pointer. Nullhv Null HV pointer. Nullsv Null SV pointer. ORIGMARK The original stack mark for the XSUB. See dORIGMARK. perl_alloc Allocates a new Perl interpreter. See *Note Perlembed: perlembed,. PerlInterpreter* perl_alloc() perl_construct Initializes a new Perl interpreter. See *Note Perlembed: perlembed,. void perl_construct(PerlInterpreter* interp) perl_destruct Shuts down a Perl interpreter. See *Note Perlembed: perlembed,. void perl_destruct(PerlInterpreter* interp) perl_free Releases a Perl interpreter. See *Note Perlembed: perlembed,. void perl_free(PerlInterpreter* interp) perl_parse Tells a Perl interpreter to parse a Perl script. See *Note Perlembed: perlembed,. int perl_parse(PerlInterpreter* interp, XSINIT_t xsinit, int argc, char** argv, char** env) perl_run Tells a Perl interpreter to run. See *Note Perlembed: perlembed,. int perl_run(PerlInterpreter* interp) PL_DBsingle When Perl is run in debugging mode, with the -d switch, this SV is a boolean which indicates whether subs are being single-stepped. Single-stepping is automatically turned on after every step. This is the C variable which corresponds to Perl's $DB::single variable. See PL_DBsub. SV * PL_DBsingle PL_DBsub When Perl is run in debugging mode, with the -d switch, this GV contains the SV which holds the name of the sub being debugged. This is the C variable which corresponds to Perl's $DB::sub variable. See PL_DBsingle. GV * PL_DBsub PL_DBtrace Trace variable used when Perl is run in debugging mode, with the -d switch. This is the C variable which corresponds to Perl's $DB::trace variable. See PL_DBsingle. SV * PL_DBtrace PL_dowarn The C variable which corresponds to Perl's $^W warning variable. bool PL_dowarn PL_modglobal PL_modglobal is a general purpose, interpreter global HV for use by extensions that need to keep information on a per-interpreter basis. In a pinch, it can also be used as a symbol table for extensions to share data among each other. It is a good idea to use keys prefixed by the package name of the extension that owns the data. HV* PL_modglobal PL_na A convenience variable which is typically used with SvPV when one doesn't care about the length of the string. It is usually more efficient to either declare a local variable and use that instead or to use the SvPV_nolen macro. STRLEN PL_na PL_sv_no This is the false SV. See PL_sv_yes. Always refer to this as `&PL_sv_no'. SV PL_sv_no PL_sv_undef This is the undef SV. Always refer to this as `&PL_sv_undef'. SV PL_sv_undef PL_sv_yes This is the `true' SV. See PL_sv_no. Always refer to this as `&PL_sv_yes'. SV PL_sv_yes POPi Pops an integer off the stack. IV POPi POPl Pops a long off the stack. long POPl POPn Pops a double off the stack. NV POPn POPp Pops a string off the stack. char* POPp POPs Pops an SV off the stack. SV* POPs PUSHi Push an integer onto the stack. The stack must have room for this element. Handles 'set' magic. See XPUSHi. void PUSHi(IV iv) PUSHMARK Opening bracket for arguments on a callback. See PUTBACK and *Note Perlcall: perlcall,. PUSHMARK; PUSHn Push a double onto the stack. The stack must have room for this element. Handles 'set' magic. See XPUSHn. void PUSHn(NV nv) PUSHp Push a string onto the stack. The stack must have room for this element. The len indicates the length of the string. Handles 'set' magic. See XPUSHp. void PUSHp(char* str, STRLEN len) PUSHs Push an SV onto the stack. The stack must have room for this element. Does not handle 'set' magic. See XPUSHs. void PUSHs(SV* sv) PUSHu Push an unsigned integer onto the stack. The stack must have room for this element. See XPUSHu. void PUSHu(UV uv) PUTBACK Closing bracket for XSUB arguments. This is usually handled by xsubpp. See PUSHMARK and *Note Perlcall: perlcall, for other uses. PUTBACK; Renew The XSUB-writer's interface to the C realloc function. void Renew(void* ptr, int nitems, type) Renewc The XSUB-writer's interface to the C realloc function, with cast. void Renewc(void* ptr, int nitems, type, cast) require_pv Tells Perl to require a module. NOTE: the perl_ form of this function is deprecated. void require_pv(const char* pv) RETVAL Variable which is setup by xsubpp to hold the return value for an XSUB. This is always the proper type for the XSUB. See `"The RETVAL Variable"', *Note Perlxs: perlxs,. (whatever) RETVAL Safefree The XSUB-writer's interface to the C free function. void Safefree(void* src, void* dest, int nitems, type) savepv Copy a string to a safe spot. This does not use an SV. char* savepv(const char* sv) savepvn Copy a string to a safe spot. The len indicates number of bytes to copy. This does not use an SV. char* savepvn(const char* sv, I32 len) SAVETMPS Opening bracket for temporaries on a callback. See FREETMPS and *Note Perlcall: perlcall,. SAVETMPS; SP Stack pointer. This is usually handled by xsubpp. See dSP and SPAGAIN. SPAGAIN Refetch the stack pointer. Used after a callback. See *Note Perlcall: perlcall,. SPAGAIN; ST Used to access elements on the XSUB's stack. SV* ST(int ix) strEQ Test two strings to see if they are equal. Returns true or false. bool strEQ(char* s1, char* s2) strGE Test two strings to see if the first, `s1', is greater than or equal to the second, `s2'. Returns true or false. bool strGE(char* s1, char* s2) strGT Test two strings to see if the first, `s1', is greater than the second, `s2'. Returns true or false. bool strGT(char* s1, char* s2) strLE Test two strings to see if the first, `s1', is less than or equal to the second, `s2'. Returns true or false. bool strLE(char* s1, char* s2) strLT Test two strings to see if the first, `s1', is less than the second, `s2'. Returns true or false. bool strLT(char* s1, char* s2) strNE Test two strings to see if they are different. Returns true or false. bool strNE(char* s1, char* s2) strnEQ Test two strings to see if they are equal. The len parameter indicates the number of bytes to compare. Returns true or false. (A wrapper for strncmp). bool strnEQ(char* s1, char* s2, STRLEN len) strnNE Test two strings to see if they are different. The len parameter indicates the number of bytes to compare. Returns true or false. (A wrapper for strncmp). bool strnNE(char* s1, char* s2, STRLEN len) StructCopy This is an architecture-independant macro to copy one structure to another. void StructCopy(type src, type dest, type) SvCUR Returns the length of the string which is in the SV. See SvLEN. STRLEN SvCUR(SV* sv) SvCUR_set Set the length of the string which is in the SV. See SvCUR. void SvCUR_set(SV* sv, STRLEN len) SvEND Returns a pointer to the last character in the string which is in the SV. See SvCUR. Access the character as *(SvEND(sv)). char* SvEND(SV* sv) SvGETMAGIC Invokes mg_get on an SV if it has 'get' magic. This macro evaluates its argument more than once. void SvGETMAGIC(SV* sv) SvGROW Expands the character buffer in the SV so that it has room for the indicated number of bytes (remember to reserve space for an extra trailing NUL character). Calls sv_grow to perform the expansion if necessary. Returns a pointer to the character buffer. void SvGROW(SV* sv, STRLEN len) SvIOK Returns a boolean indicating whether the SV contains an integer. bool SvIOK(SV* sv) SvIOKp Returns a boolean indicating whether the SV contains an integer. Checks the private setting. Use SvIOK. bool SvIOKp(SV* sv) SvIOK_off Unsets the IV status of an SV. void SvIOK_off(SV* sv) SvIOK_on Tells an SV that it is an integer. void SvIOK_on(SV* sv) SvIOK_only Tells an SV that it is an integer and disables all other OK bits. void SvIOK_only(SV* sv) SvIV Coerces the given SV to an integer and returns it. IV SvIV(SV* sv) SvIVX Returns the integer which is stored in the SV, assuming SvIOK is true. IV SvIVX(SV* sv) SvLEN Returns the size of the string buffer in the SV. See SvCUR. STRLEN SvLEN(SV* sv) SvNIOK Returns a boolean indicating whether the SV contains a number, integer or double. bool SvNIOK(SV* sv) SvNIOKp Returns a boolean indicating whether the SV contains a number, integer or double. Checks the private setting. Use SvNIOK. bool SvNIOKp(SV* sv) SvNIOK_off Unsets the NV/IV status of an SV. void SvNIOK_off(SV* sv) SvNOK Returns a boolean indicating whether the SV contains a double. bool SvNOK(SV* sv) SvNOKp Returns a boolean indicating whether the SV contains a double. Checks the private setting. Use SvNOK. bool SvNOKp(SV* sv) SvNOK_off Unsets the NV status of an SV. void SvNOK_off(SV* sv) SvNOK_on Tells an SV that it is a double. void SvNOK_on(SV* sv) SvNOK_only Tells an SV that it is a double and disables all other OK bits. void SvNOK_only(SV* sv) SvNV Coerce the given SV to a double and return it. NV SvNV(SV* sv) SvNVX Returns the double which is stored in the SV, assuming SvNOK is true. NV SvNVX(SV* sv) SvOK Returns a boolean indicating whether the value is an SV. bool SvOK(SV* sv) SvOOK Returns a boolean indicating whether the SvIVX is a valid offset value for the SvPVX. This hack is used internally to speed up removal of characters from the beginning of a SvPV. When SvOOK is true, then the start of the allocated string buffer is really (SvPVX - SvIVX). bool SvOOK(SV* sv) SvPOK Returns a boolean indicating whether the SV contains a character string. bool SvPOK(SV* sv) SvPOKp Returns a boolean indicating whether the SV contains a character string. Checks the private setting. Use SvPOK. bool SvPOKp(SV* sv) SvPOK_off Unsets the PV status of an SV. void SvPOK_off(SV* sv) SvPOK_on Tells an SV that it is a string. void SvPOK_on(SV* sv) SvPOK_only Tells an SV that it is a string and disables all other OK bits. void SvPOK_only(SV* sv) SvPV Returns a pointer to the string in the SV, or a stringified form of the SV if the SV does not contain a string. Handles 'get' magic. char* SvPV(SV* sv, STRLEN len) SvPVX Returns a pointer to the string in the SV. The SV must contain a string. char* SvPVX(SV* sv) SvPV_force Like but will force the SV into becoming a string (SvPOK). You want force if you are going to update the SvPVX directly. char* SvPV_force(SV* sv, STRLEN len) SvPV_nolen Returns a pointer to the string in the SV, or a stringified form of the SV if the SV does not contain a string. Handles 'get' magic. char* SvPV_nolen(SV* sv) SvREFCNT Returns the value of the object's reference count. U32 SvREFCNT(SV* sv) SvREFCNT_dec Decrements the reference count of the given SV. void SvREFCNT_dec(SV* sv) SvREFCNT_inc Increments the reference count of the given SV. SV* SvREFCNT_inc(SV* sv) SvROK Tests if the SV is an RV. bool SvROK(SV* sv) SvROK_off Unsets the RV status of an SV. void SvROK_off(SV* sv) SvROK_on Tells an SV that it is an RV. void SvROK_on(SV* sv) SvRV Dereferences an RV to return the SV. SV* SvRV(SV* sv) SvSETMAGIC Invokes mg_set on an SV if it has 'set' magic. This macro evaluates its argument more than once. void SvSETMAGIC(SV* sv) SvSetSV Calls sv_setsv if dsv is not the same as ssv. May evaluate arguments more than once. void SvSetSV(SV* dsb, SV* ssv) SvSetSV_nosteal Calls a non-destructive version of sv_setsv if dsv is not the same as ssv. May evaluate arguments more than once. void SvSetSV_nosteal(SV* dsv, SV* ssv) SvSTASH Returns the stash of the SV. HV* SvSTASH(SV* sv) SvTAINT Taints an SV if tainting is enabled void SvTAINT(SV* sv) SvTAINTED Checks to see if an SV is tainted. Returns TRUE if it is, FALSE if not. bool SvTAINTED(SV* sv) SvTAINTED_off Untaints an SV. Be *very* careful with this routine, as it short-circuits some of Perl's fundamental security features. XS module authors should not use this function unless they fully understand all the implications of unconditionally untainting the value. Untainting should be done in the standard perl fashion, via a carefully crafted regexp, rather than directly untainting variables. void SvTAINTED_off(SV* sv) SvTAINTED_on Marks an SV as tainted. void SvTAINTED_on(SV* sv) SvTRUE Returns a boolean indicating whether Perl would evaluate the SV as true or false, defined or undefined. Does not handle 'get' magic. bool SvTRUE(SV* sv) SvTYPE Returns the type of the SV. See svtype. svtype SvTYPE(SV* sv) svtype An enum of flags for Perl types. These are found in the file *sv.h* in the svtype enum. Test these flags with the SvTYPE macro. SVt_IV Integer type flag for scalars. See svtype. SVt_NV Double type flag for scalars. See svtype. SVt_PV Pointer type flag for scalars. See svtype. SVt_PVAV Type flag for arrays. See svtype. SVt_PVCV Type flag for code refs. See svtype. SVt_PVHV Type flag for hashes. See svtype. SVt_PVMG Type flag for blessed scalars. See svtype. SvUPGRADE Used to upgrade an SV to a more complex form. Uses sv_upgrade to perform the upgrade if necessary. See svtype. void SvUPGRADE(SV* sv, svtype type) SvUV Coerces the given SV to an unsigned integer and returns it. UV SvUV(SV* sv) SvUVX Returns the unsigned integer which is stored in the SV, assuming SvIOK is true. UV SvUVX(SV* sv) sv_2mortal Marks an SV as mortal. The SV will be destroyed when the current context ends. SV* sv_2mortal(SV* sv) sv_bless Blesses an SV into a specified package. The SV must be an RV. The package must be designated by its stash (see `gv_stashpv()'). The reference count of the SV is unaffected. SV* sv_bless(SV* sv, HV* stash) sv_catpv Concatenates the string onto the end of the string which is in the SV. Handles 'get' magic, but not 'set' magic. See sv_catpv_mg. void sv_catpv(SV* sv, const char* ptr) sv_catpvf Processes its arguments like sprintf and appends the formatted output to an SV. Handles 'get' magic, but not 'set' magic. `SvSETMAGIC()' must typically be called after calling this function to handle 'set' magic. void sv_catpvf(SV* sv, const char* pat, ...) sv_catpvf_mg Like sv_catpvf, but also handles 'set' magic. void sv_catpvf_mg(SV *sv, const char* pat, ...) sv_catpvn Concatenates the string onto the end of the string which is in the SV. The len indicates number of bytes to copy. Handles 'get' magic, but not 'set' magic. See sv_catpvn_mg. void sv_catpvn(SV* sv, const char* ptr, STRLEN len) sv_catpvn_mg Like sv_catpvn, but also handles 'set' magic. void sv_catpvn_mg(SV *sv, const char *ptr, STRLEN len) sv_catpv_mg Like sv_catpv, but also handles 'set' magic. void sv_catpv_mg(SV *sv, const char *ptr) sv_catsv Concatenates the string from SV `ssv' onto the end of the string in SV `dsv'. Handles 'get' magic, but not 'set' magic. See sv_catsv_mg. void sv_catsv(SV* dsv, SV* ssv) sv_catsv_mg Like sv_catsv, but also handles 'set' magic. void sv_catsv_mg(SV *dstr, SV *sstr) sv_chop Efficient removal of characters from the beginning of the string buffer. SvPOK(sv) must be true and the `ptr' must be a pointer to somewhere inside the string buffer. The `ptr' becomes the first character of the adjusted string. void sv_chop(SV* sv, char* ptr) sv_cmp Compares the strings in two SVs. Returns -1, 0, or 1 indicating whether the string in `sv1' is less than, equal to, or greater than the string in `sv2'. I32 sv_cmp(SV* sv1, SV* sv2) sv_dec Auto-decrement of the value in the SV. void sv_dec(SV* sv) sv_derived_from Returns a boolean indicating whether the SV is derived from the specified class. This is the function that implements UNIVERSAL::isa. It works for class names as well as for objects. bool sv_derived_from(SV* sv, const char* name) sv_eq Returns a boolean indicating whether the strings in the two SVs are identical. I32 sv_eq(SV* sv1, SV* sv2) sv_grow Expands the character buffer in the SV. This will use sv_unref and will upgrade the SV to SVt_PV. Returns a pointer to the character buffer. Use SvGROW. char* sv_grow(SV* sv, STRLEN newlen) sv_inc Auto-increment of the value in the SV. void sv_inc(SV* sv) sv_insert Inserts a string at the specified offset/length within the SV. Similar to the Perl substr() function. void sv_insert(SV* bigsv, STRLEN offset, STRLEN len, char* little, STRLEN littlelen) sv_isa Returns a boolean indicating whether the SV is blessed into the specified class. This does not check for subtypes; use sv_derived_from to verify an inheritance relationship. int sv_isa(SV* sv, const char* name) sv_isobject Returns a boolean indicating whether the SV is an RV pointing to a blessed object. If the SV is not an RV, or if the object is not blessed, then this will return false. int sv_isobject(SV* sv) sv_len Returns the length of the string in the SV. See also SvCUR. STRLEN sv_len(SV* sv) sv_magic Adds magic to an SV. void sv_magic(SV* sv, SV* obj, int how, const char* name, I32 namlen) sv_mortalcopy Creates a new SV which is a copy of the original SV. The new SV is marked as mortal. SV* sv_mortalcopy(SV* oldsv) sv_newmortal Creates a new SV which is mortal. The reference count of the SV is set to 1. SV* sv_newmortal() sv_setiv Copies an integer into the given SV. Does not handle 'set' magic. See sv_setiv_mg. void sv_setiv(SV* sv, IV num) sv_setiv_mg Like sv_setiv, but also handles 'set' magic. void sv_setiv_mg(SV *sv, IV i) sv_setnv Copies a double into the given SV. Does not handle 'set' magic. See sv_setnv_mg. void sv_setnv(SV* sv, NV num) sv_setnv_mg Like sv_setnv, but also handles 'set' magic. void sv_setnv_mg(SV *sv, NV num) sv_setpv Copies a string into an SV. The string must be null-terminated. Does not handle 'set' magic. See sv_setpv_mg. void sv_setpv(SV* sv, const char* ptr) sv_setpvf Processes its arguments like sprintf and sets an SV to the formatted output. Does not handle 'set' magic. See sv_setpvf_mg. void sv_setpvf(SV* sv, const char* pat, ...) sv_setpvf_mg Like sv_setpvf, but also handles 'set' magic. void sv_setpvf_mg(SV *sv, const char* pat, ...) sv_setpviv Copies an integer into the given SV, also updating its string value. Does not handle 'set' magic. See sv_setpviv_mg. void sv_setpviv(SV* sv, IV num) sv_setpviv_mg Like sv_setpviv, but also handles 'set' magic. void sv_setpviv_mg(SV *sv, IV iv) sv_setpvn Copies a string into an SV. The len parameter indicates the number of bytes to be copied. Does not handle 'set' magic. See sv_setpvn_mg. void sv_setpvn(SV* sv, const char* ptr, STRLEN len) sv_setpvn_mg Like sv_setpvn, but also handles 'set' magic. void sv_setpvn_mg(SV *sv, const char *ptr, STRLEN len) sv_setpv_mg Like sv_setpv, but also handles 'set' magic. void sv_setpv_mg(SV *sv, const char *ptr) sv_setref_iv Copies an integer into a new SV, optionally blessing the SV. The rv argument will be upgraded to an RV. That RV will be modified to point to the new SV. The `classname' argument indicates the package for the blessing. Set `classname' to Nullch to avoid the blessing. The new SV will be returned and will have a reference count of 1. SV* sv_setref_iv(SV* rv, const char* classname, IV iv) sv_setref_nv Copies a double into a new SV, optionally blessing the SV. The rv argument will be upgraded to an RV. That RV will be modified to point to the new SV. The `classname' argument indicates the package for the blessing. Set `classname' to Nullch to avoid the blessing. The new SV will be returned and will have a reference count of 1. SV* sv_setref_nv(SV* rv, const char* classname, NV nv) sv_setref_pv Copies a pointer into a new SV, optionally blessing the SV. The rv argument will be upgraded to an RV. That RV will be modified to point to the new SV. If the pv argument is NULL then PL_sv_undef will be placed into the SV. The `classname' argument indicates the package for the blessing. Set `classname' to Nullch to avoid the blessing. The new SV will be returned and will have a reference count of 1. Do not use with other Perl types such as HV, AV, SV, CV, because those objects will become corrupted by the pointer copy process. Note that sv_setref_pvn copies the string while this copies the pointer. SV* sv_setref_pv(SV* rv, const char* classname, void* pv) sv_setref_pvn Copies a string into a new SV, optionally blessing the SV. The length of the string must be specified with n. The rv argument will be upgraded to an RV. That RV will be modified to point to the new SV. The `classname' argument indicates the package for the blessing. Set `classname' to Nullch to avoid the blessing. The new SV will be returned and will have a reference count of 1. Note that sv_setref_pv copies the pointer while this copies the string. SV* sv_setref_pvn(SV* rv, const char* classname, char* pv, STRLEN n) sv_setsv Copies the contents of the source SV `ssv' into the destination SV `dsv'. The source SV may be destroyed if it is mortal. Does not handle 'set' magic. See the macro forms SvSetSV, SvSetSV_nosteal and sv_setsv_mg. void sv_setsv(SV* dsv, SV* ssv) sv_setsv_mg Like sv_setsv, but also handles 'set' magic. void sv_setsv_mg(SV *dstr, SV *sstr) sv_setuv Copies an unsigned integer into the given SV. Does not handle 'set' magic. See sv_setuv_mg. void sv_setuv(SV* sv, UV num) sv_setuv_mg Like sv_setuv, but also handles 'set' magic. void sv_setuv_mg(SV *sv, UV u) sv_unref Unsets the RV status of the SV, and decrements the reference count of whatever was being referenced by the RV. This can almost be thought of as a reversal of newSVrv. See SvROK_off. void sv_unref(SV* sv) sv_upgrade Upgrade an SV to a more complex form. Use SvUPGRADE. See svtype. bool sv_upgrade(SV* sv, U32 mt) sv_usepvn Tells an SV to use `ptr' to find its string value. Normally the string is stored inside the SV but sv_usepvn allows the SV to use an outside string. The `ptr' should point to memory that was allocated by malloc. The string length, len, must be supplied. This function will realloc the memory pointed to by `ptr', so that pointer should not be freed or used by the programmer after giving it to sv_usepvn. Does not handle 'set' magic. See sv_usepvn_mg. void sv_usepvn(SV* sv, char* ptr, STRLEN len) sv_usepvn_mg Like sv_usepvn, but also handles 'set' magic. void sv_usepvn_mg(SV *sv, char *ptr, STRLEN len) sv_vcatpvfn Processes its arguments like vsprintf and appends the formatted output to an SV. Uses an array of SVs if the C style variable argument list is missing (NULL). When running with taint checks enabled, indicates via `maybe_tainted' if results are untrustworthy (often due to the use of locales). void sv_vcatpvfn(SV* sv, const char* pat, STRLEN patlen, va_list* args, SV** svargs, I32 svmax, bool *maybe_tainted) sv_vsetpvfn Works like `vcatpvfn' but copies the text into the SV instead of appending it. void sv_vsetpvfn(SV* sv, const char* pat, STRLEN patlen, va_list* args, SV** svargs, I32 svmax, bool *maybe_tainted) THIS Variable which is setup by xsubpp to designate the object in a C++ XSUB. This is always the proper type for the C++ object. See CLASS and `"Using XS With C++"', *Note Perlxs: perlxs,. (whatever) THIS toLOWER Converts the specified character to lowercase. char toLOWER(char ch) toUPPER Converts the specified character to uppercase. char toUPPER(char ch) warn This is the XSUB-writer's interface to Perl's warn function. Use this function the same way you use the C printf function. See croak. void warn(const char* pat, ...) XPUSHi Push an integer onto the stack, extending the stack if necessary. Handles 'set' magic. See PUSHi. void XPUSHi(IV iv) XPUSHn Push a double onto the stack, extending the stack if necessary. Handles 'set' magic. See PUSHn. void XPUSHn(NV nv) XPUSHp Push a string onto the stack, extending the stack if necessary. The len indicates the length of the string. Handles 'set' magic. See PUSHp. void XPUSHp(char* str, STRLEN len) XPUSHs Push an SV onto the stack, extending the stack if necessary. Does not handle 'set' magic. See PUSHs. void XPUSHs(SV* sv) XPUSHu Push an unsigned integer onto the stack, extending the stack if necessary. See PUSHu. void XPUSHu(UV uv) XS Macro to declare an XSUB and its C parameter list. This is handled by xsubpp. XSRETURN Return from XSUB, indicating number of items on the stack. This is usually handled by xsubpp. void XSRETURN(int nitems) XSRETURN_EMPTY Return an empty list from an XSUB immediately. XSRETURN_EMPTY; XSRETURN_IV Return an integer from an XSUB immediately. Uses XST_mIV. void XSRETURN_IV(IV iv) XSRETURN_NO Return `&PL_sv_no' from an XSUB immediately. Uses XST_mNO. XSRETURN_NO; XSRETURN_NV Return an double from an XSUB immediately. Uses XST_mNV. void XSRETURN_NV(NV nv) XSRETURN_PV Return a copy of a string from an XSUB immediately. Uses XST_mPV. void XSRETURN_PV(char* str) XSRETURN_UNDEF Return `&PL_sv_undef' from an XSUB immediately. Uses XST_mUNDEF. XSRETURN_UNDEF; XSRETURN_YES Return `&PL_sv_yes' from an XSUB immediately. Uses XST_mYES. XSRETURN_YES; XST_mIV Place an integer into the specified position pos on the stack. The value is stored in a new mortal SV. void XST_mIV(int pos, IV iv) XST_mNO Place `&PL_sv_no' into the specified position pos on the stack. void XST_mNO(int pos) XST_mNV Place a double into the specified position pos on the stack. The value is stored in a new mortal SV. void XST_mNV(int pos, NV nv) XST_mPV Place a copy of a string into the specified position pos on the stack. The value is stored in a new mortal SV. void XST_mPV(int pos, char* str) XST_mUNDEF Place `&PL_sv_undef' into the specified position pos on the stack. void XST_mUNDEF(int pos) XST_mYES Place `&PL_sv_yes' into the specified position pos on the stack. void XST_mYES(int pos) XS_VERSION The version identifier for an XS module. This is usually handled automatically by ExtUtils::MakeMaker. See XS_VERSION_BOOTCHECK. XS_VERSION_BOOTCHECK Macro to verify that a PM module's $VERSION variable matches the XS module's XS_VERSION variable. This is usually handled automatically by xsubpp. See `"The VERSIONCHECK: Keyword"', *Note Perlxs: perlxs,. XS_VERSION_BOOTCHECK; Zero The XSUB-writer's interface to the C `memzero' function. The dest is the destination, `nitems' is the number of items, and type is the type. void Zero(void* dest, int nitems, type) AUTHORS ======= Until May 1997, this document was maintained by Jeff Okamoto . It is now maintained as part of Perl itself. With lots of help and suggestions from Dean Roehrich, Malcolm Beattie, Andreas Koenig, Paul Hudson, Ilya Zakharevich, Paul Marquess, Neil Bowers, Matthew Green, Tim Bunce, Spider Boardman, Ulrich Pfeifer, Stephen McCamant, and Gurusamy Sarathy. API Listing originally by Dean Roehrich . Updated to be autogenerated from comments in the source by Benjamin Stuhl. SEE ALSO ======== perlguts(1), perlxs(1), perlxstut(1), perlintern(1)