NAME

SYNOPSIS

 require File::Spec::Mac; # Done internally by File::Spec if needed

DESCRIPTION

METHODS

canonpath

On Mac OS, there's nothing to be done. Returns what it's given.

catdir()

Concatenate two or more directory names to form a path separated by colons (":") ending with a directory. Resulting paths are relative by default, but can be forced to be absolute (but avoid this, see below). Automatically puts a trailing ":" on the end of the complete path, because that's what's done in MacPerl's environment and helps to distinguish a file path from a directory path.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Beginning with version 1.3 of this module, the resulting path is relative by default and not absolute. This decision was made due to portability reasons. Since "File::Spec->catdir()" returns relative paths on all other operating systems, it will now also follow this convention on Mac OS. Note that this may break some existing scripts.

The intended purpose of this routine is to concatenate directory names. But because of the nature of Macintosh paths, some additional possibilities are allowed to make using this routine give reasonable results for some common situations. In other words, you are also allowed to concatenate paths instead of directory names (strictly speaking, a string like ":a" is a path, but not a name, since it contains a punctuation character ":").

So, beside calls like

    catdir("a") = ":a:"
    catdir("a","b") = ":a:b:"
    catdir() = ""                    (special case)
    

calls like the following

    catdir(":a:") = ":a:"
    catdir(":a","b") = ":a:b:"
    catdir(":a:","b") = ":a:b:"
    catdir(":a:",":b:") = ":a:b:"
    catdir(":") = ":"
    

are allowed.

Here are the rules that are used in "catdir()"; note that we try to be as compatible as possible to Unix:

    $dir      = File::Spec->catdir("tmp","sources");
    $abs_path = File::Spec->catpath("MacintoshHD:", $dir,"");

    "MacintoshHD:tmp:sources:" .

catfile

Concatenate one or more directory names and a filename to form a complete path ending with a filename. Resulting paths are relative by default, but can be forced to be absolute (but avoid this).

IMPORTANT NOTE: Beginning with version 1.3 of this module, the resulting path is relative by default and not absolute. This decision was made due to portability reasons. Since "File::Spec->catfile()" returns relative paths on all other operating systems, it will now also follow this convention on Mac OS. Note that this may break some existing scripts.

The last argument is always considered to be the file portion. Since "catfile()" uses "catdir()" (see above) for the concatenation of the directory portions (if any), the following with regard to relative and absolute paths is true:

    catfile("")     = ""
    catfile("file") = "file"
    

but

    catfile("","")        = rootdir()         # (e.g. "HD:")
    catfile("","file")    = rootdir() . file  # (e.g. "HD:file")
    catfile("HD:","file") = "HD:file"
    

This means that "catdir()" is called only when there are two or more arguments, as one might expect.

Note that the leading ":" is removed from the filename, so that

    catfile("a","b","file")  = ":a:b:file"    and

    catfile("a","b",":file") = ":a:b:file"
    

give the same answer.

To concatenate volume names, directory paths and filenames, you are encouraged to use "catpath()" (see below).

curdir

Returns a string representing the current directory. On Mac OS, this is ":".

devnull

Returns a string representing the null device. On Mac OS, this is "Dev:Null".

rootdir

Returns the empty string. Mac OS has no real root directory.

tmpdir

Returns the contents of $ENV{TMPDIR}, if that directory exits or the current working directory otherwise. Under MacPerl, $ENV{TMPDIR} will contain a path like "MacintoshHD:Temporary Items:", which is a hidden directory on your startup volume.

updir

Returns a string representing the parent directory. On Mac OS, this is "::".

file_name_is_absolute

Takes as argument a path and returns true, if it is an absolute path. If the path has a leading ":", it's a relative path. Otherwise, it's an absolute path, unless the path doesn't contain any colons, i.e. it's a name like "a". In this particular case, the path is considered to be relative (i.e. it is considered to be a filename). Use ":" in the appropriate place in the path if you want to distinguish unambiguously. As a special case, the filename '' is always considered to be absolute. Note that with version 1.2 of File::Spec::Mac, this does no longer consult the local filesystem.

E.g.

    File::Spec->file_name_is_absolute("a");         # false (relative)
    File::Spec->file_name_is_absolute(":a:b:");     # false (relative)
    File::Spec->file_name_is_absolute("MacintoshHD:");
                                                    # true (absolute)
    File::Spec->file_name_is_absolute("");          # true (absolute)
    

path

Returns the null list for the MacPerl application, since the concept is usually meaningless under Mac OS. But if you're using the MacPerl tool under MPW, it gives back $ENV{Commands} suitably split, as is done in :lib:ExtUtils:MM_Mac.pm.

splitpath

    ($volume,$directories,$file) = File::Spec->splitpath( $path );
    ($volume,$directories,$file) = File::Spec->splitpath( $path,
                                                          $no_file );
    

Splits a path into volume, directory, and filename portions.

On Mac OS, assumes that the last part of the path is a filename unless $no_file is true or a trailing separator ":" is present.

The volume portion is always returned with a trailing ":". The directory portion is always returned with a leading (to denote a relative path) and a trailing ":" (to denote a directory). The file portion is always returned without a leading ":". Empty portions are returned as empty string ''.

The results can be passed to "catpath()" to get back a path equivalent to (usually identical to) the original path.

splitdir

The opposite of "catdir()".

    @dirs = File::Spec->splitdir( $directories );
    

$directories should be only the directory portion of the path on systems that have the concept of a volume or that have path syntax that differentiates files from directories. Consider using "splitpath()" otherwise.

Unlike just splitting the directories on the separator, empty directory names ("") can be returned. Since "catdir()" on Mac OS always appends a trailing colon to distinguish a directory path from a file path, a single trailing colon will be ignored, i.e. there's no empty directory name after it.

Hence, on Mac OS, both

    File::Spec->splitdir( ":a:b::c:" );    and
    File::Spec->splitdir( ":a:b::c" );
    

yield:

    ( "a", "b", "::", "c")
    

while

    File::Spec->splitdir( ":a:b::c::" );
    

yields:

    ( "a", "b", "::", "c", "::")
    

catpath

    $path = File::Spec->catpath($volume,$directory,$file);
    

Takes volume, directory and file portions and returns an entire path. On Mac OS, $volume, $directory and $file are concatenated. A ':' is inserted if need be. You may pass an empty string for each portion. If all portions are empty, the empty string is returned. If $volume is empty, the result will be a relative path, beginning with a ':'. If $volume and $directory are empty, a leading ":" (if any) is removed form $file and the remainder is returned. If $file is empty, the resulting path will have a trailing ':'.

abs2rel

Takes a destination path and an optional base path and returns a relative path from the base path to the destination path:

    $rel_path = File::Spec->abs2rel( $path ) ;
    $rel_path = File::Spec->abs2rel( $path, $base ) ;
    

Note that both paths are assumed to have a notation that distinguishes a directory path (with trailing ':') from a file path (without trailing ':').

If $base is not present or '', then the current working directory is used. If $base is relative, then it is converted to absolute form using "rel2abs()". This means that it is taken to be relative to the current working directory.

If $path and $base appear to be on two different volumes, we will not attempt to resolve the two paths, and we will instead simply return $path. Note that previous versions of this module ignored the volume of $base, which resulted in garbage results part of the time.

If $base doesn't have a trailing colon, the last element of $base is assumed to be a filename. This filename is ignored. Otherwise all path components are assumed to be directories.

If $path is relative, it is converted to absolute form using "rel2abs()". This means that it is taken to be relative to the current working directory.

Based on code written by Shigio Yamaguchi.

rel2abs

Converts a relative path to an absolute path:

    $abs_path = File::Spec->rel2abs( $path ) ;
    $abs_path = File::Spec->rel2abs( $path, $base ) ;
    

Note that both paths are assumed to have a notation that distinguishes a directory path (with trailing ':') from a file path (without trailing ':').

If $base is not present or '', then $base is set to the current working directory. If $base is relative, then it is converted to absolute form using "rel2abs()". This means that it is taken to be relative to the current working directory.

If $base doesn't have a trailing colon, the last element of $base is assumed to be a filename. This filename is ignored. Otherwise all path components are assumed to be directories.

If $path is already absolute, it is returned and $base is ignored.

Based on code written by Shigio Yamaguchi.

AUTHORS

COPYRIGHT

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

SEE ALSO