NAME

Tie::File::AsHash - Like Tie::File but access lines using a hash instead of an array

SYNOPSIS

 use Tie::File::AsHash;

 tie my %hash, 'Tie::File::AsHash', 'filename', split => ':'
        or die "Problem tying %hash: $!";

 print $hash{foo};                  # access hash value via key name
 $hash{foo} = "bar";                # assign new value
 my @keys = keys %hash;             # get the keys
 my @values = values %hash;         # ... and values
 exists $hash{perl};                # check for existence
 delete $hash{baz};                 # delete line from file
 $hash{newkey} = "perl";            # entered at end of file
 while (($key,$val) = each %hash)   # iterate through hash
 %hash = ();                        # empty file

 untie %hash;                       # all done

Here is sample text that would work with the above code when contained in a file:

 foo:baz
 key:val
 baz:whatever

DESCRIPTION

"Tie::File::AsHash" uses "Tie::File" and perl code so files can be tied to hashes. "Tie::File" does all the hard work while "Tie::File::AsHash" works a little magic of its own.

The module was initially written for managing htpasswd-format password files.

USAGE

 use Tie::File::AsHash;
 tie %hash, 'Tie::File::AsHash', 'filename', split => ':'
        or die "Problem tying %hash: $!";

 (use %hash like a regular ol' hash)

 untie %hash;  # changes saved to disk

Easy enough eh?

New key/value pairs are appended to the end of the file, "delete" removes lines from the file, "keys" and "each" work as expected, and so on.

"Tie::File::AsHash" will not die or exit if there is a problem tying a file, so make sure to check the return value and check $! as the examples do.

OPTIONS

The only argument "Tie::File::AsHash" requires is the "split" option, besides a filename. The split option's value is the delimiter that exists in the file between the key and value portions of the line. It may be a regular expression, and if so, the "join" option must be used to tell "Tie::File::AsHash" what to stick between the key and value when writing to the file. Otherwise, the module dies with an error message.

 tie %hash, 'Tie::File::AsHash', 'filename',  split => qr(\s+), join => " "
        or die "Problem tying %hash: $!";

Obviously no one wants lines like "key(?-xism:\s+)val" in their files.

All other options are passed directly to "Tie::File", so read its documentation for more information.

CAVEATS

When "keys", "values", or "each" is used on the hash, the values are returned in the same order as the data exists in the file, from top to bottom, though this behavior should not be relied on and is subject to change at any time (but probably never will).

"Tie::File::AsHash" doesn't force keys to be unique. If there are multiple keys, the first key in the file, starting at the top, is used. However, when "keys", "values", or "each" is used on the hash, every key/value combination is returned, including duplicates, triplicates, etc.

Keys can't contain the split character. Look at the perl code that "Tie::File::AsHash" is comprised of to see why (look at the regexes). Using a regex for the split value may be one way around this issue.

"Tie::File::AsHash" hasn't been optimized much. Maybe it doesn't need to be. Optimization could add overhead. Maybe there can be options to turn on and off various types of optimization?

EXAMPLES

changepass.pl

"changepass.pl" changes password file entries when the lines are of "user:encryptedpass" format. It can also add users.

 #!/usr/bin/perl -w

 use strict;
 use Tie::File::AsHash;

 die "Usage: $0 user password" unless @ARGV == 2;
 my ($user, $newpass) = @ARGV;
 
 tie my %users, 'Tie::File::AsHash', '/pwdb/users.txt', split => ':'
     or die "Problem tying %hash: $!";

 # username isn't in the password file? see if the admin wants it added
 unless (exists $users{$user}) {
         
         print "User '$user' not found in db.  Add as a new user? (y/n)\n";
         chomp(my $y_or_n = <STDIN>);
         set_pw($user, $newpass) if $y_or_n =~ /^[yY]/;

 } else {

         set_pw($user, $newpass);
         print "Done.\n";

 }
         
 sub set_pw { $users{$_[0]} = crypt($_[1], "AA") }

Using the join option

Here's code that would allow the delimiter to be ':' or '#' but prefers '#':

 tie my %hash, 'Tie::File::AsHash', 'filename', split => qr/[:#]/, join => "#" or die $!;

Say you want to be sure no ':' delimiters exist in the file:

 while (my ($key, $val) = each %hash) {

        $hash{$key} = $val;

 }

AUTHOR

Chris Angell <chris@chrisangell.com>

Feel free to email me with suggestions, fixes, etc.

Thanks to Mark Jason Dominus for authoring the superb Tie::File module.

COPYRIGHT

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself, including any version of Perl 5.