Path: usenet.cis.ufl.edu!purdue!lerc.nasa.gov!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!math.ohio-state.edu!uwm.edu!hookup!news.mathworks.com!tank.news.pipex.net!pipex!dispatch.news.demon.net!demon!mail2news.demon.co.uk!ig.co.uk From: Tim Bunce Newsgroups: comp.lang.perl.announce,comp.lang.perl.misc,comp.answers,news.answers Subject: comp.lang.perl The Perl 5 Module List (Reusable Software) Supersedes: Followup-To: comp.lang.perl.announce Date: Wed, 10 Apr 1996 04:00:11 GMT Organization: Paul Ingram Group, Software Systems, +44 1 483 424424 Lines: 1836 Sender: C-News Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU Expires: Wed, 15 May 1996 04:00:04 GMT Message-ID: Reply-To: Tim Bunce Keywords: FAQ Perl Module Software Reuse Development Free X-NNTP-Posting-Host: ig.co.uk Posting-Frequency: bi-weekly X-Mail2News-Path: disperse.demon.co.uk!post.demon.co.uk!ignite.demon.co.uk!ig.co.uk Xref: usenet.cis.ufl.edu comp.lang.perl.announce:315 comp.lang.perl.misc:26491 comp.answers:17895 news.answers:69458 Archive-name: perl-faq/module-list Revision: 2.21 1996/03/21 22:16:16 The Perl 5 Module List Maintained by Tim Bunce ====================== $Revision: 2.21 $$Date: 1996/03/21 22:16:16 $ Contents Introduction Where Are The Modules Kept? Playing Your Part How To Get a More Recent Copy of the List Editorial Information and Copyright Part 1 - Modules: Creation, Use and Abuse 1) Perl 5 Module Terminology 2) Guidelines for Module Creation 3) Guidelines for Converting Perl 4 Library Scripts into Modules 4) Guidelines for Reusing Application Code Part 2 - The Perl 5 Module List 1) Module Listing Format 2) Perl Core Modules, Perl Language Extensions and Documentation Tools 3) Development Support 4) Operating System Interfaces 5) Networking, Device Control (modems) and InterProcess Communication 6) ! Data Types and Data Type Utilities 7) Database Interfaces 8) User Interfaces 9) Interfaces to or Emulations of Other Programming Languages 10) File Names, File Systems and File Locking (see also File Handles) 11) String Processing, Language Text Processing, Parsing and Searching 12) Option, Argument, Parameter and Configuration File Processing 13) Internationalization and Locale 14) Authentication, Security and Encryption 15) World Wide Web, HTML, HTTP, CGI, MIME 16) Server and Daemon Utilities 17) Archiving, Compression and Conversion 18) Images, Pixmap and Bitmap Manipulation, Drawing and Graphing 19) Mail and Usenet News 20) Control Flow Utilities (callbacks and exceptions etc) 21) File Handle and Input/Output Stream Utilities 22) Microsoft Windows Modules 23) Miscellaneous Modules Part 3 - Big Projects Registry 1) Introduction 2) Items in the Todo File 3) Perl Compiler 4) Multi-threading 5) Object Management Group CORBA & IDL 6) Expand Tied Array Interface 7) Tied File Handles 8) Extend Yacc To Write XS Code 9) Updatable Module List via WWW Forms 10) Approximate Matching Regular Expressions Part 4 - Who's Who and What's Where 1) ! Information / Contact Reference Details 2) Perl Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Files 3) Other Perl Archive Sites Key: '+' indicates a new section or item, '!' indicates a changed section or item (typically new modules). ======================================================================= Introduction This document is a semi-formal list of Perl 5 Modules. The Perl 4 concept of packages has been extended in Perl 5 and a new standardised form of reusable software component has been defined: the Module. Perl 5 Modules typically conform to certain guidelines which make them easier to use, reuse, integrate and extend. This list will be posted to comp.lang.perl.announce and comp.answers on a semi-regular basis. It has two key aims: 1. FOR DEVELOPERS: To change duplication of effort into cooperation. 2. FOR USERS: To quickly locate existing software which can be reused. This list includes the Perl 5 standard modules, other completed modules, work-in-progress modules and would-be-nice-to-have ideas for modules. It also includes guidelines for those wishing to create new modules including how to name them. Where Are The Modules Kept? A Comprehensive Perl Archive Network (CPAN) of mirrored FTP sites is being developed. Within the CPAN scheme the modules described in this list can be found in a modules/ directory below the CPAN root directory. Try one of these places first: Africa South Africa ftp://ftp.is.co.za/programming/perl/CPAN/ Asia Japan ftp://ftp.lab.kdd.co.jp/lang/perl/CPAN/ Taiwan ftp://dongpo.math.ncu.edu.tw/perl/CPAN/ Australasia Australia ftp://coombs.anu.edu.au/pub/perl/ ftp://ftp.mame.mu.oz.au/pub/perl/CPAN/ New Zealand ftp://ftp.tekotago.ac.nz/pub/perl/CPAN/ Canada British Columbia ftp://mango.pinc.com/pub/perl/CPAN/ Europe Czech Republic ftp://sunsite.mff.cuni.cz/Languages/Perl/CPAN/ Finland ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ France ftp://ftp.ibp.fr/pub/perl/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.pasteur.fr/pub/computing/unix/perl/CPAN/ Germany ftp://ftp.leo.org/pub/comp/programming/languages/perl/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.rz.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/pub/CPAN/ Poland ftp://ftp.pk.edu.pl/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/ Portugal ftp://ftp.ci.uminho.pt/pub/lang/perl/ Slovenia ftp://ftp.arnes.si/software/perl/CPAN/ Sweden ftp://ftp.sunet.se/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/ Switzerland ftp://ftp.switch.ch/mirror/CPAN/ the Netherlands ftp://ftp.cs.ruu.nl/pub/PERL/CPAN/ UK ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/mirrors/perl/CPAN/ ftp://unix.hensa.ac.uk/mirrors/perl-CPAN/ USA Florida ftp://ftp.cis.ufl.edu/pub/perl/CPAN/ Illinois ftp://uiarchive.cso.uiuc.edu/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/ Massachusetts ftp://ftp.delphi.com/pub/mirrors/packages/perl/CPAN/ Oklahoma ftp://ftp.uoknor.edu/mirrors/CPAN/ Texas ftp://ftp.metronet.com/pub/perl/ ftp://ftp.sedl.org/pub/mirrors/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.sterling.com/CPAN/ All the files under each of the directories listed above should be identical at all these sites since they are all automatically maintained mirrors of the master CPAN site. Please use which ever site is 'nearest' you. If you can't find what you want, or wish to check that what you've found is the latest version, you can contact the person associated with the module. Contact details are given at the start of Part 4. I don't record per-module archive addresses because it would take more time and effort than I can spare (this list would also be much bigger). Hopefully all Perl modules will find their way into the CPAN in time. You should find a webified version of this modulelist a few days after it is posted in the file modules/00modlist.long.html on the CPAN servers. Playing Your Part Perl is a huge collaborative effort. Everyone who uses perl is benefiting from the contributions of many hundreds, maybe thousands, of people. How much time has perl saved you since you started using it? Do you have any modules you could share with others? For example, you may have some perl4 scripts from which generally useful, and reusable, modules could be extracted. There may be many people who would find your work very useful. Please play you part and contribute to the Perl community where you can. [ end of sermon :-] Help save the world! Please submit new entries and updates to me so I can keep this list up-to-date. I would prefer changes to be submitted as context diff's (or just plain diff if your diff does not have a context diff option) by email to Tim.Bunce@ig.co.uk. No tabs please. Don't forget to upload your module to an archive site. See section 2.9. How To Get a More Recent Copy of the List This Module List is posted to comp.lang.perl.announce, comp.answers and news.answers bi-weekly with a long expiry time (over a month). The first place to look for a more recent copy is therefore your own Usenet spool area. You should be able to get a copy from one of these places: ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/perl-faq/module-list ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/perl/db/mod/module-list.txt ftp://ftp.wpi.edu/perl5/Modules/module_list.txt (The rtfm.mit.edu site is automatically updated, try that first.) Editorial Information and Copyright This document is Copyright (c) 1996 by Tim Bunce. All rights reserved. Permission to distribute this document, in full or part, via electronic means (emailed, posted or archived) or printed copy is granted providing that no charges are involved, reasonable attempt is made to use the most current version, and all credits and copyright notices are retained. Requests for other distribution rights, including incorporation in commercial products, such as books, magazine articles, or CD-ROMs should be made to Tim.Bunce@ig.co.uk. Disclaimer: The content of this document is simply a collection of information gathered from many sources with little or no checking. There are NO warranties with regard to this information or its use. ======================================================================= Part 1 - Modules: Creation, Use and Abuse ========================================= 1) Perl 5 Module Terminology (a larry-terminology-mini-tutorial) ------------------------- Perl 5 implements a class using a package, but the presence of a package doesn't imply the presence of a class. A package is just a namespace. A class is a package that provides subroutines that can be used as methods. A method is just a subroutine that expects, as its first argument, either the name of a package (for "static" methods), or a reference to something (for "virtual" methods). A module is a file that (by convention) provides a class of the same name (sans the .pm), plus an import method in that class that can be called to fetch exported symbols. This module may implement some of its methods by loading dynamic C or C++ objects, but that should be totally transparent to the user of the module. Likewise, the module might set up an AUTOLOAD function to slurp in subroutine definitions on demand, but this is also transparent. Only the .pm file is required to exist. 2) Guidelines for Module Creation ------------------------------ 2.1 Do similar modules already exist in some form? If so, please try to reuse the existing modules either in whole or by inheriting useful features into a new class. If this is not practical try to get together with the module authors to work on extending or enhancing the functionality of the existing modules. A perfect example is the plethora of packages in perl4 for dealing with command line options. If you are writing a module to expand an already existing set of modules, please coordinate with the author of the package. It helps if you follow the same naming scheme and module interaction scheme as the original author. 2.2 Try to design the new module to be easy to extend and reuse. Use blessed references. Use the two argument form of bless to bless into the class name given as the first parameter of the constructor, e.g.: sub new { my $class = shift; return bless {}, $class; } or even this if you'd like it to be used as either a static or a virtual method. sub new { my $self = shift; my $class = ref($self) || $self; return bless {}, $class; } Pass arrays as references so more parameters can be added later (it's also faster). Convert functions into methods where appropriate. Split large methods into smaller more flexible ones. Inherit methods from other modules if appropriate. Avoid class name tests like: die "Invalid" unless ref $ref eq 'FOO'. Generally you can delete the "eq 'FOO'" part with no harm at all. Let the objects look after themselves! Generally, avoid hardwired class names as far as possible. Avoid $r->Class::func() where using @ISA=qw(... Class ...) and $r->func() would work (see perlbot man page for more details). Use autosplit so little used or newly added functions won't be a burden to programs which don't use them. Add test functions to the module after __END__ either using AutoSplit or by saying: eval join('',) || die $@ unless caller(); Does your module pass the 'empty sub-class' test? If you say "@SUBCLASS::ISA = qw(YOURCLASS);" your applications should be able to use SUBCLASS in exactly the same way as YOURCLASS. For example, does your application still work if you change: $obj = new YOURCLASS; into: $obj = new SUBCLASS; ? Avoid keeping any state information in your packages. It makes it difficult for multiple other packages to use yours. Keep state information in objects. Always use -w. Try to "use strict;" (or "use strict qw(...);"). Remember that you can add "no strict qw(...);" to individual blocks of code which need less strictness. Always use -w. Always use -w! Follow the guidelines in the perlstyle(1) manual. 2.3 Some simple style guidelines The perlstyle manual supplied with perl has many helpful points. Coding style is a matter of personal taste. Many people evolve their style over several years as they learn what helps them write and maintain good code. Here's one set of assorted suggestions that seem to be widely used by experienced developers: Use underscores to separate words. It is generally easier to read $var_names_like_this than $VarNamesLikeThis, especially for non-native speakers of English. It's also a simple rule that works consistently with VAR_NAMES_LIKE_THIS. Package/Module names are an exception to this rule. Perl informally reserves lowercase module names for 'pragma' modules like integer and strict. Other modules normally begin with a capital letter and use mixed case with no underscores (need to be short and portable). You may find it helpful to use letter case to indicate the scope or nature of a variable. For example: $ALL_CAPS_HERE constants only (beware clashes with perl vars) $Some_Caps_Here package-wide global/static $no_caps_here function scope my() or local() variables Function and method names seem to work best as all lowercase. E.g., $obj->as_string(). You can use a leading underscore to indicate that a variable or function should not be used outside the package that defined it. For method calls use either $foo = new Foo $arg1, $arg2; # no parentheses $foo = Foo->new($arg1, $arg2); but avoid the ambiguous form $foo = new Foo($arg1, $arg2); # Foo() looks like function call On how to report constructor failure, Larry said: I tend to see it as exceptional enough that I'll throw a real Perl exception (die) if I can't construct an object. This has a couple of advantages right off the bat. First, you don't have to check the return value of every constructor. Just say "$fido = new Doggie;" and presume it succeeded. This leads to clearer code in most cases. Second, if it does fail, you get a better diagnostic than just the undefinedness of the return value. In fact, the exception it throws may be quite rich in "stacked" error messages, if it's rethrowing an exception caught further in. And you can always catch the exception if it does happen using eval {}. If, on the other hand, you expect your constructor to fail a goodly part of the time, then you shouldn't use exceptions, but you should document the interface so that people will know to check the return value. You don't need to use defined(), since a constructor would only return a true reference or a false undef. So good Perl style for checking a return value would simply say $conn = new Connection $addr or die "Couldn't create Connection"; In general, make as many things meaningful in a Boolean context as you can. This leads to straightforward code. Never write anything like if (do_your_thing() == OK) in Perl. That's just asking for logic errors and domain errors. Just write if (do_your_thing()) Perl is designed to help you eschew obfuscation, if that's your thing. 2.4 Select what to export. Do NOT export method names! Do NOT export anything else by default without a good reason! Exports pollute the namespace of the module user. If you must export try to use @EXPORT_OK in preference to @EXPORT and avoid short or common names to reduce the risk of name clashes. Generally anything not exported is still accessible from outside the module using the ModuleName::item_name (or $blessed_ref->method) syntax. By convention you can use a leading underscore on names to informally indicate that they are 'internal' and not for public use. (It is actually possible to get private functions by saying: my $subref = sub { ... }; &$subref; But there's no way to call that directly as a method, since a method must have a name in the symbol table.) As a general rule, if the module is trying to be object oriented then export nothing. If it's just a collection of functions then @EXPORT_OK anything but use @EXPORT with caution. 2.5 Select a name for the module. This name should be as descriptive, accurate and complete as possible. Avoid any risk of ambiguity. Always try to use two or more whole words. Generally the name should reflect what is special about what the module does rather than how it does it. Please use nested module names to informally group or categorise a module. A module should have a very good reason not to have a nested name. Module names should begin with a capital letter. Lowercase names are reserved for special modules such as pragmas (e.g., lib and strict). Having 57 modules all called Sort will not make life easy for anyone (though having 23 called Sort::Quick is only marginally better :-). Imagine someone trying to install your module alongside many others. If in any doubt ask for suggestions in comp.lang.perl.misc. Note that module names are not related to class hierarchies. A module name Foo::Bar does not in any way imply that Foo::Bar inherits from Foo. Nested names are simply used to provide some useful categorisation for humans. The same is generally true for all package names. If you are developing a suite of related modules/classes it's good practice to use nested classes with a common prefix as this will avoid namespace clashes. For example: Xyz::Control, Xyz::View, Xyz::Model etc. Use the modules in this list as a naming guide. If adding a new module to a set, follow the original author's standards for naming modules and the interface to methods in those modules. To be portable each component of a module name should be limited to 11 characters. If it might be used on DOS then try to ensure each is unique in the first 8 characters. Nested modules make this easier. 2.6 Have you got it right? How do you know that you've made the right decisions? Have you picked an interface design that will cause problems later? Have you picked the most appropriate name? Do you have any questions? The best way to know for sure, and pick up many helpful suggestions, is to ask someone who knows. Comp.lang.perl.misc is read by just about all the people who develop modules and it's the best place to ask. All you need to do is post a short summary of the module, its purpose and interfaces. A few lines on each of the main methods is probably enough. (If you post the whole module it might be ignored by busy people - generally the very people you want to read it!) Don't worry about posting if you can't say when the module will be ready - just say so in the message. It might be worth inviting others to help you, they may be able to complete it for you! 2.7 README and other Additional Files. It's well known that software developers usually fully document the software they write. If, however, the world is in urgent need of your software and there is not enough time to write the full documentation please at least provide a README file containing: - A description of the module/package/extension etc. - A copyright notice - see below. - Prerequisites - what else you may need to have. - How to build it - possible changes to Makefile.PL etc. - How to install it. - Recent changes in this release, especially incompatibilities - Changes / enhancements you plan to make in the future. If the README file seems to be getting too large you may wish to split out some of the sections into separate files: INSTALL, Copying, ToDo etc. 2.8 Adding a Copyright Notice. How you choose to licence your work is a personal decision. The general mechanism is to assert your Copyright and then make a declaration of how others may copy/use/modify your work. Perl, for example, is supplied with two types of licence: The GNU GPL and The Artistic License (see the files README, Copying and Artistic). Larry has good reasons for NOT just using the GNU GPL. My personal recommendation, out of respect for Larry, Perl and the perl community at large is to simply state something like: Copyright (c) 1996 Your Name. All rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. This statement should at least appear in the README file. You may also wish to include it in a Copying file and your source files. Remember to include the other words in addition to the Copyright. 2.9 Give the module a version/issue/release number. To be fully compatible with the Exporter and MakeMaker modules you should store your module's version number in a non-my package variable called $VERSION. This should be a valid floating point number with at least two digits after the decimal (ie hundredths, e.g, $VERSION = "0.01"). Don't use a "1.3.2" style version. See Exporter.pm in Perl5.001m or later for details. It may be handy to add a function or method to retrieve the number. Use the number in announcements and archive file names when releasing the module (ModuleName-1.02.tar.Z). See perldoc ExtUtils::MakeMaker.pm for details. 2.10 How to release and distribute a module. It's good idea to post an announcement of the availability of your module (or the module itself if small) to the comp.lang.perl.announce Usenet newsgroup. This will at least ensure very wide once-off distribution. If possible you should place the module into a major ftp archive and include details of it's location in your announcement. Some notes about ftp archives: Please use a long descriptive file name which includes the version number. Most incoming directories will not be readable/listable, i.e., you won't be able to see your file after uploading it. Remember to send your email notification message as soon as possible after uploading else your file may get deleted automatically. Allow time for the file to be processed and/or check the file has been processed before announcing its location. FTP Archives for Perl Modules: Follow the instructions and links on http://franz.ww.tu-berlin.de/modulelist or upload to one of these sites: ftp://franz.ww.tu-berlin.de/incoming ftp://ftp.cis.ufl.edu/incoming and notify upload@franz.ww.tu-berlin.de. By using the WWW interface you can ask the Upload Server to mirror your modules from your ftp or WWW site into your own directory on CPAN! Please remember to send me an updated entry for the Module list! 2.11 Take care when changing a released module. Always strive to remain compatible with previous released versions (see 2.2 above) Otherwise try to add a mechanism to revert to the old behaviour if people rely on it. Document incompatible changes. 3) Guidelines for Converting Perl 4 Library Scripts into Modules ------------------------------------------------------------- 3.1 There is no requirement to convert anything. If it ain't broke, don't fix it! Perl 4 library scripts should continue to work with no problems. You may need to make some minor changes (like escaping non-array @'s in double quoted strings) but there is no need to convert a .pl file into a Module for just that. 3.2 Consider the implications. All the perl applications which make use of the script will need to be changed (slightly) if the script is converted into a module. Is it worth it unless you plan to make other changes at the same time? 3.3 Make the most of the opportunity. If you are going to convert the script to a module you can use the opportunity to redesign the interface. The 'Guidelines for Module Creation' above include many of the issues you should consider. 3.4 The pl2pm utility will get you started. This utility will read *.pl files (given as parameters) and write corresponding *.pm files. The pl2pm utilities does the following: - Adds the standard Module prologue lines - Converts package specifiers from ' to :: - Converts die(...) to croak(...) - Several other minor changes Being a mechanical process pl2pm is not bullet proof. The converted code will need careful checking, especially any package statements. Don't delete the original .pl file till the new .pm one works! 4) Guidelines for Reusing Application Code --------------------------------------- 4.1 Complete applications rarely belong in the Perl Module Library. 4.2 Many applications contain some perl code which could be reused. Help save the world! Share your code in a form that makes it easy to reuse. 4.3 Break-out the reusable code into one or more separate module files. 4.4 Take the opportunity to reconsider and redesign the interfaces. 4.5 In some cases the 'application' can then be reduced to a small fragment of code built on top of the reusable modules. In these cases the application could invoked as: perl -e 'use Module::Name; method(@ARGV)' ... or perl -mModule::Name ... (in perl5.002?) ======================================================================= Part 2 - The Perl 5 Module List =============================== The remainder of this document is divided up into sections. Each section deals with a particular topic and lists all known modules related to that topic. Modules are only listed in one section so check all sections that might related to your particular needs. All the information corresponds to the latest updates I have received. I don't record the version number or release dates of the listed Modules. Nor do I record the locations of these Modules. Consult the contact, try the usual perl archive sites or ask in comp.lang.perl.misc. Please do *not* ask me directly, I simply don't have the time. Sorry. 1) Module Listing Format Each Module listing is very short. The main goal is to simply publish the existence of the modules, or ideas for modules, and enough contact information for you to find out more. Each listing includes some characters which convey (approximate) basic status information. For example: Name DSLI Description Info ------------- ---- -------------------------------------------- ----- Fcntl Sdcf Defines fcntl() constants (see File::Lock) JHI Where the 'DSLI' characters have the following meanings: D - Development Stage (Note: *NO IMPLIED TIMESCALES*!): i - Idea, listed to gain consensus or as a placeholder c - under construction but pre-alpha (not yet released) a/b - Alpha/Beta testing R - Released M - Mature (no rigorous definition) S - Standard, supplied with Perl 5 S - Support Level: m - Mailing-list d - Developer u - Usenet newsgroup comp.lang.perl.misc n - None known, try comp.lang.perl.misc L - Language Used: p - Perl-only, no compiler needed, should be platform independent c - C and perl, a C compiler will be needed + - C++ and perl, a C++ compiler will be needed o - perl and another language other than C or C++ I - Interface Style f - plain Functions, no references used r - some use of unblessed References or ties O - Object oriented using blessed references and/or inheritance Where letters are missing they can usually be inferred from the others. For example 'i' implies 'id', 'S' implies 'Su'. The Info column gives a contact reference 'tag'. Lookup this tag in the "Information / Contact Reference Details" section in Pert 3 of this document. If no contact is given always try asking in comp.lang.perl.misc. Most Modules are nested in categories such as IPC::Open2 and IPC::Open3. These are shown as 'IPC::' on one line then each module listed below with a '::' prefix. Ideas For Adoption Modules listed as in the 'i' Development Stage with no contact reference are ideas without an owner. Feel free to 'adopt' these but please let me know so that I can update the list and thus inform anyone else who might be interested. Adoption simply means that you either hope to implement the module one day or would like to cooperate with anyone else who might be interested in implementing it. Cooperation Similarly, if an idea that interests you has been adopted by someone please contact them so you can share ideas. Just because an idea has been adopted does NOT imply that it's going to be implemented. Just because a module is listed and being implemented does NOT mean it'll get finised. Waiting silently in the hope that the Module will appear one day is unlikely to be fruitful! Offer to help. Cooperate. Pool your efforts. Go on, try it! The same applies to modules in all states. Most modules are developed in limited spare time. If you're interested in a module don't just wait for it to happen, offer to help. Module developers should feel free to announce incomplete work early. If you're not going to be able to spend much time on something then say so. If you invite cooperation maybe someone will implement it for you! _______________________________________________________________________ 2) Perl Core Modules, Perl Language Extensions and Documentation Tools Name DSLI Description Info ----------- ---- -------------------------------------------- ----- CORE Sucf Internal package for perl native functions UNIVERSAL SucO Internal universal base-class JACKS SUPER SucO Internal class to access superclass methods DynaLoader SucO Dynamic loader for shared libraries AutoLoader SupO Automatic function loader (using AutoSplit) SelfLoader SdpO Automatic function loader (using __DATA__) Exporter SupO Implements default import method for modules Carp Supf Throw exceptions outside current package Config Supf Stores details of perl build configuration English Supf Defines English names for special variables Symbol SupO Create 'anonymous' symbol (typeglobs) refs CHIPS Perl Pragmatic Modules strict Supf Controls averments (similar to pragmas) integer Supf Controls float vs. integer arithmetic less Supf Controls optimisations: 'use less memory;' subs Supf use subs qw(x y); is short for sub x; sub y; vars Supf predeclare variable names lib Supf Simple way to add/delete directories in @INC sigtrap Supf For trapping an abort and giving a traceback diagnostics Sdpf For reporting perl diagnostics in full form TOMC Perl Language Extensions Safe SdcO Restrict eval'd code to safe subset of ops MICB Alias bdcf Convenient access to data/code via aliases GSAR Plthread i Multithreading at Perl level (not O/S level) MICB Source Code Filters Filter::Util:: ::Exec bdcf Interface for creation of coprocess Filters PMQS ::Call bdcf Interface for creation of Perl Filters PMQS Filter:: ::exec bdcf Filters script through an external command PMQS ::sh bdcf Filters script through a shell command PMQS ::cpp bdcf Filters script through C preprocessor PMQS ::tee bdcf Copies to file perl source being compiled PMQS ::decrypt bdcf Template for a perl source decryption filter PMQS Documentation Tools: Pod:: ::Parse cdpr Common pod parsing code KJALB ::Text Supf convert POD data to formatted ASCII text TOMC _______________________________________________________________________ 3) Development Support Name DSLI Description Info ----------- ---- -------------------------------------------- ----- AutoSplit Supf Splits modules into files for AutoLoader Benchmark Supf Easy way to time fragments of perl code FindBin adpf Locate current script bin directory GBARR DoWhatIWant i Does what you want without even asking ExtUtils:: ::MakeMaker SupO Writes Makefiles for extensions MMML ::Manifest Supf Utilities for managing MANIFEST files MMML ::Typemap i xsubpp typemap handling WPS ::DynaGlue i Utilities/glue code for C<->Perl interfaces Test:: ::Harness Sup Executes perl-style tests ANDK Devel:: ::DProf Rdcf Execution profiler DMR ::DumpStack Rupf Dumping of the current function stack JACKS ::CallerItem RupO 'caller()' Object wrapper + useful methods JACKS ::Usage bupr Type and range checking on subroutine args JACKS ::Symdump bdpf Perl symbol table access and dumping ANDK ::TraceFuncs adpO Trace funcs by using object destructions MUIR ::Peek adcf Interface to internal sv_dump and sv_peek ILYAZ VCS:: ::RCS idpf Interface layer over RCS functionality RJRAY ::RCE idcf Perl layer over RCE C API RJRAY Make adpO Makefile parsing, and 'make' replacement NI-S _______________________________________________________________________ 4) Operating System Interfaces Name DSLI Description Info ----------- ---- -------------------------------------------- ----- POSIX SupO An interface to most (all?) of POSIX.1 Fcntl Sdcf Defines fcntl() constants (see File::Lock) JHI Ioctl cdcf Defines ioctl() constants KJALB Errno i Constants from EACCES, ENOENT etc JHI BSD:: ::HostIdent i s/gethostname(), s/gethostid() JHI ::Resource Rdcf getrusage(), s/getrlimit(), s/getpriority() JHI Sys:: ::Hostname Supf Implements a portable hostname function ::Syslog Supf Provides same functionality as BSD syslog ::AlarmCall Rupf Timeout on any sub. Allows nested alarms JACKS ::Fork Rdpf Simple lwall-style fork wrapper MUIR ::Quota adcf Disk quota system functions, local & remote TOMZO Proc:: ::times adpf By-name interface to process times function TOMC Platform Specific Modules MSDOS:: ::SysCalls adcf MSDOS interface (interrupts, port I/O) DMO SGI:: ::SysCalls cdcf SGI-specific system calls AMOSS ::GL adcr SGI's Iris GL library AMOSS ::FM adcr SGI's Font Management library AMOSS VMS:: ::SysCalls i VMS-specific system calls CBAIL ::Filespec Sdcf VMS and Unix file name syntax CBAIL NeXTStep:: ::NetInfo idcO NeXTStep's NetInfo (like ONC NIS) PGUEN Mac:: ::* i Macintosh specific library modules MCPL _______________________________________________________________________ 5) Networking, Device Control (modems) and InterProcess Communication Name DSLI Description Info ----------- ---- -------------------------------------------- ----- Socket Sucf Defines all socket-related constants JACKS Ptty adcf Pseudo terminal interface functions NI-S Net:: ::hostent adpf A by-name interface for hosts functions TOMC ::netent adpf A by-name interface for networks functions TOMC ::protoent adpf A by-name interface for protocols functions TOMC ::servent adpf A by-name interface for services functions TOMC ::Domain adpf Try to determine TCP domain name of system GBARR ::Ping Supf Implements TCP/IP ping (currently only echo) PMQS ::IRC i Internet Relay Chat interface MRG ::Telnet i GBARR ::SOCKS i TCP/IP access through firewalls using SOCKS WSCOT ::NIS adcO Interface to Sun's NIS RIK ::NISPlus adcO Interface to Sun's NIS+ RIK ::SSLeay adcf Secure Socket Layer (Eric Young's version) ADESC Net:: ::Gen adcO Generic support for socket usage SPIDB ::Inet adcO Internet (IP) socket usage SPIDB ::TCP adcO TCP-specific socket usage SPIDB ::UDP cdcO UDP-specific socket usage SPIDB ::FTP adpf Interface to File Transfer Protocol GBARR ::SMTP adpf Interface to Simple Mail Transfer Protocol GBARR ::Dnet cdcO DECnet-specific socket usage SPIDB IPC:: ::Open2 Supf Open a process for both reading and writing ::Open3 Supf Like IPC::Open2 but with error handling ::Chat2 ? Out-of-service during refit! GBARR ::SysV adcr shared memory, semaphores, messages etc JACKS ::Mmap adcf Interface to Unix's mmap() shared memory MICB ::Globalspace cdpO Multi-process shared hash and shared events JACKS RPC:: ::ONC i Open Network Computing (Sun) RPC interface PKUTS ::DCE i Distributed Computing Environment (OSF) RPCs DCE:: ::Registry cdcf DCE registry functions TLP Proxy adpO Transport-independent remote processing MICB Proxy:: ::Tk aucO Tk transport class for Proxy (part of Tk) MICB ToolTalk adcr Interface to the ToolTalk messaging service MARCP SNMP RdcO Interface to CMU's SNMPv2 libsnmp.a GSM _______________________________________________________________________ 6) Data Types and Data Type Utilities (see also Database Interfaces) Name DSLI Description Info ----------- ---- -------------------------------------------- ----- Math:: ::BigInt SupO Arbitrary size integer math package MARKB ::BigFloat ? ::BigRat ? ::Complex adpO Complex number data type DNAD ::IEEE i Interface to ANSI/IEEE Std 754-1985 funcs ::Pari adcf Interface to the powerful PARI library ILYAZ ::Mathematica adcO Interface to the powerful Mathematica system ULPFR ::Matrix adpO Matrix data type (transpose, multiply etc) ULPFR ::Approx adpO Approximate x,y-values by a function ULPFR ::LinearProg idp Linear programming utilities JONO ::Trig bdpf tan asin acos sinh cosh tanh sech cosech JARW ::Amoeba Rdpr Multidimensional Function Minimisation JARW ::Brent Rdpr One-dimensional Function Minimisation JARW ::Derivative Rdpr 1st and 2nd order differentiation of data JARW ::Fortran Rdpf Implements Fortran log10 & sign functions JARW ::Spline RdpO Cubic Spline Interpolation of data JARW ::VecStat Rdpr Some basic numeric stats on vectors JARW Statistics:: ::LTU RdpO Implements Linear Threshold Units TOMFA ::Descriptive RdpO Descriptive statistical methods JKAST ::ChiSquare Rdpf Chi Square test - how random is your data? JONO Array:: ::Vec idp Implement array using vec() LWALL ::Substr idp Implement array using substr() LWALL ::Virtual idp Implement array using a file LWALL ::PrintCols adpf Print elements in vertically sorted columns AKSTE + Set:: ::Scalar adpO Set of scalars (inc references) JHI ::IntegerFast adcO Set of positive integers (in C) STBEY ::IntSpan adpO Set of integers newsrc style '1,5-9,11' etc SWMCD Date:: ::GetDate adcf Yacc based free-format date parser in C TOMC ::GetDate adpf Byacc based free-format date parser in Perl GBARR ::CTime adpf Updated ctime.pl with mods for timezones GBARR ::DateCalc Rdcf Various standards based date calculations STBEY ::Time idpO Lightweight normalised datetime data type TIMB ::Interval idpO Lightweight normalised interval data type TIMB Time:: ::gmtime adpf A by-name interface for gmtime TOMC ::localtime adpf A by-name interface for localtime TOMC ::Local Supf Implements timelocal() and timegm() ::HiRes i High resolution timers and time-of-day JHI ::CTime Rdpf Format Times ala ctime(3) with many formats MUIR ::parseDate Rdpf Parses many forms of dates and times MUIR ::JulianDay Rdpf Converts y/m/d into seconds MUIR ::Timezone Rdpf Figures out timezone offsets MUIR ::DaysInMonth Rdpf Returns the number of days in a month MUIR Tie:: ::Hash Supr Base class for implementing tied hashes ::Scalar Supr Base class for implementing tied scalars ::Array i ::SubstrHash RdpO Very compact hash stored in a string LWALL ::ShiftSplice i Defines shift et al in terms of splice LWALL ::Mem adcO Bind perl variables to memory addresses PMQS ::File adpr Tie hash to files in a directory AMW ::IxHash RdpO Indexed hash (ordered array/hash composite) GSAR ::Quick i Simple way to create ties TIMB ::Watch i Uses Tie::Quick to watch a variable TIMB Class:: ::Eroot RdpO Eternal Root - Object persistence DMR ::Template Rdpr Struct/member template builder DMR Object:: ::Info Rupf General info about objects (is-a, ...) JACKS Ref RdpO Print, compare, and copy perl structures MUIR Data Type Marshaling (converting to/from strings) and Persistent Storage FreezeThaw bdpf Convert arbitrary objects to/from strings ILYAZ Persistent adpO Creates persistent hashrefs or arrayrefs JPC Storable adcr Persistent data structure mechanism RAM Marshal:: ::Dispatch cdpO Convert arbitrary objects to/from strings MUIR ::Packed cdpO Run-length coded version of Marshal module MUIR ::Eval cdpO Undo serialization with eval MUIR Data:: ::Dumper RdpO Convert data structure into perl code GSAR _______________________________________________________________________ 7) Database Interfaces (see also Data Types) Name DSLI Description Info ----------- ---- -------------------------------------------- ----- DBI amcO Generic Database Interface (see DBD modules) DBIML DBD:: ::Oracle amcO Oracle Driver for DBI TIMB ::Ingres i Ingres Driver for DBI TIMB ::Informix adcO Informix Driver for DBI ADESC ::mSQL amcO Msql Driver for DBI ADESC ::DB2 adcO DB2 Driver for DBI MHM ::Sybase cdpO Sybase Driver for DBI (uses Sybase::CTlib) MEWP ::QBase amcO QBase Driver for DBI BENLI Oraperl ampf Oraperl emulation interface for DBD::Oracle TIMB Ingperl i Ingperl emulation interface for DBD::Ingres TIMB Sybase:: ::DBlib RdcO Sybase DBlibrary interface MEWP ::Sybperl Rdpf sybperl 1.0xx compatibility module MEWP ::CTlib bdcO Sybase CTlibrary interface MEWP Msql RmcO Mini-SQL, a light weight SQL database ANDK Pg Rdcf Postgres95 SQL database interface MERGL Datascope Rdcf Interface to Datascope RDBMS DANMQ Xbase bdpf Read Xbase files with simple IDX indexes PRATP Tied Hash File Interfaces: NDBM_File Suc Tie to NDBM files DB_File Suc Tie to DB files PMQS GDBM_File Suc Tie to GDBM files SDBM_File Suc Tie to SDBM files ODBM_File Suc Tie to ODBM files AnyDBM_File Sup Uses first available *_File module above DBZ_File adc Tie to dbz files (mainly for news history) IANPX MLDBM bdpO Transparently store multi-level data in DBM GSAR AsciiDB adp Generic text database parsing MICB Stanza i Text format database used by OSF and IBM JHI NetCDF bmcr Interface to netCDF API for scientific data SEMM DTREE cdcf Interface to Faircom DTREE multikey ISAM db JWAT Fame adcO Interface to FAME database and language TRIAS _______________________________________________________________________ 8) User Interfaces (Character and Graphical) Name DSLI Description Info ----------- ---- -------------------------------------------- ----- Term:: ::Complete Supf Tab word completion using stty raw ::ReadKey Rdcf Read keystrokes and change terminal modes KJALB ::Cap Supf Basic termcap: Tgetent, Tputs, Tgoto ::Screen RdpO Basic screen + input class (uses Term::Cap) MRKAE ::Info adpf Terminfo interface (currently just Tput) KJALB ::ReadLine adcf GNU Readline, history and completion ILYAZ ::Control idpf Basic curses-type screen controls (gotxy) KJALB ::Gnuplot adcf Draw vector graphics on terminals etc ILYAZ ::Query Rdpf Intelligent user prompt/response driver AKSTE Major Character User Interface Modules: Curses adcO Character screen handling and windowing WPS Perlmenu Mdpf Curses-based menu and template system SKUNZ PV bmpO PerlVision curses windowing (OO widgets etc) AGUL Tk X Windows User Interface Modules: Tk bmcO Object oriented version of Tk v4 TKML Tkperldb bmpf Graphical perl debugger interface TKML Tk:: ::FileSelector bmpO A Fileselectorbox for choosing files TKML Other Major X Windows User Interface Modules: Sx Rdcf Simple Athena widget interface FMC Motif cdcf Simple Motif and Xt interface ERICA Wcl i Interface to the Widget Creation Library TOMH Fresco cd+O Interface to Fresco (post X11R6 version) BPETH _______________________________________________________________________ 9) Interfaces to or Emulations of Other Programming Languages Name DSLI Description Info ----------- ---- -------------------------------------------- ----- Tcl RdcO Complete access to Tcl MICB ::Tk RdcO Complete access to Tk *via Tcl* MICB Language:: ::Prolog adpO An implementation of Prolog JACKS SICStus adcO Interface to SICStus Prolog Runtime CBAIL Fortran:: ::NameList adpf Interface to FORTRAN NameList data SGEL _______________________________________________________________________ 10) File Names, File Systems and File Locking (see also File Handles) Name DSLI Description Info ----------- ---- -------------------------------------------- ----- Cwd Supf Current working directory functions File:: ::stat adpf A by-name interface for the stat function TOMC ::Path Supf File path and name utilities ::Basename Supf Return basename of a filename ::CheckTree Supf Check file/dir tree against a specification ::Find Supf Call func for every item in a directory tree ::Listing bdpf Parse directory listings GAAS ::Lock adcf File locking using flock() and lockf() JHI ::Glob adpf Filename globing (ksh style) TYEMQ ::Attrib idpO Get/set file attributes (stat) TYEMQ ::CounterFile RdpO Persistent counter class GAAS ::Copy adpf Copying files or filehandles ASHER Filesys:: ::dfent adpf By-name interface TOMC ::mntent adpf By-name interface TOMC ::statfs adpf By-name interface TOMC _______________________________________________________________________ 11) String Processing, Language Text Processing, Parsing and Searching Name DSLI Description Info ----------- ---- -------------------------------------------- ----- String:: ::Edit adpf Assorted handy string editing functions TOMC ::Approx Rdpf Approximate string matching and substitution JHI ::Scanf Rdpf Implementation of C sscanf function JHI ::Parity adpf Parity (odd/even/mark/space) handling WINKO ::BitCount adpf Count number of "1" bits in strings WINKO ::MatchMany adpf Build fast code to match many patterns TOMC ::CRC i cf Assorted standard CRC functions Language text related modules Text:: ::Abbrev Supf Builds hash of all possible abbreviations ::ParseWords Supf Parse strings containing shell-style quoting ::Soundex Supf Convert a string to a soundex value ::TeX cdpO TeX typesetting language input parser ILYAZ ::Stem bdpf Porter algorithm for stemming English words IANPX ::Tabs Sdpf Expand and contract tabs ala expand(1) MUIR ::Wrap Rdpf Wraps lines to make simple paragraphs MUIR ::Template bdpO Expand template text with embedded perl MJD ::German adpf German language stemming ULPFR + Search:: ::Dict Supf Search a dictionary ordered text file Other Text:: modules (these should be under String:: but pre-date it) Text:: ::Trie adpf Find common heads and tails from strings ILYAZ ::Parser adpO String parser using patterns and states PATM SGML:: ::Element cdpO Build a SGML element structure tree LSTAF ::SP cd+O Interface to James Clark's Sp SGML parser BARTS SGMLS RdpO A Post-Processor for SGMLS and NSGMLS DMEGG Font:: ::AFM RdpO Parse Adobe Font Metric files GAAS Marpa cd+O Context Free Parser JKEGL Anagram adcf Anangram generator ASHER _______________________________________________________________________ 12) Option, Argument, Parameter and Configuration File Processing Name DSLI Description Info ----------- ---- -------------------------------------------- ----- Getopt:: ::Std Supf Implements basic getopt and getopts ::Long Supf Advanced option handling JV ::Gnu adcf GNU form of long option handling WSCOT ::Regex ad Option handling using regular expressions JARW ::Mixed Rdpf Supports both long and short options CJM ::Help bdpf Yet another getopt, has help and defaults IANPX ConfigReader cdpO Read directives from configuration file AMW _______________________________________________________________________ 13) Internationalization and Locale Name DSLI Description Info ----------- ---- -------------------------------------------- ----- I18N:: ::Collate Sdpr Locale based comparisons JHI ::WideMulti i Wide and multibyte character string JHI _______________________________________________________________________ 14) Authentication, Security and Encryption (see also Networking) Name DSLI Description Info ----------- ---- -------------------------------------------- ----- User:: ::pwent adpf A by-name interface to password database TOMC ::grent adpf A by-name interface to groups database TOMC PGP adpO Simple interface to PGP subprocess via pipes GEHIC DES adcf DES encryption (libdes) EAYNG Des adcf DES encryption (libdes) MICB MD5 RdcO MD5 message digest algorithm NWINT ! SHA adcO NIST SHA message digest algorithm UWEH Kerberos adcf Kerberos IV authentication MICB GSS i Generic Security Services API (RFC 1508/9) MSHLD _______________________________________________________________________ 15) World Wide Web, HTML, HTTP, CGI, MIME etc (see Text Processing) Name DSLI Description Info ----------- ---- -------------------------------------------- ----- URI:: ::Escape ampf General URI escaping/unescaping functions LWWWP ::URL RmpO Uniform Resource Locator objects LWWWP CGI:: ::Base RmpO Complete HTTPD CGI Interface class CGIP ::BasePlus RmpO Extra CGI::Base methods (incl file-upload) CGIP ::Carp cmpf Drop-in Carp replacement for CGI scripts CGIP ::ErrorWrap bdpf Trap warnings and die and convert into HTML TOMC ::Imagemap adpO Imagemap handling for specialized apps MIKEH ::Lite ampO Light-weight interface for fast apps SHGUN ::MiniSvr RmpO Fork CGI app as a per-session mini server CGIP ::Request RmpO Parse CGI request and handle form fields CGIP ::Response ampO Response construction for CGI applications CGIP ::Session cmpO Maintain session/state information MGH HTML:: ::QuickCheck cdpf Fast simple validation of HMTL text YLU ::Base adpO Object-oriented way to build pages of HTML GAND ::Simple bdpf Simple functions for generating HTML TOMC ::Element ampO Representation of a HTML parsing tree LWWWP ::Entities bmpf Encode/decode HTML entities LWWWP ::Formatter ampO Convert HTML to plain text or Postscript LWWWP ::Parse ampO Parse HTML documents LWWWP HTTP:: ::Date bmpf Date conversion for HTTP date formats LWWWP ::Headers bmpO Class encapsulating HTTP Message headers LWWWP ::Message bmpO Base class for Request/Response LWWWP ::Request bmpO Class encapsulating HTTP Requests LWWWP ::Response bmpO Class encapsulating HTTP Responses LWWWP ::Status bmpf HTTP Status code processing LWWWP ::Negotiate bmpf HTTP content negotiation LWWWP HTTPD:: ::UserAdmin adpO Management of server user and group files DOUGM ::Access cdp Management of server access control files DOUGM WWW:: ::RobotRules ampO Parse /robots.txt file LWWWP ::Log i Parse Common Log File Format LWP:: Libwww-perl-5 ::MediaTypes bmpf Media types and mailcap processing LWWWP ::Simple bmpf Simple procedural interface to libwww-perl LWWWP ::UserAgent bmpO A WWW UserAgent class LWWWP ::RobotUA bmpO A UserAgent for robot applications LWWWP ::Protocol::* LWP support for URL schemes (http, file etc) LWWWP MIME:: ::Base64 Rdpf Encode/decode Base 64 (RFC 1521) GAAS ::QuotedPrint Rdpf Encode/decode Quoted-Printable GAAS ::Handler i Base class for MIME content handlers ::Object i Base class for MIME decoded objects CCI i Common Client Interface for WWW browsers DOUGM _______________________________________________________________________ 16) Server and Daemon Utilities Name DSLI Description Info ----------- ---- -------------------------------------------- ----- EventServer RupO Triggers objects on i/o, timers & interrupts JACKS Server Hierarchy of generic server classes Server::Configs:: ::BasicConfig RupO Configuration template class for servers JACKS Server::Initialize:: ::Functions Rupf Utility functions for initializing servers JACKS ::Daemon Rupr Intializing a daemon server JACKS ::Pipe Rupr Intializing a server being piped to JACKS ::InetdService Rupr Intializing a server started from inetd JACKS Server::Server:: ::EventDriven RupO See 'EventServer' (compatibility maintained) JACKS Server::Echo:: ::MailPipe cup A process which accepts piped mail JACKS ::TcpDForking cup TCP daemon which forks clients JACKS ::TcpDMplx cup TCP daemon which multiplexes clients JACKS ::TcpISWFork cup TCP inetd wait process, forks clients JACKS ::TcpISWMplx cup TCP inetd wait process, multiplexes clients JACKS ::TcpISNowait cup TCP inetd nowait process JACKS ::UdpD cup UDP daemon JACKS ::UdpIS cup UDP inetd process JACKS Server::Inet:: ::Functions cdpf Utility functions for Inet socket handling JACKS ::Object cupO Basic Inet object JACKS ::TcpClientObj cupO A TCP client (connected) object JACKS ::TcpMasterObj cupO A TCP master (listening) object JACKS ::UdpObj cupO A UDP object JACKS Server::FileQueue:: ::Functions cupf Functions for handling files and mailboxes JACKS ::Object cupO Basic object JACKS ::DirQueue cupO Files queued in a directory JACKS ::MboxQueue cupO Mail queued in a mail box JACKS Server::Mail:: ::Functions cupf Functions for handling files and mailboxes JACKS ::Object cupO Basic mail object JACKS _______________________________________________________________________ 17) Archiving, Compression and Conversion Name DSLI Description Info ----------- ---- -------------------------------------------- ----- Compress:: ::Zlib adcO Interface to the Info-Zip zlib library PMQS Convert:: ::UU i UUencode and UUdecode _______________________________________________________________________ 18) Images, Pixmap and Bitmap Manipulation, Drawing and Graphing Name DSLI Description Info ----------- ---- -------------------------------------------- ----- PixDraw adcO Drawing and manipulating true color images KSB GD adcO GIF editing/painting/manipulation LDS PGPLOT Rdof PGPLOT plotting library - scientific graphs KGB OpenGL adcf Interface to OpenGL drawing/imaging library STANM _______________________________________________________________________ 19) Mail and Usenet News Name DSLI Description Info ----------- ---- -------------------------------------------- ----- Mail:: ::Address adpf Manipulation of electronic mail addresses GBARR ::Internet adpO Functions for RFC822 address manipulations GBARR ::MIME adpO Extends Mail::Internet to understand MIME GBARR ::Cap adpO Parse mailcap files as specified in RFC 1524 GBARR ::Send adpO Simple interface for sending mail GBARR ::Mailer adpO Simple mail agent interface (see Mail::Send) GBARR ::Alias adpO Reading/Writing/expanding of mail aliases GBARR ::Util adpf Mail utilities (for by some Mail::* modules) GBARR ::SMTP i Protocol support including expn ::MH adcr MH mail interface MRG ::POP3Client bdpO Support for clients of POP3 servers SDOWD News:: ::NNTPClient bdpO Support for clients of NNTP servers RVA ::Newsrc adpO Manage .newsrc files SWMCD _______________________________________________________________________ 20) Control Flow Utilities (callbacks and exceptions etc) Name DSLI Description Info ----------- ---- -------------------------------------------- ----- Religion adpr Control where you go when you die()/warn() KJALB Callback RdpO Define easy to use function callback objects MUIR _______________________________________________________________________ 21) File Handle, Directory Handle and Input/Output Stream Utilities Name DSLI Description Info ----------- ---- -------------------------------------------- ----- FileHandle SupO File handle objects and methods DirHandle SupO Directory handle objects and methods CHIPS SelectSaver SupO Save and restore selected file handle CHIPS Selectable cdpO Event-driven I/O streams MUIR Log:: ::Topics Rdpf Control flow of topic based logging messages JARW _______________________________________________________________________ 22) Microsoft Windows Modules Name DSLI Description Info ----------- ---- -------------------------------------------- ----- Win32:: ::OLE adcf Interface to OLE API functions WIN32 ::EventLog adcf Interface to Win32 EventLog functions WIN32 ::NetAdmin adcf Interface to Win32 NetAdmin functions WIN32 ::NetResource adcf Interface to Win32 NetResource functions WIN32 ::WinError adcf Interface to Win32 WinError functions WIN32 ::Registry adcf Interface to Win32 Registry functions WIN32 ::Process adcf Interface to Win32 Process functions WIN32 WinNT cdcf Interface to Windows NT specific functions WIN32 NT cdcf Old name for WinNT - being phased out WIN32 Win95 i Interface to Windows 95 specific functions WIN32 _______________________________________________________________________ 23) Miscellaneous Modules Name DSLI Description Info ----------- ---- -------------------------------------------- ----- Wais Rdcf Interface to the freeWAIS-sf libraries ULPFR Archie Rdpf Archie queries via Prospero ARDP protocol GBOSS Pcap i An interface for LBL's packet capture lib AMOSS Nexus cdcO Interface to Nexus (threads/ipc/processes) RDO SDDF cd+O Interface to Pablo Self Defining Data Format FIS IXO i IXO alphanumeric pager protocol Roman Rdpf Convert Roman numbers to and from Arabic OZAWA Gann ad+O Generic simulation of neural networks LUKKA CreditCard i Credit card number check digit test Bio:: ::* i Utilities for molecular biology SEB Remedy:: ::AR adcO Interface to Remedy's Action Request API RIK Psion:: ::Db idpO Handle Psion palmtop computer database files IANPX ======================================================================= Part 3 - Big Projects Registry ============================== 1) Introduction This section of the Module List is devoted to listing "Big Projects". I don't want to define Big (or even Project) here. I hope the items below speak for themselves. Almost all are just ideas, though some have been dabbled with. These are ideas for people with very strong skills and lots of time. Please talk, and listen, to Larry _before_ starting to do any work on projects which relate to the core implementation of Perl. Ask not when these will be implemented but ask how you can help implement them. 2) Items in the Todo File The Todo supplied with Perl lists over 60 items in categories ranging from "Would be nice to have" to "Vague possibilities". Contacts: LWALL P5P 3) Perl Compiler Part of the design of Perl 5 was to make it possible to write a compiler for it. It's a possible master's thesis topic. Related to this is the ability to save and load a 'flat' byte-code representation of the compiled perl code. It would be translated back into Perl's own internal form for speed. Note that three different prototype Tcl compilers have been announced in the comp.lang.tcl group! Anyone interested in this should also take a good look at the Java language from Sun http://java.sun.com/. Contacts: MICB LWALL P5P 4) Multi-threading This is really two projects. True threads (e.g., POSIX) using multiple independant perl interpreter structures and simple timeslicing of 'tasks' within a single perl interpreter. True threads requires operating system support or an external thread library, simple timeslicing does not (and should be portable to all platforms). Contacts: LWALL MICB P5P 5) Object Management Group CORBA & IDL OMG's (Object Management Group) CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture) specification provides the standard interface definition between OMG-compliant objects. IDL (Interface Definition Language) is the base mechanism for object interaction. Perhaps an extended IDL compiler which can write XS code would be a good way forward. Contacts: ASHER, JACKS, DMR Also: ftp://omg.org/pub/OMG_IDL/ http://www.cs.cornell.edu/Info/People/maffeis/electra.html http://www.faslab.com/fresco/HomePage.html (re DISH Tcl+CORBA DII) ftp://ftp.isi.edu (ORBeline) ftp://labrea.stanford.edu ftp://parcftp.parc.xerox.com/pub/ilu/ilu.html idl-cfe@sun.com Inter-Language Unification system (ILU). Similar to a CORBA ORB, with some omissions and extensions. Supports OMG CORBA IDL. Contacts: DMR Also: ftp://parcftp.parc.xerox.com/pub/ilu/ilu.html 6) Expand Tied Array Interface LEN, PUSH, POP, SHIFT, UNSHIFT and a fallback to SPLICE are needed. Complicated by very widespread use of arrays within perl internals. Contacts: P5P LWALL 7) Tied File Handles It is a long term goal to allow perl file handles to be tied. This will probably be based on the sfio (Safe Fast IO) library. Contacts: PMQS TIMB P5P LWALL NI-S 8) Extend Yacc To Write XS Code Some version of yacc, like byacc or bison, should be converted to spit out an OO .xs and .pm implementing a parser. Contacts: NI-S P5P LWALL 9) Updatable Module List via WWW Forms The Module List should be built from some form of database. The database should be updatable using WWW forms by the owners of the Modules. The database should store extra information such as links to the latest version. Andreas Koenig (ANDK) is working on this. Contacts: ANDK TIMB 10) + Approximate Matching Regular Expressions Add support for approximate matching (like the agrep utility). Contacts: JHI ======================================================================= Part 4 - Who's Who and What's Where =================================== 1) Information / Contact Reference Details (in alphabetical order) The following list of email addresses is based on the credentials stored on the automated Perl Authors Upload Server (PAUSE). If any of the details is not up to date, you're requested to visit http://franz.ww.tu-berlin.de/modulelist, where you will find a pointer to a CGI script that lets you edit the database entries yourself. Ref Contact Details ----- -------------------------------------------------------------- ADESC Alligator Descartes AGUL Ashish Gulhati AKSTE Alan K. Stebbens ALSCH Alan Scheinine AMOSS Amos Shapira AMW Andrew Wilcox ANDK Andreas Koenig ANDYD Andy Dougherty ASHER Aaron Sherman BARTS Bart Schuller BBUM Bill Bumgarner BENLI Ben Lindstrom BJEPS Brian Jepson BMIDD William J. Middleton BPETH Bill Petheram CBAIL Charles Bailey CGIP The CGI-Perl Developers mailing list Mail to CGI-perl-REQUEST@webstorm.com with body "subscribe" CHIPS Chip Salzenberg CJM Christopher J. Madsen DANMQ Daniel M. Quinlan DBIML The DBI mailing lists: subscribe via http://www.fugue.com/dbi if you can't do that then mail to dbi-REQUEST@fugue.com and ask (the human, Ted Lemon) to subscribe you to one or more of dbi-announce, dbi-users, dbi-dev. DMEGG David Megginson DMO Darryl Okahata DMR Dean Roehrich DNAD Dave Nadler DOUGM Doug MacEachern EAYNG Eric Young EHOOD Earl Hood ELMAR Elmar Schalueck ERICA Eric Arnold ERYQ Eryq FIS Frank Ian Smith FMC Frederic Chauveau FSG Felix Sebastian Gallo GAAS Gisle Aas GAND Greg Anderson GBARR Graham Barr GBOSS Greg Bossert GEHIC Gerard Hickey GREGG Gregg Helt GSAR Gurusamy Sarathy GSM Joe Marzot GSPAF Gene Spafford GUYDX Guy Decoux IANPX Ian Phillipps ILYAZ Ilya Zakharevich JACKS Jack Shirazi JAMCC Jamie McCarthy JARW John A.R. Williams JHI Jarkko Hietaniemi JKAST Jason Kastner JKEGL Jeffrey Kegler JONG Jong Park JONO Jon Orwant JPC Jan-Pieter Cornet JV Johan Vromans JWAT John Watson KGB Karl Glazebrook KJALB Kenneth Albanowski KSB Simon Berg LDS Lincoln D. Stein LFINI Luca Fini LSTAF Lennart Staflin LUKKA Tuomas J. Lukka LWALL Larry Wall. Author of Perl. Busy man. LUKKA Tuomas J. Lukka LWWWP The libwww-perl mailing list Mail to libwww-perl-REQUEST@ics.uci.edu with body "subscribe" MAK Martijn Koster MARCP Marc Paquette MARKB Mark Biggar MCPL The MacPerl mailing list Mail to mac-perl-REQUEST@iis.ee.ethz.ch with body "subscribe" MERGL Edmund Mergl + MERLYN Randal L. Schwartz MEWP Michael Peppler MGH Marc Hedlund MHM Mike Moran MICB Malcolm Beattie MIKEH Mark Heins MJD Mark-Jason Dominus MMML The MakeMaker mailing list Mail to makemaker-REQUEST@franz.ww.tu-berlin.de with body "subscribe" MRG Matthew Green MRKAE Mark R. Kaehny MSHLD Michael Shields MUIR David Muir Sharnoff NEERI Matthias Ulrich Neeracher NEILB Neil Bowers NI-S Nick Ing-Simmons NWINT Neil Winton OZAWA OZAWA Sakuro P5P The Perl5 Porters Mailing List Mail to perl5-porters-REQUEST@nicoh.com with body "subscribe" PATM Pat Martin PEASE Mark Pease PGUEN Philip Guenther PKUTS Peter Kutschera PMQS Paul Marquess PRATP Pratap Pereira PVERD Philippe Verdret RAM Raphael Manfredi RBOW Richard Bowen RDO Robert Olson RIK Rik Harris RJRAY Randy J Ray RJS Robert J Seymour ROSCH Roderick Schertler RVA Rodger Anderson SBECK Sullivan Beck SDOWD Sean Dowd SEB Steven Brenner SEMM Steve Emmerson SGEL Sergio Gelato SHGUN Shishir Gundavaram SKUNZ Steven L. Kunz SPIDB Spider Boardman STANM Stan Melax STBEY Steffen Beyer SWMCD Steven McDougall TIMB Tim Bunce TKML The Tk Perl Mailing list Mail to majordomo@wpi.edu with body "subscribe ptk " TLP Travis L Priest TOMC Tom Christiansen TOMFA Tom Fawcett TOMH Tom Horsley TOMZO Tom Zoerner TRIAS Fernando Trias TYEMQ Tye McQueen ULPFR Ulrich Pfeifer UWEH Uwe Hollerbach VMSML The VMSPerl Mailing list Mail subscription requests to maintainer at WIN32 The Perl for Win32 Mailing list Mail to majordomo@mail.hip.com with body "subscribe Perl-Win32 " WINKO Winfried Koenig WPS William Setzer WSCOT Wayne Scott WYTAN Wei-Yuen Tan YLU Luke Y. Lu YVESP Yves Paindaveine 2) Perl Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and Other Resources The FAQ and the Meta-FAQ are available on all CPAN sites in the directory doc/FAQs as well as in these places: Perl Meta-FAQ http://www.khoros.unm.edu/staff/neilb/perl/metaFAQ http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/perl/metaFAQ.html http://web.nexor.co.uk/perl/Meta-FAQ.txt Perl FAQ http://mox.perl.com/perl/faq ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/perl-faq/ ftp://ftp.uu.net/usenet/news.answers/perl-faq/ ftp://ftp.cis.ufl.edu/pub/perl/doc/FAQ ftp://ftp.khoros.unm.edu/pub/perl/faq.gz ftp://ftp.cs.ruu.nl/pub/NEWS.ANSWERS/perl-faq/ ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/doc/faq ftp://src.doc.ic.ac.uk/packages/perl/FAQ 3) Other Perl Archive Sites ftp://ftp.delphi.com/pub/mirrors/packages/ftp.perl.com/ ftp://ftp.delphi.com/pub/mirrors/packages/perl/ ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/perl ftp://coombs.anu.edu.au/pub/perl ftp://ftp.cbi.tamucc.edu/pub/duff/Perl ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/perl ftp://ftp.khoros.unm.edu/pub/perl ftp://ftp.metronet.com/pub/perl ftp://ftp.uu.net/languages/perl ftp://ftp.wpi.edu/perl5 ftp://perl.com/pub/perl ftp://src.doc.ic.ac.uk/packages/perl ftp://src.doc.ic.ac.uk/packages/perl5 ftp://sungear.mame.mu.oz.au/pub/perl .