use autodie; # Recommended: implies 'use autodie qw(:default)' use autodie qw(:all); # Recommended more: defaults and system/exec. use autodie qw(open close); # open/close succeed or die open(my $fh, "<", $filename); # No need to check! { no autodie qw(open); # open failures won't die open(my $fh, "<", $filename); # Could fail silently! no autodie; # disable all autodies } print "Hello World" or die $!; # autodie DOESN'T check print!
bIlujDI' yIchegh()Qo'; yIHegh()! It is better to die() than to return() in failure. -- Klingon programming proverb.
The "autodie" pragma provides a convenient way to replace functions that normally return false on failure with equivalents that throw an exception on failure.
The "autodie" pragma has lexical scope, meaning that functions and subroutines altered with "autodie" will only change their behaviour until the end of the enclosing block, file, or "eval".
If "system" is specified as an argument to "autodie", then it uses IPC::System::Simple to do the heavy lifting. See the description of that module for more information.
use feature qw(switch); eval { use autodie; open(my $fh, '<', $some_file); my @records = <$fh>; # Do things with @records... close($fh); }; given ($@) { when (undef) { say "No error"; } when ('open') { say "Error from open"; } when (':io') { say "Non-open, IO error."; } when (':all') { say "All other autodie errors." } default { say "Not an autodie error at all." } }
Under Perl 5.8, the "given/when" structure is not available, so the following structure may be used:
eval { use autodie; open(my $fh, '<', $some_file); my @records = <$fh>; # Do things with @records... close($fh); }; if ($@ and $@->isa('autodie::exception')) { if ($@->matches('open')) { print "Error from open\n"; } if ($@->matches(':io' )) { print "Non-open, IO error."; } } elsif ($@) { # A non-autodie exception. }
See autodie::exception for further information on interrogating exceptions.
The categories are currently:
:all :default :io read seek sysread sysseek syswrite :dbm dbmclose dbmopen :file binmode close chmod chown fcntl flock ioctl open sysopen truncate :filesys chdir closedir opendir link mkdir readlink rename rmdir symlink unlink :ipc kill pipe :msg msgctl msgget msgrcv msgsnd :semaphore semctl semget semop :shm shmctl shmget shmread :socket accept bind connect getsockopt listen recv send setsockopt shutdown socketpair :threads fork :system system exec
Note that while the above category system is presently a strict hierarchy, this should not be assumed.
A plain "use autodie" implies "use autodie qw(:default)". Note that "system" and "exec" are not enabled by default. "system" requires the optional IPC::System::Simple module to be installed, and enabling "system" or "exec" will invalidate their exotic forms. See ``BUGS'' below for more details.
The syntax:
use autodie qw(:1.994);
allows the ":default" list from a particular version to be used. This provides the convenience of using the default methods, but the surety that no behavioral changes will occur if the "autodie" module is upgraded.
"autodie" can be enabled for all of Perl's built-ins, including "system" and "exec" with:
use autodie qw(:all);
use autodie; if ( flock($fh, LOCK_EX | LOCK_NB) ) { # We have a lock }
Autodying "flock" will generate an exception if "flock" returns false with any other error.
On success, the autodying form of "system" returns the exit value rather than the contents of $?.
Additional allowable exit values can be supplied as an optional first argument to autodying "system":
system( [ 0, 1, 2 ], $cmd, @args); # 0,1,2 are good exit values
"autodie" uses the IPC::System::Simple module to change "system". See its documentation for further information.
Applying "autodie" to "system" or "exec" causes the exotic forms "system { $cmd } @args " or "exec { $cmd } @args" to be considered a syntax error until the end of the lexical scope. If you really need to use the exotic form, you can call "CORE::system" or "CORE::exec" instead, or use "no autodie qw(system exec)" before calling the exotic form.
Some builtins (e.g. "chdir" or "truncate") has a call signature that cannot completely be representated with a Perl prototype. This means that some valid Perl code will be invalid under autodie. As an example:
chdir(BAREWORD);
Without autodie (and assuming BAREWORD is an open filehandle/dirhandle) this is a valid call to chdir. But under autodie, "chdir" will behave like it had the prototype ``;$'' and thus BAREWORD will be a syntax error (under ``use strict''. Without strict, it will interpreted as a filename).
"autodie" performs no checking of called context to determine whether to throw an exception; the explicitness of error handling with "autodie" is a deliberate feature.
See also ``DIAGNOSTICS'' in Fatal.
When using "autodie" or "Fatal" with user subroutines, the declaration of those subroutines must appear before the first use of "Fatal" or "autodie", or have been exported from a module. Attempting to use "Fatal" or "autodie" on other user subroutines will result in a compile-time error.
Due to a bug in Perl, "autodie" may ``lose'' any format which has the same name as an autodying built-in or function.
"autodie" may not work correctly if used inside a file with a name that looks like a string eval, such as eval (3).
Under Perl 5.8 only, "autodie" does not propagate into string "eval" statements, although it can be explicitly enabled inside a string "eval".
Under Perl 5.10 only, using a string eval when "autodie" is in effect can cause the autodie behaviour to leak into the surrounding scope. This can be worked around by using a "no autodie" at the end of the scope to explicitly remove autodie's effects, or by avoiding the use of string eval.
None of these bugs exist when using block eval. The use of "autodie" with block eval is considered good practice.
The module author loves to hear how "autodie" has made your life better (or worse). Feedback can be sent to <pjf@perltraining.com.au>.
Perl tips, autodie at <http://perltraining.com.au/tips/2008-08-20.html>
See the AUTHORS file for full credits. The latest version of this file can be found at <https://github.com/pjf/autodie/tree/master/AUTHORS> .