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.
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 { $cmd } @args" to be considered a syntax error until the end of the lexical scope. If you really need to use the exotic form, you can call "CORE::system" or "CORE::exec" instead, or use "no autodie qw(system exec)" before calling the exotic form.
Some builtins (e.g. "chdir" or "truncate") has a call signature that cannot completely be represented with a Perl prototype. This means that some valid Perl code will be invalid under autodie. As an example:
chdir(BAREWORD);
Without autodie (and assuming BAREWORD is an open filehandle/dirhandle) this is a valid call to chdir. But under autodie, "chdir" will behave like it had the prototype ``;$'' 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> .