1chmod(3)              User Contributed Perl Documentation             chmod(3)
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NAME

6       File::chmod - Implements symbolic and ls chmod modes
7

VERSION

9       This is File::chmod v0.32.
10

SYNOPSIS

12         use File::chmod;
13
14         # chmod takes all three types
15         # these all do the same thing
16         chmod(0666,@files);
17         chmod("=rw",@files);
18         chmod("-rw-rw-rw-",@files);
19
20         # or
21
22         use File::chmod qw( symchmod lschmod );
23
24         chmod(0666,@files);           # this is the normal chmod
25         symchmod("=rw",@files);       # takes symbolic modes only
26         lschmod("-rw-rw-rw-",@files); # takes "ls" modes only
27
28         # more functions, read on to understand
29

DESCRIPTION

31       File::chmod is a utility that allows you to bypass system calls or bit
32       processing of a file's permissions.  It overloads the chmod() function
33       with its own that gets an octal mode, a symbolic mode (see below), or
34       an "ls" mode (see below).  If you wish not to overload chmod(), you can
35       export symchmod() and lschmod(), which take, respectively, a symbolic
36       mode and an "ls" mode.
37
38       Symbolic modes are thoroughly described in your chmod(1) man page, but
39       here are a few examples.
40
41         # NEW: if $UMASK is true, symchmod() applies a bit-mask found in $MASK
42
43         chmod("+x","file1","file2");  # overloaded chmod(), that is...
44         # turns on the execute bit for all users on those two files
45
46         chmod("o=,g-w","file1","file2");
47         # removes 'other' permissions, and the write bit for 'group'
48
49         chmod("=u","file1","file2");
50         # sets all bits to those in 'user'
51
52       "ls" modes are the type produced on the left-hand side of an "ls -l" on
53       a directory.  Examples are:
54
55         chmod("-rwxr-xr-x","file1","file2");
56         # the 0755 setting; user has read-write-execute, group and others
57         # have read-execute priveleges
58
59         chmod("-rwsrws---","file1","file2");
60         # sets read-write-execute for user and group, none for others
61         # also sets set-uid and set-gid bits
62
63       The regular chmod() and lschmod() are absolute; that is, they are not
64       appending to or subtracting from the current file mode.  They set it,
65       regardless of what it had been before.  symchmod() is useful for
66       allowing the modifying of a file's permissions without having to run a
67       system call or determining the file's permissions, and then combining
68       that with whatever bits are appropriate.  It also operates separately
69       on each file.
70
71       An added feature to version 0.30 is the $UMASK variable, explained
72       below; if symchmod() is called and this variable is true, then the
73       function uses the (also new) $MASK variable (which defaults to umask())
74       as a mask against the new mode.  This is documented below more clearly.
75
76   Functions
77       Exported by default:
78
79       chmod(MODE,FILES)
80           Takes an octal, symbolic, or "ls" mode, and then chmods each file
81           appropriately.
82
83       getchmod(MODE,FILES)
84           Returns a list of modified permissions, without chmodding files.
85           Accepts any of the three kinds of modes.
86
87             @newmodes = getchmod("+x","file1","file2");
88             # @newmodes holds the octal permissons of the files'
89             # modes, if they were to be sent through chmod("+x"...)
90
91       Exported by request:
92
93       symchmod(MODE,FILES)
94           Takes a symbolic permissions mode, and chmods each file.
95
96       lschmod(MODE,FILES)
97           Takes an "ls" permissions mode, and chmods each file.
98
99       getsymchmod(MODE,FILES)
100           Returns a list of modified permissions, without chmodding files.
101           Accepts only symbolic permisson modes.
102
103       getlschmod(MODE,FILES)
104           Returns a list of modified permissions, without chmodding files.
105           Accepts only "ls" permisson modes.
106
107       getmod(FILES)
108           Returns a list of the current mode of each file.
109
110   Variables
111       $File::chmod::DEBUG
112           If set to a true value, it will report warnings, similar to those
113           produced by chmod() on your system.  Otherwise, the functions will
114           not report errors.  Example: a file can not have file-locking and
115           the set-gid bits on at the same time.  If $File::chmod::DEBUG is
116           true, the function will report an error.  If not, you are not
117           warned of the conflict.  It is set to 1 as default.
118
119       $File::chmod::MASK
120           Contains the umask to apply to new file modes when using
121           getsymchmod().  This defaults to the return value of umask() at
122           compile time.  Is only applied if $UMASK is true.
123
124       $File::chmod::UMASK
125           This is a boolean which tells getsymchmod() whether or not to apply
126           the umask found in $MASK.  It defaults to true.
127

REVISIONS

129       Note: this section was started with version 0.30.
130
131       This is an in-depth look at the changes being made from version to
132       version.
133
134   0.31 to 0.32
135       license added
136           I added a license to this module so that it can be used places
137           without asking my permission.  Sorry, Adam.
138
139   0.30 to 0.31
140       fixed getsymchmod() bug
141           Whoa.  getsymchmod() was doing some crazy ish.  That's about all I
142           can say.  I did a great deal of debugging, and fixed it up.  It ALL
143           had to do with two things:
144
145             $or = (/+=/ ? 1 : 0); # should have been /[+=]/
146
147             /u/ && $ok ? u_or() : u_not(); # should have been /u/ and $ok
148
149       fixed getmod() bug
150           I was using map() incorrectly in getmod().  Fixed that.
151
152       condensed lschmod()
153           I shorted it up, getting rid a variable.
154
155   0.21 to 0.30
156       added umask() honoring for symchmod()
157           The symchmod() function now honors the $UMASK and $MASK variables.
158           $UMASK is a boolean which indicates whether or not to honor the
159           $MASK variable.  $MASK holds a umask, and it defaults to umask().
160           $UMASK defaults to true.  These variables are NOT exported.  They
161           must explictly set (i.e. $File::chmod::UMASK = 0).
162
163       function name changes
164           Renamed internal function determine_mode() to mode().  However, if
165           you happen to be using determine_mode() somewhere, mode() will be
166           called, but you'll also get a warning about deprecation.
167
168           Renamed internal functions {or,not}_{l,s,t} to {l,s,t}_{or,not}.
169           This is to keep in standard with the OTHER 6 pairs of bitwise
170           functions, such as r_or() and g_not().  I don't know WHY the others
171           had 'not' or 'or' in the front.
172
173       fixed debugging bugs
174           Certain calls to warn() were not guarded by the $DEBUG variable,
175           and now they are.  Also, for some reason, I left a debugging check
176           (that didn't check to see if $DEBUG was true) in getsymchmod(),
177           line 118.  It printed "ENTERING /g/".  It's gone now.
178
179       fixed set-uid and set-gid bug
180           Heh, it seems that in the previous version of File::chmod, the
181           following code went along broken:
182
183             # or_s sub, File/chmod.pm, v0.21, line 330
184             ($VAL & 00100) && do {
185               $DEBUG && warn("execute bit must be on for set-uid"); 1;
186             } && next;
187
188           Aside from me using '&&' more than enough (changed in the new
189           code), this is broken.  This is now fixed.
190
191       fixed file lock/set-gid bug
192           The not_l() function (now renamed to l_not()) used to take the file
193           mode and bit-wise NOT it with ~02000.  However, it did not check if
194           the file was locked vs. set-gid.  Now, the function is "$VAL &=
195           ~02000 if not $VAL & 00010;".
196
197       removed useless data structures
198           I do not know why I had the $S variable, or %r, %w, and %x hashes.
199           In fact, $S was declared in "use vars qw( ... );", but never given
200           a value, and the %r, %w, and %x hashes had a 'full' key which never
201           got used.  And the hashes themselves weren't really needed anyway.
202           Here is a list of the variables no longer in use, and what they
203           have been replaced with (if any):
204
205             $S            nothing
206             $U, $G, $O    $W
207             %r, %w, %x    octal numbers
208             @files        @_ (I had @files = @_; in nearly EVERY sub)
209             $c            $_
210
211       compacted code
212           The first version of File::chmod that was published was 0.13, and
213           it was written in approximately 10 days, being given the off-and-on
214           treatment I end up having to give several projects, due to more
215           pressing matters.  Well, since then, most of the code has stayed
216           the same, although bugs were worked out.  Well, I got rid of a lot
217           of slow, clunky, and redundant sections of code in this version.
218           Sections include the processing of each character of the mode in
219           getsymchmod(), the getmod() subroutine, um, nearly ALL of the
220           getsymchmod() function, now that I look at it.
221
222           Here's part of the getsymchmod() rewrite:
223
224             for ($c){
225               if (/u/){
226                 u_or() if $MODE eq "+" or $MODE eq "=";
227                 u_not() if $MODE eq "-";
228               }
229             ...
230             }
231
232             # changed to
233
234             /u/ && $or ? u_or() : u_and();
235             # note: operating on $_, $c isn't used anymore
236             # note: $or holds 1 if the $MODE was + or =, 0 if $MODE was -
237             # note: previous was redundant.  didn't need $MODE eq "-" check
238             #       because u_or() and u_not() both go to the next character
239

PORTING

241       This is only good on Unix-like boxes.  I would like people to help me
242       work on File::chmod for any OS that deserves it.  If you would like to
243       help, please email me (address below) with the OS and any information
244       you might have on how chmod() should work on it; if you don't have any
245       specific information, but would still like to help, hey, that's good
246       too.  I have the following information (from "perlport"):
247
248       Win32
249           Only good for changing "owner" read-write access, "group", and
250           "other" bits are meaningless.  NOTE: Win32::File and
251           Win32::FileSecurity already do this.  I do not currently see a need
252           to port File::chmod.
253
254       MacOS
255           Only limited meaning. Disabling/enabling write permission is mapped
256           to locking/unlocking the file.
257
258       RISC OS
259           Only good for changing "owner" and "other" read-write access.
260

AUTHOR

262       Jeff "japhy" Pinyan, japhy.734+CPAN@gmail.com, CPAN ID: PINYAN
263

SEE ALSO

265         Stat::lsMode (by Mark-James Dominus, CPAN ID: MJD)
266         chmod(1) manpage
267         perldoc -f chmod
268         perldoc -f stat
269
271       Copyright (C) 2007 by Jeff Pinyan
272
273       This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
274       under the same terms as Perl itself, either Perl version 5.8.8 or, at
275       your option, any later version of Perl 5 you may have available.
276
277
278
279perl v5.12.0                      2007-07-28                          chmod(3)
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