Provided by: libfile-homedir-perl_1.006-2_all bug

NAME

       File::HomeDir - Find your home and other directories on any platform

SYNOPSIS

         use File::HomeDir;

         # Modern Interface (Current User)
         $home     = File::HomeDir->my_home;
         $desktop  = File::HomeDir->my_desktop;
         $docs     = File::HomeDir->my_documents;
         $music    = File::HomeDir->my_music;
         $pics     = File::HomeDir->my_pictures;
         $videos   = File::HomeDir->my_videos;
         $data     = File::HomeDir->my_data;
         $dist     = File::HomeDir->my_dist_data('File-HomeDir');
         $dist     = File::HomeDir->my_dist_config('File-HomeDir');

         # Modern Interface (Other Users)
         $home    = File::HomeDir->users_home('foo');
         $desktop = File::HomeDir->users_desktop('foo');
         $docs    = File::HomeDir->users_documents('foo');
         $music   = File::HomeDir->users_music('foo');
         $pics    = File::HomeDir->users_pictures('foo');
         $video   = File::HomeDir->users_videos('foo');
         $data    = File::HomeDir->users_data('foo');

DESCRIPTION

       File::HomeDir is a module for locating the directories that are "owned" by a user
       (typically your user) and to solve the various issues that arise trying to find them
       consistently across a wide variety of platforms.

       The end result is a single API that can find your resources on any platform, making it
       relatively trivial to create Perl software that works elegantly and correctly no matter
       where you run it.

   Platform Neutrality
       In the Unix world, many different types of data can be mixed together in your home
       directory (although on some Unix platforms this is no longer the case, particularly for
       "desktop"-oriented platforms).

       On some non-Unix platforms, separate directories are allocated for different types of data
       and have been for a long time.

       When writing applications on top of File::HomeDir, you should thus always try to use the
       most specific method you can. User documents should be saved in "my_documents", data that
       supports an application but isn't normally editing by the user directory should go into
       "my_data".

       On platforms that do not make any distinction, all these different methods will harmlessly
       degrade to the main home directory, but on platforms that care File::HomeDir will always
       try to Do The Right Thing(tm).

METHODS

       Two types of methods are provided. The "my_method" series of methods for finding resources
       for the current user, and the "users_method" (read as "user's method") series for finding
       resources for arbitrary users.

       This split is necessary, as on most platforms it is much easier to find information about
       the current user compared to other users, and indeed on a number you cannot find out
       information such as "users_desktop" at all, due to security restrictions.

       All methods will double check (using a "-d" test) that a directory actually exists before
       returning it, so you may trust in the values that are returned (subject to the usual
       caveats of race conditions of directories being deleted at the moment between a directory
       being returned and you using it).

       However, because in some cases platforms may not support the concept of home directories
       at all, any method may return "undef" (both in scalar and list context) to indicate that
       there is no matching directory on the system.

       For example, most untrusted 'nobody'-type users do not have a home directory. So any
       modules that are used in a CGI application that at some level of recursion use your code,
       will result in calls to File::HomeDir returning undef, even for a basic home() call.

   my_home
       The "my_home" method takes no arguments and returns the main home/profile directory for
       the current user.

       If the distinction is important to you, the term "current" refers to the real user, and
       not the effective user.

       This is also the case for all of the other "my" methods.

       Returns the directory path as a string, "undef" if the current user does not have a home
       directory, or dies on error.

   my_desktop
       The "my_desktop" method takes no arguments and returns the "desktop" directory for the
       current user.

       Due to the diversity and complexity of implementations required to deal with implementing
       the required functionality fully and completely, the "my_desktop" method may or may not be
       implemented on each platform.

       That said, I am extremely interested in code to implement "my_desktop" on Unix, as long as
       it is capable of dealing (as the Windows implementation does) with internationalization.
       It should also avoid false positive results by making sure it only returns the appropriate
       directories for the appropriate platforms.

       Returns the directory path as a string, "undef" if the current user does not have a
       desktop directory, or dies on error.

   my_documents
       The "my_documents" method takes no arguments and returns the directory (for the current
       user) where the user's documents are stored.

       Returns the directory path as a string, "undef" if the current user does not have a
       documents directory, or dies on error.

   my_music
       The "my_music" method takes no arguments and returns the directory where the current
       user's music is stored.

       No bias is made to any particular music type or music program, rather the concept of a
       directory to hold the user's music is made at the level of the underlying operating system
       or (at least) desktop environment.

       Returns the directory path as a string, "undef" if the current user does not have a
       suitable directory, or dies on error.

   my_pictures
       The "my_pictures" method takes no arguments and returns the directory where the current
       user's pictures are stored.

       No bias is made to any particular picture type or picture program, rather the concept of a
       directory to hold the user's pictures is made at the level of the underlying operating
       system or (at least) desktop environment.

       Returns the directory path as a string, "undef" if the current user does not have a
       suitable directory, or dies on error.

   my_videos
       The "my_videos" method takes no arguments and returns the directory where the current
       user's videos are stored.

       No bias is made to any particular video type or video program, rather the concept of a
       directory to hold the user's videos is made at the level of the underlying operating
       system or (at least) desktop environment.

       Returns the directory path as a string, "undef" if the current user does not have a
       suitable directory, or dies on error.

   my_data
       The "my_data" method takes no arguments and returns the directory where local applications
       should store their internal data for the current user.

       Generally an application would create a subdirectory such as ".foo", beneath this
       directory, and store its data there. By creating your directory this way, you get an
       accurate result on the maximum number of platforms. But see the documentation about
       "my_dist_config()" or "my_dist_data()" below.

       For example, on Unix you get "~/.foo" and on Win32 you get "~/Local Settings/Application
       Data/.foo"

       Returns the directory path as a string, "undef" if the current user does not have a data
       directory, or dies on error.

   my_dist_config
         File::HomeDir->my_dist_config( $dist [, \%params] );

         # For example...

         File::HomeDir->my_dist_config( 'File-HomeDir' );
         File::HomeDir->my_dist_config( 'File-HomeDir', { create => 1 } );

       The "my_dist_config" method takes a distribution name as argument and returns an
       application-specific directory where they should store their internal configuration.

       The base directory will be either "my_config" if the platform supports it, or
       "my_documents" otherwise. The subdirectory itself will be "BASE/Perl/Dist-Name". If the
       base directory is the user's home directory, "my_dist_config" will be in
       "~/.perl/Dist-Name" (and thus be hidden on all Unixes).

       The optional last argument is a hash reference to tweak the method behaviour. The
       following hash keys are recognized:

       •   create

           Passing a true value to this key will force the creation of the directory if it
           doesn't exist (remember that "File::HomeDir"'s policy is to return "undef" if the
           directory doesn't exist).

           Defaults to false, meaning no automatic creation of directory.

   my_dist_data
         File::HomeDir->my_dist_data( $dist [, \%params] );

         # For example...

         File::HomeDir->my_dist_data( 'File-HomeDir' );
         File::HomeDir->my_dist_data( 'File-HomeDir', { create => 1 } );

       The "my_dist_data" method takes a distribution name as argument and returns an
       application-specific directory where they should store their internal data.

       This directory will be of course a subdirectory of "my_data". Platforms supporting data-
       specific directories will use "DATA_DIR/perl/dist/Dist-Name" following the common
       "DATA/vendor/application" pattern. If the "my_data" directory is the user's home
       directory, "my_dist_data" will be in "~/.perl/dist/Dist-Name" (and thus be hidden on all
       Unixes).

       The optional last argument is a hash reference to tweak the method behaviour. The
       following hash keys are recognized:

       •   create

           Passing a true value to this key will force the creation of the directory if it
           doesn't exist (remember that "File::HomeDir"'s policy is to return "undef" if the
           directory doesn't exist).

           Defaults to false, meaning no automatic creation of directory.

   users_home
         $home = File::HomeDir->users_home('foo');

       The "users_home" method takes a single parameter and is used to locate the parent
       home/profile directory for an identified user on the system.

       While most of the time this identifier would be some form of user name, it is permitted to
       vary per-platform to support user ids or UUIDs as applicable for that platform.

       Returns the directory path as a string, "undef" if that user does not have a home
       directory, or dies on error.

   users_documents
         $docs = File::HomeDir->users_documents('foo');

       Returns the directory path as a string, "undef" if that user does not have a documents
       directory, or dies on error.

   users_data
         $data = File::HomeDir->users_data('foo');

       Returns the directory path as a string, "undef" if that user does not have a data
       directory, or dies on error.

   users_desktop
         $docs = File::HomeDir->users_desktop('foo');

       Returns the directory path as a string, "undef" if that user does not have a desktop
       directory, or dies on error.

   users_music
         $docs = File::HomeDir->users_music('foo');

       Returns the directory path as a string, "undef" if that user does not have a music
       directory, or dies on error.

   users_pictures
         $docs = File::HomeDir->users_pictures('foo');

       Returns the directory path as a string, "undef" if that user does not have a pictures
       directory, or dies on error.

   users_videos
         $docs = File::HomeDir->users_videos('foo');

       Returns the directory path as a string, "undef" if that user does not have a videos
       directory, or dies on error.

FUNCTIONS

   home
         use File::HomeDir;
         $home = home();
         $home = home('foo');
         $home = File::HomeDir::home();
         $home = File::HomeDir::home('foo');

       The "home" function is exported by default and is provided for compatibility with legacy
       applications. In new applications, you should use the newer method-based interface above.

       Returns the directory path to a named user's home/profile directory.

       If provided no parameter, returns the directory path to the current user's home/profile
       directory.

TO DO

       •   Add more granularity to Unix, and add support to VMS and other esoteric platforms, so
           we can consider going core.

       •   Add consistent support for users_* methods

SUPPORT

       This module is stored in an Open Repository at the following address.

       <http://svn.ali.as/cpan/trunk/File-HomeDir>

       Write access to the repository is made available automatically to any published CPAN
       author, and to most other volunteers on request.

       If you are able to submit your bug report in the form of new (failing) unit tests, or can
       apply your fix directly instead of submitting a patch, you are strongly encouraged to do
       so as the author currently maintains over 100 modules and it can take some time to deal
       with non-Critical bug reports or patches.

       This will guarantee that your issue will be addressed in the next release of the module.

       If you cannot provide a direct test or fix, or don't have time to do so, then regular bug
       reports are still accepted and appreciated via the CPAN bug tracker.

       <http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=File-HomeDir>

       For other issues, for commercial enhancement or support, or to have your write access
       enabled for the repository, contact the author at the email address above.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

       The biggest acknowledgement goes to Chris Nandor, who wielded his legendary Mac-fu and
       turned my initial fairly ordinary Darwin implementation into something that actually
       worked properly everywhere, and then donated a Mac OS X license to allow it to be
       maintained properly.

AUTHORS

       Adam Kennedy <adamk@cpan.org>

       Sean M. Burke <sburke@cpan.org>

       Chris Nandor <cnandor@cpan.org>

       Stephen Steneker <stennie@cpan.org>

SEE ALSO

       File::ShareDir, File::HomeDir::Win32 (legacy)

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright 2005 - 2012 Adam Kennedy.

       Copyright 2017 - 2020 Jens Rehsack

       Some parts copyright 2000 Sean M. Burke.

       Some parts copyright 2006 Chris Nandor.

       Some parts copyright 2006 Stephen Steneker.

       Some parts copyright 2009-2011 Jérôme Quelin.

       This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same
       terms as Perl itself.

       The full text of the license can be found in the LICENSE file included with this module.