NAME

       File::Pid - Pid File Manipulation

SYNOPSIS

         use File::Pid;

         my $pidfile = File::Pid->new({
           file => '/some/file.pid',
         });

         $pidfile->write;

         if ( my $num = $pidfile->running ) {
             die "Already running: $num\n";
         }

         $pidfile->remove;

DESCRIPTION

       This software manages a pid file for you. It will create a pid file, query the process
       within to discover if it's still running, and remove the pid file.

       new

         my $pidfile = File::Pid->new;

         my $thisfile = File::Pid->new({
           file => '/var/run/daemon.pid',
         });

         my $thisfileandpid = File::Pid->new({
           file => '/var/run/daemon.pid',
           pid  => '145',
         });

       This constructor takes two optional paramters.

       "file" - The name of the pid file to work on. If not specified, a pid file located in
       "File::Spec->tmpdir()" will be created that matches "(File::Basename::basename($0))[0] .
       '.pid'". So, for example, if $0 is ~/bin/sig.pl, the pid file will be /tmp/sig.pl.pid.

       "pid" - The pid to write to a new pidfile. If not specified, $$ is used when the pid file
       doesn't exist. When the pid file does exist, the pid inside it is used.

       file

         my $pidfile = $pidfile->file;

       Accessor/mutator for the filename used as the pid file.

       pid

         my $pid = $pidfile->pid;

       Accessor/mutator for the pid being saved to the pid file.

       write

         my $pid = $pidfile->write;

       Writes the pid file to disk, inserting the pid inside the file.  On success, the pid
       written is returned. On failure, "undef" is returned.

       running

         my $pid = $pidfile->running;
         die "Service already running: $pid\n" if $pid;

       Checks to see if the pricess identified in the pid file is still running. If the process
       is still running, the pid is returned. Otherwise "undef" is returned.

       remove

         $pidfile->remove or warn "Couldn't unlink pid file\n";

       Removes the pid file from disk. Returns true on success, false on failure.

       program_name

       This is a utility method that allows you to determine what "File::Pid" thinks the program
       name is. Internally this is used when no pid file is specified.

SEE ALSO

       perl.

AUTHOR

       Casey West, <casey@geeknest.com>.

COPYRIGHT

         Copyright (c) 2005 Casey West.  All rights reserved.
         This module is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
         under the same terms as Perl itself.