Provided by: libperl-critic-perl_1.130-1_all 
NAME
Perl::Critic::Config - The final derived Perl::Critic configuration, combined from any
profile file and command-line parameters.
DESCRIPTION
Perl::Critic::Config takes care of finding and processing user-preferences for
Perl::Critic. The Config object defines which Policy modules will be loaded into the
Perl::Critic engine and how they should be configured. You should never really need to
instantiate Perl::Critic::Config directly because the Perl::Critic constructor will do it
for you.
INTERFACE SUPPORT
This is considered to be a non-public class. Its interface is subject to change without
notice.
CONSTRUCTOR
"new(...)"
Not properly documented because you shouldn't be using this.
METHODS
"add_policy( -policy => $policy_name, -params => \%param_hash )"
Creates a Policy object and loads it into this Config. If the object cannot be
instantiated, it will throw a fatal exception. Otherwise, it returns a reference to
this Critic.
-policy is the name of a Perl::Critic::Policy subclass module. The
'Perl::Critic::Policy' portion of the name can be omitted for brevity. This argument
is required.
-params is an optional reference to a hash of Policy parameters. The contents of this
hash reference will be passed into to the constructor of the Policy module. See the
documentation in the relevant Policy module for a description of the arguments it
supports.
" all_policies_enabled_or_not() "
Returns a list containing references to all the Policy objects that have been seen.
Note that the state of these objects is not trustworthy. In particular, it is likely
that some of them are not prepared to examine any documents.
" policies() "
Returns a list containing references to all the Policy objects that have been enabled
and loaded into this Config.
" exclude() "
Returns the value of the "-exclude" attribute for this Config.
" include() "
Returns the value of the "-include" attribute for this Config.
" force() "
Returns the value of the "-force" attribute for this Config.
" only() "
Returns the value of the "-only" attribute for this Config.
" profile_strictness() "
Returns the value of the "-profile-strictness" attribute for this Config.
" severity() "
Returns the value of the "-severity" attribute for this Config.
" single_policy() "
Returns the value of the "-single-policy" attribute for this Config.
" theme() "
Returns the Perl::Critic::Theme object that was created for this Config.
" top() "
Returns the value of the "-top" attribute for this Config.
" verbose() "
Returns the value of the "-verbose" attribute for this Config.
" color() "
Returns the value of the "-color" attribute for this Config.
" pager() "
Returns the value of the "-pager" attribute for this Config.
" unsafe_allowed() "
Returns the value of the "-allow-unsafe" attribute for this Config.
" criticism_fatal() "
Returns the value of the "-criticism-fatal" attribute for this Config.
" color_severity_highest() "
Returns the value of the "-color-severity-highest" attribute for this Config.
" color_severity_high() "
Returns the value of the "-color-severity-high" attribute for this Config.
" color_severity_medium() "
Returns the value of the "-color-severity-medium" attribute for this Config.
" color_severity_low() "
Returns the value of the "-color-severity-low" attribute for this Config.
" color_severity_lowest() "
Returns the value of the "-color-severity-lowest" attribute for this Config.
" program_extensions() "
Returns the value of the "-program_extensions" attribute for this Config. This is an
array of the file name extensions that represent program files.
" program_extensions_as_regexes() "
Returns the value of the "-program_extensions" attribute for this Config, as an array
of case-sensitive regexes matching the ends of the file names that represent program
files.
SUBROUTINES
Perl::Critic::Config has a few static subroutines that are used internally, but may be
useful to you in some way.
"site_policy_names()"
Returns a list of all the Policy modules that are currently installed in the
Perl::Critic:Policy namespace. These will include modules that are distributed with
Perl::Critic plus any third-party modules that have been installed.
CONFIGURATION
Most of the settings for Perl::Critic and each of the Policy modules can be controlled by
a configuration file. The default configuration file is called .perlcriticrc.
Perl::Critic::Config will look for this file in the current directory first, and then in
your home directory. Alternatively, you can set the "PERLCRITIC" environment variable to
explicitly point to a different file in another location. If none of these files exist,
and the "-profile" option is not given to the constructor, then all Policies will be
loaded with their default configuration.
The format of the configuration file is a series of INI-style blocks that contain key-
value pairs separated by '='. Comments should start with '#' and can be placed on a
separate line or after the name-value pairs if you desire.
Default settings for Perl::Critic itself can be set before the first named block. For
example, putting any or all of these at the top of your configuration file will set the
default value for the corresponding Perl::Critic constructor argument.
severity = 3 #Integer from 1 to 5
only = 1 #Zero or One
force = 0 #Zero or One
verbose = 4 #Integer or format spec
top = 50 #A positive integer
theme = risky + (pbp * security) - cosmetic #A theme expression
include = NamingConventions ClassHierarchies #Space-delimited list
exclude = Variables Modules::RequirePackage #Space-delimited list
color = 1 #Zero or One
allow_unsafe = 1 #Zero or One
color-severity-highest = bold red #Term::ANSIColor
color-severity-high = magenta #Term::ANSIColor
color-severity-medium = #no coloring
color-severity-low = #no coloring
color-severity-lowest = #no coloring
program-extensions = #Space-delimited list
The remainder of the configuration file is a series of blocks like this:
[Perl::Critic::Policy::Category::PolicyName]
severity = 1
set_themes = foo bar
add_themes = baz
arg1 = value1
arg2 = value2
"Perl::Critic::Policy::Category::PolicyName" is the full name of a module that implements
the policy. The Policy modules distributed with Perl::Critic have been grouped into
categories according to the table of contents in Damian Conway's book Perl Best Practices.
For brevity, you can omit the 'Perl::Critic::Policy' part of the module name.
"severity" is the level of importance you wish to assign to the Policy. All Policy
modules are defined with a default severity value ranging from 1 (least severe) to 5 (most
severe). However, you may disagree with the default severity and choose to give it a
higher or lower severity, based on your own coding philosophy.
The remaining key-value pairs are configuration parameters that will be passed into the
constructor of that Policy. The constructors for most Policy modules do not support
arguments, and those that do should have reasonable defaults. See the documentation on
the appropriate Policy module for more details.
Instead of redefining the severity for a given Policy, you can completely disable a Policy
by prepending a '-' to the name of the module in your configuration file. In this manner,
the Policy will never be loaded, regardless of the "-severity" given to the
Perl::Critic::Config constructor.
A simple configuration might look like this:
#--------------------------------------------------------------
# I think these are really important, so always load them
[TestingAndDebugging::RequireUseStrict]
severity = 5
[TestingAndDebugging::RequireUseWarnings]
severity = 5
#--------------------------------------------------------------
# I think these are less important, so only load when asked
[Variables::ProhibitPackageVars]
severity = 2
[ControlStructures::ProhibitPostfixControls]
allow = if unless #My custom configuration
severity = 2
#--------------------------------------------------------------
# Give these policies a custom theme. I can activate just
# these policies by saying (-theme => 'larry + curly')
[Modules::RequireFilenameMatchesPackage]
add_themes = larry
[TestingAndDebugging::RequireTestLables]
add_themes = curly moe
#--------------------------------------------------------------
# I do not agree with these at all, so never load them
[-NamingConventions::Capitalization]
[-ValuesAndExpressions::ProhibitMagicNumbers]
#--------------------------------------------------------------
# For all other Policies, I accept the default severity, theme
# and other parameters, so no additional configuration is
# required for them.
For additional configuration examples, see the perlcriticrc file that is included in this
t/examples directory of this distribution.
THE POLICIES
A large number of Policy modules are distributed with Perl::Critic. They are described
briefly in the companion document Perl::Critic::PolicySummary and in more detail in the
individual modules themselves.
POLICY THEMES
Each Policy is defined with one or more "themes". Themes can be used to create arbitrary
groups of Policies. They are intended to provide an alternative mechanism for selecting
your preferred set of Policies. For example, you may wish disable a certain subset of
Policies when analyzing test programs. Conversely, you may wish to enable only a specific
subset of Policies when analyzing modules.
The Policies that ship with Perl::Critic are have been broken into the following themes.
This is just our attempt to provide some basic logical groupings. You are free to invent
new themes that suit your needs.
THEME DESCRIPTION
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
core All policies that ship with Perl::Critic
pbp Policies that come directly from "Perl Best Practices"
bugs Policies that prevent or reveal bugs
maintenance Policies that affect the long-term health of the code
cosmetic Policies that only have a superficial effect
complexity Policies that specificaly relate to code complexity
security Policies that relate to security issues
tests Policies that are specific to test programs
Say "`perlcritic -list`" to get a listing of all available policies and the themes that
are associated with each one. You can also change the theme for any Policy in your
.perlcriticrc file. See the "CONFIGURATION" section for more information about that.
Using the "-theme" option, you can combine theme names with mathematical and boolean
operators to create an arbitrarily complex expression that represents a custom "set" of
Policies. The following operators are supported
Operator Alternative Meaning
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
* and Intersection
- not Difference
+ or Union
Operator precedence is the same as that of normal mathematics. You can also use
parenthesis to enforce precedence. Here are some examples:
Expression Meaning
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
pbp * bugs All policies that are "pbp" AND "bugs"
pbp and bugs Ditto
bugs + cosmetic All policies that are "bugs" OR "cosmetic"
bugs or cosmetic Ditto
pbp - cosmetic All policies that are "pbp" BUT NOT "cosmetic"
pbp not cosmetic Ditto
-maintenance All policies that are NOT "maintenance"
not maintenance Ditto
(pbp - bugs) * complexity All policies that are "pbp" BUT NOT "bugs",
AND "complexity"
(pbp not bugs) and complexity Ditto
Theme names are case-insensitive. If "-theme" is set to an empty string, then it is
equivalent to the set of all Policies. A theme name that doesn't exist is equivalent to
an empty set. Please See <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Set> for a discussion on set
theory.
SEE ALSO
Perl::Critic::OptionsProcessor, Perl::Critic::UserProfile
AUTHOR
Jeffrey Ryan Thalhammer <jeff@imaginative-software.com>
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 2005-2011 Imaginative Software Systems. All rights reserved.
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same
terms as Perl itself. The full text of this license can be found in the LICENSE file
included with this module.