NAME

       Pod::Escapes -- for resolving Pod E<...> sequences

SYNOPSIS

         use Pod::Escapes qw(e2char);
         ...la la la, parsing POD, la la la...
         $text = e2char($e_node->label);
         unless(defined $text) {
           print "Unknown E sequence \"", $e_node->label, "\"!";
         }
         ...else print/interpolate $text...

DESCRIPTION

       This module provides things that are useful in decoding Pod E<...> sequences.  Presumably,
       it should be used only by Pod parsers and/or formatters.

       By default, Pod::Escapes exports none of its symbols.  But you can request any of them to
       be exported.  Either request them individually, as with "use Pod::Escapes qw(symbolname
       symbolname2...);", or you can do "use Pod::Escapes qw(:ALL);" to get all exportable
       symbols.

GOODIES

       e2char($e_content)
           Given a name or number that could appear in a "E<name_or_num>" sequence, this returns
           the string that it stands for.  For example, "e2char('sol')", "e2char('47')",
           "e2char('0x2F')", and "e2char('057')" all return "/", because "E<sol>", "E<47>",
           "E<0x2f>", and "E<057>", all mean "/".  If the name has no known value (as with a name
           of "qacute") or is syntactally invalid (as with a name of "1/4"), this returns undef.

       e2charnum($e_content)
           Given a name or number that could appear in a "E<name_or_num>" sequence, this returns
           the number of the Unicode character that this stands for.  For example,
           "e2char('sol')", "e2char('47')", "e2char('0x2F')", and "e2char('057')" all return 47,
           because "E<sol>", "E<47>", "E<0x2f>", and "E<057>", all mean "/", whose Unicode number
           is 47.  If the name has no known value (as with a name of "qacute") or is syntactally
           invalid (as with a name of "1/4"), this returns undef.

       $Name2character{name}
           Maps from names (as in "E<name>") like "eacute" or "sol" to the string that each
           stands for.  Note that this does not include numerics (like "64" or "x981c").  Under
           old Perl versions (before 5.7) you get a "?" in place of characters whose Unicode
           value is over 255.

       $Name2character_number{name}
           Maps from names (as in "E<name>") like "eacute" or "sol" to the Unicode value that
           each stands for.  For example, $Name2character_number{'eacute'} is 201, and
           $Name2character_number{'eacute'} is 8364.  You get the correct Unicode value,
           regardless of the version of Perl you're using -- which differs from %Name2character's
           behavior under pre-5.7 Perls.

           Note that this hash does not include numerics (like "64" or "x981c").

       $Latin1Code_to_fallback{integer}
           For numbers in the range 160 (0x00A0) to 255 (0x00FF), this maps from the character
           code for a Latin-1 character (like 233 for lowercase e-acute) to the US-ASCII
           character that best aproximates it (like "e").  You may find this useful if you are
           rendering POD in a format that you think deals well only with US-ASCII characters.

       $Latin1Char_to_fallback{character}
           Just as above, but maps from characters (like "\xE9", lowercase e-acute) to characters
           (like "e").

       $Code2USASCII{integer}
           This maps from US-ASCII codes (like 32) to the corresponding character (like space,
           for 32).  Only characters 32 to 126 are defined.  This is meant for use by
           "e2char($x)" when it senses that it's running on a non-ASCII platform (where chr(32)
           doesn't get you a space -- but $Code2USASCII{32} will).  It's documented here just in
           case you might find it useful.

CAVEATS

       On Perl versions before 5.7, Unicode characters with a value over 255 (like lambda or
       emdash) can't be conveyed.  This module does work under such early Perl versions, but in
       the place of each such character, you get a "?".  Latin-1 characters (characters 160-255)
       are unaffected.

       Under EBCDIC platforms, "e2char($n)" may not always be the same as "chr(e2charnum($n))",
       and ditto for $Name2character{$name} and "chr($Name2character_number{$name})".

SEE ALSO

       perlpod

       perlpodspec

       Text::Unidecode

COPYRIGHT AND DISCLAIMERS

       Copyright (c) 2001-2004 Sean M. Burke.  All rights reserved.

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

       This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but without any warranty;
       without even the implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

       Portions of the data tables in this module are derived from the entity declarations in the
       W3C XHTML specification.

       Currently (October 2001), that's these three:

        http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml-lat1.ent
        http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml-special.ent
        http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml-symbol.ent

AUTHOR

       Sean M. Burke "sburke@cpan.org"