Provided by: libshell-perl-perl_0.0022-1_all bug

NAME

       Shell::Perl - A read-eval-print loop in Perl

SYNOPSYS

           use Shell::Perl;
           Shell::Perl->run_with_args;

DESCRIPTION

       This is the implementation of a command-line interpreter for Perl.  I wrote this because I
       was tired of using irb when needing a calculator with a real language within. Ah, that and
       because it was damn easy to write it.

       This module is the heart of the pirl script provided with Shell-Perl distribution, along
       with this module.

   EXAMPLE SESSION
           $ pirl
           Welcome to the Perl shell. Type ':help' for more information

           pirl @> 1+1
           2

           pirl @> use YAML qw(Load Dump);
           ()

           pirl @> $data = Load("--- { a: 1, b: [ 1, 2, 3] }\n");
           { a => 1, b => [1, 2, 3] }

           pirl @> $var = 'a 1 2 3'; $var =~ /(\w+) (\d+) (\d+)/
           ("a", 1, 2)

           pirl @> :q

   COMMANDS
       Most of the time, the shell reads Perl statements, evaluates them and outputs the result.

       There are a few commands (started by ':') that are handled by the shell itself.

       :h(elp)
           Handy for remembering what the shell commands are.

       :q(uit)
           Leave the shell. The Perl statement "exit" will work too.

           SYNONYMS: :exit, :x

       :set out (D|DD|DDS|Y|P)
           Changes the dumper for the expression results used before output. The current
           supported are:

           D   "Data::Dump"

           DD  "Data::Dumper", the good and old core module

           DDS "Data::Dump::Streamer"

           Y   "YAML"

           P   a plain dumper ("$ans" or "@ans")

           When creating the shell, the dump format is searched among the available ones in the
           order "D", "DD", "DDS", "Y" and "P". That means Data::Dump is preferred and will be
           used if available/installed. Otherwise, Data::Dumper is tried, and so on.

           Read more about dumpers at Shell::Perl::Dumper.

       :set ctx (scalar|list|void|s|l|v|$|@|_)
           Changes the default context used to evaluate the entered expression.  The default is
           'list'.

           Intuitively, 'scalar', 's' and '$' are synonyms, just like 'list', 'l', and '@' or
           'void', 'v', '_'.

           There is a nice way to override the default context in a given expression.  Just a '#'
           followed by one of 'scalar|list|void|s|l|v|$|@|_' at the end of the expression.

               pirl @> $var = 'a 1 2 3'; $var =~ /(\w+) (\d+) (\d+)/
               ("a", 1, 2)

               pirl @> $var = 'a 1 2 3'; $var =~ /(\w+) (\d+) (\d+)/ #scalar
               1

       :reset
           Resets the environment, erasing the symbols created at the current evaluation package.
           See the section "ABOUT EVALUATION".

   METHODS
       Remember this is an alpha version, so the API may change and that includes the methods
       documented here. So consider this section as implementation notes for a while.

       In later versions, some of these information may be promoted to a public status. Others
       may be hidden or changed and even disappear without further notice.

       new
               $sh = Shell::Version->new;

           The constructor.

       run_with_args
               Shell::Perl->run_with_args;

           Starts the read-eval-print loop after reading options from @ARGV. It is a class
           method.

           If an option -v or --version is provided, instead of starting the REPL, it prints the
           script identification and exits with 0.

              $ pirl -v
              This is pirl, version 0.0017 (bin/pirl, using Shell::Perl 0.0017)

       run
               $sh->run;

           The same as "run_with_args" but with no code for interpreting command-line arguments.
           It is an instance method, so that "Shell::Perl-"run_with_args> is kind of:

               Shell::Perl->new->run;

       eval
               $answer = $sh->eval($exp);
               @answer = $sh->eval($exp);

           Evaluates the user input given in $exp as Perl code and returns the result. That is
           the 'eval' part of the read-eval-print loop.

       print
               $sh->print(@args);

           Prints a list of args at the output stream currently used by the shell.

       help
               $sh->help;

           Outputs the help as provided by the command ":help".

       reset
               $sh->reset;

           Does nothing by now, but it will.

       dump_history
               $sh->dump_history();
               $sh->dump_history($file);

           Prints the readline history to "STDOUT" or the optional file.  Used to implement
           experimental command ":dump history".

           This is experimental code and should change in the future.  More control should be
           added and integrated with other terminal features.

       set_ctx
               $sh->set_ctx($context);

           Assigns to the current shell context. The argument must be one of " ( 'scalar',
           'list', 'void', 's', 'l', 'v', '$', '@', '_' ) ".

       set_package
               $sh->set_package($package);

           Changes current evaluation package. Doesn't change if the new package name is
           malformed.

       set_out
               $sh->set_out($dumper);

           Changes the current dumper used for printing the evaluation results. Actually must be
           one of "D" (for Data::Dump), "DD" (for Data::Dumper), "DDS" (for
           Data::Dump::Streamer), "Y" (for YAML) or "P" (for plain string interpolation).

       prompt_title
               $prompt = $sh->prompt_title;

           Returns the current prompt which changes with executable name and context. For
           example, "pirl @>", "pirl $>", and "pirl >".

       quit
               $sh->quit;

           This method is invoked when these commands and statements are parsed by the REPL:

               :q
               :quit
               :x
               :exit
               quit
               exit

           It runs the shutdown procedures for a smooth termination of the shell. For example, it
           saves the terminal history file.

GORY DETAILS

   ABOUT EVALUATION
       When the statement read is evaluated, this is done at a different package, which is
       "Shell::Perl::sandbox" by default.

       So:

           $ perl -Mlib=lib bin/pirl
           Welcome to the Perl shell. Type ':help' for more information

           pirl @> $a = 2;
           2

           pirl @> :set out Y # output in YAML

           pirl @> \%Shell::Perl::sandbox::
           ---
           BEGIN: !!perl/glob:
             PACKAGE: Shell::Perl::sandbox
             NAME: BEGIN
           a: !!perl/glob:
             PACKAGE: Shell::Perl::sandbox
             NAME: a
             SCALAR: 2

       This package serves as an environment for the current shell session and :reset can wipe it
       away.

           pirl @> :reset

           pirl @> \%Shell::Perl::sandbox::
           ---
           BEGIN: !!perl/glob:
             PACKAGE: Shell::Perl::sandbox
             NAME: BEGIN

TO DO

       There is a lot to do, as always. Some of the top priority tasks are:

       •   Accept multiline statements;.

       •   Refactor the code to promote easy customization of features.

SEE ALSO

       This project is hosted at Google Code:

           http://code.google.com/p/iperl/

       To know about interactive Perl interpreters, there are two FAQS contained in perlfaq3
       which are good starting points.  Those are

           How can I use Perl interactively?
           http://perldoc.perl.org/perlfaq3.html#How-can-I-use-Perl-interactively%3f

           Is there a Perl shell?
           http://perldoc.perl.org/perlfaq3.html#How-can-I-use-Perl-interactively%3f

       An extra list of Perl shells can be found here:

           http://www.focusresearch.com/gregor/document/psh-1.1.html#other_perl_shells

BUGS

       It is a one-line evaluator by now.

       I don't know what happens if you eval within an eval.  I don't expect good things to come.
       (Lorn who prodded me about this will going to find it out and then I will tell you.)

       There are some quirks with Term::Readline (at least on Windows).

       There are more bugs. I am lazy to collect them all and list them now.

       Please report bugs via CPAN RT <http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/Bugs.html?Dist=Shell-Perl> or
       <mailto://bugs-Shell-Perl@rt.cpan.org>.

AUTHORS

       Adriano R. Ferreira, <ferreira@cpan.org>

       Caio Marcelo, <cmarcelo@gmail.com>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

       Copyright (C) 2007aXX2011 by Adriano R. Ferreira

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