Day 23: IO::All can do it all :)

Look at the impressive synopsis:

use IO::All;
# Some of the many ways to read a whole file into a scalar
io('file.txt') > $contents;         # Overloaded "arrow"
$contents < io 'file.txt';          # Flipped but same operation
$io = io 'file.txt';                # Create a new IO::All object
$contents = $$io;                   # Overloaded scalar dereference
$contents = $io->all;               # A method to read everything
$contents = $io->slurp;             # Another method for that
$contents = join '', $io->getlines; # Join the separate lines
$contents = join '', map "$_\n", @$io; # Same. Overloaded array deref
$io->tie;                           # Tie the object as a handle
$contents = join '', <$io>;         # And use it in builtins
# Other file operations:
@lines = io('file.txt')->slurp;         # List context slurp
$content > io('file.txt');              # Print to a file
io('file.txt')->print($content, $more); # (ditto)
$content >> io('file.txt');             # Append to a file
io('file.txt')->append($content);       # (ditto)
$content << $io;                        # Append to a string
io('copy.txt') < io('file.txt');        # Copy a file
io('file.txt') > io('copy.txt');        # Invokes File::Copy
io('more.txt') >> io('all.txt');        # Add on to a file
...
# Miscellaneous:
@lines = io('file.txt')->chomp->slurp;  # Chomp as you slurp
$binary = io('file.bin')->binary->all;  # Read a binary file
io('a-symlink')->readlink->slurp;       # Readlink returns an object
print io('foo')->absolute->pathname;    # Print absolute path of foo
# IO::All External Plugin Methods
io("myfile") > io->("ftp://store.org"); # Upload a file using ftp
$html < io->http("www.google.com");     # Grab a web page
io('mailto:worst@enemy.net')->print($spam); # Email a "friend"

IO::All combines a lot of Perl's IO modules into one package. It is very expressive and terse at the same time. This is handy in one liners or small "throw away" scripts. Like Scalar::Andand (day 10) I would not use it in production code.

Links:

• IO::All (distribution)
• IO::All (documentation)

PS: Originally I wanted to write about Chart::Clicker, but installation problems delayed it. Now I'm glad - I found this extensive article today: Charting Weather with Chart::Clicker.