Ah, I figured it was trying to process rc files from _other_ applications.
Perhaps Parse::PlainConfig. Seems more natural to me that 'RCfile', especially given the existance of Parse::PerlConfig. Tim. On Mon, Jan 07, 2002 at 07:24:13AM -0900, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > On Sun, 6 Jan 2002, Tim Bunce wrote: > > > But different programs may have different syntax or semantics for their .<prog>rc > > files. > > I realise that, but that's not what I'm getting at. What I am proposing is > a companion to Parse::PerlConfig. With that module you can parse > configuration files that are actually valid Perl code. While that's useful, > it's hardly user-friendly. Parse::RCfile would allow the parsing and > generation of *human-readable* files which would be much more forgiving in > syntax, and hence, more user-friendly to non-programmers. > > The only reason why I proposed this is because you guys accepted > Parse::PerlConfig. This serves the same purpose, just with a differently > syntactical goal. > > Yes, this module is does require a specific syntax. That's not the question. > The question is will developers benefit from having a prebuilt > parser/generator that uses a syntax that typical users will find easier to > use? I don't see a module that fills that need on CPAN, unless I'm missing > something. > > A little background information: the author of Parse::PerlConfig and I both > wrote our modules in parallel, having worked together. For our applications, > we wrote a wrapper that allowed you to select what RC style you wanted to use > for your RC files -- "Perl" or "Plain". For those applications that needed > very complex data structures, or even subroutines defined with the RC file, > we'd use Parse::PerlConfig. For those apps that needed to be user friendly, > and didn't need that level of complexity, we'd use RCfile. The wrapper would > select the appropriate module support and return the parsed information > accordingly. It even allowed for a single application to use either style, > using environment variables to determine which style it should attempt to > parse. > > I just never got around to submitting the module until now. But perhaps now > you know understand where I was headed with this. > > --Arthur Corliss > Bolverk's Lair -- http://arthur.corlissfamily.org/ > Digital Mages -- http://www.digitalmages.com/ > "Live Free or Die, the Only Way to Live" -- NH State Motto >
