File::Find::Object - An object oriented File::Find replacement

- NAME
- SYNOPSIS
- DESCRIPTION
- FUNCTIONS
  - new
    - options
  - next
  - item
  - next_obj
  - item_obj
  - $ff->set_traverse_to([@children])
  - $ff->prune()
  - [@children] = $ff->get_traverse_to()
  - [@files] = $ff->get_current_node_files_list()
- BUGS
- SEE ALSO
- LICENSE

# NAME

File::Find::Object - An object oriented File::Find replacement

# SYNOPSIS

        use File::Find::Object;
        my $tree = File::Find::Object->new({}, @targets);

        while (my $r = $tree->next()) {
            print $r ."\n";
        }

# DESCRIPTION

File::Find::Object does the same job as File::Find but works like an object and with an iterator. As File::Find is not object oriented, one cannot perform multiple searches in the same application. The second problem of File::Find is its file processing: after starting its main loop, one cannot easily wait for another event and so get the next result.

With File::Find::Object you can get the next file by calling the next() function, but setting a callback is still possible.

# FUNCTIONS

## new

        my $ffo = File::Find::Object->new( { options }, @targets);

Create a new File::Find::Object object. `@targets` is the list of directories or files which the object should explore.

### options

depth

  Boolean - returns the directory content before the directory itself.

nocrossfs

  Boolean - doesn't continue on filesystems different than the parent.

followlink

  Boolean - follow symlinks when they point to a directory.

  You can safely set this option to true as File::Find::Object does not follow the link if it detects a loop.

filter

  Function reference - should point to a function returning TRUE or FALSE. This function is called with the filename to filter, if the function return FALSE, the file is skipped.

callback

  Function reference - should point to a function, which would be called each time a new file is returned. The function is called with the current filename as an argument.

## next

Returns the next file found by the File::Find::Object. It returns undef once the scan is completed.

## item

Returns the current filename found by the File::Find::Object object, i.e: the last value returned by next().

## next_obj

Like next() only returns the result as a convenient File::Find::Object::Result object. `$ff->next()` is equivalent to `$ff->next_obj()->path()`.

## item_obj

Like item() only returns the result as a convenient File::Find::Object::Result object. `$ff->item()` is equivalent to `$ff->item_obj()->path()`.

## $ff->set_traverse_to([@children])

Sets the children to traverse to from the current node. Useful for pruning items to traverse.

Accepts a single array reference.

Example:

        $ff->set_traverse_to([ grep { ! /\A\./ } @{ $ff->get_traverse_to }]);

## $ff->prune()

Prunes the current directory. Equivalent to $ff->set_traverse_to([]).

## [@children] = $ff->get_traverse_to()

Retrieves the children that will be traversed to. Returns a single array reference.

(Example under `set_traverse_to`).

## [@files] = $ff->get_current_node_files_list()

Gets all the files that appear in the current directory. This value remains constant for every node, even after traversal or calls to `set_traverse_to()` and is useful to use as the basis of the argument for `set_traverse_to()`.

Returns a single array reference.

# BUGS

No bugs are known, but it doesn't mean there aren't any.

# SEE ALSO

There's an article about this module in the Perl Advent Calendar of 2006: http://perladvent.pm.org/2006/2/.

File::Find is the core module for traversing files in perl, which has several limitations.

File::Next, File::Find::Iterator, File::Walker and the unmaintained File::FTS are alternatives to this module.

# LICENSE

Copyright (C) 2005, 2006 by Olivier Thauvin

This package is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the following terms:

1. The GNU General Public License Version 2.0 - http://www.opensource.org/licenses/gpl-license.php

2. The Artistic License Version 2.0 - http://www.perlfoundation.org/legal/licenses/artistic-2_0.html

3. At your option - any later version of either or both of these licenses.

File::Find::Object - An object oriented File::Find replacement