PM_WHICH(1p)

📦
version 1.09 · 3 versions
, in ubuntu noble, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 PM_WHICH(1p) — the tea on finding installed modules 💖

okay bestie, listen. this is a page from the User Contributed Perl Documentation, and it's about a lil tool called pm_which. she's not complicated, she's just ✨helpful✨, and by the end of this you're gonna be obsessed with her. no cap.

🌸 NAME 🌸

pm_which — find installed modules

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

pm_which [ options ] module(s)

Returns the path to the given module(s)

like literally that's it. you hand her modules, she hands you paths. queen behavior.

🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

  • -q, --quiet — just print paths, nothing else, no commentary, she's being mysterious 💅
  • -p, --paths — just convert the module name into a relative path
  • -a, --all — print all the paths, not just the first one found
  • -n, --namespace — print all modules in the given namespace
  • -m — only print module names, not paths
  • -V — show module version
  • -I libpath — add a path to search (like perl -I)
  • -d, --dump — dump paths that would be searched (@INC by default)
  • -h, --help — print this message
  • -v, --version — print version information
  • - — read modules from stdin, one per line

💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

this tool reports the locations of installed perl modules. that's the whole job, and she does it immaculately.

by default she lists the location of each specified module that would be loaded by require.

🦋 OPTION DETAILS 🦋

quiet 💤

under quiet mode, module names are suppressed and missing modules are not reported. so if you were emotionally attached to that "not found" text… sorry bestie, it's gone.

normal output:

$ pm_which Module::One Module::Two Missing::Module
Module::One     - /path/to/Module/One.pm
Module::Two     - /path/to/Module/Two.pm
Missing::Module - not found

under --quiet:

$ pm_which -q Module::One Module::Two Missing::Module
/path/to/Module/One.pm
/path/to/Module/Two.pm

see how the missing one just… vanishes? iconically unbothered. 🙈

paths 🛣️

in "paths" mode, each module is simply converted into a relative file path. this is possible even when the module is not installed — she's just doing math on the name, no filesystem required, it's giving genius fr fr.

$ pm_which -p Missing::Module
Missing/Module.pm

all 👑

when the "all" switch is specified, all installed modules will be reported, not just the first one. this is useful for determining when there is a module installed in multiple locations.

$ pm_which -a MyModule
/path/to/MyModule.pm
/home/me/perl/MyModule.pm

her range? unmatched. 💅

namespace 🌈

arguments are taken as namespaces to search under. so you say one thing and she brings you the whole friend group.

$ pm_which -n MyModule
MyModule            - /path/to/MyModule.pm
MyModule::Foo       - /path/to/MyModule/Foo.pm
MyModule::Foo::Bar  - /path/to/MyModule/Foo/Bar.pm

-m 🫶

disables printing of module paths. this is only really useful in conjunction with --namespace.

$ pm_which -nm MyModule
MyModule
MyModule::Foo
MyModule::Foo::Bar

just names, no paths, minimal, clean, a little bit demure lowkey.

-V ⭐

prints the version of each module, according to ExtUtils::MakeMaker.

$ pm_which -V MyModule
MyModule - /path/to/MyModule.pm [ 1.00 ]

$ pm_which -Vnm MyModule
MyModule [ 1.00 ]
MyModule::Foo [ 0.01 ]
MyModule::Foo::Bar [ undef ]

ok and notice [ undef ]? yeah. that module has no version and she is NOT going to pretend otherwise. honesty is the vibe. 😭

dump 🗑️✨

dumps the paths that would be searched and exits. this is @INC modified by any -I switches.

$ pm_which --dump
/usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.6
/usr/lib/perl5/vendor_perl/5.8.6
...

$ pm_which -I lib --dump -I blib/lib
lib
blib/lib
/usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.6
...

she peeks inside her own head and reads you the whole search list, then dips. main character exit. 🚪

version 🎀

prints the version number of the script, plus the version and path of Module::Util that was loaded.

💀 EXIT CODES 💀

  • 0 — everything was OK
  • 1 — initialisation failed (bad switches?)
  • 2 — some modules were not installed
bestie if you're scripting around this, actually check these. exit code 2 is her gently telling you some of your modules simply do not exist. not a crash, just the truth. 🫶

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

this utility comes with Module::Util. go say hi to her mom.

✍️ AUTHOR ✍️

Matt Lawrence <mattlaw@cpan.org>

one more thing ngl: this whole page is from perl v5.36.0 and it was dated 2022-10-13 — that's the source and the date, preserved forever like a little time capsule. 🎀

and that's the page, bestie. go find your modules. slay. ✨💖

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