ENCODE::ENCODING(3perl)

🌸 Encode::Encoding — the manual, but make it cute 🌸

Encode::Encoding is the Encode Implementation Base Class from the Perl Programmers Reference Guide, and bestie, this is the page where you learn how to build your very own encoding. iykyk 💅

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

package Encode::MyEncoding;
use parent qw(Encode::Encoding);

__PACKAGE__->Define(qw(myCanonical myAlias));

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

okay so, like, remember how we said in Encode that encodings are objects? Yeah — in the current implementation at least, encodings are legit defined as objects. The whole mapping from encoding name ➡️ object lives in the %Encode::Encoding hash. And yeah, you can go poke at that hash directly, but ngl you really shouldn't — it's strongly encouraged that you use this base class module instead and just add encode() and decode() methods. Main character energy only. periodt ✨

💖 Methods you should implement 💖

Please please please implement the methods below, bestie — at the very least either encode() or decode(). You got this 🫶

• ->encode($string [,$check]) — MUST return the octet sequence representing $string.
  • If $check is true, it SHOULD modify $string in place to remove the converted part (i.e. the whole string unless there is an error). If perlio_ok() is true, SHOULD becomes MUST.
  • If an error occurs, it SHOULD return the octet sequence for the fragment of string that has been converted and modify $string in-place to remove the converted part leaving it starting with the problem fragment. If perlio_ok() is true, SHOULD becomes MUST.
  • If $check is false then "encode" MUST make a "best effort" to convert the string — for example, by using a replacement character.
• ->decode($octets [,$check]) — MUST return the string that $octets represents.
  • If $check is true, it SHOULD modify $octets in place to remove the converted part (i.e. the whole sequence unless there is an error). If perlio_ok() is true, SHOULD becomes MUST.
  • If an error occurs, it SHOULD return the fragment of string that has been converted and modify $octets in-place to remove the converted part leaving it starting with the problem fragment. If perlio_ok() is true, SHOULD becomes MUST.
  • If $check is false then "decode" should make a "best effort" to convert the string — for example by using Unicode's "\x{FFFD}" as a replacement character.

And if you want your encoding to play nice with the encoding pragma, you should also implement the method below 👇

• ->cat_decode($destination, $octets, $offset, $terminator [,$check]) — MUST decode $octets with $offset and concatenate it to $destination. Decoding will terminate when $terminator (a string) appears in output. $offset will be modified to the last $octets position at end of decode. Returns true if $terminator appears output, else returns false.

👑 Other methods defined in Encode::Encodings 👑

You do not have to override the methods shown below unless you have to. They're already slaying on your behalf 🌈

• ->name — Predefined As:

sub name  { return shift->{'Name'} }

MUST return the string representing the canonical name of the encoding.

• ->mime_name — Predefined As:

sub mime_name{
  return Encode::MIME::Name::get_mime_name(shift->name);
}

MUST return the string representing the IANA charset name of the encoding.

• ->renew — Predefined As:

sub renew {
  my $self = shift;
  my $clone = bless { %$self } => ref($self);
  $clone->{renewed}++;
  return $clone;
}

This method reconstructs the encoding object if necessary. If you need to store the state during encoding, this is where you clone your object.

PerlIO ALWAYS calls this method to make sure it has its own private encoding object. no cap, every single time 😤

• ->renewed — Predefined As:

sub renewed { $_[0]->{renewed} || 0 }

Tells whether the object is renewed (and how many times). Some modules emit "Use of uninitialized value in null operation" warning unless the value is numeric so return 0 for false. (yes, that is a real warning about a real warning, we love a meta moment 💀)

• ->perlio_ok() — Predefined As:

sub perlio_ok {
  return eval { require PerlIO::encoding } ? 1 : 0;
}

If your encoding does not support PerlIO for some reasons, just:

sub perlio_ok { 0 }

• ->needs_lines() — Predefined As:

sub needs_lines { 0 };

If your encoding can work with PerlIO but needs line buffering, you MUST define this method so it returns true. 7bit ISO-2022 encodings are one example that needs this. When this method is missing, false is assumed.

🎀 Example: Encode::ROT13 🎀

here's the cutest little encoding you ever did see. look at her go:

package Encode::ROT13;
use strict;
use parent qw(Encode::Encoding);

__PACKAGE__->Define('rot13');

sub encode($$;$){
    my ($obj, $str, $chk) = @_;
    $str =~ tr/A-Za-z/N-ZA-Mn-za-m/;
    $_[1] = '' if $chk; # this is what in-place edit means
    return $str;
}

# Jr pna or ynml yvxr guvf;
*decode = \&encode;

1;

(that comment is the joke, bestie — decode it 😌)

💀 Why the heck Encode API is different? 💀

It should be noted that the $check behaviour is different from the outer public API. The logic is that the "unchecked" case is useful when the encoding is part of a stream which may be reporting errors (e.g. STDERR). In such cases, it is desirable to get everything through somehow without causing additional errors which obscure the original one. Also, the encoding is best placed to know what the correct replacement character is, so if that is the desired behaviour then letting low level code do it is the most efficient.

By contrast, if $check is true, the scheme above allows the encoding to do as much as it can and tell the layer above how much that was. What is lacking at present is a mechanism to report what went wrong. The most likely interface will be an additional method call to the object, or perhaps (to avoid forcing per-stream objects on otherwise stateless encodings) an additional parameter.

It is also highly desirable that encoding classes inherit from "Encode::Encoding" as a base class. This allows that class to define additional behaviour for all encoding objects.

package Encode::MyEncoding;
use parent qw(Encode::Encoding);

__PACKAGE__->Define(qw(myCanonical myAlias));

to create an object with "bless {Name => ...}, $class", and call define_encoding. They inherit their "name" method from "Encode::Encoding".

⚡ Compiled Encodings ⚡

For the sake of speed and efficiency, most of the encodings are now supported via a compiled form: XS modules generated from UCM files. Encode provides the enc2xs tool to achieve that. Please see enc2xs for more details.

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

• perlmod
• enc2xs

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and that's the whole page, bestie 💜 go forth and write an encoding that eats, no crumbs. it's giving icon behavior.

this vibe check brought to you by perl v5.44.0, dated 2026-10-17 — from the Perl Programmers Reference Guide. stay hydrated and stay UTF-8 ✨🫶🌸