POD::SIMPLE::RTF(3perl)

💖 Pod::Simple::RTF — the perl manual page, but make it cute ✨

okay so bestie, welcome to Pod::Simple::RTF (that's the 3perl section of the manual, iykyk) — consider this the group chat rundown 🫶

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✨ NAME ✨

Pod::Simple::RTF — it formats Pod as RTF. that's the whole vibe. 💅

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

like, here's how you actually use it from the command line:

perl -MPod::Simple::RTF -e \
 "exit Pod::Simple::RTF->filter(shift)->any_errata_seen" \
 thingy.pod > thingy.rtf

that's it. that's the whole thing. slay. ✨

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so this class is a formatter — it takes Pod and renders it as RTF, which is chef's kiss for viewing and printing in MSWord, WordPad/write.exe, TextEdit, etc. etc. no cap, it just works. 🎀

and the important part: this is a subclass of Pod::Simple, so it inherits all its methods. everything Pod::Simple can do, this baby can do too. main character energy fr fr. 👑

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💅 FORMAT CONTROL ATTRIBUTES 💅

okay so here's where it gets fun — you can set these attributes on the parser object before you call parse_file (or whatever similar method) on it. set them first, bestie, not after, that's the whole point. 🙈

• $parser->head1_halfpoint_size( halfpoint_integer );
• $parser->head2_halfpoint_size( halfpoint_integer );
• $parser->head3_halfpoint_size( halfpoint_integer );
• $parser->head4_halfpoint_size( halfpoint_integer );

these methods set the size that each heading level will appear as — and it's in half-points, like 52 for 26-point. yes, half-points. it's giving "why", but it's what we do. 😭

• $parser->codeblock_halfpoint_size( halfpoint_integer );

this one sets the size that codeblocks (aka "verbatim sections") will appear as. again in half-points — like 21 for 10.5-point. 🌈

• $parser->header_halfpoint_size( halfpoint_integer );

sets the size that the header on each page will appear in — half-points again, like 15 for 7.5-point. and the header is usually just "modulename p. pagenumber". that's it, that's the header. 💜

• $parser->normal_halfpoint_size( halfpoint_integer );

sets the size for normal paragraphic text. half-points, like 26 for 13-point. the classic. the default. the moment. ⭐

• $parser->no_proofing_exemptions( true_or_false );

set this to true if you don't want the formatter trying to slap a hidden code on all the Perl symbols it can spot — the one that labels them as "not English, don't spellcheck this". so like, true = no exemptions, the spellchecker can come for your $variables if it wants. bold move. 🔥

• $parser->doc_lang( microsoft_decimal_language_code )

this sets the language code that this document gets tagged as being in. by default it's currently the value of the environment variable RTFDEFLANG — or, if that's not set, then the value 1033 (which is US English, hi 🇺🇸).

setting this properly is genuinely useful if you want to use the RTF to spellcheck, and/or if you want it to hyphenate right. so like, do it. 🧚

here are some notable values, bestie:

1033  US English
2057  UK English
3081  Australia English
4105  Canada English
1034  Spain Spanish
2058  Mexico Spanish
1031  Germany German
1036  France French
3084  Canada French
1035  Finnish
1044  Norwegian (Bokmal)
2068  Norwegian (Nynorsk)

if you are particularly interested in customizing this module's output even more — like, extra obsessed — see the source and/or write to me. the source is right there. go read it. 💖

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👀 SEE ALSO 👀

Pod::Simple, RTF::Writer, RTF::Cookbook, RTF::Document, RTF::Generator — go look at them, they're iconic. ✨

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🫶 SUPPORT 🫶

got questions or want to discuss POD and Pod::Simple? send them to the pod-people@perl.org mail list. and to subscribe, send an empty email to pod-people-subscribe@perl.org. empty, bestie. nothing in it. 🙈

this module is managed in an open GitHub repository, <https://github.com/perl-pod/pod-simple/>. feel free to fork and contribute, or clone <https://github.com/perl-pod/pod-simple.git> and send patches! 🌈

patches against Pod::Simple are welcome. please send bug reports to <bug-pod-simple@rt.cpan.org>.

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📜 COPYRIGHT AND DISCLAIMERS 📜

Copyright (c) 2002 Sean M. Burke.

this library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

this program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but without any warranty; without even the implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. so like, no promises. 💀

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👑 AUTHOR 👑

Pod::Simple was created by Sean M. Burke <sburke@cpan.org>. but don't bother him, he's retired. let the man rest. 😌

Pod::Simple is maintained by:

• Allison Randal "allison@perl.org"
• Hans Dieter Pearcey "hdp@cpan.org"
• David E. Wheeler "dwheeler@cpan.org"

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and that's the whole page, babe — huge thank you to perl v5.44.0 and the date 2026-10-17 for making this Pod::Simple::RTF(3perl) moment possible. read it, use it, format your Pod as RTF, and go off. periodt. 💖✨🎀🦋