App::C...d::meta(3pm)

📦
version 2.027 · 5 versions
, in ubuntu resolute

💖 App::C...d::meta — the manual page, but make it make sense 💖

okay bestie, gather round 🫶 this is the User Contributed Perl Documentation page for App::C...d::meta(3pm), and we're gonna get through it together. grab a snack. it's giving "learn a thing" energy.

✨ NAME ✨

App::Cme::Command::meta — Work on the configuration model of an application

🎀 VERSION 🎀

version 2.027 — yeah she's got a number, respect it 💅

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

the three ways to call her, literally right here:

# edit meta model
cme meta [ options ] edit [ model_class ]

# check meta model
cme meta [ options ] check [ model_class ]

# model plugin mode
cme meta [options] plugin application plugin_name

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so cme meta edit hands you a Perl/Tk graphical interface — yes, a whole GUI, slay — where you can create or edit configuration models that Config::Model is gonna use. 👑

and like, what does that get you? it lets you build your very own configuration checker or editor for the configuration files of an application. that's the whole point. iconic.

🌈 USAGE 🌈

cme meta is a girl with range — she supports several sub commands, like edit and plugin. let's go through them one by one, no skimming, we don't do that here.

✏️ edit

cme meta edit is the most useful sub command, fr fr. she will read and write model files from the ./lib/Config/Model/models directory. 📂

only the configuration models that match the optional 4th parameter get loaded. like, for example:

cme meta edit Xorg

this loads the models Xorg (file Xorg.pl) and every other Xorg::* model, like Xorg::Screen (file Xorg/Screen.pl). the whole friend group, basically.

besides edit, the following sub commands are available:

🔍 check

cme meta check reads the model files from the ./lib/Config/Model/models directory and checks their validity. it's the vibe check for your models. ✅

🧩 plugin

this sub command creates model plugins. and a model plugin? it's an addendum to an existing model. the resulting file gets saved in a .d directory besides the original file, so it actually gets taken into account. sneaky but legal. 💅

for instance:

$ cme meta plugin dpkg my-plugin
# perform additions to Dpkg and Dpkg::Control and save
$ find lib/Config/Model/models/Dpkg.d -type f
lib/Config/Model/models/Debian/Dpkg.d/my-plugin/Dpkg.pl
lib/Config/Model/models/Debian/Dpkg.d/my-plugin/Dpkg/Control.pl

and heads up bestie — use the -dev option if you need to add plugins to a model that's chillin' in the current directory. 🫶

🎯 gen-dot [ file.dot ]

creates a dot file that represents the structure of the configuration model. by default, the generated dot file is called model.dot. ✨

$ cme meta gen-dot Itself itself.dot
$ dot -T png itself.dot > itself.png

okay so how do you read it:

  • include is represented by solid lines
  • class usage (i.e. the config_class_name parameter) is represented by dashed lines
  • and the name of the element is attached to the dashed line

📦 dump [ file.cds ]

dumps configuration content into the specified file (or model.cds) using Config::Model dump string syntax — hence the cds file extension, iykyk. see Config::Model::Loader for details on the syntax. 😌

by default, dump only dumps custom values, i.e. the ones that are different from application built-in values or model default values. want other kinds of dump? go look at the -dumptype option. 👀

$ cme meta dump Itself

🍓 dump-yaml [ file.yml ]

dumps configuration content into the specified file (or model.yml) in YAML format.

for instance:

$ cme meta dump-yaml Ssh::PortForward contrib/ssh-portforward.yml

💾 save

force a save of the model even if no edition was done. this one's genuinely useful — it helps you migrate a model when a Config::Model model feature changes. the glow-up button. ✨

💅 Options 💅

every single one, bestie, no skipping:

  • -system — read model from system files, i.e. from installed files, not from the ./lib directory.
  • -trace — provides a full stack trace when exiting on error. so when it all falls apart, at least you get receipts. 💀
  • -load <cds_file_to_load> | - — load model from a cds file (using Config::Model serialisation format, typically done with the -dump option). this option can be used with save to directly save a model loaded from the cds file, or from STDIN.
  • -load-yaml <yaml_file_to_load> | - — load configuration data into the model from a YAML file. this option can be used with save to directly save a model loaded from a YAML file, or from STDIN.
  • -force-load — load the file even if errors are found in the data. bad data gets loaded, but it should be cleaned up before saving the model. see the File -> check menu in the GUI.
⚠️ okay real talk: -force-load will let the messy data in. clean it up before you save, or you're gonna have a bad time. 😭
  • -dumptype [ full | preset | custom ] — choose to dump every value (full), only preset values, or only customized values (that's the default). only for the dump sub command.
  • -open-item 'path' — in graphical mode, force the UI to open the specified node. e.g.
-open_item 'class:Fstab::FsLine element:fs_mntopts rules'

📝 LOGGING 📝

all Config::Model logging was moved from klunky debug and verbose prints over to Log::Log4perl. glow-up. ✨ logging can be configured in the following files:

  • ~/.log4config-model
  • /etc/log4config-model.conf

without these files, the following Log4perl config is used:

log4perl.logger=WARN, Screen
log4perl.appender.Screen        = Log::Log4perl::Appender::Screen
log4perl.appender.Screen.stderr = 0
log4perl.appender.Screen.layout = Log::Log4perl::Layout::PatternLayout
log4perl.appender.Screen.layout.ConversionPattern = %d %m %n

Log4Perl categories are shown in LOGGING in cme. 🔥

🐶 Dogfooding 🐶

okay this part is so funny to me. the GUI shown by cme meta edit is created from a configuration model that describes the structure and parameters of a configuration model. that's why she's called Itself. this module could also have been named Config::Model::DogFooding. she contains multitudes. 👑

this also explains why the GUI shown by cme meta edit looks like the GUI shown by cme edit — same GUI generator, same vibe, different day. 🌈

and if you're new to Config::Model, I'd advise not to peek under the Config::Model::Itself hood lest you loose your sanity. 😭 for real, protect your peace.

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Dominique Dumont, ddumont at cpan dot org

🫶 SEE ALSO 🫶

  • Config::Model::Manual::ModelCreationIntroduction
  • cme,
  • Config::Model,
  • Config::Model::Itself,
  • Config::Model::Node,
  • Config::Model::Instance,
  • Config::Model::HashId,
  • Config::Model::ListId,
  • Config::Model::WarpedNode,
  • Config::Model::Value

💜 AUTHOR 💜

Dominique Dumont

this software is Copyright (c) 2007-2026 by Dominique Dumont.

this is free software, licensed under:

The GNU Lesser General Public License, Version 2.1, February 1999

and that's the whole page bestie 🎀 this doc shipped with perl v5.40.1, dated 2026-03-10, and it lives at App::C...d::meta(3pm). go forth and model your configs. periodt. 💅✨

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