Exec(3pm)

💖 NAME 💖

okay so Filter::Util::Exec — it's an exec source filter, bestie. that's it, that's the whole vibe. it's a Perl module (you can tell bc it's the Exec(3pm) page, iykyk) 💅

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

use Filter::Util::Exec;

that's literally all you need to get in the door 🫶

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so this module, right? it provides the interface that lets you create Source Filters that run off a Unix coprocess. like, the source filter plumbing, and the Unix coprocess is the engine underneath. periodt. 🔥

want to see it in action? go peek at these iconic queens:

• Filter::exec
• Filter::cpp
• Filter::sh

they're all examples of using this module. real ones fr fr 💜

⚠️ heads up bestie — the size of the buffers is limited to 32-bit. not big. not huge. 32-bit. know that before you start throwing megabytes at it 😭

🌸 filter_add() 🌸

this function, filter_add, is the one that installs a filter. iconic behavior honestly. ✨

it takes one parameter, and that parameter should be a reference. and here's the tea — the kind of reference you hand it decides which of the two filter types you get. it's giving choose-your-own-adventure but for filtering. 🎀

• if you pass in a CODE reference, then a closure filter is assumed. slay.
• if you do not pass in a CODE reference, then a method filter is assumed. different vibe, still valid. 💅

and the method filter girlies get a lil bonus: in a method filter, the reference can be used to store context information. then that reference gets blessed into the package by filter_add. yes she gets a glow-up and a whole package to live in 👑

want examples of using context information with both method filters and closure filters? go check out Filter::Util::Call. it has receipts. 🧚

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👑 AUTHOR 👑

Paul Marquess — the one and only, the main character who wrote this 💖

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🌈 DATE 🌈

11th December 1995. a whole legend. a pioneer. we stan. ⭐

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okay so that's the whole page bestie, go filter some source and be great 🦋✨

perl v5.42.3 · 2026-08-19 · mwah, bye, don't forget to use her 💜🙈