User::I...::Plain(3)

📦

version 4.00 · 9 versions

💖 User::I...::Plain(3) 💖

okay so bestie, you're looking at User::I...::Plain(3) — the manual page for the plain-text archiver of user identities. it's giving "i just want a simple file to store my friends' info" and honestly? slay. let's get into it. ✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

User::Identity::Archive::Plain — simple, plain text archiver

🦋 INHERITANCE 🦋

 User::Identity::Archive::Plain
   is a User::Identity::Archive
   is a User::Identity::Item

so it's a whole family tree, and this module is the cute little leaf at the bottom. periodt. 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

 use User::Identity::Archive::Plain;
 my $friends = User::Identity::Archive::Plain->new('friends');
 $friends->from(\*FH);
 $friends->from('.friends');

like, literally just make a new one, then read from a filehandle or a filename. easy. 🫶

🌈 DESCRIPTION 🌈

This archiver, which extends User::Identity::Archive, uses a very simple plain text file to store the information of users. The syntax is described in the DETAILS section, below.

Extends "DESCRIPTION" in User::Identity::Archive.

no cap, it's just text. your fave notes app could never. 😭

🎀 OVERLOADED 🎀

Extends "OVERLOADED" in User::Identity::Archive.

💜 METHODS 💜

Extends "METHODS" in User::Identity::Archive.

👑 Constructors 👑

Extends "Constructors" in User::Identity::Archive.

$class->new( [$name], %options )

here's the whole options menu, bestie. defaults and all. i'm not skipping a single crumb:

 -Option       --Defined in             --Default
  abbreviations                           []
  description    User::Identity::Item     undef
  from           User::Identity::Archive  undef
  name           User::Identity::Item     <required>
  only                                    []
  parent         User::Identity::Item     undef
  tabstop                                 8

now let's break each one down so you know exactly what you're ordering:

abbreviations => HASH|ARRAY — Adds a set of abbreviations for collections to the syntax of the plain text archiver. See section "Simplified class names" for a list of predefined names.
description => STRING — your lil description, carried over from the parent.
from => $filehandle|$file — where to read from, also from the parent.
name => STRING — the name. this one is <required>, so don't forget it or it's giving error energy.
only => \@abbrevs|$abbrev — Lists the only information (as (LIST of) abbreviations) which should be read. Other information is removed before even checking whether it is a valid abbreviation or not.
parent => OBJECT — the parent object, inherited.
tabstop => INTEGER — Sets the default tab-stop width.

🦄 Attributes 🦄

Extends "Attributes" in User::Identity::Archive.

$obj->abbreviation( $name, [$class] ) — Returns the class which is capable of storing information which is grouped as $name. With $class argument, you add (or overrule) the definitions of an abbreviation. The $class is automatically loaded.

If $class is "undef", then the abbreviation is deleted. The class name which is deleted is returned.

$obj->abbreviations() — Returns a sorted list of all names which are known as abbreviations.
$obj->defaultTabStop( [$integer] ) — Returns the width of a tab, optionally after setting it. This must be the same as set in your editor.
$obj->description() — Inherited, see "Attributes" in User::Identity::Item
$obj->name( [$newname] ) — Inherited, see "Attributes" in User::Identity::Item

🍓 Collections 🍓

Extends "Collections" in User::Identity::Archive.

$obj->add($collection, $role) — Inherited, see "Collections" in User::Identity::Item
$obj->addCollection( $object | <[$type], %options> ) — Inherited, see "Collections" in User::Identity::Item
$obj->collection($name) — Inherited, see "Collections" in User::Identity::Item
$obj->parent( [$parent] ) — Inherited, see "Collections" in User::Identity::Item
$obj->removeCollection($object|$name) — Inherited, see "Collections" in User::Identity::Item
$any->type() — Inherited, see "Collections" in User::Identity::Item
$obj->user() — Inherited, see "Collections" in User::Identity::Item

🔍 Searching 🔍

Extends "Searching" in User::Identity::Archive.

$obj->find($collection, $role) — Inherited, see "Searching" in User::Identity::Item

📂 Access to the archive 📂

Extends "Access to the archive" in User::Identity::Archive.

$obj->from( <$fh|$filename|ARRAY>, %options ) — Read the plain text information from the specified $fh, $filename, STRING, or "ARRAY" of lines. Improves base, see "Access to the archive" in User::Identity::Archive

options for this one:

 -Option --Default
  tabstop  <default from object>

tabstop => INTEGER — sets the tabstop, obviously. defaults to whatever the object already has.

🧚 DETAILS 🧚

💫 The Plain Archiver Format 💫

🌟 Simplified class names 🌟

It is too much work to specify full class named on each spot where you want to create a new object with data. Therefore, abbreviations are introduced. Use new(abbreviations) or abbreviations() to add extra abbreviations or to overrule some predefined.

Predefined names:

 user         User::Identity
 email        Mail::Identity
 location     User::Identity::Location
 system       User::Identity::System
 list         User::Identity::Collection::Emails

It would have been nicer to refer to a person in stead of a user, however that would add to the confusion with the name-space.

🌸 Indentation says all 🌸

The syntax is as simple as possible. An extra indentation on a line means that the variable or class is a collection within the class on the line before.

 user markov
   location home
      country NL
   email home
      address  mark@overmeer.net
      location home
   email work
      address  solutions@overmeer.bet

 email tux
    address tux@fish.net

The above defines two items: one User::Identity named "markov", and an e-mail address "tux". The user has two collections: one contains a single location, and one stores two e-mail addresses.

To add to the confusion: the "location" is defined as field in "email" and as collection. The difference is easily detected: if there are indented fields following the line it is a collection. Mistakes will in most cases result in an error message.

🦋 Long lines 🦋

If you want to continue on the next line, because your content is too large, then add a backslash to the end, like this:

 email home
    description This is my home address,     \
                But I sometimes use this for \
                work as well
    address tux@fish.aq

Continuations do not play the game of indentation, so what you also can do is:

 email home
    description               \
 This is my home address,     \
 But I sometimes use this for \
 work as well
    address tux@fish.aq

The fields "comment" and "address" must be correctly indented. The line terminations are lost, which is useful for most fields. However, if you need them, you have to check the description of the applicable field.

💬 Comments 💬

You may add comments and white spaces. Comments start with a '#' as first non-blank character on the line. Comments are not allowed on the same line as real data, as some languages (like Perl) permit.

You can insert comments and blank lines on all places where you need them:

 user markov

    # my home address
    email home

       # useless comment statement
       address tux@fish.aq
       location #mind_the_hash

is equivalent to:

 user markov
    email home
       address tux@fish.aq
       location #mind_the_hash

🔗 References 🔗

Often you will have the need to add the same information to two items, for instance, multiple people share the same address. In this case, you can create a reference. However, this is only permitted for whole items: you can refer to someone's location, but not to the person's street.

To create a reference to an item of someone else, use

 user markov
    location home = user(cleo).location(home)
    location work
       organization   MARKOV Solutions

⚙️ Configuration parameters ⚙️

You can add some configuration lines as well. On the moment, the only one defined is

 tabstop = 4

which can be used to change the meaning of tabs in the file. The default setting is 8, but some people prefer 4 (or other values).

🚨 DIAGNOSTICS 🚨

Error: cannot load collection module for $type ($class): $@ — Either the specified $type does not exist, or that module named $class returns compilation errors. If the type as specified in the warning is not the name of a package, you specified a nickname which was not defined. Maybe you forgot the 'require' the package which defines the nickname. Cast by addCollection()
Error: cannot read archive from a $type. — Cast by from()
Fault: cannot read archive from file $file: $! — Cast by from()
Error: nvalid collection $name. — The collection with $name does not exist and can not be created. Cast by add()
Warning: option 'only' specifies undefined abbreviation '$abbrev'. — Cast by new()
Info: reading archive data from $source. — Cast by from()
Error: this $object is not a collection. — Cast by addCollection()

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

This module is part of User-Identity version 4.00, built on December 12, 2025. Website: http://perl.overmeer.net/CPAN/

📜 LICENSE 📜

For contributors see file ChangeLog.

This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.

and that's the whole vibe, bestie. this was User::I...::Plain(3) from perl v5.42.0, dated 2026-01-17. go forth and archive your friends in plain text. mwah. 💅✨🫶

📦 where this page comes from

fedora 44: perl-User-Identity 4.00-2.fc44 · GPL-1.0-or-later OR Artistic-1.0-Perl
💖 girlified by deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash on 2026-10-14: a language model's rewrite of the original, under its terms