NAME
Config::Merge - load a configuration directory tree containing YAML,
JSON, XML, Perl, INI or Config::General files
SYNOPSIS
OO style
-------------------------------------------------------
use Config::Merge();
my $config = Config::Merge->new('/path/to/config');
@hosts = $config->('db.hosts.session');
$hosts_ref = $config->('db.hosts.session');
@cloned_hosts = $config->clone('db.hosts.session');
-------------------------------------------------------
OR
Functional style
-------------------------------------------------------
# On startup
use Config::Merge('My::Config' => '/path/to/config');
# Then, in any module where you want to use the config
package My::Module;
use My::Config;
@hosts = C('db.hosts.sesssion');
$hosts_ref = C('db.hosts.sesssion');
@cloned_hosts = My::Config::clone('db.hosts.session');
$config = My::Config::object;
-------------------------------------------------------
ADVANCED USAGE
OO style
-------------------------------------------------------
my $config = Config::Merge->new(
path => '/path/to/config',
skip => sub {} | regex | {} ,
is_local => sub {} | regex | {} ,
load_as => sub {} | regex ,
sort => sub {} ,
debug => 1 | 0
);
-------------------------------------------------------
Functional style
-------------------------------------------------------
use Config::Merge(
'My::Config' => '/path/to/config',
{
skip => sub {} | regex | {} ,
is_local => sub {} | regex | {} ,
load_as => sub {} | regex ,
sort => sub {} ,
debug => 1 | 0
}
);
# Also, you can subclass these:
package My::Config;
sub skip {
...
}
-------------------------------------------------------
DESCRIPTION
Config::Merge is a configuration module which has six goals:
* Flexible storage
Store all configuration in your format(s) of choice (YAML, JSON, INI,
XML, Perl, Config::General / Apache-style config) broken down into
individual files in a configuration directory tree, for easy
maintenance. See "CONFIG TREE LAYOUT"
* Flexible access
Provide a simple, easy to read, concise way of accessing the
configuration values (similar to Template). See "ACCESSING CONFIG
DATA"
* Minimal maintenance
Specify the location of the configuration files only once per
application, so that it requires minimal effort to relocate. See
"USING Config::Merge"
* Easy to alter development environment
Provide a way for overriding configuration values on a development
machine, so that differences between the dev environment and the live
environment do not get copied over accidentally. See "OVERRIDING
CONFIG LOCALLY"
* Minimise memory use
Load all config at startup so that (eg in the mod_perl environment)
the data is shared between all child processes. See "MINIMISING
MEMORY USE"
* Flexible implementation
You may want to use a different schema for your configuration files,
so you can pass in (or subclass) methods for determining how your
files are merged. See "ADVANCED USAGE".
USING Config::Merge
There are two ways to use Config::Merge:
OO STYLE
use Config::Merge();
my $config = Config::Merge->new('/path/to/config');
@hosts = $config->('db.hosts.session');
$hosts_ref = $config->('db.hosts.session');
@cloned_hosts = $config->clone('db.hosts.session');
Also, see "ADVANCED USAGE".
YOUR OWN CONFIG CLASS (functional style)
The following code:
# On startup
use Config::Merge('My::Config' => '/path/to/config');
* auto-generates the class My::Config
* loads the configuration data in '/path/to/config'
* creates the subs My::Config::C, My::Config::clone and
My::Config::object.
Then when you want your application to have access to your
configuration data, you add this (eg in your class My::Module):
package My::Module;
use My::Config; # Note, no ()
This exports the sub C into your current package, which allows you to
access your configuation data as follows:
@hosts = C('db.hosts.sesssion');
$hosts_ref = C('db.hosts.sesssion');
@cloned_hosts = My::Config::clone('db.hosts.session');
$config = My::Config::object;
CONFIG TREE LAYOUT
Config::Merge reads the data from any number (and type) of config files
stored in a directory tree. File names and directory names are used as
keys in the configuration hash.
It uses file extensions to decide what type of data the file contains,
so:
YAML : .yaml .yml
JSON : .json .jsn
XML : .xml
INI : .ini
Perl : .perl .pl
Config::General : .conf .cnf
When loading your config data, Config::Merge starts at the directory
specified at startup (see "USING Config::Merge") and looks through all
the sub-directories for files ending in one of the above extensions.
The name of the file or subdirectory is used as the first key. So:
global/
db.yaml:
username : admin
hosts:
- host1
- host2
password:
host1: password1
host2: password2
would be loaded as :
$Config = {
global => {
db => {
username => 'admin',
password => { host1 => 'password1', host2 => 'password2'},
hosts => ['host1','host2'],
}
}
}
Subdirectories are processed before the current directory, so you can
have a directory and a config file with the same name, and the values
will be merged into a single hash, so for instance, you can have:
confdir:
syndication/
--data_types/
--traffic.yaml
--headlines.yaml
--data_types.ini
syndication.conf
The config items in syndication.conf will be added to (or overwrite)
the items loaded into the syndication namespace via the subdirectory
called syndication.
OVERRIDING CONFIG LOCALLY
The situation often arises where it is necessary to specify different
config values on different machines. For instance, the database host on
a dev machine may be different from the host on the live application.
Also, see "ADVANCED USAGE" which provides you with other means to merge
local data.
Instead of changing this data during dev and then having to remember to
change it back before putting the new code live, we have a mechanism
for overriding config locally in a local.* file and then, as long as
that file never gets uploaded to live, you are protected.
You can put a file called local.* (where * is any of the recognised
extensions) in any sub-directory, and the data in this file will be
merged with the existing data.
Just make sure that the local.* files are never checked into your live
code.
For instance, if we have:
confdir:
db.yaml
local.yaml
and db.yaml has :
connections:
default_settings:
host: localhost
table: abc
password: 123
And in local.yaml:
db:
connections:
default_settings:
password: 456
the resulting configuration will look like this:
db:
connections:
default_settings:
host: localhost
table: abc
password: 456
ACCESSING CONFIG DATA
All configuration data is loaded into a single hash, eg:
$config = {
db => {
hosts => {
session => ['host1','host2','host3'],
images => ['host1','host2','host3'],
etc...
}
}
}
If you want to access it via standard Perl dereferences, you can just
ask for the hash:
OO:
$data_ref = $config->();
$hosts_ref = $data_ref->{db}{hosts}{session};
$host_1 = $data_ref->{db}{hosts}{session}[0];
Functional:
$data_ref = C();
$hosts_ref = $data_ref->{db}{hosts}{session};
$host_1 = $data_ref->{db}{hosts}{session}[0];
However, Config::Merge also provides an easy to read dot-notation in
the style of Template Toolkit: ('key1.key2.keyn').
A key can be the key of a hash or the index of an array. The return
value is context sensitive, so if called in list context, a hash ref or
array ref will be dereferenced.
OO:
@hosts = $config->('db.hosts.session');
$hosts_ref = $config->('db.hosts.session');
$host_1 = $config->('db.hosts.session.0');
Functional:
@hosts = C('db.hosts.session');
$hosts_ref = C('db.hosts.session');
$host_1 = C('db.hosts.session.0');
These lookups are memo'ised, so lookups are fast.
If the specified key is not found, then an error is thrown.
MINIMISING MEMORY USE
The more configuration data you load, the more memory you use. In order
to keep the memory use as low as possible for mod_perl (or other
forking applications), the configuration data should be loaded at
startup in the parent process.
As long as the data is never changed by the children, the configuration
hash will be stored in shared memory, rather than there being a
separate copy in each child process.
(See
http://search.cpan.org/~pgollucci/mod_perl-2.0.3/docs/user/performance/mpm.pod)
METHODS
new()
$conf = Config::Merge->new($config_dir);
new() instantiates a config object, loads the config from the
directory specified, and returns the object.
C()
$val = $config->C('key1.key2.keyn');
$val = $config->C('key1.key2.keyn',$hash_ref);
Config::Merge objects are overloaded so that this also works:
$val = $config->('key1.key2.keyn');
$val = $config->('key1.key2.keyn',$hash_ref);
Or, if used in the functional style (see "USING Config::Merge"):
$val = C('key1.key2.keyn');
$val = C('key1.key2.keyn',$hash_ref);
key1 etc can be keys in a hash, or indexes of an array.
C('key1.key2.keyn') returns everything from keyn down, so you can use
the return value just as you would any normal Perl variable.
The return values are context-sensitive, so if called in list
context, an array ref or hash ref will be returned as lists. Scalar
values, code refs, regexes and blessed objects will always be
returned as themselves.
So for example:
$password = C('database.main.password');
$regex = C('database.main.password_regex');
@countries = C('lists.countries');
$countries_array_ref = C('lists.countries');
etc
If called with a hash ref as the second parameter, then that hash ref
will be examined, rather than the $config data.
clone()
This works exactly the same way as "C()" but it performs a deep clone
of the data before returning it.
This means that the returned data can be changed without affecting
the data stored in the $conf object;
The data is deep cloned, using Storable, so the bigger the data, the
more performance hit. That said, Storable's dclone is very fast.
register_loader()
Config::Merge->register_loader( 'Config::Merge::XYZ');
Config::Merge->register_loader( 'Config::Merge::XYZ' => 'xyz','xxx');
By default, Config::Merge uses the Config::Any plugins to support
YAML, JSON, INI, XML, Perl and Config::General configuration files,
using the standard file extensions to recognise the file type. (See
"CONFIG TREE LAYOUT").
If you would like to change the handler for an extension (eg, you
want .conf and .cnf files to be treated as YAML), do the following:
Config::Merge->register_loader ('Config::Any::YAML' => 'conf', 'cnf');
If you would like to add a new config style, then your module should
have two methods: extensions() (which returns a list of the
extensions it handles), and load() which accepts the name of the file
to load, and returns a hash ref containing the data in the file. See
Config::Any for details.
Alternatively, you can specify the extensions when you load it:
Config::Merge->register_loader ('My::Merge' => 'conf', 'cnf');
load_config()
$config->load_config();
Will reload the config files located in the directory specified at
object creation (see "new()").
BEWARE : If you are using this in a mod_perl environment, you will
lose the benefit of shared memory by calling this in a child process
- each child will have its own copy of the data. See "MINIMISING
MEMORY USE".
Returns the config hash ref.
clear_cache()
$config->clear_cache();
Config data is generally not supposed to be changed at runtime.
However, if you do make changes, you may get inconsistent results,
because lookups are cached.
For instance:
print $config->C('db.hosts.session'); # Caches this lookup
> "host1 host2 host3"
$data = $config->C('db.hosts');
$data->{session} = 123;
print $config->C('db.hosts.session'); # uses cached value
> "host1 host2 host3"
$config->clear_cache();
print $config->C('db.hosts.session'); # uses actual value
> "123"
import()
import() will normally be called automatically when you use
Config::Merge. However, you may want to do this:
use Config::Merge();
Config::Merge->register_loader('My::Plugin' => 'ext');
Config::Merge->import('My::Config' => '/path/to/config/dir');
If called with two params: $config_class and $config_dir, it
generates the new class (which inherits from Config::Merge) specified
in $config_class, creates a new object of that class and creates 4
subs:
C()
As a function:
C('keys...')
is the equivalent of:
$config->C('keys...');
clone()
As a function:
clone('keys...')
is the equivalent of:
$config->clone('keys...');
object()
$config = My::Config->object();
Returns the $config object,
import()
When you use your generated config class, it exports the C() sub
into your package:
use My::Config;
$hosts = C('db.hosts.session');
ADVANCED USAGE
The items in the section allow you to customise how Config::Merge loads
your data. You may never need them.
You can:
* Override array values
* Skip the loading of parts of your config tree
* Specify which files / dirs are local
* Specify how to translate a file / dir name into a key
* Change order in which files are loaded
* See debug output
Overriding array values
Overriding hash values is easy, however arrays are more complex. it
may be simpler to copy and paste and edit the array you want to
change locally.
However, if your array is too long, and you want to make small
changes, then you can use the following:
In the main config:
{
cron => [qw( job1 job2 job3 job4)]
}
In the local file
{
cron => {
'3' => 'newjob4', # changes 'job4' -> 'newjob4'
'!' => { # signals an array override
'-' => [1], # deletes 'job2'
'+' => ['job5'], # appends 'job5'
OR '+' => { # inserts 'job3a' after 'job3'
2 => 'job3a'
}
}
}
* The override has to be a hash, with at least this structure { '!'
=> {} } to signal an array override
* Any other keys with integers are treated as indexes and are used
to change the value at that index in the original array
* The '-' key should contain an array ref, with the indexes of the
elements to remove from the array.
* If the '+' key contains an array ref, then its contents are
appended to the original array.
* If the '+' key contains a hash ref, then each value is inserted
into the original array at the index given in the key
* Indexes are zero based, just as in Perl.
skip()
$c = Config::Merge->new(
path => '/path/to/config',
skip => qr/regex/,
| [ qr/regex1/, qr/regex2/...]
| { name1 => 1, name2 => 2}
| sub {}
);
skip() allows you to skip the loading of parts of your config tree.
For instance, if you don't need a list of cron jobs when running your
web server, you can skip it.
The decision is made based on the path to that value, eg
'app.db.hosts' rather than on filenames. Also, the check is only
performed for each new directory or filename - it doesn't check the
data within each file.
To use skip(), you can either subclass it, or pass in a parameter to
new:
qr/regex/ or [qr/regex1/, qr/regex2]
Each regex will be checked against the key path, and if it matches
then the loading of that tree will be skipped
{key_path => 1}
If the key path exists in the hash, then loading will be skipped
sub {} or subclassed skip
sub {
my ($self,$key_path) = @_;
...make decision...
return 1 | 0;
}
is_local()
$c = Config::Merge->new(
path => '/path/to/config',
is_local => qr/regex/,
| [ qr/regex1/, qr/regex2/...]
| { name1 => 1, name2 => 2}
| sub {}
);
is_local() indicates whether a file or dir should be considered part
of the main config (and thus loaded normally) or part of the local
config (and thus merged into the main config).
The decision is made based on the name of the file / dir, without any
extension.
To use is_local(), you can either subclass it, or pass in a parameter
to new:
qr/regex/ or [qr/regex1/, qr/regex2]
Each regex will be checked against the file/dir name, and if it
matches then that tree will be merged
{filename => 1, dirname => 1}
If the file/dir name exists in the hash, then that tree will be
merged
sub {} or subclassed is_local
sub {
my ($self,$name) = @_;
...make decision...
return 1 | 0;
}
See "EXAMPLE USING is_local() AND load_as()".
load_as()
$c = Config::Merge->new(
path => '/path/to/config',
load_as => qr/(regex)/,
| sub {}
);
load_as() returns the name of the key to use when loading the file /
dir. By default, it returns the $name for main config files, or ''
for local files.
The decision is made based on the name of the file / dir, without any
extension.
If load_as() returns an empty string, then each key in the file/tree
is merged separately. This is how the local.* files work by default.
See "OVERRIDING CONFIG LOCALLY".
For instance:
main.yaml:
key1: value
key2: value
db.yaml:
key3: value
key4: value
local.yaml:
main:
key1: new_value
db:
key4: new_value
To use load_as(), you can either subclass it, or pass in a parameter
to new:
qr/(regex)/
The regex will be checked against the file/dir name, and if it
matches then it returns the string captured in the regex, otherwise
it returns the original name.
sub {} or subclassed is_local
sub {
my ($self,$name,$is_local) = @_;
...make decision...
return 'string'; # string is used as the keyname
return ''; # acts like local.* (see above)
return undef; # don't load this file/dir
}
Also, see "EXAMPLE USING is_local() AND load_as()".
EXAMPLE USING is_local() AND load_as()
For instance, instead of using local.* files, you may want to keep
versioned copies of local configs for different machines, and so use:
app.yaml
app-(dev1.domain.com).yaml
app-(dev2.domain.com).yaml
You would implement this as follows:
my $config = Config::Merge->new(
path => '/path/to/config',
# If matches 'xxx-(yyy)'
is_local => sub {
my ( $self, $name ) = @_;
return $name=~/- [(] .+ [)]/x ? 1 : 0;
},
# If local and matches 'xxx-(hostname)', return xxx
load_as => sub {
my ( $self, $name, $is_local ) = @_;
if ($is_local) {
if ( $name=~/(.*) - [(] ($hostname) [)] /x ) {
return $1;
}
return undef;
}
return $name;
}
);
See examples/advanced.pl for a working illustration.
sort()
$c = Config::Merge->new(
path => '/path/to/config',
sort => sub {}
);
By default, directory entries are sorted alphabetically, with
directories before filenames.
This would be the order for these directory entries:
api/
api-(dev1)/
api.yaml
api-(dev1).yaml
To override this, you can subclass sort() or pass it in as a
parameter to new:
sub {
my ($self,$names_array_ref) = @_
...sort...
return $names_array_ref;
}
debug()
my $config = Config::Merge->new(
path => '/path/to/config',
debug => 1 | 0
);
If debug is true, then Config::Merge prints out an explanation of
what it is doing on STDERR.
SEE ALSO
Storable, Config::Any, Config::Any::YAML, Config::Any::JSON,
Config::Any::INI, Config::Any::XML, Config::Any::General
THANKS
Thanks to Hasanuddin Tamir [HASANT] for vacating the Config::Merge
namespace, which allowed me to rename Config::Loader to the more
meaningful Config::Merge.
His version of Config::Merge can be found in
http://backpan.cpan.org/modules/by-authors/id/H/HA/HASANT/.
Thanks to Joel Bernstein and Brian Cassidy for the interface to the
various configuration modules. Also to Ewan Edwards for his suggestions
about how to make Config::Merge more flexible.
BUGS
No bugs have been reported.
Please report any bugs or feature requests to
http://github.com/clintongormley/ConfigMerge/issues.
AUTHOR
Clinton Gormley, <clinton@traveljury.com>
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 2007-2010 by Clinton Gormley
LICENSE
This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the same terms as Perl itself, either Perl version 5.8.7 or, at
your option, any later version of Perl 5 you may have available.