NAME

Pod::Tree - Create a static syntax tree for a POD

SYNOPSIS

  use Pod::Tree;
  $tree = Pod::Tree->new;
  $tree->load_file      ( $file, %options)
  $tree->load_fh        ( $fh  , %options);
  $tree->load_string    ( $pod , %options);
  $tree->load_paragraphs(\@pod , %options);
  $loaded = $tree->loaded;
  $node   = $tree->get_root;
            $tree->set_root  ($node);
  $node =   $tree->pop;
            $tree->push(@nodes);
            $tree->walk(\&sub);
            $tree->has_pod and ...
  print     $tree->dump;

EXPORTS

Nothing

DESCRIPTION

"Pod::Tree" parses a POD into a static syntax tree. Applications walk the tree to recover the structure and content of the POD. See "Pod::Tree::Node" for a description of the tree.

METHODS

$tree = "Pod::Tree"->"new": Creates a new "Pod::Tree" object. The syntax tree is initially empty.
$ok = $tree->"load_file"($file, %options): Parses a POD and creates a syntax tree for it. $file is the name of a file containing the POD. Returns null iff it can't open $file.
See "OPTIONS" for a description of %options
$tree->"load_fh"($fh, %options): Parses a POD and creates a syntax tree for it. $fh is an "IO::File" object that is open on a file containing the POD.
See "OPTIONS" for a description of %options
$tree->"load_string"($pod, %options): Parses a POD and creates a syntax tree for it. $pod is a single string containing the POD.
See "OPTIONS" for a description of %options
$tree->"load_paragraphs"(\@pod, %options): Parses a POD and creates a syntax tree for it. \@pod is a reference to an array of strings. Each string is one paragraph of the POD.
See "OPTIONS" for a description of %options
$loaded = $tree->"loaded": Returns true iff one of the "load_"* methods has been called on $tree.
$node = $tree->"get_root": Returns the root node of the syntax tree. See Pod::Tree::Node for a description of the syntax tree.
$tree->"set_root"($node): Sets the root of the syntax tree to $node.
$tree->"push"(@nodes): Pushes @nodes onto the end of the top-level list of nodes in $tree.
$node = $tree->"pop": Pops $node off of the end of the top-level list of nodes in $tree.
$tree->"walk"(\&sub): Walks the syntax tree, depth first. Calls sub once for each node in the tree. The current node is passed as the first argument to sub.
"walk" descends to the children and siblings of $node iff sub() returns true.
$tree->"has_pod": Returns true iff $tree contains POD paragraphs.
$tree->"dump": Pretty prints the syntax tree. This will show you how "Pod::Tree" interpreted your POD.

OPTIONS

These options may be passed in the %options hash to the "load_"* methods.

"in_pod => 0"
"in_pod => 1": Sets the initial value of "in_pod". When "in_pod" is false, the parser ignores all text until the next =command paragraph.
The initial value of "in_pod" defaults to false for load_file() and load_fh() calls and true for load_string() and load_paragraphs() calls. This is usually what you want, unless you want consistency. If this isn't what you want, pass different initial values in the %options hash.
"limit" => n: Only parse the first n paragraphs in the POD.

DIAGNOSTICS

"load_file"($file): Returns null iff it can't open $file.

NOTES

No round-tripping

Currently, "Pod::Tree" does not provide a complete, exact representation of its input. For example, it doesn't distingish between

    C<$foo-E<gt>bar>

and

   C<< $foo->bar >>

As a result, it is not guaranteed that a file can be exactly reconstructed from its "Pod::Tree" representation.

L<> markups

In the documentation of the

    L<"sec">    section in this manual page

markup, "perlpod" has always claimed

        (the quotes are optional)

However, there is no way to decide from the syntax alone whether

    L<foo>

is a link to the foo man page or a link to the "foo" section of this man page.

"Pod::Tree" parses "L<foo>" as a link to a section if "foo" looks like a section name (e.g. contains whitespace), and as a link to a man page otherswise.

In practice, this tends to break links to sections. If you want your section links to work reliably, write them as "L<"foo">" or "L</foo>".

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

<crazyinsomniac@yahoo.com>
<joenio@cpan.org>
Paul Bettinger <paul@n8geil.de>
Sean M. Burke <sburke@spinn.net>
Brad Choate <brad@bradchoate.com>
Havard Eidnes <he@NetBSD.org>
Rudi Farkas <rudif@bluemail.ch>
Paul Gibeault <pagibeault@micron.com>
Jay Hannah <jhannah@omnihotels.com>
Paul Hawkins <phawkins@datajunction.com>
Jost Krieger <Jost.Krieger@ruhr-uni-bochum.de>
Marc A. Lehmann <pcg@goof.com>
Jonas Liljegren <jonas@jonas.rit.se>
Thomas Linden <tom@co.daemon.de>
Johan Lindstrom <johanl@bahnhof.se>
Terry Luedtke <terry_luedtke@nlm.nih.gov>
Rob Napier <rnapier@employees.org>
Kate L Pugh <kake@earth.li>
Christopher Shalah <trance@drizzle.com>
Johan Vromans <JVromans@Squirrel.nl>

AUTHOR

Steven McDougall <swmcd@world.std.com> Currently maintained by Mohammad S Anwar <mohammad.anwar@yahoo.com>