# VALUE   = ->param( BLOCKS, FIELD );
#   BLOCKS - name(s) of any number of logical blocks (or a single undef to use default (root) block)
#   FIELD  - name of field to retrieve (or undef to retrieve all fieldnames in given block)
# parameters are name:value pairs.  if undef is passed as a parameter, return a list of all parameters in current block

$config_general->param('Directory','d:/wamp/Apache2/htdocs/manual','Files','*.html','SetHandler'); # returns 'type-map'
$config_inifiles->param('homes',undef); # returns array ('comment','browseable','writable','readonly','available','public')
$config_yaml->param('favorite colors'); # returns ['red','green','blue']


# VALUE   = ->block( BLOCKS );
#   BLOCKS - name(s) of any number of logical blocks (or a single undef to use default (root) block)
# blocks are groups or sections that contain parameters

$config_general->block('Directory'); # returns ('d:/wamp/Apache2/icons','d:/wamp/Apache2/htdocs/manual','d:/wamp/apache2/cgi-bin')
$config_inifiles->block(); # returns ('homes')
$config_yaml->block(); # returns ('name','age','weight','favorite colors')


# HASHREF = ->export();
# this exports the entire configuration as a hashref structure.  useful for converting one format to another


# BOOLEAN = ->import( CONFIG );
#   CONFIG - hash reference containing an entire configuration
# this takes a structure of anonymous hashes and arrays and interprets it as a config structure.

$config_general->import( $config_yaml->export() );