.pm Files

carlriz has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: .pm Files by kcott (Archbishop) on Mar 27, 2014 at 20:27 UTC
G'day carlriz, If you'd actually named the Perl module, I could provide a more specific answer. A Perl module is written in Perl. This is not what you're looking at. As an example, look at the source code for Data::Dumper (which I just picked at random). What you've posted is the source code used to generate a manpage. The equivalent code for Data::Dumper starts like this: `.\" Automatically generated by Pod::Man 2.27 (Pod::Simple 3.28) .\" .\" Standard preamble: .\" ================================================================== +====== .de Sp \" Vertical space (when we can't use .PP) .if t .sp .5v .if n .sp .. .de Vb \" Begin verbatim text .ft CW .nf .ne \\$1 ..` [download] As you can see on the first line, this is "`generated by Pod::Man`". See the Pod::Man documentation for more information (if you're still interested). -- Ken	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: .pm Files by carlriz (Beadle) on Mar 27, 2014 at 20:58 UTC
'Perl library for parsing text in the Pod ("plain old documentation") markup language that is typically used for writing documentation for Perl and for Perl modules' I see.	[reply]
Re: .pm Files by ww (Archbishop) on Mar 27, 2014 at 20:24 UTC
I would agree that it's not easily comprehended... but "unreadable?" Well, not exactly. There are a lot of hints in the plain-text we can see; hints suggesting some sort of print-oriented device or operation. But your actual question is harder to answer, based on what you've told us The tool wich which you opened your .pm file with might make a difference -- among other things, in whether this is a typical extract; the entire content of the module; or an intermittent sample, in which the program that opened the file merely threw away characters that weren't in its vocabulary. So, please tell us: was it a hex editor; a text editor that will (I don't see any examples here) render certain non-ASCII characters as boxes (and perhaps etc) any editor that quits on anything it takes to be EOF; a debugger? And, not just BTW, in what OS did you open it? *Questions containing the words "doesn't work" (or their moral equivalent) will usually get a downvote from me unless accompanied by:* code verbatim error and/or warning messages *a coherent explanation of what "doesn't work* actually means.**	[reply]
Re^2: .pm Files by carlriz (Beadle) on Mar 27, 2014 at 20:35 UTC
Operating System is OS X 10.8.4. And, I opened the file using emacs, a text editor.	[reply]
Re: .pm Files by davido (Cardinal) on Mar 27, 2014 at 20:39 UTC
Keep in mind that a `.pm` file is usually a module, written in pure Perl. If the specific snippet you're looking at through a drinking straw is incomprehensible, try looking through a little bit wider peephole, and you will find Perl. Dave	[reply] [d/l]
Re: .pm Files (.pm is just extension) by Anonymous Monk on Mar 27, 2014 at 20:12 UTC
What do those cryptic symbols mean? it depends, what module did you find that in?	[reply]
Re^2: .pm Files (.pm is just extension) by carlriz (Beadle) on Mar 27, 2014 at 20:23 UTC
This is where I found them: File::HomeDir::Test.3pm.	[reply]
Re^3: .pm Files (.pm is just extension) by kcott (Archbishop) on Mar 27, 2014 at 20:38 UTC
"This is where I found them: File::HomeDir::Test.3pm." Note the extension: "`.3pm`" not "`.pm`". Also note the double colons (`::`) in the file name. The filename for `File::HomeDir::Test` will be just '`Test.pm`'. The pathname to the file will end with '`File/HomeDir/Test.pm`'. -- Ken	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^3: .pm Files (.pm is just extension) by hippo (Archbishop) on Mar 27, 2014 at 22:37 UTC
That's the man page (ie. documentation), so the language is probably nroff.	[reply]
Re^3: .pm Files (.pm is just extension) by Anonymous Monk on Mar 27, 2014 at 23:20 UTC
Try `file ....3pm` and see what it tells you	[reply]