I'm trying to read some third party INI files using Config::IniFiles. I'm using the latest Config::IniFiles v2.52 with perl v5.8.8. I've never used Config::IniFiles before.

Given a simple example third party INI file, fred.ini, as follows:

[Trace]
TRACE_MODULE=mod1
TRACE_MODULE=mod2
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running this program:

use strict;
use warnings;
use Data::Dumper;
use Config::IniFiles;
my $cfg = Config::IniFiles->new( -file => 'fred.ini' )
    or die "error: IniFiles->new: @Config::IniFiles::errors";
my @values = $cfg->val( 'Trace', 'TRACE_MODULE' );
print Dumper( \@values );
$cfg->WriteConfig( 'fred2.ini' )
    or die "error: WriteConfig: $!\n";
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emits:

$VAR1 = [
          'mod1',
          'mod2'
        ];
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and produces a new ini file, fred2.ini, as follows:

[Trace]
TRACE_MODULE= <<EOT
mod1
mod2
EOT
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That is, Config::IniFiles seems to read the INI file ok, but writes it out in a different "<<EOT here document" format.

I need the new INI file to be written in its original format. Otherwise, the third party application is unable to read the updated INI files that I produce.

From reading the Config::IniFiles docs, it's unclear to me whether the third party multi-valued parameter INI file format, namely:

TRACE_MODULE=mod1
TRACE_MODULE=mod2
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is officially supported. Though Config::IniFiles seems to read this format happily enough, it's not mentioned in its docs and I can see no way to make WriteConfig() emit a multi-valued parameter in this format.

There are many ways I could solve this problem. I could raise a Config::IniFiles ticket/patch enhancing this module to handle my third party multi-value parameter format. Or look for a different INI file module, write my own, ... Suggestions on how to solve my problem are welcome.