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
[download]

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";
[download]

emits:

$VAR1 = [
          'mod1',
          'mod2'
        ];
[download]

and produces a new ini file, fred2.ini, as follows:

[Trace]
TRACE_MODULE= <<EOT
mod1
mod2
EOT
[download]

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
[download]

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.

---

---

• Are you posting in the right place? Check out Where do I post X? to know for sure.
• Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags. Currently these include the following:

  <code> <a> <b> <big> <blockquote> <br /> <dd> <dl> <dt> <em> <font> <h1> <h2> <h3> <h4> <h5> <h6> <hr /> <i> <li> <nbsp> <ol> <p> <small> <strike> <strong> <sub> <sup> <table> <td> <th> <tr> <tt> <u> <ul>

• Snippets of code should be wrapped in <code> tags not <pre> tags. In fact, <pre> tags should generally be avoided. If they must be used, extreme care should be taken to ensure that their contents do not have long lines (<70 chars), in order to prevent horizontal scrolling (and possible janitor intervention).
• Want more info? How to link or How to display code and escape characters are good places to start.