NAME

IO::pipe - supply object methods for pipes

SYNOPSIS

	use IO::Pipe;

	$pipe = new IO::Pipe;

	if($pid = fork()) { # Parent
	    $pipe->reader();

	    while(<$pipe> {
		....
	    }

	}
	elsif(defined $pid) { # Child
	    $pipe->writer();

	    print $pipe ....
	}

or

	$pipe = new IO::Pipe;

	$pipe->reader(qw(ls -l));

	while(<$pipe>) {
	    ....
	}

DESCRIPTION

IO::Pipe provides an interface to createing pipes between processes.

CONSTRCUTOR

new ( [READER, WRITER] )

Creates a IO::Pipe, which is a reference to a newly created symbol (see the Symbol package). IO::Pipe::new optionally takes two arguments, which should be objects blessed into IO::Handle, or a subclass thereof. These two objects will be used for the system call to pipe. If no arguments are given then then method handles is called on the new IO::Pipe object.

These two handles are held in the array part of the GLOB until either reader or writer is called.

METHODS

reader ([ARGS]): The object is re-blessed into a sub-class of IO::Handle, and becomes a handle at the reading end of the pipe. If ARGS are given then fork is called and ARGS are passed to exec.
writer ([ARGS]): The object is re-blessed into a sub-class of IO::Handle, and becomes a handle at the writing end of the pipe. If ARGS are given then fork is called and ARGS are passed to exec.
handles (): This method is called during construction by IO::Pipe::new on the newly created IO::Pipe object. It returns an array of two objects blessed into IO::Pipe::End, or a subclass thereof.

AUTHOR

Graham Barr