Perl 5 version documentation

Perl functions by category

Perl functions A-Z | Perl functions by category | The 'perlfunc' manpage

Functions for SCALARs or strings

  • chomp
    • - remove a trailing record separator from a string
  • chop
    • - remove the last character from a string
  • chr
    • - get character this number represents
  • crypt
    • - one-way passwd-style encryption
  • fc
    • - return casefolded version of a string
  • hex
    • - convert a hexadecimal string to a number
  • index
    • - find a substring within a string
  • lc
    • - return lower-case version of a string
  • lcfirst
    • - return a string with just the next letter in lower case
  • length
    • - return the number of characters in a string
  • oct
    • - convert a string to an octal number
  • ord
    • - find a character's numeric representation
  • pack
    • - convert a list into a binary representation
  • q/STRING/
    • - singly quote a string
  • qq/STRING/
    • - doubly quote a string
  • reverse
    • - flip a string or a list
  • rindex
    • - right-to-left substring search
  • sprintf
    • - formatted print into a string
  • substr
    • - get or alter a portion of a string
  • tr///
    • - transliterate a string
  • uc
    • - return upper-case version of a string
  • ucfirst
    • - return a string with just the next letter in upper case
  • y///
    • - transliterate a string

Regular expressions and pattern matching

  • m//
    • - match a string with a regular expression pattern
  • pos
    • - find or set the offset for the last/next m//g search
  • qr/STRING/
    • - compile pattern
  • quotemeta
    • - quote regular expression magic characters
  • s///
    • - replace a pattern with a string
  • split
    • - split up a string using a regexp delimiter
  • study
    • - no-op, formerly optimized input data for repeated searches

Numeric functions

  • abs
    • - absolute value function
  • atan2
    • - arctangent of Y/X in the range -PI to PI
  • cos
    • - cosine function
  • exp
    • - raise I to a power
  • hex
    • - convert a hexadecimal string to a number
  • int
    • - get the integer portion of a number
  • log
    • - retrieve the natural logarithm for a number
  • oct
    • - convert a string to an octal number
  • rand
    • - retrieve the next pseudorandom number
  • sin
    • - return the sine of a number
  • sqrt
    • - square root function
  • srand
    • - seed the random number generator

Functions for real @ARRAYs

  • each
    • - retrieve the next key/value pair from a hash
  • keys
    • - retrieve list of indices from a hash
  • pop
    • - remove the last element from an array and return it
  • push
    • - append one or more elements to an array
  • shift
    • - remove the first element of an array, and return it
  • splice
    • - add or remove elements anywhere in an array
  • unshift
    • - prepend more elements to the beginning of a list
  • values
    • - return a list of the values in a hash

Functions for list data

  • grep
    • - locate elements in a list test true against a given criterion
  • join
    • - join a list into a string using a separator
  • map
    • - apply a change to a list to get back a new list with the changes
  • qw/STRING/
    • - quote a list of words
  • reverse
    • - flip a string or a list
  • sort
    • - sort a list of values
  • unpack
    • - convert binary structure into normal perl variables

Functions for real %HASHes

  • delete
    • - deletes a value from a hash
  • each
    • - retrieve the next key/value pair from a hash
  • exists
    • - test whether a hash key is present
  • keys
    • - retrieve list of indices from a hash
  • values
    • - return a list of the values in a hash

Input and output functions

  • binmode
    • - prepare binary files for I/O
  • close
    • - close file (or pipe or socket) handle
  • closedir
    • - close directory handle
  • dbmclose
    • - breaks binding on a tied dbm file
  • dbmopen
    • - create binding on a tied dbm file
  • die
    • - raise an exception or bail out
  • eof
    • - test a filehandle for its end
  • fileno
    • - return file descriptor from filehandle
  • flock
    • - lock an entire file with an advisory lock
  • format
    • - declare a picture format with use by the write() function
  • getc
    • - get the next character from the filehandle
  • print
    • - output a list to a filehandle
  • printf
    • - output a formatted list to a filehandle
  • read
    • - fixed-length buffered input from a filehandle
  • readdir
    • - get a directory from a directory handle
  • readline
    • - fetch a record from a file
  • rewinddir
    • - reset directory handle
  • say
    • - print with newline
  • seek
    • - reposition file pointer for random-access I/O
  • seekdir
    • - reposition directory pointer
  • select
    • - reset default output or do I/O multiplexing
  • syscall
    • - execute an arbitrary system call
  • sysread
    • - fixed-length unbuffered input from a filehandle
  • sysseek
    • - position I/O pointer on handle used with sysread and syswrite
  • syswrite
    • - fixed-length unbuffered output to a filehandle
  • tell
    • - get current seekpointer on a filehandle
  • telldir
    • - get current seekpointer on a directory handle
  • truncate
    • - shorten a file
  • warn
    • - print debugging info
  • write
    • - print a picture record

Functions for fixed-length data or records

  • pack
    • - convert a list into a binary representation
  • read
    • - fixed-length buffered input from a filehandle
  • syscall
    • - execute an arbitrary system call
  • sysread
    • - fixed-length unbuffered input from a filehandle
  • sysseek
    • - position I/O pointer on handle used with sysread and syswrite
  • syswrite
    • - fixed-length unbuffered output to a filehandle
  • unpack
    • - convert binary structure into normal perl variables
  • vec
    • - test or set particular bits in a string

Functions for filehandles, files, or directories

  • -X
    • - a file test (-r, -x, etc)
  • chdir
    • - change your current working directory
  • chmod
    • - changes the permissions on a list of files
  • chown
    • - change the ownership on a list of files
  • chroot
    • - make directory new root for path lookups
  • fcntl
    • - file control system call
  • glob
    • - expand filenames using wildcards
  • ioctl
    • - system-dependent device control system call
  • link
    • - create a hard link in the filesystem
  • lstat
    • - stat a symbolic link
  • mkdir
    • - create a directory
  • open
    • - open a file, pipe, or descriptor
  • opendir
    • - open a directory
  • readlink
    • - determine where a symbolic link is pointing
  • rename
    • - change a filename
  • rmdir
    • - remove a directory
  • select
    • - reset default output or do I/O multiplexing
  • stat
    • - get a file's status information
  • symlink
    • - create a symbolic link to a file
  • sysopen
    • - open a file, pipe, or descriptor
  • umask
    • - set file creation mode mask
  • unlink
    • - remove one link to a file
  • utime
    • - set a file's last access and modify times

Keywords related to the control flow of your Perl program

  • __FILE__
    • - the name of the current source file
  • __LINE__
    • - the current source line number
  • __PACKAGE__
    • - the current package
  • __SUB__
    • - the current subroutine, or C if not in a subroutine
  • break
    • - break out of a "given" block
  • caller
    • - get context of the current subroutine call
  • continue
    • - optional trailing block in a while or foreach
  • die
    • - raise an exception or bail out
  • do
    • - turn a BLOCK into a TERM
  • dump
    • - create an immediate core dump
  • eval
    • - catch exceptions or compile and run code
  • evalbytes
    • - similar to string eval, but intend to parse a bytestream
  • exit
    • - terminate this program
  • goto
    • - create spaghetti code
  • last
    • - exit a block prematurely
  • next
    • - iterate a block prematurely
  • redo
    • - start this loop iteration over again
  • return
    • - get out of a function early
  • sub
    • - declare a subroutine, possibly anonymously
  • wantarray
    • - get void vs scalar vs list context of current subroutine call

Keywords related to scoping

  • caller
    • - get context of the current subroutine call
  • import
    • - patch a module's namespace into your own
  • local
    • - create a temporary value for a global variable (dynamic scoping)
  • my
    • - declare and assign a local variable (lexical scoping)
  • our
    • - declare and assign a package variable (lexical scoping)
  • package
    • - declare a separate global namespace
  • state
    • - declare and assign a state variable (persistent lexical scoping)
  • use
    • - load in a module at compile time and import its namespace

Miscellaneous functions

  • defined
    • - test whether a value, variable, or function is defined
  • formline
    • - internal function used for formats
  • lock
    • - get a thread lock on a variable, subroutine, or method
  • prototype
    • - get the prototype (if any) of a subroutine
  • reset
    • - clear all variables of a given name
  • scalar
    • - force a scalar context
  • undef
    • - remove a variable or function definition

Functions for processes and process groups

  • alarm
    • - schedule a SIGALRM
  • exec
    • - abandon this program to run another
  • fork
    • - create a new process just like this one
  • getpgrp
    • - get process group
  • getppid
    • - get parent process ID
  • getpriority
    • - get current nice value
  • kill
    • - send a signal to a process or process group
  • pipe
    • - open a pair of connected filehandles
  • qx/STRING/
    • - backquote quote a string
  • readpipe
    • - execute a system command and collect standard output
  • setpgrp
    • - set the process group of a process
  • setpriority
    • - set a process's nice value
  • sleep
    • - block for some number of seconds
  • system
    • - run a separate program
  • times
    • - return elapsed time for self and child processes
  • wait
    • - wait for any child process to die
  • waitpid
    • - wait for a particular child process to die

Keywords related to Perl modules

  • do
    • - turn a BLOCK into a TERM
  • import
    • - patch a module's namespace into your own
  • no
    • - unimport some module symbols or semantics at compile time
  • package
    • - declare a separate global namespace
  • require
    • - load in external functions from a library at runtime
  • use
    • - load in a module at compile time and import its namespace

Keywords related to classes and object-orientation

  • bless
    • - create an object
  • dbmclose
    • - breaks binding on a tied dbm file
  • dbmopen
    • - create binding on a tied dbm file
  • package
    • - declare a separate global namespace
  • ref
    • - find out the type of thing being referenced
  • tie
    • - bind a variable to an object class
  • tied
    • - get a reference to the object underlying a tied variable
  • untie
    • - break a tie binding to a variable
  • use
    • - load in a module at compile time and import its namespace

Low-level socket functions

  • accept
    • - accept an incoming socket connect
  • bind
    • - binds an address to a socket
  • connect
    • - connect to a remote socket
  • getpeername
    • - find the other end of a socket connection
  • getsockname
    • - retrieve the sockaddr for a given socket
  • getsockopt
    • - get socket options on a given socket
  • listen
    • - register your socket as a server
  • recv
    • - receive a message over a Socket
  • send
    • - send a message over a socket
  • setsockopt
    • - set some socket options
  • shutdown
    • - close down just half of a socket connection
  • socket
    • - create a socket
  • socketpair
    • - create a pair of sockets

System V interprocess communication functions

  • msgctl
    • - SysV IPC message control operations
  • msgget
    • - get SysV IPC message queue
  • msgrcv
    • - receive a SysV IPC message from a message queue
  • msgsnd
    • - send a SysV IPC message to a message queue
  • semctl
    • - SysV semaphore control operations
  • semget
    • - get set of SysV semaphores
  • semop
    • - SysV semaphore operations
  • shmctl
    • - SysV shared memory operations
  • shmget
    • - get SysV shared memory segment identifier
  • shmread
    • - read SysV shared memory
  • shmwrite
    • - write SysV shared memory

Fetching user and group info

Fetching network info

Time-related functions

  • gmtime
    • - convert UNIX time into record or string using Greenwich time
  • localtime
    • - convert UNIX time into record or string using local time
  • time
    • - return number of seconds since 1970
  • times
    • - return elapsed time for self and child processes