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.IX Title "Config::INI 3"
.TH Config::INI 3 2026-08-26 "perl v5.44.0" "User Contributed Perl Documentation"
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.SH SYNOPSIS
.IX Header "SYNOPSIS"
Config\-INI comes with code for reading \fI.ini\fR files:
.PP
.Vb 1
\&  my $config_hash = Config::INI::Reader\->read_file(\*(Aqconfig.ini\*(Aq);
.Ve
.PP
\&...and for writing \f(CW\*(C`.ini\*(C'\fR files:
.PP
.Vb 1
\&  Config::INI::Writer\->write_file({ somekey => \*(Aqsomevalue\*(Aq }, \*(Aqconfig.ini\*(Aq);
.Ve
.PP
See Config::INI::Writer and Config::INI::Reader for more examples.
.SH GRAMMAR
.IX Header "GRAMMAR"
This section describes the format parsed and produced by Config::INI::Reader
and ::Writer.  It is not an exhaustive and rigorously tested formal grammar,
it\*(Aqs just a description of this particular implementation of the
not\-quite\-standardized "INI" format.
.PP
.Vb 1
\&  ini\-file   = { <section> | <empty\-line> }
\&
\&  empty\-line = [ <space> ] <line\-ending>
\&
\&  section        = <section\-header> { <value\-assignment> | <empty\-line> }
\&
\&  section\-header = [ <space> ] "[" <section\-name> "]" [ <space> ] <line\-ending>
\&  section\-name   = string
\&
\&  value\-assignment = [ <space> ] <property\-name> [ <space> ]
\&                     "="
\&                     [ <space> ] <value> [ <space> ]
\&                     <line\-ending>
\&  property\-name    = string\-without\-equals
\&  value            = string
\&
\&  comment     = <space> ";" [ <string> ]
\&  line\-ending = [ <comment> ] <EOL>
\&
\&  space = ( <TAB> | " " ) *
\&  string\-without\-equals = string \- "="
\&  string = ? 1+ characters; not ";" or EOL; begins and ends with non\-space ?
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.PP
Of special note is the fact that \fIno\fR escaping mechanism is defined, meaning
that there is no way to include an EOL or semicolon (for example) in a value,
property name, or section name.  If you need this, either subclass, wait for a
subclass to be written for you, or find one of the many other INI\-style parsers
on the CPAN.
.PP
The order of sections and value assignments within a section are not
significant, except that given multiple assignments to one property name within
a section, only the final one is used.  A section name may be used more than
once; this will have the identical meaning as having all property assignments
in all sections of that name in sequence.
.SH "DON\*(AqT FORGET"
.IX Header "DON'T FORGET"
The definitions above refer to the format used by the Reader and Writer classes
bundled in the Config\-INI distribution.  These classes are designed for easy
subclassing, so it should be easy to replace their behavior with whatever
behavior your want.
.PP
Patches, feature requests, and bug reports are welcome \-\- but I\*(Aqm more
interested in making sure you can write a subclass that does what you need, and
less in making Config\-INI do what you want directly.
.SH THANKS
.IX Header "THANKS"
Thanks to Florian Ragwitz for improving the subclassability of Config\-INI\*(Aqs
modules, and for helping me do some of my first merging with \fBgit\fR\|(7).
.SH ORIGIN
.IX Header "ORIGIN"
Originaly derived from Config::Tiny, by Adam Kennedy.