Alias(3) User Contributed Perl Documentation Alias(3)NAMEMail::Alias - Maniulates mail alias files of various formats. Works on
files directly or loads files into memory and works on the buffer.
SYNOPSIS
use Mail::Alias;
DESCRIPTION
"Mail::Alias" can read various formats of mail alias. Once an object
has been created it can be used to expand aliases and output in another
format.
CONSTRUCTOR
new () Alias objects can be created in two ways; With a format
specified- Mail::Alias::Sendmail->new([filename]) Without a format
specified- Mail::Alias->new([filename]}. Format defaults to SENDMAIL In
either case, the filename is optional and, if supplied, it will be read
in when the object is created. Available formats are Sendmail, Ucbmail,
and Binmail.
METHODS
read () Reads an alias file of the specified format into memory.
Comments or blank lines are lost upon reading. Due to storage in a
hash, ordering of the alias lines is also lost.
write () The current set of aliases contained in the object memory are
written to a file using the current format. If a filehandle is passed,
data is written to the already opened file. If a filename is passed, it
is opened and the memory is written to the file. Note: if passing a
filename, include the mode (i.e. to write to a file named aliases pass
>aliases). Before writing, the alias lines are sorted alphabetically.
format () Set the current alias file format.
exists () Indicates the presence of the passed alias within the object
(if using memory access), or the current aliases file (if using direct
file access). For direct file access, the return value is the address
string for the alias.
expand () Expands the passed alias into a list of addresses. Expansion
properly handles :include: files, recursion, and continuation
lines.Only works when memory access is being used. If the alias is not
found in the object, you get back what you sent.
alias_file () Sets or gets the name of the current alias filename for
direct access.
append () *-Sendmail only-* Adds an alias to an existing Sendmail alias
file. The alias and addresses can be passed as two separate arguments
(alias, addresses) or as a single line of text (alias: addresses)
delete () *-Sendmail only-* Deletes the entry for an alias from the
current alias file.
update () *-Sendmail only-* Replaces the address string entry for an
alias in the current alias file.
usemem () Sets the working mode to use memory (indirect access). Use
read(), write() and format() methods.
usefile () Sets the working mode to use files (direct access). Use
append() and delete() methods.
AUTHOR
Tom Zeltwanger <perl@ename.com> (CPAN author ID: ZELT)
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 2000 Tom Zeltwanger. All rights reserved. This program is
free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same
terms as Perl itself.
Versions up to 1.06, Copyright (c) 1995-1997 Graham Barr. All rights
reserved. This program is free software; you can distribute it and/or
modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.
perl v5.14.0 2000-10-22 Alias(3)
