ODBM_File(3)



ODBM_File(3perl)       Perl Programmers Reference Guide       ODBM_File(3perl)

NAME
       ODBM_File - Tied access to odbm files

SYNOPSIS
        use Fcntl;   # For O_RDWR, O_CREAT, etc.
        use ODBM_File;

         # Now read and change the hash
         $h{newkey} = newvalue;
         print $h{oldkey};
         ...

         untie %h;

DESCRIPTION
       "ODBM_File" establishes a connection between a Perl hash variable and a
       file in ODBM_File format;.  You can manipulate the data in the file
       just as if it were in a Perl hash, but when your program exits, the
       data will remain in the file, to be used the next time your program
       runs.

       Use "ODBM_File" with the Perl built-in "tie" function to establish the
       connection between the variable and the file.  The arguments to "tie"
       should be:

       1.  The hash variable you want to tie.

       2.  The string "ODBM_File".  (Ths tells Perl to use the "ODBM_File"
           package to perform the functions of the hash.)

       3.  The name of the file you want to tie to the hash.

       4.  Flags.  Use one of:

           "O_RDONLY"
             Read-only access to the data in the file.

           "O_WRONLY"
             Write-only access to the data in the file.

           "O_RDWR"
             Both read and write access.

           If you want to create the file if it does not exist, add "O_CREAT"
           to any of these, as in the example.  If you omit "O_CREAT" and the
           file does not already exist, the "tie" call will fail.

       5.  The default permissions to use if a new file is created.  The
           actual permissions will be modified by the user's umask, so you
           should probably use 0666 here. (See "umask" in perlfunc.)

DIAGNOSTICS
       On failure, the "tie" call returns an undefined value and probably sets
       $! to contain the reason the file could not be tied.

   "odbm store returned -1, errno 22, key "..." at ..."
       This warning is emitted when you try to store a key or a value that is
       too long.  It means that the change was not recorded in the database.
       See BUGS AND WARNINGS below.

SECURITY AND PORTABILITY
       Do not accept ODBM files from untrusted sources.

       On modern Linux systems these are typically GDBM files, which are not
       portable across platforms.

       The GDBM documentation doesn't imply that files from untrusted sources
       can be safely used with "libgdbm".

       Systems that don't use GDBM compatibilty for old dbm support will be
       using a platform specific library, possibly inherited from BSD systems,
       where it may or may not be safe to use an untrusted file.

       A maliciously crafted file might cause perl to crash or even expose a
       security vulnerability.

BUGS AND WARNINGS
       There are a number of limits on the size of the data that you can store
       in the ODBM file.  The most important is that the length of a key, plus
       the length of its associated value, may not exceed 1008 bytes.

       See "tie" in perlfunc, perldbmfilter, Fcntl

perl v5.30.3                      2020-06-07                  ODBM_File(3perl)

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