use 5.006; use strict; use warnings; package Capture::Tiny; # ABSTRACT: Capture STDOUT and STDERR from Perl, XS or external programs our $VERSION = '0.50'; use Carp (); use Exporter (); use IO::Handle (); use File::Spec (); use File::Temp qw/tempfile tmpnam/; use Scalar::Util qw/reftype blessed/; # Get PerlIO or fake it BEGIN { local $@; eval { require PerlIO; PerlIO->can('get_layers') } or *PerlIO::get_layers = sub { return () }; } #--------------------------------------------------------------------------# # create API subroutines and export them # [do STDOUT flag, do STDERR flag, do merge flag, do tee flag] #--------------------------------------------------------------------------# my %api = ( capture => [1,1,0,0], capture_stdout => [1,0,0,0], capture_stderr => [0,1,0,0], capture_merged => [1,1,1,0], tee => [1,1,0,1], tee_stdout => [1,0,0,1], tee_stderr => [0,1,0,1], tee_merged => [1,1,1,1], ); for my $sub ( keys %api ) { my $args = join q{, }, @{$api{$sub}}; eval "sub $sub(&;@) {unshift \@_, $args; goto \\&_capture_tee;}"; ## no critic } our @ISA = qw/Exporter/; our @EXPORT_OK = keys %api; our %EXPORT_TAGS = ( 'all' => \@EXPORT_OK ); #--------------------------------------------------------------------------# # constants and fixtures #--------------------------------------------------------------------------# my $IS_WIN32 = $^O eq 'MSWin32'; ##our $DEBUG = $ENV{PERL_CAPTURE_TINY_DEBUG}; ## ##my $DEBUGFH; ##open $DEBUGFH, "> DEBUG" if $DEBUG; ## ##*_debug = $DEBUG ? sub(@) { print {$DEBUGFH} @_ } : sub(){0}; our $TIMEOUT = 30; #--------------------------------------------------------------------------# # command to tee output -- the argument is a filename that must # be opened to signal that the process is ready to receive input. # This is annoying, but seems to be the best that can be done # as a simple, portable IPC technique #--------------------------------------------------------------------------# my @cmd = ($^X, '-C0', '-e', <<'HERE'); use Fcntl; $SIG{HUP}=sub{exit}; if ( my $fn=shift ) { sysopen(my $fh, qq{$fn}, O_WRONLY|O_CREAT|O_EXCL) or die $!; print {$fh} $$; close $fh; } my $buf; while (sysread(STDIN, $buf, 2048)) { syswrite(STDOUT, $buf); syswrite(STDERR, $buf); } HERE #--------------------------------------------------------------------------# # filehandle manipulation #--------------------------------------------------------------------------# sub _relayer { my ($fh, $apply_layers) = @_; # _debug("# requested layers (@{$layers}) for @{[fileno $fh]}\n"); # eliminate pseudo-layers binmode( $fh, ":raw" ); # strip off real layers until only :unix is left while ( 1 < ( my $layers =()= PerlIO::get_layers( $fh, output => 1 ) ) ) { binmode( $fh, ":pop" ); } # apply other layers my @to_apply = @$apply_layers; shift @to_apply; # eliminate initial :unix # _debug("# applying layers (unix @to_apply) to @{[fileno $fh]}\n"); binmode($fh, ":" . join(":",@to_apply)); } sub _name { my $glob = shift; no strict 'refs'; ## no critic return *{$glob}{NAME}; } sub _open { open $_[0], $_[1] or Carp::confess "Error from open(" . join(q{, }, @_) . "): $!"; # _debug( "# open " . join( ", " , map { defined $_ ? _name($_) : 'undef' } @_ ) . " as " . fileno( $_[0] ) . "\n" ); } sub _close { # _debug( "# closing " . ( defined $_[0] ? _name($_[0]) : 'undef' ) . " on " . fileno( $_[0] ) . "\n" ); close $_[0] or Carp::confess "Error from close(" . join(q{, }, @_) . "): $!"; } my %dup; # cache this so STDIN stays fd0 my %proxy_count; sub _proxy_std { my %proxies; if ( ! defined fileno STDIN ) { $proxy_count{stdin}++; if (defined $dup{stdin}) { _open \*STDIN, "<&=" . fileno($dup{stdin}); # _debug( "# restored proxy STDIN as " . (defined fileno STDIN ? fileno STDIN : 'undef' ) . "\n" ); } else { _open \*STDIN, "<" . File::Spec->devnull; # _debug( "# proxied STDIN as " . (defined fileno STDIN ? fileno STDIN : 'undef' ) . "\n" ); _open $dup{stdin} = IO::Handle->new, "<&=STDIN"; } $proxies{stdin} = \*STDIN; binmode(STDIN, ':utf8') if $] >= 5.008; ## no critic } if ( ! defined fileno STDOUT ) { $proxy_count{stdout}++; if (defined $dup{stdout}) { _open \*STDOUT, ">&=" . fileno($dup{stdout}); # _debug( "# restored proxy STDOUT as " . (defined fileno STDOUT ? fileno STDOUT : 'undef' ) . "\n" ); } else { _open \*STDOUT, ">" . File::Spec->devnull; # _debug( "# proxied STDOUT as " . (defined fileno STDOUT ? fileno STDOUT : 'undef' ) . "\n" ); _open $dup{stdout} = IO::Handle->new, ">&=STDOUT"; } $proxies{stdout} = \*STDOUT; binmode(STDOUT, ':utf8') if $] >= 5.008; ## no critic } if ( ! defined fileno STDERR ) { $proxy_count{stderr}++; if (defined $dup{stderr}) { _open \*STDERR, ">&=" . fileno($dup{stderr}); # _debug( "# restored proxy STDERR as " . (defined fileno STDERR ? fileno STDERR : 'undef' ) . "\n" ); } else { _open \*STDERR, ">" . File::Spec->devnull; # _debug( "# proxied STDERR as " . (defined fileno STDERR ? fileno STDERR : 'undef' ) . "\n" ); _open $dup{stderr} = IO::Handle->new, ">&=STDERR"; } $proxies{stderr} = \*STDERR; binmode(STDERR, ':utf8') if $] >= 5.008; ## no critic } return %proxies; } sub _unproxy { my (%proxies) = @_; # _debug( "# unproxying: " . join(" ", keys %proxies) . "\n" ); for my $p ( keys %proxies ) { $proxy_count{$p}--; # _debug( "# unproxied " . uc($p) . " ($proxy_count{$p} left)\n" ); if ( ! $proxy_count{$p} ) { _close $proxies{$p}; _close $dup{$p} unless $] < 5.008; # 5.6 will have already closed this as dup delete $dup{$p}; } } } sub _copy_std { my %handles; for my $h ( qw/stdout stderr stdin/ ) { next if $h eq 'stdin' && ! $IS_WIN32; # WIN32 hangs on tee without STDIN copied my $redir = $h eq 'stdin' ? "<&" : ">&"; _open $handles{$h} = IO::Handle->new(), $redir . uc($h); # ">&STDOUT" or "<&STDIN" } return \%handles; } # In some cases we open all (prior to forking) and in others we only open # the output handles (setting up redirection) sub _open_std { my ($handles) = @_; _open \*STDIN, "<&" . fileno $handles->{stdin} if defined $handles->{stdin}; _open \*STDOUT, ">&" . fileno $handles->{stdout} if defined $handles->{stdout}; _open \*STDERR, ">&" . fileno $handles->{stderr} if defined $handles->{stderr}; } #--------------------------------------------------------------------------# # private subs #--------------------------------------------------------------------------# sub _start_tee { my ($which, $stash) = @_; # $which is "stdout" or "stderr" # setup pipes $stash->{$_}{$which} = IO::Handle->new for qw/tee reader/; pipe $stash->{reader}{$which}, $stash->{tee}{$which}; # _debug( "# pipe for $which\: " . _name($stash->{tee}{$which}) . " " . fileno( $stash->{tee}{$which} ) . " => " . _name($stash->{reader}{$which}) . " " . fileno( $stash->{reader}{$which}) . "\n" ); select((select($stash->{tee}{$which}), $|=1)[0]); # autoflush # setup desired redirection for parent and child $stash->{new}{$which} = $stash->{tee}{$which}; $stash->{child}{$which} = { stdin => $stash->{reader}{$which}, stdout => $stash->{old}{$which}, stderr => $stash->{capture}{$which}, }; # flag file is used to signal the child is ready $stash->{flag_files}{$which} = scalar( tmpnam() ) . $$; # execute @cmd as a separate process if ( $IS_WIN32 ) { my $old_eval_err=$@; undef $@; eval "use Win32API::File qw/GetOsFHandle SetHandleInformation fileLastError HANDLE_FLAG_INHERIT INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE/ "; # _debug( "# Win32API::File loaded\n") unless $@; my $os_fhandle = GetOsFHandle( $stash->{tee}{$which} ); # _debug( "# Couldn't get OS handle: " . fileLastError() . "\n") if ! defined $os_fhandle || $os_fhandle == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE(); my $result = SetHandleInformation( $os_fhandle, HANDLE_FLAG_INHERIT(), 0); # _debug( $result ? "# set no-inherit flag on $which tee\n" : ("# can't disable tee handle flag inherit: " . fileLastError() . "\n")); _open_std( $stash->{child}{$which} ); $stash->{pid}{$which} = system(1, @cmd, $stash->{flag_files}{$which}); # not restoring std here as it all gets redirected again shortly anyway $@=$old_eval_err; } else { # use fork _fork_exec( $which, $stash ); } } sub _fork_exec { my ($which, $stash) = @_; # $which is "stdout" or "stderr" my $pid = fork; if ( not defined $pid ) { Carp::confess "Couldn't fork(): $!"; } elsif ($pid == 0) { # child # _debug( "# in child process ...\n" ); untie *STDIN; untie *STDOUT; untie *STDERR; _close $stash->{tee}{$which}; # _debug( "# redirecting handles in child ...\n" ); _open_std( $stash->{child}{$which} ); # _debug( "# calling exec on command ...\n" ); exec @cmd, $stash->{flag_files}{$which}; } $stash->{pid}{$which} = $pid } my $have_usleep = eval "use Time::HiRes 'usleep'; 1"; sub _files_exist { return 1 if @_ == grep { -f } @_; Time::HiRes::usleep(1000) if $have_usleep; return 0; } sub _wait_for_tees { my ($stash) = @_; my $start = time; my @files = values %{$stash->{flag_files}}; my $timeout = defined $ENV{PERL_CAPTURE_TINY_TIMEOUT} ? $ENV{PERL_CAPTURE_TINY_TIMEOUT} : $TIMEOUT; 1 until _files_exist(@files) || ($timeout && (time - $start > $timeout)); Carp::confess "Timed out waiting for subprocesses to start" if ! _files_exist(@files); unlink $_ for @files; } sub _kill_tees { my ($stash) = @_; if ( $IS_WIN32 ) { # _debug( "# closing handles\n"); close($_) for values %{ $stash->{tee} }; # _debug( "# waiting for subprocesses to finish\n"); my $start = time; 1 until wait == -1 || (time - $start > 30); } else { _close $_ for values %{ $stash->{tee} }; waitpid $_, 0 for values %{ $stash->{pid} }; } } sub _slurp { my ($name, $stash) = @_; my ($fh, $pos) = map { $stash->{$_}{$name} } qw/capture pos/; # _debug( "# slurping captured $name from " . fileno($fh) . " at pos $pos with layers: @{[PerlIO::get_layers($fh)]}\n"); seek( $fh, $pos, 0 ) or die "Couldn't seek on capture handle for $name\n"; my $text = do { local $/; scalar readline $fh }; return defined($text) ? $text : ""; } #--------------------------------------------------------------------------# # _capture_tee() -- generic main sub for capturing or teeing #--------------------------------------------------------------------------# sub _capture_tee { # _debug( "# starting _capture_tee with (@_)...\n" ); my ($do_stdout, $do_stderr, $do_merge, $do_tee, $code, @opts) = @_; my %do = ($do_stdout ? (stdout => 1) : (), $do_stderr ? (stderr => 1) : ()); Carp::confess("Custom capture options must be given as key/value pairs\n") unless @opts % 2 == 0; my $stash = { capture => { @opts } }; for ( keys %{$stash->{capture}} ) { my $fh = $stash->{capture}{$_}; Carp::confess "Custom handle for $_ must be seekable\n" unless ref($fh) eq 'GLOB' || (blessed($fh) && $fh->isa("IO::Seekable")); } # save existing filehandles and setup captures local *CT_ORIG_STDIN = *STDIN ; local *CT_ORIG_STDOUT = *STDOUT; local *CT_ORIG_STDERR = *STDERR; # find initial layers my %layers = ( stdin => [PerlIO::get_layers(\*STDIN) ], stdout => [PerlIO::get_layers(\*STDOUT, output => 1)], stderr => [PerlIO::get_layers(\*STDERR, output => 1)], ); # _debug( "# existing layers for $_\: @{$layers{$_}}\n" ) for qw/stdin stdout stderr/; # get layers from underlying glob of tied filehandles if we can # (this only works for things that work like Tie::StdHandle) $layers{stdout} = [PerlIO::get_layers(tied *STDOUT)] if tied(*STDOUT) && (reftype tied *STDOUT eq 'GLOB'); $layers{stderr} = [PerlIO::get_layers(tied *STDERR)] if tied(*STDERR) && (reftype tied *STDERR eq 'GLOB'); # _debug( "# tied object corrected layers for $_\: @{$layers{$_}}\n" ) for qw/stdin stdout stderr/; # bypass scalar filehandles and tied handles # localize scalar STDIN to get a proxy to pick up FD0, then restore later to CT_ORIG_STDIN my %localize; $localize{stdin}++, local(*STDIN) if grep { $_ eq 'scalar' } @{$layers{stdin}}; $localize{stdout}++, local(*STDOUT) if $do_stdout && grep { $_ eq 'scalar' } @{$layers{stdout}}; $localize{stderr}++, local(*STDERR) if ($do_stderr || $do_merge) && grep { $_ eq 'scalar' } @{$layers{stderr}}; $localize{stdin}++, local(*STDIN), _open( \*STDIN, "<&=0") if tied *STDIN && $] >= 5.008; $localize{stdout}++, local(*STDOUT), _open( \*STDOUT, ">&=1") if $do_stdout && tied *STDOUT && $] >= 5.008; $localize{stderr}++, local(*STDERR), _open( \*STDERR, ">&=2") if ($do_stderr || $do_merge) && tied *STDERR && $] >= 5.008; # _debug( "# localized $_\n" ) for keys %localize; # proxy any closed/localized handles so we don't use fds 0, 1 or 2 my %proxy_std = _proxy_std(); # _debug( "# proxy std: @{ [%proxy_std] }\n" ); # update layers after any proxying $layers{stdout} = [PerlIO::get_layers(\*STDOUT, output => 1)] if $proxy_std{stdout}; $layers{stderr} = [PerlIO::get_layers(\*STDERR, output => 1)] if $proxy_std{stderr}; # _debug( "# post-proxy layers for $_\: @{$layers{$_}}\n" ) for qw/stdin stdout stderr/; # store old handles and setup handles for capture $stash->{old} = _copy_std(); $stash->{new} = { %{$stash->{old}} }; # default to originals for ( keys %do ) { $stash->{new}{$_} = ($stash->{capture}{$_} ||= File::Temp->new); seek( $stash->{capture}{$_}, 0, 2 ) or die "Could not seek on capture handle for $_\n"; $stash->{pos}{$_} = tell $stash->{capture}{$_}; # _debug("# will capture $_ on " . fileno($stash->{capture}{$_})."\n" ); _start_tee( $_ => $stash ) if $do_tee; # tees may change $stash->{new} } _wait_for_tees( $stash ) if $do_tee; # finalize redirection $stash->{new}{stderr} = $stash->{new}{stdout} if $do_merge; # _debug( "# redirecting in parent ...\n" ); _open_std( $stash->{new} ); # execute user provided code my ($exit_code, $inner_error, $outer_error, $orig_pid, @result); { $orig_pid = $$; local *STDIN = *CT_ORIG_STDIN if $localize{stdin}; # get original, not proxy STDIN # _debug( "# finalizing layers ...\n" ); _relayer(\*STDOUT, $layers{stdout}) if $do_stdout; _relayer(\*STDERR, $layers{stderr}) if $do_stderr; # _debug( "# running code $code ...\n" ); my $old_eval_err=$@; undef $@; eval { @result = $code->(); $inner_error = $@ }; $exit_code = $?; # save this for later $outer_error = $@; # save this for later STDOUT->flush if $do_stdout; STDERR->flush if $do_stderr; $@ = $old_eval_err; } # restore prior filehandles and shut down tees # _debug( "# restoring filehandles ...\n" ); _open_std( $stash->{old} ); _close( $_ ) for values %{$stash->{old}}; # don't leak fds # shouldn't need relayering originals, but see rt.perl.org #114404 _relayer(\*STDOUT, $layers{stdout}) if $do_stdout; _relayer(\*STDERR, $layers{stderr}) if $do_stderr; _unproxy( %proxy_std ); # _debug( "# killing tee subprocesses ...\n" ) if $do_tee; _kill_tees( $stash ) if $do_tee; # return captured output, but shortcut in void context # unless we have to echo output to tied/scalar handles; my %got; if ( $orig_pid == $$ and ( defined wantarray or ($do_tee && keys %localize) ) ) { for ( keys %do ) { _relayer($stash->{capture}{$_}, $layers{$_}); $got{$_} = _slurp($_, $stash); # _debug("# slurped " . length($got{$_}) . " bytes from $_\n"); } print CT_ORIG_STDOUT $got{stdout} if $do_stdout && $do_tee && $localize{stdout}; print CT_ORIG_STDERR $got{stderr} if $do_stderr && $do_tee && $localize{stderr}; } $? = $exit_code; $@ = $inner_error if $inner_error; die $outer_error if $outer_error; # _debug( "# ending _capture_tee with (@_)...\n" ); return unless defined wantarray; my @return; push @return, $got{stdout} if $do_stdout; push @return, $got{stderr} if $do_stderr && ! $do_merge; push @return, @result; return wantarray ? @return : $return[0]; } 1; __END__ =pod =encoding UTF-8 =head1 NAME Capture::Tiny - Capture STDOUT and STDERR from Perl, XS or external programs =head1 VERSION version 0.50 =head1 SYNOPSIS use Capture::Tiny ':all'; # capture from external command ($stdout, $stderr, $exit) = capture { system( $cmd, @args ); }; # capture from arbitrary code (Perl or external) ($stdout, $stderr, @result) = capture { # your code here }; # capture partial or merged output $stdout = capture_stdout { ... }; $stderr = capture_stderr { ... }; $merged = capture_merged { ... }; # tee output ($stdout, $stderr) = tee { # your code here }; $stdout = tee_stdout { ... }; $stderr = tee_stderr { ... }; $merged = tee_merged { ... }; =head1 DESCRIPTION Capture::Tiny provides a simple, portable way to capture almost anything sent to STDOUT or STDERR, regardless of whether it comes from Perl, from XS code or from an external program. Optionally, output can be teed so that it is captured while being passed through to the original filehandles. Yes, it even works on Windows (usually). Stop guessing which of a dozen capturing modules to use in any particular situation and just use this one. =head1 USAGE The following functions are available. None are exported by default. =head2 capture ($stdout, $stderr, @result) = capture \&code; $stdout = capture \&code; The C function takes a code reference and returns what is sent to STDOUT and STDERR as well as any return values from the code reference. In scalar context, it returns only STDOUT. If no output was received for a filehandle, it returns an empty string for that filehandle. Regardless of calling context, all output is captured -- nothing is passed to the existing filehandles. It is prototyped to take a subroutine reference as an argument. Thus, it can be called in block form: ($stdout, $stderr) = capture { # your code here ... }; Note that the coderef is evaluated in list context. If you wish to force scalar context on the return value, you must use the C keyword. ($stdout, $stderr, $count) = capture { my @list = qw/one two three/; return scalar @list; # $count will be 3 }; Also note that within the coderef, the C<@_> variable will be empty. So don't use arguments from a surrounding subroutine without copying them to an array first: sub wont_work { my ($stdout, $stderr) = capture { do_stuff( @_ ) }; # WRONG ... } sub will_work { my @args = @_; my ($stdout, $stderr) = capture { do_stuff( @args ) }; # RIGHT ... } Captures are normally done to an anonymous temporary filehandle. To capture via a named file (e.g. to externally monitor a long-running capture), provide custom filehandles as a trailing list of option pairs: my $out_fh = IO::File->new("out.txt", "w+"); my $err_fh = IO::File->new("err.txt", "w+"); capture { ... } stdout => $out_fh, stderr => $err_fh; The filehandles must be read/write and seekable. Modifying the files or filehandles during a capture operation will give unpredictable results. Existing IO layers on them may be changed by the capture. When called in void context, C saves memory and time by not reading back from the capture handles. =head2 capture_stdout ($stdout, @result) = capture_stdout \&code; $stdout = capture_stdout \&code; The C function works just like C except only STDOUT is captured. STDERR is not captured. =head2 capture_stderr ($stderr, @result) = capture_stderr \&code; $stderr = capture_stderr \&code; The C function works just like C except only STDERR is captured. STDOUT is not captured. =head2 capture_merged ($merged, @result) = capture_merged \&code; $merged = capture_merged \&code; The C function works just like C except STDOUT and STDERR are merged. (Technically, STDERR is redirected to the same capturing handle as STDOUT before executing the function.) Caution: STDOUT and STDERR output in the merged result are not guaranteed to be properly ordered due to buffering. =head2 tee ($stdout, $stderr, @result) = tee \&code; $stdout = tee \&code; The C function works just like C, except that output is captured as well as passed on to the original STDOUT and STDERR. When called in void context, C saves memory and time by not reading back from the capture handles, except when the original STDOUT or STDERR were tied or opened to a scalar handle. =head2 tee_stdout ($stdout, @result) = tee_stdout \&code; $stdout = tee_stdout \&code; The C function works just like C except only STDOUT is teed. STDERR is not teed (output goes to STDERR as usual). =head2 tee_stderr ($stderr, @result) = tee_stderr \&code; $stderr = tee_stderr \&code; The C function works just like C except only STDERR is teed. STDOUT is not teed (output goes to STDOUT as usual). =head2 tee_merged ($merged, @result) = tee_merged \&code; $merged = tee_merged \&code; The C function works just like C except that output is captured as well as passed on to STDOUT. Caution: STDOUT and STDERR output in the merged result are not guaranteed to be properly ordered due to buffering. =head1 LIMITATIONS =head2 Portability Portability is a goal, not a guarantee. C requires fork, except on Windows where C is used instead. Not tested on any particularly esoteric platforms yet. See the L for test result by platform. =head2 PerlIO layers Capture::Tiny does its best to preserve PerlIO layers such as ':utf8' or ':crlf' when capturing (only for Perl 5.8.1+) . Layers should be applied to STDOUT or STDERR I the call to C or C. This may not work for tied filehandles (see below). =head2 Modifying filehandles before capturing Generally speaking, you should do little or no manipulation of the standard IO filehandles prior to using Capture::Tiny. In particular, closing, reopening, localizing or tying standard filehandles prior to capture may cause a variety of unexpected, undesirable and/or unreliable behaviors, as described below. Capture::Tiny does its best to compensate for these situations, but the results may not be what you desire. =head3 Closed filehandles Capture::Tiny will work even if STDIN, STDOUT or STDERR have been previously closed. However, since they will be reopened to capture or tee output, any code within the captured block that depends on finding them closed will, of course, not find them to be closed. If they started closed, Capture::Tiny will close them again when the capture block finishes. Note that this reopening will happen even for STDIN or a filehandle not being captured to ensure that the filehandle used for capture is not opened to file descriptor 0, as this causes problems on various platforms. Prior to Perl 5.12, closed STDIN combined with PERL_UNICODE=D leaks filehandles and also breaks tee() for undiagnosed reasons. So don't do that. =head3 Localized filehandles If code localizes any of Perl's standard filehandles before capturing, the capture will affect the localized filehandles and not the original ones. External system calls are not affected by localizing a filehandle in Perl and will continue to send output to the original filehandles (which will thus not be captured). =head3 Scalar filehandles If STDOUT or STDERR are reopened to scalar filehandles prior to the call to C or C, then Capture::Tiny will override the output filehandle for the duration of the C or C call and then, for C, send captured output to the output filehandle after the capture is complete. (Requires Perl 5.8) Capture::Tiny attempts to preserve the semantics of STDIN opened to a scalar reference, but note that external processes will not be able to read from such a handle. Capture::Tiny tries to ensure that external processes will read from the null device instead, but this is not guaranteed. =head3 Tied output filehandles If STDOUT or STDERR are tied prior to the call to C or C, then Capture::Tiny will attempt to override the tie for the duration of the C or C call and then send captured output to the tied filehandle after the capture is complete. (Requires Perl 5.8) Capture::Tiny may not succeed resending UTF-8 encoded data to a tied STDOUT or STDERR filehandle. Characters may appear as bytes. If the tied filehandle is based on L, then Capture::Tiny will attempt to determine appropriate layers like C<:utf8> from the underlying filehandle and do the right thing. =head3 Tied input filehandle Capture::Tiny attempts to preserve the semantics of tied STDIN, but this requires Perl 5.8 and is not entirely predictable. External processes will not be able to read from such a handle. Unless having STDIN tied is crucial, it may be safest to localize STDIN when capturing: my ($out, $err) = do { local *STDIN; capture { ... } }; =head2 Modifying filehandles during a capture Attempting to modify STDIN, STDOUT or STDERR I C or C is almost certainly going to cause problems. Don't do that. =head3 Forking inside a capture Forks aren't portable. The behavior of filehandles during a fork is even less so. If Capture::Tiny detects that a fork has occurred within a capture, it will shortcut in the child process and return empty strings for captures. Other problems may occur in the child or parent, as well. Forking in a capture block is not recommended. =head3 Using threads Filehandles are global. Mixing up I/O and captures in different threads without coordination is going to cause problems. Besides, threads are officially discouraged. =head3 Dropping privileges during a capture If you drop privileges during a capture, temporary files created to facilitate the capture may not be cleaned up afterwards. =head2 No support for Perl 5.8.0 It's just too buggy when it comes to layers and UTF-8. Perl 5.8.1 or later is recommended. =head2 Limited support for Perl 5.6 Perl 5.6 predates PerlIO. UTF-8 data may not be captured correctly. =head1 ENVIRONMENT =head2 PERL_CAPTURE_TINY_TIMEOUT Capture::Tiny uses subprocesses internally for C. By default, Capture::Tiny will timeout with an error if such subprocesses are not ready to receive data within 30 seconds (or whatever is the value of C<$Capture::Tiny::TIMEOUT>). An alternate timeout may be specified by setting the C environment variable. Setting it to zero will disable timeouts. B, this does not timeout the code reference being captured -- this only prevents Capture::Tiny itself from hanging your process waiting for its child processes to be ready to proceed. =head1 SEE ALSO This module was inspired by L, which provides similar functionality without the ability to tee output and with more complicated code and API. L does not handle layers or most of the unusual cases described in the L section and I no longer recommend it. There are many other CPAN modules that provide some sort of output capture, albeit with various limitations that make them appropriate only in particular circumstances. I'm probably missing some. The long list is provided to show why I felt Capture::Tiny was necessary. =over 4 =item * L =item * L =item * L =item * L =item * L =item * L =item * L =item * L =item * L =item * L =item * L =item * L =item * L =item * L =item * L =item * L =item * L =item * L =item * L =item * L =item * L =back =for :stopwords cpan testmatrix url bugtracker rt cpants kwalitee diff irc mailto metadata placeholders metacpan =head1 SUPPORT =head2 Bugs / Feature Requests Please report any bugs or feature requests through the issue tracker at L. You will be notified automatically of any progress on your issue. =head2 Source Code This is open source software. The code repository is available for public review and contribution under the terms of the license. L git clone https://github.com/dagolden/Capture-Tiny.git =head1 AUTHOR David Golden =head1 CONTRIBUTORS =for stopwords Dagfinn Ilmari Mannsåker David E. Wheeler Ed Sabol fecundf Graham Knop Karen Etheridge Mohammad S Anwar Peter Rabbitson Sven Kirmess =over 4 =item * Dagfinn Ilmari Mannsåker =item * David E. Wheeler =item * Ed Sabol =item * fecundf =item * Graham Knop =item * Karen Etheridge =item * Mohammad S Anwar =item * Peter Rabbitson =item * Sven Kirmess =back =head1 COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE This software is Copyright (c) 2009 by David Golden. This is free software, licensed under: The Apache License, Version 2.0, January 2004 =cut