Pod::ParseLink(3perl) Perl Programmers Reference Guide Pod::ParseLink(3perl)
NAME
Pod::ParseLink - Parse an L<> formatting code in POD text
SYNOPSIS
use Pod::ParseLink;
my $link = get_link();
my ($text, $inferred, $name, $section, $type) = parselink($link);
DESCRIPTION
This module only provides a single function, parselink(), which takes
the text of an L<> formatting code and parses it. It returns the anchor
text for the link (if any was given), the anchor text possibly inferred
from the name and section, the name or URL, the section if any, and the
type of link. The type will be one of "url", "pod", or "man",
indicating a URL, a link to a POD page, or a link to a Unix manual page.
Parsing is implemented per perlpodspec. For backward compatibility,
links where there is no section and name contains spaces, or links where
the entirety of the link (except for the anchor text if given) is
enclosed in double-quotes are interpreted as links to a section
(L</section>).
The inferred anchor text is implemented per perlpodspec:
L<name> => L<name|name>
L</section> => L<"section"|/section>
L<name/section> => L<"section" in name|name/section>
The name may contain embedded E<> and Z<> formatting codes, and the
section, anchor text, and inferred anchor text may contain any
formatting codes. Any double quotes around the section are removed as
part of the parsing, as is any leading or trailing whitespace.
If the text of the L<> escape is entirely enclosed in double quotes,
it's interpreted as a link to a section for backward compatibility.
No attempt is made to resolve formatting codes. This must be done after
calling parselink() (since E<> formatting codes can be used to escape
characters that would otherwise be significant to the parser and
resolving them before parsing would result in an incorrect parse of a
formatting code like:
L<verticalE<verbar>barE<sol>slash>
which should be interpreted as a link to the "vertical|bar/slash" POD
page and not as a link to the "slash" section of the "bar" POD page with
an anchor text of "vertical". Note that not only the anchor text will
need to have formatting codes expanded, but so will the target of the
link (to deal with E<> and Z<> formatting codes), and special handling
of the section may be necessary depending on whether the translator
wants to consider markup in sections to be significant when resolving
links. See perlpodspec for more information.
AUTHOR
Russ Allbery <rra@cpan.org>
COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
Copyright 2001, 2008, 2009, 2014, 2018-2019, 2022 Russ Allbery
<rra@cpan.org>
This program is free software; you may redistribute it and/or modify it
under the same terms as Perl itself.
SEE ALSO
Pod::Parser
The current version of this module is always available from its web site
at <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/software/podlators/>.
perl v5.40.1 2026-08-30 Pod::ParseLink(3perl)
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