NAME

    File::is - file is older? oldest? is newer? newest? similar? the same?

SYNOPSIS

        use File::is;
    
        # return if F<file1> is newer than F<file2> or F<file3>.
        return
            if File::is->newer('file1', 'file2', 'file3');
    
        # do something if F<path1/file1> is older than F<file2> or F<path3/file3>.
        do_some_work()
            if File::is->older([ 'path1', 'file1'], 'file2', [ 'path3', 'file3' ]);

DESCRIPTION

    This module is a result of /me not wanting to write:

        if ($(stat('filename'))[9] < $(stat('tmp/other-filename'))[9]) { do_someting(); };

    Instead I wrote a module with ~80 lines of code and ~90 lines of tests
    for it... So how is the module different from the above if? Should be
    reusable, has more functionality, should be clear from the code it self
    what the condition is doing and was fun to play with it. Another
    advantage is that the file names can be passed as array refs. In this
    case "catfile" in File::Spec is used to construct the filename. The
    resulting code is:

        if (File::is->older('filename', [ 'tmp', 'other-filename' ])) { do_something(); };

FUNCTIONS

 newer($primary_filename, $other_filename, $other_filename2, ...)

    Returns true/false if the $primary_filename is newer (has modification
    time-stamp recent) then any of the rest passed as argument.

 newest($primary_filename, $other_filename, $other_filename2, ...)

    Returns true/false if the $primary_filename is newest (has the biggest
    modification time-stamp) compared to the rest of the passed filenames.

 older($primary_filename, $other_filename, $other_filename2, ...)

    Returns true/false if the $primary_filename is older (has the later
    modification time-stamp) then any of the rest passed as argument.

 oldest($primary_filename, $other_filename, $other_filename2, ...)

    Returns true/false if the $primary_filename is oldest (has the latest
    modification time-stamp) compared to the rest of the passed filenames.

 similar($primary_filename, $other_filename, $other_filename2, ...)

    Returns true/false if the $primary_filename has the same size and
    modification time-stamp than any of the rest of the passed filenames.

 thesame($primary_filename, $other_filename, $other_filename2, ...)

    Returns true/false if the $primary_filename has the same inode and dev
    (is hard link) to any of the rest of the passed filenames.

    NOTE: see http://perlmonks.org/?node_id=859612, File::Same

 bigger($primary_filename, $other_filename, $other_filename2, ...)

    Returns true/false if the $primary_filename is bigger (has the bigger
    size) then any of the rest passed as argument.

 biggest($primary_filename, $other_filename, $other_filename2, ...)

    Returns true/false if the $primary_filename is biggest (has the biggest
    size) compared to the rest of the passed filenames.

 smaller($primary_filename, $other_filename, $other_filename2, ...)

    Returns true/false if the $primary_filename is smaller (has the smaller
    size) then any of the rest passed as argument.

 smallest($primary_filename, $other_filename, $other_filename2, ...)

    Returns true/false if the $primary_filename is smallest (has the
    smallest size) compared to the rest of the passed filenames.

INTERNALS

    Call/use at your own risk ;-)

 _construct_filename()

    Accepts one or more arguments. It passes them to
    <File::Spec-catfile()>> dereferencing the array if one argument array
    ref is passed.

    Example:

        _construct_filename('file')               => 'file'
        _construct_filename([ 'folder', 'file' ]) => File::Spec->catfile('folder', 'file');
        _construct_filename('folder', 'file')     => File::Spec->catfile('folder', 'file');

    This function is called on every argument passed to cmp methods (newer,
    smaller, older, ...).

 _cmp_stat($class, $return_value_if_match, $cmp_function,
 $primary_filename, $other_filename, $other_filename2, ...)

    This function is called by all of the public newer(), smaller(),
    older(), ... methods do loop through files and do some cmp on them.

SEE ALSO

    http://perldoc.perl.org/functions/stat.html

AUTHOR

    Jozef Kutej, <jkutej at cpan.org>

CONTRIBUTORS

    The following people have contributed to the File::is by committing
    their code, sending patches, reporting bugs, asking questions,
    suggesting useful advises, nitpicking, chatting on IRC or commenting on
    my blog (in no particular order):

        Ronald Fischer

BUGS

    Please report any bugs or feature requests to bug-file-is at
    rt.cpan.org, or through the web interface at
    http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=File-is. I will be
    notified, and then you'll automatically be notified of progress on your
    bug as I make changes.

SUPPORT

    You can find documentation for this module with the perldoc command.

        perldoc File::is

    You can also look for information at:

      * RT: CPAN's request tracker

      http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/Bugs.html?Dist=File-is

      * AnnoCPAN: Annotated CPAN documentation

      http://annocpan.org/dist/File-is

      * CPAN Ratings

      http://cpanratings.perl.org/d/File-is

      * Search CPAN

      http://search.cpan.org/dist/File-is

LICENSE AND COPYRIGHT

    Copyright 2010 jkutej@cpan.org

    This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
    under the terms of either: the GNU General Public License as published
    by the Free Software Foundation; or the Artistic License.

    See http://dev.perl.org/licenses/ for more information.