headers - shabble/irssi-docs GitHub Wiki
Irssi header specification
use strict;
# header begins here
use Irssi 20020120.0250 ();
our $VERSION = "123";
our %IRSSI = (
authors => "J. Doe, A. U. Thor",
contact => "jdoe\@user.org, a.u.thor\@a.galaxy.far.away",
name => "Foo",
description => "Short description",
license => "GPL/1",
url => "http://foo/",
changed => "Sun Jan 20 02:51:16 CET 2002",
);
# ends here
...This module and sample implementation define a standardized header format for Irssi scripts. Another header format was already proposed, but I thought it would be better if Irssi could use the data, and the info was completely perl-executable. Also, i wanted $VERSION to be parsed in the same fashion it is done by CPAN, to enable Irssi scripters to upload their Irssi scripts to the CPAN (Comprehensive Perl Archive Network), when Irssi can handle it.
The other header format at this time (2/3/2002) no longer exists. The author recommends users to use this format instead.
Every key/value pair, including the "use Irssi" line and the "$VERSION =" line, needs its own single line. "%IRSSI = (" and ");" need their own lines as well. The ");" of the %IRSSI definition must be the very first occurence of that string on it's own line (add a comment if you really need it elsewhere). This all follows common Perl style rules.
The Irssi version number needs to be in the same format Irssi wants it: "yyyymmdd.hhMM". Do NOT use variable interpolation.
Data in %IRSSI needs to be in no particular format, and all values except "name" are optional. However, scripters are advised to include at least the following: "authors" (warning: plural!), "contact", and "description". Not mentioning "license" implies whoever finds the script may use it the way s/he wishes. Other useable values would be "changed" (a date) and "url".
This header should be first in the file, or at least before any line that matches "/^\s*\);\s*$/".
This is parseable by perl (using this module) and executable by perl, allowing you to use the data somewhere else in your script. Because global variables are used, Irssi can access the data in %PACKAGE::IRSSI and %PACKAGE::VERSION in future versions of Irssi. Because $VERSION is eval()ed in the same way ExtUtils::MakeMaker does, scripts using this header format can be uploaded to CPAN and CVS versions can be used (see the MakeMaker documentation).
Juerd <[email protected]>