File::Pid(3)

NAME
File::Pid - Pid File Manipulation

SYNOPSIS
  use File::Pid;

  my $pidfile = File::Pid->new({
    file => '/some/file.pid',
  });

  $pidfile->write;

  if ( my $num = $pidfile->running ) {
      die "Already running: $num\n";
  }

  $pidfile->remove;

DESCRIPTION
This software manages a pid file for you. It will create a pid file, query the process within to discover if it's still running, and remove the pid file.

  new
  my $pidfile = File::Pid->new;

  my $thisfile = File::Pid->new({
    file => '/var/run/daemon.pid',
  });

  my $thisfileandpid = File::Pid->new({
    file => '/var/run/daemon.pid',
    pid  => '145',
  });

This constructor takes two optional paramters.

"file" - The name of the pid file to work on. If not specified, a pid file located in "File::Spec->tmpdir()" will be created that matches "(File::Basename::basename($0))[0] . '.pid'". So, for example, if $0 is ~/bin/sig.pl, the pid file will be /tmp/sig.pl.pid.

"pid" - The pid to write to a new pidfile. If not specified, $$ is used when the pid file doesn't exist. When the pid file does exist, the pid inside it is used.

  file
  my $pidfile = $pidfile->file;

Accessor/mutator for the filename used as the pid file.

  pid
  my $pid = $pidfile->pid;

Accessor/mutator for the pid being saved to the pid file.

  write
  my $pid = $pidfile->write;

Writes the pid file to disk, inserting the pid inside the file. On success, the pid written is returned. On failure, "undef" is returned.

  running
  my $pid = $pidfile->running;
  die "Service already running: $pid\n" if $pid;

Checks to see if the pricess identified in the pid file is still running. If the process is still running, the pid is returned. Otherwise "undef" is returned.

  remove
  $pidfile->remove or warn "Couldn't unlink pid file\n";

Removes the pid file from disk. Returns true on success, false on failure.

  program_name
This is a utility method that allows you to determine what "File::Pid" thinks the program name is. Internally this is used when no pid file is specified.

SEE ALSO
perl.

AUTHOR
Casey West, <casey@geeknest.com>.

COPYRIGHT
  Copyright (c) 2005 Casey West.  All rights reserved.
  This module is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
  under the same terms as Perl itself.