Pod::Abstract::BuildNode(3)

NAME
Pod::Abstract::BuildNode - Build new nodes for use in Pod::Abstract.

SYNOPSIS
 use Pod::Abstract::BuildNode qw(node nodes); # shorthand

 my $root_doc = node->root;
 for(my $i = 1; $i < 10; $i ++) {
    $root_doc->push(node->head1("Heading number $i"));
 }
 print $root_doc->pod;

DESCRIPTION
For building a new Pod::Abstract document, or adding nodes to an existing one. This provides easy methods to generate correctly set nodes for most common Pod::Abstract elements.

NOTES
Pod::Abstract::BuildNode can export two functions, "node" and "nodes". These are constant functions to provide a shorthand so instead of writing:

 use Pod::Abstract::BuildNode;
 # ...
 my @nodes = Pod::Abstract::BuildNode->from_pod( $pod );

You can instead write:

 use Pod::Abstract::BuildNode qw(node nodes);
 # ...
 my @nodes = nodes->from_pod($pod);

Which is more readable, and less typing. "node" and "nodes" are both synonyms of "Pod::Abstract::BuildNode".

This shorthand form is shown in all the method examples below. All methods operate on the class.

METHODS

  from_pod
 my @nodes = nodes->from_pod($pod_text);

Given some literal Pod text, generate a full subtree of nodes. The returned array is all of the top level nodes. The full document tree will be populated under the returned nodes.

  root
 my $root = node->root;

Generate a root node. A root node generates no output, and is used to hold a document tree. Use this to make a new document.

  begin
 my $begin_block = node->begin($command);

Generates a begin/end block. Nodes nested inside the begin node will appear between the begin/end.

Note that there is no corresponding "end" method - the end command belongs to it's corresponding begin.

  for
 my $for = node->for('overlay from <class>');

Create a =for node. The argument is the literal body of the for node, no parsing will be performed.

  paragraph
 my $para = node->paragraph('Pod text');

Generates a Pod paragraph, possibly containing interior sequences. The argument will be parsed as Pod, and will generate text and sequence nodes inside the paragraph.

  verbatim
 my $v = node->verbatim($text);

Add the given text as a verbatim node to the document. All lines in the fiven $text will be indented by one space to ensure they are treated as verbatim.

  heading
 my $head2 = node->heading(2, $heading);

Generate a heading node at the given level. Nodes that "belong" in the heading's section should be nested in the heading node. The $heading text will be parsed for interior sequences.

  head1
 node->head1($heading);

  head2
 node->head2($heading);

  head3
 node->head3($heading);

  head4
 node->head4($heading);

  over
 my $list = node->over([$num]);

Generates an over/back block, to contain list items. The optional parameter $num specifies the number of spaces to indent by. Note that the back node is part of the over, there is no separate back method.

  link
 my $link = node->link('Pod::Abstract');

Generates an inline link. This will nest the passed link text only.

There's special inline parsing for Perl POD links, which is not handled by this method.

  item
 my $item = node->item('*');

Generates an item with the specified label. To fill in the text of the item, nest paragraphs into the item. Items should be contained in over nodes.

  text
 my $text = node->text('Literal text');

Generates a literal text node. You generally do not want this, you probably want a paragraph. Use this if you want to, for example, append a word at the end of a paragraph.

  pod
 my $n = node->pod;

Generates an "=pod" command. Can be useful to force pod mode at the end of cut nodes.

Do not confuse with "from_pod"!

  cut
 my $cut = node->cut;

Generates an explicit "=cut" command.

AUTHOR
Ben Lilburne <bnej80@gmail.com>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
Copyright (C) 2009-2025 Ben Lilburne

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.