diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'pod/perlfunc.pod')
| -rw-r--r-- | pod/perlfunc.pod | 15 |
1 files changed, 11 insertions, 4 deletions
diff --git a/pod/perlfunc.pod b/pod/perlfunc.pod index 1495514bac..0d09e855e8 100644 --- a/pod/perlfunc.pod +++ b/pod/perlfunc.pod @@ -2841,10 +2841,17 @@ C<chdir()> there, it would have been testing the wrong file. =item readline EXPR -Reads from the filehandle whose typeglob is contained in EXPR. In scalar context, a single line -is read and returned. In list context, reads until end-of-file is -reached and returns a list of lines (however you've defined lines -with C<$/> or C<$INPUT_RECORD_SEPARATOR>). +Reads from the filehandle whose typeglob is contained in EXPR. In scalar +context, each call reads and returns the next line, until end-of-file is +reached, whereupon the subsequent call returns undef. In list context, +reads until end-of-file is reached and returns a list of lines. Note that +the notion of "line" used here is however you may have defined it +with C<$/> or C<$INPUT_RECORD_SEPARATOR>). See L<perlvar/"$/">. + +When C<$/> is set to C<undef> and when readline() is in a scalar +context (i.e. file slurp mode), it returns C<''> the first time, +followed by C<undef> subsequently. + This is the internal function implementing the C<E<lt>EXPRE<gt>> operator, but you can use it directly. The C<E<lt>EXPRE<gt>> operator is discussed in more detail in L<perlop/"I/O Operators">. |