---
name: "File::MMagic::XS"
section: "3pm"
platform: "linux"
package: "libfile-mmagic-xs-perl"
version: "0.09008-4+b5"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/File::MMagic::XS"
---

# File::MMagic::XS(3pm)

Guess File Type With XS (a la mod\_mime\_magic)

## NAME

File::MMagic::XS - Guess File Type With XS (a la mod\_mime\_magic)

## SYNOPSIS

```
  use File::MMagic::XS;
  my $m = File::MMagic::XS->new();
     $m = File::MMagic::XS->new('/etc/magic'); # use external magic file
  my $mime = $m->get_mime($file);
  # use File::MMagic compatible interface
  use File::MMagic::XS qw(:compat);
  my $m = File::MMagic::XS->new();
  $m->checktype_filename($file);
```

## DESCRIPTION

This is a port of Apache2 mod\_mime\_magic.c in Perl, written in XS with the aim of being efficient and fast, especially for applications that need to be  run for an extended amount of time.

There is a compatibility layer for File::MMagic. you can specify :compat when importing the module

```
   use File::MMagic::XS qw(:compat);
```

And then the following methods are going to be available from File::MMagic::XS:

```
   checktype_filename
   checktype_filehandle
   checktype_contents
   addMagicEntry
```

Currently this software is in beta. If you have suggestions/recommendations  about the interface or anything else, now is your chance to send them!

## METHODS

### new(%args)

Creates a new File::MMagic::XS object.

If you specify the `"file"` argument, then File::MMagic::XS will load magic definitions from the specified file. If unspecified, it will use the magic file that will be installed under File/MMagic/ directory.

### clone()

Clones an existing File::MMagic::XS object.

### parse\_magic\_file($file)

Read and parse a magic file, as used by Apache2.

### get\_mime($file)

Inspects the file specified by `$file` and returns a MIME type if possible. If no matching MIME type is found, then undef is returned.

### fsmagic($file)

Inspects a file and returns a MIME type using inode information only. The contents of the file is not inspected.

### fhmagic($fh)

Inspects a file handle and returns a mime string by reading the contents of the file handle.

### ascmagic($file)

Inspects a piece of data (assuming it's not binary data), and attempts to determine the file type.

### bufmagic($scalar)

Inspects a scalar buffer, and attempts to determine the file type

### add\_magic($magic\_line)

Adds a new magic entry to the object. The format of `$magic_line` is the same as [**magic**(5)](/magic/5.md) file. This allows you to add custom magic entries at run time

### add\_file\_ext($ext, $mime)

Adds a new file extension to MIME mapping. This is used as a fallback method to determining MIME types.

```
  my $magic = File::MMagic::XS->new;
  $magic->add_file_ext('t', 'text/perl-test');
  my $mime  = $magic->get_mime('t/01-sanity.t');
```

This will make **get\_mime()** return 'text/perl-test'.

### error()

Returns the last error string.

## PERFORMANCE

This is on my laptop (MacBook, Core 2 Duo/ Mac OS X 10.4.3), tested against File::MMagic::XS 0.09003

```
          Rate  perl    xs
  perl   513/s    --  -96%
  xs   12048/s 2249%    --
```

## SEE ALSO

File::MMagic

## AUTHOR

Copyright 2005-2007 Daisuke Maki \<daisuke@endeworks.jp\>.

Underlying software: Copyright 1999-2004 The Apache Software Foundation, Copyright (c) 1996-1997 Cisco Systems, Inc., Copyright (c) Ian F. Darwin, 1987. Written by Ian F. Darwin.

## LICENSE

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

See http://www.perl.com/perl/misc/Artistic.html