---
name: "Test2::Util"
section: "3pm"
platform: "linux"
package: "libtest-simple-perl"
version: "1.302210-1"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/Test2::Util/3pm"
---

# Test2::Util(3pm)

Tools used by Test2 and friends.

## NAME

Test2::Util - Tools used by Test2 and friends.

## DESCRIPTION

Collection of tools used by Test2 and friends.

## EXPORTS

All exports are optional. You must specify subs to import.

- ($success, $error) = try { ... }

  Eval the codeblock, return success or failure, and the error message. This code protects $@ and $!, they will be restored by the end of the run. This code also temporarily blocks `$SIG`{DIE} handlers.

- protect { ... }

  Similar to try, except that it does not catch exceptions. The idea here is to protect $@ and $! from changes. $@ and $! will be restored to whatever they were before the run so long as it is successful. If the run fails $! will still be restored, but $@ will contain the exception being thrown.

- CAN\_FORK

  True if this system is capable of true or pseudo-fork.

- CAN\_REALLY\_FORK

  True if the system can really fork. This will be false for systems where fork is emulated.

- CAN\_THREAD

  True if this system is capable of using threads.

- USE\_THREADS

  Returns true if threads are enabled, false if they are not.

- get\_tid

  This will return the id of the current thread when threads are enabled, otherwise it returns 0.

- my $file = pkg\_to\_file($package)

  Convert a package name to a filename.

- $string = **ipc\_separator()**

  Get the IPC separator. Currently this is always the string `'~'`.

- $string = **gen\_uid()**

  Generate a unique id (NOT A UUID). This will typically be the process id, the thread id, the time, and an incrementing integer all joined with the `ipc_separator()`.

  These ID's are unique enough for most purposes. For identical ids to be generated you must have 2 processes with the same PID generate IDs at the same time with the same current state of the incrementing integer. This is a perfectly reasonable thing to expect to happen across multiple machines, but is quite unlikely to happen on one machine.

  This can fail to be unique if a process generates an id, calls exec, and does it again after the exec and it all happens in less than a second. It can also happen if the systems process id's cycle in less than a second allowing 2 different programs that use this generator to run with the same PID in less than a second. Both these cases are sufficiently unlikely. If you need universally unique ids, or ids that are unique in these conditions, look at Data::UUID.

- ($ok, $err) = do\_rename($old\_name, $new\_name)

  Rename a file, this wraps `rename()` in a way that makes it more reliable cross-platform when trying to rename files you recently altered.

- ($ok, $err) = do\_unlink($filename)

  Unlink a file, this wraps `unlink()` in a way that makes it more reliable cross-platform when trying to unlink files you recently altered.

## NOTES && CAVEATS

- 5\.10.0

  Perl 5.10.0 has a bug when compiled with newer gcc versions. This bug causes a segfault whenever a new thread is launched. Test2 will attempt to detect this, and note that the system is not capable of forking when it is detected.

- Devel::Cover

  Devel::Cover does not support threads. CAN\_THREAD will return false if Devel::Cover is loaded before the check is first run.

## SOURCE

The source code repository for Test2 can be found at \<https://github.com/Test-More/test-more/\>.

## MAINTAINERS

- Chad Granum \<exodist@cpan.org\>

  ## AUTHORS

- Chad Granum \<exodist@cpan.org\>

  - Kent Fredric \<kentnl@cpan.org\>

  ## COPYRIGHT

Copyright Chad Granum \<exodist@cpan.org\>.

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

See \<https://dev.perl.org/licenses/\>