# NAME

Config::Abstraction - Merge and manage configuration data from different sources

# VERSION

Version 0.39

# SYNOPSIS

`Config::Abstraction` lets you load configuration from multiple sources,
such as files, environment variables, and in-code defaults,
and merge them with predictable precedence.
It provides a consistent API for accessing the configuration settings, regardless of where they came from,
this helps keep your application's or class's configuration flexible, centralized, and easy to override.

    use Config::Abstraction;

    my $config = Config::Abstraction->new(
      config_dirs => ['config'],
      env_prefix => 'APP_',
      flatten => 0,
    );

    my $db_user = $config->get('database.user');

# DESCRIPTION

`Config::Abstraction` is a flexible configuration management layer that sits above `Config::*` modules.
It provides a simple way to layer multiple configuration sources with predictable merge order.
It lets you define sources such as:

- Perl hashes (in-memory defaults or dynamic values)
- Environment variables (with optional prefixes)
- Configuration files (YAML, JSON, INI, or plain key=value)
- Command-line arguments

Sources are applied in the order they are provided. Later sources override
earlier ones unless a key is explicitly set to `undef` in the later source.

In addition to using drivers to load configuration data from multiple file
formats (YAML, JSON, XML, and INI),
it also allows levels of configuration, each of which overrides the lower levels.
So, it also integrates environment variable
overrides and command line arguments for runtime configuration adjustments.
This module is designed to help developers manage layered configurations that can be loaded from files and overridden at run-time for debugging,
offering a modern, robust and dynamic approach
to configuration management.

## Merge Precedence Diagram

    +----------------+
    |   CLI args     |  (Highest priority)
    +----------------+
    | Environment    |
    +----------------+
    | Config file(s) |
    +----------------+
    | Defaults       |  (Lowest priority)
    +----------------+

## KEY FEATURES

- Multi-Format Support

    Supports configuration files in YAML, JSON, XML, and INI formats.
    Automatically merges configuration data from these different formats,
    allowing hierarchical configuration management.

- Environment Variable Overrides

    Allows environment variables to override values in the configuration files.
    By setting environment variables with a specific prefix (default: `APP_`),
    values in the configuration files can be dynamically adjusted without modifying
    the file contents.

- Flattened Configuration Option

    Optionally supports flattening the configuration structure. This converts deeply
    nested configuration keys into a flat key-value format (e.g., `database.user`
    instead of `database->{user}`). This makes accessing values easier for
    applications that prefer flat structures or need compatibility with flat
    key-value stores.

- Layered Configuration

    Supports merging multiple layers of configuration files. For example, you can
    have a `base.yaml` configuration file that provides default values, and a
    `local.yaml` (or `local.json`, `local.xml`, etc.) file that overrides
    specific values. This allows for environment-specific configurations while
    keeping defaults intact.

- Merge Strategy

    The module merges the configuration data intelligently, allowing values in more
    specific files (like `local.yaml`, `local.json`, `local.xml`, `local.ini`)
    to override values in base files. This enables a flexible and layered configuration
    system where you can set defaults and override them for specific environments.

- Error Handling

    Includes error handling for loading configuration files.
    If any file fails to
    load (e.g., due to syntax issues), the module will throw descriptive error
    messages to help with debugging.

## SUPPORTED FILE FORMATS

- YAML (`*.yaml`, `*.yml`)

    The module supports loading YAML files using the `YAML::XS` module.

- JSON (`*.json`)

    The module supports loading JSON files using `JSON::MaybeXS`.

- XML (`*.xml`)

    The module supports loading XML files using `XML::Simple`.

- INI (`*.ini`)

    The module supports loading INI files using `Config::IniFiles`.

## ENVIRONMENT VARIABLE HANDLING

Configuration values can be overridden via environment variables. Environment variables use double underscores (\_\_) to denote nested configuration keys and single underscores remain as part of the key name under the prefix namespace.

For example:

    APP_DATABASE__USER becomes database.user (nested structure)

      $ export APP_DATABASE__USER="env_user"

will override any value set for \`database.user\` in the configuration files.

    APP_LOGLEVEL becomes APP.loglevel (flat under prefix namespace)

    APP_API__RATE_LIMIT becomes api.rate_limit (mixed usage)

This allows you to override both top-level and nested configuration values using environment variables.

Configuration values can be overridden via the command line (`@ARGV`).
For instance, if you have a key in the configuration such as `database.user`,
you can override it by adding `"--APP_DATABASE__USER=other_user_name"` to the command line arguments.
This will override any value set for `database.user` in the configuration files.

## EXAMPLE CONFIGURATION FLOW

- 1. Data Argument

    The data passed into the constructor via the `data` argument is the starting point.
    Essentially,
    this contains the default values.

- 2. Loading Files

    The module then looks for configuration files in the specified directories.
    It loads the following files in order of preference:
    `base.yaml`, `local.yaml`, `base.json`, `local.json`, `base.xml`,
    `local.xml`, `base.ini`, and `local.ini`.

    If `config_file` or `config_files` is set, those files are loaded last.

    If no `config_dirs` is given, try hard to find the files in various places.

- 3. Merging and Resolving

    The module merges the contents of these files, with more specific configurations
    (e.g., `local.*`) overriding general ones (e.g., `base.*`).

- 4. Environment Overrides

    After loading and merging the configuration files,
    the environment variables are
    checked and used to override any conflicting settings.

- 5. Command Line

    Next, the command line arguments are checked and used to override any conflicting settings.

- 6. Accessing Values

    Values in the configuration can be accessed using a dotted notation
    (e.g., `'database.user'`), regardless of the file format used.

# METHODS

## new

Constructor for creating a new configuration object.

Options:

- `config_dirs`

    An arrayref of directories to look for configuration files
    (default: `$CONFIG_DIR`, `$HOME/.conf`, `$HOME/config`, `$HOME/conf`, `$DOCUMENT_ROOT/conf`, `$DOCUMENT_ROOT/../conf`, `conf`).

- `config_file`

    Points to a configuration file of any format.

- `config_files`

    An arrayref of files to look for in the configuration directories.
    Put the more important files later,
    since later files override earlier ones.

    Considers the files `default` and `$script_name` before looking at `config_file` and `config_files`.

- `data`

    A hash ref of default data to prime the configuration with.
    These are applied before loading
    other sources and can be overridden by later sources or by explicitly passing
    options directly to `new`.

        $config = Config::Abstraction->new(
            data => {
                log_level => 'info',
                retries => 3,
            }
        );

- `defaults`

    A hash reference that provides default values for the object's own attributes (such as `config_dirs`, `logger`, `flatten`, etc.).
    If this option is supplied,
    the object is initialized using the keys in this hash as the base;
    any other options passed directly to `new()` (aside from `env_prefix`) are ignored.
    This allows you to pre-define a standard configuration profile for the object itself.
    Note that `defaults` is distinct from the `data` option - `data` supplies the initial configuration values that will be merged with files, environment, and command line,
    while `defaults` sets the object's internal parameters.
    The `env_prefix` value,
    if provided as a top-level argument,
    still takes precedence over any `env_prefix` that might exist inside the `defaults` hash.

- `env_prefix`

    A prefix for environment variable keys and comment line options, e.g. `MYAPP_DATABASE__USER`,
    (default: `'APP_'`).

- `file`

    Synonym for `config_file`

- `flatten`

    If true, returns a flat hash structure like `{database.user}` (default: `0`) instead of `{database}{user}`.
    \`
    &#x3d;item \* `level`

    Level for logging.

- `logger`

    Used for warnings and traces.
    It can be an object that understands warn() and trace() messages,
    such as a [Log::Log4perl](https://metacpan.org/pod/Log%3A%3ALog4perl) or [Log::Any](https://metacpan.org/pod/Log%3A%3AAny) object,
    a reference to code,
    a reference to an array,
    or a filename.

- `path`

    A synonym of `config_dirs`.

- `sep_char`

    The separator in keys.
    The default is a `'.'`,
    as in dotted notation,
    such as `'database.user'`.

- `schema`

    A [Params::Validate::Strict](https://metacpan.org/pod/Params%3A%3AValidate%3A%3AStrict) compatible schema to validate the configuration file against.

If just one argument is given, it is assumed to be the name of a file.

## get(key)

Retrieve a configuration value using dotted key notation (e.g.,
`'database.user'`). Returns `undef` if the key doesn't exist.

## exists(key)

Does a configuration value using dotted key notation (e.g., `'database.user'`) exist?
Returns 0 or 1.

## all()

Returns the entire configuration hash,
possibly flattened depending on the `flatten` option.

The entry `config_path` contains a list of the files that the configuration was loaded from.

## merge\_defaults

Merge the configuration hash into the given hash.

    package MyPackage;
    use Params::Get;
    use Config::Abstraction;

    sub new
    {
      my $class = shift;

      my $params = Params::Get::get_params(undef, \@_) || {};

      if(my $config = Config::Abstraction->new(env_prefix => "${class}::")) {
        $params = $config->merge_defaults(defaults => $params, merge => 1, section => $class);
      }

      return bless $params, $class;
    }

Options:

- merge

    Usually,
    what's in the object will overwrite what's in the defaults hash,
    if given,
    the result will be a combination of the hashes.

- section

    Merge in that section from the configuration file.

- deep

    Try harder to merge all configurations from the global section of the configuration file.

## AUTOLOAD

This module supports dynamic access to configuration keys via AUTOLOAD.
Nested keys are accessible using the separator,
so `$config->database_user()` resolves to `$config->{database}->{user}`,
when `sep_char` is set to '\_'.

    $config = Config::Abstraction->new(
        data => {
            database => {
                user => 'alice',
                pass => 'secret'
            },
            log_level => 'debug'
        },
        flatten => 1,
        sep_char => '_'
    );

    my $user = $config->database_user();        # returns 'alice'

    # or
    $user = $config->database()->{'user'};      # returns 'alice'

    # Attempting to call a nonexistent key
    my $foo = $config->nonexistent_key();       # dies with error

# COMMON PITFALLS

- Nested hashes

    Merging replaces entire nested hashes unless you enable deep merging.

- Undef values

    Keys explicitly set to `undef` in a later source override earlier values.

- Environment

    When using environment variables,
    remember that double underscores (\_\_) create nested structures,
    while single underscores remain as part of the key name under the prefix namespace.

# BUGS

It should be possible to escape the separator character either with backslashes or quotes.

Due to the case-insensitive nature of environment variables on Windows,
it may be challenging to override values using environment variables on that platform.

# REPOSITORY

[https://github.com/nigelhorne/Config-Abstraction](https://github.com/nigelhorne/Config-Abstraction)

# SUPPORT

This module is provided as-is without any warranty.

Please report any bugs or feature requests to `bug-config-abstraction at rt.cpan.org`,
or through the web interface at
[http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=Config-Abstraction](http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=Config-Abstraction).
I will be notified, and then you'll
automatically be notified of progress on your bug as I make changes.

You can find documentation for this module with the perldoc command.

    perldoc Config::Abstraction

# SEE ALSO

- [Config::Any](https://metacpan.org/pod/Config%3A%3AAny)
- [Config::Auto](https://metacpan.org/pod/Config%3A%3AAuto)
- [Data::Reuse](https://metacpan.org/pod/Data%3A%3AReuse)

    Used to `fixate()` elements when installed, unless `no-fixate` is given

- [Hash::Merge](https://metacpan.org/pod/Hash%3A%3AMerge)
- [Log::Abstraction](https://metacpan.org/pod/Log%3A%3AAbstraction)
- [Test Dashboard](https://nigelhorne.github.io/Config-Abstraction/coverage/)
- Development version on GitHub [https://github.com/nigelhorne/Config-Abstraction](https://github.com/nigelhorne/Config-Abstraction)

# AUTHOR

Nigel Horne, `<njh at nigelhorne.com>`
