NAME

NAME
WWW::xkcd - Synchronous and asynchronous interfaces to xkcd comics

VERSION
version 0.005

SYNOPSIS
use WWW::xkcd;
my $xkcd = WWW::xkcd->new;
my ( $img, $comic ) = $xkcd->fetch; # provides latest comic
say "Today's comic is titled: ", $comic->{'title'};

# and now to write it to file
use IO::All;
use File::Basename;
$img > io( basename $comic->{'img'} );

# or in async mode
$xkcd->fetch( sub {
my ( $img, $comic ) = @_;
say "Today's comic is titled: ", $comic->{'title'};

...
} );

DESCRIPTION
This module allows you to access xkcd comics (http://www.xkcd.com/)
using the official API in synchronous mode (what people are used to) or
in asynchronous mode.

The asynchronous mode requires you have AnyEvent and AnyEvent::HTTP
available. However, since it's just *supported* and not *necessary*, it
is not declared as a prerequisite.

METHODS
new
Create a new WWW::xkcd object.

# typical usage
my $xkcd = WWW::xkcd->new;

# it would be pointless to change these, but it's possible
my $xkcd = WWW::xkcd->new(
base_url => 'http://www.xkcd.com',
infopath => 'info.0.json',
);

fetch
Fetch both the metadata and image of a comic.

# fetching the latest
my ( $comic, $meta ) = $xkcd->fetch;

# fetching a specific one
my ( $comic, $meta ) = $xkcd->fetch(20);

# using callbacks for async mode
$xkcd->fetch( sub { my ( $comic, $meta ) = @_; ... } );

# using callbacks for a specific one
$xkcd->fetch( 20, sub { my ( $comic, $meta ) = @_; ... } );

This runs two requests: one to get the metadata using the API and the
second to get the image itself. If you don't need the image, it would be
better (and faster) for you to use the "fetch_metadata" method below.

fetch_metadata
Fetch just the metadata of the comic.

my $meta = $xkcd->fetch_metadata;

# using callbacks for async mode
$xkcd->fetch_metadata( sub { my $meta = shift; ... } );

NAMING
Why would you call it WWW::*xkcd* with all lower cases? Simply because
that's what Randall Munroe who writes xkcd prefers.

Taken verbatim from <http://www.xkcd.com/about>:

How do I write "xkcd"? There's nothing in Strunk and White about this.

For those of us pedantic enough to want a rule, here it is: The preferred
form is "xkcd", all lower-case. In formal contexts where a lowercase word
shouldn't start a sentence, "XKCD" is an okay alternative. "Xkcd" is
frowned upon.

DEPENDENCIES
* Try::Tiny

* HTTP::Tiny

* JSON

* Carp

OPTIONAL DEPENDENCIES
* AnyEvent

* AnyEvent::HTTP

AUTHOR
Sawyer X <[email protected]>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
This software is copyright (c) 2012 by Sawyer X.

This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.