NAME
    Net::Netmask - parse, manipulate and lookup IP network blocks

SYNOPSIS
            use Net::Netmask;

            $block = new Net::Netmask (network block)
            $block = new Net::Netmask (network block, netmask)

            print $block->desc()            # a.b.c.d/bits
            print $block->base() 
            print $block->mask() 
            print $block->hostmask() 
            print $block->bits() 
            print $block->size() 
            print $block->maxblock()
            print $block->broadcast()
            print $block->next()
            print $block->match($ip);
            print $block->nth(1);

            for $ip ($block->enumerate()) { }

            for $zone ($block->inaddr()) { }

            my $table = {};
            $block->storeNetblock()
            $block->storeNetblock($table)

            $block = findNetblock(ip)
            $block = findNetblock(ip, $table)

DESCRIPTION
    Net::Netblock parses and understand IPv4 CIDR blocks. It's built with an
    object-oriented interface. Nearly all functions are methods that operate on a
    Net::Netblock object.

    There are methods that provide the nearly all bits of information about a
    network block that you might want.

CONSTRUCTING
    Net::Netmask objects are created with an IP address and optionally a mask.
    There are many forms that are recognized:

    '140.174.82.0/24'               The preferred form.

    '140.174.82.0:255.255.255.0'
    '140.174.82.0', '255.255.255.0'
    '140.174.82.0', '0xffffff00'
    '140.174.82.4'                  A /32 block.

    '140.174.82'                    Always a /24 block.

    '140.174'                       Always a /16 block.

    '140'                           Always a /8 block.

    '140.174.82/24'
    '140.174/16'
    'default'                       0.0.0.0/0 (the default route)

METHODS
    base()                   Returns base address of the network block as a string.
                             Eg: 140.174.82.0. Base does not give an indication of
                             the size of the network block.

    mask()                   Returns the netmask as a string. Eg: 255.255.255.0.

    hostmask()               Returns the host mask which is the oposite of the
                             netmask. Eg: 0.0.0.255.

    bits()                   Returns the netmask as a number of bits in the network
                             portion of the address for this block. Eg: 24.

    size()                   Returns the number of IP addresses in a block. Eg: 256.

    broadcast()              The blocks broadcast address. (The last IP address inside
                             the block.) Eg: 192.168.1.0/24 => 192.168.1.255

    next()                   The first IP address following the block. (The IP address
                             following the broadcase address.) Eg: 192.168.1.0/24
                             => 192.168.2.0

    match($ip)               Returns a true if the IP number $ip matches the given
                             network. That is, a true value is returned if $ip is
                             between base() amd broadcast(). For example, if we
                             have the network 192.168.1.0/24, then

                               192.168.0.255 => 0
                               192.168.1.0   => "0 "
                               192.168.1.1   => 1
                               ...
                               192.168.1.255 => 255

                             $ip should be a dotted-quad (eg: "192.168.66.3")

                             It just happens that the return value is the position
                             within the block. Since zero is a legal position, the
                             true string "0 " is returned in it's place. "0 " is
                             numerically zero though. When wanting to know the
                             position inside the block, a good idiom is:

                               $pos = $block->match($ip) || die;
                               $pos += 0;

    maxblock()               Much of the time, it is not possible to determine the
                             size of a network block just from it's base address.
                             For example, with the network block
                             '140.174.82.0/27', if you only had the '140.174.82.0'
                             portion you wouldn't be able to tell for certain the
                             size of the block. '140.174.82.0' could be anything
                             from a '/23' to a '/32'. The maxblock() method gives
                             the size of the larges block that the current block's
                             address would allow it to be. The size is given in
                             bits. Eg: 23.

    enumerate()              Returns a list of all the IP addresses in the block. Be
                             very careful not to use this function of large
                             blocks. The IP addresses are returned as strings. Eg:
                             '140.174.82.0', '140.174.82.1', ... '140.174.82.255'.

    nth($index)              Returns the nth element of the array that enumerate would
                             return if it were called. So, to get the first usable
                             address in a block, use nth(1). To get the broadcast
                             address, use nth(-1). To get the last usable adress,
                             use nth(-2).

    inaddr()                 Returns an inline list of tuples. There is a tuple for
                             each DNS zone name in the block. If the block is
                             smaller than a /24, then the zone of the enclosing
                             /24 is returned.

                             Each tuple contains: the DNS zone name, the last
                             component of the first IP address in the block in
                             that zone, the last component of the last IP address
                             in the block in that zone.

                             Examples: the list returned for the block
                             '140.174.82.0/23' would be: '82.174.140.in-
                             addr.arpa', 0, 255, '83.174.140.in-addr.arpa', 0,
                             255. The list returned for the block
                             '140.174.82.64/27' would be: '82.174.140.in-
                             addr.arpa', 64, 95.

    storeNetblock([$t])      Adds the current block to an table of network blocks. The
                             table can be used to query which network block a
                             given IP address is in.

                             The optional argument allows there to be more than
                             one table. By default, an internal table is used. If
                             more than one table is needed, then supply a
                             reference to a HASH to store the data in.

FUNCTIONS
    findNetblock(ip, [$t])   Search the table of network blocks (created with
                             storeNetBlock) to find if any of them contain the
                             given IP address. The IP address is expected to be a
                             string.

                             The return value is either a Net::Netblock object or
                             undef.

COPYRIGHT
    Copyright (C) 1998, David Muir Sharnoff. All rights reserved. License hearby
    granted for anyone to use this module at their own risk. Please feed useful
    changes back to muir@idiom.com.

