"->copy()" actually creates a new object when called.

        my $ip = new NetAddr::IP::Lite '192.168.1.123';
        print "$ip\n";
    

Will print the string 192.168.1.123/32.

        my $ip = new6 NetAddr::IP::Lite '192.168.1.123';
        print "$ip\n";
    

Will print the string

    if (NetAddr::IP::Lite->new('127.0.0.1','255.0.0.0') eq '127.0.0.1/8')
       { print "Yes\n"; }
    

Will print out "Yes".

Comparison with "==" requires both operands to be NetAddr::IP::Lite objects.

In both cases, a true value is returned if the CIDR representation of the operands is equal.

        /24 > /16
    

Comparison should not be done on netaddr objects with different CIDR as this may produce indeterminate - unexpected results, rather the determination of which netblock is larger or smaller should be done by comparing

        $ip1->masklen <=> $ip2->masklen
    

    print NetAddr::IP::Lite->new('127.0.0.1') + 5;
    

will output 127.0.0.6/8. The address will wrap around at the broadcast back to the network address. This code:

    print NetAddr::IP::Lite->new('10.0.0.1/24') + 255;
    

outputs 10.0.0.0/24.

Returns the the unchanged object when the constant is missing or out of range.

    2147483647 <= constant >= -2147483648
    

Returns undef if the difference is out of range.

The third method "new_no" is exclusively for IPv4 addresses and filters improperly formatted dot quad strings for leading 0's that would normally be interpreted as octal format by NetAddr per the specifications for inet_aton.

new_from_aton takes a packed IPv4 address and assumes a /32 mask. This function replaces the DEPRECATED :aton functionality which is fundamentally broken.

"->new6" marks the address as being in ipV6 address space even if the format would suggest otherwise.

  i.e.  ->new6('1.2.3.4') will result in ::102:304
  addresses submitted to ->new in ipV6 notation will
  remain in that notation permanently. i.e.
        ->new('::1.2.3.4') will result in ::102:304
  whereas new('1.2.3.4') would print out as 1.2.3.4
  See "STRINGIFICATION" below.
    

$addr can be almost anything that can be resolved to an IP address in all the notations I have seen over time. It can optionally contain the mask in CIDR notation.

prefix notation is understood, with the limitation that the range specified by the prefix must match with a valid subnet.

Addresses in the same format returned by "inet_aton" or "gethostbyname" can also be understood, although no mask can be specified for them. The default is to not attempt to recognize this format, as it seems to be seldom used.

###### DEPRECATED, will be remove in version 5 ############ To accept addresses in that format, invoke the module as in

  use NetAddr::IP::Lite ':aton'
    

###### USE new_from_aton instead ##########################

If called with no arguments, 'default' is assumed.

$addr can be any of the following and possibly more...

  n.n
  n.n/mm
  n.n.n
  n.n.n/mm
  n.n.n.n
  n.n.n.n/mm            32 bit cidr notation
  n.n.n.n/m.m.m.m
  loopback, localhost, broadcast, any, default
  x.x.x.x/host
  0xABCDEF, 0b111111000101011110, (or a bcd number)
  a netaddr as returned by 'inet_aton'
    

Any RFC1884 notation

  ::n.n.n.n
  ::n.n.n.n/mmm         128 bit cidr notation
  ::n.n.n.n/::m.m.m.m
  ::x:x
  ::x:x/mmm
  x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x
  x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x/mmm
  x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x/m:m:m:m:m:m:m:m any RFC1884 notation
  loopback, localhost, unspecified, any, default
  ::x:x/host
  0xABCDEF, 0b111111000101011110 within the limits
  of perl's number resolution
  123456789012  a 'big' bcd number i.e. Math::BigInt
    

If called with no arguments, 'default' is assumed.

This method is essential for serializing the representation of a subnet.

Version 4.00 of NetAddr::IP and version 1.00 of NetAddr::IP::Lite implements "->nth($index)" and "->num()" exactly as the documentation states. Previous versions behaved slightly differently and not in a consistent manner.

To use the old behavior for "->nth($index)" and "->num()":

  use NetAddr::IP::Lite qw(:old_nth);
  old behavior:
  NetAddr::IP->new('10/32')->nth(0) == undef
  NetAddr::IP->new('10/32')->nth(1) == undef
  NetAddr::IP->new('10/31')->nth(0) == undef
  NetAddr::IP->new('10/31')->nth(1) == 10.0.0.1/31
  NetAddr::IP->new('10/30')->nth(0) == undef
  NetAddr::IP->new('10/30')->nth(1) == 10.0.0.1/30
  NetAddr::IP->new('10/30')->nth(2) == 10.0.0.2/30
  NetAddr::IP->new('10/30')->nth(3) == 10.0.0.3/30
    

Note that in each case, the broadcast address is represented in the output set and that the 'zero'th index is alway undef.

  new behavior:
  NetAddr::IP->new('10/32')->nth(0)  == 10.0.0.0/32
  NetAddr::IP->new('10.1/32'->nth(0) == 10.0.0.1/32
  NetAddr::IP->new('10/31')->nth(0)  == undef
  NetAddr::IP->new('10/31')->nth(1)  == undef
  NetAddr::IP->new('10/30')->nth(0) == 10.0.0.1/30
  NetAddr::IP->new('10/30')->nth(1) == 10.0.0.2/30
  NetAddr::IP->new('10/30')->nth(2) == undef
    

Note that a /32 net always has 1 usable address while a /31 has none since it has a network and broadcast address, but no host addresses. The first index (0) returns the address immediately following the network address.

To use the old behavior for "->nth($index)" and "->num()":

  use NetAddr::IP::Lite qw(:old_nth);