NAME

Sub::ArgShortcut - simplify writing functions that use default arguments

VERSION

This document describes Sub::ArgShortcut version 1.01

SYNOPSIS

 use Sub::ArgShortcut::Attr;

 sub mychomp :ArgShortcut { chomp @_ }

 while ( <> ) {
	# make a chomped copy of $_ without modifying it
	my $chomped_line = mychomp;
	
	# or, modify $_ in place
	mychomp;

	# ...
 }

DESCRIPTION

This module encapsulates the logic required for functions that assume $_ as their argument when called with an empty argument list, and which modify their arguments in void context but return modified copies in any other context. You only need to write code which modifies the elements of @_ in-place.

argshortcut(&)

This function takes a code reference as input, wraps a function around it and returns a reference to that function. The code that is passed in should modify the values in @_ in whatever fashion desired. The function from the synopsis could therefore also be written like this:

use Sub::ArgShortcut;
my $mychomp = argshortcut { chomp @_ };

This function is exported by default.

Sub::ArgShortcut::Attr and :ArgShortcut - The attribute interface

Instead of using argshortcut to wrap a code reference, you can use an Attribute::Handler-based interface to add Sub::ArgShortcut functionality to regular subs. Simply use Sub::Shortcut::Attr instead of Sub::Shortcut, then request its behaviour using the :ArgShortcut attribute on functions:

sub mychomp :ArgShortcut { chomp @_ }

my $mychomp = sub :ArgShortcut { chomp @_ };

BUGS AND LIMITATIONS

Passing an empty array to a shortcutting function will probably surprise you: assuming foo is a function with :ArgShortcut and @bar is an empty array, then calling foo( @bar ) will cause foo to operate on $_! This is because foo has no way of distinguishing whether it was called without any arguments or called with arguments that evaluate to an empty list.

Please report any other bugs or feature requests to mailto:bug-sub-argshortcut@rt.cpan.org, or through the web interface at http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/Bugs.html?Dist=sub-argshortcut.

AUTHOR

Aristotle Pagaltzis mailto:pagaltzis@gmx.de

LICENCE AND COPYRIGHT

Copyright (c) 2006, Aristotle Pagaltzis. All rights reserved.

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

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY

BECAUSE THIS SOFTWARE IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE SOFTWARE, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE SOFTWARE "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE SOFTWARE PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR, OR CORRECTION.

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