NAME
Package::Data::Inheritable - Inheritable and overridable package data/variables
VERSION
Version 0.01
SYNOPSIS
Method interface:
package Base;
use base qw( Package::Data::Inheritable );
BEGIN {
inherit Package::Data::Inheritable;
Base->pkg_inheritable('$class_scalar' => 'a not so ordinary package variable');
};
print $class_scalar;Exporter like interface:
package Derived;
use base qw( Base );
BEGIN {
# declare our variables and overrides *before* inheriting
our @EXPORT_INHERIT = qw( $scalar @array );
inherit Base;
}
our @array = (1,2,3);
our $scalar;DESCRIPTION
This module tries to deliver inheritable package data (variables) with a reasonably convenient interface. After declaring variables they can be used like ordinary package variables. Most importantly, these variables can be inherited by derived classes (packages) by calling the inherit() method. If a derived class doesn't call inherit() it will still get the ordinary method inheritance and will also be able to define its vars and make them inheritable by its subclasses.
Within your class (hierarchy) code you will benefit from compiler checks on those variables. The overall result is close to real class *data* as opposed to class methods. Of course you can wrap your variables is accessor/mutators methods as you need.
The semantic provided mimics the static data members in languages like C++ and Java. When you assign to an inherited variable within a derived class, every class in the inheritance hierarchy will see the new value. If you want to override a variable you must redeclare it explicitly.
Two interfaces are provided, one is Exporter like and the other one is based on the method pkg_inheritable(). The variable visibility (scope) depends on the interface you used. If you use the Exporter like interface, variables will be declared via our, while if you use the method interface it will be like you had imported those variables.
EXPORT
Package::Data::Inheritable is an Exporter, inheriting from it (via use base or @ISA) will make your class an Exporter as well. The package variable @EXPORT_INHERIT contains the symbols that will be inherited and @EXPORT_OK will always contain at least those symbols.
The Exporter like interface allows your class to set @EXPORT_INHERIT in pretty much the same way you would set @EXPORT and @EXPORT_OK with Exporter.
DEFINING VARIABLES
Exporter like interface
BEGIN {
our @EXPORT_INHERIT = qw( $scalar @array );
}
our $scalar;
our @array = (1,2,3);If you're defining variables, none of which is overriding a parent package's one (see overriding below), it's not required to define @EXPORT_INHERIT inside a BEGIN block. You will declare the variables via 'our' in the usual way. The actual our declaration of each variable must be outside the BEGIN block in any case because of 'our' scoping rules.
Method interface
BEGIN {
Class->pkg_inheritable('$scalar');
Class->pkg_inheritable('@array' => [1,2,3]);
}Every variable declaration must be inside a BEGIN block because there's no 'our' declaration of that variable and we need compile time installation of that symbol in the package symbol table.
OVERRIDING VARIABLES
When you use the Exporter like interface and you want to override a parent package variable you must define @EXPORT_INHERIT before calling inherit(), otherwise inherit() will not find any of your overrides. On the contrary, if you use the pkg_inheritable() method interface, ordering doesn't matter. If you define your overrides before calling inherit, @EXPORT_INHERIT will already be defined (being set by the method calls). If you call inherit and after that you call pkg_inheritable(), this will take care of performing the overriding.
METHODS
inherit
Make the caller package inherit variables from the package on which the method is invoked. i.e.
package Derived;
BEGIN {
inherit Base;
# or
Base->inherit;
}will make Derived inherit variables from Base.
This method must be invoked from within a BEGIN block in order to install the inherited variables at compile time. Otherwise any attempt to refer to those package variables in your code will trigger a 'Global symbol "$yourvar" requires explicit package name' error.
pkg_inheritable
Class->pkg_inheritable('$variable_name');
Class->pkg_inheritable('$variable_name' => $value);
Class->pkg_inheritable('@variable_name' => ['value1','value2']);This method implements the non-exporter like interface. $variable_name will be installed in the package symbol table like it had been declared with use 'vars'. Furthermore the variable will be inherited by packages invoking inherit() on class 'Class'.
EXAMPLES
Inheriting and overriding
use Package::Data::Inheritable;
# set up Base class with the method interface:
package Base;
use base qw( Package::Data::Inheritable );
BEGIN {
inherit Package::Data::Inheritable;
Base->pkg_inheritable('$scalar1' => 'Base scalar');
Base->pkg_inheritable('$scalar2' => 'Base scalar');
Base->pkg_inheritable('@array' => [1,2,3]);
};
print $scalar1;
print @array;
# set up Derived class with the Exporter like interface:
package Derived;
use base qw( Base );
BEGIN {
# declare our variables and overrides *before* inheriting
our @EXPORT_INHERIT = qw( $scalar2 @array );
inherit Base;
}
our @array = (2,4,6);
our $scalar2 = "Derived scalar";
# prints "Derived scalar"
print $scalar2;
# prints "Base scalar"
print $Base::scalar2;
# prints 246
print @array;
# prints "Base scalar"
print $scalar1;
$scalar1 = "Base and Derived scalar";
# prints "Base and Derived scalar" twice
print $Base::scalar1, $Derived::scalar1;Accessing and wrapping data members
You are encouraged to properly wrap in accessor/mutator methods your private data. Furthermore, be aware that when you qualify your variables with the package prefix you're giving up compiler checks on those variables.
use strict;
package SomeClass;
use base qw( Package::Data::Inheritable );
BEGIN {
inherit Package::Data::Inheritable;
__PACKAGE__->pkg_inheritable('$_private_scalar' => 'private scalar');
__PACKAGE__->pkg_inheritable('$public_scalar' => 'public scalar');
};
sub new { bless {}, __PACKAGE__ }
# accessor/mutator example
sub private_scalar {
my ($class, $val) = @_;
if (defined $val) {
# check $val or croak...
$_private_scalar = $val;
}
return $_private_scalar;
}
sub do_something {
my ($self) = @_;
# ok
print $public_scalar;
# ok, but dangerous
print $SomeClass::public_scalar;
# compile error
print $publicscalar;
# variable undefined but no compile error because of package prefix
print $SomeClass::publicscalar;
}
And then in some user code:
use strict;
use SomeClass;
# prints "public scalar". Discouraged.
print $SomeClass::public_scalar;
# prints "private scalar"
print SomeClass->private_scalar;
SomeClass->private_scalar("reset!");
my $obj = SomeClass->new;
# prints "reset!"
print SomeClass->private_scalar;
print $obj->private_scalar;CAVEATS
The interface of this module is not stable yet. I'm still looking for ways to reduce the amount of boilerplate code needed. Suggestions and comments are warmly welcome.
AUTHOR
Giacomo Cerrai, <gcerrai at cpan.org>
BUGS
Please report any bugs or feature requests to bug-package-data-inheritable at rt.cpan.org, or through the web interface at http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=Package-Data-Inheritable. I will be notified, and then you'll automatically be notified of progress on your bug as I make changes.
SUPPORT
You can find documentation for this module with the perldoc command.
perldoc Package::Data::InheritableYou can also look for information at:
AnnoCPAN: Annotated CPAN documentation
CPAN Ratings
RT: CPAN's request tracker
http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/Bugs.html?Dist=Package-Data-Inheritable
Search CPAN
SEE ALSO
Class::Data::Inheritable,
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
COPYRIGHT & LICENSE
Copyright 2007 Giacomo Cerrai, all rights reserved.
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.