—package
Object::Destroyer;
# See POD at end for details
use
5.006;
use
strict;
use
warnings;
use
Carp ();
##use Scalar::Util ();
our
$VERSION
=
'2.02'
;
Scalar::Util->
import
(
'blessed'
);
}
else
{
*blessed
=
sub
{
my
$ref
=
ref
(
$_
[0]);
return
$ref
if
$ref
&& (
$ref
ne
'SCALAR'
) && (
$ref
ne
'ARRAY'
) &&
(
$ref
ne
'HASH'
) && (
$ref
ne
'CODE'
) &&
(
$ref
ne
'REF'
) && (
$ref
ne
'GLOB'
) &&
(
$ref
ne
'LVALUE'
);
return
;
}
}
sub
new {
if
(
ref
$_
[0] ) {
# This is a method called on an existing
# Destroyer, and should actually be passed through
# to the encased object via the AUTOLOAD
$Object::Destroyer::AUTOLOAD
=
'::new'
;
goto
&AUTOLOAD
;
}
# *ahem*... where were we...
my
$destroyer
=
shift
;
my
$ref
=
shift
||
''
;
my
$self
= {};
if
(
ref
(
$ref
) eq
'CODE'
) {
##
## Object::Destroyer->new( sub {...} )
##
$self
->{code} =
$ref
;
}
elsif
(
my
$class
= blessed(
$ref
) ) {
##
## Object::Destroyer->new( $object, 'optional_method' )
##
my
$method
=
shift
||
'DESTROY'
;
Carp::croak(
"Second argument to constructor must be a method name"
)
if
ref
(
$method
);
Carp::croak(
"Object::Destroyer requires that $class has a $method method"
)
unless
$class
->can(
$method
);
$self
->{object} =
$ref
;
$self
->{method} =
$method
;
}
else
{
##
## And what is this?
##
Carp::croak(
"You should pass an object or code reference to constructor"
);
}
Carp::croak(
"Extra arguments to constructor"
)
if
@_
;
return
bless
$self
,
$destroyer
;
}
# Hand off general method calls to the encased object.
# Rather than just doing a $self->{object}->$method(@_), which
# would leave us in the call stack, find the actual subroutine
# that will be executed, and goto that directly.
sub
AUTOLOAD {
my
$self
=
shift
;
my
(
$method
) =
$Object::Destroyer::AUTOLOAD
=~ /^.*::(.*)$/;
if
(
my
$object
=
$self
->{object}) {
if
(
my
$function
=
$object
->can(
$method
)) {
##
## Rearrange stack - instead of
## $object_destroy->method(@params)
## make it look like
## $underlying_object->method(@params)
##
unshift
@_
,
$object
;
goto
&$function
;
}
elsif
(
$object
->can(
"AUTOLOAD"
) ) {
##
## We can't just goto to AUTOLOAD method in unknown
## package (it may be in base class of $object).
## We have to preserve the method's name.
##
if
(
wantarray
) {
## List context
return
$object
->
$method
(
@_
);
}
elsif
(
defined
wantarray
) {
## Scalar context
return
scalar
$object
->
$method
(
@_
);
}
else
{
## Void context
$object
->
$method
(
@_
);
return
;
}
}
else
{
##
## Probably this is a caller's error
##
my
$package
=
ref
$self
->{object};
Carp::croak(
qq[Can't locate object method "$method" via package "$package"]
);
}
}
##
## No object at all. Either we have a $coderef instead of object
## or DESTROY has been called already.
##
Carp::croak(
"Can't locate object to call method '$method'"
);
}
sub
dismiss{
$_
[0]->{dismissed} = 1;
}
##
## Use our automatically triggered DESTROY to call the
## non-automatically triggered clean-up method of the encased object
##
sub
DESTROY {
my
$self
=
shift
;
if
(
$self
->{dismissed} ) {
## do nothing
}
elsif
(
$self
->{code} ) {
$self
->{code}->();
}
elsif
(
my
$object
=
$self
->{object} ) {
my
$method
=
$self
->{method};
$object
->
$method
();
}
%$self
= ();
}
##
## Catch a couple of specific cases that would be handled by UNIVERSAL
## before our AUTOLOAD got a chance to dispatch it.
##
## We are both 'Object::Destroyer' (or it's derived class)
## and underlying object's class
##
sub
isa {
my
$self
=
shift
;
my
$class
=
shift
;
return
$class
eq __PACKAGE__ ||
(
$self
->{object} &&
$self
->{object}->isa(
$class
));
}
sub
can {
my
$self
=
shift
;
return
$self
->{object}->can(
@_
)
if
$self
->{object};
}
1;
__END__
=pod
=head1 NAME
Object::Destroyer - Make objects with circular references DESTROY normally
=head1 SYNOPSIS
use Object::Destroyer;
## Use a standalone destroyer to release something
## when it falls out of scope
BLOCK:
{
my $tree = HTML::TreeBuilder->new_from_file('somefile.html');
my $sentry = Object::Destroyer->new( $tree, 'delete' );
## Here you can safely die, return, call last BLOCK or next BLOCK.
## The tree will be deleted automatically
}
## Use it to break circular references
{
my $var;
$var = \$var;
my $sentry = Object::Destroyer->new( sub {undef $var} );
## No more memory leaks!
## $var will be released when $sentry leaves the block
}
## Destroyer can be used as a nearly transparent wrapper
## that will pass on method calls normally.
{
my $Mess = Big::Custy::Mess->new;
print $Mess->hello;
}
package Big::Crusty::Mess;
sub new {
my $self = bless {}, shift;
$self->populate;
return Object::Destroyer->new( $self, 'release' );
}
sub hello { "Hello World!" }
sub release { ...actual code to clean-up the memory... }
=head1 DESCRIPTION
One of the biggest problem with working with large, nested object trees is
implementing a way for a child node to see its parent. The easiest way to
do this is to add a reference to the child back to its parent.
This results in a "circular" reference, where A refers to B refers to A.
Unfortunately, the garbage collector perl uses during runtime is not capable
of knowing whether or not something ELSE is referring to these circular
references.
In practical terms, this means that object trees in lexically scoped
variable ( e.g. C<my $Object = Tree-E<gt>new> ) will not be cleaned up when
they fall out of scope, like normal variables. This results in a memory leak
for the life of the process, which is a bad thing when using mod_perl or
other processes that live for a long time.
Object::Destroyer allows for the creation of "Destroy" handles. The handle is
"attached" to the circular relationship, but is not a part of it. When the
destroy handle falls out of scope, it will be cleaned up correctly, and while
being cleaned up, it will also force the data structure it is attached to to be
destroyed as well.
Object::Destroyer can call a specified release method on an object
(or method C<DESTROY> by default).
Alternatively, it can execute an arbitrary user code passed to constructor as a
code reference.
=head2 Use as a Standalone Handle
The simplest way to use the class is to create a standalone destroyer,
preferably in the same lexical content. ( i.e. immediately after creating
the object to be destroyed)
sub plagiarise {
# Parse in a large nested document
my $filename = shift;
my $document = My::XML::Tree->open($filename);
# Create the Object::Destroyer to clean it up as needed
my $sentry = Object::Destroyer->new( $document, 'release' );
# Continue with the Document as normal
if ($document->author == $me) {
# Normally this would have leaked the document
return new Error("You already own the Document");
}
$document->change_author($me);
$document->save;
# We don't have to $Document->DESTROY here
return 1;
}
When the C<$sentry> falls out of scope at the end of the sub, it will force
the cirularly linked C<$Document> to be cleaned up at the same time, rather
than being forced to manually call C<$Document-<gt>release> at each and every
location that the sub could possible return.
Using the Object::Destroyer object to force garbage collection to work
properly allows you to neatly sidestep the inadequecies of the perl garbage
collector and work the way you normally would, even with big objects.
=head2 Use to clean-up data structures
If a data structure with circular refereces has no method to release memory,
you can create an C<Object::Destroyer> object that will do the job.
Pass a code reference (most probably created by an anonymous subrotine block)
to the constructor of the sentry object, and this code will be called
upon leaving the scope.
{
$params{other} = \%other_params;
$other_params{params} = \%params;
my $sentry = Object::Destroyer->new( sub {undef $params{other}} );
##
## From now on, memory of %params will be
## safely released when block is exited.
##
... code with return, next or last ...
}
=head2 Use as a Transparent Wrapper
For situations where a class is always going to produce circular references,
you may wish to build this improved clean up directly into the class itself,
and with a few exceptions everything will just work the same.
Take the following example class
package My::Tree;
use strict;
use Object::Destroyer;
sub new {
my $self = bless {}, shift;
$self->init; ## assume that circular references are made
## Return the Object::Destroyer, with ourself inside it
my $wrapper = Object::Destroyer->new( $self, 'release' );
return $wrapper;
}
sub release {
my $self = shift;
foreach (values %$self) {
$_->DESTROY if ref $_ eq 'My::Tree::Node';
}
%$self = ();
}
We might use the class in something like this
sub process_file {
# Create a new tree
my $tree = My::Tree->new( source => shift );
# Process the Tree
if ($tree->comments) {
$tree->remove_comments or return;
}
else {
return 1; # Nothing to do
}
my $filename = $tree->param('target') or return;
$tree->write($filename) or return;
return 1;
}
We were able to work with the data, and at no point did we know that we were
working with a Object::Destroyer object, rather than the My::Tree object itself.
=head2 Resource Usage
To implement the transparency, there is a slight CPU penalty when a method is
called on the wrapper to allow it to pass the method through to the encased
object correctly, and without appearing in the C<caller()> information. Once the
method is called on the underlying object, you can make further method calls
with no penalty and access the internals of the object normally.
=head2 Problems with Wrappers and ref or UNIVERSAL::isa
Although it may ACT exactly like what's inside it, is isn't really it. Calling
C<ref $wrapper> or C<blessed $wrapper> will return C<'Object::Destroyer'>, and
not the class of the object inside it.
Likewise, calling C<UNIVERSAL::isa( $wrapper, 'My::Tree' )> or
C<UNIVERSAL::can( $wrapper, 'param' )> directly as functions will also not work.
The two alternatives to this are to either use C<$Wrapper-E<gt>isa> or
C<$wrapper-E<gt>can>, which will be caught and treated normally, or simple
don't use a wrapper and just use the standalone cleaners.
=head1 METHODS
=over
=item new
my $sentry = Object::Destroyer->new( $object );
my $sentry = Object::Destroyer->new( $object, 'method_name' );
my $sentry = Object::Destroyer->new( $code_reference );
The C<new> constructor takes as arguments either a single blessed object with
an optional name of the method to be called, or a refernce to code to be executed.
If the method name is not specified, the C<DESTROY> method is assumed.
The constructor will die if the object passed to it does not have the specified method.
=item DESTROY
$sentry->DESTROY;
undef $sentry;
You may explicitly C<DESTROY> the Destroyer at any time you wish.
This will also C<DESTROY> the encased object at the same. This can allow for
legacy cases relating to Wrappers, where a user expects to have to manually
C<DESTROY> an object even though it is not needed. The C<DESTROY> call will be
accepted and dealt with as it is called on the encased object.
=item dismiss
$sentry->dismiss;
If you have changed your mind and you don't want Destroyer object to do
its job, dismiss it. You may continue to use it as a wrapper, though.
=back
=head1 SEE ALSO
Another option for dealing with circular references are I<weak references>
(stable since Perl 5.8.0, see L<Scalar::Util>). See also L<GTop::Mem>
and L<Devel::Monitor> for monitoring memory leaks.
The latter module contains a discussion on object desing with weak references.
For lexically scoped resource management, see also L<Scope::Guard>,
L<Sub::ScopeFinalizer> and L<Hook::Scope>.
=head1 KNOWN ISSUES
There is a compatibility issue with L<Test::MockObject::Extends>. You cannot
extend an object wrapped by Object::Destroyer because our custom C<can> method
needs to be called on an instance, but Test::MockObject::Extends calls it on
the class, and will error.
=head1 SUPPORT
Bugs and other issues should be reported via GitHub at
=head1 AUTHORS
=over 4
=item *
Adam Kennedy E<lt>adamk@cpan.orgE<gt>
=item *
Igor Gariev E<lt>gariev@hotmail.comE<gt>
=item *
Julien Fiegehenn E<lt>simbabque@cpan.orgE<gt>
=back
=head1 COPYRIGHT
Copyright 2004 - 2022 Adam Kennedy.
This program is free software; you can redistribute
it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.
The full text of the license can be found in the
LICENSE file included with this module.
=cut