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Attribute-Handlers-Prospective-0.01
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/ Attribute::Handlers::Prospective

NAME

Attribute::Handlers::Prospective - Richer semantics for attribute handlers

VERSION

This document describes version 0.01 of Attribute::Handlers::Prospective, released October 25, 2001.

SYNOPSIS

        package MyClass;
        require v5.6.1;
        use Attribute::Handlers::Prospective;

        sub Good : ATTR(SCALAR) {
                my ($package, $symbol, $referent, $attr, $data, $phase) = @_;

                # Invoked for any scalar variable with a :Good attribute,
                # provided the variable was declared in MyClass (or
                # a derived class) or typed to MyClass.

                # Do whatever to $referent here (executed in INIT phase).
                ...
        }

        sub Bad : ATTR(SCALAR) {
                # Invoked for any scalar variable with a :Bad attribute,
                # provided the variable was declared in MyClass (or
                # a derived class) or typed to MyClass.
                ...
        }

        sub Good : ATTR(ARRAY) {
                # Invoked for any array variable with a :Good attribute,
                # provided the variable was declared in MyClass (or
                # a derived class) or typed to MyClass.
                ...
        }

        sub Ugly : ATTR(CODE) {
                # Invoked for any subroutine declared in MyClass (or a 
                # derived class) with an :Ugly attribute.
                ...
        }

        sub Omni : ATTR {
                # Invoked for any scalar, array, hash, or subroutine
                # with an :Omni attribute, provided the variable or
                # subroutine was declared in MyClass (or a derived class)
                # or the variable was typed to MyClass.
                # Use ref($_[2]) to determine what kind of referent it was.
                ...
        }

        sub AUTOATTR : ATTR {
                # A handler named AUTOATTR is automagically invoked for
                # any scalar, array, hash, or subroutine with an attribute
                # for which no explicit handler is defined
                # This is analogous to sub AUTOLOAD for method calls.
                # Use $_[3] to determine the actual name of the attribute
                ...
        }

        sub PREATTR : ATTR {
                my ($package, $symbol, $referent, $attr, $arglists, $phase) = @_;

                # Any handler named PREATTR is automagically invoked before
                # any other attribute handlers on the referent.
                # $_[4] contains an array of arrays, each of which is the
                # complete argument list that will be sent to each attribute
                # ascribed to the referent
                ...

        sub POSTATTR : ATTR {
                my ($package, $symbol, $referent, $attr, $arglists, $phase) = @_;

                # Any handler named POSTATTR is automagically invoked after
                # any other attribute handlers on the referent.
                # $_[4] contains an array of arrays, each of which is the
                # complete argument list that was sent to each attribute
                # ascribed to the referent
                ...
        }

DESCRIPTION

This module, when inherited by a package, allows that package's class to define attribute handler subroutines for specific attributes. Variables and subroutines subsequently defined in that package, or in packages derived from that package may be given attributes with the same names as the attribute handler subroutines, which will then be called in one of the compilation phases (i.e. in a BEGIN, CHECK, INIT, run-time, or END block).

To create a handler, define it as a subroutine with the same name as the desired attribute, and declare the subroutine itself with the attribute :ATTR. For example:

        package LoudDecl;
        use Attribute::Handlers::Prospective;

        sub Loud :ATTR {
                my ($package, $symbol, $referent, $attr, $data, $phase) = @_;
                print STDERR
                        ref($referent), " ",
                        *{$symbol}{NAME}, " ",
                        "($referent) ", "was just declared ",
                        "and ascribed the ${attr} attribute ",
                        "with data ($data)\n",
                        "in phase $phase\n";
        }

This creates an handler for the attribute :Loud in the class LoudDecl. Thereafter, any subroutine declared with a :Loud attribute in the class LoudDecl:

        package LoudDecl;

        sub foo: Loud {...}

causes the above handler to be invoked, and passed:

[0]

the name of the package into which it was declared;

[1]

a reference to the symbol table entry (typeglob) containing the subroutine;

[2]

a reference to the subroutine;

[3]

the name of the attribute;

[4]

any data associated with that attribute;

[5]

the name of the phase in which the handler is being invoked.

Likewise, declaring any variables with the :Loud attribute within the package:

        package LoudDecl;

        my $foo :Loud;
        my @foo :Loud;
        my %foo :Loud;

will cause the handler to be called with a similar argument list (except, of course, that $_[2] will be a reference to the variable).

The package name argument will typically be the name of the class into which the subroutine was declared, but it may also be the name of a derived class (since handlers are inherited).

If a lexical variable is given an attribute, there is no symbol table to which it belongs, so the symbol table argument ($_[1]) is set to the string 'LEXICAL(name)', where name is the name of the lexical (including its sigil). Likewise, ascribing an attribute to an anonymous subroutine results in a symbol table argument of 'ANON'.

The data argument passes in the value (if any) associated with the attribute. For example, if &foo had been declared:

        sub foo :Loud("turn it up to 11, man!") {...}

then the string "turn it up to 11, man!" would be passed as the last argument.

Attribute::Handlers::Prospective usually treats the value(s) passed as the the data argument ($_[4]) as standard Perl (but see "Non-interpretive attribute handlers"). The attribute's arguments are evaluated in an array context and passed as an anonymous array.

For example, all of these:

        sub foo :Loud(till=>ears=>are=>bleeding) {...}
        sub foo :Loud(['till','ears','are','bleeding']) {...}
        sub foo :Loud(qw/till ears are bleeding/) {...}

causes it to pass ['till','ears','are','bleeding'] as the handler's data argument. If the data can't be parsed as valid Perl, then a compilation error will occur.

If no value is associated with the attribute, undef is passed.

Typed lexicals

Regardless of the package in which it is declared, if a lexical variable is ascribed an attribute, the handler that is invoked is the one belonging to the package to which it is typed. For example, the following declarations:

        package OtherClass;

        my LoudDecl $loudobj : Loud;
        my LoudDecl @loudobjs : Loud;
        my LoudDecl %loudobjex : Loud;

causes the LoudDecl::Loud handler to be invoked (even if OtherClass also defines a handler for :Loud attributes).

Type-specific attribute handlers

If an attribute handler is declared and the :ATTR specifier is given the name of a built-in type (SCALAR, ARRAY, HASH, CODE, or GLOB), the handler is only applied to declarations of that type. For example, the following definition:

        package LoudDecl;

        sub RealLoud :ATTR(SCALAR) { print "Yeeeeow!" }

creates an attribute handler that applies only to scalars:

        package Painful;
        use base LoudDecl;

        my $metal : RealLoud;           # invokes &LoudDecl::RealLoud
        my @metal : RealLoud;           # error: unknown attribute
        my %metal : RealLoud;           # error: unknown attribute
        sub metal : RealLoud {...}      # error: unknown attribute

You can also explicitly indicate that a single handler is meant to be used for all types of referents like so:

        package LoudDecl;
        use Attribute::Handlers::Prospective;

        sub SeriousLoud :ATTR(ANY) { warn "Hearing loss imminent" }

(I.e. ATTR(ANY) is a synonym for :ATTR).

Non-interpretive attribute handlers

Occasionally it is preferable that the data argument of an attribute be treated as a string, rather than as valid Perl.

This can be specified by giving the ATTR attribute of an attribute handler the keyword RAWDATA. For example:

        sub Raw          : ATTR(RAWDATA) {...}
        sub Nekkid       : ATTR(SCALAR,RAWDATA) {...}
        sub Au::Naturale : ATTR(RAWDATA,ANY) {...}

Then the handler makes absolutely no attempt to interpret the data it receives and simply passes it as an uninterpolated q(...) string:

        my $power : Raw(1..100);        # handlers receives "1..100"

Phase-specific attribute handlers

By default, attribute handlers are called just before execution (in an INIT block). This seems to be optimal in most cases because most things that can be defined are defined by that point but nothing has been executed.

However, it is possible to set up attribute handlers that are called at other points in the program's compilation or execution, by explicitly stating the phase (or phases) in which you wish the attribute handler to be called. For example:

        sub Early    :ATTR(SCALAR,BEGIN) {...}
        sub Earlyish :ATTR(SCALAR,CHECK) {...}
        sub Normal   :ATTR(SCALAR,INIT) {...}
        sub Active   :ATTR(SCALAR,RUN) {...}
        sub Final    :ATTR(SCALAR,END) {...}
        sub Bookends :ATTR(SCALAR,BEGIN,END) {...}

As the last example indicates, a handler may be set up to be (re)called in two or more phases. The phase name is passed as the handler's final argument.

Note that attribute handlers that are scheduled for the BEGIN phase are handled as soon as the attribute is detected (i.e. before any subsequently defined BEGIN blocks are executed).

Attribute handlers that are scheduled for the RUN phase are executed every time the code itself executes.

Default attribute handlers

Perl makes it possible to create default handlers for subroutine calls, by defining a subroutine named AUTOLOAD. Likewise Attribute::Handlers::Prospective makes it possible to set up default handlers for attributes, by defining an attribute handler named AUTOATTR.

For example:

        package Real;

        sub RealAttr : ATTR {
                print "You ascribed a RealAttr attribute to $_[2]\n";
        }

        sub AUTOATTR : ATTR {
                warn "You tried to ascribe a :$_[3] attribute to $_[2]\n",
                     "but there's no such attribute defined in class $_[0]\n",
                     "(Did you mean :RealAttr?)\n";
        }

Now, ascribing any other attribute except :RealAttr to a referent associated with the Real package provokes a warning.

If the AUTOATTR hadn't been defined, ascribing any other attribute would have produced a fatal error.

Note that the arguments an AUTOATTR receives are indentical to those that would have been received by the real attribute handler it's replacing.

Pre- and post-attribute handlers

There are two other attribute handlers whose names mark them as special: PREATTR and POSTATTR. Any handler with one of these names is treated as a prefix/postfix handler, and is called automatically on any referent that is ascribed one or more attributes.

These handlers receive the same six arguments as any other handler, the only difference being that their $data argument ($_[4]) is an array of arrays. Each of those inner arrays is the complete argument list that each attribute in turn will receive.

For example, to report each attribute scribed to any scalar, we could write:

        use Data::Dumper 'Dumper';

        sub UNIVERSAL::PREATTR : ATTR(SCALAR) {
                my $name = *{$_[1]}{NAME};
                $name = "PACKAGE(\$$name)" unless $name =~ /^LEXICAL/;
                print "$name was ascribed:\n";
                foreach $arglist ( @{$_[4]} ) {
                        print "$arglist->[3](", Dumper($arglist), ")\n"
                }
        }

Note that changes to the argument lists within the pre- and postfix handlers do not propagate to the actual attribute handler calls (though they may do so in future releases).

Attributes as tie interfaces

Attributes make an excellent and intuitive interface through which to tie variables. For example:

        use Attribute::Handlers::Prospective;
        use Tie::Cycle;

        sub UNIVERSAL::Cycle : ATTR(SCALAR, RUN) {
                my ($package, $symbol, $referent, $attr, $data, $phase) = @_;
                $data = [ $data ] unless ref $data eq 'ARRAY';
                tie $$referent, 'Tie::Cycle', $data;
        }

        # and thereafter...

        package main;

        my $next : Cycle('A'..'Z');     # $next is now a tied variable

        while (<>) {
                print $next;
        }

In fact, this pattern is so widely applicable that Attribute::Handlers::Prospective provides a way to automate it: specifying 'autotie' in the use Attribute::Handlers::Prospective statement. So, the previous example, could also be written:

        use Attribute::Handlers::Prospective autotie => { Cycle => 'Tie::Cycle' };

        # and thereafter...

        package main;

        my $next : Cycle('A'..'Z');     # $next is now a tied variable

        while (<>) {
                print $next;

The argument after 'autotie' is a reference to a hash in which each key is the name of an attribute to be created, and each value is the class to which variables ascribed that attribute should be tied.

Note that there is no longer any need to import the Tie::Cycle module -- Attribute::Handlers::Prospective takes care of that automagically. You can even pass arguments to the module's import subroutine, by appending them to the class name. For example:

        use Attribute::Handlers::Prospective
                autotie => { Dir => 'Tie::Dir qw(DIR_UNLINK)' };

If the attribute name is unqualified, the attribute is installed in the current package. Otherwise it is installed in the qualifier's package:

        package Here;

        use Attribute::Handlers::Prospective autotie => {
                Other::Good => Tie::SecureHash, # tie attr installed in Other::
                        Bad => Tie::Taxes,      # tie attr installed in Here::
            UNIVERSAL::Ugly => Software::Patent # tie attr installed everywhere
        };

Autoties are most commonly used in the module to which they actually tie, and need to export their attributes to any module that calls them. To facilitiate this, Attribute::Handlers::Prospective recognizes a special "pseudo-class" -- __CALLER__, which may be specified as the qualifier of an attribute:

        package Tie::Me::Kangaroo:Down::Sport;

        use Attribute::Handlers::Prospective autotie => { __CALLER__::Roo => __PACKAGE__ };

This causes Attribute::Handlers::Prospective to define the Roo attribute in the package that imports the Tie::Me::Kangaroo:Down::Sport module.

Passing the tied object to tie

Occasionally it is important to pass a reference to the object being tied to the TIESCALAR, TIEHASH, etc. that ties it.

The autotie mechanism supports this too. The following code:

        use Attribute::Handlers::Prospective autotieref => { Selfish => Tie::Selfish };
        my $var : Selfish(@args);

has the same effect as:

        tie my $var, 'Tie::Selfish', @args;

But when "autotieref" is used instead of "autotie":

        use Attribute::Handlers::Prospective autotieref => { Selfish => Tie::Selfish };
        my $var : Selfish(@args);

the effect is to pass the tie call an extra reference to the variable being tied:

        tie my $var, 'Tie::Selfish', \$var, @args;

Universal attributes

Installing handlers into UNIVERSAL, makes them...err..universal. For example:

        package Descriptions;
        use Attribute::Handlers::Prospective;

        my %name;
        sub name { return $name{$_[2]}||*{$_[1]}{NAME} }

        sub UNIVERSAL::Name :ATTR {
                $name{$_[2]} = $_[4];
        }

        sub UNIVERSAL::Purpose :ATTR {
                print STDERR "Purpose of ", &name, " is $_[4]\n";
        }

        sub UNIVERSAL::Unit :ATTR {
                print STDERR &name, " measured in $_[4]\n";
        }

Let's you write:

        use Descriptions;

        my $capacity : Name(capacity)
                     : Purpose(to store max storage capacity for files)
                     : Unit(Gb);


        package Other;

        sub foo : Purpose(to foo all data before barring it) { }

        # etc.

DIAGNOSTICS

No such %s attribute: %s

And attribute was applied to a referent for which there is no corresponding attribute handler. Typically this means that the attribute handler that was declared does not handle the type of referent you used.

Can't autotie a %s

You can only declare autoties for types "SCALAR", "ARRAY", "HASH", and GLOB. They're the only things that Perl can tie.

Internal error

Something is rotten in the state of the program. Send a bug report.

AUTHOR

Damian Conway (damian@conway.org)

BUGS

There are undoubtedly serious bugs lurking somewhere in code this funky :-) Bug reports and other feedback are most welcome.

COPYRIGHT

         Copyright (c) 2001, Damian Conway. All Rights Reserved.
       This module is free software. It may be used, redistributed
           and/or modified under the same terms as Perl itself.