NAME

Array::Iterator::Circular - A subclass of Array::Iterator to allow circular iteration

SYNOPSIS

  use Array::Iterator::Circular;
  
  # create an instance with a
  # small array
  my $color_iterator = Array::Iterator::Circular->new(qw(red green blue orange));
  
  # this is a large list of 
  # arbitrary items
  my @long_list_of_items = ( ... ); 
  
  # as we loop through the items ...
  foreach my $item (@long_list_of_items) {
      # we assign color from our color
      # iterator, which will keep dispensing
      # as it loops through its set
      $item->setColor($color_iterator->next());
  }
  
  # tell us how many times the set
  # was looped through
  print $color_iterator->getLoopCount();

DESCRIPTION

This iterator will loop continuosly as long as next or getNext is called. The hasNext method will always return true (1), since the list will always loop back. This is useful when you need a list to repeat itself, but don't want to (or care to) know that it is doing so.

METHODS

This is a subclass of Array::Iterator, only those methods that have been added or altered are documented here, refer to the Array::Iterator documentation for more information.

hasNext

Since we endlessly loop, this will always return true (1).

next

This will return the next item in the array, and when it reaches the end of the array, it will loop back to the begining again.

getNext

This method is now defined in terms of next, since neither will even stop dispensing items, there is no need to differentiate.

isStart

If at anytime during your looping, you want to know if you have arrived back at the start of you list, you can ask this method.

isEnd

If at anytime during your looping, you want to know if you have gotten to the end of you list, you can ask this method.

getLoopCount

This method will tell you how many times the iterator has looped back to its start.

BUGS

None that I am aware of, if you find a bug, let me know, and I will be sure to fix it.

CODE COVERAGE

See the CODE COVERAGE section of the Array::Iterator documentation for information about the code coverage of this module's test suite.

SEE ALSO

This is a subclass of Array::Iterator, please refer to it for more documenation.

AUTHOR

stevan little, <stevan@iinteractive.com>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

Copyright 2004 by Infinity Interactive, Inc.

http://www.iinteractive.com

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