NAME

Plugin::Simple - Load plugins from files or modules.

SYNOPSIS

use Plugin::Simple;

# load a plugin module from a file

@plugins = plugins('/path/to/MyModule.pm');

# load all modules under '__PACKAGE__::Plugin' namespace

my @plugins = plugins(); # call in scalar context to retrieve the first one

# load all plugins under a specific namespace (note the trailing ::)

@plugins = plugins('Any::Namespace::');

# load/return only the plugins that can perform specific functions

@plugins = plugins(can => ['foo', 'bar']); # foo and bar

# instead of importing 'plugins()', change the name:

use Plugin::Simple sub_name => 'foo';
@plugins = foo(...);

# set a default fallback plugin if searching turns up nothing

use Plugin::Simple default => 'My::Module::Plugin::DefaultPlugin'

# do something with the plugins

for my $plugin (@plugins){
    $plugin->plugin_func(@args);
}

# works in OO modules too simply by using it

my @plugins = $self->plugins();

DESCRIPTION

There are many plugin modules available on the CPAN, but I wrote this one just for fun. It's very simple, extremely lightweight, and is extremely minimalistic in what it does.

It searches for modules in installed packages or non-installed files, and loads them (without string eval). You can optionally have us return only the plugins that can() perform a specific task.

LOAD OPTIONS

By default, we force plugins() into your namespace. To change this name:

use Plugin::Simple sub_name => 'other_name';

If searching fails, you can ensure a default known plugin gets loaded:

use Plugin::Simple default => 'My::Plugin';

To use both options, simply separate them with a comma.

FUNCTIONS/METHODS

None. We simply install a plugins() function within the namespace of the package that used us.

EXAMPLE

This example simply uses a single plugin module with a plugin_function() function. In the script, we load this file, and check to ensure the plugin does in fact have that sub available.

We then call the plugins in a loop (even though in this case there's only one), and send in an argument for the plugin to do work on.

Script

use warnings;
use strict;

use lib '.';

use Plugin::Simple;

my @plugins = plugins(
    'examples/TestPlugin.pm',
    can => ['plugin_function']
);

my $plugin_arg = 'Hello!';

for my $plugin (@plugins){
    $plugin->plugin_function($plugin_arg);
}

Plugin Module

package TestPlugin;

sub plugin_function {
    shift; # throw away class/obj
    my ($str) = @_;
    print "in " . __PACKAGE__ . ", arg is: $str\n";
}

1;

Output

in TestPlugin, arg is: Hello!

AUTHOR

Steve Bertrand, <steveb at cpan.org>

BUGS

https://github.com/stevieb9/p5-plugin-simple/issues

SEE ALSO

There are far too many plugin import modules on the CPAN to mention here.

LICENSE AND COPYRIGHT

Copyright 2016,2017,2018 Steve Bertrand.

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of either: the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; or the Artistic License.

See http://dev.perl.org/licenses/ for more information.

cpanm Plugin::Simple

perl -MCPAN -e shell
install Plugin::Simple