NAME

Base::Class - A generalized and common base class;

SYNOPSIS

        # Simply call a new method.  Defined at C<Base::Class>.
        my $foo = Foo::Bar->new();

        # Notice that you can 'seed' accessors to what ever you would like
        # by calling the C<Base::Class::seed> method with a hash-ref as an argument.
        $foo->seed( { 'accessor' => 'value' } );

        # This will pile a C<Data::Dumper::Dumper> output to STDOUT.
        $foo->dump();

        # This is a custom method defined in Foo::Bar (see below, inline)
        $foo->custom_method();

        package Foo::Bar;

        use strict;
        use warnings;

        use base qw( Base::Class );

        # Use custom bit-mask log leveling to amp up the log level.
        # If you base if off the value in C<Base::Class>, you will have the
        # ability to set your LOG_LEVEL based off environment variables.
        use constant LOG_LEVEL => Base::Class::LOG_LEVEL | 0;
        
        # The init method is called at instantiation.  This is overridden
        # rather than C<Base::Class::new> since you will already have a blessed
        # scalar reference at this point.
        sub _init {
                my $self = shift;

                # Do some stuff at object instantiation

                return $self->SUPER::_init( @_ );
        }

        # Some arbatrary custom method
        sub custom_method {
                my ( $self ) = @_;
                $self->logger( 'say something' ) if ( LOG_LEVEL & Base::Class::LOG_LEVEL );

                $self->get_something( 'some string' );
                print $self->set_something() . "\n";

                return;
        }

DESCRIPTION

Why another base class?

First off, this isn't anything new or ground breaking. Included with the standard install of Perl, you will find a root class; CPAN as well has a couple modules that will allow for the use of a generalized abstract base class. These include UNIVERSAL, Base::Class and Pakcage::Base. With the exception of UNIVERSAL, they are very Base common implementations for common things that 'every class' does. However, in my own personal projects, I have found the mentioned files are simply not enough. I'll quickly explain the features this abstract class has where (I believe) the others fall short (relative to what I want out of a base-class).

         Problem: I like strict-ish encapsulation.  I don't like accessing data via a blessed hash ref.
        Solution: Base::Class.pm is a blessed scalar reference, not a hash reference.  Secondly, to access
                  data, you simply call an un-defined getter and setter (take a look at the ACCESSOR METHOD section).
                  Using the mgic of Perl AUTOLOAD, will dynamically add a method reference to the class
                  allowing for the dynamic generation of mnew accessor methods

         Problem: I like having private methods stay private
        Solution: If a method is pre-fixed with a '_', each call to the method will run through conditions
                  that will test to make sure the caller() is of the same type as the callee.  Will die otherwise

         Problem: I LOVE logging, but I hate how each logging call takes up some CPU when realisticaly I don't 
                  want to log everything all of the time.
        Solution: Using the Perl optimizer, we can optimize out our logging routines at compile time.  Take a look
                  at C<Base::Class::logger> for more details on how this works.

         Problem: There are a number of other similar implementations currently on CPAN which are very good, yet
                  have either been too little or too much for my needs.  Given this, I took it upon myself to
                  make a new one.  It has a Baser interface than the likes of C<Base::Class> and/or C<Object::InsideOut>.
                  Similarly, modules such as C<Object::InsideOut> are a little too overboard for Base applications
                  that want Base interfaces into each of the object therein.
        Solution: This module is intended be as Base as all get-out.  Takes nothing at instantiation, integrates
                  simplistic logging, with built in optimizations, allows for Base copying of structures, etc.
                  (more below in the rest of the POD)

Given these Base problems and found solutions, this came around. Now, that it has become the base of most of my personal projects, I figured it was time I released it for others to play with. Also, it gives some middle ground between very light and heavy Inside-out objects

The real description

Base::Class is intended to act as a generalized base class for OO Perl implementations. Containing no required dependancies, has some build in features that are generally nice to have using a number of abilities within Perl.

For instance, accessor methods do not have to be stubbed for every public and private method call. Simply calling $self->get_anything() will, using AUTOLOAD, attach the get_something and set_something methods to the class, the allowing for the dynamic building of method calls. Similarly, adding a '_' to the method call will enforce a specific level of 'privateness', whereas only a class within the @ISA tree will be allowed to access that particular method (must be a sub-class).

Similarly, optimized logging can be added very easily. Using Perl compile rules, when a conditional is used with constants and the conditional is FALSE, the compiled Perl will not generate an opt code for the conditinal block.

        http://perldoc.perl.org/constant.html#DESCRIPTION

Therefore, using the defined Base::Class::LOG_LEVEL with pre-defined log levels within the base class, you are able to turn up the logging globally to the application (modifying the Base::Class::LOG_LEVEL) or for a single object (modifying LOG_LEVEL at the overridden sub-class).

EXPORT ROUTINES

logger

See the method definition for more details on this EXPORTED function

Subsiquently, this is also an (the only) exported function within the Base::Class definition. When used with constants defined within the class as well, allow for an optimized methodology of logging within an application.

First, I recommend reviewing the following URL:

        http://perldoc.perl.org/constant.html#DESCRIPTION

You will read:

        ... When a constant is used in an expression, perl replaces it with its value at compile time, and may then
        optimize the expression further.  In particular, any code in an if(CONSTANT) block will be optimized away
        if the constant is false ...

Using this fun optimization trick, Base::Class has a number of logging constants you can use to turn on and off different levels of logging. The following are all the constants and their definitions:

        use constant NO_LOG    => 0b00000; # 0
        use constant DEBUG     => 0b00001; # 1
        use constant TRACE     => 0b00010; # 2
        use constant WARNING   => 0b00100; # 4
        use constant ERROR     => 0b01000; # 8
        use constant CRITICAL  => 0b10000; # 16

Notice each of the values are bit-masked. I wil get into this a little later.

There are a number of ways you can utilize this feature. I will recommend one, go into it in further detail, and hopefully you will be able to catch on.

At Base::Class, the local LOG_LEVEL constant is defined in one of two ways. If the environtment variable 'LOG_LEVEL' is defined, the Base::Class::LOG_LEVEL constant will be set to that value. Otherwise, the Base::Class::LOG_LEVEL variable will be set a level of ERROR and CRITICAL (using a bit-wise OR). Similar to the following:

        $ENV{'LOG_LEVEL'} ||= ERROR | CRITICAL;
        use constant LOG_LEVEL => $ENV{'LOG_LEVEL'};

Following this assignment and throughout the Base::Class code, you will find tests from both the defined LOG_LEVEL and the different levels defined in the class. Following the next example:

        logger( 'trace', 'enter' ) if ( LOG_LEVEL & TRACE );

If the current LOG_LEVEL has the TRACE bit 'on', Perl will *not* optimize that call out and will call Base::Class::logger. However, of course, by default, TRACE is not turned on. This is why I recommend defining the LOG_LEVEL with a bit-wise OR, which will force multiple bits to be 'on'. Therefore:

        use constant LOG_LEVEL => ERROR | CRITICAL | TRACE;

Will turn on ERROR, CRITICAL and TRACE level logging if used in the context of my explenation. More information about this, review documentation relative to bitwise operations in Perl.

Subsiquently, this could be used in all implementing classes as well. This is why Base::Class::logger is an Exported. There are a number of ways to ensure you have the logger method contained within all sub-classes of Base::Class. Here are some examples:

        # Package one example
        package One;

        use strict;
        use warnings;
        use base qw( Base::Class );
        use constant LOG_LEVEL => Base::Class::LOG_LEVEL | Base::Class::TRACE;

        sub some_method { 
                my $self = shift;
                $self->logger( 'trace' ) if ( LOG_LEVEL & Base::Class::TRACE );
        }

        # Package two example
        package Two

        use strict;
        use warnings;
        use base qw( Base::Class );
        use Base::Class qw( logger );
        use constant LOG_LEVEL => Base::Class::TRACE;

        sub some_method {
                logger( 'trace' ) if ( LOG_LEVEL & Base::Class::TRACE );
        }

        # Package three example
        package Three;

        use strict;
        use warnings;
        use base qw( Base::Class );
        use constant LOG_LEVEL => Base::Class::LOG_LEVEL | Base::Class::TRACE;

        {
                no strict 'refs';
                *logger = \&Base::Class::logger;
        }

        sub some_method {
                logger( 'trace' ) if ( LOG_LEVEL & Base::Class::TRACE );
        }

        # Package four example
        package Four;

        use strict;
        use warnings;
        use base qw( Base::Class );
        use constant LOG_LEVEL => Base::Class::TRACE | 0 | 0b00;

        eval( "sub logger{ return Base::Class::logger( @_ ); }" );

        sub some_method {
        logger( 'trace' ) if ( LOG_LEVEL & Base::Class::TRACE );
    }

As you can see, there are a few ways you can do this. That's why we all love Perl, right ;) Anyhoo, you can also see in the above examples that I am using the same optimization features defined earlier. By defining a local LOG_LEVEL to the sub-class, I can turn up and down logging appropriately within a particular class (or object(s)). This is a nice feature if you don't want your entire application to start spewing out stuff about who was where when and on what line.

The logger output will follow the following format:

        "[%s]\t%-s%-05d%-s\n",

With the following parameters:

        [TIME] Caller::from     line    message

OBJECT METHODS

new

* THIS METHOD IS NOT INTENDED TO BE OVERRIDEN FOR OBJECT MANIPULATION *

For the generation of singleton objects or a similar implementation where the use of the Base::Class::new method would be handy, the override of the method is certainly accepted. However, if you are simply interested in adding some accessor data to the object upon instantiation, the overriden Base::Class::_init has been provided.

A call to new will simply return a blessed scalar reference to the particular sub-class of Base::Class. The object will NOT be a reference to a hash since the idea of Base::Class is to keep strong data encapsulation and class privacy. This is not nearly as easy with a hash-ref. Given this, to allow for ease of programming, similar to a hash reference object structure, view the ACCESSOR METHODS section of the documentation.

        my $foo_object = Foo->new();

        package Foo;

        use base qw( Foo );

_init

This method, rather than Base::Class::new is fully intended to be overridden by all sub-classes as necessary. This is handy, rather than passing a string of the name-space for the class, the first parameter of @_ will be a reference to the current object.

        package Foo;

        use base qw( Foo );

        sub _init {
                my $self = shift;

                $self->set_some_attribute( 'to a value' );

                return $self->SUPER::_init( @_ );
        }

seed

Accepting a reference to a hash, this method will set all the values of the hash to PUBLIC and representative methods of the keys. Thus:

        { 'key' => 'value' }

When passed to the method, will be accessable via

        my $value = $self->_get_key();

Where key was named from the key of the hash reference and value is a direct reference to the value of key from the above hash.

        my $foo = Foo->new();
        $foo->seed( { 'key' => 'value' } );

        my $key = $foo->_get_value();

        package Foo;

        use base qw( Foo );

A second, and optional parameter to the method, is a boolean flag that will tell the seeding call to represent the methods PRIVATELY, adhiering to the private rules applied to the ACCESSOR METHOD paradigm.

        $foo->seed( { 'key' => 'value', }, 1 );

For more infomration on the finer details of how or why this works, take a look into the ACCESSOR METHOD section of the document.

dump

Simply, will print a particular representation of the object to STDERR. The output of this method will not be wrapped in the Base::Class::logger method, therefore not adding the formatting or otherwise provided from the method.

Depending on the availablility of the Data::Dumper module, will use The Data::Dumper::Dump routine to dump a hash looking representation of all the internal ACCESSOR attributes within the object. If the dumper is not available, will attempt a stringified version of the class (most likely the object's referential memory location).

        my $foo = Foo->new();
        $foo->dump();

        # Now, take a look at STDERR
        
        package Foo;

        use strict;
        use warnings;

        use base qw( Base::Class );

hashify

Similar to the Base::Class::dump method, will gather a hash representation of the object and return a reference to that hash.

        use Data::Dumper;

        my $foo      = Foo->new();
        my $foo_hash = $foo->hashify();

        print Dumper( $foo_hash );
        
        package Foo;

        use strict;
        use warnings;

        use base qw( Base::Class );

copy

Simply, will return a clone of the calling object with a blessed reference to a new object of the same type with the same data encapsulated in the same generated methods.

Uses an embedded package, Base::Class::clone which will, by default, simply create a shallow copy of th current structure and it's class contents. However, you are allowed to change this interface externally to the class by modifying the stash variable, $CLONE. For example:

        $Base::Class::CLONE     = 'Clone';
        $Base::Class::CLONE_SUB = 'clone';

This will, then, use the Clone CPAN module and run the clone routine against the hashieifed object rather than the embedded shallow cloning otherwised ran. On the same note, the object will not automatcially download anything from CPAN, so if you create a class dependancy on an external module that is not in your current Perl disto CORE, then you will have to download it. Using this example, you would have to install Clone before attempting.

        use Data::Dumper;

        my $foo = Foo->new();

        my $r = { 'key' => 1 };
        $foo->set_ref( $r );
        
        my $copy_of_foo = $foo->copy();
        $copy_of_foo->get_ref()->{'value'}++;

        print Dumper( [ $r, $foo->hashify(), $copy_of_foo->hashify() ] );

        # Will demonstrate that the modification of the $copy_of_foo will
        # have the value incremented whereas the other references will not
        
        package Foo;

        use strict;
        use warnings;

        use base qw( Base::Class );

ACCESSOR METHODS

The use of the accessor methods were/are the primary reason I created this module. Simply, by following the following regular expression with method calls, you will be able to use dynamically created accessor methods at the object level.

        qr/::(_)?([gs]et)_(\w+)$/s;

The useage of this pattern is applied in the AUTOLOAD routine. All method calls that do not follow this pattern will die as Perl would normally die when an undefined method is called on the objet.

Additively, rather than continuing to call AUTOLOAD every time that particular accessor method is created, a natural subroutine will be referenced to the name space of the class. Thus, subsequent calls to either the 'getter' or 'setter' of the same name will be direct method calls to the object, rather than running through the overhead of run-time AUTOLOAD.

Using the example:

        my $foo = Base::Class->new();

        $foo->set_something( 'something' );
        print $foo->get_something();

The 'set_something' method will not be found defined in the class, Perl will jump to the AUTOLOAD routine. Finding the method name fit's the pattern expalined earlier, will then reference not only set_something but get_something (every setter gets a getter) to the object. Therefore, the call to get_something on the next line will not have to hit the AUTOLOAD routine.

Another fun feature of this routine is to 'privatize' method calls. Therefore, by simply appending the '_' to the beginning of a method will ensure the calling package is a sub-class or the class before allowing access to the method. In fact, if an external object tries to call a 'private' method, the application will die. Unfortunately, this will be a run-time exception; nevertheless will continue with the paradigm allowed.

DEPENDENCIES

`UNIVERSAL`

Used in a couple of places to determine the @ISA class hierachy, therefore is required. However, this is a very standard install in Perl being that it is the base class of all objects (including this one), therefore I felt it safe to let UNIVERSAL slide whereas I didn't for any others. I belive this was released with 5.0.1, so we should be fine here.

Perl 5.6.1

For now, this is as far back as I knew I could go. Moving foward I will try to make sure this can go back to first revs of 5.

WARNINGS

Requires 5.6.1

I think this is the oldest version of Perl that can currently use this module. Movinf forward, I will do everything I can to remove this dependency.

threads

I haven't tested this class in a threadded environment. Let me know if you have any issues with this

AUTHOR

Trevor Hall, <hallta@gmail.com>

        Perlmonks:
        http://perlmonks.org/?node=wazzuteke

        CPAN:
        http://search.cpan.org/~wazzuteke/

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself, either Perl version 5.8.5 or, at your option, any later version of Perl 5 you may have available.

To install Base::Class, copy and paste the appropriate command in to your terminal.

cpanm

cpanm Base::Class

CPAN shell

perl -MCPAN -e shell
install Base::Class

For more information on module installation, please visit the detailed CPAN module installation guide.

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NAME

SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION

Why another base class?

The real description

EXPORT ROUTINES

logger

OBJECT METHODS

new

_init

seed

dump

hashify

copy

ACCESSOR METHODS

SEE ALSO

`Data::Dumper`

`POSIX`

`Exporter`

DEPENDENCIES

`UNIVERSAL`

Perl 5.6.1

WARNINGS

Requires 5.6.1

threads

AUTHOR

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

NAME

SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION

Why another base class?

The real description

EXPORT ROUTINES

logger

OBJECT METHODS

new

_init

seed

dump

hashify

copy

ACCESSOR METHODS

SEE ALSO

Data::Dumper

POSIX

Exporter

DEPENDENCIES

UNIVERSAL

Perl 5.6.1

WARNINGS

Requires 5.6.1

threads

AUTHOR

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

Module Install Instructions

`Data::Dumper`

`POSIX`

`Exporter`

`UNIVERSAL`