SYNOPSIS

  package MyObject;
  use Class::MakeMethods::Standard::Universal (
    no_op => 'this',
    abstract => 'that',
    delegate => { name=>'play_music', target=>'instrument', method=>'play' },
  );

DESCRIPTION

The Standard::Universal suclass of MakeMethods provides a [\s-1INCOMPLETE\s0].

Calling Conventions

When you \*(C`use\*(C' this package, the method names you provide as arguments cause subroutines to be generated and installed in your module.

See \*(L"Calling Conventions\*(R" in Class::MakeMethods::Standard for more information.

Declaration Syntax

To declare methods, pass in pairs of a method-type name followed by one or more method names.

Valid method-type names for this package are listed in \*(L"\s-1METHOD\s0 \s-1GENERATOR\s0 \s-1TYPES\s0\*(R".

See \*(L"Declaration Syntax\*(R" in Class::MakeMethods::Standard and \*(L"Parameter Syntax\*(R" in Class::MakeMethods::Standard for more information.

METHOD GENERATOR TYPES

no_op - Placeholder

For each method name passed, returns a subroutine with the following characteristics:

  • Does nothing.

You might want to create and use such methods to provide hooks for subclass activity.

Sample declaration and usage:

package MyObject; use Class::MakeMethods::Standard::Universal ( no_op => 'whatever', ); ...

# Doesn't do anything MyObject->whatever();

abstract - Placeholder

For each method name passed, returns a subroutine with the following characteristics:

  • Fails with an error message.

This is intended to support the use of abstract methods, that must be overidden in a useful subclass.

If each subclass is expected to provide an implementation of a given method, using this abstract method will replace the generic error message below with the clearer, more explicit error message that follows it:

Can't locate object method "foo" via package "My::Subclass" The "foo" method is abstract and can not be called on My::Subclass

However, note that the existence of this method will be detected by UNIVERSAL::can(), so it is not suitable for use in optional interfaces, for which you may wish to be able to detect whether the method is supported or not.

Sample declaration and usage:

package MyObject; use Class::MakeMethods::Standard::Universal ( abstract => 'whatever', ); ...

package MySubclass; sub whatever { ... }

# Failure MyObject->whatever();

# Success MySubclass->whatever();

call_methods - Call methods by name

For each method name passed, returns a subroutine with the following characteristics:

  • Accepts a hash of key-value pairs, or a reference to hash of such pairs. For each pair, the key is interpreted as the name of a method to call, and the value is the argument to be passed to that method.

Sample declaration and usage:

package MyObject; use Class::MakeMethods::Standard::Universal ( call_methods => 'init', ); ...

my $object = MyObject->new() $object->init( foo => 'Foozle', bar => 'Barbados' );

# Equivalent to: $object->foo('Foozle'); $object->bar('Barbados');

join_methods - Concatenate results of other methods

For each method name passed, returns a subroutine with the following characteristics:

  • Has a list of other methods names as an arrayref in the 'methods' parameter. Required.

  • When called, calls each of the named method on itself, in order, and returns the concatenation of their results.

  • If a 'join' parameter is provided it is included between each method result.

  • If the 'skip_blanks' parameter is omitted, or is provided with a true value, removes all undefined or empty-string values from the results.

alias - Call another method

For each method name passed, returns a subroutine with the following characteristics:

  • Calls another method on the same callee.

You might create such a method to extend or adapt your class' interface.

Sample declaration and usage:

package MyObject; use Class::MakeMethods::Standard::Universal ( alias => { name=>'click_here', target=>'complex_machinery' } ); sub complex_machinery { ... } ...

$myobj->click_here(...); # calls $myobj->complex_machinery(...)

delegate - Use another object to provide method

For each method name passed, returns a subroutine with the following characteristics:

  • Calls a method on self to retrieve another object, and then calls a method on that object and returns its value.

You might want to create and use such methods to faciliate composition of objects from smaller objects.

Sample declaration and usage:

package MyObject; use Class::MakeMethods::Standard::Universal ( 'Standard::Hash:object' => { name=>'instrument' }, delegate => { name=>'play_music', target=>'instrument', method=>'play' } ); ...

my $object = MyObject->new(); $object->instrument( MyInstrument->new ); $object->play_music;

RELATED TO Class::MakeMethods::Standard::Universal…

See Class::MakeMethods for general information about this distribution.

See Class::MakeMethods::Standard for more about this family of subclasses.