NAME

Property::Lookup - Object property lookup across multiple layers

VERSION

version 1.101400

SYNOPSIS

    use Property::Lookup;

    my %opt;
    GetOptions(\%opt, '...');

    my $config = Property::Lookup->new;
    $config->add_layer(file => 'conf.yaml');
    $config->add_layer(hash => \%opt);
    $config->default_layer({
        foo => 23,
    });

    my $foo = $config->foo;

    # ...

    use Property::Lookup::Local;
    local %Property::Lookup::Local::opt = (bar => 'baz');

DESCRIPTION

This module provides a way to look up an object property in a layer of objects. The user can define various layers; when the user asks this main object to look up a key, it will ask each layer in turn whether it has a value for the given key. When a layer responds, that answer will be returned to the user and no more layers will be asked.

This is useful in application configuration. Suppose you have a configuration file, which is your primary mechanism for configuring the application. But the user should also be able to override individual values using command line arguments. And even if a key is found neither on the command line nor in the configuration file, you want to provide a default.

This scenario is easy to implement with this module.

Because application configuration is the primary intended use, this module is a singleton.

METHODS

new

Creates the singleton object.

instance

Synonymous for new.

init

Called when the object is constructed, it initializes the local and default layers.

local_layer

    local %Property::Lookup::Local::opt = (bar => 'baz');

This is initialized as a Property::Lookup::Local object. It can be used to temporarily override lookup values; if you use local, the values will automatically forgotten at the end of the current scope. When a property is looked up via AUTOLOAD, this layer is always checked first.

default_layer

    my $config = Property::Lookup->new;
    $config->default_layer({ foo => 42 });

This is initialized as a Property::Lookup::Hash object. It can be used to set default values. When a property is looked up via AUTOLOAD, this layer is always checked last.

add_layer

This method adds a layer to the singleton lookup object. The first argument determines which kind of layer is added; the rest are arguments passed to the layer. The first argument can be file to construct a file lookup layer, or hash to construct a hash lookup layer.

    my $config = Property::Lookup->new;
    $config->add_layer(file => 'conf.yaml');

With file, a layer of class Property::Lookup::File is constructed. The second argument is the name of the YAML file from which values are taken.

    my $config = Property::Lookup->new;
    $config->add_layer(hash => \%opt);

With hash, a layer of class Property::Lookup::Hash is constructed. The second argument is the name of the YAML file from which values are taken.

If the layer-specific arguments are wrong, or the layer type is not one of the names given above, an exception occurs.

get_layers

Returns the list of layer objects. The local layer is special; it always comes first, no matter which layers have been specified. Likewise for the default layer, which always comes last.

get_config

This method calls get_config() on all layers and accumulates the data in a hash, which is then returned. The individual get_config() methods are supposed to return the data with which a layer was configured with: The options hash for the Local layer; the hash for a Hash layer.

AUTOLOAD

Determines which method was called, then asks every layer in turn. It returns the first defined answer it finds. The local layer is special - it always comes first, no matter which layers have been specified. Likewise for the default layer, which always comes last.

DEFAULTS

This accessor is used by Class::Accessor::Constructor. It is defined as an empty list here so AUTOLOAD won't try to handle it.

FIRST_CONSTRUCTOR_ARGS

This accessor is used by Class::Accessor::Constructor. It is defined as an empty list here so AUTOLOAD won't try to handle it.

INSTALLATION

See perlmodinstall for information and options on installing Perl modules.

BUGS AND LIMITATIONS

No bugs have been reported.

Please report any bugs or feature requests through the web interface at http://rt.cpan.org/Public/Dist/Display.html?Name=Property-Lookup.

AVAILABILITY

The latest version of this module is available from the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network (CPAN). Visit http://www.perl.com/CPAN/ to find a CPAN site near you, or see http://search.cpan.org/dist/Property-Lookup/.

The development version lives at http://github.com/hanekomu/Property-Lookup/. Instead of sending patches, please fork this project using the standard git and github infrastructure.

AUTHOR

  Marcel Gruenauer <marcel@cpan.org>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

This software is copyright (c) 2009 by Marcel Gruenauer.

This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.

cpanm Property::Lookup

perl -MCPAN -e shell
install Property::Lookup