NAME

Attribute::Constructor - implementing constructors with attributes

SYNOPSIS

        package SomeObj;
        use Attribute::Constructor;

        sub new : Constructor {
                my $self = shift;
                $self->{attribute1} = shift;
                $self->{attribute2} = shift;
        }
        
        --- Calling Code ----
        
        # Will create the object with 'attribute1' and
        # 'attribute2' being set to 'foo' and 'bar' respectively
        my $new_obj = SomeObj->new( 'foo', 'bar' );
        or
        my $new_obj = $old_obj->new( 'foo', 'bar' );

DESCRIPTION

Declaring a method of an object as a constructor will cause the object to be created, blessed, and returned to the calling code. This will allow the constructor to look more like a "real" constructor from an OO language that supports the idea of constructor with syntax.

The object is already returned to the calling code so there is no need to return it. The first argument will be a reference to the new class instead of a reference to the class so that it behaves more like a normal constructor in the fact that it is a instance method not a class method.

HISTORY

0.04

Made the constructor behave as a static or virtual method

0.03

Packaged it up so that it can be uploaded to CPAN

0.02

Modified the code some to make it behave more generically

0.01

Original Version: Used for internal project

BUGS

None known so far. If you find any please send the AUTHOR a message.

AUTHOR

Eric Anderson, <eric.anderson@cordata.net>

COPYRIGHT

Copyright 2002 Eric Anderson. All rights reserved.

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

SEE ALSO

perl.