NAME

• mem - use "in-mem" pkgs & force definitions into mem early

VERSION

Version "0.4.5"

SYNOPSIS

  use mem;
  use mem(@COMPILE_TIME_DEFINES=qw(a b c));

mem is a trivial pragma to either allow defining the module it is included from as being defined so that later classes or packages in the same file can use the package to pull in a reference to it, or to be able to call its import routine from a different package in the same file.

With parameter assignments or other actions, it forces those assignments to be done, immediately, at compile time instead of later at run time. It can be use, for example, with Exporter, to export typed-sub's among other usages.

EXAMPLE

Following, is a sample program, showing two uses of mem.

  use strict; use warnings;

  { package Ar_Type;
      #
      use mem;                                    #1st usage 
      our (@EXPORT, @ISA);
      sub ARRAY (;*) {
          my $p = $_[0]; my $t="ARRAY";
          return @_ ? (ref $p && (1+index($p, $t))) : $t;
      }
      #
      use mem(                                    #2nd usage 
          @EXPORT=qw(ARRAY), @ISA=qw(Exporter)
      #
      )                                           #(also) 2nd usage 
      ;
      use Exporter;
  }

  package main;
  use Ar_Type;
  use P;
        use Types::Core

  my @a=(1,2,3);
  my ($ed, $light);
      (@$ed, @$light) = (@a, @a);  #ed & light point to copies of @a
  bless $ed, "bee";

  P "\@a = ref of array" if ARRAY \@a;
  P "ref of ed is %s", ref $ed;
  P "ed still points to underlying type, 'array'" if ARRAY $ed;
  P "Is ref \$light, ARRAY?: %s", (ref $light eq ARRAY) ? 'yes':'no';
  P "Does \"ref \$ed\" eq ARRAY?: %s", (ref $ed eq ARRAY) ? 'yes':'no';
  P "%s", "#  (Because \"ref \$ed\" is really a bless \"ed\" bee)"

• First, the correct output:

    @a = ref of array
    ref of ed is bee
    ed still points to underlying type, 'array'
    Is ref $light, ARRAY?: yes
    Does ref $ed eq ARRAY?: no
    #  (Because ref "ed" is really a bless "ed" bee)

• Second, without the first " use mem ", presuming the line was commented out:

    Can't locate Ar_Type.pm in @INC (@INC contains: 
      /usr/lib/perl5/5.16.2 ...   /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl .) 
      at /tmp/ex line 18.
    BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at /tmp/ex line 18.  

  This is due to package AR_Type, the package already declared and in memory>, being ignored by Perl's use statement because some Perl-specific, "internal flag" is not set for package Ar_Type. The first use mem causes this flag, normally set with the path of the of a used file, to be set with the containing file path and an added comment, containing the line number.

  This tells perl to use the definition of the package that is already in memory.

  and

• Third, instead of dropping the 1st " use mem ", you drop (or comment out) the 2nd usage in the above example, you get:

    Bareword "ARRAY" not allowed while "strict subs" 
      in use at /tmp/ex line 27.
    syntax error at /tmp/ex line 27, near "ARRAY \"
    Bareword "ARRAY" not allowed while "strict subs" 
      in use at /tmp/ex line 30.
    Bareword "ARRAY" not allowed while "strict subs" 
      in use at /tmp/ex line 31.
    Execution of /tmp/ex aborted due to compilation errors. 

  This happens because when use Exporter is called, the contents of @EXPORT is not known. Even with the assignment to @EXPORT, the "@EXPORT=qw(ARRAY)" being right above the use Exporter statement. Similarly to the first error, above, Perl doesn't use the value of @EXPORT just above it. Having use mem in the second position forces Perl to put the assignment to @EXPORT in mem ory, so that when use Exporter is called, it can pick up the name of ARRAY as already being "exported" and defined.

  Without use mem putting the value of @EXPORT in memory, ARRAY isn't defined, an you get the errors shown above.

Summary

The first usage allows 'main' to find package Ar_Type, already in memory.

The second usage forces the definition of 'ARRAY' into memory so they can be exported by an exporter function.

In both cases, mem allows your already-in-memory code to be used. Thsi allows simplified programming and usage without knowledge of or references to Perl's internal-flags or internal run phases.

SEE ALSO

See Exporter for information on exporting names. See the newer, Xporter for doing similar without the need for setting @ISA and persistent defaults in @EXPORT. See P for more details about the generic print verb and see Types::Core for a more complete treatment of the CORE Types.