Data::OptList - parse and validate simple name/value option pairs
version 0.103
use Data::OptList; my $options = Data::Optlist::mkopt([ qw(key1 key2 key3 key4), key5 => { ... }, key6 => [ ... ], key7 => sub { ... }, key8 => { ... }, key8 => [ ... ], ]);
...is the same thing, more or less, as:
my $options = [ [ key1 => undef, ], [ key2 => undef, ], [ key3 => undef, ], [ key4 => undef, ], [ key5 => { ... }, ], [ key6 => [ ... ], ], [ key7 => sub { ... }, ], [ key8 => { ... }, ], [ key8 => [ ... ], ], ]);
Hashes are great for storing named data, but if you want more than one entry for a name, you have to use a list of pairs. Even then, this is really boring to write:
$values = [ foo => undef, bar => undef, baz => undef, xyz => { ... }, ];
Just look at all those undefs! Don't worry, we can get rid of those:
$values = [ map { $_ => undef } qw(foo bar baz), xyz => { ... }, ];
Aaaauuugh! We've saved a little typing, but now it requires thought to read, and thinking is even worse than typing.
With Data::OptList, you can do this instead:
$values = Data::OptList::mkopt([ qw(foo bar baz), xyz => { ... }, ]);
This works by assuming that any defined scalar is a name and any reference following a name is its value.
my $opt_list = Data::OptList::mkopt( $input, $moniker, $require_unique, $must_be, );
This produces an array of arrays; the inner arrays are name/value pairs. Values will be either "undef" or a reference.
Valid values for $input:
$input
undef -> [] hashref -> [ [ key1 => value1 ] ... ] # non-ref values become undef arrayref -> every value followed by a ref becomes a pair: [ value => ref ] every value followed by undef becomes a pair: [ value => undef ] otherwise, it becomes [ value => undef ] like so: [ "a", "b", [ 1, 2 ] ] -> [ [ a => undef ], [ b => [ 1, 2 ] ] ]
$moniker is a name describing the data, which will be used in error messages.
$moniker
If $require_unique is true, an error will be thrown if any name is given more than once.
$require_unique
$must_be is either a scalar or array of scalars; it defines what kind(s) of refs may be values. If an invalid value is found, an exception is thrown. If no value is passed for this argument, any reference is valid. If $must_be specifies that values must be CODE, HASH, ARRAY, or SCALAR, then Params::Util is used to check whether the given value can provide that interface. Otherwise, it checks that the given value is an object of the kind.
$must_be
In other words:
[ qw(SCALAR HASH Object::Known) ]
Means:
_SCALAR0($value) or _HASH($value) or _INSTANCE($value, 'Object::Known')
my $opt_hash = Data::OptList::mkopt_hash($input, $moniker, $must_be);
Given valid "mkopt" input, this routine returns a reference to a hash. It will throw an exception if any name has more than one value.
"mkopt"
Both mkopt and mkopt_hash may be exported on request.
mkopt
mkopt_hash
Ricardo SIGNES, <rjbs@cpan.org>
<rjbs@cpan.org>
Please report any bugs or feature requests at http://rt.cpan.org. I will be notified, and then you'll automatically be notified of progress on your bug as I make changes.
Copyright 2006-2007, Ricardo SIGNES. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.
To install Data::OptList, copy and paste the appropriate command in to your terminal.
cpanm
cpanm Data::OptList
CPAN shell
perl -MCPAN -e shell install Data::OptList
For more information on module installation, please visit the detailed CPAN module installation guide.