NAME

Class::MOP::Package - Package Meta Object

DESCRIPTION

The Package Protocol provides an abstraction of a Perl 5 package. A package is basically namespace, and this module provides methods for looking at and changing that namespace's symbol table.

METHODS

Class::MOP::Package->initialize($package_name)

This method creates a new Class::MOP::Package instance which represents specified package. If an existing metaclass object exists for the package, that will be returned instead.

Class::MOP::Package->reinitialize($package)

This method forcibly removes any existing metaclass for the package before calling initialize. In contrast to initialize, you may also pass an existing Class::MOP::Package instance instead of just a package name as $package.

Do not call this unless you know what you are doing.

$metapackage->name

This is returns the package's name, as passed to the constructor.

$metapackage->namespace

This returns a hash reference to the package's symbol table. The keys are symbol names and the values are typeglob references.

$metapackage->add_package_symbol($variable_name, $initial_value)

This method accepts a variable name and an optional initial value. The $variable_name must contain a leading sigil.

This method creates the variable in the package's symbol table, and sets it to the initial value if one was provided.

$metapackage->get_package_symbol($variable_name)

Given a variable name, this method returns the variable as a reference or undef if it does not exist. The $variable_name must contain a leading sigil.

$metapackage->has_package_symbol($variable_name)

Returns true if there is a package variable defined for $variable_name. The $variable_name must contain a leading sigil.

$metapackage->remove_package_symbol($variable_name)

This will remove the package variable specified $variable_name. The $variable_name must contain a leading sigil.

$metapackage->remove_package_glob($glob_name)

Given the name of a glob, this will remove that glob from the package's symbol table. Glob names do not include a sigil. Removing the glob removes all variables and subroutines with the specified name.

$metapackage->list_all_package_symbols($type_filter)

This will list all the glob names associated with the current package. These names do not have leading sigils.

You can provide an optional type filter, which should be one of 'SCALAR', 'ARRAY', 'HASH', or 'CODE'.

$metapackage->get_all_package_symbols($type_filter)

This works much like list_all_package_symbols, but it returns a hash reference. The keys are glob names and the values are references to the value for that name.

Method introspection and creation

These methods allow you to introspect a class's methods, as well as add, remove, or change methods.

Determining what is truly a method in a Perl 5 class requires some heuristics (aka guessing).

Methods defined outside the package with a fully qualified name (sub Package::name { ... }) will be included. Similarly, methods named with a fully qualified name using Sub::Name are also included.

However, we attempt to ignore imported functions.

Ultimately, we are using heuristics to determine what truly is a method in a class, and these heuristics may get the wrong answer in some edge cases. However, for most "normal" cases the heuristics work correctly.

$metapackage->get_method($method_name)

This will return a Class::MOP::Method for the specified $method_name. If the class does not have the specified method, it returns undef

$metapackage->has_method($method_name)

Returns a boolean indicating whether or not the class defines the named method. It does not include methods inherited from parent classes.

$metapackage->get_method_list

This will return a list of method names for all methods defined in this class.

$metapackage->add_method($method_name, $method)

This method takes a method name and a subroutine reference, and adds the method to the class.

The subroutine reference can be a Class::MOP::Method, and you are strongly encouraged to pass a meta method object instead of a code reference. If you do so, that object gets stored as part of the class's method map directly. If not, the meta information will have to be recreated later, and may be incorrect.

If you provide a method object, this method will clone that object if the object's package name does not match the class name. This lets us track the original source of any methods added from other classes (notably Moose roles).

$metapackage->remove_method($method_name)

Remove the named method from the class. This method returns the Class::MOP::Method object for the method.

$metapackage->method_metaclass

Returns the class name of the method metaclass, see Class::MOP::Method for more information on the method metaclass.

$metapackage->wrapped_method_metaclass

Returns the class name of the wrapped method metaclass, see Class::MOP::Method::Wrapped for more information on the wrapped method metaclass.

Class::MOP::Package->meta

This will return a Class::MOP::Class instance for this class.

AUTHORS

Stevan Little <stevan@iinteractive.com>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

Copyright 2006-2009 by Infinity Interactive, Inc.

http://www.iinteractive.com

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