Class::Meta::Class(3) Class::Meta class introspection

SYNOPSIS


# Assuming MyApp::Thingy was generated by Class::Meta.
my $class = MyApp::Thingy->my_class;
my $thingy = MyApp::Thingy->new;
print "Examining object of class ", $class->package, $/;
print "\nConstructors:\n";
for my $ctor ($class->constructors) {
print " o ", $ctor->name, $/;
}
print "\nAttributes:\n";
for my $attr ($class->attributes) {
print " o ", $attr->name, " => ", $attr->get($thingy) $/;
}
print "\nMethods:\n";
for my $meth ($class->methods) {
print " o ", $meth->name, $/;
}

DESCRIPTION

Object of this class describe classes created by Class::Meta. They contain everything you need to know about a class to be able to put objects of that class to good use. In addition to retrieving meta data about the class itself, you can retrieve objects that describe the constructors, attributes, and methods of the class. See "Class::Meta|Class::Meta" for a fuller description of the utility of the Class::Meta suite of modules.

Class::Meta::Class objects are created by Class::Meta; they are never instantiated directly in client code. To access the class object for a Class::Meta-generated class, simply call its "my_class()" method.

At this point, those attributes tend to be database-specific. Once other types of data stores are added (XML, LDAP, etc.), other attributes may be added to allow their schemas to be built, as well.

INTERFACE

Constructors

new

A protected method for constructing a Class::Meta::Class object. Do not call this method directly; Call the "new()" constructor on a Class::Meta object, instead. A Class::Meta::Class object will be constructed by default, and can always be retrieved via the "my_class()" method of the class for which it was constructed.

Instance Methods

package 

  my $pkg = $class->package;

Returns the name of the package that the Class::Meta::Class object describes.

key 

  my $key = $class->key;

Returns the key name that uniquely identifies the class across the application. The key name may simply be the same as the package name.

name 

  my $name = $class->name;

Returns the name of the the class. This should generally be a descriptive name, rather than a package name.

desc 

  my $desc = $class->desc;

Returns a description of the class.

abstract 

  my $abstract = $class->abstract;

Returns true if the class is an abstract class, and false if it is not.

default_type 

  my $default_type = $class->default_type;

The data type used for attributes of the class that were added with no explicit types.

trusted 

  my @trusted = $class->trusted;
  my $trusted = $class->trusted;

In an array context, returns a list of class names that this class trusts. Returns the same list in an array reference in a scalar context.

is_a 

  if ($class->is_a('MyApp::Base')) {
      print "All your base are belong to us\n";
  }

This method returns true if the object or package name passed as an argument is an instance of the class described by the Class::Meta::Class object or one of its subclasses. Functionally equivalent to "$class->package->isa($pkg)", but more efficient.

constructors 

  my @constructors = $class->constructors;
  my $ctor = $class->constructors($ctor_name);
  @constructors = $class->constructors(@ctor_names);

Provides access to the Class::Meta::Constructor objects that describe the constructors for the class. When called with no arguments, it returns all of the constructor objects. When called with a single argument, it returns the constructor object for the constructor with the specified name. When called with a list of arguments, returns all of the constructor objects with the specified names.

attributes 

  my @attributes = $class->attributes;
  my $attr = $class->attributes($attr_name);
  @attributes = $class->attributes(@attr_names);

Provides access to the Class::Meta::Attribute objects that describe the attributes for the class. When called with no arguments, it returns all of the attribute objects. When called with a single argument, it returns the attribute object for the attribute with the specified name. When called with a list of arguments, returns all of the attribute objects with the specified names.

methods 

  my @methods = $class->methods;
  my $meth = $class->methods($meth_name);
  @methods = $class->methods(@meth_names);

Provides access to the Class::Meta::Method objects that describe the methods for the class. When called with no arguments, it returns all of the method objects. When called with a single argument, it returns the method object for the method with the specified name. When called with a list of arguments, returns all of the method objects with the specified names.

parents 

  my @parents = $class->parents;

Returns a list of Class::Meta::Class objects representing all of the Class::Meta-built parent classes of a class.

handle_error 

  $class->handle_error($error)

Handles Class::Meta-related errors using either the error handler specified when the Class::Meta::Class object was created or the default error handler at the time the Class::Meta::Class object was created.

build 

  $class->build($classes);

This is a protected method, designed to be called only by the Class::Meta class or a subclass of Class::Meta. It copies the attribute, constructor, and method objects from all of the parent classes of the class object so that they will be readily available from the "attributes()", "constructors()", and "methods()" methods. Its sole argument is a reference to the hash of all Class::Meta::Class objects (keyed off their package names) stored by Class::Meta.

Although you should never call this method directly, subclasses of Class::Meta::Class may need to override its behavior.

SUPPORT

This module is stored in an open GitHub repository <http://github.com/theory/class-meta/>. Feel free to fork and contribute!

Please file bug reports via GitHub Issues <http://github.com/theory/class-meta/issues/> or by sending mail to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>.

AUTHOR

David E. Wheeler <[email protected]>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

Copyright (c) 2002-2011, David E. Wheeler. Some Rights Reserved.

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

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