PPIx::Regexp::Element(3) Base of the PPIx::Regexp hierarchy.

SYNOPSIS

No user-serviceable parts inside.

INHERITANCE

"PPIx::Regexp::Element" is not descended from any other class.

"PPIx::Regexp::Element" is the parent of PPIx::Regexp::Node and PPIx::Regexp::Token.

DESCRIPTION

This class is the base of the PPIx::Regexp object hierarchy. It provides the same kind of navigational functionality that is provided by PPI::Element.

METHODS

This class provides the following public methods. Methods not documented here are private, and unsupported in the sense that the author reserves the right to change or remove them without notice.

ancestor_of

This method returns true if the object is an ancestor of the argument, and false otherwise. By the definition of this method, $self is its own ancestor.

can_be_quantified

 $token->can_be_quantified()
     and print "This element can be quantified.\n";

This method returns true if the element can be quantified.

class

This method returns the class name of the element. It is the same as "ref $self".

comment

This method returns true if the element is a comment and false otherwise.

content

This method returns the content of the element.

descendant_of

This method returns true if the object is a descendant of the argument, and false otherwise. By the definition of this method, $self is its own descendant.

explain

This method returns a brief explanation of what the element does. The return will be either a string or "undef" in scalar context, but may be multiple values or an empty array in list context.

This method should be considered experimental. What it returns may change without notice as my understanding of what all the pieces/parts of a Perl regular expression evolves. The worst case is that it will prove entirely infeasible to implement satisfactorily, in which case it will be put through a deprecation cycle and retracted.

error

 say $token->error();

If an element is one of the classes that represents a parse error, this method may return a brief message saying why. Otherwise it will return "undef".

in_regex_set

This method returns a true value if the invocant is contained in an extended bracketed character class (also known as a regex set), and a false value otherwise. This method returns true if the invocant is a PPIx::Regexp::Structure::RegexSet.

is_quantifier

 $token->is_quantifier()
     and print "This element is a quantifier.\n";

This method returns true if the element is a quantifier. You can not tell this from the element's class, because a right curly bracket may represent a quantifier for the purposes of figuring out whether a greediness token is possible.

main_structure

This method returns the PPIx::Regexp::Structure::Main that contains the element. In practice this will be a PPIx::Regexp::Structure::Regexp or a PPIx::Regexp::Structure::Replacement,

If the element is not contained in any such structure, "undef" is returned. This will happen if the element is a PPIx::Regexp or one of its immediate children.

modifier_asserted

 $token->modifier_asserted( 'i' )
     and print "Matched without regard to case.\n";

This method returns true if the given modifier is in effect for the element, and false otherwise.

What it does is to walk backwards from the element until it finds a modifier object that specifies the modifier, whether asserted or negated. and returns the specified value. If nobody specifies the modifier, it returns "undef".

This method will not work reliably if called on tokenizer output.

next_sibling

This method returns the element's next sibling, or nothing if there is none.

parent

This method returns the parent of the element, or undef if there is none.

perl_version_introduced

This method returns the version of Perl in which the element was introduced. This will be at least 5.000. Before 5.006 I am relying on the perldelta, perlre, and perlop documentation, since I have been unable to build earlier Perls. Since I have found no documentation before 5.003, I assume that anything found in 5.003 is also in 5.000.

Since this all depends on my ability to read and understand masses of documentation, the results of this method should be viewed with caution, if not downright skepticism.

There are also cases which are ambiguous in various ways. For those see ``RESTRICTIONS'' in PPIx::Regexp, and especially ``Changes in Syntax'' in PPIx::Regexp.

perl_version_removed

This method returns the version of Perl in which the element was removed. If the element is still valid the return is "undef".

All the caveats to perl_version_introduced() apply here also, though perhaps less severely since although many features have been introduced since 5.0, few have been removed.

previous_sibling

This method returns the element's previous sibling, or nothing if there is none.

significant

This method returns true if the element is significant and false otherwise.

snext_sibling

This method returns the element's next significant sibling, or nothing if there is none.

sprevious_sibling

This method returns the element's previous significant sibling, or nothing if there is none.

tokens

This method returns all tokens contained in the element.

top

This method returns the top of the hierarchy.

unescaped_content

This method returns the content of the element, unescaped.

whitespace

This method returns true if the element is whitespace and false otherwise.

nav

This method returns navigation information from the top of the hierarchy to this node. The return is a list of names of methods and references to their argument lists. The idea is that given $elem which is somewhere under $top, 

 my @nav = $elem->nav();
 my $obj = $top;
 while ( @nav ) {
     my $method = shift @nav;
     my $args = shift @nav;
     $obj = $obj->$method( @{ $args } ) or die;
 }
 # At this point, $obj should contain the same object
 # as $elem.

SUPPORT

Support is by the author. Please file bug reports at <http://rt.cpan.org>, or in electronic mail to the author.

AUTHOR

Thomas R. Wyant, III wyant at cpan dot org

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

Copyright (C) 2009-2016 by Thomas R. Wyant, III

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl 5.10.0. For more details, see the full text of the licenses in the directory LICENSES.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but without any warranty; without even the implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

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