NAME

Class::MakeMethods::Template::ClassVar - Static methods with subclass variation

SYNOPSIS

  package MyObject;
  use Class::MakeMethods::Template::ClassVar (
    scalar          => [ 'foo' ]
  );
  
  package main;

  MyObject->foo('bar')
  print MyObject->foo();

  $MyObject::foo = 'bazillion';
  print MyObject->foo();

DESCRIPTION

These meta-methods provide access to package (class global) variables, with the package determined at run-time.

This is basically the same as the PackageVar meta-methods, except that PackageVar methods find the named variable in the package that defines the method, while ClassVar methods use the package the object is blessed into. As a result, subclasses will each store a distinct value for a ClassVar method, but will share the same value for a PackageVar or Static method.

Common Parameters: The following parameters are defined for ClassVar meta-methods.

variable: The name of the variable to store the value in. Defaults to the same name as the method.

Standard Methods

The following methods from Generic should all be supported:

  scalar
  string
  string_index (?)
  number 
  boolean
  bits (?)
  array (*)
  hash (*)
  tiedhash (?)
  hash_of_arrays (?)
  object (?)
  instance (?)
  array_of_objects (?)
  code (?)
  code_or_scalar (?)

See Class::MakeMethods::Template::Generic for the interfaces and behaviors of these method types.

The items marked with a * above are specifically defined in this package, whereas the others are formed automatically by the interaction of this package's generic settings with the code templates provided by the Generic superclass.

The items marked with a ? above have not been tested sufficiently; please inform the author if they do not function as you would expect.

vars

This rewrite rule converts package variable names into ClassVar methods of the equivalent data type.

Here's an example declaration:

  package MyClass;
  
  use Class::MakeMethods::Template::ClassVar (
    vars => '$VERSION @ISA'
  );

MyClass now has methods that get and set the contents of its $MyClass::VERSION and @MyClass::ISA package variables:

  MyClass->VERSION( 2.4 );
  MyClass->push_ISA( 'Exporter' );

Subclasses can use these methods to adjust their own variables:

  package MySubclass;
  MySubclass->MyClass::push_ISA( 'MyClass' );
  MySubclass->VERSION( 1.0 );