NAME

Reflex::Collection - Autmatically manage a collection of collectible objects

VERSION

This document describes version 0.100, released on April 02, 2017.

SYNOPSIS

        package TcpEchoServer;

        use Moose;
        extends 'Reflex::Listener';
        use Reflex::Collection;
        use EchoStream;

        # From Reflex::Collection.
        has_many clients => (
                handles => { remember_client => "remember" },
        );

        sub on_listener_accepted {
                my ($self, $event) = @_;
                $self->remember_client(
                        EchoStream->new(
                                handle => $event->socket(),
                                rd     => 1,
                        )
                );
        }

                sub broadcast {
                                my ($self, $message) = @_;

                                foreach my $handle ($self->get_objects) {
                                                $handle->put($message);
                                }
                }

        1;

DESCRIPTION

Some object manage collections of collectible objects---ones that consume Reflex::Role::Collectible. For example, network servers must track objects that represent client connections. If not, those objects would go out of scope, destruct, and disconnect their clients.

Reflex::Collection is a generic object collection manager. It exposes remember() and forget(), which may be mapped to other methods using Moose's "handles" aspect.

Reflex::Collection goes beyond this simple hash-like interface. It will automatically forget() objects that emit "stopped" events, triggering their destruction if nothing else refers to them. This eliminates a large amount of repetitive work.

Reflex::Role::Collectible provides a stopped() method that emits the "stopped" event. Calling "<$self-"stopped()>> in the collectible class is sufficient to trigger the proper cleanup.

TODO - Reflex::Collection is an excellent place to manage pools of objects. Provide a callback interface for pulling new objects as needed.

has_many

Reflex::Collection exports the has_many() function, which works like Moose's has() with "is", "isa", "lazy" and "default" set to common values. For example:

        has_many connections => (
                handles => { remember_connection => "remember" },
        );

... is equivalent to:

        has connections => (
                # Defaults provided by has_many.
                is      => 'ro',
                isa     => 'Reflex::Collection',
                lazy    => 1,
                default => sub { Reflex::Collection->new() {,

                # Customization.
                handles => { remember_connection => "remember" },
        );

new

Create a new Reflex::Collection. It takes no parameters.

remember

Remember an object. Reflex::Collection works best if it contains the only references to the objects it manages, so you may often see objects remembered while they're constructed. See the SYNOPSIS for one such example.

remember() takes one parameter: the object to remember.

forget

Forget an object, returning its reference. You've supplied the reference, so the returned one is usually redundant. forget() takes one parameter: the object to forget.

get_objects

Get the collected objects in scope. Returns a list.

BUGS AND LIMITATIONS

You can make new bug reports, and view existing ones, through the web interface at <http://rt.cpan.org/Public/Dist/Display.html?Name=Reflex>.

AUTHOR

Rocco Caputo <rcaputo@cpan.org>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.

AVAILABILITY

The latest version of this module is available from the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network (CPAN). Visit <http://www.perl.com/CPAN/> to find a CPAN site near you, or see <https://metacpan.org/module/Reflex/>.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY

BECAUSE THIS SOFTWARE IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE SOFTWARE, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE SOFTWARE "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE SOFTWARE PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR, OR CORRECTION.

IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE THE SOFTWARE AS PERMITTED BY THE ABOVE LICENCE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE SOFTWARE TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER SOFTWARE), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.