package Params::Util; =pod =head1 NAME Params::Util - Simple, compact and correct param-checking functions =head1 SYNOPSIS # Import some functions use Params::Util qw{_SCALAR _HASH _INSTANCE}; # If you are lazy, or need a lot of them... use Params::Util ':ALL'; sub foo { my $object = _INSTANCE(shift, 'Foo') or return undef; my $image = _SCALAR(shift) or return undef; my $options = _HASH(shift) or return undef; # etc... } =head1 DESCRIPTION C provides a basic set of importable functions that makes checking parameters a hell of a lot easier While they can be (and are) used in other contexts, the main point behind this module is that the functions B Do What You Mean, and Do The Right Thing, so they are most useful when you are getting params passed into your code from someone and/or somewhere else and you can't really trust the quality. Thus, C is of most use at the edges of your API, where params and data are coming in from outside your code. The functions provided by C check in the most strictly correct manner known, are documented as thoroughly as possible so their exact behaviour is clear, and heavily tested so make sure they are not fooled by weird data and Really Bad Things. To use, simply load the module providing the functions you want to use as arguments (as shown in the SYNOPSIS). To aid in maintainability, C will B export by default. You must explicitly name the functions you want to export, or use the C<:ALL> param to just have it export everything (although this is not recommended if you have any _FOO functions yourself with which future additions to C may clash) =head1 FUNCTIONS =cut use 5.005; use strict; use overload (); use Exporter (); use Scalar::Util (); use vars qw{$VERSION @ISA @EXPORT_OK %EXPORT_TAGS}; BEGIN { $VERSION = '0.14'; @ISA = 'Exporter'; @EXPORT_OK = qw{ _STRING _IDENTIFIER _CLASS _POSINT _SCALAR _SCALAR0 _ARRAY _ARRAY0 _ARRAYLIKE _HASH _HASH0 _HASHLIKE _CODE _CODELIKE _CALLABLE _INSTANCE _SET _SET0 _INVOCANT }; %EXPORT_TAGS = (ALL => \@EXPORT_OK); } ##################################################################### # Param Checking Functions =pod =head2 _STRING $string The C<_STRING> function is intended to be imported into your package, and provides a convenient way to test to see if a value is a normal non-false string of non-zero length. Note that this will NOT do anything magic to deal with the special C<'0'> false negative case, but will return it. # '0' not considered valid data my $name = _STRING(shift) or die "Bad name"; # '0' is considered valid data my $string = _STRING($_[0]) ? shift : die "Bad string"; Please also note that this function expects a normal string. It does not support overloading or other magic techniques to get a string. Returns the string as a conveince if it is a valid string, or C if not. =cut sub _STRING ($) { (defined $_[0] and ! ref $_[0] and length($_[0])) ? $_[0] : undef; } =pod =head2 _IDENTIFIER $string The C<_IDENTIFIER> function is intended to be imported into your package, and provides a convenient way to test to see if a value is a string that is a valid Perl identifier. Returns the string as a convenience if it is a valid identifier, or C if not. =cut sub _IDENTIFIER ($) { (defined $_[0] and ! ref $_[0] and $_[0] =~ m/^[^\W\d]\w*$/s) ? $_[0] : undef; } =pod =head2 _CLASS $string The C<_CLASS> function is intended to be imported into your package, and provides a convenient way to test to see if a value is a string that is a valid Perl class. This function only checks that the format is valid, not that the class is actually loaded. It also assumes "normalised" form, and does not accept class names such as C<::Foo> or C. Returns the string as a convenience if it is a valid class name, or C if not. =cut sub _CLASS ($) { (defined $_[0] and ! ref $_[0] and $_[0] =~ m/^[^\W\d]\w*(?:::\w+)*$/s) ? $_[0] : undef; } =pod =head2 _POSINT $integer The C<_POSINT> function is intended to be imported into your package, and provides a convenient way to test to see if a value is a positive integer (of any length). Returns the value as a convience, or C if the value is not a positive integer. =cut sub _POSINT ($) { (defined $_[0] and ! ref $_[0] and $_[0] =~ m/^[1-9]\d*$/) ? $_[0] : undef; } =pod =head2 _SCALAR \$scalar The C<_SCALAR> function is intended to be imported into your package, and provides a convenient way to test for a raw and unblessed C reference, with content of non-zero length. For a version that allows zero length C references, see the C<_SCALAR0> function. Returns the C reference itself as a convenience, or C if the value provided is not a C reference. =cut sub _SCALAR ($) { (ref $_[0] eq 'SCALAR' and defined ${$_[0]} and ${$_[0]} ne '') ? $_[0] : undef; } =pod =head2 _SCALAR0 \$scalar The C<_SCALAR0> function is intended to be imported into your package, and provides a convenient way to test for a raw and unblessed C reference, allowing content of zero-length. For a simpler "give me some content" version that requires non-zero length, C<_SCALAR> function. Returns the C reference itself as a convenience, or C if the value provided is not a C reference. =cut sub _SCALAR0 ($) { ref $_[0] eq 'SCALAR' ? $_[0] : undef; } =pod =head2 _ARRAY $value The C<_ARRAY> function is intended to be imported into your package, and provides a convenient way to test for a raw and unblessed C reference containing B one element of any kind. For a more basic form that allows zero length ARRAY references, see the C<_ARRAY0> function. Returns the C reference itself as a convenience, or C if the value provided is not an C reference. =cut sub _ARRAY ($) { (ref $_[0] eq 'ARRAY' and @{$_[0]}) ? $_[0] : undef; } =pod =head2 _ARRAY0 $value The C<_ARRAY0> function is intended to be imported into your package, and provides a convenient way to test for a raw and unblessed C reference, allowing C references that contain no elements. For a more basic "An array of something" form that also requires at least one element, see the C<_ARRAY> function. Returns the C reference itself as a convenience, or C if the value provided is not an C reference. =cut sub _ARRAY0 ($) { ref $_[0] eq 'ARRAY' ? $_[0] : undef; } =pod =head2 _ARRAYLIKE $value The C<_ARRAYLIKE> function tests whether a given scalar value can respond to array dereferencing. If it can, the value is returned. If it cannot, C<_ARRAYLIKE> returns C. =cut sub _ARRAYLIKE { (defined $_[0] and ref $_[0] and ( (Scalar::Util::reftype($_[0]) eq 'ARRAY') or overload::Method($_[0], '@{}') )) ? $_[0] : undef; } =pod =head2 _HASH $value The C<_HASH> function is intended to be imported into your package, and provides a convenient way to test for a raw and unblessed C reference with at least one entry. For a version of this function that allows the C to be empty, see the C<_HASH0> function. Returns the C reference itself as a convenience, or C if the value provided is not an C reference. =cut sub _HASH ($) { (ref $_[0] eq 'HASH' and scalar %{$_[0]}) ? $_[0] : undef; } =pod =head2 _HASH0 $value The C<_HASH0> function is intended to be imported into your package, and provides a convenient way to test for a raw and unblessed C reference, regardless of the C content. For a simpler "A hash of something" version that requires at least one element, see the C<_HASH> function. Returns the C reference itself as a convenience, or C if the value provided is not an C reference. =cut sub _HASH0 ($) { ref $_[0] eq 'HASH' ? $_[0] : undef; } =pod =head2 _HASHLIKE $value The C<_HASHLIKE> function tests whether a given scalar value can respond to hash dereferencing. If it can, the value is returned. If it cannot, C<_HASHLIKE> returns C. =cut sub _HASHLIKE { (defined $_[0] and ref $_[0] and ( (Scalar::Util::reftype($_[0]) eq 'HASH') or overload::Method($_[0], '%{}') )) ? $_[0] : undef; } =pod =head2 _CODE $value The C<_CODE> function is intended to be imported into your package, and provides a convenient way to test for a raw and unblessed C reference. Returns the C reference itself as a convenience, or C if the value provided is not an C reference. =cut sub _CODE ($) { ref $_[0] eq 'CODE' ? $_[0] : undef; } =pod =head2 _CODELIKE $value The C<_CODELIKE> is the more generic version of C<_CODE>. Unlike C<_CODE>, which checks for an explicit C reference, the C<_CODELIKE> function also includes things that act like them, such as blessed objects that overload C<'&{}'>. Note that in the case of objects overloaded with '&{}', you will almost always end up also testing it in 'bool' context. As such, you will most often want to make sure your class has the following to allow it to evaluate to true in boolean context. # Always evaluate to true in boolean context use overload 'bool' => sub () { 1 }; Returns the callable value as a convenience, or C if the value provided is not callable. Note: This function was formerly known as _CODELIKE but has been renamed for greater symmetry with the other _XXXXLIKE functions. It will continue to work silently until end-May 2006, then with a warning until end-August 2006, then will be deprecated. I apologise for any inconvenience caused. =cut sub _CODELIKE { (Scalar::Util::reftype($_[0])||'') eq 'CODE' or Scalar::Util::blessed($_[0]) and overload::Method($_[0],'&{}') ? $_[0] : undef; } # Will stay around until end-May, then a warning till end-Augest, # then deprecated. BEGIN { *_CALLABLE = *_CODELIKE; } =pod =head2 _INSTANCE $object, $class The C<_INSTANCE> function is intended to be imported into your package, and provides a convenient way to test for an object of a particular class in a strictly correct manner. Returns the object itself as a convenience, or C if the value provided is not an object of that type. =cut sub _INSTANCE ($$) { (Scalar::Util::blessed($_[0]) and $_[0]->isa($_[1])) ? $_[0] : undef; } =pod =head2 _INVOCANT $value This routine tests whether the given value is a valid method invocant. If so, the value itself is returned. Otherwise, C<_INVOCANT> returns C. =cut sub _INVOCANT { (defined $_[0] and (Scalar::Util::blessed($_[0]) or # We only need to check for stash definedness here # because blessing creates the stash. (Params::Util::_CLASS($_[0]) and defined *{"$_[0]\::"})) ) ? $_[0] : undef; } =pod =head2 _SET \@array, $class The C<_SET> function is intended to be imported into your package, and provides a convenient way to test for set of at least one object of a particular class in a strictly correct manner. The set is provided as a reference to an C of objects of the class provided. For an alternative function that allows zero-length sets, see the C<_SET0> function. Returns the C reference itself as a convenience, or C if the value provided is not a set of that class. =cut sub _SET ($$) { my $set = shift; ref $set eq 'ARRAY' and @$set or return undef; foreach ( @$set ) { Scalar::Util::blessed($_) and $_->isa($_[0]) or return undef; } $set; } =pod =head2 _SET0 \@array, $class The C<_SET0> function is intended to be imported into your package, and provides a convenient way to test for set of objects of a particular class in a strictly correct manner, allowing for zero objects. The set is provided as a reference to an C of objects of the class provided. For an alternative function that requires at least one object, see the C<_SET> function. Returns the C reference itself as a convenience, or C if the value provided is not a set of that class. =cut sub _SET0 ($$) { my $set = shift; ref $set eq 'ARRAY' or return undef; foreach ( @$set ) { Scalar::Util::blessed($_) and $_->isa($_[0]) or return undef; } $set; } 1; =pod =head1 TO DO - Add _CAN to help resolve the UNIVERSAL::can debacle - More comprehensive tests for _SET and _SET0 - Would be nice if someone would re-implement in XS for me? (donish) - Would be even nicer if someone would demonstrate how the hell to build a Module::Install dist of the ::Util dual Perl/XS type. :/ - Implement an assertion-like version of this module, that dies on error. =head1 SUPPORT Bugs should be reported via the CPAN bug tracker at L For other issues, contact the author. =head1 AUTHOR Adam Kennedy Ecpan@ali.asE, L =head1 COPYRIGHT Copyright 2005, 2006 Adam Kennedy. All rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. The full text of the license can be found in the LICENSE file included with this module. =cut