Perl 5 version documentation

Test2::Util::ExternalMeta

NAME

Test2::Util::ExternalMeta - Allow third party tools to safely attach meta-data to your instances.

DESCRIPTION

This package lets you define a clear, and consistent way to allow third party tools to attach meta-data to your instances. If your object consumes this package, and imports its methods, then third party meta-data has a safe place to live.

SYNOPSIS

  1. package My::Object;
  2. use strict;
  3. use warnings;
  4. use Test2::Util::ExternalMeta qw/meta get_meta set_meta delete_meta/;
  5. ...

Now to use it:

  1. my $inst = My::Object->new;
  2. $inst->set_meta(foo => 'bar');
  3. my $val = $inst->get_meta('foo');

WHERE IS THE DATA STORED?

This package assumes your instances are blessed hashrefs, it will not work if that is not true. It will store all meta-data in the _meta key on your objects hash. If your object makes use of the _meta key in its underlying hash, then there is a conflict and you cannot use this package.

EXPORTS

  • $val = $obj->meta($key)
  • $val = $obj->meta($key, $default)

    This will get the value for a specified meta $key . Normally this will return undef when there is no value for the $key , however you can specify a $default value to set when no value is already set.

  • $val = $obj->get_meta($key)

    This will get the value for a specified meta $key . This does not have the $default overhead that meta() does.

  • $val = $obj->delete_meta($key)

    This will remove the value of a specified meta $key . The old $val will be returned.

  • $obj->set_meta($key, $val)

    Set the value of a specified meta $key .

META-KEY RESTRICTIONS

Meta keys must be defined, and must be true when used as a boolean. Keys may not be references. You are free to stringify a reference "$ref" for use as a key, but this package will not stringify it for you.

SOURCE

The source code repository for Test2 can be found at http://github.com/Test-More/test-more/.

MAINTAINERS

  • Chad Granum <exodist@cpan.org>

AUTHORS

  • Chad Granum <exodist@cpan.org>

COPYRIGHT

Copyright 2018 Chad Granum <exodist@cpan.org>.

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

See http://dev.perl.org/licenses/