Class::Inspector - Get information about a class and its structure
use Class::Inspector; # Is a class installed and/or loaded Class::Inspector->installed( 'Foo::Class' ); Class::Inspector->loaded( 'Foo::Class' ); # Filename related information Class::Inspector->filename( 'Foo::Class' ); Class::Inspector->resolved_filename( 'Foo::Class' ); # Get subroutine related information Class::Inspector->functions( 'Foo::Class' ); Class::Inspector->function_refs( 'Foo::Class' ); Class::Inspector->function_exists( 'Foo::Class', 'bar' ); Class::Inspector->methods( 'Foo::Class', 'full', 'public' ); # Find all loaded subclasses or something Class::Inspector->subclasses( 'Foo::Class' );
Class::Inspector allows you to get information about a loaded class. Most or all of this information can be found in other ways, but they arn't always very friendly, and usually involve a relatively high level of Perl wizardry, or strange and unusual looking code. Class::Inspector attempts to provide an easier, more friendly interface to this information.
The installed static method tries to determine if a class is installed
on the machine, or at least available to Perl. It does this by wrapping
around resolved_filename.
Returns true if installed/available, false if the class is not installed,
or undef if the class name is invalid.
The loaded static method tries to determine if a class is loaded by
looking for symbol table entries.
This method it uses to determine this will work even if the class does not have its own file, but is contained inside a single file with multiple classes in it. Even in the case of some sort of run-time loading class being used, these typically leave some trace in the symbol table, so an Autoload or Class::Autouse-based class should correctly appear loaded.
Returns true if the class is loaded, false if not, or undef if the
class name is invalid.
For a given class, returns the base filename for the class. This will NOT
be a fully resolved filename, just the part of the filename BELOW the
@INC entry.
print Class->filename( 'Foo::Bar' ); > Foo/Bar.pm
This filename will be returned with the right seperator for the local platform, and should work on all platforms.
Returns the filename on success or undef if the class name is invalid.
For a given class, the resolved_filename static method returns the fully
resolved filename for a class. That is, the file that the class would be
loaded from.
This is not nescesarily the file that the class WAS loaded from, as the
value returned is determined each time it runs, and the @INC include
path may change.
To get the actual file for a loaded class, see the loaded_filename
method.
Returns the filename for the class, or undef if the class name is
invalid.
For a given loaded class, the loaded_filename static method determines
(via the %INC hash) the name of the file that it was originally loaded
from.
Returns a resolved file path, or false if the class did not have it's own file.
For a loaded class, the functions static method returns a list of the
names of all the functions in the classes immediate namespace.
Note that this is not the METHODS of the class, just the functions.
Returns a reference to an array of the function names on success, or undef
if the class name is invalid or the class is not loaded.
For a loaded class, the function_refs static method returns references to
all the functions in the classes immediate namespace.
Note that this is not the METHODS of the class, just the functions.
Returns a reference to an array of CODE refs of the functions on
success, or undef if the class is not loaded.
Given a class and function name the function_exists static method will
check to see if the function exists in the class.
Note that this is as a function, not as a method. To see if a method
exists for a class, use the can method for any class or object.
Returns true if the function exists, false if not, or undef if the
class or function name are invalid, or the class is not loaded.
For a given class name, the methods static method will returns ALL
the methods available to that class. This includes all methods available
from every class up the class' @ISA tree.
Returns a reference to an array of the names of all the available methods
on success, or undef if the class name is invalid or the class is not
loaded.
A number of options are available to the methods method that will alter
the results returned. These should be listed after the class name, in any
order.
# Only get public methods my $method = Class::Inspector->methods( 'My::Class', 'public' );
public option will return only 'public' methods, as defined by the Perl
convention of prepending an underscore to any 'private' methods. The public
option will effectively remove any methods that start with an underscore.
The private options will return only 'private' methods, as defined by the
Perl convention of prepending an underscore to an private methods. The
private option will effectively remove an method that do not start with an
underscore.
Note: The public and private options are mutually exclusive
methods normally returns just the method name. Supplying the full option
will cause the methods to be returned as the full names. That is, instead of
returning [ 'method1', 'method2', 'method3' ], you would instead get
[ 'Class::method1', 'AnotherClass::method2', 'Class::method3' ].
The expanded option will cause a lot more information about method to be
returned. Instead of just the method name, you will instead get an array
reference containing the method name as a single combined name, ala full,
the seperate class and method, and a CODE ref to the actual function ( if
available ). Please note that the function reference is not guarenteed to
be available. Class::Inspector is intended at some later time, work
with modules that have some some of common run-time loader in place ( e.g
Autoloader or Class::Autouse for example.
The response from methods( 'Class', 'expanded' ) would look something like
the following.
[
[ 'Class::method1', 'Class', 'method1', \&Class::method1 ],
[ 'Another::method2', 'Another', 'method2', \&Another::method2 ],
[ 'Foo::bar', 'Foo', 'bar', \&Foo::bar ],
]
The subclasses static method will search then entire namespace (and thus
all currently loaded classes) to find all classes that are subclasses
of the class provided as a the parameter.
The actual test will be done by calling isa on the class as a static
method. (i.e. My::Class->isa($class).
Returns a reference to a list of the loaded classes that match the class
provided, or false is none match, or undef if the class name provided
is invalid.
- Adding Class::Inspector::Functions
Bugs should be reported via the CPAN bug tracker
http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=Class-Inspector
For other issues, or commercial enhancement or support, contact the author.
Adam Kennedy <adamk@cpan.org>
Copyright 2002 - 2008 Adam Kennedy.
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.