tied hashes

Message-ID: <20011231191539.A46@math.ohio-state.edu>

p4raw-id: //depot/perl@14684

diff --git a/lib/Tie/Hash.pm b/lib/Tie/Hash.pm
index 91ccbee..c97e9d0 100644 (file)
--- a/lib/Tie/Hash.pm
+++ b/lib/Tie/Hash.pm
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ our $VERSION = '1.00';
 
 =head1 NAME
 
-Tie::Hash, Tie::StdHash - base class definitions for tied hashes
+Tie::Hash, Tie::StdHash, Tie::ExtraHash - base class definitions for tied hashes
 
 =head1 SYNOPSIS
 
@@ -23,24 +23,43 @@ Tie::Hash, Tie::StdHash - base class definitions for tied hashes
     @ISA = (Tie::StdHash);
 
     # All methods provided by default, define only those needing overrides
+    # Accessors access the storage in %{$_[0]};
+    # TIEHANDLE should return a reference to the actual storage
     sub DELETE { ... }
 
+    package NewExtraHash;
+    require Tie::Hash;
+
+    @ISA = (Tie::ExtraHash);
+
+    # All methods provided by default, define only those needing overrides
+    # Accessors access the storage in %{$_[0][0]};
+    # TIEHANDLE should return an array reference with the first element being
+    # the reference to the actual storage 
+    sub DELETE { 
+      $_[0][1]->('del', $_[0][0], $_[1]); # Call the report writer
+      delete $_[0][0]->{$_[1]};                  #  $_[0]->SUPER::DELETE($_[1]) }
+
 
     package main;
 
     tie %new_hash, 'NewHash';
     tie %new_std_hash, 'NewStdHash';
+    tie %new_extra_hash, 'NewExtraHash',
+       sub {warn "Doing \U$_[1]\E of $_[2].\n"};
 
 =head1 DESCRIPTION
 
 This module provides some skeletal methods for hash-tying classes. See
 L<perltie> for a list of the functions required in order to tie a hash
 to a package. The basic B<Tie::Hash> package provides a C<new> method, as well
-as methods C<TIEHASH>, C<EXISTS> and C<CLEAR>. The B<Tie::StdHash> package
-provides most methods required for hashes in L<perltie>. It inherits from
-B<Tie::Hash>, and causes tied hashes to behave exactly like standard hashes,
-allowing for selective overloading of methods. The C<new> method is provided
-as grandfathering in the case a class forgets to include a C<TIEHASH> method.
+as methods C<TIEHASH>, C<EXISTS> and C<CLEAR>. The B<Tie::StdHash> and
+B<Tie::ExtraHash> packages
+provide most methods for hashes described in L<perltie> (the exceptions
+are C<UNTIE> and C<DESTROY>).  They cause tied hashes to behave exactly like standard hashes,
+and allow for selective overwriting of methods.  B<Tie::Hash> grandfathers the
+C<new> method: it is used if C<TIEHASH> is not defined
+in the case a class forgets to include a C<TIEHASH> method.
 
 For developers wishing to write their own tied hashes, the required methods
 are briefly defined below. See the L<perltie> section for more detailed
@@ -87,12 +106,63 @@ Clear all values from the tied hash I<this>.
 
 =back
 
-=head1 CAVEATS
+=head1 Inheriting from B<Tie::StdHash>
+
+The accessor methods assume that the actual storage for the data in the tied
+hash is in the hash referenced by C<tied(%tiedhash)>.  Thus overwritten
+C<TIEHANDLE> method should return a hash reference, and the remaining methods
+should operate on the hash referenced by the first argument:
+
+  package ReportHash;
+  our @ISA = 'Tie::StdHash';
+
+  sub TIEHASH  {
+    my $storage = bless {}, shift;
+    warn "New ReportHash created, stored in $storage.\n";
+    $storage
+  }
+  sub STORE    {
+    warn "Storing data with key $_[1] at $_[0].\n";
+    $_[0]{$_[1]} = $_[2]
+  }
+
 
-The L<perltie> documentation includes a method called C<DESTROY> as
-a necessary method for tied hashes. Neither B<Tie::Hash> nor B<Tie::StdHash>
-define a default for this method. This is a standard for class packages,
-but may be omitted in favor of a simple default.
+=head1 Inheriting from B<Tie::ExtraHash>
+
+The accessor methods assume that the actual storage for the data in the tied
+hash is in the hash referenced by C<(tied(%tiedhash))[0]>.  Thus overwritten
+C<TIEHANDLE> method should return an array reference with the first
+element being a hash reference, and the remaining methods should operate on the
+hash C<< %{ $_[0]->[0] }>>:
+
+  package ReportHash;
+  our @ISA = 'Tie::StdHash';
+
+  sub TIEHASH  {
+    my $storage = bless {}, shift;
+    warn "New ReportHash created, stored in $storage.\n";
+    [$storage, @_]
+  }
+  sub STORE    {
+    warn "Storing data with key $_[1] at $_[0].\n";
+    $_[0][0]{$_[1]} = $_[2]
+  }
+
+The default C<TIEHANDLE> method stores "extra" arguments to tie() starting
+from offset 1 in the array referenced by C<tied(%tiedhash)>; this is the
+same storage algorithm as in TIEHASH subroutine above.  Hence, a typical
+package inheriting from B<Tie::ExtraHash> does not need to overwrite this
+method.
+
+=head1 C<UNTIE> and C<DESTROY>
+
+The methods C<UNTIE> and C<DESTROY> are not defined in B<Tie::Hash>,
+B<Tie::StdHash>, or B<Tie::ExtraHash>.  Tied hashes do not require
+presense of these methods, but if defined, the methods will be called in
+proper time, see L<perltie>.
+
+If needed, these methods should be defined by the package inheriting from
+B<Tie::Hash>, B<Tie::StdHash>, or B<Tie::ExtraHash>.
 
 =head1 MORE INFORMATION
 
@@ -148,7 +218,7 @@ sub CLEAR {
 # alter some parts of their behaviour.
 
 package Tie::StdHash;
-@ISA = qw(Tie::Hash);
+# @ISA = qw(Tie::Hash);                # would inherit new() only
 
 sub TIEHASH  { bless {}, $_[0] }
 sub STORE    { $_[0]->{$_[1]} = $_[2] }
@@ -159,4 +229,15 @@ sub EXISTS   { exists $_[0]->{$_[1]} }
 sub DELETE   { delete $_[0]->{$_[1]} }
 sub CLEAR    { %{$_[0]} = () }
 
+package Tie::ExtraHash;
+
+sub TIEHASH  { my $p = shift; bless [{}, @_], $p }
+sub STORE    { $_[0][0]{$_[1]} = $_[2] }
+sub FETCH    { $_[0][0]{$_[1]} }
+sub FIRSTKEY { my $a = scalar keys %{$_[0][0]}; each %{$_[0][0]} }
+sub NEXTKEY  { each %{$_[0][0]} }
+sub EXISTS   { exists $_[0][0]->{$_[1]} }
+sub DELETE   { delete $_[0][0]->{$_[1]} }
+sub CLEAR    { %{$_[0][0]} = () }
+
 1;

diff --git a/pod/perltie.pod b/pod/perltie.pod
index f959367..adc557d 100644 (file)
--- a/pod/perltie.pod
+++ b/pod/perltie.pod
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ argument--the new value the user is trying to assign.
 
 This method will be triggered when the C<untie> occurs. This can be useful
 if the class needs to know when no further calls will be made. (Except DESTROY
-of course.) See below for more details.
+of course.) See L<The C<untie> Gotcha> below for more details.
 
 =item DESTROY this
 
@@ -452,7 +452,7 @@ In our example, we'll use a little shortcut if there is a I<LIST>:
 
 =item UNTIE this
 
-Will be called when C<untie> happens. (See below.)
+Will be called when C<untie> happens. (See L<The C<untie> Gotcha> below.)
 
 =item DESTROY this
 
@@ -475,7 +475,7 @@ the keys.  UNTIE is called when C<untie> happens, and DESTROY is called when
 the tied variable is garbage collected.
 
 If this seems like a lot, then feel free to inherit from merely the
-standard Tie::Hash module for most of your methods, redefining only the
+standard Tie::StdHash module for most of your methods, redefining only the
 interesting ones.  See L<Tie::Hash> for details.
 
 Remember that Perl distinguishes between a key not existing in the hash,
@@ -756,7 +756,7 @@ thing, but we'll have to go through the LIST field indirectly.
 
 =item UNTIE this
 
-This is called when C<untie> occurs.
+This is called when C<untie> occurs.  See L<The C<untie> Gotcha> below.
 
 =item DESTROY this
 
@@ -880,7 +880,8 @@ function.
 =item UNTIE this
 
 As with the other types of ties, this method will be called when C<untie> happens.
-It may be appropriate to "auto CLOSE" when this occurs.
+It may be appropriate to "auto CLOSE" when this occurs.  See
+L<The C<untie> Gotcha> below.
 
 =item DESTROY this
 
@@ -903,7 +904,7 @@ Here's how to use our little example:
 =head2 UNTIE this
 
 You can define for all tie types an UNTIE method that will be called
-at untie().
+at untie().  See L<The C<untie> Gotcha> below.
 
 =head2 The C<untie> Gotcha