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.\" ========================================================================
.\"
.IX Title "Class::Meta::Class 3pm"
.TH Class::Meta::Class 3pm "2022-06-11" "perl v5.34.0" "User Contributed Perl Documentation"
.\" For nroff, turn off justification.  Always turn off hyphenation; it makes
.\" way too many mistakes in technical documents.
.if n .ad l
.nh
.SH "NAME"
Class::Meta::Class \- Class::Meta class introspection
.SH "SYNOPSIS"
.IX Header "SYNOPSIS"
.Vb 3
\&  # Assuming MyApp::Thingy was generated by Class::Meta.
\&  my $class = MyApp::Thingy\->my_class;
\&  my $thingy = MyApp::Thingy\->new;
\&
\&  print "Examining object of class ", $class\->package, $/;
\&
\&  print "\enConstructors:\en";
\&  for my $ctor ($class\->constructors) {
\&      print "  o ", $ctor\->name, $/;
\&  }
\&
\&  print "\enAttributes:\en";
\&  for my $attr ($class\->attributes) {
\&      print "  o ", $attr\->name, " => ", $attr\->get($thingy) $/;
\&  }
\&
\&  print "\enMethods:\en";
\&  for my $meth ($class\->methods) {
\&      print "  o ", $meth\->name, $/;
\&  }
.Ve
.SH "DESCRIPTION"
.IX Header "DESCRIPTION"
Object of this class describe classes created by Class::Meta. They contain
everything you need to know about a class to be able to put objects of that
class to good use. In addition to retrieving meta data about the class itself,
you can retrieve objects that describe the constructors, attributes, and
methods of the class. See \f(CW\*(C`Class::Meta|Class::Meta\*(C'\fR for a fuller description
of the utility of the Class::Meta suite of modules.
.PP
Class::Meta::Class objects are created by Class::Meta; they are never
instantiated directly in client code. To access the class object for a
Class::Meta\-generated class, simply call its \f(CW\*(C`my_class()\*(C'\fR method.
.PP
At this point, those attributes tend to be database-specific. Once other types
of data stores are added (\s-1XML, LDAP,\s0 etc.), other attributes may be added to
allow their schemas to be built, as well.
.SH "INTERFACE"
.IX Header "INTERFACE"
.SS "Constructors"
.IX Subsection "Constructors"
\fInew\fR
.IX Subsection "new"
.PP
A protected method for constructing a Class::Meta::Class object. Do not call
this method directly; Call the \f(CW\*(C`new()\*(C'\fR constructor on a
Class::Meta object, instead. A Class::Meta::Class object will be constructed
by default, and can always be retrieved via the \f(CW\*(C`my_class()\*(C'\fR method of the
class for which it was constructed.
.SS "Instance Methods"
.IX Subsection "Instance Methods"
\fIpackage\fR
.IX Subsection "package"
.PP
.Vb 1
\&  my $pkg = $class\->package;
.Ve
.PP
Returns the name of the package that the Class::Meta::Class object describes.
.PP
\fIkey\fR
.IX Subsection "key"
.PP
.Vb 1
\&  my $key = $class\->key;
.Ve
.PP
Returns the key name that uniquely identifies the class across the
application. The key name may simply be the same as the package name.
.PP
\fIname\fR
.IX Subsection "name"
.PP
.Vb 1
\&  my $name = $class\->name;
.Ve
.PP
Returns the name of the the class. This should generally be a descriptive
name, rather than a package name.
.PP
\fIdesc\fR
.IX Subsection "desc"
.PP
.Vb 1
\&  my $desc = $class\->desc;
.Ve
.PP
Returns a description of the class.
.PP
\fIabstract\fR
.IX Subsection "abstract"
.PP
.Vb 1
\&  my $abstract = $class\->abstract;
.Ve
.PP
Returns true if the class is an abstract class, and false if it is not.
.PP
\fIdefault_type\fR
.IX Subsection "default_type"
.PP
.Vb 1
\&  my $default_type = $class\->default_type;
.Ve
.PP
The data type used for attributes of the class that were added with no
explicit types.
.PP
\fItrusted\fR
.IX Subsection "trusted"
.PP
.Vb 2
\&  my @trusted = $class\->trusted;
\&  my $trusted = $class\->trusted;
.Ve
.PP
In an array context, returns a list of class names that this class trusts.
Returns the same list in an array reference in a scalar context.
.PP
\fIis_a\fR
.IX Subsection "is_a"
.PP
.Vb 3
\&  if ($class\->is_a(\*(AqMyApp::Base\*(Aq)) {
\&      print "All your base are belong to us\en";
\&  }
.Ve
.PP
This method returns true if the object or package name passed as an argument
is an instance of the class described by the Class::Meta::Class object or one
of its subclasses. Functionally equivalent to
\&\f(CW\*(C`$class\->package\->isa($pkg)\*(C'\fR, but more efficient.
.PP
\fIconstructors\fR
.IX Subsection "constructors"
.PP
.Vb 3
\&  my @constructors = $class\->constructors;
\&  my $ctor = $class\->constructors($ctor_name);
\&  @constructors = $class\->constructors(@ctor_names);
.Ve
.PP
Provides access to the Class::Meta::Constructor objects that describe the
constructors for the class. When called with no arguments, it returns all of
the constructor objects. When called with a single argument, it returns the
constructor object for the constructor with the specified name. When called
with a list of arguments, returns all of the constructor objects with the
specified names.
.PP
\fIattributes\fR
.IX Subsection "attributes"
.PP
.Vb 3
\&  my @attributes = $class\->attributes;
\&  my $attr = $class\->attributes($attr_name);
\&  @attributes = $class\->attributes(@attr_names);
.Ve
.PP
Provides access to the Class::Meta::Attribute objects that describe the
attributes for the class. When called with no arguments, it returns all of the
attribute objects. When called with a single argument, it returns the
attribute object for the attribute with the specified name. When called with a
list of arguments, returns all of the attribute objects with the specified
names.
.PP
\fImethods\fR
.IX Subsection "methods"
.PP
.Vb 3
\&  my @methods = $class\->methods;
\&  my $meth = $class\->methods($meth_name);
\&  @methods = $class\->methods(@meth_names);
.Ve
.PP
Provides access to the Class::Meta::Method objects that describe the methods
for the class. When called with no arguments, it returns all of the method
objects. When called with a single argument, it returns the method object for
the method with the specified name. When called with a list of arguments,
returns all of the method objects with the specified names.
.PP
\fIparents\fR
.IX Subsection "parents"
.PP
.Vb 1
\&  my @parents = $class\->parents;
.Ve
.PP
Returns a list of Class::Meta::Class objects representing all of the
Class::Meta\-built parent classes of a class.
.PP
\fIhandle_error\fR
.IX Subsection "handle_error"
.PP
.Vb 1
\&  $class\->handle_error($error)
.Ve
.PP
Handles Class::Meta\-related errors using either the error handler specified
when the Class::Meta::Class object was created or the default error handler at
the time the Class::Meta::Class object was created.
.PP
\fIbuild\fR
.IX Subsection "build"
.PP
.Vb 1
\&  $class\->build($classes);
.Ve
.PP
This is a protected method, designed to be called only by the Class::Meta
class or a subclass of Class::Meta. It copies the attribute, constructor, and
method objects from all of the parent classes of the class object so that they
will be readily available from the \f(CW\*(C`attributes()\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`constructors()\*(C'\fR, and
\&\f(CW\*(C`methods()\*(C'\fR methods. Its sole argument is a reference to the hash of all
Class::Meta::Class objects (keyed off their package names) stored by
Class::Meta.
.PP
Although you should never call this method directly, subclasses of
Class::Meta::Class may need to override its behavior.
.SH "SUPPORT"
.IX Header "SUPPORT"
This module is stored in an open GitHub
repository <http://github.com/theory/class-meta/>. Feel free to fork and
contribute!
.PP
Please file bug reports via GitHub
Issues <http://github.com/theory/class-meta/issues/> or by sending mail to
bug\-Class\-Meta@rt.cpan.org <mailto:bug-Class-Meta@rt.cpan.org>.
.SH "AUTHOR"
.IX Header "AUTHOR"
David E. Wheeler <david@justatheory.com>
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.IX Header "SEE ALSO"
Other classes of interest within the Class::Meta distribution include:
.IP "Class::Meta" 4
.IX Item "Class::Meta"
.PD 0
.IP "Class::Meta::Constructor" 4
.IX Item "Class::Meta::Constructor"
.IP "Class::Meta::Attribute" 4
.IX Item "Class::Meta::Attribute"
.IP "Class::Meta::Method" 4
.IX Item "Class::Meta::Method"
.PD
.SH "COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE"
.IX Header "COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE"
Copyright (c) 2002\-2011, David E. Wheeler. Some Rights Reserved.
.PP
This module is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
the same terms as Perl itself.