Class::Trigger(3) User Contributed Perl Documentation Class::Trigger(3)NAMEClass::Trigger - Mixin to add / call inheritable triggers
SYNOPSIS
package Foo;
use Class::Trigger;
sub foo {
my $self = shift;
$self->call_trigger('before_foo');
# some code ...
$self->call_trigger('middle_of_foo');
# some code ...
$self->call_trigger('after_foo');
}
package main;
Foo->add_trigger(before_foo => \&sub1);
Foo->add_trigger(after_foo => \&sub2);
my $foo = Foo->new;
$foo->foo; # then sub1, sub2 called
# triggers are inheritable
package Bar;
use base qw(Foo);
Bar->add_trigger(before_foo => \&sub);
# triggers can be object based
$foo->add_trigger(after_foo => \&sub3);
$foo->foo; # sub3 would appply only to this object
DESCRIPTIONClass::Trigger is a mixin class to add / call triggers (or hooks) that
get called at some points you specify.
METHODS
By using this module, your class is capable of following methods.
add_trigger
Foo->add_trigger($triggerpoint => $sub);
$foo->add_trigger($triggerpoint => $sub);
Foo->add_trigger( name => $triggerpoint,
callback => sub {return undef},
abortable => 1);
# no further triggers will be called. Undef will be returned.
Adds triggers for trigger point. You can have any number of
triggers for each point. Each coderef will be passed a reference to
the calling object, as well as arguments passed in via
call_trigger. Return values will be captured in list context.
If add_trigger is called with named parameters and the "abortable"
parameter is passed a true value, a false return value from trigger
code will stop processing of this trigger point and return a
"false" value to the calling code.
If "add_trigger" is called without the "abortable" flag, return
values will be captured by call_trigger, but failures will be
ignored.
If "add_trigger" is called as object method, whole current trigger
table will be copied onto the object and the new trigger added to
that. (The object must be implemented as hash.)
my $foo = Foo->new;
# this trigger ($sub_foo) would apply only to $foo object
$foo->add_trigger($triggerpoint => $sub_foo);
$foo->foo;
# And not to another $bar object
my $bar = Foo->new;
$bar->foo;
call_trigger
$foo->call_trigger($triggerpoint, @args);
Calls triggers for trigger point, which were added via
"add_trigger" method. Each triggers will be passed a copy of the
object as the first argument. Remaining arguments passed to
"call_trigger" will be passed on to each trigger. Triggers are
invoked in the same order they were defined.
If there are no "abortable" triggers or no "abortable" trigger
point returns a false value, "call_trigger" will return the number
of triggers processed.
If an "abortable" trigger returns a false value, call trigger will
stop execution of the trigger point and return undef.
last_trigger_results
my @results = @{ $foo->last_trigger_results };
Returns a reference to an array of the return values of all
triggers called for the last trigger point. Results are ordered in
the same order the triggers were run.
TRIGGER POINTS
By default you can make any number of trigger points, but if you want
to declare names of trigger points explicitly, you can do it via
"import".
package Foo;
use Class::Trigger qw(foo bar baz);
package main;
Foo->add_trigger(foo => \&sub1); # okay
Foo->add_trigger(hoge => \&sub2); # exception
FAQ
Acknowledgement: Thanks to everyone at POOP mailing-list
(http://poop.sourceforge.net/).
Q. This module lets me add subs to be run before/after a specific
subroutine is run. Yes?
A. You put various call_trigger() method in your class. Then your
class users can call add_trigger() method to add subs to be run in
points just you specify (exactly where you put call_trigger()).
Q. Are you aware of the perl-aspects project and the Aspect module?
Very similar to Class::Trigger by the look of it, but its not
nearly as explicit. Its not necessary for foo() to actually say
"triggers go *here*", you just add them.
A. Yep ;)
But the difference with Aspect would be that Class::Trigger is so
simple that it's easy to learn, and doesn't require 5.6 or over.
Q. How does this compare to Sub::Versive, or Hook::LexWrap?
A. Very similar. But the difference with Class::Trigger would be the
explicitness of trigger points.
In addition, you can put hooks in any point, rather than pre or
post of a method.
Q. It looks interesting, but I just can't think of a practical example
of its use...
A. (by Tony Bowden)
I originally added code like this to Class::DBI to cope with one
particular case: auto-upkeep of full-text search indices.
So I added functionality in Class::DBI to be able to trigger an
arbitary subroutine every time something happened - then it was a
simple matter of setting up triggers on INSERT and UPDATE to
reindex that row, and on DELETE to remove that index row.
See Class::DBI::mysql::FullTextSearch and its source code to see it
in action.
AUTHORS
Original idea by Tony Bowden <tony@kasei.com> in Class::DBI.
Code by Tatsuhiko Miyagawa <miyagawa@bulknews.net>.
Jesse Vincent added a code to get return values from triggers and
abortable flag.
LICENSE
This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the same terms as Perl itself.
SEE ALSO
Class::DBI
perl v5.14.0 2009-10-11 Class::Trigger(3)