# Scalar::Util.pm # # Copyright (c) 1997-2001 Graham Barr . All rights reserved. # This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or # modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. package Scalar::Util; require Exporter; require List::Util; # List::Util loads the XS our @ISA = qw(Exporter); our @EXPORT_OK = qw(blessed dualvar reftype weaken isweak tainted readonly openhandle); our $VERSION = $List::Util::VERSION; sub openhandle ($) { my $fh = shift; my $rt = reftype($fh) || ''; return defined(fileno($fh)) ? $fh : undef if $rt eq 'IO'; if (reftype(\$fh) eq 'GLOB') { # handle openhandle(*DATA) $fh = \(my $tmp=$fh); } elsif ($rt ne 'GLOB') { return undef; } (tied(*$fh) or defined(fileno($fh))) ? $fh : undef; } 1; __END__ =head1 NAME Scalar::Util - A selection of general-utility scalar subroutines =head1 SYNOPSIS use Scalar::Util qw(blessed dualvar isweak readonly reftype tainted weaken); =head1 DESCRIPTION C contains a selection of subroutines that people have expressed would be nice to have in the perl core, but the usage would not really be high enough to warrant the use of a keyword, and the size so small such that being individual extensions would be wasteful. By default C does not export any subroutines. The subroutines defined are =over 4 =item blessed EXPR If EXPR evaluates to a blessed reference the name of the package that it is blessed into is returned. Otherwise C is returned. $scalar = "foo"; $class = blessed $scalar; # undef $ref = []; $class = blessed $ref; # undef $obj = bless [], "Foo"; $class = blessed $obj; # "Foo" =item dualvar NUM, STRING Returns a scalar that has the value NUM in a numeric context and the value STRING in a string context. $foo = dualvar 10, "Hello"; $num = $foo + 2; # 12 $str = $foo . " world"; # Hello world =item isweak EXPR If EXPR is a scalar which is a weak reference the result is true. $ref = \$foo; $weak = isweak($ref); # false weaken($ref); $weak = isweak($ref); # true =item openhandle FH Returns FH if FH may be used as a filehandle and is open, or FH is a tied handle. Otherwise C is returned. $fh = openhandle(*STDIN); # \*STDIN $fh = openhandle(\*STDIN); # \*STDIN $fh = openhandle(*NOTOPEN); # undef $fh = openhandle("scalar"); # undef =item readonly SCALAR Returns true if SCALAR is readonly. sub foo { readonly($_[0]) } $readonly = foo($bar); # false $readonly = foo(0); # true =item reftype EXPR If EXPR evaluates to a reference the type of the variable referenced is returned. Otherwise C is returned. $type = reftype "string"; # undef $type = reftype \$var; # SCALAR $type = reftype []; # ARRAY $obj = bless {}, "Foo"; $type = reftype $obj; # HASH =item tainted EXPR Return true if the result of EXPR is tainted $taint = tainted("constant"); # false $taint = tainted($ENV{PWD}); # true if running under -T =item weaken REF REF will be turned into a weak reference. This means that it will not hold a reference count on the object it references. Also when the reference count on that object reaches zero, REF will be set to undef. This is useful for keeping copies of references , but you don't want to prevent the object being DESTROY-ed at its usual time. { my $var; $ref = \$var; weaken($ref); # Make $ref a weak reference } # $ref is now undef =back =head1 KNOWN BUGS There is a bug in perl5.6.0 with UV's that are >= 1<<31. This will show up as tests 8 and 9 of dualvar.t failing =head1 COPYRIGHT Copyright (c) 1997-2001 Graham Barr . All rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. Except weaken and isweak which are Copyright (c) 1999 Tuomas J. Lukka . All rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as perl itself. =head1 BLATANT PLUG The weaken and isweak subroutines in this module and the patch to the core Perl were written in connection with the APress book `Tuomas J. Lukka's Definitive Guide to Object-Oriented Programming in Perl', to avoid explaining why certain things would have to be done in cumbersome ways. =cut