X-Git-Url: http://git.vpit.fr/?p=perl%2Fmodules%2FVariable-Magic.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=README;h=e04ba968017b28339c5c7dcc91c7a1bddf98aee5;hp=cc595c27747557e242836547d9149cf9dcd8842b;hb=bd7cdd0635d30485b50564b9eebb2d73b3c0f94b;hpb=1676b9c5dcfd3a398710ce5476bcff3bf5d83a8f diff --git a/README b/README index cc595c2..e04ba96 100644 --- a/README +++ b/README @@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ NAME Variable::Magic - Associate user-defined magic to variables from Perl. VERSION - Version 0.50 + Version 0.52 SYNOPSIS use Variable::Magic qw; @@ -63,13 +63,18 @@ DESCRIPTION the correct "Tie::Std*" class and overriding individual methods in your own class. + * Magic is multivalued. + + You can safely apply different kinds of magics to the same variable, + and each of them will be invoked successively. + * Magic is type-agnostic. The same magic can be applied on scalars, arrays, hashes, subs or globs. But the same hook (see below for a list) may trigger differently depending on the the type of the variable. - * Magic is invisible at the Perl level. + * Magic is invisible at Perl level. Magical and non-magical variables cannot be distinguished with "ref", "tied" or another trick. @@ -95,11 +100,19 @@ DESCRIPTION * *len* - This magic only applies to scalars and arrays, and is triggered when - the 'size' or the 'length' of the variable has to be known by Perl. - This is typically the magic involved when an array is evaluated in - scalar context, but also on array assignment and loops ("for", "map" - or "grep"). The length is returned from the callback as an integer. + This magic only applies to arrays (though it used to also apply to + scalars), and is triggered when the 'size' or the 'length' of the + variable has to be known by Perl. This is typically the magic + involved when an array is evaluated in scalar context, but also on + array assignment and loops ("for", "map" or "grep"). The length is + returned from the callback as an integer. + + Starting from perl 5.12, this magic is no longer called by the + "length" keyword, and starting from perl 5.17.4 it is also no longer + called for scalars in any situation, making this magic only + meaningful on arrays. You can use the constants + "VMG_COMPAT_SCALAR_LENGTH_NOLEN" and "VMG_COMPAT_SCALAR_NOLEN" to + see if this magic is available for scalars or not. * *clear* @@ -111,9 +124,11 @@ DESCRIPTION * *free* - This magic is called when an object is destroyed as the result of - the variable going out of scope (but not when the variable is - undefined). + This magic is called when a variable is destroyed as the result of + going out of scope (but not when it is undefined). It behaves + roughly like Perl object destructors (i.e. "DESTROY" methods), + except that exceptions thrown from inside a *free* callback will + always be propagated to the surrounding code. * *copy* @@ -346,6 +361,10 @@ CONSTANTS True for perls that don't call *len* magic when taking the "length" of a magical scalar. + "VMG_COMPAT_SCALAR_NOLEN" + True for perls that don't call *len* magic on scalars. Implies + "VMG_COMPAT_SCALAR_LENGTH_NOLEN". + "VMG_COMPAT_ARRAY_PUSH_NOLEN" True for perls that don't call *len* magic when you push an element in a magical array. Starting from perl 5.11.0, this only refers to pushes in