$Tie::Watch::VERSION = '1.2'; package Tie::Watch; =head1 NAME Tie::Watch - place watchpoints on Perl variables. =head1 SYNOPSIS use Tie::Watch; $watch = Tie::Watch->new( -variable => \$frog, -debug => 1, -shadow => 0, -fetch => [\&fetch, 'arg1', 'arg2', ..., 'argn'], -store => \&store, -destroy => sub {print "Final value=$frog.\n"}, } %vinfo = $watch->Info; $args = $watch->Args(-fetch); $val = $watch->Fetch; print "val=", $watch->Say($val), ".\n"; $watch->Store('Hello'); $watch->Unwatch; =head1 DESCRIPTION This class module binds one or more subroutines of your devising to a Perl variable. All variables can have B, B and B callbacks. Additionally, arrays can define B, B, B, B, B, B, B, B, B, B and B callbacks, and hashes can define B, B, B, B and B callbacks. If these term are unfamiliar to you, I I suggest you read L. With Tie::Watch you can: . alter a variable's value . prevent a variable's value from being changed . invoke a Perl/Tk callback when a variable changes . trace references to a variable Callback format is patterned after the Perl/Tk scheme: supply either a code reference, or, supply an array reference and pass the callback code reference in the first element of the array, followed by callback arguments. (See examples in the Synopsis, above.) Tie::Watch provides default callbacks for any that you fail to specify. Other than negatively impacting performance, they perform the standard action that you'd expect, so the variable behaves "normally". Once you override a default callback, perhaps to insert debug code like print statements, your callback normally finishes by calling the underlying (overridden) method. But you don't have to! To map a tied method name to a default callback name simply lowercase the tied method name and uppercase its first character. So FETCH becomes Fetch, NEXTKEY becomes Nextkey, etcetera. Here are two callbacks for a scalar. The B (read) callback does nothing other than illustrate the fact that it returns the value to assign the variable. The B (write) callback uppercases the variable and returns it. In all cases the callback I return the correct read or write value - typically, it does this by invoking the underlying method. my $fetch_scalar = sub { my($self) = @_; $self->Fetch; }; my $store_scalar = sub { my($self, $new_val) = @_; $self->Store(uc $new_val); }; Here are B and B callbacks for either an array or hash. They do essentially the same thing as the scalar callbacks, but provide a little more information. my $fetch = sub { my($self, $key) = @_; my $val = $self->Fetch($key); print "In fetch callback, key=$key, val=", $self->Say($val); my $args = $self->Args(-fetch); print ", args=('", join("', '", @$args), "')" if $args; print ".\n"; $val; }; my $store = sub { my($self, $key, $new_val) = @_; my $val = $self->Fetch($key); $new_val = uc $new_val; $self->Store($key, $new_val); print "In store callback, key=$key, val=", $self->Say($val), ", new_val=", $self->Say($new_val); my $args = $self->Args(-store); print ", args=('", join("', '", @$args), "')" if $args; print ".\n"; $new_val; }; In all cases, the first parameter is a reference to the Watch object, used to invoke the following class methods. =head1 METHODS =over 4 =item $watch = Tie::Watch->new(-options => values); The watchpoint constructor method that accepts option/value pairs to create and configure the Watch object. The only required option is B<-variable>. B<-variable> is a I to a scalar, array or hash variable. B<-debug> (default 0) is 1 to activate debug print statements internal to Tie::Watch. B<-shadow> (default 1) is 0 to disable array and hash shadowing. To prevent infinite recursion Tie::Watch maintains parallel variables for arrays and hashes. When the watchpoint is created the parallel shadow variable is initialized with the watched variable's contents, and when the watchpoint is deleted the shadow variable is copied to the original variable. Thus, changes made during the watch process are not lost. Shadowing is on my default. If you disable shadowing any changes made to an array or hash are lost when the watchpoint is deleted. Specify any of the following relevant callback parameters, in the format described above: B<-fetch>, B<-store>, B<-destroy>. Additionally for arrays: B<-clear>, B<-extend>, B<-fetchsize>, B<-pop>, B<-push>, B<-shift>, B<-splice>, B<-storesize> and B<-unshift>. Additionally for hashes: B<-clear>, B<-delete>, B<-exists>, B<-firstkey> and B<-nextkey>. =item $args = $watch->Args(-fetch); Returns a reference to a list of arguments for the specified callback, or undefined if none. =item $watch->Fetch(); $watch->Fetch($key); Returns a variable's current value. $key is required for an array or hash. =item %vinfo = $watch->Info(); Returns a hash detailing the internals of the Watch object, with these keys: %vinfo = { -variable => SCALAR(0x200737f8) -debug => '0' -shadow => '1' -value => 'HELLO SCALAR' -destroy => ARRAY(0x200f86cc) -fetch => ARRAY(0x200f8558) -store => ARRAY(0x200f85a0) -legible => above data formatted as a list of string, for printing } For array and hash Watch objects, the B<-value> key is replaced with a B<-ptr> key which is a reference to the parallel array or hash. Additionally, for an array or hash, there are key/value pairs for all the variable specific callbacks. =item $watch->Say($val); Used mainly for debugging, it returns $val in quotes if required, or the string "undefined" for undefined values. =item $watch->Store($new_val); $watch->Store($key, $new_val); Store a variable's new value. $key is required for an array or hash. =item $watch->Unwatch(); Stop watching the variable. =back =head1 EFFICIENCY CONSIDERATIONS If you can live using the class methods provided, please do so. You can meddle with the object hash directly and improved watch performance, at the risk of your code breaking in the future. =head1 AUTHOR Stephen O. Lidie =head1 HISTORY lusol@Lehigh.EDU, LUCC, 96/05/30 . Original version 0.92 release, based on the Trace module from Hans Mulder, and ideas from Tim Bunce. lusol@Lehigh.EDU, LUCC, 96/12/25 . Version 0.96, release two inner references detected by Perl 5.004. lusol@Lehigh.EDU, LUCC, 97/01/11 . Version 0.97, fix Makefile.PL and MANIFEST (thanks Andreas Koenig). Make sure test.pl doesn't fail if Tk isn't installed. Stephen.O.Lidie@Lehigh.EDU, Lehigh University Computing Center, 97/10/03 . Version 0.98, implement -shadow option for arrays and hashes. Stephen.O.Lidie@Lehigh.EDU, Lehigh University Computing Center, 98/02/11 . Version 0.99, finally, with Perl 5.004_57, we can completely watch arrays. With tied array support this module is essentially complete, so its been optimized for speed at the expense of clarity - sorry about that. The Delete() method has been renamed Unwatch() because it conflicts with the builtin delete(). Stephen.O.Lidie@Lehigh.EDU, Lehigh University Computing Center, 99/04/04 . Version 1.0, for Perl 5.005_03, update Makefile.PL for ActiveState, and add two examples (one for Perl/Tk). sol0@lehigh.edu, Lehigh University Computing Center, 2003/06/07 . Version 1.1, for Perl 5.8, can trace a reference now, patch from Slaven Rezic. sol0@lehigh.edu, Lehigh University Computing Center, 2005/05/17 . Version 1.2, for Perl 5.8, per Rob Seegel's suggestion, support array DELETE and EXISTS. =head1 COPYRIGHT Copyright (C) 1996 - 2005 Stephen O. Lidie. All rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. =cut use 5.004_57;; use Carp; use strict; use subs qw/normalize_callbacks/; use vars qw/@array_callbacks @hash_callbacks @scalar_callbacks/; @array_callbacks = qw/-clear -delete -destroy -exists -extend -fetch -fetchsize -pop -push -shift -splice -store -storesize -unshift/; @hash_callbacks = qw/-clear -delete -destroy -exists -fetch -firstkey -nextkey -store/; @scalar_callbacks = qw/-destroy -fetch -store/; sub new { # Watch constructor. The *real* constructor is Tie::Watch->base_watch(), # invoked by methods in other Watch packages, depending upon the variable's # type. Here we supply defaulted parameter values and then verify them, # normalize all callbacks and bind the variable to the appropriate package. my($class, %args) = @_; my $version = $Tie::Watch::VERSION; my (%arg_defaults) = (-debug => 0, -shadow => 1); my $variable = $args{-variable}; croak "Tie::Watch::new(): -variable is required." if not defined $variable; my($type, $watch_obj) = (ref $variable, undef); if ($type =~ /(SCALAR|REF)/) { @arg_defaults{@scalar_callbacks} = ( [\&Tie::Watch::Scalar::Destroy], [\&Tie::Watch::Scalar::Fetch], [\&Tie::Watch::Scalar::Store]); } elsif ($type =~ /ARRAY/) { @arg_defaults{@array_callbacks} = ( [\&Tie::Watch::Array::Clear], [\&Tie::Watch::Array::Delete], [\&Tie::Watch::Array::Destroy], [\&Tie::Watch::Array::Exists], [\&Tie::Watch::Array::Extend], [\&Tie::Watch::Array::Fetch], [\&Tie::Watch::Array::Fetchsize], [\&Tie::Watch::Array::Pop], [\&Tie::Watch::Array::Push], [\&Tie::Watch::Array::Shift], [\&Tie::Watch::Array::Splice], [\&Tie::Watch::Array::Store], [\&Tie::Watch::Array::Storesize], [\&Tie::Watch::Array::Unshift]); } elsif ($type =~ /HASH/) { @arg_defaults{@hash_callbacks} = ( [\&Tie::Watch::Hash::Clear], [\&Tie::Watch::Hash::Delete], [\&Tie::Watch::Hash::Destroy], [\&Tie::Watch::Hash::Exists], [\&Tie::Watch::Hash::Fetch], [\&Tie::Watch::Hash::Firstkey], [\&Tie::Watch::Hash::Nextkey], [\&Tie::Watch::Hash::Store]); } else { croak "Tie::Watch::new() - not a variable reference."; } my(@margs, %ahsh, $args, @args); @margs = grep ! defined $args{$_}, keys %arg_defaults; %ahsh = %args; # argument hash @ahsh{@margs} = @arg_defaults{@margs}; # fill in missing values normalize_callbacks \%ahsh; if ($type =~ /(SCALAR|REF)/) { $watch_obj = tie $$variable, 'Tie::Watch::Scalar', %ahsh; } elsif ($type =~ /ARRAY/) { $watch_obj = tie @$variable, 'Tie::Watch::Array', %ahsh; } elsif ($type =~ /HASH/) { $watch_obj = tie %$variable, 'Tie::Watch::Hash', %ahsh; } $watch_obj; } # end new, Watch constructor sub Args { # Return a reference to a list of callback arguments, or undef if none. # # $_[0] = self # $_[1] = callback type defined $_[0]->{$_[1]}->[1] ? [@{$_[0]->{$_[1]}}[1 .. $#{$_[0]->{$_[1]}}]] : undef; } # end Args sub Info { # Info() method subclassed by other Watch modules. # # $_[0] = self # @_[1 .. $#_] = optional callback types my(%vinfo, @results); my(@info) = (qw/-variable -debug -shadow/); push @info, @_[1 .. $#_] if scalar @_ >= 2; foreach my $type (@info) { push @results, sprintf('%-10s: ', substr $type, 1) . $_[0]->Say($_[0]->{$type}); $vinfo{$type} = $_[0]->{$type}; } $vinfo{-legible} = [@results]; %vinfo; } # end Info sub Say { # For debugging, mainly. # # $_[0] = self # $_[1] = value defined $_[1] ? (ref($_[1]) ne '' ? $_[1] : "'$_[1]'") : "undefined"; } # end Say sub Unwatch { # Stop watching a variable by releasing the last reference and untieing it. # Update the original variable with its shadow, if appropriate. # # $_[0] = self my $variable = $_[0]->{-variable}; my $type = ref $variable; my $copy = $_[0]->{-ptr} if $type !~ /(SCALAR|REF)/; my $shadow = $_[0]->{-shadow}; undef $_[0]; if ($type =~ /(SCALAR|REF)/) { untie $$variable; } elsif ($type =~ /ARRAY/) { untie @$variable; @$variable = @$copy if $shadow; } elsif ($type =~ /HASH/) { untie %$variable; %$variable = %$copy if $shadow; } else { croak "Tie::Watch::Delete() - not a variable reference."; } } # end Unwatch # Watch private methods. sub base_watch { # Watch base class constructor invoked by other Watch modules. my($class, %args) = @_; my $watch_obj = {%args}; $watch_obj; } # end base_watch sub callback { # Execute a Watch callback, either the default or user specified. # Note that the arguments are those supplied by the tied method, # not those (if any) specified by the user when the watch object # was instantiated. This is for performance reasons, and why the # Args() method exists. # # $_[0] = self # $_[1] = callback type # $_[2] through $#_ = tied arguments &{$_[0]->{$_[1]}->[0]} ($_[0], @_[2 .. $#_]); } # end callback sub normalize_callbacks { # Ensure all callbacks are normalized in [\&code, @args] format. my($args_ref) = @_; my($cb, $ref); foreach my $arg (keys %$args_ref) { next if $arg =~ /variable|debug|shadow/; $cb = $args_ref->{$arg}; $ref = ref $cb; if ($ref =~ /CODE/) { $args_ref->{$arg} = [$cb]; } elsif ($ref !~ /ARRAY/) { croak "Tie::Watch: malformed callback $arg=$cb."; } } } # end normalize_callbacks ############################################################################### package Tie::Watch::Scalar; use Carp; @Tie::Watch::Scalar::ISA = qw/Tie::Watch/; sub TIESCALAR { my($class, %args) = @_; my $variable = $args{-variable}; my $watch_obj = Tie::Watch->base_watch(%args); $watch_obj->{-value} = $$variable; print "WatchScalar new: $variable created, \@_=", join(',', @_), "!\n" if $watch_obj->{-debug}; bless $watch_obj, $class; } # end TIESCALAR sub Info {$_[0]->SUPER::Info('-value', @Tie::Watch::scalar_callbacks)} # Default scalar callbacks. sub Destroy {undef %{$_[0]}} sub Fetch {$_[0]->{-value}} sub Store {$_[0]->{-value} = $_[1]} # Scalar access methods. sub DESTROY {$_[0]->callback('-destroy')} sub FETCH {$_[0]->callback('-fetch')} sub STORE {$_[0]->callback('-store', $_[1])} ############################################################################### package Tie::Watch::Array; use Carp; @Tie::Watch::Array::ISA = qw/Tie::Watch/; sub TIEARRAY { my($class, %args) = @_; my($variable, $shadow) = @args{-variable, -shadow}; my @copy = @$variable if $shadow; # make a private copy of user's array $args{-ptr} = $shadow ? \@copy : []; my $watch_obj = Tie::Watch->base_watch(%args); print "WatchArray new: $variable created, \@_=", join(',', @_), "!\n" if $watch_obj->{-debug}; bless $watch_obj, $class; } # end TIEARRAY sub Info {$_[0]->SUPER::Info('-ptr', @Tie::Watch::array_callbacks)} # Default array callbacks. sub Clear {$_[0]->{-ptr} = ()} sub Delete {delete $_[0]->{-ptr}->[$_[1]]} sub Destroy {undef %{$_[0]}} sub Exists {exists $_[0]->{-ptr}->[$_[1]]} sub Extend {} sub Fetch {$_[0]->{-ptr}->[$_[1]]} sub Fetchsize {scalar @{$_[0]->{-ptr}}} sub Pop {pop @{$_[0]->{-ptr}}} sub Push {push @{$_[0]->{-ptr}}, @_[1 .. $#_]} sub Shift {shift @{$_[0]->{-ptr}}} sub Splice { my $n = scalar @_; # splice() is wierd! return splice @{$_[0]->{-ptr}}, $_[1] if $n == 2; return splice @{$_[0]->{-ptr}}, $_[1], $_[2] if $n == 3; return splice @{$_[0]->{-ptr}}, $_[1], $_[2], @_[3 .. $#_] if $n >= 4; } sub Store {$_[0]->{-ptr}->[$_[1]] = $_[2]} sub Storesize {$#{$_[0]->{-ptr}} = $_[1] - 1} sub Unshift {unshift @{$_[0]->{-ptr}}, @_[1 .. $#_]} # Array access methods. sub CLEAR {$_[0]->callback('-clear')} sub DELETE {$_[0]->callback('-delete', $_[1])} sub DESTROY {$_[0]->callback('-destroy')} sub EXISTS {$_[0]->callback('-exists', $_[1])} sub EXTEND {$_[0]->callback('-extend', $_[1])} sub FETCH {$_[0]->callback('-fetch', $_[1])} sub FETCHSIZE {$_[0]->callback('-fetchsize')} sub POP {$_[0]->callback('-pop')} sub PUSH {$_[0]->callback('-push', @_[1 .. $#_])} sub SHIFT {$_[0]->callback('-shift')} sub SPLICE {$_[0]->callback('-splice', @_[1 .. $#_])} sub STORE {$_[0]->callback('-store', $_[1], $_[2])} sub STORESIZE {$_[0]->callback('-storesize', $_[1])} sub UNSHIFT {$_[0]->callback('-unshift', @_[1 .. $#_])} ############################################################################### package Tie::Watch::Hash; use Carp; @Tie::Watch::Hash::ISA = qw/Tie::Watch/; sub TIEHASH { my($class, %args) = @_; my($variable, $shadow) = @args{-variable, -shadow}; my %copy = %$variable if $shadow; # make a private copy of user's hash $args{-ptr} = $shadow ? \%copy : {}; my $watch_obj = Tie::Watch->base_watch(%args); print "WatchHash new: $variable created, \@_=", join(',', @_), "!\n" if $watch_obj->{-debug}; bless $watch_obj, $class; } # end TIEHASH sub Info {$_[0]->SUPER::Info('-ptr', @Tie::Watch::hash_callbacks)} # Default hash callbacks. sub Clear {$_[0]->{-ptr} = ()} sub Delete {delete $_[0]->{-ptr}->{$_[1]}} sub Destroy {undef %{$_[0]}} sub Exists {exists $_[0]->{-ptr}->{$_[1]}} sub Fetch {$_[0]->{-ptr}->{$_[1]}} sub Firstkey {my $c = keys %{$_[0]->{-ptr}}; each %{$_[0]->{-ptr}}} sub Nextkey {each %{$_[0]->{-ptr}}} sub Store {$_[0]->{-ptr}->{$_[1]} = $_[2]} # Hash access methods. sub CLEAR {$_[0]->callback('-clear')} sub DELETE {$_[0]->callback('-delete', $_[1])} sub DESTROY {$_[0]->callback('-destroy')} sub EXISTS {$_[0]->callback('-exists', $_[1])} sub FETCH {$_[0]->callback('-fetch', $_[1])} sub FIRSTKEY {$_[0]->callback('-firstkey')} sub NEXTKEY {$_[0]->callback('-nextkey')} sub STORE {$_[0]->callback('-store', $_[1], $_[2])} 1;