Class::Frame - Class template with default constructor and accessors autogenerated

	In class Sith:
	--------------

	package Sith;

	use strict;

	use base qw( Class::Frame );
	use Class::Frame;

	DEFINE_FIELDS(
	    name => 'Palpatine',
	    occupation => 'Sith Lord',
	    weapon => [ 'The Force', 'Lightsaber' ]
	);

	1;




	In a galaxy far far away:
	-------------------------

	use Sith;

	# Difficult to see the Dark Side is . . .
	my $emperor = Sith->new(
		name => 'Palpatine',
		occupation => 'Senator'
	);

	# Get name attribute
	print $emperor->name();

	# Another way of getting name
	print $emperor->get_name();

	# Revealed itself the Dark Side has . . .
	$emperor->set_name('Darth Sidios'); 
	$emperor->set_points(120);
	$emperor->set_occupation('Sith Lord');

	# Get default value for occupation field in Sith class
	my $occupation = $emperor->get_occupation_default();

	. . .




	Subclassing Sith:
	-----------------

	package Sith::Lord;

	use base qw( Sith );

	sub new {
		my $pkg = shift;
		my @args = @_;

		my $self = $pkg->SUPER::new(@args);
		bless $self, $pkg;
	}

	. . .

This is 'yet another accessor creation helper' module but its different ( of course :-)). For the class using Class::Frame as a base class it automatically creates default constructor wich accepts field values as input parameters and if some or all of the parameters were not set - uses default values specified during class structure declaration ( please see below for more details ). Also it creates three methods for each field: accessor ('get'), mutator ('set') and 'shortcut' method ( $obj-><field> is the same as $obj->get_<field> ). Supports further subclassing of Class::Frame derived class.

Learn Class::Frame in 5 seconds!

To start using Class::Frame as base class you will need to make 8, err, 2 easy steps :-)

1) Create your class

	package Jedi;

	use strict;
	use base qw( Class::Frame );
	use Class::Frame; # Exports DEFINE_FIELDS helper function

	# Accepts a hash of field names with default values
	# that can be scalars or references to anything
	# ( array, hash, object ). If field doesn't have default
	# value - set it to undef

	DEFINE_FIELDS(
		name => undef,
		points => 140,
		weapon => Jedi::Weapon::Lightsaber
	);

2) In your code there you are going to use My::Class:

	use Jedi;

	. . .

	# Create instance of My::Class and override default name value
	my $kit_fisto = Jedi->new(name => 'Kit Fisto');
	$kit_fisto->weapon->activate();

	. . .

Class Declaration

DEFINE_FIELDS( <field_name> => <default_value>, ... )

	This method creates accessors and constructor for the class it has been
	called from. Input - hash of fields and their default_values. If default
	value is undef please specify so EXPLICITLY

Generated constructor

new( [<field_name> => <value> [ , ... ]] )

	Creates new instance of class derived from Class::Frame. Accepts a hash
	containing field names as keys and field initializing values as values.
	If field has init value then its default value will be overriden,
	otherwise - default value will be used (if provided in class declaration).

Accessors

<field_name>

	Gets field value

	Example:

	my $jedi_name = $jedi->name;

get_<field_name>

	Another way to get field value

	Examle:

	my $jedi_name = $jedi->get_name;

get_<field_name>_default

	Gets field default value from class declaration

	Examle:

		my $default_weapon = $jedi->get_weapon_default;

set_<field_name>( <value> )

	Sets field to value passed even if it is 'undef' ( which
	sometimes is handy )

	Example:

		$jedi->set_weapon(Jedi::Weapon::DualBladeLightSaber->new());
		$jedi->set_dark_side_points(undef);

Please report them

Class::Accessor

Denys Vorobyov, <denysv@primus.ca>

Copyright 2005 by Denys Vorobyov

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.