Object::Generic - A generic base class that allows storage of key/value pairs.

  use Object::Generic;
  $thing = new Object::Generic  color => 'red';

  $color = $thing->get('color');
  $color = $thing->get_color;
  $color = $thing->color;

  $thing->set( color => 'blue' );
  $thing->set_color('blue');
  $thing->color('blue');

  $thing->remove('color');

  @key_list  = $thing->keys;
  $has_color = $thing->exists('color');

  package myClass;
  use base 'Object:Generic';
  myClass->set_allowed_keys('color', 'width', 'height', 'border');
  sub myMethod {
    my $self=shift;
    $self->args(@_);    # processes @args=(key=>value, key=>value, ...)
    print $self->width;
  }

  package otherClass;
  use base 'Object::Generic';
  otherClass->define_accessors(qw( name age weight ));
  my $guy = new OtherClass;
  $guy->name('Jim');  
  print "his name is " . $guy->name . "\n";

  package main;
  use myClass;
  $obj = new myClass color => 'green', width => 5;
  $usa = new Object::Generic language=>'english', hemisphere=>'north';
  $obj->set_country($usa);             # fails; 'country' not an allowed key.
  if ($obj->country->language){ ... }  # false, but isn't an error.
  $obj->myMethod( width => 10 );
  $obj->border(10) if $obj->allows_key('border');
  print $obj->border;

package Object::Generic;
#
# Object::Generic.pm
#
# A generic base class for objects including 
# several set/get interfaces for key/value pairs within the object.
#
#    use Object::Generic;
#    $thing = new Object::Generic  color => 'red';
#
#    $color = $thing->get('color');
#    $color = $thing->get_color;
#    $color = $thing->color
#
#    $thing->set( color => 'blue' );
#    $thing->set_color('blue');
#    $thing->color('blue');
#
# See the bottom of this file for the documentation.
#
# $Id: Generic.pm 403 2005-09-08 20:17:37Z mahoney $
#
#
use strict;
use warnings;
use Object::Generic::False qw(false);

our $VERSION = '0.13';

my $false = Object::Generic::false();

sub new {
  my $class = shift;
  my $self  = bless {} => $class;
  $self->args(@_);
  return $self;
}

# Return a list of the current keys.
sub keys {
  my $self = shift;
  return keys %$self;
}

# Return true or false depending on whether a key has been defined.
sub exists {
  my $self = shift;
  my ($key) = @_;
  return 0 unless defined $key;
  return exists($self->{$key});
}

#
# If the hash for a given class is empty, then any key is allowed 
# in ->set_key() and its variants for that class.
# Otherwise, only the given keys are allowed.
# The allowed keys are defined relative to a given class name
# so that inherited classes will each have their own list of allowed keys.
#
# In other words, if MyClass inherits from Object::Generic,
# and only 'color' and 'height' are allowed keys for that class,
# then this hash will include  
#   $allowed_keys = { MyClass => { color=>1, height=>1 } }
# On the other hand, since there is no $allowed_keys->{Object::Generic},
# any key is allowed (by default) in Object::Generic.
#
our $allowed_keys = { };

# Usage: InheritedClass->set_allowed_keys( 'color', 'size' );
# This sets the keys for an entire class,  *not* for one instance.  
# If you want different objects with different sets of allowed keys, 
# define several classes that inherit from Object::Generic.
sub set_allowed_keys {
  my $class = shift;
  return 0 if ref($class); # do nothing and return false if this is an object.
  my @keys = @_;
  $allowed_keys->{$class}{$_} = 1 foreach @keys;
  return 1;  # return true
}

#
# Usage: if ( InheritedClass->allows_key($key) ){ ... }
#    or  if ( $object->allows_key($key) ){ ... }
sub allows_key {
  my $self_or_class = shift;  # either class or object method; don't care.
  my $class = ref($self_or_class) || $self_or_class;
  my ($key) = @_;
  return 1 unless exists($allowed_keys->{$class});
  return $allowed_keys->{$class}{$key};
}


# Usage: InheritedClass->define_accessors( @keys );
# For each $key, defines $obj->get_key(), $obj->set_key(), and $obj->key().
# Also calls set_allowed_keys, so as a side effect, other keys not in
# this won't be allowed unless given in another call to set_allowed_keys
# or define_accessors.  Note that this may be helpful if you're using
# multiple inheritance, since this can avoid the use of AUTOHANDLER which
# may not be available if there's another AUTOHANDER earlier in the 
# inheritence chain.
sub define_subs {
  my $class = shift;
  return if ref($class); # This can't be called from an object instance.
  my @keys = @_;
  $class->set_allowed_keys(@keys);
  for my $key (@keys){
    no strict 'refs';
    *{$class . '::' . $key } = sub {
      $_[0]->set( $key => $_[1] ) if exists $_[1];
      return $_[0]->get( $key );
     };
    *{$class . '::' . 'set_' . $key } = sub {
      $_[0]->set($key => $_[1]);
      return $_[0]->get($key);
    };
    *{$class . '::' . 'get_' . $key } = sub {
      return $_[0]->get($key);
    };
  }
}

# $obj->remove($key) is the same as delete($obj->{$key});
sub remove {
  my $self = shift;
  my $key  = shift;
  return unless $key;
  delete($self->{$key});
}

#
# The following ->set(key=>value) and ->get(value) methods
# are the only authorized way to access the internal data;
# all other internal and external methods (including 
# the memo-ized subs that AUTOHANDLER creates) use these.
# This makes it simpler to change the internal storage mechanism
# in an inherited class, at the cost of a bit of speed.
#

# Usage: $value = $object->get( 'key' );
sub get {
  my $self = shift;
  my ($key) = @_;
  return $false unless ref($self);
  return $false unless $self->exists($key);
  return $self->{$key};
}

# Usage: $object->set( key => $value );
sub set {
  my $self = shift;
  return $false unless ref($self);
  my ($key, $value) = @_;
  $self->{$key} = $value;
  return $value;
}

# $obj->args(@_) :
# Extract key => value pairs from the @_ and put them in the object's hash.
# The motivation runs like this:
#   When I call $foo->bar( one => 1, two => 2), 
#   I often want to have $foo->{one}=1 and $foo->{two}=2.
#   This subroutine does that.  
# While this is not the default behavior of all inherited methods, 
# any methods that do want this behavior can implement it with this method.
# Note that the CORE::keys syntax distinguishes this from $obj->keys()
sub args {
  my $self = shift;
  my %hash = @_;
  $self->set($_ => $hash{$_}) foreach CORE::keys(%hash);
  return $self;
}

sub DESTROY {  # Define this here so AUTOLOAD won't handle it.
}

sub AUTOLOAD {
  my $self = shift;
  my ($value) = (@_);
  return $false unless ref($self); # Don't handle class methods.
  our $AUTOLOAD;
  no strict 'refs';
  $AUTOLOAD =~ m/^(.*)::\w+$/;
  my $class = $1;
  (my $subname = $AUTOLOAD) =~ s/.*:://;      # Remove class:: from sub name.
  # -- debugging --
  #print " -- Generic::AUTOLOAD\n";
  #print "    autoload = '$AUTOLOAD'\n";
  #print "    subname  = '$subname'\n";
  #print "    class    = '$class'\n";
  if ($subname =~ /^set_(.*)$/){              # Define $obj->set_key($value)
    my $key = $1; 
    return $false unless $class->allows_key($key);
    *{$AUTOLOAD} = sub {  
      return $false unless exists $_[1];
      $_[0]->set( $key => $_[1] );
      return $_[1];
    };
  }
  elsif ($subname =~ /^get_(.*)$/){           # Define $obj->get_key()
    my $key = $1;
    return $false unless $class->allows_key($key);
    *{$AUTOLOAD} = sub {
      return $_[0]->get($key);
    };
  }
  else {                                      # Define $obj->key($value)
    my $key = $subname;
    return $false unless $class->allows_key($key);
    *{$AUTOLOAD} = sub {
      if (exists($_[1])){
	$_[0]->set( $key => $_[1] );
	return $_[1];
      }
      else {
	return $_[0]->get($key);
      }
    };
  }
  return $self->$subname(@_);                 # Call it.
}

1;

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