NAME
Exporter::Tiny - an exporter with the features of Sub::Exporter but only
core dependencies
SYNOPSIS
package MyUtils;
use base "Exporter::Tiny";
our @EXPORT = qw(frobnicate);
sub frobnicate { my $n = shift; ... }
1;
package MyScript;
use MyUtils "frobnicate" => { -as => "frob" };
print frob(42);
exit;
DESCRIPTION
Exporter::Tiny supports many of Sub::Exporter's external-facing features
including renaming imported functions with the `-as`, `-prefix` and
`-suffix` options; explicit destinations with the `into` option; and
alternative installers with the `installler` option. But it's written in
only about 40% as many lines of code and with zero non-core dependencies.
Its internal-facing interface is closer to Exporter.pm, with configuration
done through the @EXPORT, @EXPORT_OK and %EXPORT_TAGS package variables.
Exporter::Tiny performs most of its internal duties (including resolution
of tag names to sub names, resolution of sub names to coderefs, and
installation of coderefs into the target package) as method calls, which
means they can be overridden to provide interesting behaviour.
Utility Functions
These are really for internal use, but can be exported if you need them.
`mkopt(\@array)`
Similar to `mkopt` from Data::OptList. It doesn't support all the
fancy options that Data::OptList does (`moniker`, `require_unique`,
`must_be` and `name_test`) but runs about 50% faster.
`mkopt_hash(\@array)`
Similar to `mkopt_hash` from Data::OptList. See also `mkopt`.
TIPS AND TRICKS IMPORTING FROM EXPORTER::TINY
For the purposes of this discussion we'll assume we have a module called
`MyUtils` which exports one function, `frobnicate`. `MyUtils` inherits
from Exporter::Tiny.
Many of these tricks may seem familiar from Sub::Exporter. That is
intentional. Exporter::Tiny doesn't attempt to provide every feature of
Sub::Exporter, but where it does it usually uses a fairly similar API.
Basic importing
# import "frobnicate" function
use MyUtils "frobnicate";
# import all functions that MyUtils offers
use MyUtils -all;
Renaming imported functions
# call it "frob"
use MyUtils "frobnicate" => { -as => "frob" };
# call it "my_frobnicate"
use MyUtils "frobnicate" => { -prefix => "my_" };
# call it "frobnicate_util"
use MyUtils "frobnicate" => { -suffix => "_util" };
# import it twice with two different names
use MyUtils
"frobnicate" => { -as => "frob" },
"frobnicate" => { -as => "frbnct" };
Lexical subs
{
use Sub::Exporter::Lexical lexical_installer => { -as => "lex" };
use MyUtils { installer => lex }, "frobnicate";
frobnicate(...); # ok
}
frobnicate(...); # not ok
Import functions into another package
use MyUtils { into => "OtherPkg" }, "frobnicate";
OtherPkg::frobincate(...);
Import functions into a scalar
my $func;
use MyUtils "frobnicate" => { -as => \$func };
$func->(...);
Import functions into a hash
OK, Sub::Exporter doesn't do this...
my %funcs;
use MyUtils { into => \%funcs }, "frobnicate";
$funcs{frobnicate}->(...);
DO NOT WANT!
This imports everything except "frobnicate":
use MyUtils qw( -all !frobnicate );
Negated imports always "win", so the following will not import
"frobnicate", no matter how many times you repeat it...
use MyUtils qw( !frobnicate frobnicate frobnicate frobnicate );
Importing by regexp
Here's how you could import all functions beginning with an "f":
use MyUtils qw( /^F/i );
Or import everything except functions beginning with a "z":
use MyUtils qw( -all !/^Z/i );
Note that regexps are always supplied as *strings* starting with "/", and
not as quoted regexp references (`qr/.../`).
TIPS AND TRICKS EXPORTING USING EXPORTER::TINY
Simple configuration works the same as Exporter; inherit from this module,
and use the @EXPORT, @EXPORT_OK and %EXPORT_TAGS package variables to list
subs to export.
Generators
Exporter::Tiny has always allowed exported subs to be generated (like
Sub::Exporter), but until version 0.025 did not have an especially nice
API for it.
Now, it's easy. If you want to generate a sub `foo` to export, list it in
@EXPORT or @EXPORT_OK as usual, and then simply give your exporter module
a class method called `_generate_foo`.
push @EXPORT_OK, 'foo';
sub _generate_foo {
my $class = shift;
my ($name, $args, $globals) = @_;
return sub {
...;
}
}
You can also generate tags:
my %constants;
BEGIN {
%constants = (FOO => 1, BAR => 2);
}
use constant \%constants;
$EXPORT_TAGS{constants} = sub {
my $class = shift;
my ($name, $args, $globals) = @_;
return keys(%constants);
};
Overriding Internals
An important difference between Exporter and Exporter::Tiny is that the
latter calls all its internal functions as *class methods*. This means
that your subclass can *override them* to alter their behaviour.
The following methods are available to be overridden. Despite being named
with a leading underscore, they are considered public methods. (The
underscore is there to avoid accidentally colliding with any of your own
function names.)
`_exporter_validate_opts($globals)`
This method is called once each time `import` is called. It is passed
a reference to the global options hash. (That is, the optional leading
hashref in the `use` statement, where the `into` and `installer`
options can be provided.)
You may use this method to munge the global options, or validate them,
throwing an exception or printing a warning.
The default implementation does nothing interesting.
`_exporter_merge_opts($tag_opts, $globals, @exports)`
Called to merge options which have been provided for a tag into the
options provided for the exports that the tag expanded to.
`_exporter_expand_tag($name, $args, $globals)`
This method is called to expand an import tag (e.g. ":constants"). It
is passed the tag name (minus the leading ":"), an optional hashref of
options (like `{ -prefix => "foo_" }`), and the global options
hashref.
It is expected to return a list of ($name, $args) arrayref pairs.
These names can be sub names to export, or further tag names (which
must have their ":"). If returning tag names, be careful to avoid
creating a tag expansion loop!
The default implementation uses %EXPORT_TAGS to expand tags, and
provides fallbacks for the `:default` and `:all` tags.
`_exporter_expand_regexp($regexp, $args, $globals)`
Like `_exporter_expand_regexp`, but given a regexp-like string instead
of a tag name.
The default implementation greps through @EXPORT_OK.
`_exporter_expand_sub($name, $args, $globals)`
This method is called to translate a sub name to a hash of name =>
coderef pairs for exporting to the caller. In general, this would just
be a hash with one key and one value, but, for example, Type::Library
overrides this method so that "+Foo" gets expanded to:
(
Foo => sub { $type },
is_Foo => sub { $type->check(@_) },
to_Foo => sub { $type->assert_coerce(@_) },
assert_Foo => sub { $type->assert_return(@_) },
)
The default implementation checks that the name is allowed to be
exported (using the `_exporter_permitted_regexp` method), gets the
coderef using the generator if there is one (or by calling `can` on
your exporter otherwise) and calls `_exporter_fail` if it's unable to
generate or retrieve a coderef.
`_exporter_permitted_regexp($globals)`
This method is called to retrieve a regexp for validating the names of
exportable subs. If a sub doesn't match the regexp, then the default
implementation of `_exporter_expand_sub` will refuse to export it. (Of
course, you may override the default `_exporter_expand_sub`.)
The default implementation of this method assembles the regexp from
@EXPORT and @EXPORT_OK.
`_exporter_fail($name, $args, $globals)`
Called by `_exporter_expand_sub` if it can't find a coderef to export.
The default implementation just throws an exception. But you could
emit a warning instead, or just ignore the failed export.
If you don't throw an exception then you should be aware that this
method is called in list context, and any list it returns will be
treated as an `_exporter_expand_sub`-style hash of names and coderefs
for export.
`_exporter_install_sub($name, $args, $globals, $coderef)`
This method actually installs the exported sub into its new
destination. Its return value is ignored.
The default implementation handles sub renaming (i.e. the `-as`,
`-prefix` and `-suffix` functions. This method does a lot of stuff; if
you need to override it, it's probably a good idea to just pre-process
the arguments and then call the super method rather than trying to
handle all of it yourself.
HISTORY
Type::Library had a bunch of custom exporting code which poked coderefs
into its caller's stash. It needed this to be something more powerful than
most exporters so that it could switch between exporting Moose, Mouse and
Moo-compatible objects on request. Sub::Exporter would have been capable,
but had too many dependencies for the Type::Tiny project.
Meanwhile Type::Utils, Types::TypeTiny and Test::TypeTiny each used the
venerable Exporter.pm. However, this meant they were unable to use the
features like Sub::Exporter-style function renaming which I'd built into
Type::Library:
## import "Str" but rename it to "String".
use Types::Standard "Str" => { -as => "String" };
And so I decided to factor out code that could be shared by all
Type-Tiny's exporters into a single place: Exporter::TypeTiny.
As of version 0.026, Exporter::TypeTiny was also made available as
Exporter::Tiny, distributed independently on CPAN. CHOCOLATEBOY had
convinced me that it was mature enough to live a life of its own.
As of version 0.030, Type-Tiny depends on Exporter::Tiny and
Exporter::TypeTiny is being phased out.
OBLIGATORY EXPORTER COMPARISON
Exporting is unlikely to be your application's performance bottleneck, but
nonetheless here are some comparisons.
Comparative sizes according to Devel::SizeMe:
Exporter 217.1Kb
Sub::Exporter::Progressive 263.2Kb
Exporter::Tiny 267.7Kb
Exporter + Exporter::Heavy 281.5Kb
Exporter::Renaming 406.2Kb
Sub::Exporter 701.0Kb
Performance exporting a single sub:
Rate SubExp ExpTiny SubExpProg ExpPM
SubExp 2489/s -- -56% -85% -88%
ExpTiny 5635/s 126% -- -67% -72%
SubExpProg 16905/s 579% 200% -- -16%
ExpPM 20097/s 707% 257% 19% --
(Exporter::Renaming globally changes the behaviour of Exporter.pm, so
could not be included in the same benchmarks.)
(Non-Core) Dependencies:
Exporter -1
Exporter::Renaming 0
Exporter::Tiny 0
Sub::Exporter::Progressive 0
Sub::Exporter 3
Features:
ExpPM ExpTiny SubExp SubExpProg
Can export code symbols............. Yes Yes Yes Yes
Can export non-code symbols......... Yes
Groups/tags......................... Yes Yes Yes Yes
Config avoids package variables..... Yes
Allows renaming of subs............. Yes Yes Maybe
Install code into scalar refs....... Yes Yes Maybe
Can be passed an "into" parameter... Yes Yes Maybe
Can be passed an "installer" sub.... Yes Yes Maybe
Supports generators................. Yes Yes
Sane API for generators............. Yes Yes
(Certain Sub::Exporter::Progressive features are only available if
Sub::Exporter is installed.)
BUGS
Please report any bugs to
<http://rt.cpan.org/Dist/Display.html?Queue=Exporter-Tiny>.
SUPPORT
IRC: support is available through in the *#moops* channel on irc.perl.org
<http://www.irc.perl.org/channels.html>.
SEE ALSO
Exporter::Shiny, Sub::Exporter, Exporter.
AUTHOR
Toby Inkster <tobyink@cpan.org>.
COPYRIGHT AND LICENCE
This software is copyright (c) 2013-2014 by Toby Inkster.
This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.
DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES
THIS PACKAGE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED
WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTIBILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.