perl_dynamic_package_definition_huh

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To: andrew@tellme.com
From: mgraham@circadence.ca
Subject: RE: [OT] Dynamically changing current package
Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 12:34:19 -0500 

> Andrew Ho <andrew@tellme.com> wrote:
> I know how to use "package" in the normal case, where it's static.
> However, you can't say "package $foo" or even "eval 'package 
> foo'" or even "BEGIN { eval 'package foo' }." I'm wondering 
> if there's any way short of hacking the Perl source itself 
> to make the compiler dynamically choose a namespace.

The reason your eval examples don't work is because the scope of the package
declaration only extends to the end of the current block, the end of the
current file, or the end of the current 'eval', whichever comes first.

If you want to put code into a particular package at runtime, you have to
recompile that code along with the package declaration:

    eval "
        package $foo;
        $scalar_containing_some_code
    ";

Or you can pull in the code from an external file:
   
    eval "
        package $foo;
        do '$script';
    ";

The package declaration is scoped the way it is is because it is a
compile-time directive, not a run-time directive.  Code is placed into a
particular package at compile-time; to change the package of a particular
piece of code at run-time really means to destroy that compiled code and to
recompile it in a new package.  This is essentially what happens when you
use the string form of eval, above.  


Michael

===

To: modperl@apache.org
From: Robert Landrum <rlandrum@capitoladvantage.com>
Subject: RE: [OT] Dynamically changing current package
Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 18:27:05 -0500

You can also change the package using globs.

*{NewPackage::} = *{TestPackage::};

NewPackage will then contain all things in TestPackage....

Then you can redefined everything in TestPackage without affecting 
anything in NewPackage.

You can also do something like

for my $name (keys %{Test::}) {
    *{"NewPackage::".$name} = *{"Test::".$name} if($name =~ /somefunc/);
}

That's a poor mans export....

You can also load different modules based on developer if you force 
them to log in and create packages preceeded by their usernames....

$user = $r->connection->user; # right?
$usrpkg = $user."::Foo::";
*{original::Foo::} = *{Foo::} unless(defined *{original::Foo::});

*{Foo::} = (defined *{$usrpkg}) ? *{$usrpkg} : *{original::Foo::};
# in case another user has already loader their stuff over top of Foo.

That should make life interesting... I've never actually tried any of 
this, I'm just spitting out some ideas...

Robert Landrum


===

To: "Robert Landrum" <rlandrum@capitoladvantage.com>,
<modperl@apache.org>
From: "Stathy Touloumis" <stathy.touloumis@edventions.com>
Subject: RE: [OT] Dynamically changing current package
Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 17:55:27 -0600

> NewPackage will then contain all things in TestPackage....
>
> Then you can redefined everything in TestPackage without affecting
> anything in NewPackage.

Actually it will, if you were to delete NewPackage, TestPackage would not
contain anything.  Modifying 'thingys' in TestPackage would modify
NewPackage.

===

To: "Stathy Touloumis" <stathy.touloumis@edventions.com>
From: Robert Landrum <rlandrum@capitoladvantage.com>
Subject: RE: [OT] Dynamically changing current package
Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2001 11:24:09 -0500

> > NewPackage will then contain all things in TestPackage....
>>
>> Then you can redefined everything in TestPackage without affecting
>> anything in NewPackage.
>
>Actually it will, if you were to delete NewPackage, TestPackage would not
>contain anything.  Modifying 'thingys' in TestPackage would modify
>NewPackage.

Actually I investigated this a little more and discovered some 
strange things...

If you check out the results, copying the package at the package 
level cause scalars to be redefined and subroutines to created as 
references.  Where as copying the the package at the glob level 
caused the the subroutines to be redefined and the scalars to be 
references...

I wonder if this is a problem with perl?

Robert Landrum
--- results ---

# perl n.pl 1
NewPackage::x was defined
NewPackage::june was defined

$NewPackage::x was set to 100
$Test::x now contains 100

Now Deleting Test package
Test::x was deleted from the STASH
Test::june was deleted from the STASH

$NewPackage::x was set to 100
$Test::x now contains 100

Now Listing NewPackage
NewPackage::x
NewPackage::june

Now Listing Test

# perl n.pl
NewPackage:: was defined as *{Test::}

$NewPackage::x was set to 100
$Test::x now contains 1

Now Deleting Test package
Test::x was deleted from the STASH
Test::june was deleted from the STASH

$NewPackage::x was set to 100
$Test::x now contains 1

Now Listing NewPackage

Now Listing Test



 --- Contents of n.pl ---
#!/usr/bin/perl
package Test;

our $x = 1;
sub june {

}

package main;

if($ARGV[0]) {
     for my $name (keys %{Test::}) {
         *{"NewPackage::".$name} = *{"Test::".$name};
         print "NewPackage::".$name." was defined\n";
     }
     print "\n";
} else {
     *{NewPackage::} = *{Test::};
     print "NewPackage:: was defined as \*{Test::}\n";
     print "\n";
}
$NewPackage::x = 100;

print "\$NewPackage::x was set to $NewPackage::x\n";
print "\$Test::x now contains $Test::x\n";
print "\n";
print "Now Deleting Test package\n";
for my $name (keys %{Test::}) {
     delete $Test::{$name};
     print "Test::".$name." was deleted from the STASH\n";
}
print "\n";

print "\$NewPackage::x was set to $NewPackage::x\n";
print "\$Test::x now contains $Test::x\n";
print "\n";
print "Now Listing NewPackage\n";
for my $name (keys %{NewPackage::}) {
     print "NewPackage::".$name."\n";
}
print "\n";
print "Now Listing Test\n";
for my $name (keys %{Test::}) {
     print "Test::".$name."\n";
}
print "\n";

===

To: "Robert Landrum" <rlandrum@capitoladvantage.com>
From: "Stathy Touloumis" <stathy.touloumis@edventions.com>
Subject: RE: [OT] Dynamically changing current package
Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2001 11:09:38 -0600

Probably just never assumed to be used this way.  Do not see to much
documentation on using the Symbol table directly.  Here is something strange
as well.  Try copying a package and then creating an object from it . . .

Really funky

Think I might post this to the p5p list

-----------------------------------------------------
#!/usr/bin/perl -w
#

## ASSIGN TEST TO TEST2
*{ 'Test2::' } = *{ 'Test::' };

## LETS CREATE SOME OBJECTS
my $obj = Test->new;
print 'TEST PACKAGE OBJECT : ', ref($obj), "\n\n";

my $obj2 = Test2->new;
print 'TEST2 PACKAGE OBJECT : ', ref($obj2), "\n\n";

## FYI

print '- ' x 10, 'TEST', ' -' x 10, "\n";
print map { "$_ - $Test::{$_}\n" } keys %Test:: ;

print '- ' x 10, 'TEST2', ' -' x 10, "\n";
print map { "$_ - $Test2::{$_}\n" } keys %Test:: ;

BEGIN {
	package Test;

	sub new {
		my $class =shift;

		print "SETTING OBJECT TO CLASS : $class\n";

		bless my $obj = {}, $classicalness;
	}

}

===


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