TEST2::UTIL::HASHBASE(3perl)

📦
version 5.44.0 · 14 versions
, in arch rolling

💖 Test2::Util::HashBase 💖

okay bestie so this is Test2::Util::HashBase, from the Perl Programmers Reference Guide ✨ — aka the little module that builds whole hash-based classes for you while you sit there looking cute. no cap.

🌸 NAME 🌸

Test2::Util::HashBase — Build hash based classes. periodt 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

so first, a class, right? here's the whole vibe:

package My::Class;
use strict;
use warnings;

# Generate 3 accessors
use Test2::Util::HashBase qw/foo -bar ^baz <bat >ban +boo/;

# Chance to initialize defaults
sub init {
    my $self = shift;    # No other args
    $self->{+FOO} ||= "foo";
    $self->{+BAR} ||= "bar";
    $self->{+BAZ} ||= "baz";
    $self->{+BAT} ||= "bat";
    $self->{+BAN} ||= "ban";
    $self->{+BOO} ||= "boo";
}

sub print {
    print join ", " => map { $self->{$_} } FOO, BAR, BAZ, BAT, BAN, BOO;
}

then subclass it 🦋

package My::Subclass;
use strict;
use warnings;

# Note, you should subclass before loading HashBase.
use base 'My::Class';
use Test2::Util::HashBase qw/bub/;

sub init {
    my $self = shift;

    # We get the constants from the base class for free.
    $self->{+FOO} ||= 'SubFoo';
    $self->{+BUB} ||= 'bub';

    $self->SUPER::init();
}

and now, use it 🔥

package main;
use strict;
use warnings;
use My::Class;

# These are all functionally identical
my $one   = My::Class->new(foo => 'MyFoo', bar => 'MyBar');
my $two   = My::Class->new({foo => 'MyFoo', bar => 'MyBar'});
my $three = My::Class->new(['MyFoo', 'MyBar']);

# Readers!
my $foo = $one->foo;    # 'MyFoo'
my $bar = $one->bar;    # 'MyBar'
my $baz = $one->baz;    # Defaulted to: 'baz'
my $bat = $one->bat;    # Defaulted to: 'bat'
# '>ban' means setter only, no reader
# '+boo' means no setter or reader, just the BOO constant

# Setters!
$one->set_foo('A Foo');

#'-bar' means read-only, so the setter will throw an exception (but is defined).
$one->set_bar('A bar');

# '^baz' means deprecated setter, this will warn about the setter being
# deprecated.
$one->set_baz('A Baz');

# '<bat' means no setter defined at all
# '+boo' means no setter or reader, just the BOO constant

$one->{+FOO} = 'xxx';

🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

this package is literally here to generate classes based on hashrefs. use it and you get a new() method plus all the accessors you asked for, no assembly required 💅. the accessors it generates are getters, and set_ACCESSOR setters get generated for you too. you also get constants for each accessor (ALL CAPS, iconic) which give you back the key into the hash for that accessor. single inheritance is supported too, obviously. periodt.

📦 THIS IS A BUNDLED COPY OF HASHBASE 📦

okay so heads up: this is a bundled copy of Object::HashBase. this file was generated using the /home/exodist/perl5/perlbrew/perls/main/bin/hashbase_inc.pl script. iykyk 🫶

👑 METHODS 👑

💜 PROVIDED BY HASH BASE 💜

  • $it = $class->new(%PAIRS)
  • $it = $class->new(\%PAIRS)
  • $it = $class->new(\@ORDERED_VALUES) — Create a new instance. ✨

so real talk about new():

HashBase will not export new() if there is already a new() method in your packages inheritance chain. not me being considerate 😌

if you don't want this method you can define your own — you just have to declare it before loading Test2::Util::HashBase.

package My::Package;

# predeclare new() so that HashBase does not give us one.
sub new;

use Test2::Util::HashBase qw/foo bar baz/;

# Now we define our own new method.
sub new { ... }

this makes it so that HashBase sees that you have your own new() method. alternatively you can define the method before loading HashBase instead of just declaring it, but that scatters your use statements. 😭

the most common way to create an object is to pass in key/value pairs where each key is an attribute and each value is what you want assigned to that attribute. no checking is done to verify the attributes or values are valid — you may do that in init() if desired. do with that what you will 💅

if you would like, you can pass in a hashref instead of pairs. when you do so the hashref will be copied, and the copy will be returned blessed as an object. there is no way to ask HashBase to bless a specific hashref. fr fr.

in some cases an object may only have 1 or 2 attributes, in which case a hashref may be too verbose for your liking. in these cases you can pass in an arrayref with only values. the values will be assigned to attributes in the order the attributes were listed. when there is inheritance involved the attributes from parent classes will come before subclasses. slay 🌈

🪝 HOOKS 🪝

  • $self->init() — this gives you the chance to set some default values to your fields. the only argument is $self with its indexes already set from the constructor. ✨
Note: Test2::Util::HashBase checks for an init using $class->can('init') during construction. It DOES NOT call can() on the created object. also note that the result of the check is cached, it is only ever checked once, the first time an instance of your class is created. this means that adding an init() method AFTER the first construction will result in it being ignored. 💀 so don't do that.

🦋 ACCESSORS 🦋

💖 READ/WRITE 💖

to generate accessors you list them when using the module:

use Test2::Util::HashBase qw/foo/;

this will generate the following subs in your namespace, bestie:

  • foo() — Getter, used to get the value of the "foo" field.
  • set_foo() — Setter, used to set the value of the "foo" field.
  • FOO() — Constant, returns the field "foo"'s key into the class hashref. Subclasses will also get this function as a constant, not simply a method, that means it is copied into the subclass namespace.

the main reason for using these constants is to help avoid spelling mistakes and similar typos. it will not help you if you forget to prefix the + though. 🙈 stay vigilant.

💅 READ ONLY 💅

use Test2::Util::HashBase qw/-foo/;
  • set_foo() — Throws an exception telling you the attribute is read-only. this is exported to override any active setters for the attribute in a parent class. so like, it's defined, but it's gonna yell at you. 🌸

🌈 DEPRECATED SETTER 🌈

use Test2::Util::HashBase qw/^foo/;
  • set_foo() — this will set the value, but it will also warn you that the method is deprecated. it works, it's just giving you a heads up 🫶

⭐ NO SETTER ⭐

use Test2::Util::HashBase qw/<foo/;

Only gives you a reader, no set_foo method is defined at all. 🚫

🎀 NO READER 🎀

use Test2::Util::HashBase qw/>foo/;

Only gives you a write (set_foo), no foo method is defined at all. 🚫

🔥 CONSTANT ONLY 🔥

use Test2::Util::HashBase qw/+foo/;

This does not create any methods for you, it just adds the FOO constant. minimalism, we love her 💅

🧚 SUBCLASSING 🧚

you can subclass an existing HashBase class. iconic behaviour.

use base 'Another::HashBase::Class';
use Test2::Util::HashBase qw/foo bar baz/;

The base class is added to @ISA for you, and all constants from base classes are added to subclasses automatically. free stuff, we love to see it ✨

💜 GETTING A LIST OF ATTRIBUTES FOR A CLASS 💜

Test2::Util::HashBase provides a function for retrieving a list of attributes for an Test2::Util::HashBase class.

  • @list = Test2::Util::HashBase::attr_list($class)
  • @list = $class->Test2::Util::HashBase::attr_list()

either form above will work. this will return a list of attributes defined on the object. this list is returned in the attribute definition order, parent class attributes are listed before subclass attributes. duplicate attributes will be removed before the list is returned. no dupes allowed 🚫

Note: this list is used in the $class->new(\@ARRAY) constructor to determine the attribute to which each value will be paired.

🌟 SOURCE 🌟

The source code repository for HashBase can be found at <https://github.com/Test-More/HashBase/>. go peek, bestie 🫶

👑 MAINTAINERS 👑

Chad Granum <exodist@cpan.org>

🌸 AUTHORS 🌸

Chad Granum <exodist@cpan.org>

Copyright Chad Granum <exodist@cpan.org>.

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

See <https://dev.perl.org/licenses/>

and that's a wrap, bestie 🎀 this was perl v5.44.0, dated 2026-10-17, from the Test2::Util::HashBase era of the Perl Programmers Reference Guide. go build some classes, you're gonna eat 💅✨

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