TEST2::UTIL::REF(3perl)

💖 Test2::Util::Ref 💖

okay bestie, welcome to Test2::Util::Ref, the little Perl module that is literally just tools for inspecting or manipulating references. that's it, that's the whole thing. you are so in the right place. 🎀

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

So like, these subs? They're the ones Test2::Tools leans on to inspect, render, or manipulate references. supporting cast energy but make it iconic. ✨

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✨ EXPORTS ✨

okay so every single export in here is optional. nothing just shows up in your namespace uninvited. you have to specify the subs you want to import. no freeloaders. 💅

• $type = rtype($ref) — this is the glow-up that normalizes between Scalar::Util::reftype() and ref(). it always hands you back a string, no cap.
  • it returns 'REGEXP' for regex types 👑
  • it returns '' for non-refs (empty string, not undef, we said what we said)
  • otherwise it returns whatever Scalar::Util::reftype() returns. fr fr.
• $addr_str = render_ref($ref) — always returns a string. for unblessed references it gives you something like "SCALAR(0x...)". for blessed references it gives you "My::Thing=SCALAR(0x...)". 🌈
  • the only difference between this and $add_str = "$thing" is that this one ignores any overloading, so it is always, guaranteed, no-matter-what the ref address. no sneaky overload hijacking your stringification. 💀

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🔥 SOURCE 🔥

the source code repository for Test2-Suite lives right here, go be nosy:

https://github.com/Test-More/test-more/

👑 MAINTAINERS 👑

• Chad Granum <exodist@cpan.org>

🦋 AUTHORS 🦋

• Chad Granum <exodist@cpan.org>
• Kent Fredric <kentnl@cpan.org>

💜 COPYRIGHT 💜

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 http://dev.perl.org/licenses/

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bestie you made it to the end, obsessed with you. this page slayed its way out as perl v5.44.0, dated 2026-10-17, and yeah, it's Test2::Util::Ref(3perl). periodt. 🎀💖✨