MAGE::...urement(3pm)

💖 MAGE::...urement(3pm) — a.k.a. Bio::MAGE::Measurement 💖

okay bestie, welcome to the User Contributed Perl Documentation glow-up of MAGE::...urement(3pm) ✨ (yes the title is literally truncated like that, she's mysterious, she's giving main character energy 💅). This is the container module for the Measurement classes in the MAGE package. Let's get into it 🫶

---

✨ NAME ✨

Bio::MAGE::Measurement — Container module for classes in the MAGE package: Measurement

---

🌈 SYNOPSIS 🌈

use Bio::MAGE::Measurement;

---

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So like, this is a package module that encapsulates a whole bunch of classes in the Bio::MAGE hierarchy. These classes all belong to the Measurement package of the MAGE-OM object model. No cap, that's the whole vibe. 💫

---

👑 CLASSES 👑

The Bio::MAGE::Measurement module contains the following Bio::MAGE classes:

• Measurement
• Unit
• TimeUnit
• DistanceUnit
• TemperatureUnit
• QuantityUnit
• MassUnit
• VolumeUnit
• ConcentrationUnit

look at her, a whole squad 🎀

---

💅 CLASS METHODS 💅

• @class_list = Bio::MAGE::Measurement::classes(); — this method returns a list of non-fully qualified class names (i.e. they do not have 'Bio::MAGE::' as a prefix) in this package. ✨
• $obj = class->new(%parameters) — the new() method is the class constructor. 🐣
  • Parameters: if given a list of name/value parameters, the corresponding slots, attributes, or associations will have their initial values set by the constructor.
  • Return value: it returns a reference to an object of the class.
  • Side effects: it invokes the initialize() method if it is defined by the class.
• @names = class->get_slot_names() — the get_slot_names() method is used to retrieve the name of all slots defined in a given class. 🗂️
  • > NOTE: the list of names does not include attribute or association names. iykyk
  • Return value: a list of the names of all slots defined for this class.
  • Side effects: none
• @name_list = get_attribute_names() — returns the list of attribute data members for this class. 🌸
• @name_list = get_association_names() — returns the list of association data members for this class. 🔗
• @class_list = get_superclasses() — returns the list of superclasses for this class. ⬆️
• @class_list = get_subclasses() — returns the list of subclasses for this class. ⬇️
• $name = class_name() — returns the full class name for this class. 🏷️
• $package_name = package_name() — returns the base package name (i.e. no 'namespace::') of the package that contains this class. 📦
• %assns = associations() — returns the association meta-information in a hash where the keys are the association names and the values are "Association" objects that provide the meta-information for the association. 🔍

---

🧚 INSTANCE METHODS 🧚

• $obj_copy = $obj->new() — when invoked with an existing object reference and not a class name, the new() method acts as a copy constructor — with the new object's initial values set to be those of the existing object. twinsies 💕
  • Parameters: no input parameters are used in the copy constructor, the initial values are taken directly from the object to be copied.
  • Return value: it returns a reference to an object of the class.
  • Side effects: it invokes the initialize() method if it is defined by the class.
• $obj->set_slots(%parameters) and $obj->set_slots(\@name_list, \@value_list) — the set_slots() method is used to set a number of slots at the same time. It has two different invocation methods: the first takes a named parameter list, and the second takes two array references. 🎛️
  • Return value: none
  • Side effects: will call croak() if a slot_name is used that the class does not define. 💀
• @obj_list = $obj->get_slots(@name_list) — the get_slots() method is used to get the values of a number of slots at the same time. 🎣
  • Return value: a list of instance objects
  • Side effects: none
• $val = $obj->set_slot($name,$val) — the set_slot() method sets the slot $name to the value $val. ✍️
  • Return value: the new value of the slot, i.e. $val
  • Side effects: none
• $val = $obj->get_slot($name) — the get_slot() method is used to get the values of a number of slots at the same time. 👀
  • Return value: a single slot value, or undef if the slot has not been initialized.
  • Side effects: none
• $val = $measurement->xml_lists() and $inval = $measurement->xml_lists($inval) — this is the unified setter/getter method for the xml_lists slot. 🪄
  • If $inval is specified, the setter method is invoked; with no parameters, the getter method is invoked.
  • Input parameters: the optional $inval will invoke the setter method.
  • Return value: for both setter and getter, the current value of the xml_lists slot
  • Side effects: none
  • Exceptions: none
• $val = $measurement->tagname() and $inval = $measurement->tagname($inval) — this is the unified setter/getter method for the tagname slot. 🏷️
  • If $inval is specified, the setter method is invoked; with no parameters, the getter method is invoked.
  • Input parameters: the optional $inval will invoke the setter method.
  • Return value: for both setter and getter, the current value of the tagname slot
  • Side effects: none
  • Exceptions: none
• $measurement->obj2xml($writer) — write out this object, and all sub-objects, as XML using the supplied $writer to actually do the XML formatting. 📝
  • Input parameters: $writer must be an XML writer, e.g. an instance of Bio::MAGE::XML::Writer. It must have methods: write_start_tag(), write_end_tag(), and obj2xml().
  • Return value: none
  • Side effects: all writing is delegated to the $writer — its write_start_tag() and write_end_tag() methods are invoked with the appropriate data, and all class sub-objects of the Bio::MAGE::Measurement instance will have their obj2xml() methods invoked in turn. By allowing the $writer to do the actual formatting of the output XML, it enables the user to precisely control the format. 💯
  • Exceptions: will call croak() if no identifier has been set for the Bio::MAGE::Measurement instance. 😭
• $measurement->register($obj) — store an object for later writing as XML. 📥
  • Input parameters: object to be added to the list of registered objects.
  • Return value: none
  • Side effects: if $obj needs to be stored by this class, a reference will be stored in the correct XML list for this class.
  • Exceptions: none

---

🌸 SLOTS, ATTRIBUTES, AND ASSOCIATIONS 🌸

in the Perl implementation of MAGE-OM classes, there are three types of class data members: "slots", "attributes", and "associations". let's break it down bestie 🫶

🎀 SLOTS 🎀

This API uses the term "slot" to indicate a data member of the class that was not present in the UML model and is used for mainly internal purposes — use only if you understand the inner workings of the API. Most often slots are used by generic methods such as those in the XML writing and reading classes. 🔧

Slots are implemented using unified getter/setter methods:

• $var = $obj->slot_name(); — retrieves the current value of the slot. 🔍
• $new_var = $obj->slot_name($new_var); — store $new_var in the slot — the return value is also $new_var. ✨
• @names = $obj->get_slot_names() — returns the list of all slots in the class. 📋

DATA CHECKING: no data type checking is made for these methods. 🙈

🦋 ATTRIBUTES AND ASSOCIATIONS 🦋

The terms "attribute" and "association" indicate data members of the class that were specified directly from the UML model. 📐

In the Perl implementation of MAGE-OM classes, association and attribute accessors are implemented using three separate methods:

• get* — retrieves the current value. 🎣
  • > NOTE: for associations, if the association has list cardinality, an array reference is returned.
  • DATA CHECKING: ensure that no argument is provided.
• set* — sets the current value, replacing any existing value. 🔁
  • > NOTE: for associations, if the association has list cardinality, the argument must be an array reference. Because of this, you probably should be using the add* methods. (fr fr, just use add*)
  • DATA CHECKING: for attributes, ensure that a single value is provided as the argument. For associations, if the association has list cardinality, ensure that the argument is a reference to an array of instances of the correct MAGE-OM class, otherwise ensure that there is a single argument of the correct MAGE-OM class.
• add* — appends a list of objects to any values that may already be stored in the association. ➕
  • > NOTE: only present in associations with list cardinality.
  • DATA CHECKING: ensure that all arguments are of the correct MAGE-OM class.

🧚 GENERIC METHODS 🧚

The unified base class of all MAGE-OM classes, Bio::MAGE::Base, provides a set of generic methods that will operate on slots, attributes, and associations: 🌈

$val = $obj->get_slot($name)
\@list_ref = $obj->get_slots(@name_list);
$val = $obj->set_slot($name,$val)
$obj->set_slots(%parameters)
$obj->set_slots(\@name_list, \@value_list)

See elsewhere in this page for a detailed description of these methods. 👀

---

💀 BUGS 💀

Please send bug reports to the project mailing list: (mged-mage 'at' lists 'dot' sf 'dot' net) 📧

---

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Jason E. Stewart (jasons 'at' cpan 'dot' org) 🫶

---

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

perl(1).

---

and that's the whole page, bestie, you ate that 💅✨ this icon was brought to you by perl v5.32.0, dated 2020-11-27, filed under the ever-mysterious MAGE::...urement(3pm) — slay, bye 🎀🦋💖