TEST2::TOOLS::EXPORTS(3pm)

💅 Test2::Tools::Exports — from the Perl Programmers Reference Guide (3pm section, bestie, we're fancy)

okay so picture this: you just used a module, and now you're squinting at your namespace like "did that actually import anything or am I being gaslit rn??" That's literally the whole job of this page. Welcome to Test2::Tools::Exports. 🫶

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✨ NAME ✨

Test2::Tools::Exports — tools for validating exporters. Yes, that's it, that's the vibe. 🎀

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

These are tools for checking that symbols have actually been imported into your namespace. Like, actually actually. No cap. It's the vibe check your use statements deserve. 💅

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

use Test2::Tools::Exports

use Data::Dumper;
imported_ok qw/Dumper/;
not_imported_ok qw/dumper/;

See how one is Dumper and the other is dumper? Case matters, bestie, Perl is not doing your lowercase homework for you. 😭

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💖 EXPORTS 💖

All subs are exported by default. Every single one, no gatekeeping. 👑

🌟 imported_ok(@SYMBOLS)

Checks that the specified symbols exist in the current package. So, like, a few things it is not doing, and I need you to hear me on this:

• It will not find inherited subs.
• It will only find symbols in the current package's symbol table.
• This WILL NOT confirm that the symbols were defined outside of the package itself. (Yeah — it just proves the name is sitting there in your symbol table. Could be from anywhere. Could be from you. It's not doing a background check. 🙈)

The example, exactly as written:

imported_ok( '$scalar', '@array', '%hash', '&sub', 'also_a_sub' );

@SYMBOLS can contain any number of symbols. Each item in the array must be a string. The string should be the name of a symbol. Here's the rule:

• If a sigil is present → it will search for that specified type.
• If no sigil is specified → it will be used as a sub name.

Slay, sigil-based dispatch, we love to see it. ✨

🌟 not_imported_ok(@SYMBOLS)

The inverse queen. Checks that the specified symbols do not exist in the current package. Again:

• This will not find inherited subs.
• This will only look at symbols in the current package's symbol table.

The example, verbatim:

not_imported_ok( '$scalar', '@array', '%hash', '&sub', 'also_a_sub' );

@SYMBOLS can contain any number of symbols. Each item in the array must be a string. The string should be the name of a symbol. And the sigil rules are the same deal:

• If a sigil is present → it will search for that specified type.
• If no sigil is specified → it will be used as a sub name.

Consistency is the moment. 🧚

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💀 CAVEATS 💀 (the dramatic part, sorry)

Before Perl 5.10, it is very difficult to distinguish between a package scalar that is undeclared vs. declared and undefined. Like, genuinely cursed territory. 🕯️

Currently, imported_ok and not_imported_ok cannot see package scalars declared using our $var unless the variable has been assigned a defined value. So if it's declared-but-empty, the tools are basically squinting into the void. 😭

This will pass on recent perls, but fail on perls older than 5.10:

use Test2::Tools::Exports;

our $foo;

# Fails on perl onlder than 5.10
imported_ok(qw/$foo/);

(yes, onlder — that's the comment exactly as it appears in the docs, typo and all, I don't make the rules 🙈)

BUT. If $foo is imported from another module, or imported using use vars qw/$foo/;, then it will work on all supported perl versions. Redemption arc. 🌈

use Test2::Tools::Exports;

use vars qw/$foo/;
use Some::Module qw/$bar/;

# Always works
imported_ok(qw/$foo $bar/);

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🔥 SOURCE 🔥

The source code repository for Test2-Suite can be found at https://github.com/Test-More/test-more/. Go lurk, it's fine, we all do it. 👀

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👑 MAINTAINERS 👑

Chad Granum <exodist@cpan.org>

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⭐ AUTHORS ⭐

Chad Granum <exodist@cpan.org>

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🎀 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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okay that's the whole page, you ate that 💅 — this was Test2::...:Exports(3pm) from the Perl Programmers Reference Guide, with the footer reading perl v5.42.3 dated 2026-11-03. mwah, go write some tests bestie 💜✨