sub new {

    my $class_or_objref = shift;

    my $ref_class = ref $class_or_objref;  # true if an object reference

    my $object_reference;

    if ($ref_class) {
        # build object reference from existing object attributes
        # and supplied @_ arguments.
        }
    else {
        # build object reference for class from supplied @_ arguments.
        }

    return $object_reference;

    }