sub AUTOLOAD {

	my $self = shift;

	my $function = our $AUTOLOAD;
	$function =~ /::DESTROY/ && return;  #ignore the DESTROY call
	$function =~ s/.*:://;

	if(@_) {
		my $new_value = shift;
		if($new_value ne $self->{$function}) {
			$self->{$function} = $new_value;
			#mark this object as changed unless we are modifying the
			#dirty bit itself
			$self->{dirty} = 1 if $function ne 'dirty';
		}
	}

	return $self->{$function};

}