Building on your previous suggestion, now I'm thinking I could do something like this:

 $AUTOLOAD  =~ /.*::(get|bundle)(_next)*(_\w+)_files*$/
[download]

The bundle mode would also create an object that's just a list of files except you would perform operations on. So instead of:

while ($s->get_next_blah_file) {
  $s->delete($s->selected_file);
}
[download]

my $bundle = $s->bundle_blah_files;
$bundle->delete;
[download]

The key motivation for independent iterator objects is that they allow the program to have multiple iterators even on the same category by removing the need for the File::Collector object to track the iterators.

These "bundles" look a lot like independent iterators, and you could easily introduce an ->all method that returns a special object like so:

(in File::Collector::Iterator)

sub all {
  my $self = shift;
  bless \ $self, 'File::Collector::Iterator::All';
}

{
  package File::Collector::Iterator::All;

  sub AUTOLOAD {
    our $AUTOLOAD;
    my $self = shift;

    $$self->$AUTOLOAD(@_) while ($$self->next_file);
  }
}
[download]

This allows subclasses of File::Collector::Iterator to define their own "bundle actions" invokable as $iterator->all->$action. For example, a subclass that adds a delete action could contain simply:

sub delete { unlink (shift)->selected_file }
[download]

"The key motivation for independent iterator objects is that they allow the program to have multiple iterators even on the same category by removing the need for the File::Collector object to track the iterators."

Yes, but there is a big convenience to having File::Collector track the iterators, isn't there? I can call $s->selected_file from anywhere and refer to the same file from any of the various class methods. I don't have to worry about passing the iterator objects around. Or am I missing something?

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I'll give a concrete example to make clear what I mean:

package FileParser;

use parent qw ( Dondley::WestfieldVote::FileCollector );

sub get_data {
  my $s = shift;
  return $s->get_obj_prop('data', 'raw_data', $_[0]);
}

package FileCollector;

sub get_obj_prop {
  my $s    = shift;
  my $obj  = shift;
  my $prop = shift;
  my $file = shift || $s->selected_file;  # grabs the current file in 
+iterator

  if (!$prop || !$obj || !$file) {
    $s->_croak ("Missing arguments to get_obj_prop method"
      . ' at ' .  (caller(0))[1] . ', line ' . (caller(0))[2] );
  }

  my $o = $obj . '_obj';
  my $object = $s->{_files}{$file}{$o};
  my $attr = "_$prop";
  if (! exists $object->{$attr} ) {
    $s->croak ("Non-existent $obj object attribute requested: '$prop'"
      . ' at ' .  (caller(0))[1] . ', line ' . (caller(0))[2] );
  }
  my $value = $object->{$attr};
  if (ref $value eq 'ARRAY') {
    return @$value;
  } else {
    return $value;
  }
}

package Data.pm

sub new {
  my $class = shift;
  my $data  = shift;

  my $obj   = bless {
    _raw_data            => $data, # raw Spreadsheet::Read object
    _stripped_data       => undef,
    _num_rows            => undef,
    _cols                => undef,
    _num_cols            => undef,
    _non_blank_cols      => undef,
    _first_row           => undef,
  }, $class;

  return $obj;
}

# And finally, in a file:

my $fp = FileParser->new('some/dir');
while ($fp->next_parseable_file) {
  my $data = $fp->get_data;
}
[download]

This seems super convenient. If I'm not using an iterator, I can just pass a file to the get_data() method.

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That code for using the bundle did not work but this did:

{
  package File::Collector::Iterator::All;
  sub AUTOLOAD {
    our $AUTOLOAD;
    my $self = shift;
    my @method = split /::/, $AUTOLOAD;
    my $method = pop @method;
    $$self->$method(@_) while ($$self->next);
  }
}
[download]

$PM = "Perl Monk's";
$MCF = "Most Clueless Friar Abbot Bishop Pontiff Deacon Curate Priest Vicar";
$nysus = $PM . ' ' . $MCF;
Click here if you love Perl Monks