Re: how to avoid mis-spelling hash keys?

Another tack is to wrap the attributes in accessor methods. E.g,

sub get_attr { $_[0]->{'attr'} }
sub set_attr { $_[0]->{'attr'} = $_[1] }
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Now if you misspell an attribute name, it gives you a run-time error.

Some people hate this approach and call it monkey code, I like it because it documents the object's interface, and lets you change the internal implementation away from a hash if you like. If you really hate writing accessors, consider Class::MethodMaker.

Whatever else, Damian Conway's book (cited above) is invaluable for OO Perl.

Comment on Re: how to avoid mis-spelling hash keys? Download Code

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Re: Re: how to avoid mis-spelling hash keys? by crouchingpenguin (Priest) on Jan 06, 2003 at 16:14 UTC
I like to use AUTOLOAD for my accessors like: sub AUTOLOAD { my $self = shift; return unless ref($self); # lets find out what the mysterious missing func is my ($attribute) = $AUTOLOAD =~ m/.::(.)/; # this is our psuedo get/set # we can make this as simple or complex as we want if( my $value = shift ){ ### we have an argument # if attribute exists # this is our sort of rudimentary access control # so we can't create arbitrary attributes if( exists $self->{$attribute} ){ $self->{$attribute} = $value; }elsif( exists $self->{ lc($attribute) } ){ # double check caller didn't mean lower case $self->{ lc($attribute) } = $value; }else{ # we can put assignment code here if # we want to be able to automatically # create object attributes on the fly } # here is a good place to call your commit() # or write() method if applicable $self->write(); }else{ # must be an get type call return $self->{$attribute} if exists $self->{$attribute}; return $self->{lc($attribute)} if exists $self->{lc($attribute)}; }# end if/elsif/else value = shift } [download] Update: BrentDax is spot on "Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic."	[reply] [d/l]
Re(3): how to avoid mis-spelling hash keys? by BrentDax (Hermit) on Jan 06, 2003 at 23:01 UTC
`if( $self->{$attribute} ){` That will fail if `$self->{$attribute}` is set to zero, the empty string, or `undef`. Perhaps this would work better: `if(exists $self->{$attribute}) {` =cut --Brent Dax There is no sig.	[reply] [d/l] [select]