1. Search for the function my_func in MyModule. If found, call it. Else:
2. Search for the function my_func in any of the packages inherited by MyModule. This is done in a depth-first order. If a function is found, call it. Else:
3. Search for the function my_func in the UNIVERSAL package. If found, call it. Else:
4. Search for the function AUTOLOAD in MyModule. If found, call it. Else:
5. Search for the function AUTOLOAD in any of the packages inherited by MyModule. This is done in a depth-first order. If an AUTOLOAD function is found, call it. Else:
6. Search for the function AUTOLOAD in the UNIVERSAL package. If found, call it. Else:
7. Produce a fatal (but trappable) error about a function not found.

Abigail

That describes a method call (whether class or instance), but not a non-method function call. For these, steps 2 and 3 are skipped. That steps 5 and 6 happen for non-method calls is a historical oddity, and is deprecated (hence the warning).

Update: the perldiag entry for the warning tells how to eliminate it if your code was intentionally relying on the deprecated behaviour: *AUTOLOAD = \&BaseClass::AUTOLOAD; (in this case, BaseClass would be DynaLoader.)   I would guess that more commonly, the warning is an indication of another problem, perhaps a missing use statement or misspelled function name.

Well, it might be helpful to tell the poster how to eliminate the warning.... Since the module in question is a Exporter and DynaLoader, and only the latter has an autoload method, adding the following to the module should work (untested in this form, slightly modified from working code in a different context):

sub AUTOLOAD
{
  my $name = our $AUTOLOAD;
  $name =~ s/.*:://;  # lose package name
  my $target = "DynaLoader::$name";
  goto &$target;
}
[download]

This will get called in Abigail-II's step 4, preventing the warning from step 5.

Here is the relevant chunk from perldiag, in case you didn't think/know to look there:

Use of inherited AUTOLOAD for non-method %s() is deprecated

           (D deprecated) As an (ahem) accidental feature,
           "AUTOLOAD" subroutines are looked up as methods (using
           the "@ISA" hierarchy) even when the subroutines to be
           autoloaded were called as plain functions (e.g.
           "Foo::bar()"), not as methods (e.g. "Foo->bar()" or
           "$obj->bar()").

           This bug will be rectified in future by using method
           lookup only for methods' "AUTOLOAD"s.  However, there
           is a significant base of existing code that may be
           using the old behavior.  So, as an interim step, Perl
           currently issues an optional warning when non-methods
           use inherited "AUTOLOAD"s.

           The simple rule is:  Inheritance will not work when
           autoloading non-methods.  The simple fix for old code
           is:  In any module that used to depend on inheriting
           "AUTOLOAD" for non-methods from a base class named
           "BaseClass", execute "*AUTOLOAD = \&BaseClass::AUTOLOAD"
           during startup.

           In code that currently says "use AutoLoader; @ISA =
           qw(AutoLoader);" you should remove AutoLoader from
           @ISA and change "use AutoLoader;" to "use AutoLoader
           'AUTOLOAD';".

I didn't take the time/effort to read it and fully understand it, but I hope it helps nonetheless.

DynaLoader uses AUTOLOAD, so I guess the error is in code you didn't show...

tom@margo perl5 $ find . -name Dyna\*.pm
./5.8.3/i686-linux/DynaLoader.pm
tom@margo perl5 $ head -n 25 ./5.8.3/i686-linux/DynaLoader.pm | tail -
+n 15
# Tim.Bunce@ig.co.uk, August 1994

use vars qw($VERSION *AUTOLOAD);

$VERSION = '1.04';      # avoid typo warning

require AutoLoader;
*AUTOLOAD = \&AutoLoader::AUTOLOAD;

use Config;
[download]

From perldiag:

Use of inherited AUTOLOAD for non-method %s() is deprecated

(D deprecated) As an (ahem) accidental feature, "AUTOLOAD" subroutines are looked up as methods (using the @ISA hierarchy) even when the subroutines to be autoloaded were called as plain functions (e.g. "Foo::bar()"), not as methods (e.g. "Foo->bar()" or"$obj->bar()").

This bug will be rectified in future by using method lookup only for methods' "AUTOLOAD"s. However, there is a significant base of existing code that may be using the old behavior. So, as an interim step, Perl currently issues an optional warning when non-methods use inherited "AUTOLOAD"s.

The simple rule is: Inheritance will not work when autoloading non-methods. The simple fix for old code is: In any module that used to depend on inheriting "AUTOLOAD" for non-methods from a base class named "BaseClass", execute "*AUTOLOAD = \&BaseClass::AUTOLOAD" during startup.

In code that currently says "use AutoLoader; @ISA = qw(AutoLoader);" you should remove AutoLoader from @ISA and change "use AutoLoader;" to "use AutoLoader 'AUTOLOAD';".

What's wrong with cutting and pasting a relevant portion of the documentation that might help the OP? Even though I didn't explain it, I think it can still be quite helpful. Maybe I'm wrong, but I consider perldiag one of the oft-overlooked parts of the Perl documentation, therefore I don't assume someone has looked there when they post something like 'Why am I getting this error?' And why should I just post 'see perldoc perldiag' when I can just as easily snip the relevant chunk of a lengthy (3910 lines on my box) perldoc? Is PM screen real-estate so precious?

I --'ed your post

--
edan (formerly known as 3dan)

You should almost always post `see perldoc perldiag` instead of cutting and pasting. You're reminding the person that they should be looking in the documentation for their answers (and here is where your current answer is).

This copy-paste was usefull for me