You are correct that Exporter is used to allow users to selectively import functions from a module. That said, you don't need to do that with an OO module. The object itself effectively does that when it is called on a method. There is no need to export (or make available for export) an OO method.

There is no need to export a function, though. Any sub-routine in a module can be called directly by means of using the package name, i.e. My::Package::some_function{}. This form of usage is becoming more popular that taking a chance on namespace collisions by exporting some_function().

It is the same with OO packages. A blessed object can call any method defined in the package without it being exported first: $obj->some_function() is effectively making a call to My::Package::some_function( $obj ) (but a blessed object has a few more properties, of course.)

There are things that can be done to essentially hide sub-routines from being available that way, but that is a different topic. :)

You must always remember that the primary goal is to drain the swamp even when you are hip-deep in alligators.

In reply to Re^3: Exporter/@ISA confusion by boftx
in thread Exporter/@ISA confusion by qhen

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.