You are on the right path. When you have a bunch of if/else statements on a single variable, it is sometimes appropriate to ask if polymorphism would help.

if ($act eq 'open_file'){ 
    #stuff;
}
elsif ( $act eq 'open_stuff') {
    # stuff; 
} 
elsif ( $act eq 'speak' ) { 
    # stuff;
}
[download]

The problem with the above code is that it's more likely to have a bug (what if you forget to add a new action?) and it can be cumbersome to read. How about creating a factory that returns an object that's been blessed into the appropriate class, based upon the value of $act?

package My::Actions;
use Carp;

sub factory {
  my ($class, $action) = @_;
  my %actions = (
    open_file  => 'My::Actions::OpenFile',
    open_stuff => 'My::Actions::OpenStuff',
    speak      => 'My::Actions::Speak'
  );
  croak "Unknown action ($action)" unless exists $actions{$action};
  my $class = $actions{$action};
  return $class->new;  
}

sub do_stuff {
  my $class = shift;
  croak "Class ($class) did not implement do_stuff()";
}
[download]

In the above snippet, all of the classes in the %actions hash inherit from My::Actions and should have a do_stuff() method (see snippet below).

use My::Actions;
my $object = My::Actions->factory($act);
$object->do_stuff;
[download]

In the above code, the do_stuff() method will croak if you forgot to create it, otherwise your generated objects can now do what you want without the cumbersome if/else logic. Further, by merely creating a new class when a new action is required (and adding it to the factory hash), your main code does not need to change.

The only caveat that I have is that I you need to analyze your code to figure out if a factory pattern is warranted and fits your object model. Factories can be fun and solve thorny problems. They can also create a confusing mess when not used correctly.

... and in retrospect, I kind of think I wasn't quite answering your question ...

Cheers,
Ovid

New address of my CGI Course.
Silence is Evil (feel free to copy and distribute widely - note copyright text)

---

---

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! —

• How do I compose an effective node title?
• How do I post a question effectively?
• Markup in the Monastery

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:
	&		&
	<		&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.