One option is to patch Data::Dumper on the fly. I did this in IPC::SharedCache so I could make my release before a bug in IPC::ShareLite was released. Something like (untested): 

  no warnings 'redefine';
  if ($Data::Dumper::VERSION < NEXT_VERSION) {
    *Data::Dumper::some_method = 
        sub {
           # replacement code here
        };
  }

[download]

The upside here is that only users of your module will see the new Data::Dumper behavior, and you can document it in your module. The downside is that if Data::Dumper doesn't get your patch by NEXT_VERSION then you'll need to change your module to take it working.

All that said, I think you should probably take a step back here. Are you sure you need to change Data::Dumper? It's an old and rather stable module. If it doesn't do what you want maybe you need to sub-class it or replace it with something more suited to your needs.

-sam

In reply to Re: socio-political guidance sought by samtregar
in thread socio-political guidance sought by Anonymous Monk

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