How do I query the package name of an object?

nmerriweather has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

this is quite a dumb, elementary question -- but i can't find the answer

but how do i access the name of the package that the object is?

ie:

package sample;
sub new
{
...
}

package main;
$a = new sample();
print STDERR $a->NAMEOFPACKAGE;
[download]

in the above, i'd like to print "sample", as $a is a sample i know there has to be some attribute that I can't figure out -- and that I don't have to build in an identifier method , I just can't figure it out

Comment on How do I query the package name of an object? Download Code

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Re: How do I query the package name of an object? by Corion (Patriarch) on Jan 30, 2005 at 21:57 UTC
Simply `use strict; my $foo = sample->new; print $foo;` [download] prints out the package name as well as some information uniquely identifying the object you have. If you really only want the package name, the `ref` function is what you need: `use strict; my $foo = sample->new; print ref $foo;` [download]	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: How do I query the package name of an object? by Tanktalus (Canon) on Jan 30, 2005 at 22:02 UTC
You're looking for ref. It will tell you the package without that extra information that Corion mentions. (Elementary ... perhaps. Dumb? No way.)	[reply]
Re^2: How do I query the package name of an object? by nobull (Friar) on Jan 31, 2005 at 08:04 UTC
Most of the time `ref()` will do but here is also `blessed()` in Scalar::Util that does there same as `ref()` for objects but returns `undef` for references to unblessed things. Condider also if you'd be better off using `UNIVERSAL::isa` which given an object and a package tells you if the object can be treated as being of the class defined by that package (including any subclasses).	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: How do I query the package name of an object? by Frantz (Monk) on Jan 30, 2005 at 22:01 UTC
In perl objects are references. you can use ref function (see perldoc -f ref). `print STDERR ref($a);` [download]	[reply] [d/l]
Re: How do I query the package name of an object? by nmerriweather (Friar) on Jan 30, 2005 at 22:07 UTC
elementary and dumb! I never had to do this before `ref $this` [download] is exactly what i needed to know. much thanks to all who posted above and below.	[reply] [d/l]
Re: How do I query the package name of an object? by borisz (Canon) on Jan 30, 2005 at 22:08 UTC
Use ref or somewhat complicated: `package sample; sub new { bless {}, shift } package main; my $a = sample->new; use B; print B::class($a);` [download] Boris	[reply] [d/l]
Re^2: How do I query the package name of an object? by Tanktalus (Canon) on Jan 30, 2005 at 22:12 UTC
Update: Remove incorrect reading of Boris' note.	[reply]
Re^3: How do I query the package name of an object? by borisz (Canon) on Jan 30, 2005 at 22:16 UTC
I just point another way to do it, for fun. I recommend ref for sure. I can not see anything pedantic there. I think you misread my post. Boris	[reply]
Re^4: How do I query the package name of an object? by Tanktalus (Canon) on Jan 30, 2005 at 22:36 UTC