Debugging AutoLoader

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

Fellow monks,

I have a situation where AutoLoader is getting called into play due to inheritance (HTML::FillInForm -> HTML::Parser -> DynaLoader). This eventually causes an infinite loop of the following error message:

Use of inherited AUTOLOAD for non-method HTML::FillInForm::DESTROY() is deprecated at /usr/local/lib/perl5/5.8.6/AutoLoader.pm line 116 during global destruction.

To add to the problem, the error only shows up when using my code in conjunction with PAR. If I add 'no AutoLoader;' to HTML::FillInForm, the error goes away. I've filed a bug report, but it looks like Autrijus has his hands full at the moment.

So, I turn to you to see if you can help me figure out how the DESTROY subroutine is getting inherited by HTML::FillInForm. Since the problem only occurs in conjunction with PAR, I presume some of the magic happening in there is causing problems. However, I've never seen this problem before and there are no other reported instances that I could find.

Thanks for any suggestions,
William

Comment on Debugging AutoLoader

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Re: Debugging AutoLoader by samtregar (Abbot) on Feb 03, 2005 at 21:14 UTC
I don't know how to really solve your problem but you might try sticking an empty DESTROY in HTML::FillInForm: `sub DESTROY {}` That should stop it from using the inherited AUTOLOAD. -sam	[reply] [d/l]
Re^2: Debugging AutoLoader by knowmad (Monk) on Feb 03, 2005 at 23:45 UTC
Thanks for the suggestion Sam. I suppose adding an emtpy sub is better than stomping all over the inheritance just in case there is a purpose for it down at the level of HTML::FillInForm. Good news! It works.	[reply]