Can locate when called directly, but can't when in @ISA

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

Hi there. I have two package files: Cloud.pm and Lens.pm.

Both are located in the same directory, and I'm using "use lib" to point to that directory. Lens.pm contains the code

use lib "...module_directory...";
$VERSION = 0.01;
@ISA = qw(Exporter Cloud);
[download]

My main program contains the same use lib line. When I "use Cloud" from the program it finds it just fine, but when I "use Lens" I get: Can't locate package Cloud for @Lens::ISA at... There must be something obvious that I'm missing. Thinking the "use lib" line wasn't doing what I thought it was, I've also tried moving the files to my current directory so they'd be in @INC, but that didn't fix it.

I'm losing my hair fast enough as it is without this making me pull it out :)

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Re: Can locate when called directly, but can't when in @ISA by Gilimanjaro (Hermit) on Oct 05, 2007 at 11:44 UTC
@ISA doesn't magically load the classes you're inheriting from. The child class Lens still needs to load (use) the parent class Cloud. Also, you may want to 'use strict' and 'use warnings' and prefix @ISA with 'our'. You can do both by using the 'base' pragma: `use base qw(Exporter Cloud);`	[reply] [d/l]
Re^2: Can locate when called directly, but can't when in @ISA by almut (Canon) on Oct 05, 2007 at 13:01 UTC
You can do both by using the 'base' pragma ... but before switching to `"use base"`, the OP may want to form his own opinion about the objections a couple of renowned monks have had in the thread 'base' versus @ISA, why?.	[reply] [d/l]
Re^3: Can locate when called directly, but can't when in @ISA by perlfan (Parson) on Oct 05, 2007 at 14:34 UTC
That was helpful information, but I am no an OOP super freak either. For my needs, `use base 'parent';` works perfectly and I am able to easily augment the parent's creation class with out any problems: `use base 'My::Parent::Class'; sub new { my $pkg = shift; my $self = $pkg->SUPER::new(@_); return $self; }` [download]	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: Can locate when called directly, but can't when in @ISA by Phemto (Acolyte) on Oct 05, 2007 at 11:57 UTC
Wohoo! Was that a rookie mistake, or what? Thanks! Now I just need to figure out why some of my modules aren't returning true values, but that's a separate issue. And yes, I have a "1;" at the end. :-> Thanks again.	[reply]
Re: Can locate when called directly, but can't when in @ISA by rhesa (Vicar) on Oct 05, 2007 at 11:40 UTC
Are you saying that `Lens->isa('Cloud')` and `Cloud->isa('Lens')`? You might want to reconsider that!	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: Can locate when called directly, but can't when in @ISA by Phemto (Acolyte) on Oct 05, 2007 at 11:49 UTC
Sorry for the confusion. Lens.pm inherits from Cloud.pm, but not the other way around. I used "use Cloud" from the calling program (separate file) to test that Cloud.pm could be found in @INC, which it can. But when I try "use Lens" instead, it finds Lens, but then Lens can't find Cloud. Does @ISA not use @INC to find modules? That would be weird. Is this a poor system administration issue? As the SysAdmin, I could easily believe it.	[reply]
Re: Can locate when called directly, but can't when in @ISA by lyklev (Pilgrim) on Oct 07, 2007 at 14:19 UTC
Check if both Lens and Cloud have a `package`declaration. Blow are my working code snippets: Main program: `#!/usr/bin/perl use strict; use warnings; use lib '/home/me/project/temp'; use Lens;` [download] In '/home/me/project/temp' are Cloud.pm: `package Cloud; use strict; use warnings; 1;` [download] and Lens.pm: `package Lens; use strict; use warnings; use lib '/home/me/project/temp'; use Cloud; our @ISA = qw(Exporter Cloud); 1;` [download] Apart from the recommended strict and warnings, all</code> is necessary.	[reply] [d/l] [select]