So I've been reading up on perltoot and perltooc and have been trying to create my very first perl class.. It started like this:

package DataTable;

sub new {
    my $class = shift;
    my $self = {};
    $self->{tablename} = undef;
    $self->{columns} = [];
    $self->{indices} = {};
    bless($self, $class);
    return $self;
}

sub tablename {
   my $self = shift;
   if (@_) { $self->{tablename} = shift; }
   return $self->{tablename};
}

sub columns {
   my $self = shift;
   if (@_) { @{$self->{columns}} = @_; }
   return @{$self->{columns}};
}

sub indices {
   my $self = shift;
   if (@_) { %{$self->{indices}} = @_; }
   return %{$self->{indices}};
}

1;
[download]

But then, after having to add more array properties (datatypes, lengths, decimals, allownull, default) and copypasting the accessor subs, something itched. So I revised it to..

package DataTable;

sub new {
    my $class = shift;
    my $self = {};
    $self->{tablename} = undef;
    $self->{columns} = [];
    $self->{indices} = {};
    $self->{datatypes} = [];
    $self->{lengths} = [];
    $self->{decimals} = [];
    $self->{signed} = [];
    $self->{allownull} = [];
    $self->{default} = [];
    $self->{usequote} = [];
    }
    bless($self, $class);
    return $self;
}

# Accessor methods
sub ArrayAccessor {
   my $arrayname = shift;
   my $self = shift;
   if (@_) { @{$self->{$arrayname}} = @_; }
   return @{$self->{$arrayname}};
}

sub HashAccessor {
   my $hashname = shift;
   my $self = shift;
   if (@_) { %{$self->{$hashname}} = @_; }
   return %{$self->{$hashname}};
}

sub ScalarAccessor {
   my $scalarname = shift;
   my $self = shift;
   if (@_) { $self->{$scalarname} = shift; }
   return $self->{$scalarname};
}

sub tablename { return ScalarAccessor("tablename", @_); }
sub columns { return ArrayAccessor("columns", @_); }
sub indices { return HashAccessor("indices", @_); }
sub datatypes { return ArrayAccessor("datatypes", @_); }
sub lengths { return ArrayAccessor("lengths", @_); }
sub decimals { return ArrayAccessor("decimals", @_); }
sub signed { return ArrayAccessor("signed", @_); }
sub allownull { return ArrayAccessor("allownull", @_); }
sub default { return ArrayAccessor("default", @_); }
sub usequote { return ArrayAccessor("usequote", @_); }
1;
[download]

However, seeing the long list of accessor function calls, I still found the need for even more abstraction:

package DataTable;

sub new {
    my $class = shift;
    my $self = {};
    $self->{tablename} = undef;
    $self->{columns} = [];
    $self->{indices} = {};
    $self->{datatypes} = [];
    $self->{lengths} = [];
    $self->{decimals} = [];
    $self->{signed} = [];
    $self->{allownull} = [];
    $self->{default} = [];
    $self->{usequote} = [];
    # Automatically create Accessor methods
    foreach (keys(%{$self})) {
        my ($type, $prefix, $suffix) = (ref($self->{$_}), "", "");
        if ($type eq "ARRAY") {
            $prefix = '@{';
            $suffix = '}';
        }
        if ($type eq "HASH") {
            $prefix = '%{';
            $suffix = '}';
        }
        eval("sub $_ { " .
            'my $self = shift;
            if (@_) { ' . $prefix . '$self->{' . $_ . '}' . $suffix . 
+' = @_; }
            return ' . $prefix . '$self->{' . $_ . '}' . $suffix . ';
        }');
    }
    bless($self, $class);
    return $self;
}
1;
[download]

However, since this is my first attempt at OO-perl, I humbly submit this to the monks for comments :)

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