NAME
    Nice::Try - A real Try Catch Block Implementation Using Perl Filter

SYNOPSIS
        use Nice::Try;

        print( "Hello, I want to try\n" );
        # Try out {
        print( "this piece of code\n" );
        try 
        {
            # Not so sure }
            print( "I am trying!\n" );
            die( "Bye cruel world..." );
            # Never going to reach this
            return( 1 );
        }
        # Some comment
        catch( Exception $e ) {
            return( "Caught an exception $e" );
        }
        # More comment with space too

        catch( $e ) {
            print( "Got an error: $e\n" );
        }
        finally
        {
            print( "Cleaning up\n" );
        }
        print( "Ok, then\n" );

    When run, this would produce, as one would expect:

        Hello, I want to try
        this piece of code
        I am trying!
        Got an error: Bye cruel world... at ./some/script.pl line 18.
        Cleaning up
        Ok, then

    Also since version 1.0.0, Nice::Try is context aware:

        use Want; # an awesome module which extends wantarray
        sub info
        {
            my $self = shift( @_ );
            try
            {
                # Do something
                if( want('OBJECT') )
                {
                    return( $self );
                }
                elsif( want('CODE') )
                {
                    # dummy code ref for example
                    return( sub{ return( $name ); } );
                }
                elsif( want('LIST') )
                {
                    return( @some_data );
                }
                elsif( want('ARRAY') )
                {
                    return( \@some_data );
                }
                elsif( want('HASH') )
                {
                    return({ name => $name, location => $city });
                }
                elsif( want('REFSCALAR') )
                {
                    return( \$name );
                }
                elsif( want('SCALAR' ) )
                {
                    return( $name ); # regular string
                }
                elsif( want('VOID') )
                {
                    return;
                }
            }
            catch( $e )
            {
                $Logger->( "Caught exception: $e" );
            }
        }

        # regular string context
        my $name = $o->info;
        # code context
        my $name = $o->info->();
        # list context like wantarray
        my @data = $o->info;
        # hash context
        my $name = $o->info->{name};
        # array context
        my $name = $o->info->[2];
        # object context
        my $name = $o->info->another_method;
        # scalar reference context
        my $name = ${$o->info};

VERSION
        v1.0.2

DESCRIPTION
    Nice::Try is a lightweight implementation of Try-Catch exception
    trapping block using perl filter. It behaves like you would expect.

    Here is a list of its distinctive features:

    *   No routine to import like "Nice::Try qw( try catch )". Just add "use
        Nice::Try" in your script

    *   Properly report the right line number for the original error message

    *   Allows embedded try-catch block within try-catch block, such as:

            use Nice::Try;

            print( "Wow, something went awry: ", &gotcha, "\n" );

            sub gotcha
            {
                print( "Hello, I want to try\n" );
                # Try out {
                CORE::say( 'this piece' );
                try 
                {
                    # Not so sure }
                    print( "I am trying!\n" );
                    try
                    {
                        die( "Bye cruel world..." );
                        return( 1 );
                    }
                    catch( $err )
                    {
                        die( "Dying again with embedded error: '$err'" );
                    }
                }
                catch( Exception $e ) {
                    return( "Caught an exception \$e" );
                }
                catch( $e ) {
                    try
                    {
                        print( "Got an error: $e\n" );
                        print( "Trying something else.\n" );
                        die( "No really, dying out... with error: $e\n" );
                    }
                    catch( $err2 )
                    {
                        return( "Returning from catch L2 with error '$err2'" );
                    }
                }
                CORE::say( "Ok, then" );
            }

    *   No need for semicolon on the last closing brace

    *   It does not rely on perl regular expression, but instead uses PPI
        (short for "Perl Parsing Interface").

    *   Variable assignment in the catch block works. For example:

            try
            {
                # Something or
                die( "Oops\n" );
            }
            catch( $funky_variable_name )
            {
                return( "Oh no: $funky_variable_name" );
            }

    *   $@ is always available too

    *   You can return a value from try-catch blocks, even with embedded
        try-catch blocks

    *   It recognises @_ inside try-catch blocks, so you can do something
        like:

            print( &gotme( 'Jacques' ), "\n" );

            sub gotme
            {
                try
                {
                    print( "I am trying my best $_[0]!\n" );
                    die( "But I failed\n" );
                }
                catch( $some_reason )
                {
                    return( "Failed: $some_reason" );
                }
            }

        Would produce:

            I am trying my best Jacques!
            Failed: But I failed

    *   "try" or "catch" blocks can contain flow control keywords such as
        "next", "last" and "redo"

            while( defined( my $product = $items->[++$i] ) )
            {
                try
                {
                    # Do something
                    last if( !$product->active );
                }
                catch( $oops )
                {
                    $log->( "Error: $oops" );
                    last;
                }
            }
            continue
            {
                try
                {
                    if( $product->region eq 'Asia' )
                    {
                        push( @asia, $product );
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        next;
                    }
                }
                catch( $e )
                {
                    $log->( "An unexpected error has occurred. Is $product an object? $e" );
                    last;
                }
            }

    *   Can be used with or without a "catch" block

    *   Supports a "finally" block called in void context for cleanup for
        example

    *   Nice::Try is rich context aware, which means it can provide you with
        a super granular context on how to return data back to the caller
        based on the caller's expectation, by using a module like Want.

    *   Call to "caller" in perlfunc will return the correct entry in call
        stack

            #!/usr/bin/perl
            BEGIN
            {
                use strict;
                use warnings;
                use Nice::Try;
            };

            {
                &callme();
            }

            sub callme
            {
                try
                {
                    my @info = caller(1); # or my @info = caller;
                    print( "Called from package $info[0] in file $info[1] at line $info[2]\n" );
                }
                catch( $e )
                {
                    print( "Got an error: $e\n" );
                }
            }

        WIll yield: "Called from package main in file ./test.pl at line 10"

WHY USE IT?
    There are quite a few implementations of try-catch blocks in perl, and
    they can be grouped in 4 categories:

    1 Try-Catch as subroutines
        For example Try::Tiny

    2 Using Perl Filter
        For example Nice::Try, Try::Harder

    3 Using Devel::Declare
        For example TryCatch

    4 Others
        For example Syntax::Keyword::Try and now perl with version 5.33.7
        using experimental feature
        <https://perldoc.perl.org/blead/perlsyn#Try-Catch-Exception-Handling
        >.

    Group 1 requires the use of semi-colons like:

        try
        {
            # Something
        }
        catch
        {
            # More code
        };

    It also imports the subroutines "try" and "catch" in your namespace.

    And you cannot do exception variable assignment like "catch( $err )"

    In group 2, Try::Harder does a very nice work, but relies on perl
    regular expression with Text::Balanced and that makes it susceptible to
    failure if the try-catch block is not written as it expects it to be.
    For example if you put comments between try and catch, it would not work
    anymore. This is because parsing perl is famously difficult. Also, it
    does not do exception variable assignment, or catch filtered based on
    exception class like:

        try
        {
            # Something
            die( Exception->new( "Failed!" ) );
        }
        catch( Exception $e )
        {
            # Do something if exception is an Exception class
        }

    See "die" in perlfunc for more information on dying with an object.

    Also Try::Harder will die if you use only "try" with no catch, such as:

        use Try::Harder;
        try
        {
            die( "Oops\n" );
        }
        # Will never reach this
        print( "Got here with $@\n" );

    In this example, the print line will never get executed. With Nice::Try
    you can use "try" alone as an equivalent of "eval" in perlfunc and the
    $@ will be available too. So:

        use Nice::Try;
        try
        {
            die( "Oops\n" );
        }
        print( "Got here with $@\n" );

    will produces:

        Got here with Oops

    In group 3, TryCatch was working wonderfully, but was relying on
    Devel::Declare which was doing some esoteric stuff and eventually the
    version 0.006020 broke TryCatch and there seems to be no intention of
    correcting this breaking change.

    In group 4, there is Syntax::Keyword::Try, which is a great alternative
    if you do not care about exception class filter (it supports variable
    assignment since 2020-08-01 with version 0.18).

    Although, the following script would not work under Syntax::Keyword::Try
    :

        BEGIN
        {
            use strict;
            use warnings;
            use Syntax::Keyword::Try;
        };

        {
            &callme();
        }

        sub callme
        {
            try {
                print( "Hello there\n" );
            }
            catch ($e) {
                print( "Got an error: $e\n" );
            }
        }

    This will trigger the following error:

        syntax error at ./test.pl line 18, near ") {"
        syntax error at ./test.pl line 21, near "}"
        Execution of ./test.pl aborted due to compilation errors.

    That is because Syntax::Keyword::Try expects to be "used" outside of a
    BEGIN block like this:

        use strict;
        use warnings;
        use Syntax::Keyword::Try;

        # Rest of the script, same as above

    Of course, with Nice::Try, there is no such constraint. You can "use" in
    perlfunc Nice::Try inside or outside of a "BEGIN" block indistinctively.

    Since perl version 5.33.7
    <https://perldoc.perl.org/blead/perlsyn#Try-Catch-Exception-Handling>
    you can use the try-catch block using an experimental feature which may
    be removed in future versions, by writing:

        use feature 'try'; # will emit a warning this is experimental

    This new feature supports try-catch block and variable assignment, but
    no exception class, nor support for "finally" block, so you can do:

        try
        {
            # Oh no!
            die( "Argh...\n" );
        }
        catch( $oh_well )
        {
            return( $self->error( "Something went awry: $oh_well" ) );
        }

    But you cannot do:

        try
        {
            # Oh no!
            die( MyException->new( "Argh..." ) );
        }
        catch( MyException $oh_well )
        {
            return( $self->error( "Something went awry with MyException: $oh_well" ) );
        }
        # No support for 'finally' yet in perl version 5.33.7
        finally
        {
            # do some cleanup here
        }

    It is probably a matter of time until this is fully implemented in perl
    as a regular non-experimental feature.

    So, Nice::Try is quite unique and fill the missing features, but because
    it is purely in perl and not an XS module, it is slower than XS module
    like Syntax::Keyword::Try. I am not sure the difference would be that
    noticeable, since the parsing by PPI is now done using an XS module,
    which makes things very fast.

FINALLY
    Like with other language such as Java or JavaScript, the "finally" block
    will be executed even if the "try" or "catch" block contains a return
    statement.

    This is useful to do some clean-up. For example:

        try
        {
            # Something worth dying
        }
        catch( $e )
        {
            return( "I failed: $e" );
        }
        finally
        {
            # Do some mop up
            # This would be reached even if catch already returned
            # Putting return statement here does not actually return anything.
            # This is only for clean-up
        }

    However, because this is designed for clean-up, it is called in void
    context, so any "return" statement there will not actually return
    anything back to the caller.

CATCHING OR NOT CATCHING?
    Nice::Try can be used with a single "try" block which will, in effect,
    behaves like an eval and the special variable $@ will be available as
    always.

        try
        {
            die( "Oh no, something went wrong!\n" );
        }
        print( "Got here with $@\n" );

    or even:

        try
        {
            die( "Oh no, something went wrong!\n" );
        }
        catch( $e ); # Not very meaningful, but it will work
        print( "Got here with $@\n" );

    However, if you decide to catch class exceptions, make sure to add a
    default "catch( $e )". For example:

        try
        {
            die( MyException->new( "Oh no" ) );
        }
        print( "Got here with $@\n" );

    will work and "print" will display "Got here with Oh no". However:

        try
        {
            die( MyException->new( "Oh no" ) );
        }
        catch( Some::Exception $e )
        {
            # won't reach here
        }

    will make your process die because of the exception not being caught,
    thus you might want to do instead:

        try
        {
            die( MyException->new( "Oh no" ) );
        }
        catch( Some::Exception $e )
        {
            # won't reach here
        }
        catch( $default )
        {
            print( "Got you! Error was: $default\n" );
        }

    And the last catch will catch the exception.

    Since, try-catch block can be nested, the following would work too:

        try
        {
            try
            {
                die( MyException->new( "Oh no" ) );
            }
            catch( Some::Exception $e )
            {
                # won't reach here
            }
        }
        catch( MyException $e )
        {
            print( "Got you! MyException was: $e\n" );
        }
        # to play it safe
        catch( $e )
        {
            # do something about it
        }

LOOPS
    Since version v0.2.0 Nice::Try supports the use of flow control keywords
    such as "next", "last" and "redo" inside try-catch blocks. For example:

        my @names = qw( John Jack Peter Paul Mark );
        for( $i..$#names )
        {
            try
            {
                next if( $i == 2 );
                # some more code...
            }
            catch( $e )
            {
                print( "Got exception: $e\n" );
            }
        }

    It also works inside the catch block or inside the "continue" block:

        while( defined( my $product = $items->[++$i] ) )
        {
            # Do something
        }
        continue
        {
            try
            {
                if( $product->region eq 'Asia' )
                {
                    push( @asia, $product );
                }
                else
                {
                    next;
                }
            }
            catch( $e )
            {
                $log->( "An unexpected error has occurred. Is $product an object? $e" );
                last;
            }
        }

    Control flow with labels also work

        ELEM: foreach my $n ( @names )
        {
            try
            {
                $n->moveAfter( $this );
                next ELEM if( $n->value == 1234567 );
            }
            catch( $oops )
            {
                last ELEM;
            }
        }

    However, if you enclose a try-catch block inside another block, use of
    "next", "last" or "redo" will silently not work. This is due to perl
    control flow. See perlsyn for more information on this. For example, the
    following would not yield the desired outcome:

        ELEM: foreach my $n ( @names )
        {
            { # <--- Here is the culprit
                try
                {
                    $n->moveAfter( $this );
                    # This next statement will not do anything.
                    next ELEM if( $n->value == 1234567 );
                }
                catch( $oops )
                {
                    # Neither would this one.
                    last ELEM;
                }
            }
        }

CONTEXT AWARENESS
    Nice::Try provides a high level of granularity about the context in
    which your subroutine was called.

    Normally, you would write something like this, and it works as always:

        sub info
        {
            try
            {
                # do something here
                if( wantarray() )
                {
                    return( @list_of_values );
                }
                # caller just want a scalar
                elsif( defined( wantarray() ) )
                {
                    return( $name );
                }
                # otherwise if undefined, it means we are called in void context, like:
                # $o->info; with no expectation of return value
            }
            catch( $e )
            {
                print( "Caught an error: $e\n" );
            }
        }

    The above is nice, but how do you differentiate cases were your caller
    wants a simple returned value and the one where the caller wants an
    object for chaining purpose, or if the caller wants an hash or array
    reference in return?

    For example:

        my $val = $o->info->[2]; # wants an array reference
        my $val = $o->info->{name} # wants an hash reference
        # etc...

    Now, you can do the following:

        use Want; # an awesome module which extends wantarray
        sub info
        {
            my $self = shift( @_ );
            try
            {
                # Do something
                # 
                # same as wantarray() == 1
                if( want('LIST') )
                {
                    return( @some_data );
                }
                # same as: if( defined( wantarray() ) && !wantarray() )
                elsif( want('SCALAR' ) )
                {
                    return( $name ); # regular string
                }
                # same as if( !defined( wantarray() ) )
                elsif( want('VOID') )
                {
                    return;
                }
                # For the other contexts below, wantarray is of no help
                if( want('OBJECT') )
                {
                    return( $obj ); # useful for chaining
                }
                elsif( want('CODE') )
                {
                    # dummy code ref for example
                    return( sub{ return( $name ); } );
                }
                elsif( want('ARRAY') )
                {
                    return( \@some_data );
                }
                elsif( want('HASH') )
                {
                    return({ name => $name, location => $city });
                }
            }
            catch( $e )
            {
                $Logger->( "Caught exception: $e" );
            }
        }

    Thus this is particularly useful if, for example, you want to
    differentiate if the caller just wants a return string, or an object for
    chaining.

    "wantarray" in perlfunc would not know the difference, and other
    try-catch implementation would not let you benefit from using Want.

    For example:

        my $val = $o->info; # simple regular scalar context; but...
        # here, we are called in object context and wantarray is of no help to tell the difference
        my $val = $o->info->another_method;

    Other cases are:

        # regular string context
        my $name = $o->info;
        # list context like wantarray
        my @data = $o->info;

        # code context
        my $name = $o->info->();
        # hash context
        my $name = $o->info->{name};
        # array context
        my $name = $o->info->[2];
        # object context
        my $name = $o->info->another_method;

    See Want for more information on how you can benefit from it.

    Currently lvalues are no implemented and will be in future releases.
    Also note that Want does not work within tie-handlers. It would trigger
    a segmentation fault. Nice::Try detects this and disable automatically
    support for Want if used inside a tie-handler, reverting to regular
    "wantarray" in perlfunc context.

    Also, for this rich context awareness to be used, obviously try-catch
    would need to be inside a subroutine, otherwise there is no rich context
    other than the one the regular "wantarray" in perlfunc provides.

DEBUGGING
    And to have Nice::Try save the filtered code to a file, pass it the
    "debug_file" parameter like this:

        use Nice::Try debug_file => './updated_script.pl';

    You can also call your script using Filter::ExtractSource like this:

        perl -MFilter::ExtractSource script.pl > updated_script.pl

    or add "use Filter::ExtractSource" inside it.

    In the updated script produced, you can add the line calling Nice::Try
    to:

        use Nice::Try no_filter => 1;

    to avoid Nice::Try from filtering your script

    If you want Nice::Try to produce human readable code, pass it the
    "debug_code" parameter like this:

        use Nice::Try debug_code => 1;

CREDITS
    Credits to Stephen R. Scaffidi for his implementation of Try::Harder
    from which I borrowed some code.

AUTHOR
    Jacques Deguest <jack@deguest.jp>

SEE ALSO
    PPI, Filter::Util::Call, Try::Harder, Syntax::Keyword::Try,
    Exception::Class

COPYRIGHT & LICENSE
    Copyright (c) 2020-2021 DEGUEST Pte. Ltd.

    You can use, copy, modify and redistribute this package and associated
    files under the same terms as Perl itself.