NAME Data::AsObject - Easy OO access to complex perl data structures VERSION version 0.07 SYNOPSIS use Data::AsObject qw(dao); my $book = dao { name => "Programming Perl", authors => ["Larry Wall", "Tom Christiansen", "Jon Orwant"], }; print $book->name # prints "Programming Perl" print $book->authors(0) # prints "Larry Wall" my $array_ref = $book->authors # $array_ref is ["Larry Wall", "Tom Christiansen", "Jon Orwant"] my @array = $book->authors->list # @array is ("Larry Wall", "Tom Christiansen", "Jon Orwant") $book->{publisher} = "O'Reilly"; print $book->publisher # prints "O'Reilly" DESCRIPTION "Data::AsObject" provides easy object-oriented access to complex and arbitrarily nested perl data structures. It is particularly suitable for working with hash-based representation of XML data, as generated by modules like XML::Complie or XML::TreePP. WARNING Version 0.06 of "Data::AsObject" broke backward compatibility with two changes that may break existing scripts. * Automatic dereferencing in list context is no longer provided. Use the "list" method instead. * An attempt to access an non-existing hash key by default now dies rather than simply produce a warning. Either explicitly request Data::AsObject not to die on missing hash keys, or use an exception handling mechanism to check if the data you want to access is actually there. BENEFITS These are some of the reasons why you may want to use "Data::AsObject": Object-oriented syntax The object-oriented syntax may sometimes be more appropriate than the traditional hashref and arrayref syntax. Protection from misspelled hash key names Since "Data::AsObject" does not preform any autovivification, it protects you from misspelling a hash key when accessing its value (but see also Hash::Util for more robust ways to do that). Easy access to hash keys with non-standard symbols If your hashes contain a lot of keys with dashes or colons, as is often the case with keys representing xml element names, "Data::AsObject" can automatically access such keys by substituting underscores for the non-standard symbols. Easy dereferencing of arrayrefs If you have a lot of arrayrefs in your data structure that often need to be traversed, e.g. with "grep", "map" or "foreach", "Data::AsObject" provides a "list" method on arrayrefs to automatically dereference them. FUNCTIONS "dao" Takes as input one or more hash or array references, and returns one or more objects ("Data::AsObject::Hash" or "Data::AsObject::Array" respectively) that can be used to access the data structures via an object oriented interface. Data::AsObject uses Sub::Exporter and allows you to import the "dao" sub in one of three modes: strict mode use Data::AsObject dao => { mode => 'strict' }; In this mode (which is the default) "dao" will produce an object that dies whenever you try to invoke a hash key that does not exist. loose mode use Data::AsObject dao => { mode => 'loose' }; In this mode "dao" will produce an object that returns "undef" and issues a warning whenever you try to invoke a hash key that does not exist. strict mode use Data::AsObject dao => { mode => 'silent' }; In this mode "dao" will produce an object that returns "undef" whenever you try to invoke a hash key that does not exist, but does not complain. USAGE Working with hashes To access hash elements by key, use the hash key as method name: my $data = dao { three => { two => { one => "kaboom" } } }; print $data->three->two->one; # kaboom If a hash key contains one or more colons or dashes, you can access its value by substituting underscores for the colons or dashes (the underlying hash key name is not modified). my $data = dao { 'xml:lang' => "EN", 'element-name' => "some name", }; print $data->xml_lang # "EN" print $data->element_name # "some name" Working with arrays To access array items pass the item index as an argument to the hash that contains the array: my $data = dao { uk => ["one", "two", "three", "four"], spain => [ { name => 'spanish', numbers => ["uno", "dos", "tres", "cuatro"] }, { name => 'catalan', numbers => ["un", "dos", "tres", "quatre"] }, ]; }; print $data->en(1) # two print $data->spain(0)->numbers(3); # cuatro Array of array structures are a little bit clumsier to work with. You will need to use the "get" method of "Data::AsObject::Array" and pass it the index of the item you want to access: my $data = dao [ ["one", "two", "three", "four"] ["uno", "dos", "tres", "cuatro"], ["un", "dos", "tres", "quatre"], ]; print $data->get(2)->get(0); # un Arrayrefs have a dereferencing "list" method. For example: my $data = dao { spain => [ { name => 'spanish', numbers => ["uno", "dos", "tres", "cuatro"] }, { name => 'catalan', numbers => ["un", "dos", "tres", "quatre"] }, ]; }; foreach my $n ( $data->spain->list ) { print $n->name . " "; } # spanish catalan Modifying data "Data::AsObject" only provides accessor functions. To modify data, access the respective hash or array element directly: my $data = dao {}; $data->{one} = "uno"; print $data->one # uno Autovivification No autovivification is performed by default (but see FUNCTIONS above). An attempt to access a hash or array element that does not exist will produce a fatal error. Use an exception handling mechanism such as Try::Tiny. use Try::Tiny; my $data = dao { uk => ["one", "two", "three", "four"], spain => ["uno", "dos", "tres", "cuatro"], germany => ["eins", "zwei", "drei", "vier"]. }; try { my $numbers = $data->bulgaria; } catch { warn "No info about Bulgaria!"; }; See also "can" below. "Data::AsObject::Hash" and special methods If $data isa "Data::AsObject::Hash": can "$data->can" will return the value of the "$data->{can}" element. "$data->can("some_hash_key")" will properly return "undef" if "some_hash_key" does not exists, or a reference to a sub that returns "$data->{some_hash_key}" otherwise. my $data = dao { uk => ["one", "two", "three", "four"], # ... }; warn "No info about Bulgaria!" unless $data->can('bulgaria'); VERSION Calling "$data->VERSION" will attempt to return the value of a hash element with a key "VERSION". Use "Data::AsObject->VERSION" instead. others special methods All other special methods and functions ("isa", "ref", "DESTROY") should behave as expected. BUGS Please report any bugs or feature requests to "bug-data-object at rt.cpan.org", or through the web interface at . I will be notified, and then you'll automatically be notified of progress on your bug as I make changes. SEE ALSO * Hash::AsObject AUTHOR Peter Shangov COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE This software is copyright (c) 2011 by Peter Shangov. This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.