NAME

       Test2::Util::ExternalMeta - Allow third party tools to safely attach meta-data to your
       instances.

EXPERIMENTAL RELEASE

       This is an experimental release. Using this right now is not recommended.

DESCRIPTION

       This package lets you define a clear, and consistent way to allow third party tools to
       attach meta-data to your instances. If your object consumes this package, and imports its
       methods, then third party meta-data has a safe place to live.

SYNOPSYS

           package My::Object;
           use strict;
           use warnings;

           use Test2::Util::ExternalMeta qw/meta get_meta set_meta delete_meta/;

           ...

       Now to use it:

           my $inst = My::Object->new;

           $inst->set_meta(foo => 'bar');
           my $val = $inst->get_meta('foo');

WHERE IS THE DATA STORED?

       This package assumes your instances are blessed hashrefs, it will not work if that is not
       true. It will store all meta-data in the "_meta" key on your objects hash. If your object
       makes use of the "_meta" key in its underlying hash, then there is a conflict and you
       cannot use this package.

EXPORTS

       $val = $obj->meta($key)
       $val = $obj->meta($key, $default)
           This will get the value for a specified meta $key. Normally this will return "undef"
           when there is no value for the $key, however you can specfi a $default value to set
           when no value is already set.

       $val = $obj->get_meta($key)
           This will get the value for a specified meta $key. This does not have the $default
           overhead that "meta()" does.

       $val = $obj->delete_meta($key)
           This will remove the value of a specified meta $key. The old $val will be returned.

       $obj->set_meta($key, $val)
           Set the value of a specified meta $key.

META-KEY RESTICTIONS

       Meta keys must be defined, and must be true when used as a boolean. Keys may not be
       references. You are free to stringify a reference "$ref" for use as a key, but this
       package will not stringify it for you.

SOURCE

       The source code repository for Test2 can be found at http://github.com/Test-More/Test2/.

MAINTAINERS

       Chad Granum <exodist@cpan.org>

AUTHORS

       Chad Granum <exodist@cpan.org>

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright 2015 Chad Granum <exodist7@gmail.com>.

       This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same
       terms as Perl itself.

       See http://dev.perl.org/licenses/