NAME

       Data::GUID - globally unique identifiers

VERSION

       version 0.051

SYNOPSIS

         use Data::GUID;

         my $guid = Data::GUID->new;

         my $string = $guid->as_string; # or "$guid"

         my $other_guid = Data::GUID->from_string($string);

         if (($guid <=> $other_guid) == 0) {
           print "They're the same!\n";
         }

DESCRIPTION

       Data::GUID provides a simple interface for generating and using globally unique
       identifiers.

PERL VERSION

       This library should run on perls released even an extremely long time ago.  It should work
       on any version of perl released in the last ten years.

       Although it may work on older versions of perl, no guarantee is made that the minimum
       required version will not be increased.  The version may be increased for any reason, and
       there is no promise that patches will be accepted to lower the minimum required perl.

GETTING A NEW GUID

   new
         my $guid = Data::GUID->new;

       This method returns a new globally unique identifier.

GUIDS FROM EXISTING VALUES

       These method returns a new Data::GUID object for the given GUID value.  In all cases,
       these methods throw an exception if given invalid input.

   from_string
         my $guid = Data::GUID->from_string("B0470602-A64B-11DA-8632-93EBF1C0E05A");

   from_hex
         # note that a hex guid is a guid string without hyphens and with a leading 0x
         my $guid = Data::GUID->from_hex("0xB0470602A64B11DA863293EBF1C0E05A");

   from_base64
         my $guid = Data::GUID->from_base64("sEcGAqZLEdqGMpPr8cDgWg==");

   from_data_uuid
       This method returns a new Data::GUID object if given a Data::UUID value.  Because
       Data::UUID values are not blessed and because Data::UUID provides no validation method,
       this method will only throw an exception if the given data is of the wrong size.

IDENTIFYING GUIDS

   string_guid_regex
   hex_guid_regex
   base64_guid_regex
       These methods return regex objects that match regex strings of the appropriate type.

   from_any_string
         my $string = get_string_from_ether;

         my $guid = Data::GUID->from_any_string($string);

       This method returns a Data::GUID object for the given string, trying all known string
       interpretations.  An exception is thrown if the value is not a valid GUID string.

   best_guess
         my $value = get_value_from_ether;

         my $guid = Data::GUID->best_guess($value);

       This method returns a Data::GUID object for the given value, trying everything it can.  It
       works like "from_any_string", but will also accept Data::UUID values.  (In effect, this
       means that any sixteen byte value is acceptable.)

GUIDS INTO STRINGS

       These methods return various string representations of a GUID.

   as_string
       This method returns a "traditional" GUID/UUID string representation.  This is five
       hexadecimal strings, delimited by hyphens.  For example:

         B0470602-A64B-11DA-8632-93EBF1C0E05A

       This method is also used to stringify Data::GUID objects.

   as_hex
       This method returns a plain hexadecimal representation of the GUID, with a leading "0x".
       For example:

         0xB0470602A64B11DA863293EBF1C0E05A

   as_base64
       This method returns a base-64 string representation of the GUID.  For example:

         sEcGAqZLEdqGMpPr8cDgWg==

OTHER METHODS

   compare_to_guid
       This method compares a GUID to another GUID and returns -1, 0, or 1, as do other
       comparison routines.

   as_binary
       This method returns the packed binary representation of the GUID.  At present this method
       relies on Data::GUID's underlying use of Data::UUID.  It is not guaranteed to continue to
       work the same way, or at all.  Caveat invocator.

IMPORTING

       Data::GUID does not export any subroutines by default, but it provides a few routines
       which will be imported on request.  These routines may be called as class methods, or may
       be imported to be called as subroutines.  Calling them by fully qualified name is
       incorrect.

         use Data::GUID qw(guid);

         my $guid = guid;             # OK
         my $guid = Data::GUID->guid; # OK
         my $guid = Data::GUID::guid; # NOT OK

   guid
       This routine returns a new Data::GUID object.

   guid_string
       This returns the string representation of a new GUID.

   guid_hex
       This returns the hex representation of a new GUID.

   guid_base64
       This returns the base64 representation of a new GUID.

   guid_from_anything
       This returns the result of calling the "from_any_string" method.

TODO

       •   add namespace support

       •   remove dependency on wretched Data::UUID

       •   make it work on 5.005

AUTHOR

       Ricardo SIGNES <cpan@semiotic.systems>

CONTRIBUTOR

       Ricardo Signes <rjbs@semiotic.systems>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

       This software is copyright (c) 2006 by Ricardo SIGNES.

       This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as
       the Perl 5 programming language system itself.