NAME

       HTML::Mason::Lexer - Generates events based on component source lexing

SYNOPSIS

         my $lexer = HTML::Mason::Lexer->new;

         $lexer->lex( comp_source => $source, name => $comp_name, compiler => $compiler );

DESCRIPTION

       The Lexer works in tandem with the Compiler to turn Mason component source into something
       else, generally Perl code.

       As the lexer finds component elements, like a tag or block, it calls the appropriate event
       methods in the compiler object it was given.

       It has only a few public methods.

       You can replace this lexer with one of your own simply by telling the Compiler to use a
       different lexer class.  Your lexer class simply needs to call the appropriate methods in
       the Component Class's API as it scans the source.

METHODS

       The lexer has very few public methods.

       new This method creates a new Lexer object.  This methods takes no parameters.

       lex ( comp_source => ..., name => ..., compiler => ... )
           This method tells the lexer to start scanning the given component source.  All of
           these parameters are required.  The "name" parameter will be used in any error
           messages generated during lexing.  The "compiler" object must be an object that
           implements the Mason Component API.

       line_number
           The current line number that the lexer has reached.

       name
           The name of the component currently being lexed.

       throw_syntax_error ($error)
           This throws an "HTML::Mason::Exception::Syntax" error with the given error message as
           well as additional information about the component source.

           This method is used by both the Lexer and the Compiler.

SUBCLASSING

       Any subclass of the lexer should declare itself to be a subclass of "HTML::Mason::Lexer",
       even if it plans to override all of its public methods.

       If you want your subclass to work with the existing Compiler classes in Mason, you must
       implement the methods listed above.  If you plan to use a custom Compiler class that
       you're writing, you can do whatever you want.

       We recommend that any parameters you add to Lexer be read-only, because the compiler
       object_id is only computed once on creation and would not reflect any changes to Lexer
       parameters.