NAME

       Internals - Write-protect variables, manipulate refcounts

SYNOPSIS

         use Internals qw(IsWriteProtected SetReadOnly SetReadWrite GetRefCount SetRefCount);

         use Internals qw(:all);

         $object = My::Class->new(@parameters);

         SetReadOnly($object);

         SetReadWrite($object);

         if (IsWriteProtected($object)) { ... }

         $value = GetRefCount($object);

         SetRefCount($object,$value);

       or

         package My::Class;

         use Internals;

         @ISA = qw(Internals);

         $object = My::Class->new(@parameters)->SetReadOnly();

         $object->SetReadWrite();

         if ($object->IsWriteProtected()) { ... }

         $value = $object->GetRefCount();

         $object->SetRefCount($value);

       or

         use Internals qw(IsWriteProtected SetReadOnly SetReadWrite GetRefCount SetRefCount);

         use Internals qw(:all);

         SetReadOnly(\$scalar);

         SetReadOnly(\@array);

         SetReadOnly(\%hash);

         SetReadOnly(\$hash{$element});

         SetReadOnly(\$reference);

       etc.

DESCRIPTION

       This module allows you to write-protect and write-enable your Perl variables, objects and
       data structures.

       Moreover, the reference count of any Perl variable can be read and set.

       You can never pass the object directly on which to perform the desired action, you always
       have to pass a reference to the variable or data structure in question.

       This comes in handy for objects and anonymous data structures, where you only have a
       reference anyway!

       BEWARE: This module is DANGEROUS!

       DO NOT attempt to unlock Perl's built-in variables!

       DO NOT manipulate reference counts unless you know exactly what you're doing!

       ANYTHING might happen! Hell might break loose! ":-)"

       YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

VERSION

       This man page documents "Internals" version 1.1.

AUTHOR

         Steffen Beyer
         mailto:sb@engelschall.com
         http://www.engelschall.com/u/sb/download/

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (c) 2001 by Steffen Beyer. All rights reserved.

LICENSE

       This package is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same
       terms as Perl itself, i.e., under the terms of the "Artistic License" or the "GNU General
       Public License".

       Please refer to the files "Artistic.txt" and "GNU_GPL.txt" in this distribution for
       details!

DISCLAIMER

       This package is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY;
       without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

       See the "GNU General Public License" for more details.