NAME

       Cache::SizeAwareCache -- extends the Cache interface.

DESCRIPTION

       The SizeAwareCache interface is implemented by classes that support all of the
       Cache::Cache interface in addition to the limit_size and max_size features of a size aware
       cache.

       The default cache size limiting algorithm works by removing cache objects in the following
       order until the desired limit is reached:

         1) objects that have expired
         2) objects that are least recently accessed
         3) objects that that expire next

SYNOPSIS

         use Cache::SizeAwareCache;
         use vars qw( @ISA );

         @ISA = qw( Cache::SizeAwareCache );

CONSTANTS

       Please see Cache::Cache for standard constants

       $NO_MAX_SIZE
           The cache has no size restrictions

METHODS

       Please see Cache::Cache for the standard methods

       limit_size( $new_size )
           Attempt to resize the cache such that the total disk usage is under the $new_size
           parameter.  $new_size represents t size (in bytes) that the cache should be limited
           to.  Note that this is only a one time adjustment.  To maintain the cache size,
           consider using the max_size option, although it is considered very expensive, and can
           often be better achieved by peridocally calling limit_size.

OPTIONS

       Please see Cache::Cache for the standard options

       max_size
           Sets the max_size property (size in bytes), which is described in detail below.
           Defaults to $NO_MAX_SIZE.

PROPERTIES

       Please see Cache::Cache for standard properties

       (get|set)_max_size
           If this property is set, then the cache will try not to exceed the max size value (in
           bytes) specified.  NOTE: This causes the size of the cache to be checked on every set,
           and can be considered *very* expensive in some implementations.  A good alternative
           approach is leave max_size as $NO_MAX_SIZE and to periodically limit the size of the
           cache by calling the limit_size( $size ) method.

SEE ALSO

       Cache::Cache

AUTHOR

       Original author: DeWitt Clinton <dewitt@unto.net>

       Last author:     $Author: dclinton $

       Copyright (C) 2001-2003 DeWitt Clinton