NAME

       Class::MixinFactory - Class Factory with Selection of Mixins

SYNOPSIS

         package MyClass;
         use Class::MixinFactory -hasafactory;
         sub new { ... }
         sub foo { return "Foo Bar" }

         package MyClass::Logging;
         sub foo { warn "Calling foo"; (shift)->NEXT('foo', @_) }

         package MyClass::UpperCase;
         sub foo { uc( (shift)->NEXT('foo', @_) ) }

         package main;

         my $class = MyClass->class( 'Logging', 'UpperCase' );
         print $class->new()->foo();
         # Calls MyClass::Logging::foo, MyClass::UpperCase::foo, MyClass::foo

DESCRIPTION

       This distribution facilitates the run-time generation of classes which inherit from a base
       class and some optional selection of mixin classes.

       A factory is provided to generate the mixed classes with multiple inheritance.  A NEXT
       method allows method redispatch up the inheritance chain.

USAGE

       The Class::MixinFactory package is just a facade that loads the necessary classes and
       provides a few import options for compile-time convenience.

   Factory Interface
       To generate an object with some combination of mixins, you first pass the names of the
       mixin classes to a class factory which will generate a mixed class. (Or return the name of
       the already generated class, if there has been a previous request with the same
       combination of mixins.)

       You can add a factory method to your base class, create a separate factory object, or
       inherit to produce a factory class.

       Factory Method
           To add a factory method to a base class, inherit from the
           Class::MixinFactory::HasAFactory class, or use the "-hasafactory" import option:

             package MyClass;
             use Class::MixinFactory -hasafactory;

             package main;
             my $class = MyClass->class( 'Logging', 'UpperCase' );
             print $class->new()->foo();

       Factory Class
           To create a new class which will act as a factory for another base class, inherit from
           the Class::MixinFactory::Factory class, or use the "-isafactory" import option:

             package MyClass::Factory;
             use Class::MixinFactory -isafactory;
             MyClass::Factory->base_class( "MyClass" );

             package main;
             my $class = MyClass::Factory->class( 'Logging', 'UpperCase' );
             print $class->new()->foo();

       Factory Object
           To create an object which will act as a factory, create a Class::MixinFactory::Factory
           instance by calling the new() method:

             use Class::MixinFactory;
             my $factory = Class::MixinFactory->new();
             $factory->base_class( "MyClass" );

             my $class = $factory->class( 'Logging', 'UpperCase' );
             print $class->new()->foo();

   Inheriting from a Mixed Class
       Inheriting with a Factory Method or Factory Object
           A subclass can inherit from a mixed class:

             package MyClass::CustomWidget;
             @ISA = MyClass->class( 'Logging', 'UpperCase' );
             sub foo { local $_ = (shift)->NEXT('foo', @_); tr[a-z][z-a]; $_ }

             package main;
             print MyClass::CustomWidget->new()->foo();

       Inheriting with a Factory Class
           A subclass can use a factory class to define its own inheritance:

             package MyClass::CustomWidget;
             use Class::MixinFactory -isasubclass,
                   MyClass::Factory => 'Logging', 'UpperCase';
             sub foo { local $_ = (shift)->NEXT('foo', @_); tr[a-z][z-a]; $_ }

             package main;
             print MyClass::CustomWidget->new()->foo();

   Configuring a Factory
       Factories support methods that control which classes they will use.

       The base class will be inherited from by all mixed classes.

         $factory->base_class( "HelloWorld" );

       The mixin prefix is prepended to the mixin names passed to the class() method. Mixin names
       that contain a "::" are assumed to be fully qualified and are not changed. If empty, the
       base_class is used.

         $factory->mixin_prefix( 'HelloFeature' );

       The mixed prefix is at the start of all generated class names. If empty, the base_class is
       used, or the factory's class name.

         $factory->mixed_prefix( 'HelloClass' );

   Writing a Mixin Class
       Writing a mixin class is almost the same as writing a subclass, except where methods need
       to redispatch to the base-class implementation. (The SUPER::method syntax will only search
       for classes that the mixin itself inherits from; to search back up the inheritance tree
       and explore other branches, another redispatch mechanism is needed.)

       A method named NEXT is provided to continue the search through to the next class which
       provides a given method. The order in which mixins are stacked is significant, so the
       caller should understand how their behaviors interact. (See Class::MixinFactory::NEXT.)

SEE ALSO

       For distribution, installation, support, copyright and license information, see
       Class::MixinFactory::ReadMe.