Provided by: libgetargs-long-perl_1.1003-3_all bug

NAME

       Getargs::Long - Named subroutine arguments, with optional type checking

SYNOPSIS

        use Getargs::Long;                     # case sensitive
        use Getargs::Long qw(ignorecase);      # case insensitive

        # Simple, args mandatory
        my ($val, $other) = getargs(@_, qw(val other));

        # Simple, args optional (in [] means optional)
        my ($val, $other) = getargs(@_, [qw(val other)]);

        # Simple with typechecking, args mandatory
        my ($val, $other) = getargs(@_, qw(val=Class::X other=ARRAY));

        # Simple with typechecking, args optional
        my ($val, $other) = getargs(@_, [qw(val=Class::X other=ARRAY)]);

        # Faster version, building dedicated argument parsing routine
        my ($val, $other) = cgetargs(@_, qw(val other));

        # Other cases, use full specs:
        my ($x, $y, $z, $a, $b, $c) = xgetargs(@_,

           # Non-mandatory, defaults to undef unless specified otherwise
           'x'     => ['i'],                   # integer, no default
           'y'     => ['ARRAY', ['a', 'b']],   # Has a default
           'z'     => [],                      # No typecheck, can be anything

           # Mandatory arguments
           'a'     => 'i',                     # integer (scalar)
           'b'     => 'TYPE',                  # TYPE or any heir of TYPE
           'c'     => undef,                   # unspecified type but mandatory
        );

        # Extract remaining unparsed args in @extra
        my ($val, $other, @extra) = getargs(@_, { -strict => 0 }, qw(val other));

        # Alter behaviour of the getargs() routines via switches in hashref
        my ($val, $other) = getargs(@_,
           {
               -strict         => 1,       # unknown switches are fatal
               -ignorecase     => 1,       # override package's global
               -inplace        => 1,       # edit @_ inplace: remove parsed args
               -extra          => 0,       # suppress return of extra arguments
           },
           qw(val other)
        );

DESCRIPTION

       The "Getargs::Long" module allows usage of named parameters in function calls, along with
       optional argument type-checking.  It provides an easy way to get at the parameters within
       the routine, and yields concise descriptions for the common cases of all-mandatory and
       all-optional parameter lists.

       The validation of arguments can be done by a structure-driven routine getargs() which is
       fine for infrequently called routines (but should be slower), or via a dedicated routine
       created and compiled on the fly the fist time it is needed, by using the cgetargs() family
       (expected to be faster).

       The "Log::Agent" module is used to report errors, which leaves to the application the
       choice of the final logging method: to a file, to STDERR, or to syslog.

EXAMPLES

       Before going through the interface specification, a little example will help illustrate
       both caller and callee sides.  Let's write a routine that can be called as either:

        f(-x => 1, -y => 2, -z => 3);  # -switch form
        f(x => 1, y => 2, z => 3);     # concise form (- are optional)
        f(y => 1, x => 2);             # order changed, z may be omitted

       Since we have an optional parameter z but mandatory x and y, we can't use the short form
       of getargs() and must therefore use xgetargs():

        sub f {
            my ($x, $y ,$z) = xgetargs(@_,
                -x => 'i',             # mandatory, integer
                -y => 'i',             # mandatory, integer
                -z => ['i', 0],        # optional integer, defaults to 0
            );
            # code use $x, $y, $z
        }

       That's quite simple and direct if you think of [] as "optional".  Note that we pass
       xgetargs() a reference to @_.

       If we had all arguments mandatory and wished to nonethless benefit from the named
       specification at call time to avoid having the caller remember the exact parameter
       ordering, we could write:

        sub f {
            my ($x, $y ,$z) = getargs(@_, qw(x=i y=i z=i));
            # code of f
        }

       Without parameter type checking, that would be even more concise.  Besides, if f() is
       frequently called, it might be more efficient to build a routine dynamically to parse the
       arguments rather than letting getargs() parse the same data structures again and again:

        sub f {
            my ($x, $y ,$z) = cgetargs(@_, qw(x y z));    # 'c' for cached/compiled
            # code of f
        }

       If you call f() with an improper argument, logcroak() will be called to issue an exception
       from the persepective of the caller, i.e. pointing to the place f() is called instead of
       within f() at the getargs() call, which would be rather useless.

       Here are some more examples:

       Example 1 -- All mandatory:

          sub f {
              my ($port, $server) = getargs(@_,
                  qw(port=i server=HTTP::Server));
          }

          f(-server => $server, port => 80);  # or -port, since - is optional
          f(port => 80, server => $server);
          f(server => $server);               # WRONG: missing mandatory -port
          f(server => 80, port => 80);        # WRONG: -server not an HTTP::Server
          f(server => undef, port => 80);     # WRONG: -server cannot be undef

       Example 2 -- All optional

          sub cmd {
              my ($a, $o) = getargs(@_, [qw(a o=s)]);
          }

          cmd();                      # OK
          cmd(-a => undef);           # OK -a accepts anything, even undef
          cmd(-a => 1, -o => "..");   # OK
          cmd(-a => 1, -o => undef);  # WRONG: -o does not accept undef
          cmd(-x => 1);               # WRONG: -x is not a known argument name

       Example 3  -- Mixed optional / mandatory

          sub f {
              my ($x, $z) = xgetargs(@_,
                  -x  => 'i',                 # -x mandatory integer
                  -z  => ['n', -20.4],        # -z optional, defaults to -20.4
              );
          }

          f(x => 1, z => {});     # WRONG: z is not a numerical value
          f(z => 1, x => -2);     # OK
          f(-z => 1);             # WRONG: mandatory x is missing
          f(-z => undef);         # WRONG: z cannot be undef

       Example 4 -- Parsing options

          sub f {
              my ($x, $z) = xgetargs(@_,
                  { -strict => 0, -ignorecase => 1 },
                  -x  => 'i',                 # -x mandatory integer
                  -z  => ['n', -20.4],        # -z optional, defaults to -20.4
              );
          }

          f(x => 1, foo => {});   # OK, -foo ignored since not strict
          f(-X => 1);             # OK, -X actually specifies -x with ignorecase

INTERFACE

       All the routines take a mandatory first argument, called arglist, which is the array
       containing the named arguments for the routine (i.e. a succession of name => value
       tuples).  This array is implicitely passed as reference, and will usually be given as @_.

       All the routines take an optional options argument which comes in the second place.  It is
       an hash reference containing named options that alter the behaviour of the routine.  More
       details given in the Options section.

       All the routines return a list of the arguments in the order they are specified, each slot
       in the list being either the argument value, if present, or "undef" if missing (and not
       mandatory).

   Simple Cases
       Simple cases are handled by getargs(): named arguments should either be all mandatory or
       all optional, and there is no provision for specifying a default value for optional
       parameters.

       The getargs() routine and its cousin cgetargs() have two different interfaces, depending
       on whether the arguments are all mandatory or all optional.  We'll only specify for
       getargs(), but the signature of cgetargs() is identical.

       getargs arglist, options, arg_spec1, arg_spec2, ...
           We'll be ignoring the options argument from our discussion.  See the Options section
           for details.

           All the routine formal arguments specified by arg_spec1, arg_spec2, etc... are
           mandatory.  If arg_spec1 is only a name, then it specifies a mandatory formal argument
           of that name, which can be of any type, even undef.  If the name is followed by
           "=type" then "type" specifies the argument type: usually a reference type, unless 'i',
           'n' or 's' is used for integer, natural and string scalars.

           Currently, types 'i', 'n' and 's' all mean the same thing: that the argument must be a
           scalar.  A future implementation will probably ensure 'i' and 'n' hold integers and
           natural numbers respectively, 's' being the placeholder for anything else that is
           defined.

           For instance:

               foo               expects mandatory "foo" of "-foo" argument (undef ok)
               foo=s             idem, and argument cannot be undef or reference
               foo=i             value of argument -foo must be an integer
               foo=My::Package   foo is a blessed object, inheriting from My::Package
               foo=ARRAY         foo is an ARRAY reference

           The rule for determing whether "foo=X" means "foo" is a reference "X" or "foo" is an
           object whose class is an heir of "X" depends on the argument value at runtime: if it
           is an unblessed ref, strict reference equality is expected.  If it is a blessed ref,
           type conformance is based on inheritance, as you would expect.

           Example:

               sub f {
                   my ($port, $server) = getargs(@_,
                       qw(port=i server=HTTP::Server));
               }

           Some calls:

               f(-server => $server, port => 80);  # or -port, since - is optional
               f(port => 80, server => $server);
               f(server => $server);               # WRONG: missing mandatory -port
               f(server => 80, port => 80);        # WRONG: -server not an HTTP::Server
               f(server => undef, port => 80);     # WRONG: -server cannot be undef

           By default, named argument processing is case-sensitive but there is an option to
           ignore case.

       getargs arglist, options, array_ref
           This form specifies that all the formal arguments specified in the array_ref are
           optional.  Think of the '[' and ']' (which you'll probably use to supply the reference
           as a manifest constant) as syntactic markers for optional things.  In the traditional
           Unix command line description, something like:

               cmd [-a] [-o file]

           typically denotes that options "-a" and "-o" are optional, and that "-o" takes one
           argument, a file name.  To specify the same things for routine arguments using
           getargs():

               sub cmd {
                   my ($a, $o) = getargs(@_, [qw(a o=s)]);
               }

           Here however, the "-a" argument can be anything: we're not specifying switches, we're
           specifying named arguments.  Big difference.

           Some calls:

               cmd();                      # OK
               cmd(-a => undef);           # OK -a accepts anything, even undef
               cmd(-a => 1, -o => "..");   # OK
               cmd(-a => 1, -o => undef);  # WRONG: -o does not accept undef
               cmd(-x => 1);               # WRONG: -x is not a known argument name

           It is important to note that there can only be tuples when using named arguments,
           which means that the routine is called with an even number of arguments.  If you
           forget a "," separator between arguments, getargs() will complain about an odd number
           of arguments (provided the resulting code still parses as valid Perl, naturally, or
           you'll never get a chance to reach the execution of getargs() anyway).

       cgetargs same args as getargs
           The cgetargs() routine behaves exactly as the getargs() routine: it takes the same
           arguments, returns the same list.  The only difference is that the first time it is
           called, it builds a routine to process the arguments, and then calls it.

           On subsequent calls to cgetargs() for the same routine, the cached argument parsing
           routine is re-used to analyze the arguments.  For frequently called routines, this
           might be a win, even though Perl still needs to construct the argument list to
           cgetargs() and call it.

   Complex Cases
       The xgetargs() routine and its cousin cxgetargs() (for the caching version) allow for a
       more verbose description of named parameters which allows specifying arguments that are
       mandatory or optional, and also give default values to optional arguments.

       xgetargs arglist, options, name => type, ...
           We'll be ignoring the options argument from our discussion.  See Options for details.

           There can be as many name => type tuples as necessary to describe all the formal
           arguments of the routine.  The name refers to the argument name, and type specifies
           both the mandatory nature and the expected type.  You may use name or -name to specify
           an argument called name, and the caller will also be able to spell it as he wishes.
           The type is encoded as follows:

               "i"      mandatory integer (scalar)
               "s"      mandatory string (scalar)
               "TYPE"   mandatory ref of type TYPE, or heir of type TYPE
               undef    unspecified type, but mandatory argument
               ["i"]    optional integer
               ["s"]    optional string
               ["TYPE"] optional ref of type TYPE, or heir of type TYPE

           For optional parameter, an optional second value may be inserted in the list to
           specify a default value.  For instance, the tupple:

               'y' => ['HASH', { a => 1, b => 2 }]

           specifies an optional named argument y, which is expected to be a HASH reference, and
           whose default value is the hash given.

           You may specify an expression as default value instead of giving a manifest constant,
           but BEWARE: the cxgetargs() routine will take a snapshot of your expression when
           building its analyzing routine.  It's of no consequence when using a manifest
           constant, but when using an expression, it will be evaluated once and the result of
           that evaluation will be taken as the manifest constant to use subsequently (and this
           does not mean the same reference will be returned, only the same topological structure
           as the one we evaluated during caching).

           Example:

               sub f {
                   my ($x, $z) = cxgetargs(@_,
                       -x  => 'i',                 # -x mandatory integer
                       -z  => ['n', -20.4],        # -z optional, defaults to -20.4
                   );
               }

               f(x => 1, z => {});     # WRONG: z is not a numerical value
               f(z => 1, x => -2);     # OK
               f(-z => 1);             # WRONG: mandatory x is missing
               f(-z => undef);         # WRONG: z cannot be undef

           Remember that we are dealing with named parameters for a routine call, not with option
           parsing.  Therefore, we are always expecting an even number of arguments, and those
           arguments are tuples name => value.

   Options
       All the getargs() and xgetargs() routines take an optional hash reference as second
       argument.  Keys in this hash define options that apply locally to the call.  In the case
       of caching routines, e.g. cxgetargs(), the options are only considered the first time,
       when the analyzing routine is built, and are ignored on subsequent calls.  Therefore, it
       is wise to use manifest constants when specifying options, or use the non-caching function
       family instead if your options need to be dynamically computed (please, don't do that).

       Options given there must be spelled out with the leading "-" and are case sensitive.  To
       enable an option, give a true value.  For instance:

           sub f {
               my ($x, $z) = cxgetargs(@_,
                   { -strict => 0, -ignorecase => 1 },
                   -x  => 'i',                 # -x mandatory integer
                   -z  => ['n', -20.4],        # -z optional, defaults to -20.4
               );
           }

       supplies two options, turning "-ignorecase" on and "-strict" off.

       The available options are, in alphabetical order:

       -extra
           Whether to report extra unknown arguments at the end of the argument list.  Example:

               my ($x, $y, @extra) = getargs(@_,
                   { -extra => 1, -strict => 0 }, qw(x y));

           Your setting is forced to false when "-strict" is true.  The default value is the
           negation of the boolean "-strict" setting, which means the above can be rewritten as:

               my ($x, $y, @extra) = getargs(@_, { -strict => 0 }, qw(x y));

           which will implicitely set -extra to be true.  This is usually what you want when not
           strict, i.e. get at the other parameters.  Assuming we were writing the above for a
           function f(), calling:

               f(-x => 1, -y => 2, -other => 5);

           would set:

               @extra = (-other => 5);

           An alternative when you are not strict is to make use of the "-inplace" option to edit
           @_ inplace.

       -ignorecase
           Turn case-insensitive named parameters.  False by default.  Actually, if not
           explicitely specified, the default setting depends on the way "Getargs::Long" was
           imported within the package scope.  If you said:

               use Getargs::Long;

           then the default is indeed to be case-sensitive.  However, if you said:

               use Getargs::Long qw(ignorecase);

           then the default for the package scope is to be case-insensitive.  You may still
           specify the "-ignorecase" option to force case sensitivity on a per-routine basis,
           although I would never do such a thing and stick to a uniform case sensitivity on a
           package basis.

       -inplace
           Whether to edit the routine's argument list inplace, removing processed arguments as
           they are found and leaving unprocessed ones.  False by default.

           Your setting is forced to false when "-strict" is true, naturally, since an unknown
           argument is an error.

       -strict
           Whether unknown named parameters are fatal.  True by default.  When "-strict" is true,
           the "-inplace" and "-extra" options you may specify are ignored and forced to false.

BUGS

       Currently, types 'i', 'n' and 's' all mean the same thing, but that will change.  Don't
       take the current implementation's deficiency as an excuse for lamely specifying your
       scalar types.

       You must be careful in this implementation to list options and variables in the very same
       order.  Some day, I will probably add another routine to take arguments the way
       "Getopt::Long" does to cope with this ordering problem (but it forces to spell out
       variables twice -- once for declaration, and once for specifying a pointer to it).

RELATED MODULE

       See Params::Validate for another take at parameter validation.  It is a completely
       independant module, developped by Dave Rolsky, which may also interest you.  Its interface
       and purpose are different though.

LICENSE

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

AUTHOR

       The original code (written before September 15, 2004) was written by Raphael Manfredi
       <Raphael_Manfredi@pobox.com>.

       Maintenance of this module is now being done by David Coppit <david@coppit.org>.

SEE ALSO

       Log::Agent, Params::Validate