NAME

       Class::MakeMethods::Basic::Array - Basic array methods

SYNOPSIS

         package MyObject;
         use Class::MakeMethods::Basic::Array (
           new => 'new',
           scalar => [ 'foo', 'bar' ],
           array => 'my_list',
           hash => 'my_index',
         );
         ...

         # Constructor
         my $obj = MyObject->new( foo => 'Foozle' );

         # Scalar Accessor
         print $obj->foo();

         $obj->bar('Barbados');
         print $obj->bar();

         # Array accessor
         $obj->my_list(0 => 'Foozle', 1 => 'Bang!');
         print $obj->my_list(1);

         # Hash accessor
         $obj->my_index('broccoli' => 'Blah!', 'foo' => 'Fiddle');
         print $obj->my_index('foo');

DESCRIPTION

       The Basic::Array subclass of MakeMethods provides a basic constructor and accessors for
       blessed-array object instances.

   Calling Conventions
       When you "use" this package, the method names you provide as arguments cause subroutines
       to be generated and installed in your module.

       See "Calling Conventions" in Class::MakeMethods::Basic for a summary, or "USAGE" in
       Class::MakeMethods for full details.

   Declaration Syntax
       To declare methods, pass in pairs of a method-type name followed by one or more method
       names. Valid method-type names for this package are listed in "METHOD GENERATOR TYPES".

       See "Declaration Syntax" in Class::MakeMethods::Basic for more syntax information.

   About Positional Accessors
       Each accessor method claims the next available spot in the array to store its value in.

       The mapping between method names and array positions is stored in a hash named %FIELDS in
       the target package. When the first positional accessor is defined for a package, its
       %FIELDS are initialized by searching its inheritance tree.

       Caution: Subclassing packages that use positional accessors is somewhat fragile, since you
       may end up with two distinct methods assigned to the same position. Specific cases to
       avoid are:

       •   If you inherit from more than one class with positional accessors, the positions used
           by the two sets of methods will overlap.

       •   If your superclass adds additional positional accessors after you declare your first,
           they will overlap yours.

METHOD GENERATOR TYPES

   new - Constructor
       For each method name passed, returns a subroutine with the following characteristics:

       •   If called as a class method, makes a new array and blesses it into that class.

       •   If called on an array-based instance, makes a copy of it and blesses the copy into the
           same class as the original instance.

       •   If passed a list of method-value pairs, calls each named method with the associated
           value as an argument.

       •   Returns the new instance.

       Sample declaration and usage:

         package MyObject;
         use Class::MakeMethods::Basic::Array (
           new => 'new',
         );
         ...

         # Bare constructor
         my $empty = MyObject->new();

         # Constructor with initial sequence of method calls
         my $obj = MyObject->new( foo => 'Foozle', bar => 'Barbados' );

         # Copy with overriding sequence of method calls
         my $copy = $obj->new( bar => 'Bob' );

   scalar - Instance Accessor
       For each method name passed, uses a closure to generate a subroutine with the following
       characteristics:

       •   Must be called on an array-based instance.

       •   Determines the array position associated with the method name, and uses that as an
           index into each instance to access the related value.

       •   If called without any arguments returns the current value (or undef).

       •   If called with an argument, stores that as the value, and returns it,

       Sample declaration and usage:

         package MyObject;
         use Class::MakeMethods::Basic::Array (
           scalar => 'foo',
         );
         ...

         # Store value
         $obj->foo('Foozle');

         # Retrieve value
         print $obj->foo;

   array - Instance Ref Accessor
       For each method name passed, uses a closure to generate a subroutine with the following
       characteristics:

       •   Must be called on an array-based instance.

       •   Determines the array position associated with the method name, and uses that as an
           index into each instance to access the related value.

       •   The value for each instance will be a reference to an array (or undef).

       •   If called without any arguments, returns the current array-ref value (or undef).

       •   If called with one argument, uses that argument as an index to retrieve from the
           referenced array, and returns that value (or undef). If the single argument is an
           array ref, then a slice of the referenced array is returned.

       •   If called with a list of index-value pairs, stores the value at the given index in the
           referenced array. If the instance's value was previously undefined, a new array is
           autovivified. The current value in each position will be overwritten, and later
           arguments with the same index will override earlier ones. Returns the current array-
           ref value.

       Sample declaration and usage:

         package MyObject;
         use Class::MakeMethods::Basic::Array (
           array => 'bar',
         );
         ...

         # Set values by position
         $obj->bar(0 => 'Foozle', 1 => 'Bang!');

         # Positions may be overwritten, and in any order
         $obj->bar(2 => 'And Mash', 1 => 'Blah!');

         # Retrieve value by position
         print $obj->bar(1);

         # Retrieve slice of values by position
         print join(', ', $obj->bar( [0, 2] ) );

         # Direct access to referenced array
         print scalar @{ $obj->bar() };

         # Reset the array contents to empty
         @{ $obj->bar() } = ();

   hash - Instance Ref Accessor
       For each method name passed, uses a closure to generate a subroutine with the following
       characteristics:

       •   Must be called on an array-based instance.

       •   Determines the array position associated with the method name, and uses that as an
           index into each instance to access the related value.

       •   The value for each instance will be a reference to a hash (or undef).

       •   If called without any arguments, returns the current hash-ref value (or undef).

       •   If called with one argument, uses that argument as an index to retrieve from the
           referenced hash, and returns that value (or undef). If the single argument is an array
           ref, then a slice of the referenced hash is returned.

       •   If called with a list of key-value pairs, stores the value under the given key in the
           referenced hash. If the instance's value was previously undefined, a new hash is
           autovivified. The current value under each key will be overwritten, and later
           arguments with the same key will override earlier ones. Returns the current hash-ref
           value.

       Sample declaration and usage:

         package MyObject;
         use Class::MakeMethods::Basic::Array (
           hash => 'baz',
         );
         ...

         # Set values by key
         $obj->baz('foo' => 'Foozle', 'bar' => 'Bang!');

         # Values may be overwritten, and in any order
         $obj->baz('broccoli' => 'Blah!', 'foo' => 'Fiddle');

         # Retrieve value by key
         print $obj->baz('foo');

         # Retrieve slice of values by position
         print join(', ', $obj->baz( ['foo', 'bar'] ) );

         # Direct access to referenced hash
         print keys %{ $obj->baz() };

         # Reset the hash contents to empty
         @{ $obj->baz() } = ();

SEE ALSO

       See Class::MakeMethods for general information about this distribution.

       See Class::MakeMethods::Basic for more about this family of subclasses.