NAME

       Test2::Util::HashBase - Base class for classes that use a hashref of a hash.

EXPERIMENTAL RELEASE

       This is an experimental release. Using this right now is not recommended.

SYNOPSIS

       A class:

           package My::Class;
           use strict;
           use warnings;

           # Generate 3 accessors
           use Test2::Util::HashBase qw/foo bar baz/;

           # Chance to initialize defaults
           sub init {
               my $self = shift;    # No other args
               $self->{+FOO} ||= "foo";
               $self->{+BAR} ||= "bar";
               $self->{+BAZ} ||= "baz";
           }

           sub print {
               print join ", " => map { $self->{$_} } FOO, BAR, BAZ;
           }

       Subclass it

           package My::Subclass;
           use strict;
           use warnings;

           # Note, you should subclass before loading HashBase.
           use base 'My::Class';
           use Test2::Util::HashBase qw/bat/;

           sub init {
               my $self = shift;

               # We get the constants from the base class for free.
               $self->{+FOO} ||= 'SubFoo';
               $self->{+BAT} || = 'bat';

               $self->SUPER::init();
           }

       use it:

           package main;
           use strict;
           use warnings;
           use My::Class;

           my $one = My::Class->new(foo => 'MyFoo', bar => 'MyBar');

           # Accessors!
           my $foo = $one->foo;    # 'MyFoo'
           my $bar = $one->bar;    # 'MyBar'
           my $baz = $one->baz;    # Defaulted to: 'baz'

           # Setters!
           $one->set_foo('A Foo');
           $one->set_bar('A Bar');
           $one->set_baz('A Baz');

           $one->{+FOO} = 'xxx';

DESCRIPTION

       This package is used to generate classes based on hashrefs. Using this class will give you
       a "new()" method, as well as generating accessors you request.  Generated accessors will
       be getters, "set_ACCESSOR" setters will also be generated for you. You also get constants
       for each accessor (all caps) which return the key into the hash for that accessor. Single
       inheritence is also supported.

METHODS

   PROVIDED BY HASH BASE
       $it = $class->new(@VALUES)
           Create a new instance using key/value pairs.

           HashBase will not export "new()" if there is already a "new()" method in your packages
           inheritence chain.

           If you do not want this method you can define your own you just have to declare it
           before loading Test2::Util::HashBase.

               package My::Package;

               # predeclare new() so that HashBase does not give us one.
               sub new;

               use Test2::Util::HashBase qw/foo bar baz/;

               # Now we define our own new method.
               sub new { ... }

           This makes it so that HashBase sees that you have your own "new()" method.
           Alternatively you can define the method before loading HashBase instead of just
           declaring it, but that scatters your use statements.

   HOOKS
       $self->init()
           This gives you the chance to set some default values to your fields. The only argument
           is $self with its indexes already set from the constructor.

ACCESSORS

       To generate accessors you list them when using the module:

           use Test2::Util::HashBase qw/foo/;

       This will generate the following subs in your namespace:

       foo()
           Getter, used to get the value of the "foo" field.

       set_foo()
           Setter, used to set the value of the "foo" field.

       FOO()
           Constant, returns the field "foo"'s key into the class hashref. Subclasses will also
           get this function as a constant, not simply a method, that means it is copied into the
           subclass namespace.

           The main reason for using these constants is to help avoid spelling mistakes and
           similar typos. It will not help you if you forget to prefix the '+' though.

SUBCLASSING

       You can subclass an existing HashBase class.

           use base 'Another::HashBase::Class';
           use Test2::Util::HashBase qw/foo bar baz/;

       The base class is added to @ISA for you, and all constants from base classes are added to
       subclasses automatically.

SOURCE

       The source code repository for Test2 can be found at http://github.com/Test-More/Test2/.

MAINTAINERS

       Chad Granum <exodist@cpan.org>

AUTHORS

       Chad Granum <exodist@cpan.org>

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright 2015 Chad Granum <exodist7@gmail.com>.

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

       See http://dev.perl.org/licenses/