our $Debug = 0;
our $ExportLevel = 0;
our $Verbose ||= 0;
-our $VERSION = '5.566';
-$Carp::Internal{Exporter} = 1;
+our $VERSION = '5.62';
+our (%Cache);
+# Carp does this now for us, so we can finally live w/o Carp
+#$Carp::Internal{Exporter} = 1;
sub as_heavy {
require Exporter::Heavy;
my $pkg = shift;
my $callpkg = caller($ExportLevel);
+ if ($pkg eq "Exporter" and @_ and $_[0] eq "import") {
+ *{$callpkg."::import"} = \&import;
+ return;
+ }
+
# We *need* to treat @{"$pkg\::EXPORT_FAIL"} since Carp uses it :-(
- my($exports, $export_cache, $fail)
- = (\@{"$pkg\::EXPORT"}, \%{"$pkg\::EXPORT"}, \@{"$pkg\::EXPORT_FAIL"});
+ my($exports, $fail) = (\@{"$pkg\::EXPORT"}, \@{"$pkg\::EXPORT_FAIL"});
return export $pkg, $callpkg, @_
if $Verbose or $Debug or @$fail > 1;
+ my $export_cache = ($Cache{$pkg} ||= {});
my $args = @_ or @_ = @$exports;
local $_;
@ISA = qw(Exporter);
@EXPORT_OK = qw(munge frobnicate); # symbols to export on request
+or
+
+ package YourModule;
+ use Exporter 'import'; # gives you Exporter's import() method directly
+ @EXPORT_OK = qw(munge frobnicate); # symbols to export on request
+
In other files which wish to use YourModule:
use ModuleName qw(frobnicate); # import listed symbols
frobnicate ($left, $right) # calls YourModule::frobnicate
+Take a look at L</Good Practices> for some variants
+you will like to use in modern Perl code.
+
=head1 DESCRIPTION
The Exporter module implements an C<import> method which allows a module
=head2 Specialised Import Lists
-If the first entry in an import list begins with !, : or / then the
-list is treated as a series of specifications which either add to or
-delete from the list of names to import. They are processed left to
+If any of the entries in an import list begins with !, : or / then
+the list is treated as a series of specifications which either add to
+or delete from the list of names to import. They are processed left to
right. Specifications are in the form:
[!]name This name only
where you can't directly call Exporter's import method. The export_to_level
method looks like:
-MyPackage->export_to_level($where_to_export, $package, @what_to_export);
+ MyPackage->export_to_level($where_to_export, $package, @what_to_export);
where $where_to_export is an integer telling how far up the calling stack
to export your symbols, and @what_to_export is an array telling what
For example, suppose that you have a module, A, which already has an
import function:
-package A;
+ package A;
-@ISA = qw(Exporter);
-@EXPORT_OK = qw ($b);
+ @ISA = qw(Exporter);
+ @EXPORT_OK = qw ($b);
-sub import
-{
- $A::b = 1; # not a very useful import method
-}
+ sub import
+ {
+ $A::b = 1; # not a very useful import method
+ }
and you want to Export symbol $A::b back to the module that called
package A. Since Exporter relies on the import method to work, via
inheritance, as it stands Exporter::import() will never get called.
Instead, say the following:
-package A;
-@ISA = qw(Exporter);
-@EXPORT_OK = qw ($b);
+ package A;
+ @ISA = qw(Exporter);
+ @EXPORT_OK = qw ($b);
-sub import
-{
- $A::b = 1;
- A->export_to_level(1, @_);
-}
+ sub import
+ {
+ $A::b = 1;
+ A->export_to_level(1, @_);
+ }
This will export the symbols one level 'above' the current package - ie: to
the program or module that used package A.
-Note: Be careful not to modify '@_' at all before you call export_to_level
+Note: Be careful not to modify C<@_> at all before you call export_to_level
- or people using your package will get very unexplained results!
+=head2 Exporting without inheriting from Exporter
+
+By including Exporter in your @ISA you inherit an Exporter's import() method
+but you also inherit several other helper methods which you probably don't
+want. To avoid this you can do
+
+ package YourModule;
+ use Exporter qw( import );
+
+which will export Exporter's own import() method into YourModule.
+Everything will work as before but you won't need to include Exporter in
+@YourModule::ISA.
+
+Note: This feature was introduced in version 5.57
+of Exporter, released with perl 5.8.3.
=head2 Module Version Checking
an C<AUTOLOAD> for any constants explicitly imported by other packages
or which are usually used when your package is C<use>d.
+=head1 Good Practices
+
+=head2 Declaring C<@EXPORT_OK> and Friends
+
+When using C<Exporter> with the standard C<strict> and C<warnings>
+pragmas, the C<our> keyword is needed to declare the package
+variables C<@EXPORT_OK>, C<@EXPORT>, C<@ISA>, etc.
+
+ our @ISA = qw(Exporter);
+ our @EXPORT_OK = qw(munge frobnicate);
+
+If backward compatibility for Perls under 5.6 is important,
+one must write instead a C<use vars> statement.
+
+ use vars qw(@ISA @EXPORT_OK);
+ @ISA = qw(Exporter);
+ @EXPORT_OK = qw(munge frobnicate);
+
+=head2 Playing Safe
+
+There are some caveats with the use of runtime statements
+like C<require Exporter> and the assignment to package
+variables, which can very subtle for the unaware programmer.
+This may happen for instance with mutually recursive
+modules, which are affected by the time the relevant
+constructions are executed.
+
+The ideal (but a bit ugly) way to never have to think
+about that is to use C<BEGIN> blocks. So the first part
+of the L</SYNOPSIS> code could be rewritten as:
+
+ package YourModule;
+
+ use strict;
+ use warnings;
+
+ our (@ISA, @EXPORT_OK);
+ BEGIN {
+ require Exporter;
+ @ISA = qw(Exporter);
+ @EXPORT_OK = qw(munge frobnicate); # symbols to export on request
+ }
+
+The C<BEGIN> will assure that the loading of F<Exporter.pm>
+and the assignments to C<@ISA> and C<@EXPORT_OK> happen
+immediately, leaving no room for something to get awry
+or just plain wrong.
+
+With respect to loading C<Exporter> and inheriting, there
+are alternatives with the use of modules like C<base> and C<parent>.
+
+ use base qw( Exporter );
+ # or
+ use parent qw( Exporter );
+
+Any of these statements are nice replacements for
+C<BEGIN { require Exporter; @ISA = qw(Exporter); }>
+with the same compile-time effect. The basic difference
+is that C<base> code interacts with declared C<fields>
+while C<parent> is a streamlined version of the older
+C<base> code to just establish the IS-A relationship.
+
+For more details, see the documentation and code of
+L<base> and L<parent>.
+
+Another thorough remedy to that runtime vs.
+compile-time trap is to use L<Exporter::Easy>,
+which is a wrapper of Exporter that allows all
+boilerplate code at a single gulp in the
+use statement.
+
+ use Exporter::Easy (
+ OK => [ qw(munge frobnicate) ],
+ );
+ # @ISA setup is automatic
+ # all assignments happen at compile time
+
+=head2 What not to Export
+
+You have been warned already in L</Selecting What To Export>
+to not export:
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
+
+method names (because you don't need to
+and that's likely to not do what you want),
+
+=item *
+
+anything by default (because you don't want to surprise your users...
+badly)
+
+=item *
+
+anything you don't need to (because less is more)
+
+=back
+
+There's one more item to add to this list. Do B<not>
+export variable names. Just because C<Exporter> lets you
+do that, it does not mean you should.
+
+ @EXPORT_OK = qw( $svar @avar %hvar ); # DON'T!
+
+Exporting variables is not a good idea. They can
+change under the hood, provoking horrible
+effects at-a-distance, that are too hard to track
+and to fix. Trust me: they are not worth it.
+
+To provide the capability to set/get class-wide
+settings, it is best instead to provide accessors
+as subroutines or class methods instead.
+
+=head1 SEE ALSO
+
+C<Exporter> is definitely not the only module with
+symbol exporter capabilities. At CPAN, you may find
+a bunch of them. Some are lighter. Some
+provide improved APIs and features. Peek the one
+that fits your needs. The following is
+a sample list of such modules.
+
+ Exporter::Easy
+ Exporter::Lite
+ Exporter::Renaming
+ Exporter::Tidy
+ Sub::Exporter / Sub::Installer
+ Perl6::Export / Perl6::Export::Attrs
+
+=head1 LICENSE
+
+This library is free software. You can redistribute it
+and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.
+
=cut