OO(1)							User Contributed Perl Documentation						     OO(1)

NAME

       Gimp::OO - Pseudo-OO for Gimp functions.

SYNOPSIS

	 use Gimp;	       # Gimp::OO is now part of Gimp.

DESCRIPTION

       As you might have noticed, you can sort most gimp functions fall into three groups, depending on the name-prefix: "gimp_", "plug_in_",
       "extension_" etc..

       Whats more, there are functions groups like "gimp_image_" or "gimp_selection_", operating on a common object, Images and Selection in this
       case.

       If you only had the plain syntax, your scripts would quickly aquire the "vertical gimp syndrome":

	gimp_palette_set_foreground(...)
	gimp_layer_new(...)
	gimp_palette_set_background(...)
	gimp_image_add_layer(...)

       etc. Of course, your fingers will suffer from severe injuries as well.

       A solution to this situation is to use OO-syntax. Gimp plays some (very) dirty tricks and provides a number of classes, like "Gimp::Image"
       and "Gimp::Palette" that allow shorter identifiers to be used (all these appear with the "Gimp::" prefix as well as without, i.e.
       "Gimp::Palette" is the same class as "Palette").

       If you call a method, "Gimp" tries to find a gimp function by prepending a number of prefixes until it finds a valid function:

	$image = Gimp->image_new(...); # calls gimp_image_new(...)
	$image = Image->new(...);      # calls gimp_image_new as well
	$image = new Image(...);       # the same in green
	Palette->set_foreground(...)   # calls gimp_palette_set_foreground(..)

       Return values from functions are automatically blessed (through The Magic Autobless feature ;) to their corresponding classes, i.e.

	$image = new Image(...);       # $image is now blessed to Gimp::Image
	$image->height; 	       # calls gimp_image_height($image)
	$image->flatten;	       # likewise gimp_flatten($image)
	$image->histogram(...);        # calls gimp_histogram($image,...), since
				       # gimp_image_histogram does not exist

       The class argument ($image in the above examples) is prepended to the argument list.

       Another shortcut: many functions want a (redundant) image argument, like

	$image->shear ($layer, ...)

       Since all you want is to shear the $layer, not the $image, this is confusing as well. In cases like this, Gimp allows you to write:

	$layer->shear (...)

       And automatically infers the additional IMAGE-type argument.

       As the (currently) last goodie, if the first argument is of type INT32, its name is "run_mode" and there are no other ambiguties, you can
       omit it, i.e.  these three calls are equivalent:

	plug_in_gauss_rle (RUN_NONINTERACTIVE, $image, $layer, 8, 1, 1);
	plug_in_gauss_rle ($image, $layer, 8, 1, 1);
	plug_in_gauss_rle ($layer, 8, 1, 1);

       You can call all sorts of sensible and not-so-sensible functions, so this feature can be abused:

	patterns_list Image;	       # will call gimp_patterns_list
	quit Plugin;		       # will quit the Gimp, not an Plugin.

       there is no image involved here whatsoever...

AVAILABLE CLASSES

       The following classes (with and without Gimp::) are available. The prefixes that are checked are shown as well (the null prefix "" is
       implicit).

       Gimp (there is no Gimp::Gimp, only Gimp::)
	    gimp_

       Layer
	    gimp_layer_
	    gimp_drawable_
	    gimp_floating_sel_
	    gimp_image_
	    gimp_
	    plug_in_
	    perl_fu_

       Image
	    gimp_image_
	    gimp_drawable_
	    gimp_
	    plug_in_
	    perl_fu_

       Drawable
	    gimp_drawable_
	    gimp_layer_
	    gimp_image_
	    gimp_
	    plug_in_
	    perl_fu_

       Selection
	    gimp_selection_

       Channel
	    gimp_channel_
	    gimp_drawable_
	    gimp_selection_
	    gimp_image_
	    gimp_
	    plug_in_
	    perl_fu_

       Display
	    gimp_display_
	    gimp_

       Palette
	    gimp_palette_

       Plugin
	    plug_in_

       Gradients
	    gimp_gradients_

       Edit
	    gimp_edit_

       Progress
	    gimp_progress_

       Region
	   (none except the implicit null prefix)

       Tile
	    gimp_tile_

       PixelRgn
	    gimp_pixel_rgn_

       GDrawable
	    gimp_gdrawable_

       Brushes
	    gimp_brushes_

       Patterns
	    gimp_patterns_

AUTHOR

       Marc Lehmann <pcg@goof.com>

SEE ALSO

       perl(1), Gimp.

perl v5.8.0							    1999-08-02								     OO(1)