Return::Value(3pm)					User Contributed Perl Documentation					Return::Value(3pm)

NAME

       Return::Value - (deprecated) polymorphic return values

VERSION

       version 1.666001

DO NOT USE THIS LIBRARY

       This library will begin issuing deprecation warnings in June 2010.

       Return::Value was a bad idea.  i'm sorry that I had it, sorry that I followed through, and sorry that it got used in other useful
       libraries.  Fortunately there are not many things using it.  One of those things is Email::Send which is also deprecated in favor of
       Email::Sender.

       There's no reason to specify a new module to replace Return::Value.  In general, routines should return values of uniform type or throw
       exceptions.  Return::Value tried to be a uniform type for all routines, but has so much weird behavior that it ends up being confusing and
       not very Perl-like.

       Objects that are false are just a dreadful idea in almost every circumstance, especially when the object has useful properties.

       Please do not use this library.	You will just regret it later.

SYNOPSIS

       Used with basic function-call interface:

	 use Return::Value;

	 sub send_over_network {
	     my ($net, $send) = @_:
	     if ( $net->transport( $send ) ) {
		 return success;
	     } else {
		 return failure "Was not able to transport info.";
	     }
	 }

	 my $result = $net->send_over_network(	"Data" );

	 # boolean
	 unless ( $result ) {
	     # string
	     print $result;
	 }

       Or, build your Return::Value as an object:

	 sub build_up_return {
	     my $return = failure;

	     if ( ! foo() ) {
		 $return->string("Can't foo!");
		 return $return;
	     }

	     if ( ! bar() ) {
		 $return->string("Can't bar");
		 $return->prop(failures => @bars);
		 return $return;
	     }

	     # we're okay if we made it this far.
	     $return++;
	     return $return; # success!
	 }

DESCRIPTION

       Polymorphic return values are a horrible idea, but this library was written based on the notion that they were useful.  Often, we just want
       to know if something worked or not.  Other times, we'd like to know what the error text was.  Still others, we may want to know what the
       error code was, and what the error properties were.  We don't want to handle objects or data structures for every single return value, but
       we do want to check error conditions in our code because that's what good programmers do.

       When functions are successful they may return true, or perhaps some useful data.  In the quest to provide consistent return values, this
       gets confusing between complex, informational errors and successful return values.

       This module provides these features with a simplistic API that should get you what you're looking for in each context a return value is
       used in.

   Attributes
       All return values have a set of attributes that package up the information returned.  All attributes can be accessed or changed via methods
       of the same name, unless otherwise noted.  Many can also be accessed via overloaded operations on the object, as noted below.

       type
	   A value's type is either "success" or "failure" and (obviously) reflects whether the value is returning success or failure.

       errno
	   The errno attribute stores the error number of the return value.  For success-type results, it is by default undefined.  For other
	   results, it defaults to 1.

       string
	   The value's string attribute is a simple message describing the value.

       data
	   The data attribute stores a reference to a hash or array, and can be used as a simple way to return extra data.  Data stored in the
	   data attribute can be accessed by dereferencing the return value itself.  (See below.)

       prop
	   The most generic attribute of all, prop is a hashref that can be used to pass an arbitrary number of data structures, just like the
	   data attribute.  Unlike the data attribute, though, these structures must be retrived via method calls.

FUNCTIONS

       The functional interface is highly recommended for use within functions that are using "Return::Value" for return values.  It's simple and
       straightforward, and builds the entire return value in one statement.

       success
	   The "success" function returns a "Return::Value" with the type "success".

	   Additional named parameters may be passed to set the returned object's attributes.  The first, optional, parameter is the string
	   attribute and does not need to be named.  All other parameters must be passed by name.

	    # simplest possible case
	    return success;

       failure
	   "failure" is identical to "success", but returns an object with the type "failure"

METHODS

       The object API is useful in code that is catching "Return::Value" objects.

       new
	     my $return = Return::Value->new(
		 type	=> 'failure',
		 string => "YOU FAIL",
		 prop	=> {
		     failed_objects => @objects,
		 },
	     );

	   Creates a new "Return::Value" object.  Named parameters can be used to set the object's attributes.

       bool
	     print "it worked" if $result->bool;

	   Returns the result in boolean context: true for success, false for failure.

       prop
	     printf "%s: %s',
	       $result->string, join ' ', @{$result->prop('strings')}
		 unless $result->bool;

	   Returns the return value's properties. Accepts the name of a property retured, or returns the properties hash reference if given no
	   name.

       other attribute accessors
	   Simple accessors exist for the object's other attributes: "type", "errno", "string", and "data".

   Overloading
       Several operators are overloaded for "Return::Value" objects. They are listed here.

       Stringification
	     print "$result
";

	   Stringifies to the string attribute.

       Boolean
	     print $result unless $result;

	   Returns the "bool" representation.

       Numeric
	   Also returns the "bool" value.

       Dereference
	   Dereferencing the value as a hash or array will return the value of the data attribute, if it matches that type, or an empty reference
	   otherwise.  You can check "ref $result->data" to determine what kind of data (if any) was passed.

TODO

       Add deprecation.

AUTHORS

       Casey West, <casey@geeknest.com>.

       Ricardo Signes, <rjbs@cpan.org>.

COPYRIGHT

	 Copyright (c) 2004-2006 Casey West and Ricardo SIGNES.  All rights reserved.
	 This module is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
	 the same terms as Perl itself.

perl v5.10.0							    2009-06-08							Return::Value(3pm)