MakeMethods::Emulator::Inheritable(3pm) 		User Contributed Perl Documentation		   MakeMethods::Emulator::Inheritable(3pm)

NAME

       Class::MakeMethods::Emulator::Inheritable - Emulate Class::Inheritable

SYNOPSIS

	 package Stuff;
	 use base qw(Class::MakeMethods::Emulator::Inheritable);

	 # Set up DataFile as inheritable class data.
	 Stuff->mk_classdata('DataFile');

	 # Declare the location of the data file for this class.
	 Stuff->DataFile('/etc/stuff/data');

DESCRIPTION

       This module is an adaptor that provides emulatation of Class::Data::Inheritable by invoking similiar functionality provided by
       Class::MakeMethods::ClassInherit.

       The public interface provided by Class::MakeMethods::Emulator::Inheritable is identical to that of Class::Data::Inheritable.

       Class::Data::Inheritable is for creating accessor/mutators to class data.  That is, if you want to store something about your class as a
       whole (instead of about a single object).  This data is then inherited by your subclasses and can be overriden.

USAGE

       As specified by Class::Data::Inheritable, clients should inherit from this module and then invoke the mk_classdata() method for each class
       method desired:

	 Class->mk_classdata($data_accessor_name);

       This is a class method used to declare new class data accessors.  A new accessor will be created in the Class using the name from
       $data_accessor_name.

	 Class->mk_classdata($data_accessor_name, $initial_value);

       You may also pass a second argument to initialize the value.

       To facilitate overriding, mk_classdata creates an alias to the accessor, _field_accessor().  So Suitcase() would have an alias
       _Suitcase_accessor() that does the exact same thing as Suitcase().  This is useful if you want to alter the behavior of a single accessor
       yet still get the benefits of inheritable class data.  For example.

	 sub Suitcase {
	     my($self) = shift;
	     warn "Fashion tragedy" if @_ and $_[0] eq 'Plaid';

	     $self->_Suitcase_accessor(@_);
	 }

COMPATIBILITY

       Note that the internal implementation of Class::MakeMethods::ClassInherit does not match that of Class::Data::Inheritable. In particular,
       Class::Data::Inheritable installs new methods in subclasses when they first initialize their value, while

EXAMPLE

       The example provided by Class::Data::Inheritable is equally applicable to this emulator.

	 package Pere::Ubu;
	 use base qw(Class::MakeMethods::Emulator::Inheritable);
	 Pere::Ubu->mk_classdata('Suitcase');

       will generate the method Suitcase() in the class Pere::Ubu.

       This new method can be used to get and set a piece of class data.

	 Pere::Ubu->Suitcase('Red');
	 $suitcase = Pere::Ubu->Suitcase;

       The interesting part happens when a class inherits from Pere::Ubu:

	 package Raygun;
	 use base qw(Pere::Ubu);

	 # Raygun's suitcase is Red.
	 $suitcase = Raygun->Suitcase;

       Raygun inherits its Suitcase class data from Pere::Ubu.

       Inheritance of class data works analgous to method inheritance.	As long as Raygun does not "override" its inherited class data (by using
       Suitcase() to set a new value) it will continue to use whatever is set in Pere::Ubu and inherit further changes:

	 # Both Raygun's and Pere::Ubu's suitcases are now Blue
	 Pere::Ubu->Suitcase('Blue');

       However, should Raygun decide to set its own Suitcase() it has now "overridden" Pere::Ubu and is on its own, just like if it had overriden
       a method:

	 # Raygun has an orange suitcase, Pere::Ubu's is still Blue.
	 Raygun->Suitcase('Orange');

       Now that Raygun has overridden Pere::Ubu futher changes by Pere::Ubu no longer effect Raygun.

	 # Raygun still has an orange suitcase, but Pere::Ubu is using Samsonite.
	 Pere::Ubu->Suitcase('Samsonite');

SEE ALSO

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

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

       See Class::Data::Inheritable for documentation of the original module.

       See perltootc for a discussion of class data in Perl.

       See Class::MakeMethods::Standard::Inheritable and Class::MakeMethods::Template::ClassInherit for inheritable data methods.

perl v5.10.1							    2004-09-06				   MakeMethods::Emulator::Inheritable(3pm)