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.\" ========================================================================
.IX Title "Scalar::Util 3"
.TH Scalar::Util 3 "2002-06-01" "perl v5.8.0" "Perl Programmers Reference Guide"
Scalar::Util \- A selection of general\-utility scalar subroutines
\& use Scalar::Util qw(blessed dualvar isweak readonly reftype tainted weaken);
\&\f(CW\*(C`Scalar::Util\*(C'\fR contains a selection of subroutines that people have
expressed would be nice to have in the perl core, but the usage would
not really be high enough to warrant the use of a keyword, and the size
so small such that being individual extensions would be wasteful.
By default \f(CW\*(C`Scalar::Util\*(C'\fR does not export any subroutines. The
.IP "blessed \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
If \s-1EXPR\s0 evaluates to a blessed reference the name of the package
that it is blessed into is returned. Otherwise \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR is returned.
\& $class = blessed $scalar; # undef
\& $class = blessed $ref; # undef
\& $obj = bless [], "Foo";
\& $class = blessed $obj; # "Foo"
.IP "dualvar \s-1NUM\s0, \s-1STRING\s0" 4
.IX Item "dualvar NUM, STRING"
Returns a scalar that has the value \s-1NUM\s0 in a numeric context and the
value \s-1STRING\s0 in a string context.
\& $foo = dualvar 10, "Hello";
\& $str = $foo . " world"; # Hello world
.IP "isweak \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
If \s-1EXPR\s0 is a scalar which is a weak reference the result is true.
\& $weak = isweak($ref); # false
\& $weak = isweak($ref); # true
.IP "openhandle \s-1FH\s0" 4
Returns \s-1FH\s0 if \s-1FH\s0 may be used as a filehandle and is open, or \s-1FH\s0 is a tied
handle. Otherwise \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR is returned.
\& $fh = openhandle(*STDIN); # \e*STDIN
\& $fh = openhandle(\e*STDIN); # \e*STDIN
\& $fh = openhandle(*NOTOPEN); # undef
\& $fh = openhandle("scalar"); # undef
.IP "readonly \s-1SCALAR\s0" 4
.IX Item "readonly SCALAR"
Returns true if \s-1SCALAR\s0 is readonly.
\& sub foo { readonly($_[0]) }
\& $readonly = foo($bar); # false
\& $readonly = foo(0); # true
.IP "reftype \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
If \s-1EXPR\s0 evaluates to a reference the type of the variable referenced
is returned. Otherwise \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR is returned.
\& $type = reftype "string"; # undef
\& $type = reftype \e$var; # SCALAR
\& $type = reftype []; # ARRAY
\& $obj = bless {}, "Foo";
\& $type = reftype $obj; # HASH
.IP "tainted \s-1EXPR\s0" 4
Return true if the result of \s-1EXPR\s0 is tainted
\& $taint = tainted("constant"); # false
\& $taint = tainted($ENV{PWD}); # true if running under -T
.IP "weaken \s-1REF\s0" 4
\&\s-1REF\s0 will be turned into a weak reference. This means that it will not
hold a reference count on the object it references. Also when the reference
count on that object reaches zero, \s-1REF\s0 will be set to undef.
This is useful for keeping copies of references , but you don't want to
prevent the object being DESTROY-ed at its usual time.
\& weaken($ref); # Make $ref a weak reference
There is a bug in perl5.6.0 with \s-1UV\s0's that are >= 1<<31. This will
show up as tests 8 and 9 of dualvar.t failing
Copyright (c) 1997\-2001 Graham Barr <gbarr@pobox.com>. All rights reserved.
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the same terms as Perl itself.
Except weaken and isweak which are
Copyright (c) 1999 Tuomas J. Lukka <lukka@iki.fi>. All rights reserved.
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the same terms as perl itself.
.IX Header "BLATANT PLUG"
The weaken and isweak subroutines in this module and the patch to the core Perl
were written in connection with the APress book `Tuomas J. Lukka's Definitive
Guide to Object-Oriented Programming in Perl', to avoid explaining why certain
things would have to be done in cumbersome ways.