NAME

    Class::Inspector - Get information about a class and its structure

VERSION

    version 1.36

SYNOPSIS

      use Class::Inspector;
      
      # Is a class installed and/or loaded
      Class::Inspector->installed( 'Foo::Class' );
      Class::Inspector->loaded( 'Foo::Class' );
      
      # Filename related information
      Class::Inspector->filename( 'Foo::Class' );
      Class::Inspector->resolved_filename( 'Foo::Class' );
      
      # Get subroutine related information
      Class::Inspector->functions( 'Foo::Class' );
      Class::Inspector->function_refs( 'Foo::Class' );
      Class::Inspector->function_exists( 'Foo::Class', 'bar' );
      Class::Inspector->methods( 'Foo::Class', 'full', 'public' );
      
      # Find all loaded subclasses or something
      Class::Inspector->subclasses( 'Foo::Class' );

DESCRIPTION

    Class::Inspector allows you to get information about a loaded class.
    Most or all of this information can be found in other ways, but they
    aren't always very friendly, and usually involve a relatively high
    level of Perl wizardry, or strange and unusual looking code.
    Class::Inspector attempts to provide an easier, more friendly interface
    to this information.

METHODS

 installed

     my $bool = Class::Inspector->installed($class);

    The installed static method tries to determine if a class is installed
    on the machine, or at least available to Perl. It does this by wrapping
    around resolved_filename.

    Returns true if installed/available, false if the class is not
    installed, or undef if the class name is invalid.

 loaded

     my $bool = Class::Inspector->loaded($class);

    The loaded static method tries to determine if a class is loaded by
    looking for symbol table entries.

    This method it uses to determine this will work even if the class does
    not have its own file, but is contained inside a single file with
    multiple classes in it. Even in the case of some sort of run-time
    loading class being used, these typically leave some trace in the
    symbol table, so an Autoload or Class::Autouse-based class should
    correctly appear loaded.

    Returns true if the class is loaded, false if not, or undef if the
    class name is invalid.

 filename

     my $filename = Class::Inspector->filename($class);

    For a given class, returns the base filename for the class. This will
    NOT be a fully resolved filename, just the part of the filename BELOW
    the @INC entry.

      print Class->filename( 'Foo::Bar' );
      > Foo/Bar.pm

    This filename will be returned with the right separator for the local
    platform, and should work on all platforms.

    Returns the filename on success or undef if the class name is invalid.

 resolved_filename

     my $filename = Class::Inspector->resolved_filename($class);
     my $filename = Class::Inspector->resolved_filename($class, @try_first);

    For a given class, the resolved_filename static method returns the
    fully resolved filename for a class. That is, the file that the class
    would be loaded from.

    This is not necessarily the file that the class WAS loaded from, as the
    value returned is determined each time it runs, and the @INC include
    path may change.

    To get the actual file for a loaded class, see the loaded_filename
    method.

    Returns the filename for the class, or undef if the class name is
    invalid.

 loaded_filename

     my $filename = Class::Inspector->loaded_filename($class);

    For a given loaded class, the loaded_filename static method determines
    (via the %INC hash) the name of the file that it was originally loaded
    from.

    Returns a resolved file path, or false if the class did not have it's
    own file.

 functions

     my $arrayref = Class::Inspector->functions($class);

    For a loaded class, the functions static method returns a list of the
    names of all the functions in the classes immediate namespace.

    Note that this is not the METHODS of the class, just the functions.

    Returns a reference to an array of the function names on success, or
    undef if the class name is invalid or the class is not loaded.

 function_refs

     my $arrayref = Class::Inspector->function_refs($class);

    For a loaded class, the function_refs static method returns references
    to all the functions in the classes immediate namespace.

    Note that this is not the METHODS of the class, just the functions.

    Returns a reference to an array of CODE refs of the functions on
    success, or undef if the class is not loaded.

 function_exists

     my $bool = Class::Inspector->function_exists($class, $functon);

    Given a class and function name the function_exists static method will
    check to see if the function exists in the class.

    Note that this is as a function, not as a method. To see if a method
    exists for a class, use the can method for any class or object.

    Returns true if the function exists, false if not, or undef if the
    class or function name are invalid, or the class is not loaded.

 methods

     my $arrayref = Class::Inspector->methods($class, @options);

    For a given class name, the methods static method will returns ALL the
    methods available to that class. This includes all methods available
    from every class up the class' @ISA tree.

    Returns a reference to an array of the names of all the available
    methods on success, or undef if the class name is invalid or the class
    is not loaded.

    A number of options are available to the methods method that will alter
    the results returned. These should be listed after the class name, in
    any order.

      # Only get public methods
      my $method = Class::Inspector->methods( 'My::Class', 'public' );

    public

      The public option will return only 'public' methods, as defined by
      the Perl convention of prepending an underscore to any 'private'
      methods. The public option will effectively remove any methods that
      start with an underscore.

    private

      The private options will return only 'private' methods, as defined by
      the Perl convention of prepending an underscore to an private
      methods. The private option will effectively remove an method that do
      not start with an underscore.

      Note: The public and private options are mutually exclusive

    full

      methods normally returns just the method name. Supplying the full
      option will cause the methods to be returned as the full names. That
      is, instead of returning [ 'method1', 'method2', 'method3' ], you
      would instead get [ 'Class::method1', 'AnotherClass::method2',
      'Class::method3' ].

    expanded

      The expanded option will cause a lot more information about method to
      be returned. Instead of just the method name, you will instead get an
      array reference containing the method name as a single combined name,
      a la full, the separate class and method, and a CODE ref to the
      actual function ( if available ). Please note that the function
      reference is not guaranteed to be available. Class::Inspector is
      intended at some later time, to work with modules that have some kind
      of common run-time loader in place ( e.g Autoloader or Class::Autouse
      for example.

      The response from methods( 'Class', 'expanded' ) would look something
      like the following.

        [
          [ 'Class::method1',   'Class',   'method1', \&Class::method1   ],
          [ 'Another::method2', 'Another', 'method2', \&Another::method2 ],
          [ 'Foo::bar',         'Foo',     'bar',     \&Foo::bar         ],
        ]

 subclasses

     my $arrayref = Class::Inspector->subclasses($class);

    The subclasses static method will search then entire namespace (and
    thus all currently loaded classes) to find all classes that are
    subclasses of the class provided as a the parameter.

    The actual test will be done by calling isa on the class as a static
    method. (i.e. My::Class->isa($class).

    Returns a reference to a list of the loaded classes that match the
    class provided, or false is none match, or undef if the class name
    provided is invalid.

SEE ALSO

    http://ali.as/, Class::Handle, Class::Inspector::Functions

AUTHOR

    Original author: Adam Kennedy <adamk@cpan.org>

    Current maintainer: Graham Ollis <plicease@cpan.org>

    Contributors:

    Tom Wyant

    Steffen Müller

    Kivanc Yazan (KYZN)

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

    This software is copyright (c) 2002-2019 by Adam Kennedy.

    This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
    the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.

