Exporter::Tidy INSTALLATION To install this module type the following: perl Makefile.PL make make test make install Or use CPANPLUS to automate the process. Module documentation: NAME Exporter::Tidy - Another way of exporting symbols SYNOPSIS package MyModule::HTTP; use Exporter::Tidy default => [ qw(get) ], other => [ qw(post head) ]; use MyModule::HTTP qw(:all); use MyModule::HTTP qw(:default post); use MyModule::HTTP qw(post); use MyModule::HTTP _prefix => 'http_', qw(get post); use MyModule::HTTP qw(get post), _prefix => 'http_', qw(head); use MyModule::HTTP _prefix => 'foo', qw(get post), _prefix => 'bar', qw(get head); package MyModule::Foo; use Exporter::Tidy default => [ qw($foo $bar quux) ], _map => { '$foo' => \$my_foo, '$bar' => \$my_bar, quux => sub { print "Hello, world!\n" } }; package MyModule::Constants; use Exporter::Tidy default => [ qw(:all) ], _map => { FOO => sub () { 1 }, BAR => sub () { 2 }, OK => sub () { 1 }, FAILURE => sub () { 0 } }; DESCRIPTION This module serves as an easy, clean alternative to Exporter. Unlike Exporter, it is not subclassed, but it simply exports a custom import() into your namespace. With Exporter::Tidy, you don't need to use any package global in your module. Even the subs you export can be lexically scoped. use Exporter::Tidy LIST The list supplied to "use Exporter::Tidy" should be a key-value list. Each key serves as a tag, used to group exportable symbols. The values in this key-value list should be array references. There are a few special tags: all If you don't provide an "all" tag yourself, Tidy::Exporter will generate one for you. It will contain all exportable symbols. default The "default" tag will be used if the user supplies no list to the "use" statement. _map With _map you should not use an array reference, but a hash reference. Here, you can rewrite symbols to other names or even define one on the spot by using a reference. You can "foo => 'bar'" to export "bar" if "foo" is requested. Exportable symbols Every symbol specified in a tag's array, or used as a key in _map's hash is exportable. Symbol types You can export subs, scalars, arrays, hashes and typeglobs. Do not use an ampersand ("&") for subs. All other types must have the proper sigil. Importing from a module that uses Exporter::Tidy You can use either a symbol name (without the sigil if it is a sub, or with the appropriate sigil if it is not), or a tag name prefixed with a colon. It is possible to import a symbol twice, but a symbol is never exported twice under the same name, so you can use tags that overlap. If you supply any list to the "use" statement, ":default" is no longer used if not specified explicitly. To avoid name clashes, it is possible to have symbols prefixed. Supply "_prefix" followed by the prefix that you want. Multiple can be used. use Some::Module qw(foo bar), _prefix => 'some_', qw(quux); imports Some::Module::foo as foo, Some::Module::bar as bar, and Some::Module::quux as some_quux. See the SYNOPSIS for more examples. COMPARISON Exporter::Tidy "versus" Exporter These numbers are valid for my Linux system with Perl 5.8.0. Your mileage may vary. Speed Exporting two symbols using no import list (@EXPORT and :default) is approximately 10% faster with Exporter. But if you use any tag explicitly, Exporter::Tidy is more than twice as fast (!) as Exporter. Memory usage perl -le'require X; print((split " ", `cat /proc/$$/stat`)[22])' No module 3022848 Exporter::Tidy 3067904 Exporter 3084288 Exporter::Heavy 3174400 Exporter loads Exporter::Heavy automatically when needed. It is needed to support exporter tags, amongst other things. Exporter::Tidy has all functionality built into one module. Both Exporter(::Heavy) and Exporter::Tidy delay loading Carp until it is needed. Usage Exporter is subclassed and gets its information from package global variables like @EXPORT, @EXPORT_OK and %EXPORT_TAGS. Exporter::Tidy exports an "import" method and gets its information from the "use" statement. LICENSE Pick your favourite OSI approved license :) http://www.opensource.org/licenses/alphabetical AUTHOR Juerd Waalboer