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 There is no license. This software was released into the public domain. Do with it what you want, but on your own risk. The author disclaims any responsibility. AUTHOR Juerd Waalboer