package private; use strict; use vars qw($VERSION); $VERSION = 0.04; use Class::Fields::Fuxor; use Class::Fields::Attribs; sub import { #Dump the class. shift; my $pack = caller; foreach my $field (@_) { unless( $field =~ /^_/ ) { require Carp; Carp::carp("Private data fields should be named with a ", "leading underscore") if $^W; } } add_fields($pack, PRIVATE, @_); } return 'pants of infinity'; __END__ =pod =head1 NAME private - Add private data members to Perl classes =head1 SYNOPSIS package GI::Joe; use private qw( _SexualPrefs _IsSpy ); # see the protected man page for an example =head1 DESCRIPTION =over 4 =item I Internal data or functionality. An attribute or method only directly accessible to the methods of the same class and inaccessible from any other scope. In Perl, notionally private attributes and members are conventionally given names beginning with an underscore. From B<"Object Oriented Perl"> by Damian Conway =back private.pm adds a list of keys as private data members to the current class. See L for more info. Private data members are those pieces of data which are expected to be only accessed by methods of the class which owns them. They are not inherited by subclasses. private.pm serves a subset of the functionality of fields.pm. use private qw(_Foo); is almost exactly the same as: use fields qw(_Foo); with the exception that you can (if you REALLY want to) do something like this: use private qw(Foo); Whereas one cannot do this with fields.pm. (Note: This is considered unwise and private.pm will scream about it if you have Perl's warnings on.) Additionally, private.pm is a bit clearer in its intent and is not necessarily implying use of pseudo-hashes. =head1 EXAMPLES See L for an example of use. =head1 MUSINGS I fully expect private.pm to eventually mutate into a real pragma someday when a better formalized OO data system for Perl supplants the current fledgling pseudo-hashes. =head1 AUTHOR Michae G Schwern =head1 SEE ALSO L, L, L, L, L =cut