Data::OptList - parse and validate simple name/value option pairs version 0.101 $Id: /my/cs/projects/optlist/trunk/lib/Data/OptList.pm 22474 2006-06-13T12:44:51.413983Z rjbs $ use Data::OptList; my $options = Data::Optlist::mkopt([ qw(key1 key2 key3 key4), key5 => { ... }, key6 => [ ... ], key7 => sub { ... }, key8 => { ... }, key8 => [ ... ], ]); ...is the same thing, more or less, as: my $options = [ [ key1 => undef, ], [ key2 => undef, ], [ key3 => undef, ], [ key4 => undef, ], [ key5 => { ... }, ], [ key6 => [ ... ], ], [ key7 => sub { ... }, ], [ key8 => { ... }, ], [ key8 => [ ... ], ], ]); Hashes are great for storing named data, but if you want more than one entry for a name, you have to use a list of pairs. Even then, this is really boring to write: @values = ( foo => undef, bar => undef, baz => undef, xyz => { ... }, ); Just look at all those undefs! Don't worry, we can get rid of those: @values = ( map { $_ => undef } qw(foo bar baz), xyz => { ... }, ); Aaaauuugh! We've saved a little typing, but now it requires thought to read, and thinking is even worse than typing. With Data::OptList, you can do this instead: Data::OptList::mkopt([ qw(foo bar baz), xyz => { ... }, ]); This works by assuming that any defined scalar is a name and any reference following a name is its value.

mkopt
my $opt_list = Data::OptList::mkopt( $input, $moniker, $require_unique, $must_be, ); This produces an array of arrays; the inner arrays are name/value pairs. Values will be either "undef" or a reference. Valid inputs: undef -> [] hashref -> [ [ key1 => value1 ] ... ] # non-ref values become undef arrayref -> every value followed by a ref becomes a pair: [ value => ref ] every value followed by undef becomes a pair: [ value => undef ] otherwise, it becomes [ value => undef ] like so: [ "a", "b", [ 1, 2 ] ] -> [ [ a => undef ], [ b => [ 1, 2 ] ] ] $moniker is a name describing the data, which will be used in error messages. If $require_unique is true, an error will be thrown if any name is given more than once. $must_be is either a scalar or array of scalars; it defines what kind(s) of refs may be values. If an invalid value is found, an exception is thrown. If no value is passed for this argument, any reference is valid.

mkopt_hash
my $opt_hash = Data::OptList::mkopt_hash($input, $moniker, $must_be); Given valid "mkopt" input, this routine returns a hash. It will throw an exception if any name has more than one value. Both "mkopt" and "mkopt_hash" may be exported on request. Ricardo SIGNES, "<rjbs@cpan.org>" Please report any bugs or feature requests to "bug-sub-exporter@rt.cpan.org", or through the web interface at <http://rt.cpan.org>. I will be notified, and then you'll automatically be notified of progress on your bug as I make changes. Copyright 2006 Ricardo SIGNES. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.