POE::Filter::Reference(3p)

NAME
POE::Filter::Reference - freeze and thaw arbitrary Perl data

SYNOPSIS
  #!perl

  use YAML;
  use POE qw(Wheel::ReadWrite Filter::Reference);

  POE::Session->create(
    inline_states => {
      _start => sub {
        pipe(my($read, $write)) or die $!;
        $_[HEAP]{io} = POE::Wheel::ReadWrite->new(
          InputHandle => $read,
          OutputHandle => $write,
          Filter => POE::Filter::Reference->new(),
          InputEvent => "got_perl_data",
        );

        $_[HEAP]{io}->put(
          { key_1 => 111, key_2 => 222 }
        );
      },
      got_perl_data => sub {
        print "Got data:\n", YAML::Dump($_[ARG0]);
        print "Bye!\n";
        delete $_[HEAP]{io};
      }
    }
  );

  POE::Kernel->run();
  exit;

DESCRIPTION
POE::Filter::Reference allows programs to send and receive arbitrary Perl data structures without worrying about a line protocol. Its put() method serializes Perl data into a byte stream suitable for transmission. get_one() parses the data structures back out of such a stream.

By default, POE::Filter::Reference uses Storable to do its magic. A different serializer may be specified at construction time.

PUBLIC FILTER METHODS
POE::Filter::Reference deviates from the standard POE::Filter API in the following ways.

  new [SERIALIZER [, COMPRESSION]]
new() creates and initializes a POE::Filter::Reference object. It will use Storable as its default SERIALIZER if none other is specified.

If COMPRESSION is true, Compress::Zlib will be called upon to reduce the size of serialized data. It will also decompress the incoming stream data.

Any class that supports nfreeze() (or freeze()) and thaw() may be used as a SERIALIZER. If a SERIALIZER implements both nfreeze() and freeze(), then the "network" version will be used.

SERIALIZER may be a class name:

  # Use Storable explicitly, specified by package name.
  my $filter = POE::Filter::Reference->new("Storable");

  # Use YAML instead.  Compress its output, as it may be verbose.
  my $filter = POE::Filter::Reference->new("YAML", 1);

SERIALIZER may also be an object:

  # Use an object.
  my $serializer = Data::Serializer::Something->new();
  my $filter = POE::Filter::Reference->new($serializer);

If SERIALIZER is omitted or undef, the Reference filter will try to use Storable, FreezeThaw, and YAML in that order. POE::Filter::Reference will die if it cannot find one of these serializers, but this rarely happens now that Storable and YAML are bundled with Perl.

  # A choose-your-own-serializer adventure!
  # We'll still deal with compressed data, however.
  my $filter = POE::Filter::Reference->new(undef, 1);

POE::Filter::Reference will try to compress frozen strings and uncompress them before thawing if COMPRESSION is true. It uses Compress::Zlib for this. POE::Filter::Reference doesn't need Compress::Zlib if COMPRESSION is false.

new() will try to load any classes it needs.

SERIALIZER API
Here's what POE::Filter::Reference expects of its serializers.

  thaw SERIALIZED
thaw() is required. It accepts two parameters: $self and a scalar containing a SERIALIZED byte stream representing a single Perl data structure. It returns a reconstituted Perl data structure.

  sub thaw {
    my ($self, $stream) = @_;
    my $reference = $self->_deserialization_magic($stream);
    return $reference;
  }

  nfreeze REFERENCE
Either nfreeze() or freeze() is required. They behave identically, except that nfreeze() is guaranteed to be portable across networks and between machine architectures.

These freezers accept two parameters: $self and a REFERENCE to Perl data. They return a serialized version of the REFERENCEd data.

  sub nfreeze {
    my ($self, $reference) = @_;
    my $stream = $self->_serialization_magic($reference);
    return $stream;
  }

  freeze REFERENCE
freeze() is an alternative form of nfreeze(). It has the same call signature as nfreeze(), but it doesn't guarantee that serialized data will be portable across machine architectures.

If you must choose between implementing freeze() and nfreeze() for use with POE::Filter::Reference, go with nfreeze().

SEE ALSO
Please see POE::Filter for documentation regarding the base interface.

The SEE ALSO section in POE contains a table of contents covering the entire POE distribution.

BUGS
Not so much bugs as caveats:

It's important to use identical serializers on each end of a connection. Even different versions of the same serializer can break data in transit.

Most (if not all) serializers will rebless data at the destination, but many of them will not load the necessary classes to make their blessings work.

AUTHORS & COPYRIGHTS
The Reference filter was contributed by Artur Bergman, with changes by Philip Gwyn.

Please see POE for more information about authors and contributors.