Scalar::Util - A selection of general-utility scalar subroutines

    use Scalar::Util qw(blessed dualvar isweak readonly refaddr reftype tainted weaken isvstring looks_like_number set_prototype);

CWScalar::Util contains a selection of subroutines that people have expressed would be nice to have in the perl core, but the usage would not really be high enough to warrant the use of a keyword, and the size so small such that being individual extensions would be wasteful.

By default CWScalar::Util does not export any subroutines. The subroutines defined are

blessed EXPR

If EXPR evaluates to a blessed reference the name of the package that it is blessed into is returned. Otherwise CWundef is returned.

   $scalar = "foo";
   $class  = blessed $scalar;           # undef

   $ref    = [];
   $class  = blessed $ref;              # undef

   $obj    = bless [], "Foo";
   $class  = blessed $obj;              # "Foo"

dualvar NUM, STRING

Returns a scalar that has the value NUM in a numeric context and the value STRING in a string context.

    $foo = dualvar 10, "Hello";
    $num = $foo + 2;                    # 12
    $str = $foo . " world";             # Hello world

isvstring EXPR

If EXPR is a scalar which was coded as a vstring the result is true.

    $vs   = v49.46.48;
    $fmt  = isvstring($vs) ? "%vd" : "%s"; #true
    printf($fmt,$vs);

isweak EXPR

If EXPR is a scalar which is a weak reference the result is true.

    $ref  = \$foo;
    $weak = isweak($ref);               # false
    weaken($ref);
    $weak = isweak($ref);               # true

looks_like_number EXPR

Returns true if perl thinks EXPR is a number. See looks_like_number in perlapi.

openhandle FH

Returns FH if FH may be used as a filehandle and is open, or FH is a tied handle. Otherwise CWundef is returned.

    $fh = openhandle(*STDIN);           # \*STDIN
    $fh = openhandle(\*STDIN);          # \*STDIN
    $fh = openhandle(*NOTOPEN);         # undef
    $fh = openhandle("scalar");         # undef

readonly SCALAR

Returns true if SCALAR is readonly.

    sub foo { readonly($_[0]) }

    $readonly = foo($bar);              # false
    $readonly = foo(0);                 # true

refaddr EXPR

If EXPR evaluates to a reference the internal memory address of the referenced value is returned. Otherwise CWundef is returned.

    $addr = refaddr "string";           # undef
    $addr = refaddr \$var;              # eg 12345678
    $addr = refaddr [];                 # eg 23456784

    $obj  = bless {}, "Foo";
    $addr = refaddr $obj;               # eg 88123488

reftype EXPR

If EXPR evaluates to a reference the type of the variable referenced is returned. Otherwise CWundef is returned.

    $type = reftype "string";           # undef
    $type = reftype \$var;              # SCALAR
    $type = reftype [];                 # ARRAY

    $obj  = bless {}, "Foo";
    $type = reftype $obj;               # HASH

set_prototype CODEREF, PROTOTYPE

Sets the prototype of the given function, or deletes it if PROTOTYPE is undef. Returns the CODEREF.

    set_prototype \&foo, '$$';

tainted EXPR

Return true if the result of EXPR is tainted

    $taint = tainted("constant");       # false
    $taint = tainted($ENV{PWD});        # true if running under -T

weaken REF

REF will be turned into a weak reference. This means that it will not hold a reference count on the object it references. Also when the reference count on that object reaches zero, REF will be set to undef. This is useful for keeping copies of references , but you don't want to prevent the object being DESTROY-ed at its usual time.

    {
      my $var;
      $ref = \$var;
      weaken($ref);                     # Make $ref a weak reference
    }
    # $ref is now undef

There is a bug in perl5.6.0 with UV's that are >= 1<<31. This will show up as tests 8 and 9 of dualvar.t failing

Copyright (c) 1997-2004 Graham Barr <gbarr@pobox.com>. All rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

Except weaken and isweak which are

Copyright (c) 1999 Tuomas J. Lukka <lukka@iki.fi>. All rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as perl itself.

The weaken and isweak subroutines in this module and the patch to the core Perl were written in connection with the APress book `Tuomas J. Lukka's Definitive Guide to Object-Oriented Programming in Perl', to avoid explaining why certain things would have to be done in cumbersome ways.