Scalar::Util 1.19

Scalar::Util is a selection of general-utility scalar subroutines.

SYNOPSIS

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

Scalar::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 Scalar::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 undef 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

NOTE: Copying a weak reference creates a normal, strong, reference.

$copy = $ref;
$weak = isweak($ref); # false

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 undef 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 undef 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 undef 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 dont 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

Note that if you take a copy of a scalar with a weakened reference, the copy will be a strong reference.

my $var;
my $foo = $var;
weaken($foo); # Make $foo a weak reference
my $bar = $foo; # $bar is now a strong reference

This may be less obvious in other situations, such as grep(), for instance when grepping through a list of weakened references to objects that may have been destroyed already:

@object = grep { defined } @object;

This will indeed remove all references to destroyed objects, but the remaining references to objects will be strong, causing the remaining objects to never be destroyed because there is now always a strong reference to them in the @object array.