Missing ref() return possibility?

BrowserUk has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Perlfunc lists the following possible return values from ref:

    SCALAR
    ARRAY
    HASH
    CODE
    REF
    GLOB
    LVALUE
[download]

Is that all of them? I've got a vague recollection of either encountering or seeing reference to a 'REGEX' type?

Any others?

Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.

"Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".

In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.

"Too many [] have been sedated by an oppressive environment of political correctness and risk aversion."

Comment on Missing ref() return possibility? Download Code

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Re: Missing ref() return possibility? by toolic (Bishop) on May 16, 2008 at 01:45 UTC
ref lists these: `SCALAR ARRAY HASH CODE REF GLOB LVALUE FORMAT IO VSTRING Regexp` [download]	[reply] [d/l]
Re^2: Missing ref() return possibility? by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on May 16, 2008 at 04:46 UTC
Looks like it's time I made the effort to fix up the css for the AS 5.10 documentation set so that I can replace the 5.8.6 in my permament PerlDoc browser tab. Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error. "Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority". In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice. "Too many [] have been sedated by an oppressive environment of political correctness and risk aversion."	[reply]
Re: Missing ref() return possibility? by rhesa (Vicar) on May 16, 2008 at 01:42 UTC
The types you list are the basics. All other cases are covered by "If the referenced object has been blessed into a package, then that package name is returned instead." For regular expressions, this is demonstrated by: `use Scalar::Util qw/blessed/; $q=qr//; print ref($q); print blessed($q); __END__ Regexp Regexp` [download]	[reply] [d/l]
Re^2: Missing ref() return possibility? by kyle (Abbot) on May 16, 2008 at 21:51 UTC
What your code implies but isn't quite explicit about is that `qr()` actually gives back a blessed reference to a scalar. `use Scalar::Util qw/blessed reftype/; my $q = qr//; print 'ref: ', ref($q), "\n"; print 'blessed: ', blessed($q), "\n"; print 'reftype: ', reftype($q), "\n"; __END__ ref: Regexp blessed: Regexp reftype: SCALAR` [download] There's some more about this in How can I tell if an object is based on a regex?	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: Missing ref() return possibility? by Fletch (Bishop) on May 16, 2008 at 01:47 UTC
`qr//` will return an instance that ref returns `Regexp` for; perhaps that's what you're remembering? The cake is a lie. The cake is a lie. The cake is a lie.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: Missing ref() return possibility? by runrig (Abbot) on May 16, 2008 at 01:44 UTC
Did you try `perl -e 'print ref(qr/abc/)'` ??	[reply] [d/l]
Re: Missing ref() return possibility? by graff (Chancellor) on May 16, 2008 at 05:36 UTC
It's good to remember that when ref() is given something that is not a reference to anything, it returns an empty string. (It never seems to return "undef", even when you give it nothing at all.)	[reply]
Re^2: Missing ref() return possibility? by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on May 16, 2008 at 06:09 UTC
Yes. Now if only Scalar::Util`::reftype()` worked the same way. Or at least that the two were consistant. Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error. "Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority". In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice. "Too many [] have been sedated by an oppressive environment of political correctness and risk aversion."	[reply] [d/l]

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