I've never used it myself, but I believe Inline::Java is what you're looking for.

Inline::Java allows you to put Java source code directly "inline" in a Perl script or module.

I have a class file not the source. I could just go a re-write the source but that would take far too long and really defeat my objective, which is to use stuff that I have already got.

Thanks for the thought though.

-----
Of all the things I've lost in my life, its my mind I miss the most.

I have a class file not the source.

No problem, Inline::Java handles that too. Just use the STUDY and AUTOSTUDY options. I'm using Inline::Java to access a 3rd-party vendor's API right now and it's working great.

-sam

The following code illustrates STUDYing a class with Inline::Java. Other classes encountered when the code is first run are examined courtesy of the AUTOSTUDY statement. The class info is cached so that future execution is quicker.

#! /usr/bin/perl -w

use strict;
use warnings;
use Data::Dumper;

use Inline (    Java => 'STUDY',
        STUDY => ['com.verity.search.VSearch'],
        AUTOSTUDY => 1,
        );

use Inline::Java qw(caught) ;


eval
{
    my $search = new com::verity::search::VSearch();
    $search->setServerSpec('localhost:9900');
    $search->setK2UserName('inman');
    $search->setK2Password('xxxxx');
    my $ticket = $search->k2Login();;
    my $colls = $search->collectionsInfo();
    
    my $collCount = $colls->count();
    foreach (0..$collCount-1)
    {
        my $coll = $colls->at($_);
        print "Collection: ".$coll->getAlias."\n";
    }
    
    $search->addCollection ('verity_doccoll');
    $search->setQueryText('*');
    my $result = $search->getResult();
    print "Docs Found: ", $result->{docsFound};
    };

if ($@)
{
      if (caught("java.lang.Exception"))
      {
         my $msg;
         $msg = ($@->getMessage());
         print "Exception $msg\n"; # prints ouch!
      }
      else
      {
         # It wasn't a Java exception after all...
         die $@ ;
      }
}
[download]

Instead of copy-and-pasting the source of the orginal class, you could make a simple class that imports the orginal class and dispatches its methods back there.

"There is no shame in being self-taught, only in not trying to learn in the first place." -- Atrus, Myst: The Book of D'ni.

I was sitting in the middle of a boring presentation, and I saw this post and thought "Hey, I'm pretty bored at the moment, I'll write an auto-dispatcher for him!". Of course, by the I finished it, samtregar had already responded with the correct solution. :)

But, I'm going to post my solution anyways (even though it definitely isn't the optimal solution here), just because you might find it interesting. Also note that I do not have java/perl access on the lab computers that we are using, so this code is most definitely untested.

package Inline::Java::Classfile;

sub new {

    my ($type, $args) = @_;

    Inline->bind(Java => << "__CODE__");

// package org.perl.cpan.inline.java;

import java.lang.*;
import java.lang.reflect.*;

class InlineJavaDispatcher {
    protected $type inst;

    public InlineJavaDispatcher(Object[] args)
               throws InstantiationException
                     ,IllegalAccessException
                     ,IllegalArgumentException
                     ,InvocationTargetException
                     ,SecurityException
    {
        Class clazz = $type.class;
        Constructor[] cntrs = clazz.getDeclaredConstructors();
        for (int i=0; i < cntrs.length(); i++) {
            try {
                inst = cntrs[i].newInstance(args);
                return;
            }
            catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
                
            }
        }

        throw new IllegalArgumentException(
            methodName + " was not found for the arguments supplied fo
+r Class $type."
        );
    }

    public Object dispatch(String   methodName
                          ,Object[] args)
                    throws IllegalAccessException
                          ,IllegalArgumentException
                          ,InvocationTargetException
                          ,NullPointerException
                          ,ExceptionInInitializerError
    {
        Class clazz = inst.getClass();
        Method am[] = inst.getDeclaredMethods();

        for (int i=0; i < am.length; i++) {
            if (am[i].getName().equals(methodName)) {
                try {
            return am[i].invoke(inst, args);
                }
                catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
                    
                }
            }
        }

        throw new IllegalArgumentException(
            methodName + " was not found for the arguments supplied fo
+r Class $type."
        );
    }

}
__CODE__

    return InlineJavaDispatcher->new($args);
}

sub AUTOLOAD {
    my ($self,$args) = shift;
    my $type = ref($self) or croak "$self is not an object";

    my $name = $AUTOLOAD;
    $name =~ s/.*://;   # strip fully-qualified portion

    $self->dispatch($name, $args);
}
[download]

Usage would be:

    my $obj = Inline::Java::Classfile->new("SomeClass", [$cntr_arg1, $
+arg2, $etc]);
    print $obj->hashcode(); # or whatever method
[download]