Re^2: getting 2 things done at once with Class::Base

in reply to Re: getting 2 things done at once with Class::Base
in thread getting 2 things done at once with Class::Base

Whatever he is doing, I completely do _not_ understand it: He is returning a dereference of $errvar.

#---------------------------------------------------------------------
+---
# error()
# error($msg, ...)
# 
# May be called as a class or object method to set or retrieve the 
# package variable $ERROR (class method) or internal member 
# $self->{ _ERROR } (object method).  The presence of parameters indic
+ates
# that the error value should be set.  Undef is then returned.  In the
# abscence of parameters, the current error value is returned.
#---------------------------------------------------------------------
+---

sub error {
    my $self = shift;
    my $errvar;

    { 
    # get a reference to the object or package variable we're munging
    no strict qw( refs );
    $errvar = ref $self ? \$self->{ _ERROR } : \${"$self\::ERROR"};
    }
    if (@_) {
    # don't join if first arg is an object (may force stringification)
    $$errvar = ref($_[0]) ? shift : join('', @_);
    return undef;
    }
    else {
    return $$errvar;
    }
}
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Carter's compass: I know I'm on the right track when by deleting something, I'm adding functionality

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Re^3: getting 2 things done at once with Class::Base (reading) by tye (Sage) on Oct 31, 2007 at 15:43 UTC
He returns undef unless no arguments were given. Not particularly complex code. Even documented: The presence of parameters indicates [...]. Undef is then returned. In the abscence of parameters, the current error value is returned. His comments would be clearer if he changed one period into a semicolon, however. - tye	[reply]

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