TITLE

New pragma 'autoload' to load functions and modules on-demand

VERSION

  Maintainer: Nathan Wiger <nate@wiger.org>
  Date: 24 Aug 2000
  Last Modified: 19 Sep 2000
  Mailing List: perl6-language-subs@perl.org
  Number: 153
  Version: 2
  Status: Frozen

ABSTRACT

Some goals for Perl 6 include making it more compact and lighter weight. While much stuff will remain available, many things are potentially being moved out of core and into modules, like Socket functions, Format stuff, chop, localtime, gmtime, and so on.

While good from a computer standpoint, having to start a script with:

   #!perl -w
   use User::pwent;
   use Time::Local;
   use Format;
   use String::Util;

Just to parse the /etc/passwd file and print the date is "bad".

This RFC proposes a new pragma, autoload, that could autoload the functions from the appropriate modules on-demand. Unlike the existing autouse, which loads modules on demand that you specifically tell it to, autoload looks at a configuration file and loads the appropriate modules for you.

DESCRIPTION

The Basics

The new autoload pragma would rely on an autoload.conf file that was located in @INC and looked something like this:

   # proposed autoload.conf format
   # function     module
   getpwnam       User::pwent
   date           Date::Time
   time           Date::Time
   open           IO::File
   chomp          String::Util

This file could be auto-appended to by module installations, similar to .packlist. However, it could also be manually modified by the system administrator. A custom one could also be included in @INC ahead of the system one so that a user could include their own definitions. The user can also specify the path to a custom configuration file via the use autoload pragma directly:

The script would then start with:

   #!perl -w
   use autoload '/home/nwiger/perl/autoload.conf';
   $uid = getpwnam($>);

Which would autoload getpwnam from User::pwent per the /home/nwiger/perl/autoload.conf file. Like use lib, this should just add an additional config file to read onto the start of the search path.

In addition, autoload should be able to handle simple use operations:

   #!perl -w
   use autoload;
   my $r = new CGI;                 # these are both loaded from
   tie %session, Apache::Session;   # @INC just like via 'use'

This makes easy things easier. The person still gets the same functionality as if they had manually use'd (actually, require'd/import'ed) each module, since @INC is still searched.

Module Installation

On installation, some part of the Perl module install driven by MakeMaker would have to read the exported function list from a given module and append it to the autoload.conf file.

Extensions

The autoload pragma could be extended in several ways:

   1. If duplicate modules or methods are found, <autoload> should
      issue messages like:

   Duplicate CGI modules found - autoloading /path/to/CGI.pm
   Duplicate getpwnam functions registered - using User::pwent::getpwnam

      C<autoload> should always use the last one in the list,
      since this will be the most recent one if the person
      is not actively maintaining the file (i.e., just letting
      it be appended to automatically).

   2. The C<autoload.conf> file could list version numbers and
      the such to take advantage of advanced module versioning
      as mentioned in RFC 78.

IMPLEMENTATION

Mostly harmless. Right before raising the famous "Can't locate method ..." error, Perl should check to see if autoload is in effect. If so, it should read the autoload.conf config file and try to load the appropriate function and module. If not possible, then the error should be raised.

MIGRATION

None. This introduces new functionality.

REFERENCES

www.mail-archive.com

RFC 78: Improved Module Versioning And Searching

Existing use autouse pragma/module

This file is part of the Perl 6 Archive