NAME Type::Tiny - tiny, yet Moo(se)-compatible type constraint SYNOPSIS use Scalar::Util qw(looks_like_number); use Type::Tiny; my $NUM = "Type::Tiny"->new( name => "Number", constraint => sub { looks_like_number($_) }, message => sub { "$_ ain't a number" }, ); package Ermintrude { use Moo; has favourite_number => (is => "ro", isa => $NUM); } package Bullwinkle { use Moose; has favourite_number => (is => "ro", isa => $NUM); } package Maisy { use Mouse; has favourite_number => (is => "ro", isa => $NUM); } DESCRIPTION Type::Tiny is a tiny class for creating Moose-like type constraint objects which are compatible with Moo, Moose and Mouse. Maybe now we won't need to have separate MooseX, MouseX and MooX versions of everything? We can but hope... This documents the internals of Type::Tiny. Type::Tiny::Manual is a better starting place if you're new. Constructor "new(%attributes)" Moose-style constructor function. Attributes "name" The name of the type constraint. These need to conform to certain naming rules (they must begin with an uppercase letter and continue using only letters, digits 0-9 and underscores). Optional; if not supplied will be an anonymous type constraint. "display_name" A name to display for the type constraint when stringified. These don't have to conform to any naming rules. Optional; a default name will be calculated from the "name". "parent" Optional attribute; parent type constraint. For example, an "Integer" type constraint might have a parent "Number". If provided, must be a Type::Tiny object. "constraint" Coderef to validate a value ($_) against the type constraint. The coderef will not be called unless the value is known to pass any parent type constraint. Defaults to "sub { 1 }" - i.e. a coderef that passes all values. "compiled_check" Coderef to validate a value ($_[0]) against the type constraint. This coderef is expected to also handle all validation for the parent type constraints. The general point of this attribute is that you should not set it, and rely on the lazily-built default. Type::Tiny will usually generate a pretty fast coderef. "message" Coderef that returns an error message when $_ does not validate against the type constraint. Optional (there's a vaguely sensible default.) "inlined" A coderef which returns a string of Perl code suitable for inlining this type. Optional. "library" The package name of the type library this type is associated with. Optional. Informational only: setting this attribute does not install the type into the package. "coercion" A Type::Coercion object associated with this type. Generally speaking this attribute should not be passed to the constructor; you should rely on the default lazily-built coercion object. You may pass "coercion => 1" to the constructor to inherit coercions from the constraint's parent. (This requires the parent constraint to have a coercion.) "complementary_type" A complementary type for this type. For example, the complementary type for an integer type would be all things that are not integers, including floating point numbers, but also alphabetic strings, arrayrefs, filehandles, etc. Generally speaking this attribute should not be passed to the constructor; you should rely on the default lazily-built complementary type. "moose_type", "mouse_type" Objects equivalent to this type constraint, but as a Moose::Meta::TypeConstraint or Mouse::Meta::TypeConstraint. Generally speaking this attribute should not be passed to the constructor; you should rely on the default lazily-built objects. It should rarely be necessary to obtain a Moose::Meta::TypeConstraint object from Type::Tiny because the Type::Tiny object itself should be usable pretty much anywhere a Moose::Meta::TypeConstraint is expected. The following additional attributes are used for parameterizable (e.g. "ArrayRef") and parameterized (e.g. "ArrayRef[Int]") type constraints. Unlike Moose, these aren't handled by separate subclasses. "parameters" In parameterized types, returns an arrayref of the parameters. "name_generator" A coderef which generates a new display_name based on parameters. Optional; the default is reasonable. "constraint_generator" Coderef that generates a new constraint coderef based on parameters. Optional; providing a generator makes this type into a parameterizable type constraint. "inline_generator" A coderef which generates a new inlining coderef based on parameters. "coercion_generator" A coderef which generates a new Type::Coercion object based on parameters. Methods "has_parent", "has_library", "has_inlined", "has_constraint_generator", "has_inline_generator", "has_coercion_generator", "has_parameters", "has_message" Predicate methods. "has_coercion" Predicate method with a little extra DWIM. Returns false if the coercion is a no-op. "is_anon" Returns true iff the type constraint does not have a "name". "is_parameterized", "is_parameterizable" Indicates whether a type has been parameterized (e.g. "ArrayRef[Int]") or could potentially be (e.g. "ArrayRef"). "qualified_name" For non-anonymous type constraints that have a library, returns a qualified "Library::Type" sort of name. Otherwise, returns the same as "name". "parents" Returns a list of all this type constraint's all ancestor constraints. "equals($other)", "is_subtype_of($other)", "is_supertype_of($other)", "is_a_type_of($other)" Compare two types. See Moose::Meta::TypeConstraint for what these all mean. (OK, Moose doesn't define "is_supertype_of", but you get the idea, right?) "check($value)" Returns true iff the value passes the type constraint. "validate($value)" Returns the error message for the value; returns an explicit undef if the value passes the type constraint. "assert_valid($value)" Like "check($value)" but dies if the value does not pass the type constraint. Yes, that's three very similar methods. Blame Moose::Meta::TypeConstraint whose API I'm attempting to emulate. :-) "get_message($value)" Returns the error message for the value; even if the value passes the type constraint. "coerce($value)" Attempt to coerce $value to this type. "assert_coerce($value)" Attempt to coerce $value to this type. Throws an exception if this is not possible. "can_be_inlined" Returns boolean indicating if this type can be inlined. "inline_check($varname)" Creates a type constraint check for a particular variable as a string of Perl code. For example: print( Types::Standard::Num->inline_check('$foo') ); prints the following output: (!ref($foo) && Scalar::Util::looks_like_number($foo)) For Moose-compat, there is an alias "_inline_check" for this method. "inline_assert($varname)" Much like "inline_check" but outputs a statement of the form: die ... unless ...; Note that if this type has a custom error message, the inlined code will *ignore* this custom message!! "parameterize(@parameters)" Creates a new parameterized type; throws an exception if called on a non-parameterizable type. "create_child_type(%attributes)" Construct a new Type::Tiny object with this object as its parent. "child_type_class" The class that create_child_type will construct. "plus_coercions($type1, $code1, ...)" Shorthand for creating a new child type constraint with the same coercions as this one, but then adding some extra coercions (at a higher priority than the existing ones). "plus_fallback_coercions($type1, $code1, ...)" Like "plus_coercions", but added at a lower priority. "minus_coercions($type1, ...)" Shorthand for creating a new child type constraint with fewer type coercions. "no_coercions" Shorthand for creating a new child type constraint with no coercions at all. "isa($class)", "can($method)", "AUTOLOAD(@args)" If Moose is loaded, then the combination of these methods is used to mock a Moose::Meta::TypeConstraint. If Mouse is loaded, then "isa" mocks Mouse::Meta::TypeConstraint. The following methods exist for Moose/Mouse compatibility, but do not do anything useful. "compile_type_constraint" "hand_optimized_type_constraint" "has_hand_optimized_type_constraint" "inline_environment" "meta" "type_parameter" Overloading * Stringification is overloaded to return the qualified name. * Boolification is overloaded to always return true. * Coderefification is overloaded to call "assert_value". * On Perl 5.10.1 and above, smart match is overloaded to call "check". * The "==" operator is overloaded to call "equals". * The "<" and ">" operators are overloaded to call "is_subtype_of" and "is_supertype_of". * The "~" operator is overloaded to call "complementary_type". * The "|" operator is overloaded to build a union of two type constraints. See Type::Tiny::Union. * The "&" operator is overloaded to build the intersection of two type constraints. See Type::Tiny::Intersection. * The "+" operator is overloaded to call "plus_coercions" or "plus_fallback_coercions" as appropriate. Constants "Type::Tiny::SUPPORT_SMARTMATCH" Indicates whether the smart match overload is supported on your version of Perl. BUGS Please report any bugs to . SEE ALSO Type::Tiny::Manual. Type::Library, Type::Utils, Types::Standard, Type::Coercion. Type::Tiny::Class, Type::Tiny::Role, Type::Tiny::Duck, Type::Tiny::Enum, Type::Tiny::Union, Type::Tiny::Intersection. Moose::Meta::TypeConstraint, Mouse::Meta::TypeConstraint. Type::Params. AUTHOR Toby Inkster . THANKS Thanks to Matt S Trout for advice on Moo integration. COPYRIGHT AND LICENCE This software is copyright (c) 2013 by Toby Inkster. This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES THIS PACKAGE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.