NAME
    Class::Default - Static calls apply to a default instantiation

SYNOPSIS
      # Create the defaulted class
      package Foo::Base;
  
      use base 'Class::Default';
  
      sub new { bless {}, $_[0] }
  
      sub show {
          my $self = shift->_self;  
          "$self";
      }
  
      # Do something to the default object
  
      package main;
  
      print Foo::Bar->show;
  
      # Prints 'Foo::Bar=HASH(0x80d22f8)'

DESCRIPTION
    Class::Default provides a mechanism to allow your class to take static
    method calls and apply it to a default instantiation of an object. It
    provides a flexibility to an API that allows it to be used more
    confortably in different situations.

    A good example of this technique in use is CGI.pm. When you use a static
    method, like "CGI-"header>, your call is being applied to a default
    instantiation of a CGI object.

    This technique appears to be especially usefull when writing modules
    that you want to be used in either a single use or a persistant
    environment. In a CGI like environment, you want the simplicity of a
    static interface. You can call "Class-"method> directly, without having
    to pass an instantiation around constantly.

USING THE MODULES
    Class::Default provides a couple of levels of control. They start with
    simple enabling the method to apply to the default instantation, and
    move on to providing some level of control over the creation of the
    default object.

  Inheriting from Class::Default
    To start, you will need to inherit from Class::Default. You do this in
    the normal manner, using something like "use base 'Class::Default'", or
    setting the @ISA value directly. "Class::Default" does not have a
    default constructor or any public methods, so you should be able to use
    it a multiple inheritance situation without any implications.

  Making method work
    To make your class work with Class::Default you need to make a small
    adjustment to each method that you would like to be able to access the
    default object.

    A typical method will look something like the following

      sub foobar {
          my $self = shift;
      
          # Do whatever the method does
      }

    To make the method work with Class::Default, you should change it to the
    following

      sub foobar {
          my $self = shift->_self;
      
          # Do whatever the method does
      }

    This change is very low impact, easy to use, and will not make any other
    differences to the way your code works.

  Control over the default object
    When needed, Class::Default will make a new instantation of your class
    and cache it to be used whenever a static call is made. It does this in
    the simplest way possible, by calling "Class-"new()> with no arguments.

    This is fine if you have a very pure class that can handle creating a
    new object without any arguments, but many classes expect some sort of
    argument to the the constructor, and indeed that the constructor that
    should be used it the "new" method.

    Enter the "_create_default_object" method. By overloading the
    "_create_default_object" method in your class, you can custom create the
    default object. This will used to create the default object on demand,
    the first time a method is called. For example, the following class
    demonstrate the use of "_create_default_object" to set some values in
    the default object.

      package Slashdot::User;
  
      use base 'Class::Default';
  
      # Constructor
      sub new {
            my $class = shift;
            my $name = shift;
        
            my $self = {
                    name => $name,
                    favourite_color => '',
            };
        
            return bless $self, $class;
      }
  
      # Default constructor
      sub _create_default_object {
            my $class = shift;
        
            my $self = $class->new( 'Anonymous Coward' );
            $self->{favourite_color} = 'Orange';
        
            return $self;
      }
  
      sub name { $_[0]->{name} }
      sub favourite_color { $_[0]->{favourite_color} }

    That provides a statically accessible default object that could be used
    as in the following manner.

      print "The default slashdot user is " . Slashdot::User->name
          . " and they like the colour " . Slashdot::User->favourite_color;

    Remember that the default object is persistant, so changes made to the
    statically accessible object can be recovered later.

  Getting access to the default object
    There are a few ways to do this, but the easiest way is to simple do the
    following

      my $default = Slashdot::User->_get_default;

METHODS
  _self
    Used by methods to make the method apply to the default object if called
    statically without affecting normal object methods.

  _class
    The "_class" method provides the opposite of the "_self" method. Instead
    of always getting an object, "_class" will always get the class name, so
    a method can be guarenteed to run in a static context. This is not
    essential to the use of a "Class::Default" module, but is provided as a
    convenience.

  _get_default
    Used to get the default object directly.

  _create_default_object
    To be overloaded by your class to set any properties to the default
    object at creation time.

BUGS
    No known bugs, but suggestions are welcome

SUPPORT
    Contact the author

AUTHOR
            Adam Kennedy
            cpan@ali.as
            http://ali.as/

SEE ALSO
    Class::*

COPYRIGHT
    Copyright (c) 2002 Adam Kennedy. All rights reserved. This program is
    free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same
    terms as Perl itself.

    The full text of the license can be found in the LICENSE file included
    with this module.