Module::Load - runtime require of both modules and files

NAME

Module::Load - runtime require of both modules and files

SYNOPSIS

  use Module::Load;
  my $module = 'Data::Dumper';
  load Data::Dumper;     # loads that module, but not import any functions
                         # -> cannot use 'Dumper' function
  load 'Data::Dumper';   # ditto
  load $module           # tritto
  autoload Data::Dumper; # loads that module and imports the default functions
                         # -> can use 'Dumper' function
  my $script = 'some/script.pl'
  load $script;
  load 'some/script.pl';  # use quotes because of punctuations
  load thing;             # try 'thing' first, then 'thing.pm'
  load CGI, ':all';       # like 'use CGI qw[:standard]'

DESCRIPTION

Module::Load eliminates the need to know whether you are trying to require either a file or a module.

If you consult perldoc -f require you will see that require will behave differently when given a bareword or a string.

In the case of a string, require assumes you are wanting to load a file. But in the case of a bareword, it assumes you mean a module.

This gives nasty overhead when you are trying to dynamically require modules at runtime, since you will need to change the module notation (Acme::Comment) to a file notation fitting the particular platform you are on.

Module::Load eliminates the need for this overhead and will just DWYM.

Difference between load and autoload

Module::Load imports the two functions - load and autoload

autoload imports the default functions automatically, but load do not import any functions.

autoload is usable under BEGIN{};.

Both the functions can import the functions that are specified.

Following codes are same.

  load File::Spec::Functions, qw/splitpath/;
  autoload File::Spec::Functions, qw/splitpath/;

FUNCTIONS

load
Loads a specified module.

See Rules for detailed loading rule.

autoload
Loads a specified module and imports the default functions.

Except importing the functions, 'autoload' is same as 'load'.

load_remote
Loads a specified module to the specified package. 
  use Module::Load 'load_remote';
  my $pkg = 'Other::Package';
  load_remote $pkg, 'Data::Dumper'; # load a module to 'Other::Package'
                                    # but do not import 'Dumper' function

A module for loading must be quoted.

Except specifing the package and quoting module name, 'load_remote' is same as 'load'.

autoload_remote
Loads a specified module and imports the default functions to the specified package. 
  use Module::Load 'autoload_remote';
  my $pkg = 'Other::Package';
  autoload_remote $pkg, 'Data::Dumper'; # load a module to 'Other::Package'
                                        # and imports 'Dumper' function

A module for loading must be quoted.

Except specifing the package and quoting module name, 'autoload_remote' is same as 'load_remote'.

Rules

All functions have the following rules to decide what it thinks you want:

IMPORTS THE FUNCTIONS

'load' and 'autoload' are imported by default, but 'load_remote' and 'autoload_remote' are not imported.

To use 'load_remote' or 'autoload_remote', specify at 'use'.

``load'',``autoload'',``load_remote'',``autoload_remote''
Imports the selected functions. 
  # imports 'load' and 'autoload' (default)
  use Module::Load;
  # imports 'autoload' only
  use Module::Load 'autoload';
  # imports 'autoload' and 'autoload_remote', but don't import 'load';
  use Module::Load qw/autoload autoload_remote/;

'all'
Imports all the functions. 
  use Module::Load 'all'; # imports load, autoload, load_remote, autoload_remote

'','none',undef
Not import any functions (load and autoload are not imported). 
  use Module::Load '';
  use Module::Load 'none';
  use Module::Load undef;

Caveats

Because of a bug in perl (#19213), at least in version 5.6.1, we have to hardcode the path separator for a require on Win32 to be /, like on Unix rather than the Win32 \. Otherwise perl will not read its own %INC accurately double load files if they are required again, or in the worst case, core dump.

Module::Load cannot do implicit imports, only explicit imports. (in other words, you always have to specify explicitly what you wish to import from a module, even if the functions are in that modules' @EXPORT)

SEE ALSO

the Module::Runtime manpage provides functions for loading modules, checking the validity of a module name, converting a module name to partial .pm path, and related utility functions.

``require'' in perlfunc and ``use'' in perlfunc.

the Mojo::Loader manpage is a ``class loader and plugin framework'', and is included in the Mojolicious distribution.

the Module::Loader manpage is a module for finding and loading modules in a given namespace, inspired by Mojo::Loader.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to Jonas B. Nielsen for making explicit imports work.

BUG REPORTS

Please report bugs or other issues to <bug-module-load@rt.cpan.org.

AUTHOR

This module by Jos Boumans <kane@cpan.org>.

COPYRIGHT

This library is free software; you may redistribute and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

 Module::Load - runtime require of both modules and files