# phpman > info > TAP::Parser::IteratorFactory

[TAP::Parser::IteratorFaPerlyProgrammers](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/TAP%3A%3AParser%3A%3AIteratorFaPerlyProgrammers/markdown) [RefTAP::Parser](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/RefTAP%3A%3AParser/markdown)::[IteratorFactory(3perl)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/IteratorFactory/3perl/markdown)

NAME
       [TAP::Parser::IteratorFactory](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/TAP%3A%3AParser%3A%3AIteratorFactory/markdown) - Figures out which SourceHandler objects
       to use for a given Source

VERSION
       Version 3.43

SYNOPSIS
         use [TAP::Parser::IteratorFactory](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/TAP%3A%3AParser%3A%3AIteratorFactory/markdown);
         my $factory = [TAP::Parser::IteratorFactory](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/TAP%3A%3AParser%3A%3AIteratorFactory/markdown)->new({ %config });
         my $iterator  = $factory->make_iterator( $filename );

DESCRIPTION
       This is a factory class that takes a [TAP::Parser::Source](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/TAP%3A%3AParser%3A%3ASource/markdown) and runs it
       through all the registered [TAP::Parser::SourceHandlers](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/TAP%3A%3AParser%3A%3ASourceHandlers/markdown) to see which one
       should handle the source.

       If you're a plugin author, you'll be interested in how to
       "register_handler"s, how "detect_source" works.

METHODS
   Class Methods
       "new"

       Creates a new factory class:

         my $sf = [TAP::Parser::IteratorFactory](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/TAP%3A%3AParser%3A%3AIteratorFactory/markdown)->new( $config );

       $config is optional.  If given, sets "config" and calls
       "load_handlers".

       "register_handler"

       Registers a new [TAP::Parser::SourceHandler](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/TAP%3A%3AParser%3A%3ASourceHandler/markdown) with this factory.

         __PACKAGE__->register_handler( $handler_class );

       "handlers"

       List of handlers that have been registered.

   Instance Methods
       "config"

        my $cfg = $sf->config;
        $sf->config({ Perl => { %config } });

       Chaining getter/setter for the configuration of the available source
       handlers.  This is a hashref keyed on handler class whose values
       contain config to be passed onto the handlers during detection &
       creation.  Class names may be fully qualified or abbreviated, eg:

         # these are equivalent
         $sf->config({ '[TAP::Parser::SourceHandler::Perl](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/TAP%3A%3AParser%3A%3ASourceHandler%3A%3APerl/markdown)' => { %config } });
         $sf->config({ 'Perl' => { %config } });

       "load_handlers"

        $sf->load_handlers;

       Loads the handler classes defined in "config".  For example, given a
       config:

         $sf->config({
           MySourceHandler => { some => 'config' },
         });

       "load_handlers" will attempt to load the "MySourceHandler" class by
       looking in @INC for it in this order:

         [TAP::Parser::SourceHandler::MySourceHandler](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/TAP%3A%3AParser%3A%3ASourceHandler%3A%3AMySourceHandler/markdown)
         MySourceHandler

       "croak"s on error.

       "make_iterator"

         my $iterator = $src_factory->make_iterator( $source );

       Given a [TAP::Parser::Source](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/TAP%3A%3AParser%3A%3ASource/markdown), finds the most suitable
       [TAP::Parser::SourceHandler](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/TAP%3A%3AParser%3A%3ASourceHandler/markdown) to use to create a [TAP::Parser::Iterator](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/TAP%3A%3AParser%3A%3AIterator/markdown)
       (see "detect_source").  Dies on error.

       "detect_source"

       Given a [TAP::Parser::Source](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/TAP%3A%3AParser%3A%3ASource/markdown), detects what kind of source it is and
       returns one [TAP::Parser::SourceHandler](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/TAP%3A%3AParser%3A%3ASourceHandler/markdown) (the most confident one).  Dies
       on error.

       The detection algorithm works something like this:

         for (@registered_handlers) {
           # ask them how confident they are about handling this source
           $confidence{$handler} = $handler->can_handle( $source )
         }
         # choose the most confident handler

       Ties are handled by choosing the first handler.

SUBCLASSING
       Please see "SUBCLASSING" in [TAP::Parser](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/TAP%3A%3AParser/markdown) for a subclassing overview.

   Example
       If we've done things right, you'll probably want to write a new source,
       rather than sub-classing this (see [TAP::Parser::SourceHandler](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/TAP%3A%3AParser%3A%3ASourceHandler/markdown) for
       that).

       But in case you find the need to...

         package MyIteratorFactory;

         use strict;

         use base '[TAP::Parser::IteratorFactory](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/TAP%3A%3AParser%3A%3AIteratorFactory/markdown)';

         # override source detection algorithm
         sub detect_source {
           my ($self, $raw_source_ref, $meta) = @_;
           # do detective work, using $meta and whatever else...
         }

         1;

AUTHORS
       Steve Purkis

ATTRIBUTION
       Originally ripped off from [Test::Harness](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Test%3A%3AHarness/markdown).

       Moved out of [TAP::Parser](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/TAP%3A%3AParser/markdown) & converted to a factory class to support
       extensible TAP source detective work by Steve Purkis.

SEE ALSO
       [TAP::Object](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/TAP%3A%3AObject/markdown), [TAP::Parser](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/TAP%3A%3AParser/markdown), [TAP::Parser::SourceHandler](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/TAP%3A%3AParser%3A%3ASourceHandler/markdown),
       [TAP::Parser::SourceHandler::File](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/TAP%3A%3AParser%3A%3ASourceHandler%3A%3AFile/markdown), [TAP::Parser::SourceHandler::Perl](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/TAP%3A%3AParser%3A%3ASourceHandler%3A%3APerl/markdown),
       [TAP::Parser::SourceHandler::RawTAP](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/TAP%3A%3AParser%3A%3ASourceHandler%3A%3ARawTAP/markdown), [TAP::Parser::SourceHandler::Handle](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/TAP%3A%3AParser%3A%3ASourceHandler%3A%3AHandle/markdown),
       [TAP::Parser::SourceHandler::Executable](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/TAP%3A%3AParser%3A%3ASourceHandler%3A%3AExecutable/markdown)

perl v5.34.0                      2025-07-[2TAP::Parser](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/2TAP%3A%3AParser/markdown)::[IteratorFactory(3perl)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/IteratorFactory/3perl/markdown)