POE::Filter::Reference - phpMan

NAME
    POE::Filter::Reference - freeze and thaw arbitrary Perl data

SYNOPSIS
      #!perl

      use YAML;
      use POE qw(Wheel::ReadWrite Filter::Reference);

      POE::Session->create(
        inline_states => {
          _start => sub {
            pipe(my($read, $write)) or die $!;
            $_[HEAP]{io} = POE::Wheel::ReadWrite->new(
              InputHandle => $read,
              OutputHandle => $write,
              Filter => POE::Filter::Reference->new(),
              InputEvent => "got_perl_data",
            );

            $_[HEAP]{io}->put(
              { key_1 => 111, key_2 => 222 }
            );
          },
          got_perl_data => sub {
            print "Got data:\n", YAML::Dump($_[ARG0]);
            print "Bye!\n";
            delete $_[HEAP]{io};
          }
        }
      );

      POE::Kernel->run();
      exit;

DESCRIPTION
    POE::Filter::Reference allows programs to send and receive arbitrary
    Perl data structures without worrying about a line protocol. Its put()
    method serializes Perl data into a byte stream suitable for
    transmission. get_one() parses the data structures back out of such a
    stream.

    By default, POE::Filter::Reference uses Storable to do its magic. A
    different serializer may be specified at construction time.

PUBLIC FILTER METHODS
  new
    new() creates and initializes a POE::Filter::Reference object. It
    accepts a list of named parameters.

   Serializer
    Any class that supports nfreeze() (or freeze()) and thaw() may be used
    as a Serializer. If a Serializer implements both nfreeze() and freeze(),
    then the "network" (nfreeze) version will be used.

    Serializer may be a class name:

      # Use Storable explicitly, specified by package name.
      my $filter = POE::Filter::Reference->newer( Serializer=>"Storable" );

      # Use YAML instead.  Compress its output, as it may be verbose.
      my $filter = POE::Filter::Reference->new("YAML", 1);

    Serializer may also be an object:

      # Use an object.
      my $serializer = Data::Serializer::Something->new();
      my $filter = POE::Filter::Reference->newer( Serializer => $serializer );

    If Serializer is omitted or undef, the Reference filter will try to use
    Storable, FreezeThaw, and YAML in that order. POE::Filter::Reference
    will die if it cannot find one of these serializers, but this rarely
    happens now that Storable and YAML are bundled with Perl.

   Compression
    If Compression is true, Compress::Zlib will be called upon to reduce the
    size of serialized data. It will also decompress the incoming stream
    data.

   MaxBuffer
    "MaxBuffer" sets the maximum amount of data that the filter will hold
    onto while trying to build a new reference. Defaults to 512 MB.

   NoFatals
    If NoFatals is true, messages will be thawed inside a block eval. By
    default, however, thaw() is allowed to die normally. If an error occurs
    while NoFatals is in effect, POE::Filter::Reference will return a string
    containing the contents of $@ at the time the eval failed. So when using
    NoFatals, it's important to check whether input is really a reference:

      sub got_reference {
        my $message = $_[ARG0];
        if (ref $message) {
          print "Got data:\n", YAML::Dump($message);
        }
        else {
          warn "Input decode error: $message\n";
        }
      }

    new() will try to load any classes it needs for "Compression" or
    "Serializer".

  new [SERIALIZER [, COMPRESSION [, NO_FATALS]]]
    This is the old constructor synatx. It does not conform to the normal
    POE::Filter constructor parameter syntax. Please use the new syntax
    instead.

    Calling "new" like this is equivalent to

        POE::Filter::Reference->new( Serializer => SERIALIZER,
                                     Compression => COMPRESSION,
                                     NoFatals  => NO_FATALS );

    Please note that if you have a custom serializer class called
    "Serializer" you will have to update your code to the new syntax.

SERIALIZER API
    Here's what POE::Filter::Reference expects of its serializers.

  thaw SERIALIZED
    thaw() is required. It accepts two parameters: $self and a scalar
    containing a SERIALIZED byte stream representing a single Perl data
    structure. It returns a reconstituted Perl data structure.

      sub thaw {
        my ($self, $stream) = @_;
        my $reference = $self->_deserialization_magic($stream);
        return $reference;
      }

  nfreeze REFERENCE
    Either nfreeze() or freeze() is required. They behave identically,
    except that nfreeze() is guaranteed to be portable across networks and
    between machine architectures.

    These freezers accept two parameters: $self and a REFERENCE to Perl
    data. They return a serialized version of the REFERENCEd data.

      sub nfreeze {
        my ($self, $reference) = @_;
        my $stream = $self->_serialization_magic($reference);
        return $stream;
      }

  freeze REFERENCE
    freeze() is an alternative form of nfreeze(). It has the same call
    signature as nfreeze(), but it doesn't guarantee that serialized data
    will be portable across machine architectures.

    If you must choose between implementing freeze() and nfreeze() for use
    with POE::Filter::Reference, go with nfreeze().

SEE ALSO
    Please see POE::Filter for documentation regarding the base interface.

    The SEE ALSO section in POE contains a table of contents covering the
    entire POE distribution.

BUGS
    Not so much bugs as caveats:

    It's important to use identical serializers on each end of a connection.
    Even different versions of the same serializer can break data in
    transit.

    Most (if not all) serializers will re-bless data at the destination, but
    many of them will not load the necessary classes to make those blessings
    work. Make sure the same classes and versions are available on either
    end of the wire.

AUTHORS & COPYRIGHTS
    The Reference filter was contributed by Artur Bergman, with changes by
    Philip Gwyn.

    Please see POE for more information about authors and contributors.