Role::Commons::Authority (3pm)

   package MyApp;
   use Role::Commons -all;
   BEGIN { our $AUTHORITY = 'cpan:JOEBLOGGS' };

   say MyApp->AUTHORITY;   # says "cpan:JOEBLOGGS"

   MyApp->AUTHORITY("cpan:JOEBLOGGS");     # does nothing much
   MyApp->AUTHORITY("cpan:JOHNTCITIZEN");  # croaks

This module adds an \*(C`AUTHORITY\*(C' function to your package, which works along the same lines as the \*(C`VERSION\*(C' function.

The authority of a package can be defined like this:

package MyApp; BEGIN { our $AUTHORITY = 'cpan:JOEBLOGGS' };

The authority should be a \s-1URI\s0 identifying the person, team, organisation or trained chimp responsible for the release of the package. The pseudo-URI scheme \*(L"cpan:\*(R" is the most commonly used identifier.

Method

Called with no parameters returns the authority of the module. If passed a test, will croak if the test fails. The authority is tested against the test using something approximating Perl 5.10's smart match operator. (Briefly, you can pass a string for eq comparison, a regular expression, a code reference to use as a callback, or an array reference that will be grepped.)

Multiple Authorities

This module allows you to indicate that your module is issued by multiple authorities. The package variable $AUTHORITY should still be used to indicate the primary authority for the package.

package MyApp; use Role::Commons Authority => { -authorities => [qw( cpan:ALICE cpan:BOB )] }; BEGIN { $MyApp::AUTHORITY = 'cpan:JOE'; }

package main; use feature qw(say); say scalar MyApp->AUTHORITY; # says "cpan:JOE" MyApp->AUTHORITY('cpan:JOE'); # lives MyApp->AUTHORITY('cpan:ALICE'); # lives MyApp->AUTHORITY('cpan:BOB'); # lives MyApp->AUTHORITY('cpan:CAROL'); # croaks

The main use case for shared authorities is for team projects. The team would designate a \s-1URI\s0 to represent the team as a whole. For example, \*(C`http://datetime.perl.org/\*(C', \*(C`http://moose.iinteractive.com/\*(C' or \*(C`http://www.perlrdf.org/\*(C'. Releases can then be officially stamped with the authority of the team.

And users can check they have an module released by the official team using:

RDF::TakeOverTheWorld->AUTHORITY( q<http://www.perlrdf.org/>, );

which will croak if package RDF::TakeOverTheWorld doesn't have the specified authority.

An obvious limitation is that this module relies on honesty. Don't release modules under authorities you have no authority to use.

Please report any bugs to http://rt.cpan.org/Dist/Display.html?Queue=Role-Commons <http://rt.cpan.org/Dist/Display.html?Queue=Role-Commons>.

Role::Commons, authority.

Background reading: <http://feather.perl6.nl/syn/S11.html>, <http://www.perlmonks.org/?node_id=694377>.

Toby Inkster <[email protected]>.

This software is copyright (c) 2012 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.

\s-1THIS\s0 \s-1PACKAGE\s0 \s-1IS\s0 \s-1PROVIDED\s0 \*(L"\s-1AS\s0 \s-1IS\s0\*(R" \s-1AND\s0 \s-1WITHOUT\s0 \s-1ANY\s0 \s-1EXPRESS\s0 \s-1OR\s0 \s-1IMPLIED\s0 \s-1WARRANTIES\s0, \s-1INCLUDING\s0, \s-1WITHOUT\s0 \s-1LIMITATION\s0, \s-1THE\s0 \s-1IMPLIED\s0 \s-1WARRANTIES\s0 \s-1OF\s0 \s-1MERCHANTIBILITY\s0 \s-1AND\s0 \s-1FITNESS\s0 \s-1FOR\s0 A \s-1PARTICULAR\s0 \s-1PURPOSE\s0.