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

NAME SYNOPSIS DESCRIPTION Difference between "load" and "autoload" FUNCTIONS Rules IMPORTS THE FUNCTIONS Caveats SEE ALSO ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS BUG REPORTS AUTHOR COPYRIGHT

NAME

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

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:

	•		If the argument has any characters in it other than those matching "\w", ":" or "'", it must be a file
	•		If the argument matches only "[\w:']", it must be a module
	•		If the argument matches only "\w", it could either be a module or a file. We will try to find "file.pm" first in @INC and if that fails, we will try to find "file" in @INC. If both fail, we die with the respective error messages.

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)