xref: /onnv-gate/usr/src/cmd/perl/contrib/Sun/Solaris/Exacct/pod/Group.pod (revision 12388:1bc8d55b0dfd)

#
# Copyright (c) 2002, 2003, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
#

#
# Sun::Solaris::Exacct::Object::Group documentation.
#

=head1 NAME

Sun::Solaris::Exacct::Object::Group - exacct group manipulation

=head1 SYNOPSIS

 use Sun::Solaris::Exacct::Object;
 my $ea_grp = Sun::Solaris::Exacct::Object::Group->new(
     &EXT_GROUP | &EXC_DEFAULT | &EXD_GROUP_PROC);

This module is used for manipulating C<libexacct(3LIB)> Group objects. A
libexacct Group object is represented as an opaque reference blessed into the
C<Sun::Solaris::Exacct::Object::Group> class, which is a subclass of the
C<Sun::Solaris::Exacct::Object> class. The Items within a Group are stored
inside a Perl array. A reference to the array can be accessed with the
inherited value() method. The individual Items within a Group can be
manipulated with the normal Perl array syntax and operators. All data elements
of the array must be derived from the C<Sun::Solaris::Exacct::Object> class.
Group objects can also be nested inside each other simply by adding an
existing Group as a data Item.

=head2 Constants

None.

=head2 Functions

None.

=head2 Class methods

Class methods include those inherited from the C<Sun::Solaris::Exacct::Object>
base class, plus the following:

B<C<new($catalog, @objects)>>

This method creates and returns a new C<Sun::Solaris::Exacct::Object::Group>.
The catalog tag can be either an integer or a
C<Sun::Solaris::Exacct::Catalog>. The catalog tag should be a valid catalog
tag for a Perl exacct Group object. The C<@objects> parameter is a list of
C<Sun::Solaris::Exacct::Object> to be stored inside the Group. A copy of all
the passed Items is taken and any Group objects are recursively copied. The
contents of the returned Group object can be accessed with the array returned
by the C<value()> method.

=head2 Object methods

B<C<as_hash()>>

This method returns the contents of the group as a hash reference. It uses the
string value of each item's catalog ID as the hash entry key and the scalar
value returned by C<value()> as the hash entry value.

This form should be used if there are no duplicate catalog tags in the group.

This method and its companion C<as_hashlist()> are the fastest ways to access
the contents of a Group.

B<C<as_hashlist()>>

This method returns the contents of the group as a hash reference. It uses the
string value of each item's catalog id as the hash entry key and an array of
the scalar values returned by C<value()> as the hash entry value for all the
items that share a common key. This form should be used if there might be
duplicate catalog tags in the group.

This method and its companion C<as_hash()> are the fastest ways to access the
contents of a Group.

=head2 Exports

None.

=head1 ATTRIBUTES

See C<attributes(5)> for descriptions of the following attributes:

  ___________________________________________________________
 |       ATTRIBUTE TYPE        |       ATTRIBUTE VALUE       |
 |_____________________________|_____________________________|
 | Availability                | CPAN (http://www.cpan.org)  |
 |_____________________________|_____________________________|
 | Interface Stability         | Evolving                    |
 |_____________________________|_____________________________|

=head1 SEE ALSO

C<Sun::Solaris::Exacct(3)>, C<Sun::Solaris::Exacct::Catalog(3)>,
C<Sun::Solaris::Exacct::File(3)>, C<Sun::Solaris::Exacct::Object(3)>,
C<Sun::Solaris::Exacct::Object::Item(3)>, C<libexacct(3LIB)>, C<attributes(5)>