NAME
    Class::Inspector - Get information about a class and its structure

SYNOPSIS
      use Class::Inspector;
      
  # Is a class installed and/or loaded
      Class::Inspector->installed( 'Foo::Class' );
      Class::Inspector->loaded( 'Foo::Class' );
      
  # Filename related information
      Class::Inspector->filename( 'Foo::Class' );
      Class::Inspector->resolved_filename( 'Foo::Class' );
      
  # Get subroutine related information
      Class::Inspector->functions( 'Foo::Class' );
      Class::Inspector->function_refs( 'Foo::Class' );
      Class::Inspector->function_exists( 'Foo::Class', 'bar' );
      Class::Inspector->methods( 'Foo::Class', 'full', 'public' );
      
  # Find all loaded subclasses or something
      Class::Inspector->subclasses( 'Foo::Class' );

DESCRIPTION
    Class::Inspector allows you to get information about a loaded class.
    Most or all of this information can be found in other ways, but they
    aren't always very friendly, and usually involve a relatively high level
    of Perl wizardry, or strange and unusual looking code. Class::Inspector
    attempts to provide an easier, more friendly interface to this
    information.

METHODS
  installed $class
    The "installed" static method tries to determine if a class is installed
    on the machine, or at least available to Perl. It does this by wrapping
    around "resolved_filename".

    Returns true if installed/available, false if the class is not
    installed, or "undef" if the class name is invalid.

  loaded $class
    The "loaded" static method tries to determine if a class is loaded by
    looking for symbol table entries.

    This method it uses to determine this will work even if the class does
    not have its own file, but is contained inside a single file with
    multiple classes in it. Even in the case of some sort of run-time
    loading class being used, these typically leave some trace in the symbol
    table, so an Autoload or Class::Autouse-based class should correctly
    appear loaded.

    Returns true if the class is loaded, false if not, or "undef" if the
    class name is invalid.

  filename $class
    For a given class, returns the base filename for the class. This will
    NOT be a fully resolved filename, just the part of the filename BELOW
    the @INC entry.

      print Class->filename( 'Foo::Bar' );
      > Foo/Bar.pm

    This filename will be returned with the right seperator for the local
    platform, and should work on all platforms.

    Returns the filename on success or "undef" if the class name is invalid.

  resolved_filename $class, @try_first
    For a given class, the "resolved_filename" static method returns the
    fully resolved filename for a class. That is, the file that the class
    would be loaded from.

    This is not nescesarily the file that the class WAS loaded from, as the
    value returned is determined each time it runs, and the @INC include
    path may change.

    To get the actual file for a loaded class, see the "loaded_filename"
    method.

    Returns the filename for the class, or "undef" if the class name is
    invalid.

  loaded_filename $class
    For a given loaded class, the "loaded_filename" static method determines
    (via the %INC hash) the name of the file that it was originally loaded
    from.

    Returns a resolved file path, or false if the class did not have it's
    own file.

  functions $class
    For a loaded class, the "functions" static method returns a list of the
    names of all the functions in the classes immediate namespace.

    Note that this is not the METHODS of the class, just the functions.

    Returns a reference to an array of the function names on success, or
    "undef" if the class name is invalid or the class is not loaded.

  function_refs $class
    For a loaded class, the "function_refs" static method returns references
    to all the functions in the classes immediate namespace.

    Note that this is not the METHODS of the class, just the functions.

    Returns a reference to an array of "CODE" refs of the functions on
    success, or "undef" if the class is not loaded.

  function_exists $class, $function
    Given a class and function name the "function_exists" static method will
    check to see if the function exists in the class.

    Note that this is as a function, not as a method. To see if a method
    exists for a class, use the "can" method for any class or object.

    Returns true if the function exists, false if not, or "undef" if the
    class or function name are invalid, or the class is not loaded.

  methods $class, @options
    For a given class name, the "methods" static method will returns ALL the
    methods available to that class. This includes all methods available
    from every class up the class' @ISA tree.

    Returns a reference to an array of the names of all the available
    methods on success, or "undef" if the class name is invalid or the class
    is not loaded.

    A number of options are available to the "methods" method that will
    alter the results returned. These should be listed after the class name,
    in any order.

      # Only get public methods
      my $method = Class::Inspector->methods( 'My::Class', 'public' );

    public
        The "public" option will return only 'public' methods, as defined by
        the Perl convention of prepending an underscore to any 'private'
        methods. The "public" option will effectively remove any methods
        that start with an underscore.

    private
        The "private" options will return only 'private' methods, as defined
        by the Perl convention of prepending an underscore to an private
        methods. The "private" option will effectively remove an method that
        do not start with an underscore.

        Note: The "public" and "private" options are mutually exclusive

    full
        "methods" normally returns just the method name. Supplying the
        "full" option will cause the methods to be returned as the full
        names. That is, instead of returning "[ 'method1', 'method2',
        'method3' ]", you would instead get "[ 'Class::method1',
        'AnotherClass::method2', 'Class::method3' ]".

    expanded
        The "expanded" option will cause a lot more information about method
        to be returned. Instead of just the method name, you will instead
        get an array reference containing the method name as a single
        combined name, ala "full", the seperate class and method, and a CODE
        ref to the actual function ( if available ). Please note that the
        function reference is not guarenteed to be available.
        "Class::Inspector" is intended at some later time, work with modules
        that have some some of common run-time loader in place ( e.g
        "Autoloader" or "Class::Autouse" for example.

        The response from "methods( 'Class', 'expanded' )" would look
        something like the following.

          [
            [ 'Class::method1',   'Class',   'method1', \&Class::method1   ],
            [ 'Another::method2', 'Another', 'method2', \&Another::method2 ],
            [ 'Foo::bar',         'Foo',     'bar',     \&Foo::bar         ],
          ]

  subclasses $class
    The "subclasses" static method will search then entire namespace (and
    thus all currently loaded classes) to find all classes that are
    subclasses of the class provided as a the parameter.

    The actual test will be done by calling "isa" on the class as a static
    method. (i.e. "My::Class->isa($class)".

    Returns a reference to a list of the loaded classes that match the class
    provided, or false is none match, or "undef" if the class name provided
    is invalid.

SUPPORT
    Bugs should be reported via the CPAN bug tracker

    <http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=Class-Inspector>

    For other issues, or commercial enhancement or support, contact the
    author.

AUTHOR
    Adam Kennedy <adamk@cpan.org>

SEE ALSO
    <http://ali.as/>, Class::Handle

COPYRIGHT
    Copyright 2002 - 2011 Adam Kennedy.

    This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
    under the same terms as Perl itself.

    The full text of the license can be found in the LICENSE file included
    with this module.

