- NAME
- SYNOPSIS
- DESCRIPTION
- Ranges of objects
- Ranges specified with integer fields
- METHODS
- new (...)
- clear
- set_range (start, end, value [, code ref] )
- set( index, value [, code ref] )
- set_range_as_string ( index, string [, code ref] )
- get_range (start, end [, filler | undef , copy_cb [, set_cb]])
- get_range_list
- lookup( index )
- get_element( element_number )
- consolidate( [ bottom, top , [ set_cb ]] )
- CONTRIBUTORS
- AUTHORS
Array::IntSpan - Handles arrays of scalars or objects using integer ranges
use Array::IntSpan;
my $foo = Array::IntSpan->new([0, 59, 'F'], [60, 69, 'D'], [80, 89, 'B']);
print "A score of 84% results in a ".$foo->lookup(84).".\n";
unless (defined($foo->lookup(70))) {
print "The grade for the score 70% is currently undefined.\n";
}
$foo->set_range(70, 79, 'C');
print "A score of 75% now results in a ".$foo->lookup(75).".\n";
$foo->set_range(0, 59, undef);
unless (defined($foo->lookup(40))) {
print "The grade for the score 40% is now undefined.\n";
}
$foo->set_range(87, 89, 'B+');
$foo->set_range(85, 100, 'A');
$foo->set_range(100, 1_000_000, 'A+');
Array::IntSpan brings the speed advantages of Set::IntSpan
(written by Steven McDougall) to arrays. Uses include manipulating
grades, routing tables, or any other situation where you have mutually
exclusive ranges of integers that map to given values.
The new version of Array::IntSpan is also able to consolidate the
ranges by comparing the adjacent values of the range. If 2 adjacent
values are identical, the 2 adjacent ranges are merged.
Array::IntSpan can also handle objects instead of scalar values.
But for the consolidation to work, the payload class must overload the
"", eq and == operators to perform the consolidation
comparisons.
When a get_range method is called to a range of objects, it will
return a new range of object referencess. These object references
points to the objects stored in the original range. In other words the
objects contained in the returned range are not copied.
Thus if the user calls a methods on the objects contained in the
returned range, the method is actually invoked on the objects stored
in the original range.
When a get_range method is called on a range of objects, several
things may happen:
-
The get_range spans empty slots. By default the returned range will
skip the empty slots. But the user may provide a callback to create
new objects (for instance). See details below.
-
The get_range splits existing ranges. By default, the split range will
contains the same object reference. The user may provide callback to
perform the object copy so that the split range will contains
different objects. See details below.
-
Array::IntSpan::IP is also provided with the distribution. It lets
you use IP addresses in any of three forms (dotted decimal, network
string, and integer) for the indices into the array. See the POD for
that module for more information. See the Array::IntSpan::IP manpage for
details.
-
Array::IntSpan::Fields is also provided with the distribution. It
let you specify an arbitrary specification to handle ranges with
strings made of several integer separared by dots (like IP addresses
of ANSI SS7 point codes). See the Array::IntSpan::Fields manpage for details.
The new method takes an optional list of array elements. The
elements should be in the form [start_index, end_index, value].
They should be in sorted order and there should be no overlaps. The
internal method _check_structure will be called to verify the data
is correct. If you wish to avoid the performance penalties of
checking the structure, you can use Data::Dumper to dump an object
and use that code to reconstitute it.
Clear the range.
This method takes three parameters - the start_index, the
end_index, and the value. If you wish to erase a range, specify
undef for the value. It properly deals with overlapping ranges
and will replace existing data as appropriate. If the new range lies
after the last existing range, the method will execute in O(1) time.
If the new range lies within the existing ranges, the method executes
in O(n) time, where n is the number of ranges. It does not consolidate
contiguous ranges that have the same value.
If you have a large number of inserts to do, it would be beneficial to
sort them first. Sorting is O(n lg(n)), and since appending is O(1),
that will be considerably faster than the O(n^2) time for inserting n
unsorted elements.
The method returns 0 if there were no overlapping ranges and 1
if there were.
The optional code ref is called back when an existing range is
split. For instance if the original range is [0,10,$foo_obj] and
set_range is called with [5,7,$bar_obj'], the callback will be called
twice:
$callback->(0, 4,$foo_obj)
$callback->(8,10,$foo_obj)
It will be the callback responsibility to make sure that the range
0-4 and 7-10 holds 2 different objects.
Set a single value. This may split an existing range. Actually calls:
set_range( index, index, value [, code ref] )
Set one one several ranges specified with a string. Ranges are separated by ``-''.
Several ranges can be specified with commas.
Example:
set_range_as_string( '1-10,13, 14-20', 'foo')
White space are ignored.
This method returns a range (actually an Array::IntSpan object) from
start to end.
If start and end span empty slot in the original range,
get_range will skip the empty slots. If a filler value is provided,
get_range will fill the slots with it.
original range : [2-4,X],[7-9,Y],[12-14,Z]
get_range(3,8) : [3-4,X],[7-8,Y]
get_range(2,10,f) : [3-4,X],[5-6,f],[7-8,Y]
If the filler parameter is a CODE reference, the filler value will
be the one returned by the sub ref. The sub ref is invoked with
(start,end), i.e. the range of the empty span to fill
(get_range(5,6) in the example above). When handling object, the
sub ref can invoke an object constructor.
If start or end split an original range in 2, the default
behavior is to copy the value or object ref contained in the original
range:
original range : [1-4,X]
split range : [1-1,X],[2-2,X],[3-4,X]
get_range(2) : [2-2,X]
If the original range contains object, this may lead to
disapointing results. In the example below the 2 ranges contains
references (obj_a) that points to the same object:
original range : [1-4,obj_a]
split range : [1-1,obj_a],[2-2,obj_a],[3-4,obj_a]
get_range(2) : [2-2,obj_a]
Which means that invoking a method on the object returned by
get_range(2) will also be invoked on the range 1-4 of the original
range which may not be what you want.
If get_range is invoked with a copy parameter (actually a code
reference), the result of this routine will be stored in the split
range outside of the get_range:
original range : [1-4,X]
get_range(2) : [2-2,X]
split range : [1-1,copy_of_X],[2-2,X],[3-4,copy_of_X]
When dealing with object, the sub ref should provide a copy of the object:
original range : [1-4,obj_a]
get_range(2) : [2-2,obj_a]
split range : [1-1,obj_a1],[2-2,obj_a],[3-4,obj_a2]
Note that the obj_a contained in the split range and the
obj_a contained in the returned range point to the same object.
The sub ref is invoked with (start,end,obj_a) and is expected to
return a copy of obj_a that will be stored in the split ranges. In
the example above, 2 different copies are made: obj_a1 and
obj_a2.
Last, a 3rd callback may be defined by the user: the set_cb. This
callback will be used when the range start or end that holds an object
changes. In the example above, the set_cb will be called this way:
$obj_a->&$set_cb(2,2) ;
As a matter of fact, the 3 callback can be used in the same call. In
the example below, get_range is invoked with 3 subs refs:
\&f,\&cp,\&set:
original range : [1-4,obj_a],[7-9,obj_b]
get_range(3-8,...) : [3-4,obj_a],[5-6,obj_fill],[7-8,obj_b]
split range : [1-2,obj_a1], [3-4,obj_a],[5-6,obj_fill],
[7-8,obj_b],[9-9,obj_b1]
To obtain this, get_range will perform the following calls:
$obj_fill = &f ;
$obj_a1 = &cp(5,6,obj_a);
&set(3,4,$obj_a) ;
$obj_b = &cp(9,9,obj_b) ;
&set(7-8,obj_b) ;
In scalar context, returns a list of range in a string like: ``1-5,7,9-11''.
In list context retunrs a list of list, E.g. ( [1,5], [7,7], 9,11]).
This method takes as a single parameter the index to look up. If
there is an appropriate range, the method will return the associated
value. Otherwise, it returns undef.
Returns an array containing the Nth range element:
( start, end, value )
This function scans the range from the range index bottom to top
and compare the values held by the adjacent ranges. If the values are
identical, the adjacent ranges are merged.
The comparison is made with the == operator. Objects stored in the
range must overload the == operator. If not, the comparison is
made with the standard stringification of an object and the merge
never happens.
If provided, the set_cb is invoked on the contained object
after 2 ranges are merged.
For instance, if "$obj_a" eq "$obj_b":
original range is : [1-4,obj_a],[5-9,obj_b]
consolidate(0,1,\&set) yields: [1-9,obj_a]
And consolidate performs this call:
$set->(1,9,obj_a) ;
Consolidate the whole range when called without parameters.
Copyright (c) 2000 Toby Everett.
Copyright (c) 2003-2004,2014,2020 Dominique Dumont.
All rights reserved. This program is free software.
This module is distributed under the Artistic 2.0 License. See
https://www.perlfoundation.org/artistic-license-20.html
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