=head1 NAME

FreezeThaw - converting Perl structures to strings and back.

=head1 SYNOPSIS

  use FreezeThaw qw(freeze thaw cmpStr safeFreeze cmpStrHard);

  $string = freeze $data1, $data2, $data3;

  ...

  ($olddata1, $olddata2, $olddata3) = thaw $string;

  if (cmpStr($olddata2,$data2) == 0) {print "OK!"}

=head1 DESCRIPTION

Converts data to/from stringified form, appropriate for

saving-to/reading-from permanent storage.

Deals with objects, circular lists, repeated appearence of the same

refence. Does not deal with overloaded I<stringify> operator yet.

=head1 EXPORT

=over 12

=item Default

None.

=item Exportable

C<freeze thaw cmpStr cmpStrHard safeFreeze>.

=back

=head1 User API

=over 12

=item C<cmpStr>

analogue of C<cmp> for data. Takes two arguments and compares them as

separate entities.

=item C<cmpStrHard>

analogue of C<cmp> for data. Takes two arguments and compares them

considered as a group.

=item C<freeze>

returns a string that encupsulates its arguments (considered as a

group). C<thaw>ing this string leads to a fatal error if arguments to

C<freeze> contained references to C<GLOB>s and C<CODE>s.

=item C<safeFreeze>

returns a string that encupsulates its arguments (considered as a

group). The result is C<thaw>able in the same process. C<thaw>ing the

result in a different process should result in a fatal error if

arguments to C<safeFreeze> contained references to C<GLOB>s and

C<CODE>s.

=item C<thaw>

takes one string argument and returns an array. The elements of the

array are "equivalent" to arguments of the C<freeze> command that

created the string. Can result in a fatal error (see above).

=back

=head1 Developer API

C<FreezeThaw> C<freeze>s and C<thaw>s data blessed in some package by

calling methods C<Freeze> and C<Thaw> in the package. The fallback

methods are provided by the C<FreezeThaw> itself. The fallback

C<Freeze> freezes the "content" of blessed object (from Perl point of

view). The fallback C<Thaw> blesses the C<thaw>ed data back into the package.

So the package needs to define its own methods only if the fallback

methods will fail (for example, for a lot of data the "content" of an

object is an address of some B<C> data). The methods are called like

  $newcooky = $obj->Freeze($cooky);

  $obj = Package->Thaw($content,$cooky);

To save and restore the data the following method are applicable:

  $cooky->FreezeScalar($data,$ignorePackage,$noduplicate);

during Freeze()ing, and

  $data = $cooky->ThawScalar;

Two optional arguments $ignorePackage and $noduplicate regulate

whether the freezing should not call the methods even if $data is a

reference to a blessed object, and whether the data should not be

marked as seen already even if it was seen before. The default methods

  sub UNIVERSAL::Freeze {

    my ($obj, $cooky) = (shift, shift);

    $cooky->FreezeScalar($obj,1,1);

  }

  sub UNIVERSAL::Thaw {

    my ($package, $cooky) = (shift, shift);

    my $obj = $cooky->ThawScalar;

    bless $obj, $package;

  }

call the C<FreezeScalar> method of the $cooky since the freezing

engine will see the data the second time during this call. Indeed, it

is the freezing engine who calls UNIVERSAL::Freeze(), and it calls it

because it needs to freeze $obj. The above call to

$cooky->FreezeScalar() handles the same data back to engine, but

because flags are different, the code does not cycle.

Freezing and thawing $cooky also allows the following additional methods:

  $cooky->isSafe;

to find out whether the current freeze was initiated by C<freeze> or

C<safeFreeze> command. Analogous method for thaw $cooky returns

whether the current thaw operation is considered safe (i.e., either

does not contain cached elsewhere data, or comes from the same

application). You can use

  $cooky->makeSafe;

to prohibit cached data for the duration of the rest of freezing or

thawing of current object.

Two methods

  $value = $cooky->repeatedOK;

  $cooky->noRepeated;		# Now repeated are prohibited

allow to find out/change the current setting for allowing repeated

references.

If you want to flush the cache of saved objects you can use

  FreezeThaw->flushCache;

this can invalidate some frozen string, so that thawing them will

result in fatal error.

=head2 Instantiating

Sometimes, when an object from a package is recreated in presense of

repeated references, it is not safe to recreate the internal structure

of an object in one step. In such a situation recreation of an object

is carried out in two steps: in the first the object is C<allocate>d,

in the second it is C<instantiate>d.

The restriction is that during the I<allocation> step you cannot use any

reference to any Perl object that can be referenced from any other

place. This restriction is applied since that object may not exist yet.

Correspondingly, during I<instantiation> step the previosly I<allocated>

object should be C<filled>, i.e., it can be changed in any way such

that the references to this object remain valid.

The methods are called like this:

  $pre_object_ref = Package->Allocate($pre_pre_object_ref);

	# Returns reference

  Package->Instantiate($pre_object_ref,$cooky);

	# Converts into reference to blessed object

The reverse operations are

  $object_ref->FreezeEmpty($cooky);

  $object_ref->FreezeInstance($cooky);

during these calls object can C<freezeScalar> some information (in a

usual way) that will be used during C<Allocate> and C<Instantiate>

calls (via C<thawScalar>). Note that the return value of

C<FreezeEmpty> is cached during the phase of creation of uninialized

objects. This B<must> be used like this: the return value is the

reference to the created object, so it is not destructed until other

objects are created, thus the frozen values of the different objects

will not share the same references. Example of bad result:

  $o1->FreezeEmpty($cooky)

freezes C<{}>, and C<$o2-E<gt>FreezeEmpty($cooky)> makes the same. Now

nobody guaranties that that these two copies of C<{}> are different,

unless a reference to the first one is preserved during the call to

C<$o2-E<gt>FreezeEmpty($cooky)>. If C<$o1-E<gt>FreezeEmpty($cooky)>

returns the value of C<{}> it uses, it will be preserved by the

engine.

The helper function C<FreezeThaw::copyContents> is provided for

simplification of instantiation. The syntax is

  FreezeThaw::copyContents $to, $from;

The function copies contents the object $from point to into what the

object $to points to (including package for blessed references). Both

arguments should be references.

The default methods are provided. They do the following:

=over 12

=item C<FreezeEmpty>

Freezes an I<empty> object of underlying type.

=item C<FreezeInstance>

Calls C<Freeze>.

=item C<Allocate>

Thaws what was frozen by C<FreezeEmpty>.

=item C<Instantiate>

Thaws what was frozen by C<FreezeInstance>, uses C<copyContents> to

transfer this to the $pre_object.

=back

=head1 BUGS and LIMITATIONS

A lot of objects are blessed in some obscure packages by XSUB

typemaps. It is not clear how to (automatically) prevent the

C<UNIVERSAL> methods to be called for objects in these packages.

The objects which can survive freeze()/thaw() cycle must also survive a

change of a "member" to an equal member.  Say, after

  $a = [a => 3];

  $a->{b} = \ $a->{a};

$a satisfies

  $a->{b} == \ $a->{a}

This property will be broken by freeze()/thaw(), but it is also broken by

  $a->{a} = delete $a->{a};

=cut

require 5.002;			# defined ref stuff...

# Different line noise chars:

#

# $567|			next 567 chars form a scalar

#

# @34|			next 34 scalars form an array

#

# %34|			next 34 scalars form a hash

#

# ?			next scalar is a safe-stamp at beginning

#

# ?			next scalar is a stringified data

#

# !  repeated array follows (after a scalar denoting array $#),

# (possibly?) followed by instantiation array. At beginning

#

# <45|			ordinal of element in repeated array

#

# *			stringified glob follows

#

# &			stringified coderef follows

#

# \\			stringified defererenced data follows

#

# /			stringified REx follows

#

# >			stringified package name follows, then frozen data

#

# {			stringified package name follows, then allocation data

#

# }			stringified package name follows, then instantiation data

#

# _			frozen form of undef

package FreezeThaw;

use Exporter;

@ISA = qw(Exporter);

$VERSION = '0.43';

@EXPORT_OK = qw(freeze thaw cmpStr cmpStrHard safeFreeze);

use strict;

use Carp;

my $lock = (reverse time) ^ $$ ^ \&freezeString; # To distingush processes

use vars qw( @multiple

	     %seen_packages

	     $seen_packages

	     %seen_packages

	     %count

	     %address

	     $string

	     $unsafe

	     $noCache

	     $cooky

	     $secondpass

	   ),			# Localized in freeze()

	qw( $norepeated ),	# Localized in freezeScalar()

	qw( $uninitOK ),	# Localized in thawScalar()

	qw( @uninit ),		# Localized in thaw()

	qw($safe);		# Localized in safeFreeze()

my (%saved);

my %Empty = ( ARRAY   => sub {[]}, HASH => sub {{}},

	      SCALAR  => sub {my $undef; \$undef},

	      REF     => sub {my $undef; \$undef},

	      CODE    => 1,		# 1 means atomic

	      GLOB    => 1,

	      Regexp  => 0,

	 );

sub flushCache {$lock ^= rand; undef %saved;}

sub getref ($) {

  my $ref = ref $_[0];

  return $ref if not $ref or defined $Empty{$ref}; # Optimization _and_ Regexp

  my $str;

  if (defined &overload::StrVal) {

    $str = overload::StrVal($_[0]);

  } else {

    $str = "$_[0]";

  }

  $ref = $1 if $str =~ /=(\w+)/;

  $ref;

}

sub freezeString {$string .= "\$" . length($_[0]) . '|' . $_[0]}

sub freezeNumber {$string .= $_[0] . '|'}

sub freezeREx {$string .= '/' . length($_[0]) . '|' . $_[0]}

sub thawString {	# Returns list: a string and offset of rest

  substr($string, $_[0]) =~ /^\$(\d+)\|/

    or confess "Wrong format of frozen string: " . substr($string, $_[0]);

  length($string) - $_[0] > length($1) + 1 + $1

    or confess "Frozen string too short: `" .

      substr($string, $_[0]) . "', expect " . (length($1) + 2 + $1);

  (substr($string, $_[0] + length($1) + 2, $1), $_[0] + length($1) + 2 + $1);

}

sub thawNumber {	# Returns list: a number and offset of rest

  substr($string, $_[0]) =~ /^(\d+)\|/

    or confess "Wrong format of frozen string: " . substr($string, $_[0]);

  ($1, $_[0] + length($1) + 1);

}

sub _2rex ($);

if (eval '"Regexp" eq ref qr/1/') {

  eval 'sub _2rex ($) {my $r = shift; qr/$r/} 1' or die;

} else {

  eval 'sub _2rex ($) { shift } 1' or die;

}

sub thawREx {	# Returns list: a REx and offset of rest

  substr($string, $_[0]) =~ m,^/(\d+)\|,

    or confess "Wrong format of frozen REx: " . substr($string, $_[0]);

  length($string) - $_[0] > length($1) + 1 + $1

    or confess "Frozen string too short: `" .

      substr($string, $_[0]) . "', expect " . (length($1) + 2 + $1);

  (_2rex substr($string, $_[0] + length($1) + 2, $1),

   $_[0] + length($1) + 2 + $1);

}

sub freezeArray {

  $string .= '@' . @{$_[0]} . '|';

  for (@{$_[0]}) {

    freezeScalar($_);

  }

}

sub thawArray {

  substr($string, $_[0]) =~ /^[\@%](\d+)\|/ # % To make it possible thaw hashes

    or confess "Wrong format of frozen array: \n$_[0]";

  my $count = $1;

  my $off = $_[0] + 2 + length $count;

  my (@res, $res);

  while ($count and length $string > $off) {

    ($res,$off) = thawScalar($off);

    push(@res,$res);

    --$count;

  }

  confess "Wrong length of data in thawing Array: $count left" if $count;

  (\@res, $off);

}

sub freezeHash {

  my @arr = sort keys %{$_[0]};

  $string .= '%' . (2*@arr) . '|';

  for (@arr, @{$_[0]}{@arr}) {

    freezeScalar($_);

  }

}

sub thawHash {

  my ($arr, $rest) = &thawArray;

  my %hash;

  my $l = @$arr/2;

  foreach (0 .. $l - 1) {

    $hash{$arr->[$_]} = $arr->[$l + $_];

  }

  (\%hash,$rest);

}

# Second optional argument: ignore the package

# Third optional one: do not check for duplicates on outer level

sub freezeScalar {

  $string .= '_', return unless defined $_[0];

  return &freezeString unless ref $_[0];

  my $ref = ref $_[0];

  my $str;

  if ($_[1] and $ref) {			# Similar to getref()

    if (defined &overload::StrVal) {

      $str = overload::StrVal($_[0]);

    } else {

      $str = "$_[0]";

    }

    $ref = $1 if $str =~ /=(\w+)/;

  } else {

    $str = "$_[0]";

  }

  # Die if a) repeated prohibited, b) met, c) not explicitely requested to ingore.

  confess "Repeated reference met when prohibited"

    if $norepeated && !$_[2] && defined $count{$str};

  if ($secondpass and !$_[2]) {

    $string .= "<$address{$str}|", return

      if defined $count{$str} and $count{$str} > 1;

  } elsif (!$_[2]) {

    # $count{$str} is defined if we have seen it on this pass.

    $address{$str} = @multiple, push(@multiple, $_[0])

      if defined $count{$str} and not exists $address{$str};

    # This is for debugging and shortening thrown-away output (also

    # internal data in arrays and hashes is not duplicated).

    $string .= "<$address{$str}|", ++$count{$str}, return

      if defined $count{$str};

    ++$count{$str};

  }

  return &freezeArray if $ref eq 'ARRAY';

  return &freezeHash if $ref eq 'HASH';

  return &freezeREx if $ref eq 'Regexp' and not defined ${$_[0]};

  $string .= "*", return &freezeString

    if $ref eq 'GLOB' and !$safe;

  $string .= "&", return &freezeString

    if $ref eq 'CODE' and !$safe;

  $string .= '\\', return &freezeScalar( $ {shift()} )

    if $ref eq 'REF' or $ref eq 'SCALAR';

  if ($noCache and (($ref eq 'CODE') or $ref eq 'GLOB')) {

    confess "CODE and GLOB references prohibited now";

  }

  if ($safe and (($ref eq 'CODE') or $ref eq 'GLOB')) {

    $unsafe = 1;

    $saved{$str} = $_[0] unless defined $saved{$str};

    $string .= "?";

    return &freezeString;

  }

  $string .= '>';

  local $norepeated = $norepeated;

  local $noCache = $noCache;

  freezePackage(ref $_[0]);

  $_[0]->Freeze($cooky);

}

sub freezePackage {

  my $packageid = $seen_packages{$_[0]};

  if (defined $packageid) {

    $string .= ')';

    &freezeNumber( $packageid );

  } else {

    $string .= '>';

    &freezeNumber( $seen_packages );

    &freezeScalar( $_[0] );

    $seen_packages{ $_[0] } = $seen_packages++;

  }

}

sub thawPackage {		# First argument: offset

  my $key = substr($string,$_[0],1);

  my ($get, $rest, $id);

  ($id, $rest) = &thawNumber($_[0] + 1);

  if ($key eq ')') {

    $get = $seen_packages{$id};

  } else {

    ($get, $rest) = &thawString($rest);

    $seen_packages{$id} = $get;

  }

  ($get, $rest);

}

# First argument: offset; Optional other: index in the @uninit array

sub thawScalar {

  my $key = substr($string,$_[0],1);

  if ($key eq "\$") {&thawString}

  elsif ($key eq '@') {&thawArray}

  elsif ($key eq '%') {&thawHash}

  elsif ($key eq '/') {&thawREx}

  elsif ($key eq '\\') {

    my ($out,$rest) = &thawScalar( $_[0]+1 ) ;

    (\$out,$rest);

  }

  elsif ($key eq '_') { (undef, $_[0]+1) }

  elsif ($key eq '&') {confess "Do not know how to thaw CODE"}

  elsif ($key eq '*') {confess "Do not know how to thaw GLOB"}

  elsif ($key eq '?') {

    my ($address,$rest) = &thawScalar( $_[0]+1 ) ;

    confess "The saved data accessed in unprotected thaw" unless $unsafe;

    confess "The saved data disappeared somewhere"

      unless defined $saved{$address};

    ($saved{$address},$rest);

  } elsif ($key eq '<') {

    confess "Repeated data prohibited at this moment" unless $uninitOK;

    my ($off,$end) = &thawNumber ($_[0]+1);

    ($uninit[$off],$end);

  } elsif ($key eq '>' or $key eq '{' or $key eq '}') {

    my ($package,$rest) = &thawPackage( $_[0]+1 );

    my $cooky = bless \$rest, 'FreezeThaw::TCooky';