Data::GUID(3pm)

NAME
Data::GUID - globally unique identifiers

VERSION
version 0.051

SYNOPSIS
  use Data::GUID;

  my $guid = Data::GUID->new;

  my $string = $guid->as_string; # or "$guid"

  my $other_guid = Data::GUID->from_string($string);

  if (($guid <=> $other_guid) == 0) {
    print "They're the same!\n";
  }

DESCRIPTION
Data::GUID provides a simple interface for generating and using globally unique identifiers.

PERL VERSION
This library should run on perls released even an extremely long time ago. It should work on any version of perl released in the last ten years.

Although it may work on older versions of perl, no guarantee is made that the minimum required version will not be increased. The version may be increased for any reason, and there is no promise that patches will be accepted to lower the minimum required perl.

GETTING A NEW GUID

  new
  my $guid = Data::GUID->new;

This method returns a new globally unique identifier.

GUIDS FROM EXISTING VALUES
These method returns a new Data::GUID object for the given GUID value. In all cases, these methods throw an exception if given invalid input.

  from_string
  my $guid = Data::GUID->from_string("B0470602-A64B-11DA-8632-93EBF1C0E05A");

  from_hex
  # note that a hex guid is a guid string without hyphens and with a leading 0x
  my $guid = Data::GUID->from_hex("0xB0470602A64B11DA863293EBF1C0E05A");

  from_base64
  my $guid = Data::GUID->from_base64("sEcGAqZLEdqGMpPr8cDgWg==");

  from_data_uuid
This method returns a new Data::GUID object if given a Data::UUID value. Because Data::UUID values are not blessed and because Data::UUID provides no validation method, this method will only throw an exception if the given data is of the wrong size.

IDENTIFYING GUIDS

  string_guid_regex

  hex_guid_regex

  base64_guid_regex
These methods return regex objects that match regex strings of the appropriate type.

  from_any_string
  my $string = get_string_from_ether;

  my $guid = Data::GUID->from_any_string($string);

This method returns a Data::GUID object for the given string, trying all known string interpretations. An exception is thrown if the value is not a valid GUID string.

  best_guess
  my $value = get_value_from_ether;

  my $guid = Data::GUID->best_guess($value);

This method returns a Data::GUID object for the given value, trying everything it can. It works like "from_any_string", but will also accept Data::UUID values. (In effect, this means that any sixteen byte value is acceptable.)

GUIDS INTO STRINGS
These methods return various string representations of a GUID.

  as_string
This method returns a "traditional" GUID/UUID string representation. This is five hexadecimal strings, delimited by hyphens. For example:

  B0470602-A64B-11DA-8632-93EBF1C0E05A

This method is also used to stringify Data::GUID objects.

  as_hex
This method returns a plain hexadecimal representation of the GUID, with a leading "0x". For example:

  0xB0470602A64B11DA863293EBF1C0E05A

  as_base64
This method returns a base-64 string representation of the GUID. For example:

  sEcGAqZLEdqGMpPr8cDgWg==

OTHER METHODS

  compare_to_guid
This method compares a GUID to another GUID and returns -1, 0, or 1, as do other comparison routines.

  as_binary
This method returns the packed binary representation of the GUID. At present this method relies on Data::GUID's underlying use of Data::UUID. It is not guaranteed to continue to work the same way, or at all. Caveat invocator.

IMPORTING
Data::GUID does not export any subroutines by default, but it provides a few routines which will be imported on request. These routines may be called as class methods, or may be imported to be called as subroutines. Calling them by fully qualified name is incorrect.

  use Data::GUID qw(guid);

  my $guid = guid;             # OK
  my $guid = Data::GUID->guid; # OK
  my $guid = Data::GUID::guid; # NOT OK

  guid
This routine returns a new Data::GUID object.

  guid_string
This returns the string representation of a new GUID.

  guid_hex
This returns the hex representation of a new GUID.

  guid_base64
This returns the base64 representation of a new GUID.

  guid_from_anything
This returns the result of calling the "from_any_string" method.

TODO

•   add namespace support

•   remove dependency on wretched Data::UUID

•   make it work on 5.005

AUTHOR
Ricardo SIGNES <cpan@semiotic.systems>

CONTRIBUTOR
Ricardo Signes <rjbs@semiotic.systems>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
This software is copyright (c) 2006 by Ricardo SIGNES.

This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.