NAME
    Set::String - Strings as objects with lots of handy methods (including
    set comparisons) and support for method chaining.

SYNOPSIS
    "my $s1 = Set::String->new("Hello");"

    "my $s2 = Set::String->new("World!\n");"

    "$s1->length->print; # prints 5"

    "$s1->ord->join->print; # prints 72,101,108,108,111"

    "$s2->chop(3)->print; # prints 'Worl'"

PREREQUISITES
    Perl 5.6 or later

    Set::Array (also by me). Available on CPAN.

    The 'Want' module by Robin Houston. Available on CPAN.

DESCRIPTION
    Set::String allows you to create strings as objects and use OO-style
    methods on them. Many convenient methods are provided here that appear
    in the FAQ's, the Perl Cookbook or posts from comp.lang.perl.misc. In
    addition, there are Set methods with corresponding (overloaded)
    operators for the purpose of Set comparison, i.e. +, ==, etc.

    The purpose is to provide built-in methods for operations that people
    are always asking how to do, and which already exist in languages like
    Ruby. This should (hopefully) improve code readability and/or
    maintainability. The other advantage to this module is method-chaining
    by which any number of methods may be called on a single object in a
    single statement.

    Note that Set::String is a subclass of Set::Array, and your string
    objects are really just treated as an array of characters, ala C. All
    methods available in Set::Array are available to you.

OBJECT BEHAVIOR
    The exact behavior of the methods depends largely on the calling
    context.

    Here are the rules:

    * If a method is called in void context, the object itself is modified.

    * If the method called is not the last method in a chain (i.e. it's
    called in object context), the object itself is modified by that method
    regardless of the 'final' context or method call.

    * If a method is called in list or scalar context, a list or list
    refererence is returned, respectively. The object itself is NOT
    modified.

    Here is a quick example:

    "my $so = Set::String->new("Hello");"

    "my @uniq = $so->unique(); # Object unmodified."

    "$so->unique(); # Object modified, now contains 'Helo'"

    Here are the exceptions:

    * Methods that report a value, such as boolean methods like *defined()*,
    never modify the object.

BOOLEAN METHODS
    defined() - Returns 1 if the string is defined. Otherwise a 0 is
    returned.

STANDARD METHODS
    chomp(*?int?*) - Deletes the last character of the string that
    corresponds to $/, or the newline by default. Optionally you may pass an
    integer to this method to indicate the number of times you want the
    string chomped. In list context, a list of chomped values is returned.
    In scalar context, the number of chomped values is returned.

    chop(*?int?*) - Deletes the last character of the string. Optionally you
    may pass an integer to this method to indicate the number of times you
    want the string chopped. In list context, a list of chopped values is
    returned. In scalar context, the number of chopped values is returned.

    crypt(*salt*) - Encrypts the string, converting it into a 13-character
    string, with the first two characters as the *salt*. Unlike Perl's
    builtin *crypt* function, you CAN decrypt the object to get the original
    string using the *decrypt()* method.

    decrypt - Decrypts an encrypted string. Attempting to decrypt an
    unencrypted string will generate a warning. Returns the decrypted string
    in either list or scalar context.

    eval - Evaluates the string and returns the result.

    index(*substring*) - Returns the position of the first occurrence of
    *substring* within the string. If the index is not found, a -1 is
    returned instead.

    lc(*?int?*) - Lower case the string. Optionally, you may pass an integer
    value to this method, in which case only that number of characters will
    be lower cased (left to right), instead of the entire string.

    lcfirst - Lower case the first character of the string.

    ord(*?int?*) - Converts the string to a list of ord values, one per
    character. Alternatively, you may provide an optional integer argument,
    in which case only that number of characters will be converted to ord
    values. An array or array ref of ord values is returned in list or
    scalar context, respectively.

    pack(*template*) - Packs the string according to the template provided

    pos(*pattern*) - Returns the location in your string where the last
    global search left off. If more than one location is found, it will
    return an array of integers (or an array ref in scalar context).

    substr(*offset*,*?length?*) - Returns a substring of the object string,
    starting at *offset* (with 0 as the first char) and continuing until
    *length*, or the end of the string if the length is not specified. If
    the offset is negative, then it will start at the end of the string.

    Returns the substring in either list or scalar context.

    uc(*?int?*) - Upper case the string. Otherwise identical to the 'lc()'
    method, above.

    unpack(*template*) - Unpacks the string according to the template.
    Probably best used when *not* part of a chain, as your result will
    always be concatenated into one big string otherwise.

FAQ
    *How can you decrypt an encrypted string? How are you doing this?*

    When the *crypt()* method is called, a copy of the original string is
    placed in a lexical variable within the package. Since there's no way to
    access that variable *except* through the object (as far as I know),
    your string is secure.

    Note that I wouldn't rely on *crypt()* to provide true encryption. For
    that, you ought to be using one of the more modern cryptographic
    modules.

KNOWN BUGS
    None. Please let me know if you find any.

FUTURE PLANS
    Add the 'vec' method

    Allow arguments to be passed to the 'eval()' method. I am not sure what
    the behavior should be at that point, however. Should it replace the
    string object? Should the results of that evaluation be appended to the
    original string? Ideas welcome.

    Add character ranges to some of the methods

    How about a boolean method 'palindrome'? Perhaps a subclass of
    Set::String, called Set::String::Grammar. It could have a series of
    boolean methods like 'verb()', 'adjective()', etc.

AUTHOR
    Daniel Berger

    djberg96@hotmail.com

