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From: flee@guardian.cs.psu.edu (Felix Lee)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.perl
Subject: Re: nested packages???
Message-ID: <Frb2wn53@cs.psu.edu>
Date: 14 Nov 90 19:59:34 GMT
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Nested packages don't quite work.
	package a'b; $c = 3;
	$a'b'c = 4;
	print $c;
prints 3, but
	package a'_b; $c = 3;
	$_a'b'c = 4;
	print $c
prints 4.

Apparently, package x'y uses the symbol table %_main{"__x"}{"_y"},
while $x'y'z uses the symbol table %_main{"_x"}{"__y"}.

I'd like to see nested packages work right.  The applications are
endless.  For one, I could make enums live in their own namespace if
nested packages worked correctly.  This is actually a symptom of lazy
typing; it's easier to type $color'red instead of $color_red.

One thing that's needed is a way of specifying a name relative to the
current package.  How about, $main'x is an absolute name, but $'main'x
is a name relative to the current package.  (This feels backwards
since Unix filenames follow the opposite rule...)  Does this conflict
with current practice?  $'x currently is the name "x" in the null
package.  Does anyone use the null package?
--
Felix