As mentioned in Encode, encodings are (in the current implementation at least) defined as objects. The
mapping of encoding name to object is via the %Encode::Encoding hash. Though you can directly manipulate
this hash, it is strongly encouraged to use this base class module and add encode() and decode() methods.
Methodsyoushouldimplement
You are strongly encouraged to implement methods below, at least either encode() or decode().
->encode($string [,$check])
MUST return the octet sequence representing $string.
• If $check is true, it SHOULD modify $string in place to remove the converted part (i.e. the whole
string unless there is an error). If perlio_ok() is true, SHOULD becomes MUST.
• If an error occurs, it SHOULD return the octet sequence for the fragment of string that has been
converted and modify $string in-place to remove the converted part leaving it starting with the
problem fragment. If perlio_ok() is true, SHOULD becomes MUST.
• If $check is false then "encode" MUST make a "best effort" to convert the string - for example, by
using a replacement character.
->decode($octets [,$check])
MUST return the string that $octets represents.
• If $check is true, it SHOULD modify $octets in place to remove the converted part (i.e. the whole
sequence unless there is an error). If perlio_ok() is true, SHOULD becomes MUST.
• If an error occurs, it SHOULD return the fragment of string that has been converted and modify
$octets in-place to remove the converted part leaving it starting with the problem fragment. If
perlio_ok() is true, SHOULD becomes MUST.
• If $check is false then "decode" should make a "best effort" to convert the string - for example by
using Unicode's "\x{FFFD}" as a replacement character.
If you want your encoding to work with encoding pragma, you should also implement the method below.
->cat_decode($destination, $octets, $offset, $terminator [,$check])
MUST decode $octets with $offset and concatenate it to $destination. Decoding will terminate when
$terminator (a string) appears in output. $offset will be modified to the last $octets position at
end of decode. Returns true if $terminator appears output, else returns false.
OthermethodsdefinedinEncode::Encodings
You do not have to override methods shown below unless you have to.
->name
Predefined As:
sub name { return shift->{'Name'} }
MUST return the string representing the canonical name of the encoding.
->mime_name
Predefined As:
sub mime_name{
return Encode::MIME::Name::get_mime_name(shift->name);
}
MUST return the string representing the IANA charset name of the encoding.
->renew
Predefined As:
sub renew {
my $self = shift;
my $clone = bless { %$self } => ref($self);
$clone->{renewed}++;
return $clone;
}
This method reconstructs the encoding object if necessary. If you need to store the state during
encoding, this is where you clone your object.
PerlIO ALWAYS calls this method to make sure it has its own private encoding object.
->renewed
Predefined As:
sub renewed { $_[0]->{renewed} || 0 }
Tells whether the object is renewed (and how many times). Some modules emit "Use of uninitialized
value in null operation" warning unless the value is numeric so return 0 for false.
->perlio_ok()
Predefined As:
sub perlio_ok {
return eval { require PerlIO::encoding } ? 1 : 0;
}
If your encoding does not support PerlIO for some reasons, just;
sub perlio_ok { 0 }
->needs_lines()
Predefined As:
sub needs_lines { 0 };
If your encoding can work with PerlIO but needs line buffering, you MUST define this method so it
returns true. 7bit ISO-2022 encodings are one example that needs this. When this method is missing,
false is assumed.
Example:Encode::ROT13
package Encode::ROT13;
use strict;
use parent qw(Encode::Encoding);
__PACKAGE__->Define('rot13');
sub encode($$;$){
my ($obj, $str, $chk) = @_;
$str =~ tr/A-Za-z/N-ZA-Mn-za-m/;
$_[1] = '' if $chk; # this is what in-place edit means
return $str;
}
# Jr pna or ynml yvxr guvf;
*decode = \&encode;
1;