Simple Use

If you simply need to run a few JS functions from Perl, create a new JS environment like this:

  my $je = new JE;

If necessary, make Perl subroutines available to JavaScript:

  $je->new_function(warn => sub { warn @_ });
  $je->new_function(ok => \&Test::More::ok);

Then pass the JavaScript functions to "eval":

  $je->eval(<<'___');
  function foo() {
      return 42
  }
  // etc.
  ___
  # or perhaps:
  use File::Slurp;
  $je->eval(scalar read_file 'functions.js');

Then you can access those function from Perl like this:

  $return_val = $je->{foo}->();
  $return_val = $je->eval('foo()');

The return value will be a special object that, when converted to a string, boolean or number, will behave exactly as in JavaScript. You can also use it as a hash, to access or modify its properties. (Array objects can be used as arrays, too.) To call one of its JS methods, you should use the "method" method: "$return_val->method('foo')". See JE::Types for more information.

Custom Global Objects

To create a custom global object, you have to subclass JE. For instance, if all you need to do is add a "self" property that refers to the global object, then override the "new" method like this:

  package JEx::WithSelf;
  @ISA = 'JE';
  sub new {
      my $self = shift->SUPER::new(@_);
      $self->{self} = $self;
      return $self;
  }

Using Perl Objects from JS

See "bind_class", below.

Writing Custom Data Types

See JE::Types.

Synopsis

 $j->bind_class(
     package => 'Net::FTP',
     name    => 'FTP', # if different from package
     constructor => 'new', # or sub { Net::FTP->new(@_) }
     methods => [ 'login','get','put' ],
     # OR:
     methods => {
         log_me_in => 'login', # or sub { shift->login(@_) }
         chicken_out => 'quit',
     }
     static_methods => {
         # etc. etc. etc.
     }
     to_primitive => \&to_primitive # or a method name
     to_number    => \&to_number
     to_string    => \&to_string
     props => [ 'status' ],
     # OR:
     props => {
         status => {
             fetch => sub { 'this var never changes' }
             store => sub { system 'say -vHysterical hah hah' }
         },
         # OR:
         status => \&fetch_store # or method name
     },
     static_props => { ... }
     hash  => 1, # Perl obj can be used as a hash
     array => 1, # or as an array
     # OR (not yet implemented):
     hash  => 'namedItem', # method name or code ref
     array => 'item',       # likewise
     # OR (not yet implemented):
     hash => {
         fetch => 'namedItem',
         store => sub { shift->{+shift} = shift },
     },
     array => {
         fetch => 'item',
         store => sub { shift->[shift] = shift },
     },
     isa => 'Object',
     # OR:
     isa => $j->{Object}{prototype},
 );
 
 # OR:
 
 $j->bind_class(
     package => 'Net::FTP',
     wrapper => sub { new JE_Proxy_for_Net_FTP @_ }
 );

Description

(Some of this is random order, and probably needs to be rearranged.)

This method binds a Perl class to JavaScript. LIST is a hash-style list of key/value pairs. The keys, listed below, are all optional except for "package" or "name"--you must specify at least one of the two.

Whenever it says you can pass a method name to a particular option, and that method is expected to return a value (i.e., this does not apply to "props => { property_name => { store => 'method' } }"), you may append a colon and a data type (such as ':String') to the method name, to indicate to what JavaScript type to convert the return value. Actually, this is the name of a JS function to which the return value will be passed, so 'String' has to be capitalised. This also means than you can use 'method:eval' to evaluate the return value of 'method' as JavaScript code. One exception to this is that the special string ':null' indicates that Perl's "undef" should become JS's "null", but other values will be converted the default way. This is useful, for instance, if a method should return an object or "null", from JavaScript's point of view. This ':' feature does not stop you from using double colons in method names, so you can write 'Package::method:null' if you like, and rest assured that it will split on the last colon. Furthermore, just 'Package::method' will also work. It won't split it at all.

package

The name of the Perl class. If this is omitted, "name" will be used instead.

name

The name the class will have in JavaScript. This is used by "Object.prototype.toString" and as the name of the constructor. If omitted, "package" will be used.

constructor => 'method_name'

constructor => sub { ... }

If "constructor" is given a string, the constructor will treat it as the name of a class method of "package".

If it is a coderef, it will be used as the constructor.

If this is omitted, the constructor will raise an error when called. If there is already a constructor with the same name, however, it will be left as it is (though methods will still be added to its prototype object). This allows two Perl classes to be bound to a single JavaScript class:

 $j->bind_class( name => 'Foo', package => 'Class::One', methods => ... );
 $j->bind_class( name => 'Foo', package => 'Class::Two' );
    

methods => [ ... ]

methods => { ... }

If an array ref is supplied, the named methods will be bound to JavaScript functions of the same names.

If a hash ref is used, the keys will be the names of the methods from JavaScript's point of view. The values can be either the names of the Perl methods, or code references.

static_methods

Like "methods" but they will become methods of the constructor itself, not of its "prototype" property.

to_primitive => sub { ... }

to_primitive => 'method_name'

When the object is converted to a primitive value in JavaScript, this coderef or method will be called. The first argument passed will, of course, be the object. The second argument will be the hint ('number' or 'string') or will be omitted.

If to_primitive is omitted, the usual valueOf and toString methods will be tried as with built-in JS objects, if the object does not have overloaded string/boolean/number conversions. If the object has even one of those three, then conversion to a primitive will be the same as in Perl.

If "to_primitive => undef" is specified, primitivisation without a hint (which happens with "<" and "==") will throw a TypeError.

to_number

If this is omitted, "to_primitive($obj, 'number')" will be used. If set to undef, a TypeError will be thrown whenever the object is numified.

to_string

If this is omitted, "to_primitive($obj, 'string')" will be used. If set to undef, a TypeError will be thrown whenever the object is strung.

props => [ ... ]

props => { ... }

Use this to add properties that will trigger the provided methods or subroutines when accessed. These property definitions can also be inherited by subclasses, as long as, when the subclass is registered with "bind_class", the superclass is specified as a string (via "isa", below).

If this is an array ref, its elements will be the names of the properties. When a property is retrieved, a method of the same name is called. When a property is set, the same method is called, with the new value as the argument.

If a hash ref is given, for each element, if the value is a simple scalar, the property named by the key will trigger the method named by the value. If the value is a coderef, it will be called with the object as its argument when the variable is read, and with the object and the new value as its two arguments when the variable is set. If the value is a hash ref, the "fetch" and "store" keys will be expected to be either coderefs or method names. If only "fetch" is given, the property will be read-only. If only "store" is given, the property will be write-only and will appear undefined when accessed. (If neither is given, it will be a read-only undefined property--really useful.)

static_props

Like "props" but they will become properties of the constructor itself, not of its "prototype" property.

hash

If this option is present, then this indicates that the Perl object can be used as a hash. An attempt to access a property not defined by "props" or "methods" will result in the retrieval of a hash element instead (unless the property name is a number and "array" is specified as well).

The value you give this option should be one of the strings '1-way' and '2-way' (also 1 and 2 for short).

If you specify '1-way', only properties corresponding to existing hash elements will be linked to those elements; properties added to the object from JavaScript will be JavaScript's own, and will not affect the wrapped object. (Consider how node lists and collections work in web browsers.)

If you specify '2-way', an attempt to create a property in JavaScript will be reflected in the underlying object.

To do: Make this accept '1-way:String', etc.

array

This is just like "hash", but for arrays. This will also create a property named 'length'.

To do: Make this accept '1-way:String', etc.

unwrap => 1

If you specify this and it's true, objects passed as arguments to the methods or code refs specified above are 'unwrapped' if they are proxies for Perl objects (see below). And null and undefined are converted to "undef".

This is experimental right now. I might actually make this the default. Maybe this should provide more options for fine-tuning, or maybe what is currently the default behaviour should be removed. If anyone has any opinions on this, please e-mail the author.

isa => 'ClassName'

isa => $prototype_object

(Maybe this should be renamed 'super'.)

The name of the superclass. 'Object' is the default. To make this new class's prototype object have no prototype, specify "undef". Instead of specifying the name of the superclass, you can provide the superclass's prototype object.

If you specify a name, a constructor function by that name must already exist, or an exception will be thrown. (I supposed I could make JE smart enough to defer retrieving the prototype object until the superclass is registered. Well, maybe later.)

wrapper => sub { ... }

If "wrapper" is specified, all other arguments will be ignored except for "package" (or "name" if "package" is not present).

When an object of the Perl class in question is 'upgraded,' this subroutine will be called with the global object as its first argument and the object to be 'wrapped' as the second. The subroutine is expected to return an object compatible with the interface described in JE::Types.

If "wrapper" is supplied, no constructor will be created.

After a class has been bound, objects of the Perl class will, when passed to JavaScript (or the "upgrade" method), appear as instances of the corresponding JS class. Actually, they are 'wrapped up' in a proxy object (a JE::Object::Proxy object), that provides the interface that JS operators require (see JE::Types). If the object is passed back to Perl, it is the proxy, not the original object that is returned. The proxy's "value" method will return the original object. But, if the "unwrap" option above is used when a class is bound, the original Perl object will be passed to any methods or properties belonging to that class. This behaviour is still subject to change. See "unwrap", above.

Note that, if you pass a Perl object to JavaScript before binding its class, JavaScript's reference to it (if any) will remain as it is, and will not be wrapped up inside a proxy object.

To use Perl's overloading within JavaScript, well...er, you don't have to do anything. If the object has "", "0+" or "bool" overloading, that will automatically be detected and used.

$j->new_parser

This returns a parser object (see JE::Parser) which allows you to customise the way statements are parsed and executed (only partially implemented).

$j->prototype_for( $class_name )

$j->prototype_for( $class_name, $new_val )

Mostly for internal use, this method is used to store/retrieve the prototype objects used by JS's built-in data types. The class name should be 'String', 'Number', etc., but you can actually store anything you like in here. :-)

Bona Fide Bugs

• "bind_class" has a security hole: An object method’s corresponding Function object can be applied to any Perl object or class from within JS. (E.g., if you have allowed a Foo object's "wibbleton" method to be called from JS, then a Bar object's method of the same name can be, too.)

  Fixing this is a bit complicated. If anyone would like to help, please let me know. (The problem is that the same code would be repeated a dozen times in "bind_class"'s closures--a maintenance nightmare likely to result in more security bugs. Is there any way to eliminate all those closures?)

• The JE::Scope class, which has an "AUTOLOAD" sub that delegates methods to the global object, does not yet implement the "can" method, so if you call $scope->can('to_string') you will get a false return value, even though scope objects can "to_string".
• "hasOwnProperty" does not work properly with arrays and arguments objects.
• Sometimes line numbers reported in error messages are off. E.g., in the following code--

    foo(
        (4))
      

  --, if "foo" is not a function, line 2 will be reported instead of line 1.

• Currently, [:blahblahblah:]-style character classes don’t work if followed by a character class escape (\s, \d, etc.) within the class. "/[[:alpha:]\d]/" is interpreted as "/[\[:alph]\d\]/".
• If, in perl 5.8.x, you call the "value" method of a JE::Object that has a custom fetch subroutine for one of its enumerable properties that throws an exception, you'll get an 'Attempt to free unreferenced scalar' warning.
• On Solaris in perl 5.10.0, the Date class can cause an 'Out of memory' error which I find totally inexplicable. Patches welcome. (I don't have Solaris, so I can't experiment with it.)
• Case-tolerant regular expressions allow a single character to match multiple characters, and vice versa, in those cases where a character's uppercase equivalent is more than one character; e.g., "/ss/" can match the double S ligature. This is contrary to the ECMAScript spec. See the source code of JE::Object::RegExp for more details.
• Currently any assignment that causes an error will result in the 'Cannot assign to a non-lvalue' error message, even if it was for a different cause. For instance, a custom "fetch" routine might die.
• The parser doesn’t currently support Unicode escape sequences in a regular expression literal’s flags. It currently passes them through verbatim to the RegExp constructor, which then croaks.
• Under perl 5.8.8, the following produces a double free; something I need to look into:

    "".new JE  ->eval(q| Function('foo','return[a]')() | )
      

• The "var" statement currently evaluates the rhs before the lhs, which is wrong. This affects the following, which should return 5, but returns undefined:

    with(o={x:1})var x = (delete x,5); return o.x
      

• Currently if a try-(catch)-finally statement’s "try" and "catch" blocks don't return anything, the return value is taken from the "finally" block. This is incorrect. There should be no return value. In other words, this should return 3:

    eval(' 3; try{}finally{5} ')
      

• Compound assignment operators (+=, etc.) currently get the value of the rhs first, which is wrong. The following should produce "1b", but gives "2b":

    a = 1;  a += (a=2,"b")
      

• Serialisation of RegExp objects with Data::Dump::Streamer is currently broken (and has been since 0.022).

Limitations

• JE is not necessarily IEEE 754-compliant. It depends on the OS. For this reason the Number.MIN_VALUE and Number.MAX_VALUE properties may not have the same values as ECMAScript, and sometimes rounding (via "toPrecision", etc.) goes the wrong way.
• A Perl subroutine called from JavaScript can sneak past a "finally" block and avoid triggering it:

    $j = new JE;
    $j->new_function(outta_here => sub { last outta });
    outta: {
        $j->eval('
            try { x = 1; outta_here() }
            finally { x = 2 }
        ');
    }
    print $j->{x}, "\n";
      

• NaN and Infinity do not work properly on some Windows compilers. 32-bit ActivePerl seems not to work, but I have been told 64-bit is OK. Strawberry Perl works fine, which is what most people are using.

Incompatibilities with ECMAScript...

...that are probably due to typos in the spec.

• In a try-catch-finally statement, if the 'try' block throws an error and the 'catch' and 'finally' blocks exit normally--i.e., not as a result of throw/return/continue/break--, the error originally thrown within the 'try' block is supposed to be propagated, according to the spec. JE does not re-throw the error. (This is consistent with other ECMAScript implementations.)

  I believe there is a typo in the spec. in clause 12.14, in the 'TryStatement : try Block Catch Finally' algorithm. Step 5 should probably read 'Let C = Result(4),' rather than 'If Result(4).type is not normal, Let C = Result(4).'

• If the expression between the two colons in a "for(;;)" loop header is omitted, the expression before the first colon is not supposed to be evaluated. JE does evaluate it, regardless of whether the expression between the two colons is present.

  I think this is also a typo in the spec. In the first algorithm in clause 12.6.3, step 1 should probably read 'If ExpressionNoIn is not present, go to step 4,' rather than 'If the first Expression is not present, go to step 4.'

• The "setTime" method of a Date object does what one would expect (it sets the number of milliseconds stored in the Date object and returns that number). According to the obfuscated definition in the ECMAScript specification, it should always set it to NaN and return NaN.

  I think I've found yet another typo in the spec. In clause 15.9.5.27, 'Result(1)' and and 'Result(2)' are probably supposed to be 'Result(2)' and 'Result(3)', respectively.