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.\" ========================================================================
.\"
.IX Title "B 3perl"
.TH B 3perl 2024-05-30 "perl v5.38.2" "Perl Programmers Reference Guide"
.\" For nroff, turn off justification.  Always turn off hyphenation; it makes
.\" way too many mistakes in technical documents.
.if n .ad l
.nh
.SH NAME
B \- The Perl Compiler Backend
.SH SYNOPSIS
.IX Header "SYNOPSIS"
.Vb 1
\&        use B;
.Ve
.SH DESCRIPTION
.IX Header "DESCRIPTION"
The \f(CW\*(C`B\*(C'\fR module supplies classes which allow a Perl program to delve
into its own innards.  It is the module used to implement the
"backends" of the Perl compiler.  Usage of the compiler does not
require knowledge of this module: see the O module for the
user-visible part.  The \f(CW\*(C`B\*(C'\fR module is of use to those who want to
write new compiler backends.  This documentation assumes that the
reader knows a fair amount about perl's internals including such
things as SVs, OPs and the internal symbol table and syntax tree
of a program.
.SH OVERVIEW
.IX Header "OVERVIEW"
The \f(CW\*(C`B\*(C'\fR module contains a set of utility functions for querying the
current state of the Perl interpreter; typically these functions
return objects from the B::SV and B::OP classes, or their derived
classes.  These classes in turn define methods for querying the
resulting objects about their own internal state.
.SH "Utility Functions"
.IX Header "Utility Functions"
The \f(CW\*(C`B\*(C'\fR module exports a variety of functions: some are simple
utility functions, others provide a Perl program with a way to
get an initial "handle" on an internal object.
.ie n .SS "Functions Returning ""B::SV"", ""B::AV"", ""B::HV"", and ""B::CV"" objects"
.el .SS "Functions Returning \f(CWB::SV\fP, \f(CWB::AV\fP, \f(CWB::HV\fP, and \f(CWB::CV\fP objects"
.IX Subsection "Functions Returning B::SV, B::AV, B::HV, and B::CV objects"
For descriptions of the class hierarchy of these objects and the
methods that can be called on them, see below, "OVERVIEW OF
CLASSES" and "SV-RELATED CLASSES".
.IP sv_undef 4
.IX Item "sv_undef"
Returns the SV object corresponding to the C variable \f(CW\*(C`sv_undef\*(C'\fR.
.IP sv_yes 4
.IX Item "sv_yes"
Returns the SV object corresponding to the C variable \f(CW\*(C`sv_yes\*(C'\fR.
.IP sv_no 4
.IX Item "sv_no"
Returns the SV object corresponding to the C variable \f(CW\*(C`sv_no\*(C'\fR.
.IP svref_2object(SVREF) 4
.IX Item "svref_2object(SVREF)"
Takes a reference to any Perl value, and turns the referred-to value
into an object in the appropriate B::OP\-derived or B::SV\-derived
class.  Apart from functions such as \f(CW\*(C`main_root\*(C'\fR, this is the primary
way to get an initial "handle" on an internal perl data structure
which can then be followed with the other access methods.
.Sp
The returned object will only be valid as long as the underlying OPs
and SVs continue to exist.  Do not attempt to use the object after the
underlying structures are freed.
.IP amagic_generation 4
.IX Item "amagic_generation"
Returns the SV object corresponding to the C variable \f(CW\*(C`amagic_generation\*(C'\fR.
As of Perl 5.18, this is just an alias to \f(CW\*(C`PL_na\*(C'\fR, so its value is
meaningless.
.IP init_av 4
.IX Item "init_av"
Returns the AV object (i.e. in class B::AV) representing INIT blocks.
.IP check_av 4
.IX Item "check_av"
Returns the AV object (i.e. in class B::AV) representing CHECK blocks.
.IP unitcheck_av 4
.IX Item "unitcheck_av"
Returns the AV object (i.e. in class B::AV) representing UNITCHECK blocks.
.IP begin_av 4
.IX Item "begin_av"
Returns the AV object (i.e. in class B::AV) representing BEGIN blocks.
.IP end_av 4
.IX Item "end_av"
Returns the AV object (i.e. in class B::AV) representing END blocks.
.IP comppadlist 4
.IX Item "comppadlist"
Returns the PADLIST object (i.e. in class B::PADLIST) of the global
comppadlist.  In Perl 5.16 and earlier it returns an AV object (class
B::AV).
.IP regex_padav 4
.IX Item "regex_padav"
Only when perl was compiled with ithreads.
.IP main_cv 4
.IX Item "main_cv"
Return the (faked) CV corresponding to the main part of the Perl
program.
.SS "Functions for Examining the Symbol Table"
.IX Subsection "Functions for Examining the Symbol Table"
.IP "walksymtable(SYMREF, METHOD, RECURSE, PREFIX)" 4
.IX Item "walksymtable(SYMREF, METHOD, RECURSE, PREFIX)"
Walk the symbol table starting at SYMREF and call METHOD on each
symbol (a B::GV object) visited.  When the walk reaches package
symbols (such as "Foo::") it invokes RECURSE, passing in the symbol
name, and only recurses into the package if that sub returns true.
.Sp
PREFIX is the name of the SYMREF you're walking.
.Sp
For example:
.Sp
.Vb 4
\&  # Walk CGI\*(Aqs symbol table calling print_subs on each symbol.
\&  # Recurse only into CGI::Util::
\&  walksymtable(\e%CGI::, \*(Aqprint_subs\*(Aq,
\&               sub { $_[0] eq \*(AqCGI::Util::\*(Aq }, \*(AqCGI::\*(Aq);
.Ve
.Sp
\&\fBprint_subs()\fR is a B::GV method you have declared.  Also see "B::GV
Methods", below.
.ie n .SS "Functions Returning ""B::OP"" objects or for walking op trees"
.el .SS "Functions Returning \f(CWB::OP\fP objects or for walking op trees"
.IX Subsection "Functions Returning B::OP objects or for walking op trees"
For descriptions of the class hierarchy of these objects and the
methods that can be called on them, see below, "OVERVIEW OF
CLASSES" and "OP-RELATED CLASSES".
.IP main_root 4
.IX Item "main_root"
Returns the root op (i.e. an object in the appropriate B::OP\-derived
class) of the main part of the Perl program.
.IP main_start 4
.IX Item "main_start"
Returns the starting op of the main part of the Perl program.
.IP "walkoptree(OP, METHOD)" 4
.IX Item "walkoptree(OP, METHOD)"
Does a tree-walk of the syntax tree based at OP and calls METHOD on
each op it visits.  Each node is visited before its children.  If
\&\f(CW\*(C`walkoptree_debug\*(C'\fR (see below) has been called to turn debugging on then
the method \f(CW\*(C`walkoptree_debug\*(C'\fR is called on each op before METHOD is
called.
.IP walkoptree_debug(DEBUG) 4
.IX Item "walkoptree_debug(DEBUG)"
Returns the current debugging flag for \f(CW\*(C`walkoptree\*(C'\fR.  If the optional
DEBUG argument is non-zero, it sets the debugging flag to that.  See
the description of \f(CW\*(C`walkoptree\*(C'\fR above for what the debugging flag
does.
.SS "Miscellaneous Utility Functions"
.IX Subsection "Miscellaneous Utility Functions"
.IP ppname(OPNUM) 4
.IX Item "ppname(OPNUM)"
Return the PP function name (e.g. "pp_add") of op number OPNUM.
.IP hash(STR) 4
.IX Item "hash(STR)"
Returns a string in the form "0x..." representing the value of the
internal hash function used by perl on string STR.
.IP cast_I32(I) 4
.IX Item "cast_I32(I)"
Casts I to the internal I32 type used by that perl.
.IP minus_c 4
.IX Item "minus_c"
Does the equivalent of the \f(CW\*(C`\-c\*(C'\fR command-line option.  Obviously, this
is only useful in a BEGIN block or else the flag is set too late.
.IP cstring(STR) 4
.IX Item "cstring(STR)"
Returns a double-quote-surrounded escaped version of STR which can
be used as a string in C source code.
.IP perlstring(STR) 4
.IX Item "perlstring(STR)"
Returns a double-quote-surrounded escaped version of STR which can
be used as a string in Perl source code.
.IP safename(STR) 4
.IX Item "safename(STR)"
This function returns the string with the first character modified if it
is a control character.  It converts it to ^X format first, so that "\ecG"
becomes "^G".  This is used internally by B::GV::SAFENAME, but
you can call it directly.
.IP class(OBJ) 4
.IX Item "class(OBJ)"
Returns the class of an object without the part of the classname
preceding the first \f(CW"::"\fR.  This is used to turn \f(CW"B::UNOP"\fR into
\&\f(CW"UNOP"\fR for example.
.IP threadsv_names 4
.IX Item "threadsv_names"
This used to provide support for the old 5.005 threading module. It now
does nothing.
.SS "Exported utility variables"
.IX Subsection "Exported utility variables"
.ie n .IP @optype 4
.el .IP \f(CW@optype\fR 4
.IX Item "@optype"
.Vb 1
\&  my $op_type = $optype[$op_type_num];
.Ve
.Sp
A simple mapping of the op type number to its type (like 'COP' or 'BINOP').
.ie n .IP @specialsv_name 4
.el .IP \f(CW@specialsv_name\fR 4
.IX Item "@specialsv_name"
.Vb 1
\&  my $sv_name = $specialsv_name[$sv_index];
.Ve
.Sp
Certain SV types are considered 'special'.  They're represented by
B::SPECIAL and are referred to by a number from the specialsv_list.
This array maps that number back to the name of the SV (like 'Nullsv'
or '&PL_sv_undef').
.SH "OVERVIEW OF CLASSES"
.IX Header "OVERVIEW OF CLASSES"
The C structures used by Perl's internals to hold SV and OP
information (PVIV, AV, HV, ..., OP, SVOP, UNOP, ...) are modelled on a
class hierarchy and the \f(CW\*(C`B\*(C'\fR module gives access to them via a true
object hierarchy.  Structure fields which point to other objects
(whether types of SV or types of OP) are represented by the \f(CW\*(C`B\*(C'\fR
module as Perl objects of the appropriate class.
.PP
The bulk of the \f(CW\*(C`B\*(C'\fR module is the methods for accessing fields of
these structures.
.PP
Note that all access is read-only.  You cannot modify the internals by
using this module.  Also, note that the B::OP and B::SV objects created
by this module are only valid for as long as the underlying objects
exist; their creation doesn't increase the reference counts of the
underlying objects.  Trying to access the fields of a freed object will
give incomprehensible results, or worse.
.SS "SV-RELATED CLASSES"
.IX Subsection "SV-RELATED CLASSES"
B::IV, B::NV, B::PV, B::PVIV, B::PVNV, B::PVMG,
B::PVLV, B::AV, B::HV, B::CV, B::GV, B::FM, B::IO.  These classes
correspond in the obvious way to the underlying C structures of similar names.
The inheritance hierarchy mimics the underlying C "inheritance":
.PP
.Vb 10
\&                           B::SV
\&                             |
\&                +\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-+\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-+
\&                |            |            |
\&              B::PV        B::IV        B::NV
\&               /  \e         /           /
\&              /    \e       /           /
\&        B::INVLIST  B::PVIV           /
\&                         \e           /
\&                          \e         /
\&                           \e       /
\&                            B::PVNV
\&                               |
\&                               |
\&                            B::PVMG
\&                               |
\&           +\-\-\-\-\-\-\-+\-\-\-\-\-\-\-+\-\-\-+\-\-\-+\-\-\-\-\-\-\-+\-\-\-\-\-\-\-+
\&           |       |       |       |       |       |
\&         B::AV   B::GV   B::HV   B::CV   B::IO B::REGEXP
\&                   |               |
\&                   |               |
\&                B::PVLV          B::FM
.Ve
.PP
Access methods correspond to the underlying C macros for field access,
usually with the leading "class indication" prefix removed (Sv, Av,
Hv, ...).  The leading prefix is only left in cases where its removal
would cause a clash in method name.  For example, \f(CW\*(C`GvREFCNT\*(C'\fR stays
as-is since its abbreviation would clash with the "superclass" method
\&\f(CW\*(C`REFCNT\*(C'\fR (corresponding to the C function \f(CW\*(C`SvREFCNT\*(C'\fR).
.SS "B::SV Methods"
.IX Subsection "B::SV Methods"
.IP REFCNT 4
.IX Item "REFCNT"
.PD 0
.IP FLAGS 4
.IX Item "FLAGS"
.IP IsBOOL 4
.IX Item "IsBOOL"
.PD
Returns true if the SV is a boolean (true or false).
You can then use \f(CW\*(C`TRUE\*(C'\fR to check if the value is true or false.
.Sp
.Vb 5
\&    my $something = ( 1 == 1 ) # boolean true
\&                 || ( 1 == 0 ) # boolean false
\&                 || 42         # IV true
\&                 || 0;         # IV false
\&    my $sv = B::svref_2object(\e$something);
\&
\&    say q[Not a boolean value]
\&        if ! $sv\->IsBOOL;
\&
\&    say q[This is a boolean with value: true]
\&        if   $sv\->IsBOOL && $sv\->TRUE_nomg;
\&
\&    say q[This is a boolean with value: false]
\&        if   $sv\->IsBOOL && ! $sv\->TRUE_nomg;
.Ve
.IP object_2svref 4
.IX Item "object_2svref"
Returns a reference to the regular scalar corresponding to this
B::SV object.  In other words, this method is the inverse operation
to the \fBsvref_2object()\fR subroutine.  This scalar and other data it points
at should be considered read-only: modifying them is neither safe nor
guaranteed to have a sensible effect.
.IP TRUE 4
.IX Item "TRUE"
Returns a boolean indicating hether Perl would evaluate the SV as true or
false.
.Sp
\&\fBWarning\fR this call performs 'get' magic. If you only want to check the
nature of this SV use \f(CW\*(C`TRUE_nomg\*(C'\fR helper.
.Sp
This is an alias for \f(CWSvTRUE($sv)\fR.
.IP TRUE_nomg 4
.IX Item "TRUE_nomg"
Check if the value is true (do not perform 'get' magic).
Returns a boolean indicating whether Perl would evaluate the SV as true or
false.
.Sp
This is an alias for \f(CWSvTRUE_nomg($sv)\fR.
.SS "B::IV Methods"
.IX Subsection "B::IV Methods"
.IP IV 4
.IX Item "IV"
Returns the value of the IV, \fIinterpreted as
a signed integer\fR.  This will be misleading
if \f(CW\*(C`FLAGS & SVf_IVisUV\*(C'\fR.  Perhaps you want the
\&\f(CW\*(C`int_value\*(C'\fR method instead?
.IP IVX 4
.IX Item "IVX"
.PD 0
.IP UVX 4
.IX Item "UVX"
.IP int_value 4
.IX Item "int_value"
.PD
This method returns the value of the IV as an integer.
It differs from \f(CW\*(C`IV\*(C'\fR in that it returns the correct
value regardless of whether it's stored signed or
unsigned.
.IP needs64bits 4
.IX Item "needs64bits"
.PD 0
.IP packiv 4
.IX Item "packiv"
.PD
.SS "B::NV Methods"
.IX Subsection "B::NV Methods"
.IP NV 4
.IX Item "NV"
.PD 0
.IP NVX 4
.IX Item "NVX"
.IP COP_SEQ_RANGE_LOW 4
.IX Item "COP_SEQ_RANGE_LOW"
.IP COP_SEQ_RANGE_HIGH 4
.IX Item "COP_SEQ_RANGE_HIGH"
.PD
These last two are only valid for pad name SVs.  They only existed in the
B::NV class before Perl 5.22.  In 5.22 they were moved to the B::PADNAME
class.
.SS "B::RV Methods"
.IX Subsection "B::RV Methods"
.IP RV 4
.IX Item "RV"
.SS "B::PV Methods"
.IX Subsection "B::PV Methods"
.PD 0
.IP PV 4
.IX Item "PV"
.PD
This method is the one you usually want.  It constructs a
string using the length and offset information in the struct:
for ordinary scalars it will return the string that you'd see
from Perl, even if it contains null characters.
.IP RV 4
.IX Item "RV"
Same as B::RV::RV, except that it will \fBdie()\fR if the PV isn't
a reference.
.IP PVX 4
.IX Item "PVX"
This method is less often useful.  It assumes that the string
stored in the struct is null-terminated, and disregards the
length information.
.Sp
It is the appropriate method to use if you need to get the name
of a lexical variable from a padname array.  Lexical variable names
are always stored with a null terminator, and the length field
(CUR) is overloaded for other purposes and can't be relied on here.
.IP CUR 4
.IX Item "CUR"
This method returns the internal length field, which consists of the number
of internal bytes, not necessarily the number of logical characters.
.IP LEN 4
.IX Item "LEN"
This method returns the number of bytes allocated (via malloc) for storing
the string.  This is 0 if the scalar does not "own" the string.
.SS "B::PVMG Methods"
.IX Subsection "B::PVMG Methods"
.IP MAGIC 4
.IX Item "MAGIC"
.PD 0
.IP SvSTASH 4
.IX Item "SvSTASH"
.PD
.SS "B::MAGIC Methods"
.IX Subsection "B::MAGIC Methods"
.IP MOREMAGIC 4
.IX Item "MOREMAGIC"
.PD 0
.IP precomp 4
.IX Item "precomp"
.PD
Only valid on r\-magic, returns the string that generated the regexp.
.IP PRIVATE 4
.IX Item "PRIVATE"
.PD 0
.IP TYPE 4
.IX Item "TYPE"
.IP FLAGS 4
.IX Item "FLAGS"
.IP OBJ 4
.IX Item "OBJ"
.PD
Will \fBdie()\fR if called on r\-magic.
.IP PTR 4
.IX Item "PTR"
.PD 0
.IP REGEX 4
.IX Item "REGEX"
.PD
Only valid on r\-magic, returns the integer value of the REGEX stored
in the MAGIC.
.SS "B::INVLIST Methods"
.IX Subsection "B::INVLIST Methods"
.IP prev_index 4
.IX Item "prev_index"
Returns the cache result of previous \fBinvlist_search()\fR (internal usage)
.IP is_offset 4
.IX Item "is_offset"
Returns a boolean value (0 or 1) to know if the invlist is using an offset.
When false the list begins with the code point U+0000.
When true the list begins with the following elements.
.IP array_len 4
.IX Item "array_len"
Returns an integer with the size of the array used to define the invlist.
.IP get_invlist_array 4
.IX Item "get_invlist_array"
This method returns a list of integers representing the array used by the
invlist.
Note: this cannot be used while in middle of iterating on an invlist and croaks.
.SS "B::PVLV Methods"
.IX Subsection "B::PVLV Methods"
.IP TARGOFF 4
.IX Item "TARGOFF"
.PD 0
.IP TARGLEN 4
.IX Item "TARGLEN"
.IP TYPE 4
.IX Item "TYPE"
.IP TARG 4
.IX Item "TARG"
.PD
.SS "B::BM Methods"
.IX Subsection "B::BM Methods"
.IP USEFUL 4
.IX Item "USEFUL"
.PD 0
.IP PREVIOUS 4
.IX Item "PREVIOUS"
.IP RARE 4
.IX Item "RARE"
.IP TABLE 4
.IX Item "TABLE"
.PD
.SS "B::REGEXP Methods"
.IX Subsection "B::REGEXP Methods"
.IP REGEX 4
.IX Item "REGEX"
.PD 0
.IP precomp 4
.IX Item "precomp"
.IP qr_anoncv 4
.IX Item "qr_anoncv"
.IP compflags 4
.IX Item "compflags"
.PD
The last two were added in Perl 5.22.
.SS "B::GV Methods"
.IX Subsection "B::GV Methods"
.IP is_empty 4
.IX Item "is_empty"
This method returns TRUE if the GP field of the GV is NULL.
.IP NAME 4
.IX Item "NAME"
.PD 0
.IP SAFENAME 4
.IX Item "SAFENAME"
.PD
This method returns the name of the glob, but if the first
character of the name is a control character, then it converts
it to ^X first, so that *^G would return "^G" rather than "\ecG".
.Sp
It's useful if you want to print out the name of a variable.
If you restrict yourself to globs which exist at compile-time
then the result ought to be unambiguous, because code like
\&\f(CW\*(C`${"^G"} = 1\*(C'\fR is compiled as two ops \- a constant string and
a dereference (rv2gv) \- so that the glob is created at runtime.
.Sp
If you're working with globs at runtime, and need to disambiguate
*^G from *{"^G"}, then you should use the raw NAME method.
.IP STASH 4
.IX Item "STASH"
.PD 0
.IP SV 4
.IX Item "SV"
.IP IO 4
.IX Item "IO"
.IP FORM 4
.IX Item "FORM"
.IP AV 4
.IX Item "AV"
.IP HV 4
.IX Item "HV"
.IP EGV 4
.IX Item "EGV"
.IP CV 4
.IX Item "CV"
.IP CVGEN 4
.IX Item "CVGEN"
.IP LINE 4
.IX Item "LINE"
.IP FILE 4
.IX Item "FILE"
.IP FILEGV 4
.IX Item "FILEGV"
.IP GvREFCNT 4
.IX Item "GvREFCNT"
.IP FLAGS 4
.IX Item "FLAGS"
.IP GPFLAGS 4
.IX Item "GPFLAGS"
.PD
This last one is present only in perl 5.22.0 and higher.
.SS "B::IO Methods"
.IX Subsection "B::IO Methods"
B::IO objects derive from IO objects and you will get more information from
the IO object itself.
.PP
For example:
.PP
.Vb 3
\&  $gvio = B::svref_2object(\e*main::stdin)\->IO;
\&  $IO = $gvio\->object_2svref();
\&  $fd = $IO\->fileno();
.Ve
.IP LINES 4
.IX Item "LINES"
.PD 0
.IP PAGE 4
.IX Item "PAGE"
.IP PAGE_LEN 4
.IX Item "PAGE_LEN"
.IP LINES_LEFT 4
.IX Item "LINES_LEFT"
.IP TOP_NAME 4
.IX Item "TOP_NAME"
.IP TOP_GV 4
.IX Item "TOP_GV"
.IP FMT_NAME 4
.IX Item "FMT_NAME"
.IP FMT_GV 4
.IX Item "FMT_GV"
.IP BOTTOM_NAME 4
.IX Item "BOTTOM_NAME"
.IP BOTTOM_GV 4
.IX Item "BOTTOM_GV"
.IP SUBPROCESS 4
.IX Item "SUBPROCESS"
.IP IoTYPE 4
.IX Item "IoTYPE"
.PD
A character symbolizing the type of IO Handle.
.Sp
.Vb 12
\&  \-     STDIN/OUT
\&  I     STDIN/OUT/ERR
\&  <     read\-only
\&  >     write\-only
\&  a     append
\&  +     read and write
\&  s     socket
\&  |     pipe
\&  I     IMPLICIT
\&  #     NUMERIC
\&  space closed handle
\&  \e0    closed internal handle
.Ve
.IP IoFLAGS 4
.IX Item "IoFLAGS"
.PD 0
.IP IsSTD 4
.IX Item "IsSTD"
.PD
Takes one argument ( 'stdin' | 'stdout' | 'stderr' ) and returns true
if the IoIFP of the object is equal to the handle whose name was
passed as argument; i.e., \f(CW$io\fR\->IsSTD('stderr') is true if
IoIFP($io) == \fBPerlIO_stderr()\fR.
.SS "B::AV Methods"
.IX Subsection "B::AV Methods"
.IP FILL 4
.IX Item "FILL"
.PD 0
.IP MAX 4
.IX Item "MAX"
.IP ARRAY 4
.IX Item "ARRAY"
.IP ARRAYelt 4
.IX Item "ARRAYelt"
.PD
Like \f(CW\*(C`ARRAY\*(C'\fR, but takes an index as an argument to get only one element,
rather than a list of all of them.
.SS "B::CV Methods"
.IX Subsection "B::CV Methods"
.IP STASH 4
.IX Item "STASH"
.PD 0
.IP START 4
.IX Item "START"
.IP ROOT 4
.IX Item "ROOT"
.IP GV 4
.IX Item "GV"
.IP FILE 4
.IX Item "FILE"
.IP DEPTH 4
.IX Item "DEPTH"
.IP PADLIST 4
.IX Item "PADLIST"
.PD
Returns a B::PADLIST object.
.IP OUTSIDE 4
.IX Item "OUTSIDE"
.PD 0
.IP OUTSIDE_SEQ 4
.IX Item "OUTSIDE_SEQ"
.IP XSUB 4
.IX Item "XSUB"
.IP XSUBANY 4
.IX Item "XSUBANY"
.PD
For constant subroutines, returns the constant SV returned by the subroutine.
.IP CvFLAGS 4
.IX Item "CvFLAGS"
.PD 0
.IP const_sv 4
.IX Item "const_sv"
.IP NAME_HEK 4
.IX Item "NAME_HEK"
.PD
Returns the name of a lexical sub, otherwise \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR.
.SS "B::HV Methods"
.IX Subsection "B::HV Methods"
.IP FILL 4
.IX Item "FILL"
.PD 0
.IP MAX 4
.IX Item "MAX"
.IP KEYS 4
.IX Item "KEYS"
.IP RITER 4
.IX Item "RITER"
.IP NAME 4
.IX Item "NAME"
.IP ARRAY 4
.IX Item "ARRAY"
.PD
.SS "OP-RELATED CLASSES"
.IX Subsection "OP-RELATED CLASSES"
\&\f(CW\*(C`B::OP\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`B::UNOP\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`B::UNOP_AUX\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`B::BINOP\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`B::LOGOP\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`B::LISTOP\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`B::PMOP\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`B::SVOP\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`B::PADOP\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`B::PVOP\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`B::LOOP\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`B::COP\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`B::METHOP\*(C'\fR.
.PP
These classes correspond in the obvious way to the underlying C
structures of similar names.  The inheritance hierarchy mimics the
underlying C "inheritance":
.PP
.Vb 10
\&                                 B::OP
\&                                   |
\&                   +\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-+\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-+\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-+\-\-\-\-\-\-\-+\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-+
\&                   |          |         |        |       |         |
\&                B::UNOP    B::SVOP  B::PADOP  B::COP  B::PVOP  B::METHOP
\&                   |
\&               +\-\-\-+\-\-\-+\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-+
\&               |       |         |
\&           B::BINOP  B::LOGOP  B::UNOP_AUX
\&               |
\&               |
\&           B::LISTOP
\&               |
\&           +\-\-\-+\-\-\-+
\&           |       |
\&        B::LOOP   B::PMOP
.Ve
.PP
Access methods correspond to the underlying C structure field names,
with the leading "class indication" prefix (\f(CW"op_"\fR) removed.
.SS "B::OP Methods"
.IX Subsection "B::OP Methods"
These methods get the values of similarly named fields within the OP
data structure.  See top of \f(CW\*(C`op.h\*(C'\fR for more info.
.IP next 4
.IX Item "next"
.PD 0
.IP sibling 4
.IX Item "sibling"
.IP parent 4
.IX Item "parent"
.PD
Returns the OP's parent. If it has no parent, or if your perl wasn't built
with \f(CW\*(C`\-DPERL_OP_PARENT\*(C'\fR, returns NULL.
.Sp
Note that the global variable \f(CW$B::OP::does_parent\fR is undefined on older
perls that don't support the \f(CW\*(C`parent\*(C'\fR method, is defined but false on
perls that support the method but were built without  \f(CW\*(C`\-DPERL_OP_PARENT\*(C'\fR,
and is true otherwise.
.IP name 4
.IX Item "name"
This returns the op name as a string (e.g. "add", "rv2av").
.IP ppaddr 4
.IX Item "ppaddr"
This returns the function name as a string (e.g. "PL_ppaddr[OP_ADD]",
"PL_ppaddr[OP_RV2AV]").
.IP desc 4
.IX Item "desc"
This returns the op description from the global C PL_op_desc array
(e.g. "addition" "array deref").
.IP targ 4
.IX Item "targ"
.PD 0
.IP type 4
.IX Item "type"
.IP opt 4
.IX Item "opt"
.IP flags 4
.IX Item "flags"
.IP private 4
.IX Item "private"
.IP spare 4
.IX Item "spare"
.PD
.SS "B::UNOP Method"
.IX Subsection "B::UNOP Method"
.IP first 4
.IX Item "first"
.SS "B::UNOP_AUX Methods (since 5.22)"
.IX Subsection "B::UNOP_AUX Methods (since 5.22)"
.PD 0
.IP aux_list(cv) 4
.IX Item "aux_list(cv)"
.PD
This returns a list of the elements of the op's aux data structure,
or a null list if there is no aux. What will be returned depends on the
object's type, but will typically be a collection of \f(CW\*(C`B::IV\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`B::GV\*(C'\fR,
etc. objects. \f(CW\*(C`cv\*(C'\fR is the \f(CW\*(C`B::CV\*(C'\fR object representing the sub that the
op is contained within.
.IP string(cv) 4
.IX Item "string(cv)"
This returns a textual representation of the object (likely to b useful
for deparsing and debugging), or an empty string if the op type doesn't
support this. \f(CW\*(C`cv\*(C'\fR is the \f(CW\*(C`B::CV\*(C'\fR object representing the sub that the
op is contained within.
.SS "B::BINOP Method"
.IX Subsection "B::BINOP Method"
.IP last 4
.IX Item "last"
.SS "B::LOGOP Method"
.IX Subsection "B::LOGOP Method"
.PD 0
.IP other 4
.IX Item "other"
.PD
.SS "B::LISTOP Method"
.IX Subsection "B::LISTOP Method"
.IP children 4
.IX Item "children"
.SS "B::PMOP Methods"
.IX Subsection "B::PMOP Methods"
.PD 0
.IP pmreplroot 4
.IX Item "pmreplroot"
.IP pmreplstart 4
.IX Item "pmreplstart"
.IP pmflags 4
.IX Item "pmflags"
.IP precomp 4
.IX Item "precomp"
.IP pmoffset 4
.IX Item "pmoffset"
.PD
Only when perl was compiled with ithreads.
.IP code_list 4
.IX Item "code_list"
Since perl 5.17.1
.IP pmregexp 4
.IX Item "pmregexp"
Added in perl 5.22, this method returns the B::REGEXP associated with the
op.  While PMOPs do not actually have \f(CW\*(C`pmregexp\*(C'\fR fields under threaded
builds, this method returns the regexp under threads nonetheless, for
convenience.
.SS "B::SVOP Methods"
.IX Subsection "B::SVOP Methods"
.IP sv 4
.IX Item "sv"
.PD 0
.IP gv 4
.IX Item "gv"
.PD
.SS "B::PADOP Method"
.IX Subsection "B::PADOP Method"
.IP padix 4
.IX Item "padix"
.SS "B::PVOP Method"
.IX Subsection "B::PVOP Method"
.PD 0
.IP pv 4
.IX Item "pv"
.PD
.SS "B::LOOP Methods"
.IX Subsection "B::LOOP Methods"
.IP redoop 4
.IX Item "redoop"
.PD 0
.IP nextop 4
.IX Item "nextop"
.IP lastop 4
.IX Item "lastop"
.PD
.SS "B::COP Methods"
.IX Subsection "B::COP Methods"
The \f(CW\*(C`B::COP\*(C'\fR class is used for "nextstate" and "dbstate" ops.  As of Perl
5.22, it is also used for "null" ops that started out as COPs.
.IP label 4
.IX Item "label"
.PD 0
.IP stash 4
.IX Item "stash"
.IP stashpv 4
.IX Item "stashpv"
.IP "stashoff (threaded only)" 4
.IX Item "stashoff (threaded only)"
.IP file 4
.IX Item "file"
.IP cop_seq 4
.IX Item "cop_seq"
.IP line 4
.IX Item "line"
.IP warnings 4
.IX Item "warnings"
.IP io 4
.IX Item "io"
.IP hints 4
.IX Item "hints"
.IP hints_hash 4
.IX Item "hints_hash"
.PD
.SS "B::METHOP Methods (Since Perl 5.22)"
.IX Subsection "B::METHOP Methods (Since Perl 5.22)"
.IP first 4
.IX Item "first"
.PD 0
.IP meth_sv 4
.IX Item "meth_sv"
.PD
.SS "PAD-RELATED CLASSES"
.IX Subsection "PAD-RELATED CLASSES"
Perl 5.18 introduced a new class, B::PADLIST, returned by B::CV's
\&\f(CW\*(C`PADLIST\*(C'\fR method.
.PP
Perl 5.22 introduced the B::PADNAMELIST and B::PADNAME classes.
.SS "B::PADLIST Methods"
.IX Subsection "B::PADLIST Methods"
.IP MAX 4
.IX Item "MAX"
.PD 0
.IP ARRAY 4
.IX Item "ARRAY"
.PD
A list of pads.  The first one is a B::PADNAMELIST containing the names.
The rest are currently B::AV objects, but that could
change in future versions.
.IP ARRAYelt 4
.IX Item "ARRAYelt"
Like \f(CW\*(C`ARRAY\*(C'\fR, but takes an index as an argument to get only one element,
rather than a list of all of them.
.IP NAMES 4
.IX Item "NAMES"
This method, introduced in 5.22, returns the B::PADNAMELIST.  It is
equivalent to \f(CW\*(C`ARRAYelt\*(C'\fR with a 0 argument.
.IP REFCNT 4
.IX Item "REFCNT"
.PD 0
.IP id 4
.IX Item "id"
.PD
This method, introduced in 5.22, returns an ID shared by clones of the same
padlist.
.IP outid 4
.IX Item "outid"
This method, also added in 5.22, returns the ID of the outer padlist.
.SS "B::PADNAMELIST Methods"
.IX Subsection "B::PADNAMELIST Methods"
.IP MAX 4
.IX Item "MAX"
.PD 0
.IP ARRAY 4
.IX Item "ARRAY"
.IP ARRAYelt 4
.IX Item "ARRAYelt"
.PD
These two methods return the pad names, using B::SPECIAL objects for null
pointers and B::PADNAME objects otherwise.
.IP REFCNT 4
.IX Item "REFCNT"
.SS "B::PADNAME Methods"
.IX Subsection "B::PADNAME Methods"
.PD 0
.IP PV 4
.IX Item "PV"
.IP PVX 4
.IX Item "PVX"
.IP LEN 4
.IX Item "LEN"
.IP REFCNT 4
.IX Item "REFCNT"
.IP GEN 4
.IX Item "GEN"
.IP FLAGS 4
.IX Item "FLAGS"
.PD
For backward-compatibility, if the PADNAMEt_OUTER flag is set, the FLAGS
method adds the SVf_FAKE flag, too.
.IP TYPE 4
.IX Item "TYPE"
A B::HV object representing the stash for a typed lexical.
.IP SvSTASH 4
.IX Item "SvSTASH"
A backward-compatibility alias for TYPE.
.IP OURSTASH 4
.IX Item "OURSTASH"
A B::HV object representing the stash for 'our' variables.
.IP PROTOCV 4
.IX Item "PROTOCV"
The prototype CV for a 'my' sub.
.IP COP_SEQ_RANGE_LOW 4
.IX Item "COP_SEQ_RANGE_LOW"
.PD 0
.IP COP_SEQ_RANGE_HIGH 4
.IX Item "COP_SEQ_RANGE_HIGH"
.PD
Sequence numbers representing the scope within which a lexical is visible.
Meaningless if PADNAMEt_OUTER is set.
.IP PARENT_PAD_INDEX 4
.IX Item "PARENT_PAD_INDEX"
Only meaningful if PADNAMEt_OUTER is set.
.IP PARENT_FAKELEX_FLAGS 4
.IX Item "PARENT_FAKELEX_FLAGS"
Only meaningful if PADNAMEt_OUTER is set.
.IP IsUndef 4
.IX Item "IsUndef"
Returns a boolean value to check if the padname is PL_padname_undef.
.ie n .SS $B::overlay
.el .SS \f(CW$B::overlay\fP
.IX Subsection "$B::overlay"
Although the optree is read-only, there is an overlay facility that allows
you to override what values the various B::*OP methods return for a
particular op. \f(CW$B::overlay\fR should be set to reference a two-deep hash:
indexed by OP address, then method name. Whenever a an op method is
called, the value in the hash is returned if it exists. This facility is
used by B::Deparse to "undo" some optimisations. For example:
.PP
.Vb 11
\&    local $B::overlay = {};
\&    ...
\&    if ($op\->name eq "foo") {
\&        $B::overlay\->{$$op} = {
\&                name => \*(Aqbar\*(Aq,
\&                next => $op\->next\->next,
\&        };
\&    }
\&    ...
\&    $op\->name # returns "bar"
\&    $op\->next # returns the next op but one
.Ve
.SH AUTHOR
.IX Header "AUTHOR"
Malcolm Beattie, \f(CW\*(C`mbeattie@sable.ox.ac.uk\*(C'\fR