Tie/Hash/Expire version 0.03
===============================

Hashes tied to Tie::Hash::Expire behave like normal hashes in all respects except that when a key is added or the value associated with a key is changed, the current time is stored, and after 'expire_seconds' the key and value are removed from the hash.

Resolutions finer than seconds are available if the module finds access to Time::HiRes.  If Time::HiRes is available, you can expect expiration to be accurate to 0.001 seconds.  You may specify 'expire_seconds' to be decimal numbers like 5.12 .  If Time::HiRes is available, this number will be used precisely.  If you specify a decimal number and don't have access to Time::HiRes, a warning is generated and the code will function as though you specified the next higher integer.

The number of seconds specified by 'expire_seconds' is taken to mean an absolute maximum lifespan for the key, at the resolution described above.  In other words, if you set 'expire_seconds' to 1 second, and do not have Time::HiRes, keys could expire as quickly as the next machine instruction, but will not last longer than 1 second.

If you have problems with this module, or even simply find it useful, feel free to send mail to the author, Jeff Yoak, at jeff@yoak.com .

INSTALLATION

To install this module type the following:

   perl Makefile.PL
   make
   make test
   make install

DEPENDENCIES

This module requires these other modules and libraries:

	Test::More (only for testing during installation)
	POSIX
	Carp

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

Copyright (C) 2004 Jeff Yoak <jeff@yoak.com>

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the same terms as Perl itself. 

