NAME
    String::FlexMatch - Flexible ways to match a string

SYNOPSIS
      use String::FlexMatch;

      my $s = String::FlexMatch->new(string => 'foobar');
      if ($s eq 'foobar') {
        # ...
      }

      $s = String::FlexMatch->new(regex => 'Error .* at line \d+');
      if ($s eq 'Error "foo" at line 58') {
        # ...
      }

      $s = String::FlexMatch->new(code => 'sub { length $_[0] < 10 }');
      # or:
      # my $s = String::FlexMatch->new(code => sub { length $_[0] < 10 });

      if ($s ne 'somelongstring') {
        # ...
      }

DESCRIPTION
    Normally when trying to see whether two strings are equal, you use the
    "eq" operator. If you want to find out whether one string matches
    another more flexibly, you'd use a regular expression. And sometimes you
    have to call a subroutine with a string argument that will tell you
    whether that argument is interesting, i.e. matches in a broader sense.

    When running data-driven tests, you sometimes don't know beforehand
    which form of matching ("eq", regex or code) you need. Take the
    following example:

      use Test::More;
      use String::FlexMatch;
      use YAML;

      sub frobnicate { $_[0] + $_[1] }

      my $tests = Load do { local $/; <DATA> };
      plan tests => scalar @$tests;

      for my $test (@$tests) {
        my $baz = frobnicate($test->{testarg}{foo}, $test->{testarg}{bar});
        is($baz, $test->{expect}{baz});
      }

      __DATA__
      -
        testarg:
          foo: 2
          bar: 3
        expect:
          baz: 5
      -
        testarg:
          foo: 21
          bar: 34
        expect:
          baz: !perl/String::FlexMatch
            regex: '\d+'

    A setup like this was the reason for writing this class. If you find any
    other uses for it, please let me know so this manpage can be expanded
    with a few cookbook-style examples.

METHODS
    "new"
            my $obj = String::FlexMatch->new;
            my $obj = String::FlexMatch->new(%args);

        Creates and returns a new object. The constructor will accept as
        arguments a list of pairs, from component name to initial value. For
        each pair, the named component is initialized by calling the method
        of the same name with the given value. If called with a single hash
        reference, it is dereferenced and its key/value pairs are set as
        described before.

BUGS AND LIMITATIONS
    No bugs have been reported.

    Please report any bugs or feature requests through the web interface at
    <http://rt.cpan.org>.

INSTALLATION
    See perlmodinstall for information and options on installing Perl
    modules.

AVAILABILITY
    The latest version of this module is available from the Comprehensive
    Perl Archive Network (CPAN). Visit <http://www.perl.com/CPAN/> to find a
    CPAN site near you. Or see
    <http://search.cpan.org/dist/String-FlexMatch/>.

AUTHORS
    Marcel Grünauer, "<marcel@cpan.org>"

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
    Copyright 2004-2009 by the authors.

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

