Re^4: Ter::ANSIColor is awesome, but.. (need help)

[Corion]

You will need to split up the two uses of $name, for internal program logic and for display.

[mascip]

But this means passing around both variables everywhere, which is a pain.

Oh! I just realized, I could I not notice? eq() is an operator, I can overload it! Time to Git clone and see if that works...

[mascip]

I cannot overload eq() because Term::ANSIColor doesn't return an object. Ouch. Are there any alternative implementations out there that return an object?

It could look like this:

my $name = String::Colored->new('Jon', 'red'); # improvised module nam
+e

# Overloads stringification
print $name;

# Overloads string comparison operators
my $res = $name eq 'Jon';

$name->stripcolor;

[Corion]

Why not implement that yourself?

package MyApp::User;
use strict;
use overload
    '""' => \&stringify,
    'eq' => \&cmp,
    ;

sub new {
    my( $class, %options )= @_;
    bless \%options => $class;
};

sub stringify {
    my( $self )= @_;
    colorize( $self->{ name }, 'red' );
};

sub cmp {
    ...
};

In the long run, this approach of adding more magic instead of cleanly separating display logic and business logic in your program will cause you lots of problems. Most likely you will encounter unintentional stringification. But that's an experience you'll have to make yourself.