NAME
   App::Cache - Easy application-level caching

SYNOPSIS
     # in your class:
     my $cache = App::Cache->new({ ttl => 60*60 });
     $cache->delete('test');
     my $data = $cache->get('test');
     my $code = $cache->get_code("code", sub { $self->calculate() });
     my $html = $cache->get_url("http://www.google.com/");
     $cache->set('test', 'one');
     $cache->set('test', { foo => 'bar' });
     my $scratch = $cache->scratch;
     $cache->clear;

DESCRIPTION
   The App::Cache module lets an application cache data locally. There are
   a few times an application would need to cache data: when it is
   retrieving information from the network or when it has to complete a
   large calculation.

   For example, the Parse::BACKPAN::Packages module downloads a file off
   the net and parses it, creating a data structure. Only then can it
   actually provide any useful information for the programmer.
   Parse::BACKPAN::Packages uses App::Cache to cache both the file download
   and data structures, providing much faster use when the data is cached.

   This module stores data in the home directory of the user, in a dot
   directory. For example, the Parse::BACKPAN::Packages cache is actually
   stored underneath "~/.parse_backpan_packages/cache/". This is so that
   permisssions are not a problem - it is a per-user, per-application
   cache.

METHODS
 new
   The constructor creates an App::Cache object. It takes two optional
   parameters: a ttl parameter which contains the number of seconds in
   which a cache entry expires, and an application parameter which
   signifies the application name. If you are calling new() from a class,
   the application is automagically set to the calling class, so you should
   rarely need to pass it in:

     my $cache = App::Cache->new({ ttl => 60*60 });

 clear
   Clears the cache:

     $cache->clear;

 delete
   Deletes an entry in the cache:

     $cache->delete('test');

 get
   Gets an entry from the cache. Returns undef if the entry does not exist
   or if it has expired:

     my $data = $cache->get('test');

 get_code
   This is a convenience method. Gets an entry from the cache, but if the
   entry does not exist, set the entry to the value of the code reference
   passed:

     my $code = $cache->get_code("code", sub { $self->calculate() });

 get_url
   This is a convenience method. Gets the content of a URL from the cache,
   but if the entry does not exist, set the entry to the content of the URL
   passed:

     my $html = $cache->get_url("http://www.google.com/");

 scratch
   Returns a directory in the cache that the application may use for
   scratch files:

     my $scratch = $cache->scratch;

 set
   Set an entry in the cache. Note that an entry value may be an arbitrary
   Perl data structure:

     $cache->set('test', 'one');
     $cache->set('test', { foo => 'bar' });

AUTHOR
   Leon Brocard <[email protected]>

COPYRIGHT
   Copyright (C) 2005, Leon Brocard

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

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