                  =========================================
                    Package "Data::Locations" Version 5.5
                  =========================================


                 Copyright (c) 1997 - 2009 by Steffen Beyer.
                             All rights reserved.


Version history:
----------------

Version 5.5   07.10.2009

 +  Minor bugfixes and updates

Version 5.4   25.10.2004

 +  Fixed test file "02___refcount.t" to auto-adjust
    the offset dealing with self-ties not incrementing
    the refcount in some Perl versions.
 +  Added a warning to "Makefile.PL" that Perl versions
    including and between v5.6.1 and v5.7.0 are not fully
    supported (test file "11_______dump.t" dumps core).

Version 5.3   24.10.2004

 +  Re-applied the refcount offset in "02___refcount.t" to
    Perl versions >= 5.008005 in order to fix the failing
    tests. See also version 5.1 below.

Version 5.2a  19.03.2001

 +  Restricted the refcount offset in "02___refcount.t" to
    Perl versions >= 5.00503 and < 5.007 in order to fix
    the failing tests. See also version 5.1 below.

Version 5.2   06.05.1999

 +  Fixed a bug in method "read()" which prevented empty lines
    to be read back in list context (empty lines were mistaken
    for the end-of-file marker).
 +  When an item in a location has the value "undef", the method
    "read()" now returns the empty string instead. You would have
    mistaken this for the end-of-file marker in previous versions.

Version 5.1   03.05.1999

 +  Fixed the test script "t/02___refcount.t" which failed under
    Perl 5.005_03 due to an incompatibility between this and all
    previous versions of Perl (self-referential ties do not
    increment the reference count of their tied object anymore).

Version 5.0   28.04.1999

 +  All global or "class" methods (except "Data::Locations->new()",
    of course) are gone. This allows several modules to use this
    module simultaneously without interfering with each other.
 +  All locations are local ("my" or "lexically scoped") variables
    now in the sense that they are automatically destroyed (and
    automatically dumped, if desired) whenever your last reference
    of a location goes out of scope. It's the Perl way now :-).
 +  All locations are dumped automatically now at shutdown time of
    this module (and also when the last reference of a location goes
    out of scope) if and only if a filename has been provided previously.
 +  The method "toplevel()" cannot be used to artificially set or reset
    the "toplevel" status of a location anymore. A location is a "toplevel"
    location (by definition) whenever it is not embedded in any other
    location. The method "toplevel()" now only allows to test this
    condition.
 +  The code in general, the regression test suite and the documentation
    have been overhauled a great deal.

Version 4.3   25.02.1999

 +  Fixed the bug in "new()" which manifested itself with perl 5.005 and
    which caused ``print $location "Text";'' to fail.
 +  Added a warning to the documentation that class methods such as
    "Data::Locations->dump();" should only be used if your script
    has the exclusive use of the "Data::Locations" module.
 +  Finally managed to add a (still rudimentary) regression test suite.

Version 4.2   07.09.1998

 +  Added a warning to the documentation that inheritance is a no-no with
    an example of how to use embedding/delegation instead.
 +  Introduced an additional header "Preface" in the POD documentation to
    avoid clobbering of the information displayed by CPAN.pm et al.
 +  Added the new attributes to "Makefile.PL" for ActiveState's port
    of Perl 5.005 to the Win32 platform.

Version 4.1   06.06.1998

 +  Fixed "delete()" to clear the self-references which prevented the eventual
    garbage-collection.
 +  Also fixed "delete()" to free the occupied memory at the time of the call
    of this method rather than at shutdown time of the Perl interpreter.
 +  Removed the unnecessary calls of the "FETCH()" method, resulting in an
    improved performance.
 +  Minor changes to make the code clearer and cleaner.
 +  "Bug fixes" and additions in the documentation.

Version 4.0   23.05.1998

 +  Extensive rewrite of this module and its documentation.
 +  The companion modules "Tie::Handle", "Data::Locations::Proxy"
    and "Data::Locations::Shell" are GONE, because "Data::Locations"
    now are OBJECTS *and* FILE HANDLES *at the same time*, making
    these three modules obsolete (this also means that this module
    doesn't need ANY external modules anymore, except the core
    modules from the standard Perl distribution "strict",
    "Exporter", "Carp" and "Symbol").
 +  This module now definitely needs Perl version 5.004 or better.
 +  Enhanced support for Windows NT/95.
 +  Added method "toplevel()".
 +  BEWARE that embedding a top-level location in some other location
    now automatically causes it to lose its "top-level" status, as
    opposed to previous versions of this module.

Version 3.0   29.07.1997

 +  Added modules "Data::Locations::Proxy" and "Data::Locations::Shell"
    in order to make statements such as print $FH "text"; and $text = <$FH>;
    possible.
 +  The two methods "set_filename()" and "get_filename()" have been
    replaced by a single method, "filename()".

Version 2.1   25.07.1997

 +  Intermediate development version not publicly released.

Version 2.0   24.07.1997

 +  Changed the name of this module from "Locations" to "Data::Locations".
 +  Added new methods "printf()", "read()", "reset()" and "tie()".
 +  Introduced a companion module "Tie::Handle" to tie file handles to
    locations, in order to be able to print/read to/from locations using
    Perl's built-in operators for accessing file handles instead of method
    calls.

Version 1.2   18.07.1997

 +  Intermediate development version not publicly released.

Version 1.1   16.07.1997

 +  Fixed a bug in the automatic detection of potential infinite recursions.
    (This bug did not cause any malfunction, but degraded performance
    unnecessarily.)
 +  Cleanup of the code of remnants such as "carp - exit" instead of "croak".
 +  Improved the documentation.

Version 1.0   14.07.1997

 +  First release.

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