[perl #9720] document what can be assigned to a shared scalar

p4raw-id: //depot/perl@25161

1 files changed, 21 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/ext/threads/shared/shared.pm b/ext/threads/shared/shared.pm
index 0a4bd04f8d..da3b9617f7 100644
--- a/ext/threads/shared/shared.pm
+++ b/ext/threads/shared/shared.pm
@@ -53,6 +53,10 @@ threads::shared - Perl extension for sharing data structures between threads
   use threads::shared;
 
   my $var : shared;
+  $var = $scalar_value;
+  $var = $shared_ref_value;
+  $var = &share($simple_unshared_ref_value);
+  $var = &share(new Foo);
 
   my($scalar, @array, %hash);
   share($scalar);
@@ -101,6 +105,9 @@ the shared rvalue but always as a reference.
 
 C<share> will traverse up references exactly I<one> level.
 C<share(\$a)> is equivalent to C<share($a)>, while C<share(\\$a)> is not.
+This means that you must create nested shared data structures by first
+creating individual shared leaf notes, then adding them to a shared hash
+or array.
 
 A variable can also be marked as shared at compile time by using the
 C<shared> attribute: C<my $var : shared>.
@@ -109,6 +116,20 @@ If you want to share a newly created reference unfortunately you
 need to use C<&share([])> and C<&share({})> syntax due to problems
 with Perl's prototyping.
 
+The only values that can be assigned to a shared scalar are other scalar
+values, or shared refs, eg
+
+    my $var : shared;
+    $var = 1;              # ok
+    $var = &share([]);     # ok
+    $var = [];             # error
+    $var = A->new;         # error
+    $var = &share(A->new); # ok as long as the A object is not nested
+
+Note that it is often not wise to share an object unless the class itself
+has been written to support sharing; for example, an object's destructor
+may get called multiple times, one for each thread's scope exit.
+
 =item lock VARIABLE
 
 C<lock> places a lock on a variable until the lock goes out of scope.