12.5 Shared Conversion State ¶

For information shared among formatting functions without involving the converter, the function shared_conversion_state can be used both for initialization of shared information and to share information:

Function: $reference = $converter->shared_conversion_state ($name, $initialization) ¶

Return the reference $reference associated with $name. $initialization is only read the first time $name is seen and sets up the reference that will be reused afterwards. If $initialization is a scalar (string or integer, for example), a reference on a scalar is returned, the associated value being set to $initialization. Otherwise, $initialization should be a reference on a hash or on an array.

The converter is used to hold the information, but does not use nor write.

Examples of use:

my $explained_commands_hash
    = $converter->shared_conversion_state('explained_commands', {});
$explained_commands_hash->{'key'} = 'value';

my $foot_num_reference
     = $converter->shared_conversion_state('footnote_number', 0);
${$foot_num_reference}++;