Turned Data::AsObject::Array into a function object.

lib/Data/AsObject.pm

@@ -197,8 +197,6 @@ If a hash key contains one or more colons or dashes, you can access its value by
 
 =head2 Working with arrays
 
-To access array items pass the item index as an argument to the hash that contains the array:
-
     my $data = dao {
         uk => ["one", "two", "three", "four"],
         spain => [
@@ -207,10 +205,24 @@ To access array items pass the item index as an argument to the hash that contai
         ];
     };
 
+For accessing array items you can pass the item index as an argument to the hash that contains the array:
+
     print $data->en(1) # two
     print $data->spain(0)->numbers(3); # cuatro
 
-Array of array structures are a little bit clumsier to work with. You will need to use the C<get> method of C<Data::AsObject::Array> and pass it the index of the item you want to access:
+You can use the C<get> method of C<Data::AsObject::Array> and pass it the index of the item you want to access:
+
+    print $data->en->get(1) # two
+    print $data->spain->get(0)->numbers->(3); # cuatro
+
+
+Or you can use a functional style: 
+
+    print $data->en->(1) # two
+    print $data->spain->(0)->numbers->(3); # cuatro
+
+
+Array of array structures are easy to work with. You can use all styles to access array elements.
 
     my $data = dao [
         ["one", "two", "three", "four"]
@@ -219,6 +231,20 @@ Array of array structures are a little bit clumsier to work with. You will need
     ];
 
     print $data->get(2)->get(0); # un
+    print $data(2)->get(0);      # un
+    print $data->get(2)->(0);    # un
+    print $data->(2)->get(0);    # un
+    print $data->(2)->(0);       # un
+    print $data->(2)(0);         # un
+
+    NOTE: the calls $data->get(2), $data(2), $data->(2) in the example above
+          return an object representing the array. 
+
+          Because of the way perl parses expressions 
+                $data->get(2)(0) 
+          and 
+                $data(2)(0)
+          are syntax errors.
 
 Arrayrefs have a dereferencing C<list> method. For example:
 

lib/Data/AsObject/Array.pm

@@ -10,6 +10,24 @@ use Data::AsObject qw();
 use namespace::clean -except => [qw/get/];
 
 
+# Define what happens if objects of this class are used as subroutine references, 
+# i.e. if called like this: $obj->(@args).  We define:
+#
+#         $obj->(@args) <=> $obj->get(@args)
+#
+use overload '&{}' => sub {
+                            my $self = shift;
+                            return sub {
+                                return $self->get(@_);
+                            };
+                          },
+             # activate default behaviour for all other contexts
+             # if you do not, things like if (! $obj) will throw
+             # strange errors: Operation "bool": no method found, ...
+             'fallback' => 1, 
+;
+
+
 sub get {
     my $self = shift;
     my $index = shift;

t/05-function-objects.t

@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+#!perl -T
+
+use strict;
+use warnings;
+
+use lib q(lib);
+
+use Test::More ;
+use Test::Exception;
+use Test::Warn;
+
+use Data::AsObject qw(dao);
+
+plan ();
+
+my $data = {
+    blah => [1,2,3],
+    bing => [
+        { town => 'sliven', 
+          matrix => [
+              [ 11, 12 ],
+              [ 21, 22 ],
+          ] 
+        },
+    ],
+    'xml:thingy' => 2,
+    'meaning-of-life' => 42,
+};
+
+#-- construct from hashref
+my $dao = dao $data;
+isa_ok($dao, "Data::AsObject::Hash");
+
+
+my $idx = 2;
+my $expected = 3;
+
+#-- check the old interface for array access
+ok( $dao->blah($idx) == $expected, "array access via blah($idx) works" ); 
+ok( $dao->blah->get($idx) == $expected, "array access via blah->get($idx) works" ); 
+
+
+#-- check the new interface for array access
+ok( $dao->blah->($idx) == $expected, "array access via blah->($idx) works" ); 
+
+$expected = 12;
+ok( $dao->bing->(0)->matrix->(0)->(1)    == $expected, "array access bing->(0)->matrix->(0)->(1) works" );
+ok( $dao->bing(0)->matrix->(0)->(1)      == $expected, "array access bing(0)->matrix->(0)->(1) works" );
+ok( $dao->bing->get(0)->matrix->(0)->(1) == $expected, "array access bing->get(0)->matrix->(0)->(1) works" );
+
+# combining old and new interface 
+ok( $dao->bing->(0)->matrix->(0)(1)      == $expected, "array access bing->(0)->matrix->(0)(1) works" );
+ok( $dao->bing->(0)->matrix(0)->(1)      == $expected, "array access bing->(0)->matrix(0)->(1) works" );
+ok( $dao->bing->(0)->matrix->(0)->get(1) == $expected, "array access bing->(0)->matrix->(0)->get(1) works" );
+
+# Syntax error:
+# ok( $dao->bing->(0)->matrix->get(0)(1)   == $expected, "array access bing->(0)->matrix->get(0)(1) works" );
+# ok( $dao->bing->(0)->matrix(0)(1)   == $expected, "array access bing->(0)->matrix->(0)(1) works" );
+
+#-- check if default contexts for array objects still work
+my $obj = $dao->blah;
+
+ok( "$obj" =~ /^Data::AsObject::Array::Strict=ARRAY/, "string context of array object works" );
+ok(  !! $obj,  "boolean context of array object works" );
+
+done_testing();