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Storable portable serialization loses MLDBM values and references #1468
Description
Summary
MLDBM-2.05 fails under PerlOnJava because the bundled Storable implementation loses values when MLDBM switches to portable serialization.
Reproduction
The upstream test t/storable.t uses:
use MLDBM qw(SDBM_File Storable);
...
$obj->DumpMeth('portable');
...
my $d = [17];
$o{g} = $d;
$d = '';
is($o{g}->[0], 17);PerlOnJava returns undef instead of 17 for the final assertion. The same test also fails the circular/reference comparison assertions at lines 28 and 54.
Evidence
- Distribution:
MLDBM-2.05 - CPAN random tester run:
20260921-102914-97159 - Failing test:
t/storable.t - Standard Perl: PASS, 5 test programs and 19 tests
- PerlOnJava JVM backend: FAIL, 3 of 9 tests in
t/storable.t - PerlOnJava interpreter backend: FAIL, identically, 3 of 9 tests
- The target distribution is pure Perl; this is not an XS/native dependency failure.
Expected behavior
PerlOnJava's Storable::freeze/thaw implementation should preserve circular references, shared references, and scalar values when used as MLDBM's portable serializer.
Acceptance criteria
MLDBM-2.05passes the complete upstream suite on both PerlOnJava backends.t/storable.tpasses the circular/shared-reference comparisons and the final scalar retrieval assertion.- Add focused project-owned regression coverage for portable Storable serialization through MLDBM, including a value whose source reference is subsequently changed.
- Preserve standard Perl behavior for
Storable::freeze/thawandnfreeze/thaw.
Activity
fglock commentedon Sep 21, 2026
Cache 2.11 follow-up verification
CPAN random-tester run
20260921-124328-13959adds Cache 2.11 as another Storable compatibility case.Standard Perl baseline
With the exact upstream sources and isolated pure-Perl prerequisites, system Perl passes the complete Cache suite:
PerlOnJava results
The pure-Perl
Cache::Memorypath reproduces on both PerlOnJava backends int/memory.t. The test reaches complex-value storage and then fails duringStorable::thawwith:The archived run also reported a
Cache::Memory::Entrymissing-field failure while loading the same distribution. This is independent of the file-cache prerequisite and provides another downstream verification case for the Storable serialization issue tracked here.Cache::Fileadditionally requires XSDB_File, which PerlOnJava cannot load. A reverse-dependency lookup forDB_Filewas attempted twice, including a cache refresh, but MetaCPAN returned HTTP 599 both times; its dependant count is therefore blocked rather than zero.Please include Cache 2.11 /
t/memory.tin the post-fix verification for portable Storable serialization on both backends.fglock commentedon Oct 19, 2026
Follow-up after PR #1849: the MLDBM-oriented scalar-reference envelope fix is merged, with focused shared/circular graph coverage passing. This issue remains open pending the explicitly requested Cache 2.11 post-fix verification (including t/memory.t on both backends). Please keep this report open until that additional Storable compatibility case is checked.
fglock commentedon Oct 23, 2026
Resolved by merged PR #1872. MLDBM 2.05 passes all 5 upstream files and 19 tests on JVM and interpreter. As requested in the follow-up, Cache 2.11 t/memory.t also passes all 81 tests on system Perl and both backends. Closing as completed.