Implementation of TIP #397

2 files changed, 27 insertions, 4 deletions

diff --git a/doc/copy.n b/doc/copy.n
index 51ec844..f5002f8 100644
--- a/doc/copy.n
+++ b/doc/copy.n
@@ -26,10 +26,23 @@ resolved relative to the current namespace if not an absolute qualified name.
 If \fItargetObject\fR is omitted, a new name is chosen. The copied object will
 be of the same class as the source object, and will have all its per-object
 methods copied. If it is a class, it will also have all the class methods in
-the class copied, but it will not have any of its instances copied. The
-contents of the source object's private namespace \fIwill not\fR be copied; it
-is up to the caller to do this. The result of this command will be the
-fully-qualified name of the new object or class.
+the class copied, but it will not have any of its instances copied.
+.PP
+.VS
+After the \fItargetObject\fR has been created and all definitions of its
+configuration (e.g., methods, filters, mixins) copied, the \fB<cloned>\fR
+method of \fItargetObject\fR will be invoked, to allow for customization of
+the created object such as installing related variable traces. The only
+argument given will be \fIsourceObject\fR. The default implementation of this
+method (in \fBoo::object\fR) just copies the procedures and variables in the
+namespace of \fIsourceObject\fR to the namespace of \fItargetObject\fR. If
+this method call does not return a result that is successful (i.e., an error
+or other kind of exception) then the \fItargetObject\fR will be deleted and an
+error returned.
+.VE
+.PP
+The result of the \fBoo::copy\fR command will be the fully-qualified name of
+the new object or class.
 .SH EXAMPLES
 .PP
 This example creates an object, copies it, modifies the source object, and
diff --git a/doc/object.n b/doc/object.n
index 3a948a4..6737e7e 100644
--- a/doc/object.n
+++ b/doc/object.n
@@ -91,6 +91,16 @@ must not have any namespace separators in it. The result is the empty string.
 .
 This method returns the globally qualified name of the variable \fIvarName\fR
 in the unique namespace for the object \fIobj\fR.
+.TP
+\fIobj \fB<cloned> \fIsourceObjectName\fR
+.VS
+This method is used by the \fBoo::object\fR command to copy the state of one
+object to another. It is responsible for copying the procedures and variables
+of the namespace of the source object (\fIsourceObjectName\fR) to the current
+object. It does not copy any other types of commands or any traces on the
+variables; that can be added if desired by overriding this method in a
+subclass.
+.VE
 .SH EXAMPLES
 .PP
 This example demonstrates basic use of an object.