3 files changed, 30 insertions, 29 deletions

diff --git a/perl/Wallet/Kadmin.pm b/perl/Wallet/Kadmin.pm
index 65adc83..78b72cd 100644
--- a/perl/Wallet/Kadmin.pm
+++ b/perl/Wallet/Kadmin.pm
@@ -26,11 +26,6 @@ $VERSION = '0.03';
 # Public methods
 ##############################################################################
 
-# Set a callback to be called for forked kadmin processes.  This does nothing
-# by default but may be overridden by subclasses that need special behavior
-# (such as the current Wallet::Kadmin::MIT module).
-sub fork_callback { }
-
 # Create a new kadmin object, by finding the type requested in the wallet
 # config and passing off to the proper module.  Returns the object directly
 # from the specific Wallet::Kadmin::* module.
@@ -53,6 +48,23 @@ sub new {
     return $kadmin;
 }
 
+# Set or return the error stashed in the object.
+sub error {
+    my ($self, @error) = @_;
+    if (@error) {
+        my $error = join ('', @error);
+        chomp $error;
+        1 while ($error =~ s/ at \S+ line \d+\.?\z//);
+        $self->{error} = $error;
+    }
+    return $self->{error};
+}
+
+# Set a callback to be called for forked kadmin processes.  This does nothing
+# by default but may be overridden by subclasses that need special behavior
+# (such as the current Wallet::Kadmin::MIT module).
+sub fork_callback { }
+
 1;
 __END__
 
@@ -112,6 +124,19 @@ implementation is not recognized or set, die with an error message.
 
 =over 4
 
+=item error([ERROR ...])
+
+Returns the error of the last failing operation or undef if no operations
+have failed.  Callers should call this function to get the error message
+after an undef return from any other instance method.
+
+For the convenience of child classes, this method can also be called with
+one or more error strings.  If so, those strings are concatenated
+together, trailing newlines are removed, any text of the form S<C< at \S+
+line \d+\.?>> at the end of the message is stripped off, and the result is
+stored as the error.  Only child classes should call this method with an
+error string.
+
 =item fork_callback(CALLBACK)
 
 If the module has to fork an external process for some reason, such as a
diff --git a/perl/Wallet/Kadmin/Heimdal.pm b/perl/Wallet/Kadmin/Heimdal.pm
index 30b1e52..3047b2f 100644
--- a/perl/Wallet/Kadmin/Heimdal.pm
+++ b/perl/Wallet/Kadmin/Heimdal.pm
@@ -30,18 +30,6 @@ $VERSION = '0.03';
 # Utility functions
 ##############################################################################
 
-# Set or return the error stashed in the object.
-sub error {
-    my ($self, @error) = @_;
-    if (@error) {
-        my $error = join ('', @error);
-        chomp $error;
-        1 while ($error =~ s/ at \S+ line \d+\.?\z//);
-        $self->{error} = $error;
-    }
-    return $self->{error};
-}
-
 # Add the realm to the end of the principal if no realm is currently present.
 sub canonicalize_principal {
     my ($self, $principal) = @_;
diff --git a/perl/Wallet/Kadmin/MIT.pm b/perl/Wallet/Kadmin/MIT.pm
index a7ccf99..9dc101e 100644
--- a/perl/Wallet/Kadmin/MIT.pm
+++ b/perl/Wallet/Kadmin/MIT.pm
@@ -31,18 +31,6 @@ $VERSION = '0.02';
 # Utility functions
 ##############################################################################
 
-# Set or return the error stashed in the object.
-sub error {
-    my ($self, @error) = @_;
-    if (@error) {
-        my $error = join ('', @error);
-        chomp $error;
-        1 while ($error =~ s/ at \S+ line \d+\.?\z//);
-        $self->{error} = $error;
-    }
-    return $self->{error};
-}
-
 # Set a callback to be called for forked kadmin processes.
 sub fork_callback {
     my ($self, $callback) = @_;