- Update indentation (again) to be consistent with code

[dbsrgits/DBIx-Class.git] / lib / DBIx / Class / Manual / Intro.pod

=head1 NAME

DBIx::Class::Manual::Intro - Introduction to DBIx::Class

=head1 INTRODUCTION

So, you are bored with SQL, and want a native Perl interface for your
database?  Or you've been doing this for a while with L<Class::DBI>,
and think there's a better way?  You've come to the right place.
Let's look at how you can set and use your first native L<DBIx::Class>
tree.

First we'll see how you can set up your classes yourself.  If you want
them to be auto-discovered, just skip to the next section, which shows
you how to use L<DBIx::Class::Loader>.

=head2 Setting it up manually

First, you'll need a base class.  It should inherit from
L<DBIx::Class> like this:

  package MyApp::DB;
  use base qw/DBIx::Class/;

You will also want to load some of the L<DBIx::Class> components.
L<DBIx::Class::Core> provides a good starter set.  In addition you'll
have to use either L<DBIx::Class::Schema> or L<DBIx::Class::DB>.
We'll use C<DB> in this introduction, since it involves less magic.
C<Schema> is mostly useful if you want to use multiple database
connections.

  __PACKAGE__->load_components(qw/Core DB/);

If you want serial/auto-incrementing primary keys, you should use the
L<DBIx::Class::PK::Auto> component for your database.  For example, if
you're using SQLite add C<PK::Auto::SQLite> to the list:

  __PACKAGE__->load_components(qw/PK::Auto::SQLite Core DB/);

C<PK::Auto> classes exist for many databases; see
L<DBIx::Class::PK::Auto> for more information.

Once you've loaded the components, it's time to set up your
connection:

  __PACKAGE__->connection('dbi:SQLite:/home/me/myapp/my.db');

This method is similar to the normal L<DBI> C<connect> method, and can
take username, password, and L<DBI> attribute hash as well as the DSN.

With that out of the way, we can define our first table class:

  package MyApp::DB::Album;
  use base qw/MyApp::DB/;

Then we specify which table it uses,

  __PACKAGE__->table('album');

and specify which columns it has.

  __PACKAGE__->add_columns(qw/albumid artist title label year/);

This will automatically create accessors for each of the columns, so
that you can read/update the values in rows you've retrieved.

Also, you need to tell it which column is the primary key:

  __PACKAGE__->set_primary_key('albumid');

If you have a primary key composed of multiple columns, just pass a
list instead.

That's pretty much all you need for a basic setup.  If you have more
advanced needs like using more than one database connection for the
same class, see L<DBIx::Class::Schema>.

=head2 Using L<DBIx::Class::Loader>

This is an additional class, and not part of the L<DBIx::Class>
distribution.  Like L<Class::DBI::Loader>, it inspects your database,
and automatically creates classes for all the tables in your database.
Here's a simple setup:

  package MyApp::DB;
  use DBIx::Class::Loader;

  my $loader = DBIx::Class::Loader->new(
    dsn       => 'dbi:SQLite:/home/me/myapp/my.db',
    namespace => 'MyApp::DB'
  );

  1;

This should be equivalent to the manual setup in the section above.
L<DBIx::Class::Loader> takes lots of other options.  For more
information, consult its documentation.

=head2 Basic usage

Once you've defined the basic classes, either manually or using
L<DBIx::Class::Loader>, you can start interacting with your database.
The simplest way to get a record is by primary key:

  my $album = MyApp::DB::Album->find(14);

This will run a C<SELECT> with C<albumid = 14> in the C<WHERE> clause,
and return an instance of C<MyApp::DB::Album> that represents this
row.  Once you have that row, you can access and update columns:

  $album->title('Physical Graffiti');
  my $title = $album->title; # $title holds 'Physical Graffiti'

If you prefer, you can use the C<set_column> and C<get_column>
accessors instead:

  $album->set_column('title', 'Presence');
  $title = $album->get_column('title');

Just like with L<Class::DBI>, you do an C<update> to commit your
changes to the database:

  $album->update;

If needed, you can throw away your local changes like this:

  $album->discard_changes if $album->is_changed;

As you can see, C<is_changed> allows you to check if there are local
changes to your object.

=head2 Adding and removing rows

To create a new record in the database, you can use the C<create>
method.  It returns an instance of C<MyApp::DB::Album> that can be
used to access the data in the new record:

  my $new_album = MyApp::DB::Album->create({ 
    title  => 'Wish You Were Here',
    artist => 'Pink Floyd'
  });

Now you can add data to the new record:

  $new_album->label('Capitol');
  $new_album->year('1975');
  $new_album->update;

Likewise, you can remove it from the database like this:

  $new_album->delete;

You can also remove records without or retrieving first.  This
operation takes the same kind of arguments as a search.

  # Delete all of Falco's albums
  MyApp::DB::Album->delete({ artist => 'Falco' });

=head2 Finding your objects

L<DBIx::Class> provides a few different ways to retrieve data from
your database.  Here's one example:

  # Find all of Santana's albums
  my $rs = MyApp::DB::Album->search({ artist => 'Santana' });

In scalar context, as above, C<search> returns a
L<DBIx::Class::ResultSet> object.  It can be used to peek at the first
album returned by the database:

  my $album = $rs->first;
  print $album->title;

Or, you can loop over the albums and update each one:

  while (my $album = $rs->next) {
    print $album->artist . ' - ' . $album->title;
    $album->year(2001);
    $album->update;
  }

For more information on what you can do with a
L<DBIx::Class::ResultSet>, see L<DBIx::Class::ResultSet/METHODS>.

In list context, the C<search> method returns all of the matching
rows:

  # Fetch immediately all of Carlos Santana's albums
  my @albums = MyApp::DB::Album->search({ artist => 'Carlos Santana' });
  foreach my $album (@albums) {
    print $album->artist . ' - ' . $album->title;
  }

We also provide a handy shortcut for doing a C<LIKE> search:

  # Find albums whose artist starts with 'Jimi'
  my $rs = MyApp::DB::Album->search_like({ artist => 'Jimi%' });

Or you can provide your own handmade C<WHERE> clause, like:

  # Find Peter Frampton albums from the year 1986
  my $where = 'artist = ? AND year = ?';
  my @bind  = ( 'Peter Frampton', 1986 );
  my $rs    = MyApp::DB::Album->search_literal( $where, @bind );

The preferred way to generate complex queries is to provide a
L<SQL::Abstract> construct to C<search>:

  my $rs = MyApp::DB::Album->search({
    artist  => { '!=', 'Janis Joplin' },
    year    => { '<' => 1980 },
    albumid => [ 1, 14, 15, 65, 43 ]
  });

This results in something like the following C<WHERE> clause:

  WHERE artist != 'Janis Joplin'
    AND year < 1980
    AND albumid IN (1, 14, 15, 65, 43)

For more examples of complex queries, see
L<DBIx::Class::Manual::Cookbook>.

The search can also be modified by passing another hash with
attributes:

  my @albums = MyApp::DB::Album->search(
    { artist => 'Bob Marley' },
    { rows => 2, order_by => 'year DESC' }
  );

C<@albums> then holds the two most recent Bob Marley albums.

For a complete overview of the available attributes, see
L<DBIx::Class::ResultSet/ATTRIBUTES>.

=head1 SEE ALSO

=over 4

=item * L<DBIx::Class::Manual::Cookbook>

=item * L<DBIx::Class::Manual::FAQ>

=back

=cut