=head3 Paged results
When you expect a large number of results, you can ask L<DBIx::Class> for a
-paged resultset, which will fetch only a small number of records at a time:
+paged resultset, which will fetch only a defined number of records at a time:
my $rs = $schema->resultset('Artist')->search(
undef,
return $rs->page(1); # DBIx::Class::ResultSet containing first 10 records
-In either of the above cases, you can return a L<Data::Page> object for the
+In either of the above cases, you can get a L<Data::Page> object for the
resultset (suitable for use in e.g. a template) using the C<pager> method:
return $rs->pager();
For more information on generating complex queries, see
L<SQL::Abstract/WHERE CLAUSES>.
+=head3 Arbitrary SQL through a custom ResultSource
+
+Sometimes you have to run arbitrary SQL because your query is too complex
+(e.g. it contains Unions, Sub-Selects, Stored Procedures, etc.) or has to
+be optimized for your database in a special way, but you still want to
+get the results as a L<DBIx::Class::ResultSet>.
+The recommended way to accomplish this is by defining a separate ResultSource
+for your query. You can then inject complete SQL statements using a scalar
+reference (this is a feature of L<SQL::Abstract>).
+
+Say you want to run a complex custom query on your user data, here's what
+you have to add to your User class:
+
+ package My::Schema::User;
+
+ use base qw/DBIx::Class/;
+
+ # ->load_components, ->table, ->add_columns, etc.
+
+ # Make a new ResultSource based on the User class
+ my $source = __PACKAGE__->result_source_instance();
+ my $new_source = $source->new( $source );
+ $new_source->source_name( 'UserFriendsComplex' );
+
+ # Hand in your query as a scalar reference
+ # It will be added as a sub-select after FROM,
+ # so pay attention to the surrounding brackets!
+ $new_source->name( \<<SQL );
+ ( SELECT u.* FROM user u
+ INNER JOIN user_friends f ON u.id = f.user_id
+ WHERE f.friend_user_id = ?
+ UNION
+ SELECT u.* FROM user u
+ INNER JOIN user_friends f ON u.id = f.friend_user_id
+ WHERE f.user_id = ? )
+ SQL
+
+ # Finally, register your new ResultSource with your Schema
+ My::Schema->register_source( 'UserFriendsComplex' => $new_source );
+
+Next, you can execute your complex query using bind parameters like this:
+
+ my $friends = [ $schema->resultset( 'UserFriendsComplex' )->search( {},
+ {
+ bind => [ 12345, 12345 ]
+ }
+ ) ];
+
+... and you'll get back a perfect L<DBIx::Class::ResultSet>.
+
=head3 Using specific columns
-When you only want selected columns from a table, you can use C<cols> to
-specify which ones you need:
+When you only want specific columns from a table, you can use
+C<columns> to specify which ones you need. This is useful to avoid
+loading columns with large amounts of data that you aren't about to
+use anyway:
my $rs = $schema->resultset('Artist')->search(
undef,
# Equivalent SQL:
# SELECT artist.name FROM artist
+This is a shortcut for C<select> and C<as>, see below. C<columns>
+cannot be used together with C<select> and C<as>.
+
=head3 Using database functions or stored procedures
The combination of C<select> and C<as> can be used to return the result of a
to access the returned value:
my $rs = $schema->resultset('Artist')->search(
- undef,
+ {},
{
select => [ 'name', { LENGTH => 'name' } ],
as => [qw/ name name_length /],
);
# Equivalent SQL:
- # SELECT name name, LENGTH( name ) name_length
+ # SELECT name name, LENGTH( name )
# FROM artist
-If your alias exists as a column in your base class (i.e. it was added with
-C<add_columns>), you just access it as normal. Our C<Artist> class has a C<name>
-column, so we just use the C<name> accessor:
+Note that the C< as > attribute has absolutely nothing to with the sql
+syntax C< SELECT foo AS bar > (see the documentation in
+L<DBIx::Class::ResultSet/ATTRIBUTES>). If your alias exists as a
+column in your base class (i.e. it was added with C<add_columns>), you
+just access it as normal. Our C<Artist> class has a C<name> column, so
+we just use the C<name> accessor:
my $artist = $rs->first();
my $name = $artist->name();
If on the other hand the alias does not correspond to an existing column, you
-can get the value using the C<get_column> accessor:
+have to fetch the value using the C<get_column> accessor:
my $name_length = $artist->get_column('name_length');
=head3 SELECT DISTINCT with multiple columns
my $rs = $schema->resultset('Foo')->search(
- undef,
+ {},
{
select => [
{ distinct => [ $source->columns ] }
],
- as => [ $source->columns ]
+ as => [ $source->columns ] # remember 'as' is not the same as SQL AS :-)
}
);
=head3 SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT colname)
my $rs = $schema->resultset('Foo')->search(
- undef,
+ {},
{
select => [
{ count => { distinct => 'colname' } }
L<DBIx::Class> supports C<GROUP BY> as follows:
my $rs = $schema->resultset('Artist')->search(
- undef,
+ {},
{
join => [qw/ cds /],
select => [ 'name', { count => 'cds.cdid' } ],
# LEFT JOIN cd cds ON ( cds.artist = me.artistid )
# GROUP BY name
+Please see L<DBIx::Class::ResultSet/ATTRIBUTES> documentation if you
+are in any way unsure about the use of the attributes above (C< join
+>, C< select >, C< as > and C< group_by >).
+
=head3 Predefined searches
-You can write your own DBIx::Class::ResultSet class by inheriting from it
+You can write your own L<DBIx::Class::ResultSet> class by inheriting from it
and define often used searches as methods:
package My::DBIC::ResultSet::CD;
my $ordered_cds = $schema->resultset('CD')->search_cds_ordered();
-
-=head3 Predefined searches without writing a ResultSet class
-
-Alternatively you can automatically generate a DBIx::Class::ResultSet
-class by using the ResultSetManager component and tagging your method
-as ResultSet:
-
- __PACKAGE__->load_components(qw/ ResultSetManager Core /);
-
- sub search_cds_ordered : ResultSet {
- my ($self) = @_;
- return $self->search(
- {},
- { order_by => 'name DESC' },
- );
- }
-
-Then call your method in the same way from your code:
-
- my $ordered_cds = $schema->resultset('CD')->search_cds_ordered();
-
=head2 Using joins and prefetch
You can use the C<join> attribute to allow searching on, or sorting your
join => [qw/ artist /],
order_by => [qw/ artist.name /]
}
- };
+ );
# Equivalent SQL:
# SELECT cd.* FROM cd
deep using the same syntax as a multi-step join:
my $rs = $schema->resultset('Tag')->search(
- undef,
+ {},
{
prefetch => {
cd => 'artist'
my $tag = $rs->first;
print $tag->cd->artist->name;
+=head2 Columns of data
+
+If you want to find the sum of a particular column there are several
+ways, the obvious one is to use search:
+
+ my $rs = $schema->resultset('Items')->search(
+ {},
+ {
+ select => [ { sum => 'Cost' } ],
+ as => [ 'total_cost' ], # remember this 'as' is for DBIx::Class::ResultSet not SQL
+ }
+ );
+ my $tc = $rs->first->get_column('total_cost');
+
+Or, you can use the L<DBIx::Class::ResultSetColumn>, which gets
+returned when you ask the C<ResultSet> for a column using
+C<get_column>:
+
+ my $cost = $schema->resultset('Items')->get_column('Cost');
+ my $tc = $cost->sum;
+
+With this you can also do:
+
+ my $minvalue = $cost->min;
+ my $maxvalue = $cost->max;
+
+Or just iterate through the values of this column only:
+
+ while ( my $c = $cost->next ) {
+ print $c;
+ }
+
+ foreach my $c ($cost->all) {
+ print $c;
+ }
+
+C<ResultSetColumn> only has a limited number of built-in functions, if
+you need one that it doesn't have, then you can use the C<func> method
+instead:
+
+ my $avg = $cost->func('AVERAGE');
+
+This will cause the following SQL statement to be run:
+
+ SELECT AVERAGE(Cost) FROM Items me
+
+Which will of course only work if your database supports this function.
+See L<DBIx::Class::ResultSetColumn> for more documentation.
+
=head2 Using relationships
=head3 Create a new row in a related table
=head2 Transactions
As of version 0.04001, there is improved transaction support in
-L<DBIx::Class::Storage::DBI> and L<DBIx::Class::Schema>. Here is an
+L<DBIx::Class::Storage> and L<DBIx::Class::Schema>. Here is an
example of the recommended way to use it:
my $genus = $schema->resultset('Genus')->find(12);
=head2 Many-to-many relationships
-This is straightforward using L<DBIx::Class::Relationship::ManyToMany>:
+This is straightforward using L<ManyToMany|DBIx::Class::Relationship/many_to_many>:
package My::DB;
# ... set up connection ...
$attrs->{foo} = 'bar' unless defined $attrs->{foo};
- $class->next::method($attrs);
+ my $new = $class->next::method($attrs);
+
+ return $new;
}
For more information about C<next::method>, look in the L<Class::C3>
ways to write your own base classes to do this.
People looking for ways to do "triggers" with DBIx::Class are probably
-just looking for this.
+just looking for this.
=head2 Stringification
To make an object stringify itself as a single column, use something
like this (replace C<foo> with the column/method of your choice):
- use overload '""' => 'foo', fallback => 1;
+ use overload '""' => sub { shift->name}, fallback => 1;
For more complex stringification, you can use an anonymous subroutine:
use overload '""' => sub { $_[0]->name . ", " .
$_[0]->address }, fallback => 1;
-=head3 Stringifcation Example
+=head3 Stringification Example
Suppose we have two tables: C<Product> and C<Category>. The table
specifications are:
=head2 Schema import/export
-This functionality requires you to have L<SQL::Translator> (also known as
-"SQL Fairy") installed.
+To create a DBIx::Class schema from an existing database, use
+L<DBIx::Class::Schema::Loader>'s C<make_schema_at>:
-To create a DBIx::Class schema from an existing database:
+ perl -MDBIx::Class::Schema::Loader=make_schema_at,dump_to_dir:./lib -e 'make_schema_at("My::Schema", { debug => 1 }, [ "dbi:Pg:dbname=foo","postgres" ])'
- sqlt --from DBI
- --to DBIx::Class::File
- --prefix "MySchema" > MySchema.pm
+The following functionality requires you to have L<SQL::Translator>
+(also known as "SQL Fairy") installed.
-To create a MySQL database from an existing L<DBIx::Class> schema, convert the
-schema to MySQL's dialect of SQL:
+To create a set of database-specific .sql files for the above schema:
- sqlt --from DBIx::Class --to MySQL --DBIx::Class "MySchema.pm" > Schema1.sql
-
-And import using the mysql client:
+ my $schema = My::Schema->connect($dsn);
+ $schema->create_ddl_dir(['MySQL', 'SQLite', 'PostgreSQL'],
+ '0.1',
+ '/dbscriptdir/'
+ );
+
+By default this will create schema files in the current directory, for
+MySQL, SQLite and PostgreSQL, using the $VERSION from your Schema.pm.
+
+To create a new database using the schema:
+
+ my $schema = My::Schema->connect($dsn);
+ $schema->deploy({ add_drop_tables => 1});
+
+To import created .sql files using the mysql client:
+
+ mysql -h "host" -D "database" -u "user" -p < My_Schema_1.0_MySQL.sql
+
+To create C<ALTER TABLE> conversion scripts to update a database to a
+newer version of your schema at a later point, first set a new
+$VERSION in your Schema file, then:
+
+ my $schema = My::Schema->connect($dsn);
+ $schema->create_ddl_dir(['MySQL', 'SQLite', 'PostgreSQL'],
+ '0.2',
+ '/dbscriptdir/',
+ '0.1'
+ );
+
+This will produce new database-specific .sql files for the new version
+of the schema, plus scripts to convert from version 0.1 to 0.2. This
+requires that the files for 0.1 as created above are available in the
+given directory to diff against.
- mysql -h "host" -D "database" -u "user" -p < Schema1.sql
=head2 Easy migration from class-based to schema-based setup
=head3 Save the schema
-Use C<sqlt> to transform your schema into an SQL script suitable for your
-customer's database. E.g. for MySQL:
-
- sqlt --from DBIx::Class
- --to MySQL
- --DBIx::Class "MySchema.pm" > Schema1.mysql.sql
-
-If you need to target databases from multiple vendors, just generate an SQL
-script suitable for each. To support PostgreSQL too:
-
- sqlt --from DBIx::Class
- --to PostgreSQL
- --DBIx::Class "MySchema.pm" > Schema1.pgsql.sql
+Call L<DBIx::Class::Schema/create_ddl_dir> as above under L<Schema
+import/export>.
=head3 Deploy to customers
=head3 Modify the schema to change functionality
-As your application evolves, it may be necessary to modify your schema to
-change functionality. Once the changes are made to your schema in DBIx::Class,
-export the modified schema as before, taking care not to overwrite the original:
-
- sqlt --from DBIx::Class
- --to MySQL
- --DBIx::Class "Anything.pm" > Schema2.mysql.sql
-
-Next, use sqlt-diff to create an SQL script that will update the customer's
-database schema:
-
- sqlt-diff --to MySQL Schema1=MySQL Schema2=MySQL > SchemaUpdate.mysql.sql
+As your application evolves, it may be necessary to modify your schema
+to change functionality. Once the changes are made to your schema in
+DBIx::Class, export the modified schema and the conversion scripts as
+in L<Schema import/export>.
=head3 Deploy update to customers
-The schema update can be deployed to customers using the same method as before.
+Add the L<DBIx::Class::Schema::Versioned> schema component to your
+Schema class. This will add a new table to your database called
+C<SchemaVersions> which will keep track of which version is installed
+and warn if the user trys to run a newer schema version than the
+database thinks it has.
+
+Alternatively, you can send the conversion sql scripts to your
+customers as above.
=head2 Setting limit dialect for SQL::Abstract::Limit
-In some cases, SQL::Abstract::Limit cannot determine the dialect of the remote
-SQL-server by looking at the database-handle. This is a common problem when
-using the DBD::JDBC, since the DBD-driver only know that in has a Java-driver
-available, not which JDBC-driver the Java component has loaded.
-This specifically sets the limit_dialect to Microsoft SQL-server (Se more names
-in SQL::Abstract::Limit -documentation.
+In some cases, SQL::Abstract::Limit cannot determine the dialect of
+the remote SQL server by looking at the database handle. This is a
+common problem when using the DBD::JDBC, since the DBD-driver only
+know that in has a Java-driver available, not which JDBC driver the
+Java component has loaded. This specifically sets the limit_dialect
+to Microsoft SQL-server (See more names in SQL::Abstract::Limit
+-documentation.
__PACKAGE__->storage->sql_maker->limit_dialect('mssql');
-The JDBC-bridge is one way of getting access to a MSSQL-server from a platform
+The JDBC bridge is one way of getting access to a MSSQL server from a platform
that Microsoft doesn't deliver native client libraries for. (e.g. Linux)
-=head2 Setting quotes for the generated SQL.
+=head2 Setting quoting for the generated SQL.
-If the database contains columnames with spaces and/or reserved words, the
-SQL-query needs to be quoted. This is done using:
+If the database contains column names with spaces and/or reserved words, they
+need to be quoted in the SQL queries. This is done using:
__PACKAGE__->storage->sql_maker->quote_char([ qw/[ ]/] );
__PACKAGE__->storage->sql_maker->name_sep('.');
-The first sets the quotesymbols. If the quote i "symmetric" as " or '
+The first sets the quote characters. Either a pair of matching
+brackets, or a C<"> or C<'>:
__PACKAGE__->storage->sql_maker->quote_char('"');
-is enough. If the left quote differs form the right quote, the first
-notation should be used. name_sep needs to be set to allow the
-SQL generator to put the quotes the correct place.
+Check the documentation of your database for the correct quote
+characters to use. C<name_sep> needs to be set to allow the SQL
+generator to put the quotes the correct place.
=head2 Overloading methods
-L<DBIx::Class> uses the L<Class::C3> package, which provides for redispatch of
-method calls. You have to use calls to C<next::method> to overload methods.
-More information on using L<Class::C3> with L<DBIx::Class> can be found in
+L<DBIx::Class> uses the L<Class::C3> package, which provides for redispatch of
+method calls, useful for things like default values and triggers. You have to
+use calls to C<next::method> to overload methods. More information on using
+L<Class::C3> with L<DBIx::Class> can be found in
L<DBIx::Class::Manual::Component>.
=head3 Changing one field whenever another changes
}
Note that the hard work is done by the call to C<next::method>, which
-redispatches your call to store_column to the superclass(es).
+redispatches your call to store_column in the superclass(es).
=head3 Automatically creating related objects
-You might have a class C<Artist> which has many C<CD>s. Further, you
+You might have a class C<Artist> which has many C<CD>s. Further, if you
want to create a C<CD> object every time you insert an C<Artist> object.
You can accomplish this by overriding C<insert> on your objects:
=head2 Retrieving a row object's Schema
-It is possible to get a Schema object from a row object like so,
+It is possible to get a Schema object from a row object like so:
my $schema = $cd->result_source->schema;
- my $artist_rs = $schema->resultset('Artist');
- # for example
+ # use the schema as normal:
+ my $artist_rs = $schema->resultset('Artist');
This can be useful when you don't want to pass around a Schema object to every
method.
=head2 Profiling
-When you enable L<DBIx::Class::Storage::DBI>'s debugging it prints the SQL
+When you enable L<DBIx::Class::Storage>'s debugging it prints the SQL
executed as well as notifications of query completion and transaction
begin/commit. If you'd like to profile the SQL you can subclass the
L<DBIx::Class::Storage::Statistics> class and write your own profiling
my $sql = shift();
my $params = @_;
- print "Executing $sql: ".join(', ', @params)."\n";
+ $self->print("Executing $sql: ".join(', ', @params)."\n");
$start = time();
}
my $sql = shift();
my @params = @_;
- printf("Execution took %0.4f seconds.\n", time() - $start);
+ my $elapsed = sprintf("%0.4f", time() - $start);
+ $self->print("Execution took $elapsed seconds.\n");
$start = undef;
}
You can then install that class as the debugging object:
- __PACKAGE__->storage()->debugobj(new My::Profiler());
- __PACKAGE__->storage()->debug(1);
+ __PACKAGE__->storage->debugobj(new My::Profiler());
+ __PACKAGE__->storage->debug(1);
A more complicated example might involve storing each execution of SQL in an
array:
You could then create average, high and low execution times for an SQL
statement and dig down to see if certain parameters cause aberrant behavior.
+You might want to check out L<DBIx::Class::QueryLog> as well.
=head2 Getting the value of the primary key for the last database insert
=head2 Dynamic Sub-classing DBIx::Class proxy classes
(AKA multi-class object inflation from one table)
-L<DBIx::Class> classes are proxy classes, therefore some different techniques
-need to be employed for more than basic subclassing. In this example we have
-a single user table that carries a boolean bit for admin. We would like
-like to give the admin users objects(L<DBIx::Class::Row>) the same methods as
-a regular user but also special admin only methods. It doesn't make sense to
-create two seperate proxy-class files for this. We would be copying all the
-user methods into the Admin class. There is a cleaner way to accomplish this.
-
-Overriding the C<inflate_results()> method within the User proxy-class gives
-us the effect we want. This method is called by L<DBIx::Class::ResultSet> when
-inflating a result from storage. So we grab the object being returned, inspect
-the values we are looking for, bless it if it's an admin object, and then
-return it. Running the test file below will confirm this works.
+L<DBIx::Class> classes are proxy classes, therefore some different
+techniques need to be employed for more than basic subclassing. In
+this example we have a single user table that carries a boolean bit
+for admin. We would like like to give the admin users
+objects(L<DBIx::Class::Row>) the same methods as a regular user but
+also special admin only methods. It doesn't make sense to create two
+seperate proxy-class files for this. We would be copying all the user
+methods into the Admin class. There is a cleaner way to accomplish
+this.
+
+Overriding the C<inflate_result> method within the User proxy-class
+gives us the effect we want. This method is called by
+L<DBIx::Class::ResultSet> when inflating a result from storage. So we
+grab the object being returned, inspect the values we are looking for,
+bless it if it's an admin object, and then return it. See the example
+below:
B<Schema Definition>
### Defined what our admin class is for ensure_class_loaded
my $admin_class = __PACKAGE__ . '::Admin';
- __PACKAGE__->load_components(qw/PK::Auto Core/);
+ __PACKAGE__->load_components(qw/Core/);
__PACKAGE__->table('users');
### The statement below will print
print "I can do admin stuff\n" if $admin->can('do_admin_stuff');
+=head2 Skip object creation for faster results
+
+DBIx::Class is not built for speed, it's built for convenience and
+ease of use, but sometimes you just need to get the data, and skip the
+fancy objects.
+
+To do this simply use L<DBIx::Class::ResultClass::HashRefInflator>.
+
+ my $rs = $schema->resultset('CD');
+
+ $rs->result_class('DBIx::Class::ResultClass::HashRefInflator');
+
+ my $hash_ref = $rs->find(1);
+
+Wasn't that easy?
+
+=head2 Get raw data for blindingly fast results
+
+If the C<inflate_result> solution above is not fast enough for you, you
+can use a DBIx::Class to return values exactly as they come out of the
+data base with none of the convenience methods wrapped round them.
+
+This is used like so:-
+
+ my $cursor = $rs->cursor
+ while (my @vals = $cursor->next) {
+ # use $val[0..n] here
+ }
+
+You will need to map the array offsets to particular columns (you can
+use the I<select> attribute of C<search()> to force ordering).
+
+=head2 Want to know if find_or_create found or created a row?
+
+Just use C<find_or_new> instead, then check C<in_storage>:
+
+ my $obj = $rs->find_or_new({ blah => 'blarg' });
+ unless ($obj->in_storage) {
+ $obj->insert;
+ # do whatever else you wanted if it was a new row
+ }
+
+=head3 Wrapping/overloading a column accessor
+
+Problem: Say you have a table "Camera" and want to associate a description
+with each camera. For most cameras, you'll be able to generate the description from
+the other columns. However, in a few special cases you may want to associate a
+custom description with a camera.
+
+Solution:
+
+In your database schema, define a description field in the "Camera" table that
+can contain text and null values.
+
+In DBIC, we'll overload the column accessor to provide a sane default if no
+custom description is defined. The accessor will either return or generate the
+description, depending on whether the field is null or not.
+
+First, in your "Camera" schema class, define the description field as follows:
+
+ __PACKAGE__->add_columns(description => { accessor => '_description' });
+
+Next, we'll define the accessor-wrapper subroutine:
+
+ sub description {
+ my $self = shift;
+
+ # If there is an update to the column, we'll let the original accessor
+ # deal with it.
+ return $self->_description(@_) if @_;
+
+ # Fetch the column value.
+ my $description = $self->_description;
+
+ # If there's something in the description field, then just return that.
+ return $description if defined $description && length $descripton;
+
+ # Otherwise, generate a description.
+ return $self->generate_description;
+ }
+
=cut