=head2 select (arrayref)
-Indicates which columns should be selected from the storage.
+Indicates which columns should be selected from the storage. You can use
+column names, or in the case of RDBMS back ends, function or stored procedure
+names:
+
+ $rs = $schema->resultset('Foo')->search(
+ {},
+ {
+ select => {
+ 'column_name',
+ { count => 'column_to_count' },
+ { sum => 'column_to_sum' }
+ }
+ }
+ );
+
+When you use function/stored procedure names and do not supply an C<as>
+attribute, the column names returned are storage-dependent. E.g. MySQL would
+return a column named C<count(column_to_count)> in the above example.
=head2 as (arrayref)
-Indicates column names for object inflation.
+Indicates column names for object inflation. This is used in conjunction with
+C<select>, usually when C<select> contains one or more function or stored
+procedure names:
+
+ $rs = $schema->resultset('Foo')->search(
+ {},
+ {
+ select => {
+ 'column1',
+ { count => 'column2' }
+ },
+ as => [qw/ column1 column2_count /]
+ }
+ );
+
+ my $foo = $rs->first(); # get the first Foo
+
+If the object against which the search is performed already has an accessor
+matching a column name specified in C<as>, the value can be retrieved using
+the accessor as normal:
+
+ my $column1 = $foo->column1();
+
+If on the other hand an accessor does not exist in the object, you need to
+use C<get_column> instead:
+
+ my $column2_count = $foo->get_column('column2_count');
+
+You can create your own accessors if required - see
+L<DBIx::Class::Manual::Cookbook> for details.
=head2 join
objects, because it saves a query. Currently limited to prefetching
one relationship deep, so unlike C<join>, prefetch must be an arrayref.
-=head2 from
+=head2 from (arrayref)
-This attribute can contain a arrayref of elements. Each element can be another
-arrayref, to nest joins, or it can be a hash which represents the two sides
-of the join.
+The C<from> attribute gives you manual control over the C<FROM> clause of SQL
+statements generated by L<DBIx::Class>, allowing you to express custom C<JOIN>
+clauses.
NOTE: Use this on your own risk. This allows you to shoot off your foot!
+C<join> will usually do what you need and it is strongly recommended that you
+avoid using C<from> unless you cannot achieve the desired result using C<join>.
+
+In simple terms, C<from> works as follows:
+
+ [
+ { <alias> => <table>, -join-type => 'inner|left|right' }
+ [] # nested JOIN (optional)
+ { <table.column> = <foreign_table.foreign_key> }
+ ]
+
+ JOIN
+ <alias> <table>
+ [JOIN ...]
+ ON <table.column> = <foreign_table.foreign_key>
+
+An easy way to follow the examples below is to remember the following:
+
+ Anything inside "[]" is a JOIN
+ Anything inside "{}" is a condition for the enclosing JOIN
+
+The following examples utilize a "person" table in a family tree application.
+In order to express parent->child relationships, this table is self-joined:
+
+ # Person->belongs_to('father' => 'Person');
+ # Person->belongs_to('mother' => 'Person');
+
+C<from> can be used to nest joins. Here we return all children with a father,
+then search against all mothers of those children:
+
+ $rs = $schema->resultset('Person')->search(
+ {},
+ {
+ alias => 'mother', # alias columns in accordance with "from"
+ from => [
+ { mother => 'person' },
+ [
+ [
+ { child => 'person' },
+ [
+ { father => 'person' },
+ { 'father.person_id' => 'child.father_id' }
+ ]
+ ],
+ { 'mother.person_id' => 'child.mother_id' }
+ ],
+ ]
+ },
+ );
+
+ # Equivalent SQL:
+ # SELECT mother.* FROM person mother
+ # JOIN (
+ # person child
+ # JOIN person father
+ # ON ( father.person_id = child.father_id )
+ # )
+ # ON ( mother.person_id = child.mother_id )
+
+The type of any join can be controlled manually. To search against only people
+with a father in the person table, we could explicitly use C<INNER JOIN>:
+
+ $rs = $schema->resultset('Person')->search(
+ {},
+ {
+ alias => 'child', # alias columns in accordance with "from"
+ from => [
+ { child => 'person' },
+ [
+ { father => 'person', -join-type => 'inner' },
+ { 'father.id' => 'child.father_id' }
+ ],
+ ]
+ },
+ );
+
+ # Equivalent SQL:
+ # SELECT child.* FROM person child
+ # INNER JOIN person father ON child.father_id = father.id
=head2 page
=head2 rows
-For a paged resultset, how many rows per page. Can also be used to simulate an
-SQL C<LIMIT>.
+For a paged resultset, how many rows per page:
+
+ rows => 10
+
+Can also be used to simulate an SQL C<LIMIT>.
=head2 group_by (arrayref)
-A arrayref of columns to group by (note that L</count> doesn't work on grouped
-resultsets).
+A arrayref of columns to group by. Can include columns of joined tables. Note
+note that L</count> doesn't work on grouped resultsets.
group_by => [qw/ column1 column2 ... /]
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