patch from Robert Bohne to make _table_uniq_info more correct for Oracle
[dbsrgits/DBIx-Class-Schema-Loader.git] / README
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3fe9c5d9 1NAME
2 DBIx::Class::Schema::Loader - Dynamic definition of a
3 DBIx::Class::Schema
4
5SYNOPSIS
707fb247 6 ### use this module to generate a set of class files
7
8 # in a script
9 use DBIx::Class::Schema::Loader qw/ make_schema_at /;
10 make_schema_at(
11 'My::Schema',
12 { debug => 1,
13 dump_directory => './lib',
14 },
15 [ 'dbi:Pg:dbname="foo"', 'myuser', 'mypassword' ],
16 );
17
18 # from the command line or a shell script with dbicdump (distributed
19 # with this module). Do `perldoc dbicdump` for usage.
20 dbicdump -o dump_directory=./lib \
21 -o debug=1 \
22 My::Schema \
23 'dbi:Pg:dbname=foo' \
24 myuser \
25 mypassword
26
27 ### or generate and load classes at runtime
28 # note: this technique is not recommended
29 # for use in production code
30
3fe9c5d9 31 package My::Schema;
32 use base qw/DBIx::Class::Schema::Loader/;
33
34 __PACKAGE__->loader_options(
35 constraint => '^foo.*',
36 # debug => 1,
37 );
38
707fb247 39 #### in application code elsewhere:
3fe9c5d9 40
41 use My::Schema;
42
43 my $schema1 = My::Schema->connect( $dsn, $user, $password, $attrs);
44 # -or-
45 my $schema1 = "My::Schema"; $schema1->connection(as above);
46
47DESCRIPTION
48 DBIx::Class::Schema::Loader automates the definition of a
49 DBIx::Class::Schema by scanning database table definitions and setting
50 up the columns, primary keys, and relationships.
51
52 DBIx::Class::Schema::Loader currently supports only the DBI storage
53 type. It has explicit support for DBD::Pg, DBD::mysql, DBD::DB2,
54 DBD::SQLite, and DBD::Oracle. Other DBI drivers may function to a
55 greater or lesser degree with this loader, depending on how much of the
56 DBI spec they implement, and how standard their implementation is.
57
58 Patches to make other DBDs work correctly welcome.
59
60 See DBIx::Class::Schema::Loader::DBI::Writing for notes on writing your
61 own vendor-specific subclass for an unsupported DBD driver.
62
63 This module requires DBIx::Class 0.07006 or later, and obsoletes the
64 older DBIx::Class::Loader.
65
66 This module is designed more to get you up and running quickly against
67 an existing database, or to be effective for simple situations, rather
68 than to be what you use in the long term for a complex database/project.
69
70 That being said, transitioning your code from a Schema generated by this
71 module to one that doesn't use this module should be straightforward and
72 painless, so don't shy away from it just for fears of the transition
73 down the road.
74
75METHODS
9acd645d 76 loader_class
d6cca7c2 77 Argument: $loader_class
78
9acd645d 79 Set the loader class to be instantiated when "connection" is called. If
80 the classname starts with "::", "DBIx::Class::Schema::Loader" is
81 prepended. Defaults to "storage_type" in DBIx::Class::Schema (which must
82 start with "::" when using DBIx::Class::Schema::Loader).
83
84 This is mostly useful for subclassing existing loaders or in conjunction
85 with "dump_to_dir".
86
3fe9c5d9 87 loader_options
d6cca7c2 88 Argument: \%loader_options
89
3fe9c5d9 90 Example in Synopsis above demonstrates a few common arguments. For
91 detailed information on all of the arguments, most of which are only
92 useful in fairly complex scenarios, see the
93 DBIx::Class::Schema::Loader::Base documentation.
94
95 If you intend to use "loader_options", you must call "loader_options"
96 before any connection is made, or embed the "loader_options" in the
97 connection information itself as shown below. Setting "loader_options"
98 after the connection has already been made is useless.
99
100 connection
d6cca7c2 101 Arguments: @args
102 Return Value: $new_schema
103
104 See "connection" in DBIx::Class::Schema for basic usage.
3fe9c5d9 105
9acd645d 106 If the final argument is a hashref, and it contains the keys
107 "loader_options" or "loader_class", those keys will be deleted, and
108 their values value will be used for the loader options or class,
109 respectively, just as if set via the "loader_options" or "loader_class"
110 methods above.
3fe9c5d9 111
112 The actual auto-loading operation (the heart of this module) will be
113 invoked as soon as the connection information is defined.
114
115 clone
d6cca7c2 116 See "clone" in DBIx::Class::Schema.
3fe9c5d9 117
118 dump_to_dir
d6cca7c2 119 Argument: $directory
3fe9c5d9 120
121 Calling this as a class method on either DBIx::Class::Schema::Loader or
707fb247 122 any derived schema class will cause all schemas to dump manual versions
123 of themselves to the named directory when they are loaded. In order to
124 be effective, this must be set before defining a connection on this
125 schema class or any derived object (as the loading happens as soon as
126 both a connection and loader_options are set, and only once per class).
3fe9c5d9 127
128 See "dump_directory" in DBIx::Class::Schema::Loader::Base for more
129 details on the dumping mechanism.
130
131 This can also be set at module import time via the import option
132 "dump_to_dir:/foo/bar" to DBIx::Class::Schema::Loader, where "/foo/bar"
133 is the target directory.
134
135 Examples:
136
137 # My::Schema isa DBIx::Class::Schema::Loader, and has connection info
138 # hardcoded in the class itself:
139 perl -MDBIx::Class::Schema::Loader=dump_to_dir:/foo/bar -MMy::Schema -e1
140
141 # Same, but no hard-coded connection, so we must provide one:
142 perl -MDBIx::Class::Schema::Loader=dump_to_dir:/foo/bar -MMy::Schema -e 'My::Schema->connection("dbi:Pg:dbname=foo", ...)'
143
144 # Or as a class method, as long as you get it done *before* defining a
145 # connection on this schema class or any derived object:
146 use My::Schema;
147 My::Schema->dump_to_dir('/foo/bar');
148 My::Schema->connection(........);
149
150 # Or as a class method on the DBIx::Class::Schema::Loader itself, which affects all
151 # derived schemas
152 use My::Schema;
153 use My::OtherSchema;
154 DBIx::Class::Schema::Loader->dump_to_dir('/foo/bar');
155 My::Schema->connection(.......);
156 My::OtherSchema->connection(.......);
157
158 # Another alternative to the above:
159 use DBIx::Class::Schema::Loader qw| dump_to_dir:/foo/bar |;
160 use My::Schema;
161 use My::OtherSchema;
162 My::Schema->connection(.......);
163 My::OtherSchema->connection(.......);
164
165 make_schema_at
707fb247 166 Arguments: $schema_class_name, \%loader_options, \@connect_info
167 Return Value: $schema_class_name
d6cca7c2 168
707fb247 169 This function creates a DBIx::Class schema from an existing RDBMS
170 schema. With the "dump_directory" option, generates a set of DBIx::Class
171 classes from an existing database schema read from the given dsn.
172 Without a "dump_directory", creates schema classes in memory at runtime
173 without generating on-disk class files.
3fe9c5d9 174
707fb247 175 For a complete list of supported loader_options, see
176 DBIx::Class::Schema::Loader::Base
3fe9c5d9 177
707fb247 178 This function can be imported in the usual way, as illustrated in these
179 Examples:
3fe9c5d9 180
181 # Simple example, creates as a new class 'New::Schema::Name' in
182 # memory in the running perl interpreter.
183 use DBIx::Class::Schema::Loader qw/ make_schema_at /;
184 make_schema_at(
185 'New::Schema::Name',
186 { debug => 1 },
187 [ 'dbi:Pg:dbname="foo"','postgres' ],
188 );
189
707fb247 190 # Inside a script, specifying a dump directory in which to write
191 # class files
3fe9c5d9 192 use DBIx::Class::Schema::Loader qw/ make_schema_at /;
193 make_schema_at(
194 'New::Schema::Name',
195 { debug => 1, dump_directory => './lib' },
196 [ 'dbi:Pg:dbname="foo"','postgres' ],
197 );
198
199 rescan
d6cca7c2 200 Return Value: @new_monikers
201
3fe9c5d9 202 Re-scans the database for newly added tables since the initial load, and
203 adds them to the schema at runtime, including relationships, etc. Does
204 not process drops or changes.
205
206 Returns a list of the new monikers added.
207
3fe9c5d9 208KNOWN ISSUES
209 Multiple Database Schemas
210 Currently the loader is limited to working within a single schema (using
707fb247 211 the underlying RDBMS's definition of "schema"). If you have a
3fe9c5d9 212 multi-schema database with inter-schema relationships (which is easy to
707fb247 213 do in PostgreSQL or DB2 for instance), you currently can only
214 automatically load the tables of one schema, and relationships to tables
215 in other schemas will be silently ignored.
3fe9c5d9 216
217 At some point in the future, an intelligent way around this might be
218 devised, probably by allowing the "db_schema" option to be an arrayref
219 of schemas to load.
220
221 In "normal" DBIx::Class::Schema usage, manually-defined source classes
222 and relationships have no problems crossing vendor schemas.
223
224AUTHOR
225 Brandon Black, "blblack@gmail.com"
226
227 Based on DBIx::Class::Loader by Sebastian Riedel
228
229 Based upon the work of IKEBE Tomohiro
230
231THANK YOU
232 Matt S Trout, all of the #dbix-class folks, and everyone who's ever sent
233 in a bug report or suggestion.
234
235LICENSE
236 This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
237 under the same terms as Perl itself.
238
239SEE ALSO
240 DBIx::Class, DBIx::Class::Manual::ExampleSchema
241