revert previous revision
[dbsrgits/DBIx-Class.git] / lib / DBIx / Class / Manual / Cookbook.pod
CommitLineData
3b44ccc6 1=head1 NAME
9c82c181 2
40dbc108 3DBIx::Class::Manual::Cookbook - Miscellaneous recipes
ee38fa40 4
d2f3e87b 5=head1 SEARCHING
2913b2d3 6
d2f3e87b 7=head2 Paged results
faf62551 8
bade79c4 9When you expect a large number of results, you can ask L<DBIx::Class> for a
264f1571 10paged resultset, which will fetch only a defined number of records at a time:
faf62551 11
bade79c4 12 my $rs = $schema->resultset('Artist')->search(
5e8b1b2a 13 undef,
bade79c4 14 {
15 page => 1, # page to return (defaults to 1)
16 rows => 10, # number of results per page
17 },
18 );
faf62551 19
bade79c4 20 return $rs->all(); # all records for page 1
faf62551 21
bade79c4 22The C<page> attribute does not have to be specified in your search:
23
24 my $rs = $schema->resultset('Artist')->search(
5e8b1b2a 25 undef,
bade79c4 26 {
27 rows => 10,
28 }
29 );
faf62551 30
bade79c4 31 return $rs->page(1); # DBIx::Class::ResultSet containing first 10 records
faf62551 32
264f1571 33In either of the above cases, you can get a L<Data::Page> object for the
bade79c4 34resultset (suitable for use in e.g. a template) using the C<pager> method:
faf62551 35
bade79c4 36 return $rs->pager();
faf62551 37
d2f3e87b 38=head2 Complex WHERE clauses
2913b2d3 39
40dbc108 40Sometimes you need to formulate a query using specific operators:
41
ea6309e2 42 my @albums = $schema->resultset('Album')->search({
35d4fe78 43 artist => { 'like', '%Lamb%' },
44 title => { 'like', '%Fear of Fours%' },
45 });
40dbc108 46
47This results in something like the following C<WHERE> clause:
48
35d4fe78 49 WHERE artist LIKE '%Lamb%' AND title LIKE '%Fear of Fours%'
40dbc108 50
51Other queries might require slightly more complex logic:
52
ea6309e2 53 my @albums = $schema->resultset('Album')->search({
35d4fe78 54 -or => [
55 -and => [
56 artist => { 'like', '%Smashing Pumpkins%' },
57 title => 'Siamese Dream',
58 ],
59 artist => 'Starchildren',
60 ],
61 });
40dbc108 62
63This results in the following C<WHERE> clause:
64
35d4fe78 65 WHERE ( artist LIKE '%Smashing Pumpkins%' AND title = 'Siamese Dream' )
66 OR artist = 'Starchildren'
40dbc108 67
68For more information on generating complex queries, see
69L<SQL::Abstract/WHERE CLAUSES>.
ee38fa40 70
b9823354 71=head2 Retrieve one and only one row from a resultset
72
73Sometimes you need only the first "top" row of a resultset. While this can be
74easily done with L<< $rs->first|DBIx::Class::ResultSet/first >>, it is suboptimal,
75as a full blown cursor for the resultset will be created and then immediately
76destroyed after fetching the first row object.
77L<< $rs->single|DBIx::Class::ResultSet/single >> is
78designed specifically for this case - it will grab the first returned result
79without even instantiating a cursor.
80
81Before replacing all your calls to C<first()> with C<single()> please observe the
82following CAVEATS:
83
84=over
85
86=item *
87While single() takes a search condition just like search() does, it does
88_not_ accept search attributes. However one can always chain a single() to
89a search():
90
91 my $top_cd = $cd_rs -> search({}, { order_by => 'rating' }) -> single;
92
93
94=item *
95Since single() is the engine behind find(), it is designed to fetch a
96single row per database query. Thus a warning will be issued when the
97underlying SELECT returns more than one row. Sometimes however this usage
98is valid: i.e. we have an arbitrary number of cd's but only one of them is
99at the top of the charts at any given time. If you know what you are doing,
100you can silence the warning by explicitly limiting the resultset size:
101
102 my $top_cd = $cd_rs -> search ({}, { order_by => 'rating', rows => 1 }) -> single;
103
104=back
105
d2f3e87b 106=head2 Arbitrary SQL through a custom ResultSource
321d9634 107
108Sometimes you have to run arbitrary SQL because your query is too complex
109(e.g. it contains Unions, Sub-Selects, Stored Procedures, etc.) or has to
110be optimized for your database in a special way, but you still want to
111get the results as a L<DBIx::Class::ResultSet>.
112The recommended way to accomplish this is by defining a separate ResultSource
113for your query. You can then inject complete SQL statements using a scalar
114reference (this is a feature of L<SQL::Abstract>).
115
116Say you want to run a complex custom query on your user data, here's what
117you have to add to your User class:
118
119 package My::Schema::User;
120
121 use base qw/DBIx::Class/;
122
123 # ->load_components, ->table, ->add_columns, etc.
124
125 # Make a new ResultSource based on the User class
126 my $source = __PACKAGE__->result_source_instance();
127 my $new_source = $source->new( $source );
128 $new_source->source_name( 'UserFriendsComplex' );
129
130 # Hand in your query as a scalar reference
131 # It will be added as a sub-select after FROM,
132 # so pay attention to the surrounding brackets!
133 $new_source->name( \<<SQL );
134 ( SELECT u.* FROM user u
135 INNER JOIN user_friends f ON u.id = f.user_id
136 WHERE f.friend_user_id = ?
137 UNION
138 SELECT u.* FROM user u
139 INNER JOIN user_friends f ON u.id = f.friend_user_id
140 WHERE f.user_id = ? )
141 SQL
142
143 # Finally, register your new ResultSource with your Schema
dbe79da9 144 My::Schema->register_extra_source( 'UserFriendsComplex' => $new_source );
321d9634 145
146Next, you can execute your complex query using bind parameters like this:
147
148 my $friends = [ $schema->resultset( 'UserFriendsComplex' )->search( {},
149 {
150 bind => [ 12345, 12345 ]
151 }
152 ) ];
153
d00a5c68 154... and you'll get back a perfect L<DBIx::Class::ResultSet> (except, of course,
155that you cannot modify the rows it contains, ie. cannot call L</update>,
156L</delete>, ... on it).
157
158If you prefer to have the definitions of these custom ResultSources in separate
159files (instead of stuffing all of them into the same resultset class), you can
160achieve the same with subclassing the resultset class and defining the
161ResultSource there:
162
163 package My::Schema::UserFriendsComplex;
164
165 use My::Schema::User;
166 use base qw/My::Schema::User/;
167
168 __PACKAGE__->table('dummy'); # currently must be called before anything else
169
170 # Hand in your query as a scalar reference
171 # It will be added as a sub-select after FROM,
172 # so pay attention to the surrounding brackets!
173 __PACKAGE__->name( \<<SQL );
174 ( SELECT u.* FROM user u
175 INNER JOIN user_friends f ON u.id = f.user_id
176 WHERE f.friend_user_id = ?
177 UNION
178 SELECT u.* FROM user u
179 INNER JOIN user_friends f ON u.id = f.friend_user_id
180 WHERE f.user_id = ? )
181 SQL
182
183TIMTOWDI.
321d9634 184
d2f3e87b 185=head2 Using specific columns
faf62551 186
324572ca 187When you only want specific columns from a table, you can use
188C<columns> to specify which ones you need. This is useful to avoid
189loading columns with large amounts of data that you aren't about to
190use anyway:
faf62551 191
bade79c4 192 my $rs = $schema->resultset('Artist')->search(
5e8b1b2a 193 undef,
bade79c4 194 {
5e8b1b2a 195 columns => [qw/ name /]
bade79c4 196 }
197 );
faf62551 198
bade79c4 199 # Equivalent SQL:
200 # SELECT artist.name FROM artist
faf62551 201
324572ca 202This is a shortcut for C<select> and C<as>, see below. C<columns>
203cannot be used together with C<select> and C<as>.
204
d2f3e87b 205=head2 Using database functions or stored procedures
faf62551 206
bade79c4 207The combination of C<select> and C<as> can be used to return the result of a
208database function or stored procedure as a column value. You use C<select> to
209specify the source for your column value (e.g. a column name, function, or
210stored procedure name). You then use C<as> to set the column name you will use
211to access the returned value:
faf62551 212
bade79c4 213 my $rs = $schema->resultset('Artist')->search(
324572ca 214 {},
bade79c4 215 {
216 select => [ 'name', { LENGTH => 'name' } ],
217 as => [qw/ name name_length /],
218 }
219 );
faf62551 220
bade79c4 221 # Equivalent SQL:
98b65433 222 # SELECT name name, LENGTH( name )
bade79c4 223 # FROM artist
faf62551 224
d676881f 225Note that the C< as > attribute has absolutely nothing to with the sql
226syntax C< SELECT foo AS bar > (see the documentation in
227L<DBIx::Class::ResultSet/ATTRIBUTES>). If your alias exists as a
228column in your base class (i.e. it was added with C<add_columns>), you
229just access it as normal. Our C<Artist> class has a C<name> column, so
230we just use the C<name> accessor:
faf62551 231
bade79c4 232 my $artist = $rs->first();
233 my $name = $artist->name();
faf62551 234
235If on the other hand the alias does not correspond to an existing column, you
324572ca 236have to fetch the value using the C<get_column> accessor:
faf62551 237
bade79c4 238 my $name_length = $artist->get_column('name_length');
faf62551 239
bade79c4 240If you don't like using C<get_column>, you can always create an accessor for
faf62551 241any of your aliases using either of these:
242
bade79c4 243 # Define accessor manually:
244 sub name_length { shift->get_column('name_length'); }
faf62551 245
bade79c4 246 # Or use DBIx::Class::AccessorGroup:
247 __PACKAGE__->mk_group_accessors('column' => 'name_length');
faf62551 248
d2f3e87b 249=head2 SELECT DISTINCT with multiple columns
faf62551 250
bade79c4 251 my $rs = $schema->resultset('Foo')->search(
324572ca 252 {},
bade79c4 253 {
254 select => [
255 { distinct => [ $source->columns ] }
256 ],
d676881f 257 as => [ $source->columns ] # remember 'as' is not the same as SQL AS :-)
bade79c4 258 }
259 );
faf62551 260
d2f3e87b 261=head2 SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT colname)
6607ee1b 262
bade79c4 263 my $rs = $schema->resultset('Foo')->search(
324572ca 264 {},
bade79c4 265 {
266 select => [
267 { count => { distinct => 'colname' } }
268 ],
269 as => [ 'count' ]
270 }
271 );
6607ee1b 272
3d565896 273 my $count = $rs->next->get_column('count');
274
d2f3e87b 275=head2 Grouping results
bade79c4 276
277L<DBIx::Class> supports C<GROUP BY> as follows:
278
279 my $rs = $schema->resultset('Artist')->search(
324572ca 280 {},
bade79c4 281 {
282 join => [qw/ cds /],
51458a6a 283 select => [ 'name', { count => 'cds.id' } ],
bade79c4 284 as => [qw/ name cd_count /],
285 group_by => [qw/ name /]
286 }
287 );
6607ee1b 288
bade79c4 289 # Equivalent SQL:
51458a6a 290 # SELECT name, COUNT( cd.id ) FROM artist
291 # LEFT JOIN cd ON artist.id = cd.artist
bade79c4 292 # GROUP BY name
6607ee1b 293
d676881f 294Please see L<DBIx::Class::ResultSet/ATTRIBUTES> documentation if you
295are in any way unsure about the use of the attributes above (C< join
296>, C< select >, C< as > and C< group_by >).
297
03834f77 298=head2 Subqueries
299
300You can write subqueries relatively easily in DBIC.
301
302 my $inside_rs = $schema->resultset('Artist')->search({
303 name => [ 'Billy Joel', 'Brittany Spears' ],
304 });
305
68a797c1 306 my $rs = $schema->resultset('CD')->search({
03834f77 307 artist_id => { 'IN' => $inside_rs->get_column('id')->as_query },
308 });
309
310The usual operators ( =, !=, IN, NOT IN, etc) are supported.
311
312B<NOTE>: You have to explicitly use '=' when doing an equality comparison.
313The following will B<not> work:
314
68a797c1 315 my $rs = $schema->resultset('CD')->search({
03834f77 316 artist_id => $inside_rs->get_column('id')->as_query,
317 });
318
68a797c1 319=head3 Correlated subqueries
320
321 my $cdrs = $schema->resultset('CD');
322 my $rs = $cdrs->search({
323 year => {
324 '=' => $cdrs->search(
325 { artistid => { '=' => \'me.artistid' } },
326 { alias => 'inner' }
327 )->get_column('year')->max_rs->as_query,
328 },
329 });
330
331That creates the following SQL:
332
333 SELECT me.cdid, me.artist, me.title, me.year, me.genreid, me.single_track
334 FROM cd me
335 WHERE year = (
336 SELECT MAX(inner.year)
337 FROM cd inner
338 WHERE artistid = me.artistid
339 )
340
78c94b91 341=head2 Where subqueries will work
342
343Currently, subqueries will B<only> work in the where-clause of a search. In
344other words, in the first hashref of a search() method. Work is being done
345to make them work as part of the second hashref (from, select, +select, etc).
346
d2f3e87b 347=head2 Predefined searches
74dc2edc 348
324572ca 349You can write your own L<DBIx::Class::ResultSet> class by inheriting from it
74dc2edc 350and define often used searches as methods:
351
352 package My::DBIC::ResultSet::CD;
353 use strict;
354 use warnings;
355 use base 'DBIx::Class::ResultSet';
356
357 sub search_cds_ordered {
358 my ($self) = @_;
359
360 return $self->search(
361 {},
362 { order_by => 'name DESC' },
363 );
364 }
365
366 1;
367
368To use your resultset, first tell DBIx::Class to create an instance of it
369for you, in your My::DBIC::Schema::CD class:
370
9dc1bfce 371 # class definition as normal
372 __PACKAGE__->load_components(qw/ Core /);
373 __PACKAGE__->table('cd');
374
375 # tell DBIC to use the custom ResultSet class
74dc2edc 376 __PACKAGE__->resultset_class('My::DBIC::ResultSet::CD');
377
9dc1bfce 378Note that C<resultset_class> must be called after C<load_components> and C<table>, or you will get errors about missing methods.
379
74dc2edc 380Then call your new method in your code:
381
382 my $ordered_cds = $schema->resultset('CD')->search_cds_ordered();
383
d2f3e87b 384=head2 Using SQL functions on the left hand side of a comparison
1c133e22 385
386Using SQL functions on the left hand side of a comparison is generally
387not a good idea since it requires a scan of the entire table. However,
388it can be accomplished with C<DBIx::Class> when necessary.
389
390If you do not have quoting on, simply include the function in your search
391specification as you would any column:
392
393 $rs->search({ 'YEAR(date_of_birth)' => 1979 });
394
395With quoting on, or for a more portable solution, use the C<where>
396attribute:
397
398 $rs->search({}, { where => \'YEAR(date_of_birth) = 1979' });
399
400=begin hidden
401
402(When the bind args ordering bug is fixed, this technique will be better
403and can replace the one above.)
404
405With quoting on, or for a more portable solution, use the C<where> and
406C<bind> attributes:
407
408 $rs->search({}, {
409 where => \'YEAR(date_of_birth) = ?',
410 bind => [ 1979 ]
411 });
412
413=end hidden
414
d2f3e87b 415=head1 JOINS AND PREFETCHING
416
87980de7 417=head2 Using joins and prefetch
418
bade79c4 419You can use the C<join> attribute to allow searching on, or sorting your
420results by, one or more columns in a related table. To return all CDs matching
421a particular artist name:
ea6309e2 422
bade79c4 423 my $rs = $schema->resultset('CD')->search(
424 {
425 'artist.name' => 'Bob Marley'
426 },
427 {
51458a6a 428 join => 'artist', # join the artist table
bade79c4 429 }
430 );
431
432 # Equivalent SQL:
433 # SELECT cd.* FROM cd
434 # JOIN artist ON cd.artist = artist.id
435 # WHERE artist.name = 'Bob Marley'
436
437If required, you can now sort on any column in the related tables by including
438it in your C<order_by> attribute:
439
440 my $rs = $schema->resultset('CD')->search(
441 {
442 'artist.name' => 'Bob Marley'
443 },
444 {
51458a6a 445 join => 'artist',
bade79c4 446 order_by => [qw/ artist.name /]
447 }
2f81ed0f 448 );
ea6309e2 449
bade79c4 450 # Equivalent SQL:
451 # SELECT cd.* FROM cd
452 # JOIN artist ON cd.artist = artist.id
453 # WHERE artist.name = 'Bob Marley'
454 # ORDER BY artist.name
ea6309e2 455
bade79c4 456Note that the C<join> attribute should only be used when you need to search or
457sort using columns in a related table. Joining related tables when you only
458need columns from the main table will make performance worse!
ea6309e2 459
bade79c4 460Now let's say you want to display a list of CDs, each with the name of the
461artist. The following will work fine:
ea6309e2 462
bade79c4 463 while (my $cd = $rs->next) {
464 print "CD: " . $cd->title . ", Artist: " . $cd->artist->name;
465 }
ea6309e2 466
bade79c4 467There is a problem however. We have searched both the C<cd> and C<artist> tables
468in our main query, but we have only returned data from the C<cd> table. To get
469the artist name for any of the CD objects returned, L<DBIx::Class> will go back
470to the database:
ea6309e2 471
bade79c4 472 SELECT artist.* FROM artist WHERE artist.id = ?
ea6309e2 473
474A statement like the one above will run for each and every CD returned by our
475main query. Five CDs, five extra queries. A hundred CDs, one hundred extra
476queries!
477
bade79c4 478Thankfully, L<DBIx::Class> has a C<prefetch> attribute to solve this problem.
897342e4 479This allows you to fetch results from related tables in advance:
ea6309e2 480
bade79c4 481 my $rs = $schema->resultset('CD')->search(
482 {
483 'artist.name' => 'Bob Marley'
484 },
485 {
51458a6a 486 join => 'artist',
bade79c4 487 order_by => [qw/ artist.name /],
51458a6a 488 prefetch => 'artist' # return artist data too!
bade79c4 489 }
490 );
ea6309e2 491
bade79c4 492 # Equivalent SQL (note SELECT from both "cd" and "artist"):
493 # SELECT cd.*, artist.* FROM cd
494 # JOIN artist ON cd.artist = artist.id
495 # WHERE artist.name = 'Bob Marley'
496 # ORDER BY artist.name
ea6309e2 497
498The code to print the CD list remains the same:
499
bade79c4 500 while (my $cd = $rs->next) {
501 print "CD: " . $cd->title . ", Artist: " . $cd->artist->name;
502 }
ea6309e2 503
bade79c4 504L<DBIx::Class> has now prefetched all matching data from the C<artist> table,
ea6309e2 505so no additional SQL statements are executed. You now have a much more
506efficient query.
507
77d6b403 508Note that as of L<DBIx::Class> 0.05999_01, C<prefetch> I<can> be used with
509C<has_many> relationships.
ea6309e2 510
bade79c4 511Also note that C<prefetch> should only be used when you know you will
ea6309e2 512definitely use data from a related table. Pre-fetching related tables when you
513only need columns from the main table will make performance worse!
514
51458a6a 515=head2 Multiple joins
516
517In the examples above, the C<join> attribute was a scalar. If you
518pass an array reference instead, you can join to multiple tables. In
519this example, we want to limit the search further, using
520C<LinerNotes>:
521
522 # Relationships defined elsewhere:
523 # CD->belongs_to('artist' => 'Artist');
524 # CD->has_one('liner_notes' => 'LinerNotes', 'cd');
525 my $rs = $schema->resultset('CD')->search(
526 {
527 'artist.name' => 'Bob Marley'
528 'liner_notes.notes' => { 'like', '%some text%' },
529 },
530 {
531 join => [qw/ artist liner_notes /],
532 order_by => [qw/ artist.name /],
533 }
534 );
535
536 # Equivalent SQL:
537 # SELECT cd.*, artist.*, liner_notes.* FROM cd
538 # JOIN artist ON cd.artist = artist.id
539 # JOIN liner_notes ON cd.id = liner_notes.cd
540 # WHERE artist.name = 'Bob Marley'
541 # ORDER BY artist.name
542
d2f3e87b 543=head2 Multi-step joins
ea6309e2 544
545Sometimes you want to join more than one relationship deep. In this example,
bade79c4 546we want to find all C<Artist> objects who have C<CD>s whose C<LinerNotes>
547contain a specific string:
548
549 # Relationships defined elsewhere:
550 # Artist->has_many('cds' => 'CD', 'artist');
551 # CD->has_one('liner_notes' => 'LinerNotes', 'cd');
552
553 my $rs = $schema->resultset('Artist')->search(
554 {
555 'liner_notes.notes' => { 'like', '%some text%' },
556 },
557 {
558 join => {
559 'cds' => 'liner_notes'
560 }
561 }
562 );
ea6309e2 563
bade79c4 564 # Equivalent SQL:
565 # SELECT artist.* FROM artist
51458a6a 566 # LEFT JOIN cd ON artist.id = cd.artist
567 # LEFT JOIN liner_notes ON cd.id = liner_notes.cd
bade79c4 568 # WHERE liner_notes.notes LIKE '%some text%'
ea6309e2 569
570Joins can be nested to an arbitrary level. So if we decide later that we
571want to reduce the number of Artists returned based on who wrote the liner
572notes:
573
bade79c4 574 # Relationship defined elsewhere:
575 # LinerNotes->belongs_to('author' => 'Person');
576
577 my $rs = $schema->resultset('Artist')->search(
578 {
579 'liner_notes.notes' => { 'like', '%some text%' },
580 'author.name' => 'A. Writer'
581 },
582 {
583 join => {
584 'cds' => {
585 'liner_notes' => 'author'
ea6309e2 586 }
bade79c4 587 }
588 }
589 );
ea6309e2 590
bade79c4 591 # Equivalent SQL:
592 # SELECT artist.* FROM artist
51458a6a 593 # LEFT JOIN cd ON artist.id = cd.artist
594 # LEFT JOIN liner_notes ON cd.id = liner_notes.cd
595 # LEFT JOIN author ON author.id = liner_notes.author
bade79c4 596 # WHERE liner_notes.notes LIKE '%some text%'
597 # AND author.name = 'A. Writer'
87980de7 598
51458a6a 599=head2 Multi-step and multiple joins
600
601With various combinations of array and hash references, you can join
602tables in any combination you desire. For example, to join Artist to
603CD and Concert, and join CD to LinerNotes:
604
605 # Relationships defined elsewhere:
606 # Artist->has_many('concerts' => 'Concert', 'artist');
607
608 my $rs = $schema->resultset('Artist')->search(
609 { },
610 {
611 join => [
612 {
613 cds => 'liner_notes'
614 },
615 'concerts'
616 ],
617 }
618 );
619
620 # Equivalent SQL:
621 # SELECT artist.* FROM artist
622 # LEFT JOIN cd ON artist.id = cd.artist
623 # LEFT JOIN liner_notes ON cd.id = liner_notes.cd
624 # LEFT JOIN concert ON artist.id = concert.artist
625
897342e4 626=head2 Multi-step prefetch
627
628From 0.04999_05 onwards, C<prefetch> can be nested more than one relationship
629deep using the same syntax as a multi-step join:
630
631 my $rs = $schema->resultset('Tag')->search(
ac2803ef 632 {},
897342e4 633 {
634 prefetch => {
635 cd => 'artist'
636 }
637 }
638 );
639
640 # Equivalent SQL:
641 # SELECT tag.*, cd.*, artist.* FROM tag
51458a6a 642 # JOIN cd ON tag.cd = cd.id
643 # JOIN artist ON cd.artist = artist.id
897342e4 644
645Now accessing our C<cd> and C<artist> relationships does not need additional
646SQL statements:
647
648 my $tag = $rs->first;
649 print $tag->cd->artist->name;
650
d2f3e87b 651=head1 ROW-LEVEL OPERATIONS
652
653=head2 Retrieving a row object's Schema
654
655It is possible to get a Schema object from a row object like so:
656
657 my $schema = $cd->result_source->schema;
658 # use the schema as normal:
659 my $artist_rs = $schema->resultset('Artist');
660
661This can be useful when you don't want to pass around a Schema object to every
662method.
663
664=head2 Getting the value of the primary key for the last database insert
665
666AKA getting last_insert_id
667
668If you are using PK::Auto (which is a core component as of 0.07), this is
669straightforward:
670
671 my $foo = $rs->create(\%blah);
672 # do more stuff
673 my $id = $foo->id; # foo->my_primary_key_field will also work.
674
675If you are not using autoincrementing primary keys, this will probably
676not work, but then you already know the value of the last primary key anyway.
677
678=head2 Stringification
679
680Employ the standard stringification technique by using the C<overload>
681module.
682
683To make an object stringify itself as a single column, use something
684like this (replace C<foo> with the column/method of your choice):
685
686 use overload '""' => sub { shift->name}, fallback => 1;
687
688For more complex stringification, you can use an anonymous subroutine:
689
690 use overload '""' => sub { $_[0]->name . ", " .
691 $_[0]->address }, fallback => 1;
692
693=head3 Stringification Example
694
695Suppose we have two tables: C<Product> and C<Category>. The table
696specifications are:
697
698 Product(id, Description, category)
699 Category(id, Description)
700
701C<category> is a foreign key into the Category table.
702
703If you have a Product object C<$obj> and write something like
704
705 print $obj->category
706
707things will not work as expected.
708
709To obtain, for example, the category description, you should add this
710method to the class defining the Category table:
711
712 use overload "" => sub {
713 my $self = shift;
714
715 return $self->Description;
716 }, fallback => 1;
717
718=head2 Want to know if find_or_create found or created a row?
719
720Just use C<find_or_new> instead, then check C<in_storage>:
721
722 my $obj = $rs->find_or_new({ blah => 'blarg' });
723 unless ($obj->in_storage) {
724 $obj->insert;
725 # do whatever else you wanted if it was a new row
726 }
727
728=head2 Dynamic Sub-classing DBIx::Class proxy classes
729
730AKA multi-class object inflation from one table
731
732L<DBIx::Class> classes are proxy classes, therefore some different
733techniques need to be employed for more than basic subclassing. In
734this example we have a single user table that carries a boolean bit
735for admin. We would like like to give the admin users
736objects(L<DBIx::Class::Row>) the same methods as a regular user but
737also special admin only methods. It doesn't make sense to create two
738seperate proxy-class files for this. We would be copying all the user
739methods into the Admin class. There is a cleaner way to accomplish
740this.
741
742Overriding the C<inflate_result> method within the User proxy-class
743gives us the effect we want. This method is called by
744L<DBIx::Class::ResultSet> when inflating a result from storage. So we
745grab the object being returned, inspect the values we are looking for,
746bless it if it's an admin object, and then return it. See the example
747below:
748
749B<Schema Definition>
750
751 package DB::Schema;
752
753 use base qw/DBIx::Class::Schema/;
754
755 __PACKAGE__->load_classes(qw/User/);
756
757
758B<Proxy-Class definitions>
759
760 package DB::Schema::User;
761
762 use strict;
763 use warnings;
764 use base qw/DBIx::Class/;
765
766 ### Defined what our admin class is for ensure_class_loaded
767 my $admin_class = __PACKAGE__ . '::Admin';
768
769 __PACKAGE__->load_components(qw/Core/);
770
771 __PACKAGE__->table('users');
772
773 __PACKAGE__->add_columns(qw/user_id email password
774 firstname lastname active
775 admin/);
776
777 __PACKAGE__->set_primary_key('user_id');
778
779 sub inflate_result {
780 my $self = shift;
781 my $ret = $self->next::method(@_);
782 if( $ret->admin ) {### If this is an admin rebless for extra functions
783 $self->ensure_class_loaded( $admin_class );
784 bless $ret, $admin_class;
785 }
786 return $ret;
787 }
788
789 sub hello {
790 print "I am a regular user.\n";
791 return ;
792 }
793
794
795 package DB::Schema::User::Admin;
796
797 use strict;
798 use warnings;
799 use base qw/DB::Schema::User/;
800
801 sub hello
802 {
803 print "I am an admin.\n";
804 return;
805 }
806
807 sub do_admin_stuff
808 {
809 print "I am doing admin stuff\n";
810 return ;
811 }
812
813B<Test File> test.pl
814
815 use warnings;
816 use strict;
817 use DB::Schema;
818
819 my $user_data = { email => 'someguy@place.com',
820 password => 'pass1',
821 admin => 0 };
822
823 my $admin_data = { email => 'someadmin@adminplace.com',
824 password => 'pass2',
825 admin => 1 };
826
827 my $schema = DB::Schema->connection('dbi:Pg:dbname=test');
828
829 $schema->resultset('User')->create( $user_data );
830 $schema->resultset('User')->create( $admin_data );
831
832 ### Now we search for them
833 my $user = $schema->resultset('User')->single( $user_data );
834 my $admin = $schema->resultset('User')->single( $admin_data );
835
836 print ref $user, "\n";
837 print ref $admin, "\n";
838
839 print $user->password , "\n"; # pass1
840 print $admin->password , "\n";# pass2; inherited from User
841 print $user->hello , "\n";# I am a regular user.
842 print $admin->hello, "\n";# I am an admin.
843
844 ### The statement below will NOT print
845 print "I can do admin stuff\n" if $user->can('do_admin_stuff');
846 ### The statement below will print
847 print "I can do admin stuff\n" if $admin->can('do_admin_stuff');
848
a5b29361 849=head2 Skip row object creation for faster results
d2f3e87b 850
851DBIx::Class is not built for speed, it's built for convenience and
852ease of use, but sometimes you just need to get the data, and skip the
853fancy objects.
854
855To do this simply use L<DBIx::Class::ResultClass::HashRefInflator>.
856
857 my $rs = $schema->resultset('CD');
858
859 $rs->result_class('DBIx::Class::ResultClass::HashRefInflator');
860
861 my $hash_ref = $rs->find(1);
a5b29361 862
d2f3e87b 863Wasn't that easy?
bc96f260 864
d2f3e87b 865=head2 Get raw data for blindingly fast results
866
867If the L<HashRefInflator|DBIx::Class::ResultClass::HashRefInflator> solution
868above is not fast enough for you, you can use a DBIx::Class to return values
869exactly as they come out of the data base with none of the convenience methods
870wrapped round them.
871
2d7d8459 872This is used like so:
d2f3e87b 873
874 my $cursor = $rs->cursor
875 while (my @vals = $cursor->next) {
876 # use $val[0..n] here
877 }
878
879You will need to map the array offsets to particular columns (you can
880use the I<select> attribute of C<search()> to force ordering).
881
882=head1 RESULTSET OPERATIONS
883
884=head2 Getting Schema from a ResultSet
885
886To get the schema object from a result set, do the following:
887
888 $rs->result_source->schema
889
890=head2 Getting Columns Of Data
891
892AKA Aggregating Data
ac2803ef 893
894If you want to find the sum of a particular column there are several
895ways, the obvious one is to use search:
896
897 my $rs = $schema->resultset('Items')->search(
898 {},
899 {
900 select => [ { sum => 'Cost' } ],
d676881f 901 as => [ 'total_cost' ], # remember this 'as' is for DBIx::Class::ResultSet not SQL
ac2803ef 902 }
903 );
904 my $tc = $rs->first->get_column('total_cost');
905
906Or, you can use the L<DBIx::Class::ResultSetColumn>, which gets
907returned when you ask the C<ResultSet> for a column using
908C<get_column>:
909
910 my $cost = $schema->resultset('Items')->get_column('Cost');
911 my $tc = $cost->sum;
912
913With this you can also do:
914
915 my $minvalue = $cost->min;
916 my $maxvalue = $cost->max;
917
918Or just iterate through the values of this column only:
919
920 while ( my $c = $cost->next ) {
921 print $c;
922 }
923
924 foreach my $c ($cost->all) {
925 print $c;
926 }
927
709353af 928C<ResultSetColumn> only has a limited number of built-in functions, if
929you need one that it doesn't have, then you can use the C<func> method
930instead:
931
932 my $avg = $cost->func('AVERAGE');
933
934This will cause the following SQL statement to be run:
935
936 SELECT AVERAGE(Cost) FROM Items me
937
938Which will of course only work if your database supports this function.
ac2803ef 939See L<DBIx::Class::ResultSetColumn> for more documentation.
940
204e5c03 941=head2 Creating a result set from a set of rows
942
943Sometimes you have a (set of) row objects that you want to put into a
944resultset without the need to hit the DB again. You can do that by using the
945L<set_cache|DBIx::Class::Resultset/set_cache> method:
946
2d7a4e46 947 my @uploadable_groups;
204e5c03 948 while (my $group = $groups->next) {
949 if ($group->can_upload($self)) {
950 push @uploadable_groups, $group;
951 }
952 }
953 my $new_rs = $self->result_source->resultset;
954 $new_rs->set_cache(\@uploadable_groups);
955 return $new_rs;
956
957
d2f3e87b 958=head1 USING RELATIONSHIPS
acee4e4d 959
d2f3e87b 960=head2 Create a new row in a related table
acee4e4d 961
6f1434fd 962 my $author = $book->create_related('author', { name => 'Fred'});
acee4e4d 963
d2f3e87b 964=head2 Search in a related table
acee4e4d 965
966Only searches for books named 'Titanic' by the author in $author.
967
6f1434fd 968 my $books_rs = $author->search_related('books', { name => 'Titanic' });
acee4e4d 969
d2f3e87b 970=head2 Delete data in a related table
acee4e4d 971
972Deletes only the book named Titanic by the author in $author.
973
6f1434fd 974 $author->delete_related('books', { name => 'Titanic' });
acee4e4d 975
d2f3e87b 976=head2 Ordering a relationship result set
f8bad769 977
978If you always want a relation to be ordered, you can specify this when you
979create the relationship.
980
6f1434fd 981To order C<< $book->pages >> by descending page_number, create the relation
982as follows:
f8bad769 983
6f1434fd 984 __PACKAGE__->has_many('pages' => 'Page', 'book', { order_by => \'page_number DESC'} );
f8bad769 985
7c0825ab 986=head2 Filtering a relationship result set
987
988If you want to get a filtered result set, you can just add add to $attr as follows:
989
990 __PACKAGE__->has_many('pages' => 'Page', 'book', { where => { scrap => 0 } } );
991
d2f3e87b 992=head2 Many-to-many relationships
f8bad769 993
d2f3e87b 994This is straightforward using L<ManyToMany|DBIx::Class::Relationship/many_to_many>:
f8bad769 995
d2f3e87b 996 package My::User;
6f1434fd 997 use base 'DBIx::Class';
998 __PACKAGE__->load_components('Core');
d2f3e87b 999 __PACKAGE__->table('user');
1000 __PACKAGE__->add_columns(qw/id name/);
1001 __PACKAGE__->set_primary_key('id');
1002 __PACKAGE__->has_many('user_address' => 'My::UserAddress', 'user');
1003 __PACKAGE__->many_to_many('addresses' => 'user_address', 'address');
87980de7 1004
d2f3e87b 1005 package My::UserAddress;
6f1434fd 1006 use base 'DBIx::Class';
1007 __PACKAGE__->load_components('Core');
d2f3e87b 1008 __PACKAGE__->table('user_address');
1009 __PACKAGE__->add_columns(qw/user address/);
1010 __PACKAGE__->set_primary_key(qw/user address/);
1011 __PACKAGE__->belongs_to('user' => 'My::User');
1012 __PACKAGE__->belongs_to('address' => 'My::Address');
181a28f4 1013
d2f3e87b 1014 package My::Address;
6f1434fd 1015 use base 'DBIx::Class';
1016 __PACKAGE__->load_components('Core');
d2f3e87b 1017 __PACKAGE__->table('address');
1018 __PACKAGE__->add_columns(qw/id street town area_code country/);
1019 __PACKAGE__->set_primary_key('id');
1020 __PACKAGE__->has_many('user_address' => 'My::UserAddress', 'address');
1021 __PACKAGE__->many_to_many('users' => 'user_address', 'user');
1022
1023 $rs = $user->addresses(); # get all addresses for a user
1024 $rs = $address->users(); # get all users for an address
1025
1026=head1 TRANSACTIONS
1027
1028As of version 0.04001, there is improved transaction support in
1029L<DBIx::Class::Storage> and L<DBIx::Class::Schema>. Here is an
1030example of the recommended way to use it:
1031
1032 my $genus = $schema->resultset('Genus')->find(12);
1033
1034 my $coderef2 = sub {
1035 $genus->extinct(1);
1036 $genus->update;
1037 };
70634260 1038
181a28f4 1039 my $coderef1 = sub {
35d4fe78 1040 $genus->add_to_species({ name => 'troglodyte' });
1041 $genus->wings(2);
1042 $genus->update;
6f1434fd 1043 $schema->txn_do($coderef2); # Can have a nested transaction. Only the outer will actualy commit
181a28f4 1044 return $genus->species;
1045 };
1046
181a28f4 1047 my $rs;
1048 eval {
70634260 1049 $rs = $schema->txn_do($coderef1);
181a28f4 1050 };
1051
1052 if ($@) { # Transaction failed
1053 die "the sky is falling!" #
1054 if ($@ =~ /Rollback failed/); # Rollback failed
1055
1056 deal_with_failed_transaction();
35d4fe78 1057 }
87980de7 1058
181a28f4 1059Nested transactions will work as expected. That is, only the outermost
1060transaction will actually issue a commit to the $dbh, and a rollback
1061at any level of any transaction will cause the entire nested
1062transaction to fail. Support for savepoints and for true nested
40dbc108 1063transactions (for databases that support them) will hopefully be added
1064in the future.
ee38fa40 1065
d2f3e87b 1066=head1 SQL
ee38fa40 1067
d2f3e87b 1068=head2 Creating Schemas From An Existing Database
ea6309e2 1069
d2f3e87b 1070L<DBIx::Class::Schema::Loader> will connect to a database and create a
1071L<DBIx::Class::Schema> and associated sources by examining the database.
bade79c4 1072
d2f3e87b 1073The recommend way of achieving this is to use the
1074L<make_schema_at|DBIx::Class::Schema::Loader/make_schema_at> method:
bade79c4 1075
6f1434fd 1076 perl -MDBIx::Class::Schema::Loader=make_schema_at,dump_to_dir:./lib \
1077 -e 'make_schema_at("My::Schema", { debug => 1 }, [ "dbi:Pg:dbname=foo","postgres" ])'
362500af 1078
d2f3e87b 1079This will create a tree of files rooted at C<./lib/My/Schema/> containing
1080source definitions for all the tables found in the C<foo> database.
362500af 1081
d2f3e87b 1082=head2 Creating DDL SQL
362500af 1083
264f1571 1084The following functionality requires you to have L<SQL::Translator>
1085(also known as "SQL Fairy") installed.
362500af 1086
264f1571 1087To create a set of database-specific .sql files for the above schema:
362500af 1088
264f1571 1089 my $schema = My::Schema->connect($dsn);
1090 $schema->create_ddl_dir(['MySQL', 'SQLite', 'PostgreSQL'],
1091 '0.1',
d2f3e87b 1092 './dbscriptdir/'
264f1571 1093 );
1094
1095By default this will create schema files in the current directory, for
1096MySQL, SQLite and PostgreSQL, using the $VERSION from your Schema.pm.
1097
1098To create a new database using the schema:
1099
1100 my $schema = My::Schema->connect($dsn);
1101 $schema->deploy({ add_drop_tables => 1});
1102
1103To import created .sql files using the mysql client:
1104
1105 mysql -h "host" -D "database" -u "user" -p < My_Schema_1.0_MySQL.sql
1106
1107To create C<ALTER TABLE> conversion scripts to update a database to a
1108newer version of your schema at a later point, first set a new
d2f3e87b 1109C<$VERSION> in your Schema file, then:
264f1571 1110
1111 my $schema = My::Schema->connect($dsn);
1112 $schema->create_ddl_dir(['MySQL', 'SQLite', 'PostgreSQL'],
1113 '0.2',
1114 '/dbscriptdir/',
1115 '0.1'
1116 );
1117
1118This will produce new database-specific .sql files for the new version
1119of the schema, plus scripts to convert from version 0.1 to 0.2. This
1120requires that the files for 0.1 as created above are available in the
1121given directory to diff against.
362500af 1122
6f1434fd 1123=head2 Select from dual
16cd5b28 1124
1125Dummy tables are needed by some databases to allow calling functions
1126or expressions that aren't based on table content, for examples of how
1127this applies to various database types, see:
1128L<http://troels.arvin.dk/db/rdbms/#other-dummy_table>.
1129
1130Note: If you're using Oracles dual table don't B<ever> do anything
1131other than a select, if you CRUD on your dual table you *will* break
1132your database.
1133
1134Make a table class as you would for any other table
1135
1136 package MyAppDB::Dual;
1137 use strict;
1138 use warnings;
1139 use base 'DBIx::Class';
1140 __PACKAGE__->load_components("Core");
1141 __PACKAGE__->table("Dual");
1142 __PACKAGE__->add_columns(
1143 "dummy",
1144 { data_type => "VARCHAR2", is_nullable => 0, size => 1 },
1145 );
1146
1147Once you've loaded your table class select from it using C<select>
1148and C<as> instead of C<columns>
1149
1150 my $rs = $schema->resultset('Dual')->search(undef,
1151 { select => [ 'sydate' ],
1152 as => [ 'now' ]
1153 },
1154 );
1155
1156All you have to do now is be careful how you access your resultset, the below
1157will not work because there is no column called 'now' in the Dual table class
1158
1159 while (my $dual = $rs->next) {
1160 print $dual->now."\n";
1161 }
6f1434fd 1162 # Can't locate object method "now" via package "MyAppDB::Dual" at headshot.pl line 23.
16cd5b28 1163
1164You could of course use 'dummy' in C<as> instead of 'now', or C<add_columns> to
1165your Dual class for whatever you wanted to select from dual, but that's just
1166silly, instead use C<get_column>
1167
1168 while (my $dual = $rs->next) {
1169 print $dual->get_column('now')."\n";
1170 }
1171
1172Or use C<cursor>
1173
1174 my $cursor = $rs->cursor;
1175 while (my @vals = $cursor->next) {
1176 print $vals[0]."\n";
1177 }
1178
1179Or use L<DBIx::Class::ResultClass::HashRefInflator>
1180
1181 $rs->result_class('DBIx::Class::ResultClass::HashRefInflator');
1182 while ( my $dual = $rs->next ) {
1183 print $dual->{now}."\n";
1184 }
1185
1186Here are some example C<select> conditions to illustrate the different syntax
1187you could use for doing stuff like
1188C<oracles.heavily(nested(functions_can('take', 'lots'), OF), 'args')>
1189
1190 # get a sequence value
1191 select => [ 'A_SEQ.nextval' ],
1192
1193 # get create table sql
1194 select => [ { 'dbms_metadata.get_ddl' => [ "'TABLE'", "'ARTIST'" ]} ],
1195
1196 # get a random num between 0 and 100
1197 select => [ { "trunc" => [ { "dbms_random.value" => [0,100] } ]} ],
1198
1199 # what year is it?
1200 select => [ { 'extract' => [ \'year from sysdate' ] } ],
1201
1202 # do some math
1203 select => [ {'round' => [{'cos' => [ \'180 * 3.14159265359/180' ]}]}],
1204
1205 # which day of the week were you born on?
6f1434fd 1206 select => [{'to_char' => [{'to_date' => [ "'25-DEC-1980'", "'dd-mon-yyyy'" ]}, "'day'"]}],
16cd5b28 1207
1208 # select 16 rows from dual
1209 select => [ "'hello'" ],
1210 as => [ 'world' ],
1211 group_by => [ 'cube( 1, 2, 3, 4 )' ],
1212
1213
1214
d2f3e87b 1215=head2 Adding Indexes And Functions To Your SQL
362500af 1216
d2f3e87b 1217Often you will want indexes on columns on your table to speed up searching. To
1218do this, create a method called C<sqlt_deploy_hook> in the relevant source
2d7d8459 1219class (refer to the advanced
1220L<callback system|DBIx::Class::ResultSource/sqlt_deploy_callback> if you wish
1221to share a hook between multiple sources):
b0a20454 1222
d2f3e87b 1223 package My::Schema::Artist;
b0a20454 1224
d2f3e87b 1225 __PACKAGE__->table('artist');
1226 __PACKAGE__->add_columns(id => { ... }, name => { ... })
b0a20454 1227
d2f3e87b 1228 sub sqlt_deploy_hook {
1229 my ($self, $sqlt_table) = @_;
1230
1231 $sqlt_table->add_index(name => 'idx_name', fields => ['name']);
1232 }
1233
1234 1;
1235
1236Sometimes you might want to change the index depending on the type of the
1237database for which SQL is being generated:
1238
1239 my ($db_type = $sqlt_table->schema->translator->producer_type)
1240 =~ s/^SQL::Translator::Producer:://;
1241
1242You can also add hooks to the schema level to stop certain tables being
1243created:
1244
1245 package My::Schema;
1246
1247 ...
1248
1249 sub sqlt_deploy_hook {
1250 my ($self, $sqlt_schema) = @_;
1251
1252 $sqlt_schema->drop_table('table_name');
1253 }
1254
2d7d8459 1255You could also add views, procedures or triggers to the output using
1256L<SQL::Translator::Schema/add_view>,
1257L<SQL::Translator::Schema/add_procedure> or
1258L<SQL::Translator::Schema/add_trigger>.
1259
b0a20454 1260
362500af 1261=head2 Schema versioning
1262
1263The following example shows simplistically how you might use DBIx::Class to
1264deploy versioned schemas to your customers. The basic process is as follows:
1265
da4779ad 1266=over 4
1267
1268=item 1.
1269
1270Create a DBIx::Class schema
1271
1272=item 2.
1273
1274Save the schema
1275
1276=item 3.
1277
1278Deploy to customers
1279
1280=item 4.
1281
1282Modify schema to change functionality
1283
1284=item 5.
1285
1286Deploy update to customers
1287
1288=back
362500af 1289
d2f3e87b 1290B<Create a DBIx::Class schema>
362500af 1291
1292This can either be done manually, or generated from an existing database as
d2f3e87b 1293described under L</Creating Schemas From An Existing Database>
362500af 1294
d2f3e87b 1295B<Save the schema>
362500af 1296
d2f3e87b 1297Call L<DBIx::Class::Schema/create_ddl_dir> as above under L</Creating DDL SQL>.
362500af 1298
d2f3e87b 1299B<Deploy to customers>
362500af 1300
1301There are several ways you could deploy your schema. These are probably
1302beyond the scope of this recipe, but might include:
1303
da4779ad 1304=over 4
1305
1306=item 1.
1307
1308Require customer to apply manually using their RDBMS.
1309
1310=item 2.
1311
1312Package along with your app, making database dump/schema update/tests
362500af 1313all part of your install.
1314
da4779ad 1315=back
1316
d2f3e87b 1317B<Modify the schema to change functionality>
362500af 1318
264f1571 1319As your application evolves, it may be necessary to modify your schema
1320to change functionality. Once the changes are made to your schema in
1321DBIx::Class, export the modified schema and the conversion scripts as
d2f3e87b 1322in L</Creating DDL SQL>.
362500af 1323
d2f3e87b 1324B<Deploy update to customers>
362500af 1325
264f1571 1326Add the L<DBIx::Class::Schema::Versioned> schema component to your
1327Schema class. This will add a new table to your database called
ecea7937 1328C<dbix_class_schema_vesion> which will keep track of which version is installed
264f1571 1329and warn if the user trys to run a newer schema version than the
1330database thinks it has.
1331
1332Alternatively, you can send the conversion sql scripts to your
1333customers as above.
362500af 1334
d2f3e87b 1335=head2 Setting quoting for the generated SQL.
1336
1337If the database contains column names with spaces and/or reserved words, they
1338need to be quoted in the SQL queries. This is done using:
1339
1340 __PACKAGE__->storage->sql_maker->quote_char([ qw/[ ]/] );
1341 __PACKAGE__->storage->sql_maker->name_sep('.');
1342
1343The first sets the quote characters. Either a pair of matching
1344brackets, or a C<"> or C<'>:
1345
1346 __PACKAGE__->storage->sql_maker->quote_char('"');
1347
1348Check the documentation of your database for the correct quote
1349characters to use. C<name_sep> needs to be set to allow the SQL
1350generator to put the quotes the correct place.
1351
1352In most cases you should set these as part of the arguments passed to
d68b0c69 1353L<DBIx::Class::Schema/connect>:
d2f3e87b 1354
1355 my $schema = My::Schema->connect(
1356 'dbi:mysql:my_db',
1357 'db_user',
1358 'db_password',
1359 {
1360 quote_char => '"',
1361 name_sep => '.'
1362 }
1363 )
1364
7be93b07 1365=head2 Setting limit dialect for SQL::Abstract::Limit
1366
324572ca 1367In some cases, SQL::Abstract::Limit cannot determine the dialect of
1368the remote SQL server by looking at the database handle. This is a
1369common problem when using the DBD::JDBC, since the DBD-driver only
1370know that in has a Java-driver available, not which JDBC driver the
1371Java component has loaded. This specifically sets the limit_dialect
1372to Microsoft SQL-server (See more names in SQL::Abstract::Limit
1373-documentation.
7be93b07 1374
1375 __PACKAGE__->storage->sql_maker->limit_dialect('mssql');
1376
324572ca 1377The JDBC bridge is one way of getting access to a MSSQL server from a platform
7be93b07 1378that Microsoft doesn't deliver native client libraries for. (e.g. Linux)
1379
d2f3e87b 1380The limit dialect can also be set at connect time by specifying a
1381C<limit_dialect> key in the final hash as shown above.
2437a1e3 1382
05697a49 1383=head2 Working with PostgreSQL array types
1384
1385If your SQL::Abstract version (>= 1.50) supports it, you can assign to
1386PostgreSQL array values by passing array references in the C<\%columns>
1387(C<\%vals>) hashref of the L<DBIx::Class::ResultSet/create> and
1388L<DBIx::Class::Row/update> family of methods:
1389
1390 $resultset->create({
1391 numbers => [1, 2, 3]
1392 });
1393
1394 $row->update(
1395 {
1396 numbers => [1, 2, 3]
1397 },
1398 {
1399 day => '2008-11-24'
1400 }
1401 );
1402
1403In conditions (eg. C<\%cond> in the L<DBIx::Class::ResultSet/search> family of
1404methods) you cannot directly use array references (since this is interpreted as
1405a list of values to be C<OR>ed), but you can use the following syntax to force
1406passing them as bind values:
1407
1408 $resultset->search(
1409 {
6ffb5be5 1410 numbers => \[ '= ?', [numbers => [1, 2, 3]] ]
05697a49 1411 }
1412 );
1413
1414See L<SQL::Abstract/array_datatypes> and L<SQL::Abstract/Literal SQL with
6ffb5be5 1415placeholders and bind values (subqueries)> for more explanation. Note that
1416L<DBIx::Class> sets L<SQL::Abstract/bindtype> to C<columns>, so you must pass
1417the bind values (the C<[1, 2, 3]> arrayref in the above example) wrapped in
1418arrayrefs together with the column name, like this: C<< [column_name => value]
1419>>.
05697a49 1420
d2f3e87b 1421=head1 BOOTSTRAPPING/MIGRATING
2437a1e3 1422
d2f3e87b 1423=head2 Easy migration from class-based to schema-based setup
2437a1e3 1424
d2f3e87b 1425You want to start using the schema-based approach to L<DBIx::Class>
1426(see L<SchemaIntro.pod>), but have an established class-based setup with lots
1427of existing classes that you don't want to move by hand. Try this nifty script
1428instead:
1429
1430 use MyDB;
1431 use SQL::Translator;
1432
1433 my $schema = MyDB->schema_instance;
2437a1e3 1434
d2f3e87b 1435 my $translator = SQL::Translator->new(
1436 debug => $debug || 0,
1437 trace => $trace || 0,
1438 no_comments => $no_comments || 0,
1439 show_warnings => $show_warnings || 0,
1440 add_drop_table => $add_drop_table || 0,
1441 validate => $validate || 0,
1442 parser_args => {
1443 'DBIx::Schema' => $schema,
1444 },
1445 producer_args => {
1446 'prefix' => 'My::Schema',
1447 },
1448 );
1449
1450 $translator->parser('SQL::Translator::Parser::DBIx::Class');
1451 $translator->producer('SQL::Translator::Producer::DBIx::Class::File');
1452
1453 my $output = $translator->translate(@args) or die
1454 "Error: " . $translator->error;
1455
1456 print $output;
2437a1e3 1457
d2f3e87b 1458You could use L<Module::Find> to search for all subclasses in the MyDB::*
1459namespace, which is currently left as an exercise for the reader.
2437a1e3 1460
d2f3e87b 1461=head1 OVERLOADING METHODS
086b93a2 1462
ab872312 1463L<DBIx::Class> uses the L<Class::C3> package, which provides for redispatch of
1464method calls, useful for things like default values and triggers. You have to
1465use calls to C<next::method> to overload methods. More information on using
1466L<Class::C3> with L<DBIx::Class> can be found in
086b93a2 1467L<DBIx::Class::Manual::Component>.
1468
d2f3e87b 1469=head2 Setting default values for a row
1470
1471It's as simple as overriding the C<new> method. Note the use of
1472C<next::method>.
1473
1474 sub new {
1475 my ( $class, $attrs ) = @_;
1476
1477 $attrs->{foo} = 'bar' unless defined $attrs->{foo};
1478
1479 my $new = $class->next::method($attrs);
1480
1481 return $new;
1482 }
1483
1484For more information about C<next::method>, look in the L<Class::C3>
1485documentation. See also L<DBIx::Class::Manual::Component> for more
1486ways to write your own base classes to do this.
1487
1488People looking for ways to do "triggers" with DBIx::Class are probably
1489just looking for this.
1490
1491=head2 Changing one field whenever another changes
086b93a2 1492
1493For example, say that you have three columns, C<id>, C<number>, and
1494C<squared>. You would like to make changes to C<number> and have
1495C<squared> be automagically set to the value of C<number> squared.
1496You can accomplish this by overriding C<store_column>:
1497
1498 sub store_column {
1499 my ( $self, $name, $value ) = @_;
1500 if ($name eq 'number') {
1501 $self->squared($value * $value);
1502 }
1503 $self->next::method($name, $value);
1504 }
1505
1506Note that the hard work is done by the call to C<next::method>, which
324572ca 1507redispatches your call to store_column in the superclass(es).
086b93a2 1508
d2f3e87b 1509=head2 Automatically creating related objects
086b93a2 1510
324572ca 1511You might have a class C<Artist> which has many C<CD>s. Further, if you
086b93a2 1512want to create a C<CD> object every time you insert an C<Artist> object.
ccbebdbc 1513You can accomplish this by overriding C<insert> on your objects:
086b93a2 1514
1515 sub insert {
ccbebdbc 1516 my ( $self, @args ) = @_;
1517 $self->next::method(@args);
086b93a2 1518 $self->cds->new({})->fill_from_artist($self)->insert;
1519 return $self;
1520 }
1521
1522where C<fill_from_artist> is a method you specify in C<CD> which sets
1523values in C<CD> based on the data in the C<Artist> object you pass in.
1524
d2f3e87b 1525=head2 Wrapping/overloading a column accessor
1526
1527B<Problem:>
1528
1529Say you have a table "Camera" and want to associate a description
1530with each camera. For most cameras, you'll be able to generate the description from
1531the other columns. However, in a few special cases you may want to associate a
1532custom description with a camera.
1533
1534B<Solution:>
1535
1536In your database schema, define a description field in the "Camera" table that
1537can contain text and null values.
1538
1539In DBIC, we'll overload the column accessor to provide a sane default if no
1540custom description is defined. The accessor will either return or generate the
1541description, depending on whether the field is null or not.
1542
1543First, in your "Camera" schema class, define the description field as follows:
1544
1545 __PACKAGE__->add_columns(description => { accessor => '_description' });
1546
1547Next, we'll define the accessor-wrapper subroutine:
1548
1549 sub description {
1550 my $self = shift;
1551
1552 # If there is an update to the column, we'll let the original accessor
1553 # deal with it.
1554 return $self->_description(@_) if @_;
1555
1556 # Fetch the column value.
1557 my $description = $self->_description;
1558
1559 # If there's something in the description field, then just return that.
1560 return $description if defined $description && length $descripton;
1561
1562 # Otherwise, generate a description.
1563 return $self->generate_description;
1564 }
1565
1566=head1 DEBUGGING AND PROFILING
1567
1568=head2 DBIx::Class objects with Data::Dumper
1def3451 1569
1570L<Data::Dumper> can be a very useful tool for debugging, but sometimes it can
1571be hard to find the pertinent data in all the data it can generate.
1572Specifically, if one naively tries to use it like so,
1573
1574 use Data::Dumper;
1575
1576 my $cd = $schema->resultset('CD')->find(1);
1577 print Dumper($cd);
1578
1579several pages worth of data from the CD object's schema and result source will
1580be dumped to the screen. Since usually one is only interested in a few column
1581values of the object, this is not very helpful.
1582
1583Luckily, it is possible to modify the data before L<Data::Dumper> outputs
1584it. Simply define a hook that L<Data::Dumper> will call on the object before
1585dumping it. For example,
1586
1587 package My::DB::CD;
1588
1589 sub _dumper_hook {
99fb1058 1590 $_[0] = bless {
1591 %{ $_[0] },
1def3451 1592 result_source => undef,
99fb1058 1593 }, ref($_[0]);
1def3451 1594 }
1595
1596 [...]
1597
1598 use Data::Dumper;
1599
22139027 1600 local $Data::Dumper::Freezer = '_dumper_hook';
1def3451 1601
1602 my $cd = $schema->resultset('CD')->find(1);
1603 print Dumper($cd);
1604 # dumps $cd without its ResultSource
1605
1606If the structure of your schema is such that there is a common base class for
1607all your table classes, simply put a method similar to C<_dumper_hook> in the
1608base class and set C<$Data::Dumper::Freezer> to its name and L<Data::Dumper>
1609will automagically clean up your data before printing it. See
1610L<Data::Dumper/EXAMPLES> for more information.
1611
4c248161 1612=head2 Profiling
1613
85f78622 1614When you enable L<DBIx::Class::Storage>'s debugging it prints the SQL
4c248161 1615executed as well as notifications of query completion and transaction
1616begin/commit. If you'd like to profile the SQL you can subclass the
1617L<DBIx::Class::Storage::Statistics> class and write your own profiling
1618mechanism:
1619
1620 package My::Profiler;
1621 use strict;
1622
1623 use base 'DBIx::Class::Storage::Statistics';
1624
1625 use Time::HiRes qw(time);
1626
1627 my $start;
1628
1629 sub query_start {
1630 my $self = shift();
1631 my $sql = shift();
1632 my $params = @_;
1633
70f39278 1634 $self->print("Executing $sql: ".join(', ', @params)."\n");
4c248161 1635 $start = time();
1636 }
1637
1638 sub query_end {
1639 my $self = shift();
1640 my $sql = shift();
1641 my @params = @_;
1642
70f39278 1643 my $elapsed = sprintf("%0.4f", time() - $start);
1644 $self->print("Execution took $elapsed seconds.\n");
4c248161 1645 $start = undef;
1646 }
1647
1648 1;
1649
1650You can then install that class as the debugging object:
1651
70f39278 1652 __PACKAGE__->storage->debugobj(new My::Profiler());
1653 __PACKAGE__->storage->debug(1);
4c248161 1654
1655A more complicated example might involve storing each execution of SQL in an
1656array:
1657
1658 sub query_end {
1659 my $self = shift();
1660 my $sql = shift();
1661 my @params = @_;
1662
1663 my $elapsed = time() - $start;
1664 push(@{ $calls{$sql} }, {
1665 params => \@params,
1666 elapsed => $elapsed
1667 });
1668 }
1669
1670You could then create average, high and low execution times for an SQL
1671statement and dig down to see if certain parameters cause aberrant behavior.
70f39278 1672You might want to check out L<DBIx::Class::QueryLog> as well.
4c248161 1673
bc96f260 1674=head1 STARTUP SPEED
1675
1676L<DBIx::Class|DBIx::Class> programs can have a significant startup delay
1677as the ORM loads all the relevant classes. This section examines
1678techniques for reducing the startup delay.
1679
1680These tips are are listed in order of decreasing effectiveness - so the
1681first tip, if applicable, should have the greatest effect on your
1682application.
1683
1684=head2 Statically Define Your Schema
1685
1686If you are using
1687L<DBIx::Class::Schema::Loader|DBIx::Class::Schema::Loader> to build the
1688classes dynamically based on the database schema then there will be a
1689significant startup delay.
1690
1691For production use a statically defined schema (which can be generated
1692using L<DBIx::Class::Schema::Loader|DBIx::Class::Schema::Loader> to dump
1693the database schema once - see
1694L<make_schema_at|DBIx::Class::Schema::Loader/make_schema_at> and
1695L<dump_directory|DBIx::Class::Schema::Loader/dump_directory> for more
1696details on creating static schemas from a database).
1697
1698=head2 Move Common Startup into a Base Class
1699
1700Typically L<DBIx::Class> result classes start off with
1701
1702 use base qw/DBIx::Class/;
1703 __PACKAGE__->load_components(qw/InflateColumn::DateTime Core/);
1704
1705If this preamble is moved into a common base class:-
1706
1707 package MyDBICbase;
1708
1709 use base qw/DBIx::Class/;
1710 __PACKAGE__->load_components(qw/InflateColumn::DateTime Core/);
1711 1;
1712
1713and each result class then uses this as a base:-
1714
1715 use base qw/MyDBICbase/;
1716
1717then the load_components is only performed once, which can result in a
1718considerable startup speedup for schemas with many classes.
1719
1720=head2 Explicitly List Schema Result Classes
1721
1722The schema class will normally contain
1723
1724 __PACKAGE__->load_classes();
1725
1726to load the result classes. This will use L<Module::Find|Module::Find>
1727to find and load the appropriate modules. Explicitly defining the
1728classes you wish to load will remove the overhead of
1729L<Module::Find|Module::Find> and the related directory operations:-
1730
1731 __PACKAGE__->load_classes(qw/ CD Artist Track /);
1732
1733If you are instead using the L<load_namespaces|DBIx::Class::Schema/load_namespaces>
1734syntax to load the appropriate classes there is not a direct alternative
1735avoiding L<Module::Find|Module::Find>.
7aaec96c 1736
40dbc108 1737=cut