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

=head1 NAME

DBIx::Class::Manual::Glossary - Clarification of terms used.

=head1 INTRODUCTION

This document lists various terms used in DBIx::Class and attempts to
explain them.

=head1 TERMS

=head2 Inflation

The act of turning database row data into objects in
language-space. DBIx::Class further allows you to inflate your data
into perl objects which more usefully represent their contents. For
example: L<DBIx::Class::InflateColumn::DateTime> for datetime or
timestamp column data.

=head2 Join

This is an SQL keyword that gets mentioned a lot. It is used to fetch
data from more than one table at once, by C<join>ing the tables on
fields where they have common data.

=head2 Normalisation

A normalised database is a sane database. Each table contains only
data belonging to one concept, related tables refer to the key field
or fields of each other. Some links to webpages about normalisation
can be found in L<DBIx::Class::Manual::FAQ|the FAQ>.

=head2 ORM

Object-relational mapping, or Object-relationship modelling. Either
way it's a method of mapping the contents of database tables (rows),
to objects in programming-language-space. DBIx::Class is an ORM.

=head2 ResultSet

This is an object representing a set of data. It can either be an
entire table, or the results of a query. The actual data is not held
in the ResultSet, it is only a description of how to fetch the data.

See also: L<DBIx::Class::ResultSet/METHODS>

=head2 ResultSource

ResultSource objects represent the source of your data, they are also known as
a table objects. 

See also: L<DBIx::Class::ResultSource/METHODS>

=head2 Record

See Row.

=head2 Row

Row objects contain your actual data. They are returned from ResultSet objects.

=head2 Object

See Row.

=head2 Schema

A Schema object represents your entire table collection, plus the
connection to the database. You can create one or more schema objects,
connected to various databases, with various users, using the same set
of table (ResultSource) definitions.
Commit	Line	Data
24105556	1	=head1 NAME
24105556	2
880a1a0c	3	DBIx::Class::Manual::Glossary - Clarification of terms used.
24105556	4
	5	=head1 INTRODUCTION
	6
9e7b9292	7	This document lists various terms used in DBIx::Class and attempts to
9e7b9292	8	explain them.
24105556	9
	10	=head1 TERMS
	11
9e7b9292	12	=head2 Inflation
	13
	14	The act of turning database row data into objects in
	15	language-space. DBIx::Class further allows you to inflate your data
	16	into perl objects which more usefully represent their contents. For
	17	example: L<DBIx::Class::InflateColumn::DateTime> for datetime or
	18	timestamp column data.
	19
	20	=head2 Join
	21
	22	This is an SQL keyword that gets mentioned a lot. It is used to fetch
	23	data from more than one table at once, by C<join>ing the tables on
	24	fields where they have common data.
	25
	26	=head2 Normalisation
	27
	28	A normalised database is a sane database. Each table contains only
	29	data belonging to one concept, related tables refer to the key field
	30	or fields of each other. Some links to webpages about normalisation
	31	can be found in L<DBIx::Class::Manual::FAQ\|the FAQ>.
	32
24105556	33	=head2 ORM
24105556	34
9e7b9292	35	Object-relational mapping, or Object-relationship modelling. Either
	36	way it's a method of mapping the contents of database tables (rows),
	37	to objects in programming-language-space. DBIx::Class is an ORM.
	38
24105556	39	=head2 ResultSet
	40
	41	This is an object representing a set of data. It can either be an
	42	entire table, or the results of a query. The actual data is not held
	43	in the ResultSet, it is only a description of how to fetch the data.
	44
	45	See also: L<DBIx::Class::ResultSet/METHODS>
	46
	47	=head2 ResultSource
	48
	49	ResultSource objects represent the source of your data, they are also known as
	50	a table objects.
	51
	52	See also: L<DBIx::Class::ResultSource/METHODS>
	53
	54	=head2 Record
	55
	56	See Row.
	57
	58	=head2 Row
	59
	60	Row objects contain your actual data. They are returned from ResultSet objects.
	61
	62	=head2 Object
	63
	64	See Row.
	65
	66	=head2 Schema
	67
	68	A Schema object represents your entire table collection, plus the
	69	connection to the database. You can create one or more schema objects,
	70	connected to various databases, with various users, using the same set
	71	of table (ResultSource) definitions.