fix to make sure execute_reliably method properly finds its attributes
[dbsrgits/DBIx-Class.git] / lib / DBIx / Class / Relationship.pm
CommitLineData
b8e1e21f 1package DBIx::Class::Relationship;
2
3use strict;
4use warnings;
5
1edd1722 6use base qw/DBIx::Class/;
55e2d745 7
07037f89 8__PACKAGE__->load_own_components(qw/
7411204b 9 Helpers
07037f89 10 Accessor
11 CascadeActions
12 ProxyMethods
13 Base
14/);
b8e1e21f 15
75d07914 16=head1 NAME
34d52be2 17
18DBIx::Class::Relationship - Inter-table relationships
19
20=head1 SYNOPSIS
21
951ab5ab 22 ## Creating relationships
75d07914 23 MyDB::Schema::Actor->has_many('actorroles' => 'MyDB::Schema::ActorRole',
d2113a68 24 'actor');
75d07914 25 MyDB::Schema::Role->has_many('actorroles' => 'MyDB::Schema::ActorRole',
d2113a68 26 'role');
27 MyDB::Schema::ActorRole->belongs_to('role' => 'MyDB::Schema::Role');
28 MyDB::Schema::ActorRole->belongs_to('actor' => 'MyDB::Schema::Actor');
29
30 MyDB::Schema::Role->many_to_many('actors' => 'actorroles', 'actor');
31 MyDB::Schema::Actor->many_to_many('roles' => 'actorroles', 'role');
32
951ab5ab 33 ## Using relationships
d2113a68 34 $schema->resultset('Actor')->roles();
35 $schema->resultset('Role')->search_related('actors', { Name => 'Fred' });
fca27358 36 $schema->resultset('ActorRole')->add_to_roles({ Name => 'Sherlock Holmes'});
d2113a68 37
38See L<DBIx::Class::Manual::Cookbook> for more.
39
34d52be2 40=head1 DESCRIPTION
41
bc1171c3 42This class provides methods to set up relationships between the tables
43in your database model. Relationships are the most useful and powerful
44technique that L<DBIx::Class> provides. To create efficient database queries,
45create relationships between any and all tables that have something in
46common, for example if you have a table Authors:
47
48 ID | Name | Age
49 ------------------
50 1 | Fred | 30
51 2 | Joe | 32
52
53and a table Books:
54
55 ID | Author | Name
56 --------------------
57 1 | 1 | Rulers of the universe
58 2 | 1 | Rulers of the galaxy
59
60Then without relationships, the method of getting all books by Fred goes like
61this:
62
63 my $fred = $schema->resultset('Author')->find({ Name => 'Fred' });
64 my $fredsbooks = $schema->resultset('Book')->search({ Author => $fred->ID });
2f0790c4 65
bc1171c3 66With a has_many relationship called "books" on Author (see below for details),
67we can do this instead:
68
69 my $fredsbooks = $schema->resultset('Author')->find({ Name => 'Fred' })->books;
70
75d07914 71Each relationship sets up an accessor method on the
bc1171c3 72L<DBIx::Class::Manual::Glossary/"Row"> objects that represent the items
73of your table. From L<DBIx::Class::Manual::Glossary/"ResultSet"> objects,
75d07914 74the relationships can be searched using the "search_related" method.
bc1171c3 75In list context, each returns a list of Row objects for the related class,
76in scalar context, a new ResultSet representing the joined tables is
77returned. Thus, the calls can be chained to produce complex queries.
78Since the database is not actually queried until you attempt to retrieve
79the data for an actual item, no time is wasted producing them.
80
bc0c9800 81 my $cheapfredbooks = $schema->resultset('Author')->find({
82 Name => 'Fred',
83 })->books->search_related('prices', {
84 Price => { '<=' => '5.00' },
85 });
bc1171c3 86
87will produce a query something like:
88
75d07914 89 SELECT * FROM Author me
bc1171c3 90 LEFT JOIN Books books ON books.author = me.id
91 LEFT JOIN Prices prices ON prices.book = books.id
92 WHERE prices.Price <= 5.00
93
94all without needing multiple fetches.
34d52be2 95
bfab575a 96Only the helper methods for setting up standard relationship types
d2113a68 97are documented here. For the basic, lower-level methods, and a description
98of all the useful *_related methods that you get for free, see
bfab575a 99L<DBIx::Class::Relationship::Base>.
503536d5 100
34d52be2 101=head1 METHODS
102
8457faf7 103All helper methods are called similar to the following template:
503536d5 104
8457faf7 105 __PACKAGE__->$method_name('relname', 'Foreign::Class', $cond, $attrs);
bfab575a 106
107Both C<$cond> and C<$attrs> are optional. Pass C<undef> for C<$cond> if
108you want to use the default value for it, but still want to set C<$attrs>.
2535b501 109
8457faf7 110See L<DBIx::Class::Relationship::Base> for documentation on the
111attrubutes that are allowed in the C<$attrs> argument.
112
503536d5 113
bfab575a 114=head2 belongs_to
503536d5 115
2f3105ce 116=over 4
117
951ab5ab 118=item Arguments: $accessor_name, $related_class, $fk_column|\%cond|\@cond?, \%attr?
2f3105ce 119
120=back
121
951ab5ab 122Creates a relationship where the calling class stores the foreign
123class's primary key in one (or more) of its columns. This relationship
124defaults to using C<$accessor_name> as the column in this class
125to resolve the join against the primary key from C<$related_class>,
126unless C<$fk_column> specifies the foreign key column in this class or
127C<cond> specifies a reference to a join condition hash.
7a2c1380 128
129=over
130
131=item accessor_name
132
133This argument is the name of the method you can call on a
134L<DBIx::Class::Row> object to retrieve the instance of the foreign
8457faf7 135class matching this relationship. This is often called the
136C<relation(ship) name>.
7a2c1380 137
8457faf7 138Use this accessor_name in L<DBIx::Class::ResultSet/join>
7a2c1380 139or L<DBIx::Class::ResultSet/prefetch> to join to the foreign table
140indicated by this relationship.
141
142=item related_class
143
144This is the class name of the table referenced by the foreign key in
145this class.
146
8457faf7 147=item fk_column
7a2c1380 148
149The column name on this class that contains the foreign key.
150
151OR
152
153=item cond
154
155A hashref where the keys are C<foreign.$column_on_related_table> and
156the values are C<self.$foreign_key_column>. This is useful for
157relations that are across multiple columns.
158
159=back
160
161
c99393ff 162 # in a Book class (where Author has many Books)
951ab5ab 163 My::DBIC::Schema::Book->belongs_to(
164 author =>
165 'My::DBIC::Schema::Author',
166 'author_id'
167 );
168
169 # OR (same result)
170 My::DBIC::Schema::Book->belongs_to(
171 author =>
172 'My::DBIC::Schema::Author',
173 { 'foreign.author_id' => 'self.author_id' }
174 );
175
176 # OR (similar result but uglier accessor name)
177 My::DBIC::Schema::Book->belongs_to(
178 author_id =>
179 'My::DBIC::Schema::Author'
180 );
181
182 # Usage
183 my $author_obj = $book->author; # get author object
184 $book->author( $new_author_obj ); # set author object
185 $book->author_id(); # get the plain id
186
187 # To retrieve the plain id if you used the ugly version:
188 $book->get_column('author_id');
2535b501 189
503536d5 190
2f3105ce 191If the relationship is optional -- i.e. the column containing the foreign key
192can be NULL -- then the belongs_to relationship does the right thing. Thus, in
193the example above C<$obj-E<gt>author> would return C<undef>. However in this
194case you would probably want to set the C<join_type> attribute so that a C<LEFT
195JOIN> is done, which makes complex resultsets involving C<join> or C<prefetch>
196operations work correctly. The modified declaration is shown below:
2c3ad870 197
b8810cc5 198 # in a Book class (where Author has_many Books)
951ab5ab 199 __PACKAGE__->belongs_to(
200 author =>
201 'My::DBIC::Schema::Author',
202 'author',
203 { join_type => 'left' }
204 );
2c3ad870 205
206
b8810cc5 207Cascading deletes are off by default on a C<belongs_to>
208relationship. To turn them on, pass C<< cascade_delete => 1 >>
209in the $attr hashref.
e8e9e5c7 210
8091aa91 211NOTE: If you are used to L<Class::DBI> relationships, this is the equivalent
212of C<has_a>.
503536d5 213
9e64dfbf 214See L<DBIx::Class::Relationship::Base> for documentation on relationship
215methods and valid relationship attributes.
2535b501 216
bfab575a 217=head2 has_many
503536d5 218
2f3105ce 219=over 4
220
951ab5ab 221=item Arguments: $accessor_name, $related_class, $foreign_key_column|\%cond|\@cond?, \%attr?
2f3105ce 222
223=back
224
7a2c1380 225Creates a one-to-many relationship, where the corresponding elements of the
226foreign class store the calling class's primary key in one (or more) of its
227columns. This relationship defaults to using C<$accessor_name> as the foreign
228key in C<$related_class> to resolve the join, unless C<$foreign_key_column>
951ab5ab 229specifies the foreign key column in C<$related_class> or C<cond> specifies a
7a2c1380 230reference to a join condition hash.
231
232=over
233
234=item accessor_name
235
236This argument is the name of the method you can call on a
237L<DBIx::Class::Row> object to retrieve a resultset of the related
238class restricted to the ones related to the row object. In list
951ab5ab 239context it returns the row objects. This is often called the
240C<relation(ship) name>.
7a2c1380 241
951ab5ab 242Use this accessor_name in L<DBIx::Class::ResultSet/join>
7a2c1380 243or L<DBIx::Class::ResultSet/prefetch> to join to the foreign table
244indicated by this relationship.
245
246=item related_class
247
248This is the class name of the table which contains a foreign key
249column containing PK values of this class.
250
251=item foreign_key_column
252
253The column name on the related class that contains the foreign key.
254
255OR
256
257=item cond
258
951ab5ab 259A hashref where the keys are C<foreign.$foreign_key_column> and
260the values are C<self.$matching_column>. This is useful for
7a2c1380 261relations that are across multiple columns.
262
951ab5ab 263OR
264
265An arrayref containing an SQL::Abstract-like condition. For example a
266link table where two columns link back to the same table. This is an
267OR condition.
268
269 My::Schema::Item->has_many('rels', 'My::Schema::Relationships',
270 [ { 'foreign.LItemID' => 'self.ID' },
271 { 'foreign.RItemID' => 'self.ID'} ]);
da2e2b76 272
7a2c1380 273=back
274
b8810cc5 275 # in an Author class (where Author has_many Books)
951ab5ab 276 My::DBIC::Schema::Author->has_many(
277 books =>
278 'My::DBIC::Schema::Book',
279 'author_id'
280 );
281
282 # OR (same result, assuming related_class is storing our PK)
283 My::DBIC::Schema::Author->has_many(
284 books =>
285 'My::DBIC::Schema::Book',
286 );
287
288 # OR (same result)
289 My::DBIC::Schema::Author->has_many(
290 books =>
291 'My::DBIC::Schema::Book',
292 { 'foreign.author_id' => 'self.id' },
293 );
294
2535b501 295
951ab5ab 296 # Usage
297 # resultset of Books belonging to author
298 my $booklist = $author->books;
299
300 # resultset of Books belonging to author, restricted by author name
301 my $booklist = $author->books({
bc0c9800 302 name => { LIKE => '%macaroni%' },
303 { prefetch => [qw/book/],
304 });
503536d5 305
951ab5ab 306 # array of Book objects belonging to author
307 my @book_objs = $author->books;
503536d5 308
951ab5ab 309 # force resultset even in list context
310 my $books_rs = $author->books;
311 ( $books_rs ) = $obj->books_rs;
312
313 # create a new book for this author, the relation fields are auto-filled
314 $author->create_related('books', \%col_data);
315 # alternative method for the above
316 $author->add_to_books(\%col_data);
2535b501 317
2535b501 318
60a8fb95 319Three methods are created when you create a has_many relationship. The first
2f3105ce 320method is the expected accessor method, C<$accessor_name()>. The second is
321almost exactly the same as the accessor method but "_rs" is added to the end of
322the method name. This method works just like the normal accessor, except that
951ab5ab 323it always returns a resultset, even in list context. The third method,
2535b501 324named C<< add_to_$relname >>, will also be added to your Row items; this
2f3105ce 325allows you to insert new related items, using the same mechanism as in
5b89a768 326L<DBIx::Class::Relationship::Base/"create_related">.
d2113a68 327
8091aa91 328If you delete an object in a class with a C<has_many> relationship, all
b8810cc5 329the related objects will be deleted as well. To turn this behaviour off,
951ab5ab 330pass C<< cascade_delete => 0 >> in the C<attr> hashref. However, any
b8810cc5 331database-level cascade or restrict will take precedence over a
332DBIx-Class-based cascading delete.
503536d5 333
f4e92c39 334If you copy an object in a class with a C<has_many> relationship, all
335the related objects will be copied as well. To turn this behaviour off,
2fef093d 336pass C<< cascade_copy => 0 >> in the C<$attr> hashref. The behaviour
337defaults to C<< cascade_copy => 1 >>.
f4e92c39 338
9e64dfbf 339See L<DBIx::Class::Relationship::Base> for documentation on relationship
340methods and valid relationship attributes.
2535b501 341
bfab575a 342=head2 might_have
503536d5 343
2f3105ce 344=over 4
345
951ab5ab 346=item Arguments: $accessor_name, $related_class, $foreign_key_column|\%cond|\@cond?, \%attr?
2f3105ce 347
348=back
349
7a2c1380 350Creates an optional one-to-one relationship with a class. This relationship
351defaults to using C<$accessor_name> as the foreign key in C<$related_class> to
352resolve the join, unless C<$foreign_key_column> specifies the foreign key
951ab5ab 353column in C<$related_class> or C<cond> specifies a reference to a join
7a2c1380 354condition hash.
355
356=over
357
358=item accessor_name
359
360This argument is the name of the method you can call on a
361L<DBIx::Class::Row> object to retrieve the instance of the foreign
951ab5ab 362class matching this relationship. This is often called the
363C<relation(ship) name>.
7a2c1380 364
951ab5ab 365Use this accessor_name in L<DBIx::Class::ResultSet/join>
7a2c1380 366or L<DBIx::Class::ResultSet/prefetch> to join to the foreign table
367indicated by this relationship.
368
369=item related_class
370
371This is the class name of the table which contains a foreign key
372column containing PK values of this class.
373
374=item foreign_key_column
375
376The column name on the related class that contains the foreign key.
377
378OR
379
380=item cond
381
382A hashref where the keys are C<foreign.$column_on_related_table> and
383the values are C<self.$foreign_key_column>. This is useful for
384relations that are across multiple columns.
385
386=back
387
951ab5ab 388 # Author may have an entry in the pseudonym table
389 My::DBIC::Schema::Author->might_have(
390 pseudonym =>
391 'My::DBIC::Schema::Pseudonym',
392 'author_id',
393 );
394
395 # OR (same result, assuming the related_class stores our PK)
396 My::DBIC::Schema::Author->might_have(
397 pseudonym =>
398 'My::DBIC::Schema::Pseudonym',
399 );
400
401 # OR (same result)
402 My::DBIC::Schema::Author->might_have(
403 pseudonym =>
404 'My::DBIC::Schema::Pseudonym',
405 { 'foreign.author_id' => 'self.id' },
406 );
407
408 # Usage
409 my $pname = $author->pseudonym; # to get the Pseudonym object
9e64dfbf 410
c99393ff 411If you update or delete an object in a class with a C<might_have>
b8810cc5 412relationship, the related object will be updated or deleted as well. To
413turn off this behavior, add C<< cascade_delete => 0 >> to the C<$attr>
414hashref. Any database-level update or delete constraints will override
415this behavior.
503536d5 416
9e64dfbf 417See L<DBIx::Class::Relationship::Base> for documentation on relationship
418methods and valid relationship attributes.
2f3105ce 419
bfab575a 420=head2 has_one
421
2f3105ce 422=over 4
423
951ab5ab 424=item Arguments: $accessor_name, $related_class, $foreign_key_column|\%cond|\@cond?, \%attr?
2f3105ce 425
426=back
427
951ab5ab 428Creates a one-to-one relationship with a class. This relationship
429defaults to using C<$accessor_name> as the foreign key in C<$related_class> to
430resolve the join, unless C<$foreign_key_column> specifies the foreign key
431column in C<$related_class> or C<cond> specifies a reference to a join
432condition hash.
2f3105ce 433
951ab5ab 434=over
435
436=item accessor_name
437
438This argument is the name of the method you can call on a
439L<DBIx::Class::Row> object to retrieve the instance of the foreign
440class matching this relationship. This is often called the
441C<relation(ship) name>.
442
443Use this accessor_name in L<DBIx::Class::ResultSet/join>
444or L<DBIx::Class::ResultSet/prefetch> to join to the foreign table
445indicated by this relationship.
446
447=item related_class
448
449This is the class name of the table which contains a foreign key
450column containing PK values of this class.
451
452=item foreign_key_column
453
454The column name on the related class that contains the foreign key.
455
456OR
457
458=item cond
459
460A hashref where the keys are C<foreign.$column_on_related_table> and
461the values are C<self.$foreign_key_column>. This is useful for
462relations that are across multiple columns.
463
464=back
bfab575a 465
951ab5ab 466 # Every book has exactly one ISBN
467 My::DBIC::Schema::Book->has_one(
468 isbn =>
469 'My::DBIC::Schema::ISBN',
470 'book_id',
471 );
472
473 # OR (same result, assuming related_class stores our PK)
474 My::DBIC::Schema::Book->has_one(
475 isbn =>
476 'My::DBIC::Schema::ISBN',
477 );
478
479 # OR (same result)
480 My::DBIC::Schema::Book->has_one(
481 isbn =>
482 'My::DBIC::Schema::ISBN',
483 { 'foreign.book_id' => 'self.id' },
484 );
485
486 # Usage
487 my $isbn_obj = $book->isbn; # to get the ISBN object
488
489Creates a one-to-one relationship with another class. This is just
490like C<might_have>, except the implication is that the other object is
491always present. The only difference between C<has_one> and
492C<might_have> is that C<has_one> uses an (ordinary) inner join,
493whereas C<might_have> defaults to a left join.
503536d5 494
2f3105ce 495The has_one relationship should be used when a row in the table has exactly one
496related row in another table. If the related row might not exist in the foreign
497table, use the L<DBIx::Class::Relationship/might_have> relationship.
498
499In the above example, each Book in the database is associated with exactly one
500ISBN object.
7411204b 501
9e64dfbf 502See L<DBIx::Class::Relationship::Base> for documentation on relationship
503methods and valid relationship attributes.
87c4e602 504
2535b501 505=head2 many_to_many
2f3105ce 506
507=over 4
508
951ab5ab 509=item Arguments: $accessor_name, $link_rel_name, $foreign_rel_name, \%attr?
303cf522 510
2f3105ce 511=back
512
7a2c1380 513C<many_to_many> is not strictly a relationship in its own right. Instead, it is
514a bridge between two resultsets which provide the same kind of convenience
515accessors as true relationships provide. Although the accessor will return a
516resultset or collection of objects just like has_many does, you cannot call
517C<related_resultset> and similar methods which operate on true relationships.
518
519=over
520
521=item accessor_name
522
523This argument is the name of the method you can call on a
524L<DBIx::Class::Row> object to retrieve the rows matching this
525relationship.
526
527On a many_to_many, unlike other relationships, this cannot be used in
528L<DBIx::Class::ResultSet/search> to join tables. Use the relations
529bridged across instead.
530
531=item link_rel_name
532
533This is the accessor_name from the has_many relationship we are
534bridging from.
535
536=item foreign_rel_name
537
538This is the accessor_name of the belongs_to relationship in the link
539table that we are bridging across (which gives us the table we are
540bridging to).
541
542=back
543
2f3105ce 544To create a many_to_many relationship from Actor to Role:
545
75d07914 546 My::DBIC::Schema::Actor->has_many( actor_roles =>
d2113a68 547 'My::DBIC::Schema::ActorRoles',
548 'actor' );
75d07914 549 My::DBIC::Schema::ActorRoles->belongs_to( role =>
d2113a68 550 'My::DBIC::Schema::Role' );
75d07914 551 My::DBIC::Schema::ActorRoles->belongs_to( actor =>
d2113a68 552 'My::DBIC::Schema::Actor' );
553
554 My::DBIC::Schema::Actor->many_to_many( roles => 'actor_roles',
71d5ed18 555 'role' );
bc0c9800 556
2f3105ce 557And, for the reverse relationship, from Role to Actor:
558
559 My::DBIC::Schema::Role->has_many( actor_roles =>
560 'My::DBIC::Schema::ActorRoles',
561 'role' );
562
563 My::DBIC::Schema::Role->many_to_many( actors => 'actor_roles', 'actor' );
564
787d6a29 565To add a role for your actor, and fill in the year of the role in the
566actor_roles table:
567
568 $actor->add_to_roles($role, { year => 1995 });
569
2535b501 570In the above example, ActorRoles is the link table class, and Role is the
571foreign class. The C<$link_rel_name> parameter is the name of the accessor for
572the has_many relationship from this table to the link table, and the
573C<$foreign_rel_name> parameter is the accessor for the belongs_to relationship
574from the link table to the foreign table.
575
d2113a68 576To use many_to_many, existing relationships from the original table to the link
75d07914 577table, and from the link table to the end table must already exist, these
d2113a68 578relation names are then used in the many_to_many call.
7411204b 579
2535b501 580In the above example, the Actor class will have 3 many_to_many accessor methods
951ab5ab 581set: C<roles>, C<add_to_roles>, C<set_roles>, and similarly named accessors
2535b501 582will be created for the Role class for the C<actors> many_to_many
583relationship.
584
9e64dfbf 585See L<DBIx::Class::Relationship::Base> for documentation on relationship
586methods and valid relationship attributes.
2f3105ce 587
34d52be2 588=cut
589
b8e1e21f 5901;
34d52be2 591
34d52be2 592=head1 AUTHORS
593
951ab5ab 594see L<DBIx::Class>
34d52be2 595
596=head1 LICENSE
597
598You may distribute this code under the same terms as Perl itself.
599
600=cut
601