NAME

Rosetta::Schema::DataType - Metadata for atomic or scalar values

DEPENDENCIES

Perl Version

5.004 (by intent; tested with 5.6)

Standard Modules

I<none>

Nonstandard Modules

I<none>

SYNOPSIS

my %data_types = map { 
		( $_->{name}, Rosetta::Schema::DataType->new( $_ ) ) 
		} (
	{ 'name' => 'boolean', 'base_type' => 'boolean', },
	{ 'name' => 'byte' , 'base_type' => 'int', 'size' => 1, }, #  3 digits
	{ 'name' => 'short', 'base_type' => 'int', 'size' => 2, }, #  5 digits
	{ 'name' => 'int'  , 'base_type' => 'int', 'size' => 4, }, # 10 digits
	{ 'name' => 'long' , 'base_type' => 'int', 'size' => 8, }, # 19 digits
	{ 'name' => 'float' , 'base_type' => 'float', 'size' => 4, },
	{ 'name' => 'double', 'base_type' => 'float', 'size' => 8, },
	{ 'name' => 'datetime', 'base_type' => 'datetime', },
	{ 'name' => 'str4' , 'base_type' => 'str', 'size' =>  4, 'store_fixed' => 1, },
	{ 'name' => 'str10', 'base_type' => 'str', 'size' => 10, 'store_fixed' => 1, },
	{ 'name' => 'str30', 'base_type' => 'str', 'size' =>    30, },
	{ 'name' => 'str2k', 'base_type' => 'str', 'size' => 2_000, },
	{ 'name' => 'bin1k' , 'base_type' => 'binary', 'size' =>  1_000, },
	{ 'name' => 'bin32k', 'base_type' => 'binary', 'size' => 32_000, },
);

DESCRIPTION

This Perl 5 object class is a core component of the Rosetta framework, and is part of the "Rosetta Native Interface" (RNI). It is a "Schema" class, meaning its objects are pure containers that can be serialized or stored indefinately off site for later retrieval and use, such as in a data dictionary.

Each Rosetta::Schema::DataType object describes a simple data type, which serves as metadata for a single atomic or scalar unit of data, or a column whose members are all of the same data type, such as in a regular database table or in row sets read from or to be written to one. This class would be used both when manipulating database schema and when manipulating database data.

Essentially, you can define your own custom data types using this class and then use those as if they were a native database type; custom types are defined as being a basic type (see below) with a specific maximum size, and possibly other attributes. See the SYNOPSIS for example declarations of common custom data types.

These are the recognized basic types:

'boolean'   # eg: 1, 0
'int'       # eg: 14, 3, -7, 200000
'float'     # eg: 3.14159
'datetime'  # eg: 2003.02.28.16.06.30
'str'       # eg: 'Hello World'
'binary'    # eg: '\0x24\0x00\0xF4\0x1A'

It is intended that the Rosetta core and your application would always describe data types for columns in terms of these objects; the base types were named after what programmers are used to casting program variables as so they would be easy to adapt. This is an alternative to RDBMS specific terms like "varchar2(40)" or "number(6)" or "text" or "blob(4000)", which you would have to change for each database; the Rosetta::Driver::* modules are the only ones that need to know what the database uses internally. Of course, if you prefer the SQL terms, you can easily name your DataType objects after them.

CLASS PROPERTIES

These are the conceptual properties of a Rosetta::Schema::DataType object:

0

name - This mandatory string property is a convenience for calling code or users to easily know when multiple pieces of data are of the same type. Its main programatic use is for hashing DataType objects. That is, if the same data type is used in many places, and those places don't want to have their own DataType objects or share references to one, they can store the 'name' string instead, and separately have a single DataType object in a hash to lookup when the string is encountered in processing. Only the other class properties are what the Driver modules actually use when mapping the Schema data types to native RDBMS product data types. This property is case-sensitive.

0

base_type - This mandatory string property is the starting point for Driver modules to map this data type to a native RDBMS product data type. It is limited to a pre-defined set of values which are what any Rosetta modules should know about: 'boolean', 'int', 'float', 'datetime', 'str', 'binary'. More base types could be added later, but it should be possible to define what you want by setting other appropriate class properties along with one of the above base types. This property is set case-insensitive but it is stored and returned in lower-case.

0

size - This integer property is recommended for use with all base_type values except 'boolean' and 'datetime', for which it has no effect. With the base types of 'int' and 'float', it is the fixed size in bytes used to store a numerical data, which also determines the maximum storable number. With the 'binary' base_type, it is the maximum size in bytes that can be stored, but the actual size is only as large as the binary data being stored. With the 'str' base_type, it is the maximum size in characters that can be stored, but the actual size is only as large as the string data being stored; however, if the boolean property 'store_fixed' is true then a fixed size of characters is always allocated even if it isn't filled, where possible. If 'size' is not defined then it will default to 4 for 'int' and 'float', and to 250 for 'str' and 'binary'. This behaviour may be changed to default to the largest value possible for the base data type in question, but that wasn't done because the maximum varies based on the implementing RDBMS product, and maximum may not be what is usually desired.

0

store_fixed - This boolean property is optional for use with the 'str' base_type, and it has no effect for the other base types. While string data is by default stored in a flexible and space-saving format (like 'varchar'), if this property is true, then the Driver modules will attempt to map to a fixed size type instead (like 'char') for storage. With most database products, fixed-size storage is only applicable to fields with smaller size limits, such as 255 or less. Setting this property won't necessarily change what value is stored or retrieved, but with some products the returned values may be padded with spaces.

Other class properties may be added in the future where appropriate. Some such properties can describe constraints that would apply to all data of this type, such as that it must match the format of a telephone number or postal code or ip address, or it has to be one of a specific set of pre-defined (not looked up in an external list) values; however, this functionality may be too advanced to do until later, or would be implemented elsewhere. Other possible properties might be 'hints' for certain Drivers to use an esoteric native data type for greater efficiency or compatability. This class would be used both when manipulating database schema and when manipulating database data.

SYNTAX

This class does not export any functions or methods, so you need to call them using object notation. This means using Class->function() for functions and $object->method() for methods. If you are inheriting this class for your own modules, then that often means something like $self->method().

FUNCTIONS AND METHODS

new([ INITIALIZER ])

This function creates a new Rosetta::Schema::DataType (or subclass) object and returns it. All of the method arguments are passed to initialize() as is; please see the POD for that method for an explanation of them.

initialize([ INITIALIZER ])

This method is used by new() to set the initial properties of objects that it creates. Calling it yourself will revert all of this object's properties to their default values, which correspond to a string of maximum 250 characters. The optional argument, INITIALIZER, is a hash reference (or object) whose values would be used to set explicit default properties for this object. The hash keys which this class will look for are: name, base_type, size, store_fixed. These values are passed to the same-named property accessor methods for evaluation; please see the POD for those methods for an explanation of what input values are allowed and any side effects of setting them. If INITIALIZER is defined and not a hash reference, it will be interpreted as a scalar value and passed to base_type(). Nothing is returned.

clone([ CLONE ])

This method initializes a new object to have all of the same properties of the current object and returns it. This new object can be provided in the optional argument CLONE (if CLONE is an object of the same class as the current object); otherwise, a brand new object of the current class is used. Only object properties recognized by Rosetta::Schema::DataType are set in the clone; other properties are not changed.

get_all_properties()

This method returns a hash reference whose keys and values are the property names and values of this object: name, base_type, size, store_fixed. If you pass this hash reference as an argument to the new() class function, the object that it creates will be identical to this one.

name([ VALUE ])

This method is an accessor for the string "name" property of this object, which it returns. If VALUE is defined, this property is set to it.

base_type([ VALUE ])

This method is an accessor for the string "base_type" property of this object, which it returns. If VALUE is defined and matches a valid base type (it gets lowercased), then this property is set to it; in addition, "size" is reset to a default value appropriate for the base type, and "store_fixed" is set false; you should set those properties after this one if you want them different.

size([ VALUE ])

This method is an accessor for the integer "size" property of this object, which it returns. If VALUE is defined, then it is cast as an integer, and this property is set to it; non-integral numbers will be truncated and other scalar values will become zero.

store_fixed([ VALUE ])

This method is an accessor for the boolean "store_fixed" property of this object, which it returns. If VALUE is defined, then it is cast as a 1 or 0 based on Perl's determination of truth, and this property is set to it.

valid_types([ TYPE ])

This function returns a hash ref having as keys all of the basic data types that Rosetta recognizes, any of which is valid input to the base_type() method, and having as values the default storage size reserved for table columns of that type, which are valid input to the size() method. This list contains the same types listed in the DESCRIPTION. If the optional string argument, TYPE, is defined, then this function will instead return a scalar value depending on whether TYPE is a valid base type or not; if it is, then the returned value is its default size (which may be zero); if it is not, then the undefined value is returned.

AUTHOR

Copyright (c) 1999-2003, Darren R. Duncan. All rights reserved. This module is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. However, I do request that this copyright information and credits remain attached to the file. If you modify this module and redistribute a changed version then please attach a note listing the modifications. This module is available "as-is" and the author can not be held accountable for any problems resulting from its use.

I am always interested in knowing how my work helps others, so if you put this module to use in any of your own products or services then I would appreciate (but not require) it if you send me the website url for said product or service, so I know who you are. Also, if you make non-proprietary changes to the module because it doesn't work the way you need, and you are willing to make these freely available, then please send me a copy so that I can roll desirable changes into the main release.

Address comments, suggestions, and bug reports to perl@DarrenDuncan.net.

SEE ALSO

perl(1), Rosetta::Framework.

cpanm Rosetta

perl -MCPAN -e shell
install Rosetta