# NAME

Database::Abstraction - database abstraction layer

# VERSION

Version 0.04

# SYNOPSIS

Abstract class giving read-only access to CSV, XML and SQLite databases via Perl without writing any SQL.
Look for databases in $directory in this order:
1) SQLite (file ends with .sql)
2) PSV (pipe separated file, file ends with .psv)
3) CSV (file ends with .csv or .db, can be gzipped)
4) XML (file ends with .xml)

For example, you can access the files in /var/db/foo.csv via this class:

    package MyPackageName::Database::Foo;

    use Database::Abstraction;

    our @ISA = ('Database::Abstraction');

You can then access the data using:

    my $foo = MyPackageName::Database::Foo->new(directory => '/var/db');
    print 'Customer name ', $foo->name(customer_id => 'plugh');
    my $row = $foo->fetchrow_hashref(customer_id => 'xyzzy');
    print Data::Dumper->new([$row])->Dump();

CSV files can have empty lines or comment lines starting with '#',
to make them more readable.

If the table has a column called "entry",
entries are keyed on that and sorts are based on it.
To turn that off, pass 'no\_entry' to the constructor, for legacy
reasons it's enabled by default.

# SUBROUTINES/METHODS

## init

Set some class level defaults.

    MyPackageName::Database::init(directory => '../databases');

See the documentation for new to see what variables can be set.

Returns a reference to a hash of the current values.
Therefore when given with no arguments you can get the current default values:

    my $defaults = Database::Abstraction::init();
    print $defaults->{'directory'}, "\n";

## new

Create an object to point to a read-only database.

Arguments:

cache => place to store results;
cache\_duration => how long to store results in the cache (default is 1 hour);
directory => where the database file is held

If the arguments are not set, tries to take from class level defaults.

## set\_logger

Pass a class that will be used for logging.

## selectall\_hashref

Returns a reference to an array of hash references of all the data meeting
the given criteria

## selectall\_hash

Returns an array of hash references

## fetchrow\_hashref

Returns a hash reference for one row in a table.
Special argument: table: determines the table to read from if not the default,
which is worked out from the class name

## execute

Execute the given SQL on the data.
In an array context, returns an array of hash refs,
in a scalar context returns a hash of the first row

## updated

Time that the database was last updated

## AUTOLOAD

Return the contents of an arbitrary column in the database which match the
given criteria
Returns an array of the matches,
or only the first when called in scalar context

If the database has a column called "entry" you can do a quick lookup with

    my $value = $foo->column('123');    # where "column" is the value you're after

Set distinct to 1 if you're after a unique list.

# AUTHOR

Nigel Horne, `<njh at bandsman.co.uk>`

# BUGS

The default delimiter for CSV files is set to '!', not ',' for historical reasons.
I really ought to fix that.

It would be nice for the key column to be called key, not entry,
however key's a reserved word in SQL.

# LICENSE AND COPYRIGHT

Copyright 2015-2024 Nigel Horne.

This program is released under the following licence: GPL2.
Usage is subject to licence terms.
The licence terms of this software are as follows:
Personal single user, single computer use: GPL2
All other users (for example Commercial, Charity, Educational, Government)
must apply in writing for a licence for use from Nigel Horne at the
above e-mail.