This file is indexed.

/usr/share/perl5/Alzabo/Intro.pod is in libalzabo-perl 0.92-4.

This file is owned by root:root, with mode 0o644.

The actual contents of the file can be viewed below.

  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  7
  8
  9
 10
 11
 12
 13
 14
 15
 16
 17
 18
 19
 20
 21
 22
 23
 24
 25
 26
 27
 28
 29
 30
 31
 32
 33
 34
 35
 36
 37
 38
 39
 40
 41
 42
 43
 44
 45
 46
 47
 48
 49
 50
 51
 52
 53
 54
 55
 56
 57
 58
 59
 60
 61
 62
 63
 64
 65
 66
 67
 68
 69
 70
 71
 72
 73
 74
 75
 76
 77
 78
 79
 80
 81
 82
 83
 84
 85
 86
 87
 88
 89
 90
 91
 92
 93
 94
 95
 96
 97
 98
 99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
=pod

=head1 NAME

Alzabo::Intro - Introductory information about Alzabo

=head1 DESCRIPTION

This document provides an introduction to the basics of using Alzabo,
primarily focused on the RDBMS-OO mapping functionality.

=head1 CREATING A SCHEMA

The first thing you'll want to do is create a schema.  The easiest way
to do this is to L<reverse
engineer|Alzabo::Create::Schema/reverse_engineer> an existing schema.
The Mason GUI, available in the separate C<Alzabo::GUI::Mason>
distribution, provides another means of creating a schema.

And of course, you can create one through a custom Perl script which
uses the various C<Alzabo::Create::*> classes.  Here's the beginning
of such a script:

  use Alzabo::Create::Schema;

  eval
  {
      my $s = Alzabo::Create::Schema->new( name  => 'foo',
                                           rdbms => 'MySQL' );

      my $table = $s->make_table( name => 'some_table' );

      my $a_col = $table->make_column( name => 'a_column',
                                       type => 'int',
                                       nullable   => 0,
                                       sequenced  => 0,
                                       attributes => [ 'unsigned' ] );

      $table->add_primary_key($a_col);

      my $b_col = $table->make_column( name => 'b_column',
                                       type => 'varchar',
                                       length   => 240,
                                       nullable => 0 );

      $table->make_index( columns => [ { column => $b_col,
                                         prefix => 10 } ] );

      ...

      $s->save_to_file;
  };

  if ($@) { handle exceptions }

=head1 USAGE EXAMPLES

Alzabo is a powerful tool but as with many powerful tools it can also
be a bit overwhelming at first.  The easiest way to understand some of
its basic capabilities is through some examples.  Let's first assume
that you've created the following schema:

  TABLE: Movie
  movie_id                 tinyint      -- primary key
  title                    varchar(200)
  release_year             year

  TABLE: Person
  person_id                tinyint      -- primary key
  name                     varchar(200)
  birthdate                date
  birthplace_location_id   tinyint      -- foreign key to location

  TABLE: Job
  job_id                   tinyint      -- primary key
  job                      varchar(200) -- something like 'actor' or 'director'

  TABLE: Credit
  movie_id                 tinyint      -- primary key part 1, foreign key to movie
  person_id                tinyint      -- primary key part 2, foreign key to person
  job_id                   tinyint      -- primary key part 3, foreign key to job

  TABLE: Location
  location_id              tinyint      -- primary key
  location                 varchar(200) -- 'New York City' or 'USA'
  parent_location_id       tinyint      -- foreign key to location

=head2 Fetching data

In Alzabo, data is returned in the form of a L<row
object|Alzabo::Runtime::Row>.  This object can be used to access the
data for an individual row.

Unless you are retrieving a row via a unique identifier (usually its
primary key), you will be given a L<cursor|Alzabo::Runtime::RowCursor>
object.  This is quite similar to how C<DBI> uses statement handles
and is done for similar reasons.

First of all, let's do something simple. Let's assume I have a
person_id value and I want to find all the movies that they were in
and print the title, year of release, and the job they did in the
movie.  Here's what it looks like:

  my $schema = Alzabo::Runtime::Schema->load_from_file( name => 'movies' );

  my $person_t = $schema->table('Person');
  my $credit_t = $schema->table('Credit');
  my $movie_t  = $schema->table('Movie');
  my $job_t    = $schema->table('Job');

  # returns a row representing this person.
  my $person = $person_t->row_by_pk( pk => 42 );

  # all the rows in the credit table that have the person_id of 42.
  my $cursor =
      $person->rows_by_foreign_key
          ( foreign_key =>
            $person_t->foreign_keys_by_table($credit_t) );

  print $person->select('name'), " was in the following films:\n\n";

  while (my $credit = $cursor->next)
  {
      # rows_by_foreign_key returns a RowCursor object.  We immediately
      # call its next method, knowing it will only have one row (if
      # it doesn't then our referential integrity is in trouble!)
      my $movie =
          $credit->rows_by_foreign_key
              ( foreign_key =>
                $credit_t->foreign_keys_by_table($movie_t) )->next;

      my $job =
          $credit->rows_by_foreign_key
              ( foreign_key =>
                $credit_t->foreign_keys_by_table($job_t) )->next;

      print $movie->select('title'), " released in ", $movie->select('release_year'), "\n";
      print '  ', $job->('job'), "\n";
  }

A more sophisticated version of this code would take into account that
a person can do more than one job in the same movie.

The method names are quite verbose, so let's redo the example using
L<C<Alzabo::MethodMaker>|Alzabo::MethodMaker>:

  # Assume that the method_namer() subroutine pluralizes things as one
  # would expect.
  use Alzabo::MethodMaker( schema      => 'movies',
                           all         => 1,
                           name_maker  => \&method_namer );

  my $schema = Alzabo::Runtime::Schema->load_from_file( name => 'movies' );

  # instantiates a row representing this person.
  my $person = $schema->Person->row_by_pk( pk => 42 );

  # all the rows in the credit table that have the person_id of 42.
  my $cursor = $person->Credits;

  print $person->name, " was in the following films:\n\n";

  while (my $credit = $cursor->next)
  {
      my $movie = $credit->Movie;

      my $job = $credit->Job;

      print $movie->title, " released in ", $movie->release_year, "\n";
      print '  ', $job->job, "\n";
  }

=head2 Updating data

Updates are done by calling the C<update()> method on a row object:

  $movie->update( title => 'Chungking Express',
                  year  => 1994 );

If you are using C<Alzabo::MethodMaker>, the per-column accessors it
generates for row objects can be used to set a column's value:

  $movie->title('Chungking Express');

Be careful with this, though, because updates are done immediately
against the RDBMS, meaning each call to a setter method issues an
C<UPDATE> query.  It's much more efficient to call the C<update()>
method once with multiple values.

=head2 Deleting data

To delete a row, just call it's C<delete()> method:

  $movie->delete;

=head2 Validating data

Let's assume that we've been passed a hash of values representing an
update to the location table. Here's a way of making sure that that
this update won't lead to a loop in terms of the parent/child
relationships.

  sub update_location
  {
      my $self = shift; # this is the row object

      my %data = @_;

      if ( $data{parent_location_id} )
      {
          my $parent_location_id = $data{parent_location_id};
          my $location_t = $schema->table('Location');

          while ( my $location =
                  $location_t->row_by_pk( pk => $parent_location_id ) )
          {
              die "Insert into location would create loop"
                  if $location->select('parent_location_id') == $data{location_id};

              $parent_location_id = $location->select('parent_location_id');
          }
      }
  }

Once again, let's rewrite the code to use
L<C<Alzabo::MethodMaker>|Alzabo::MethodMaker>:

  sub update_location
  {
      my $self = shift; # this is the row object

      my %data = @_;

      if ( $data{parent_location_id} )
      {
          my $location = $self;
          while ( my $location = $location->parent )
          {
              die "Insert into location would create loop"
                  if $location->parent_location_id == $data{location_id};
          }
      }
  }

=head2 Using SQL functions

Each subclass of Alzabo::SQLMaker is capable of exporting functions
that allow you to use all the SQL functions that your RDBMS provides.
These functions are normal Perl functions.  They take as arguments
normal scalars (strings and numbers), C<Alzabo::Column> objects, or
the return value of another SQL function.  They may be used to select
data via the C<select()> and C<function()> methods in both the
L<C<Alzabo::Runtime::Table>|Alzabo::Runtime::Table/"function and
select"> and
L<C<Alzabo::Runtime::Schema>|Alzabo::Runtime::Schema/"function and
select"> classes.  They may also be used as part of updates, inserts,
and where clauses in any place that is valid SQL.

Examples:

 use Alzabo::SQLMaker::MySQL qw(MAX NOW PI);

 my $max =
     $table->function( select => MAX( $table->column('budget') ),
                       where  => [ $table->column('country'), '=', 'USA' ] );

 $table->insert( values => { create_date => NOW() } );

 $row->update( pi => PI() );

 my $cursor =
     $table->rows_where( where =>
                         [ $table->column('expire_date'), '<=', NOW() ] );

 my $cursor =
     $table->rows_where( where =>
                         [ LENGTH( $table->column('password') ), '<=', 5 ] );

The documentation for the Alzabo::SQLMaker subclass for your RDBMS
will contain a detailed list of all exportable functions.

=head2 Row Objects Not in the Database

Sometimes you'll want to create an object with the row object API, but
which does not represent a row in the database.  See the
L<C<Alzabo::Runtime::Row> documentation|Alzabo::Runtime::Row/POTENTIAL
ROWS> for details on how these objects can be created.

=head2 Changing the schema

In MySQL, there are a number of various types of integers.  The type
C<TINYINT> can hold values from -128 to 127.  But what if have more
than 127 movies?  And if that's the case we might have more than 127
people too.

For safety's sake, it might be best to make all of the primary key
integer columns C<INT> columns instead.  And while we're at it we want
to make them C<UNSIGNED> as well, as we don't need to insert negative
numbers into these columns.

You could break out the RDBMS manual (because you probably forgot the
exact C<ALTER TABLE> syntax you'll need).  Or you could use Alzabo.
Note that this time we use a
L<C<Alzabo::Create::Schema>|Alzabo::Create::Schema> object, not
L<C<Alzabo::Runtime::Schema>|Alzabo::Runtime::Schema>.

  my $schema = Alzabo::Create::Schema->load_from_file( name => 'movies' );

  foreach my $t ( $schema->tables )
  {
      foreach my $c ( $t->columns )
      {
           if ( $c->is_primary_key and lc $c->type eq 'tinyint' )
           {
                $c->set_type('int');
                $c->add_attribute('unsigned');
           }
      }
  }

  $schema->create( user => 'user', password => 'password' );
  $schema->save_to_file;

Because Alzabo keeps track of the schema's state the last time it was
created in the RDBMS, the C<create()> method here will generate the
appropriate SQL to alter the RDBMS schema so that it matches the
schema as defined in Alzabo.

=head1 TRANSACTIONS

Alzabo uses transactions internally in order to guarantee consistency.
Obviously, if you are using a database such as MySQL (without InnoDB)
that does not support transactions, this is not possible.

If you would like to use transactions explicitly in your code, please
make sure to use the L<C<Alzabo::Schema>|Alzabo::Schema> class's
L<C<begin_work()>|Alzabo::Schema/begin_work>,
L<C<commit()>|Alzabo::Schema/commit>, and
L<C<rollback()>|Alzabo::Schema/rollback> methods.

=head1 EXCEPTIONS

Alzabo uses exceptions as its error reporting mechanism.  This means
that all calls to its methods should be wrapped in C<eval{}>.  This is
less onerous than it sounds.  In general, there's no reason not to
wrap all of your calls in one large eval block.  Then at the end of
the block simply check the value of C<$@>.

Also see the L<C<Alzabo::Exceptions>|Alzabo::Exceptions>
documentation, which lists all of the different exception used by
Alzabo.

This is similar to using C<DBI> with the C<RaiseError> attribute set
to a true value.

Its important to note that some methods (such as the driver's
C<rollback()> method) may use C<eval> internally.  This means that if
you intend to use them as part of the cleanup after an exception, you
may need to store the original exception in another variable, as C<$@>
will be overwritten at the next C<eval>.

In addition, some methods you might use during cleanup can throw
exceptions of their own.

This is the point where I start wishing Perl had a B<real> exception
handling mechanism built into the language.

=head1 BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY

Because Alzabo saves the schema objects to disk as raw data structures
using the C<Storable> module, it is possible for a new version of
Alzabo to be incompatible with a saved schema.

As of Alzabo version 0.65, Alzabo can now detect older schemas and
will attempt to update them if possible.

When you attempt to load a schema, whether of the
C<Alzabo::Create::Schema> or C<Alzabo::Runtime::Schema> classes,
Alzabo will determine what version of Alzabo created that schema.

If updates are necessary, Alzabo will first back up your existing
files with the extension F<.bak.v{version}>, where "{version}" is the
version of Alzabo which created the schema.

Then it will alter the schema as necessary and save it to disk.

This will all happen transparently, as long as the process which
initiated this process can write to the schema files and the directory
they are in.

Alzabo will need the C<Alzabo::Create::*> classes to update the
schema.  If these have not been loaded already, Alzabo will do so and
issue a warning to say that this has happened, in case you would like
to restart the process without these classes loaded.

=head1 MULTIPLE COPIES OF THE SAME SCHEMA

It is possible to use the same schema definition with multiple copies
of that schema in the RDBMS.  This can be done by setting the
"schema_name" parameter whenever you call a method that connects to
the RDBMS, such as L<<
C<Alzabo::Create::Schema-E<gt>create>|Alzabo::Create::Schema/create >>
or L<<
C<Alzabo::Runtime::Schema-E<gt>connect>|Alzabo::Runtime::Schema/connect
>>.  This will override the default, the schema's name as given when
it was first created via L<<
C<Alzabo::Create::Schema-E<gt>new>|Alzabo::Create::Schema/new >>.

Every time you call C<create()> or C<sync_backend()>, the schema will
consider itself to have been instantiated.  This means that if you
call C<create()> twice, each time with a different "schema_name"
parameter, then you will probably not be able to generate useful diffs
via the C<make_sql()> method in the future.

This is a bug that is unlikely to be fixed.

=head1 MULTIPLE RDBMS SUPPORT

Alzabo aims to be as cross-platform as possible.  To that end, RDBMS
specific operations are contained in several module hierarchies.  The
goal here is to isolate RDBMS-specific behavior and try to provide
generic wrappers around it, inasmuch as is possible.

The first, the C<Alzabo::Driver::*> hierarchy, is used to handle
communication with the database.  It uses C<DBI> and the appropriate
C<DBD::*> module to handle communications.  It provides a higher level
of abstraction than C<DBI>, requiring that the RDBMS specific modules
implement methods to do such things as create databases or return the
next value in a sequence.

The second, the C<Alzabo::RDBMSRules::*> hierarchy, is used during
schema creation in order to validate user input such as schema and
table names.  It also generates DDL SQL to create the database or turn one
schema into another (sort of a SQL diff).  Finally, it also handles
reverse engineering of an existing database.

The C<Alzabo::SQLMaker::*> hierarchy is used to generate DML SQL and
handle bound parameters.

The RDBMS to be used is specified when creating the schema.
Currently, there is no easy way to convert a schema from one RDBMS to
another, though this is a future goal.

=head1 REFERENTIAL INTEGRITY

Alzabo can maintain referential integrity in your database based on
the relationships you have defined.  This can be toggled via L<< the
C<Alzabo::Runtime::Schema-E<gt>set_referential_integrity()>
method|Alzabo::Runtime::Schema/set_referential_integrity >>.

Alzabo enforces these referential integrity rules:

=over 4

=item * Inserts

An attempt to insert a value into a table's foreign key column(s) will
fail if the value does not exist in the foreign table.

If a table is dependent on another table, any columns from the
dependent table involved in the relationship will be treated as not
nullable.

If the relationship is one-to-one, all columns involved in the foreign
key will be treated as if they had a unique constraint on them (as a
group if there is more than one) unless any of the columns being
inserted are NULL.

The exception to this rule is that no attempt is made to enforce
constraints on a table's primary key, as that could conceivably make
it impossible to insert a row into the table.

=item * Updates

Updates follow the same rules as inserts.

=item * Deletes

When a row is deleted, foreign tables which are dependent on the one
being deleted will have the relevant rows deleted.  Otherwise, the
foreign table's related column(s) will simply be set to NULL.

=back

=head1 AUTHOR

Dave Rolsky, <autarch@urth.org>

=cut