Alexander Hartmaier > DBIx-Class-0.08206 > DBIx::Class::ResultSource



Annotate this POD



New  12
Open  18
Stalled  11
View/Report Bugs
Source   Latest Release: DBIx-Class-0.082810


DBIx::Class::ResultSource - Result source object


  # Create a table based result source, in a result class.

  package MyApp::Schema::Result::Artist;

  __PACKAGE__->add_columns(qw/ artistid name /);
  __PACKAGE__->has_many(cds => 'MyApp::Schema::Result::CD');


  # Create a query (view) based result source, in a result class
  package MyApp::Schema::Result::Year2000CDs;


      "SELECT cdid, artist, title FROM cd WHERE year ='2000'"


A ResultSource is an object that represents a source of data for querying.

This class is a base class for various specialised types of result sources, for example DBIx::Class::ResultSource::Table. Table is the default result source type, so one is created for you when defining a result class as described in the synopsis above.

More specifically, the DBIx::Class::Core base class pulls in the DBIx::Class::ResultSourceProxy::Table component, which defines the table method. When called, table creates and stores an instance of DBIx::Class::ResultSoure::Table. Luckily, to use tables as result sources, you don't need to remember any of this.

Result sources representing select queries, or views, can also be created, see DBIx::Class::ResultSource::View for full details.

Finding result source objects

As mentioned above, a result source instance is created and stored for you when you define a Result Class.

You can retrieve the result source at runtime in the following ways:

From a Schema object:
From a Result object:
From a ResultSet object:



Arguments: @columns
Return Value: $result_source
  $source->add_columns(qw/col1 col2 col3/);

  $source->add_columns('col1' => \%col1_info, 'col2' => \%col2_info, ...);

Adds columns to the result source. If supplied colname => hashref pairs, uses the hashref as the "column_info" for that column. Repeated calls of this method will add more columns, not replace them.

The column names given will be created as accessor methods on your Result objects. You can change the name of the accessor by supplying an "accessor" in the column_info hash.

If a column name beginning with a plus sign ('+col1') is provided, the attributes provided will be merged with any existing attributes for the column, with the new attributes taking precedence in the case that an attribute already exists. Using this without a hashref ($source->add_columns(qw/+col1 +col2/)) is legal, but useless -- it does the same thing it would do without the plus.

The contents of the column_info are not set in stone. The following keys are currently recognised/used by DBIx::Class:

   { accessor => '_name' }

   # example use, replace standard accessor with one of your own:
   sub name {
       my ($self, $value) = @_;

       die "Name cannot contain digits!" if($value =~ /\d/);

       return $self->_name();

Use this to set the name of the accessor method for this column. If unset, the name of the column will be used.

   { data_type => 'integer' }

This contains the column type. It is automatically filled if you use the SQL::Translator::Producer::DBIx::Class::File producer, or the DBIx::Class::Schema::Loader module.

Currently there is no standard set of values for the data_type. Use whatever your database supports.

   { size => 20 }

The length of your column, if it is a column type that can have a size restriction. This is currently only used to create tables from your schema, see "deploy" in DBIx::Class::Schema.

   { is_nullable => 1 }

Set this to a true value for a columns that is allowed to contain NULL values, default is false. This is currently only used to create tables from your schema, see "deploy" in DBIx::Class::Schema.

   { is_auto_increment => 1 }

Set this to a true value for a column whose value is somehow automatically set, defaults to false. This is used to determine which columns to empty when cloning objects using "copy" in DBIx::Class::Row. It is also used by "deploy" in DBIx::Class::Schema.

   { is_numeric => 1 }

Set this to a true or false value (not undef) to explicitly specify if this column contains numeric data. This controls how set_column decides whether to consider a column dirty after an update: if is_numeric is true a numeric comparison != will take place instead of the usual eq

If not specified the storage class will attempt to figure this out on first access to the column, based on the column data_type. The result will be cached in this attribute.

   { is_foreign_key => 1 }

Set this to a true value for a column that contains a key from a foreign table, defaults to false. This is currently only used to create tables from your schema, see "deploy" in DBIx::Class::Schema.

   { default_value => \'now()' }

Set this to the default value which will be inserted into a column by the database. Can contain either a value or a function (use a reference to a scalar e.g. \'now()' if you want a function). This is currently only used to create tables from your schema, see "deploy" in DBIx::Class::Schema.

See the note on "new" in DBIx::Class::Row for more information about possible issues related to db-side default values.

   { sequence => 'my_table_seq' }

Set this on a primary key column to the name of the sequence used to generate a new key value. If not specified, DBIx::Class::PK::Auto will attempt to retrieve the name of the sequence from the database automatically.

  { retrieve_on_insert => 1 }

For every column where this is set to true, DBIC will retrieve the RDBMS-side value upon a new row insertion (normally only the autoincrement PK is retrieved on insert). INSERT ... RETURNING is used automatically if supported by the underlying storage, otherwise an extra SELECT statement is executed to retrieve the missing data.

   { auto_nextval => 1 }

Set this to a true value for a column whose value is retrieved automatically from a sequence or function (if supported by your Storage driver.) For a sequence, if you do not use a trigger to get the nextval, you have to set the "sequence" value as well.

Also set this for MSSQL columns with the 'uniqueidentifier' data_type whose values you want to automatically generate using NEWID(), unless they are a primary key in which case this will be done anyway.


This is used by "deploy" in DBIx::Class::Schema and SQL::Translator to add extra non-generic data to the column. For example: extra => { unsigned => 1} is used by the MySQL producer to set an integer column to unsigned. For more details, see SQL::Translator::Producer::MySQL.


Arguments: $colname, \%columninfo?
Return Value: 1/0 (true/false)
  $source->add_column('col' => \%info);

Add a single column and optional column info. Uses the same column info keys as "add_columns".


Arguments: $colname
Return Value: 1/0 (true/false)
  if ($source->has_column($colname)) { ... }

Returns true if the source has a column of this name, false otherwise.


Arguments: $colname
Return Value: Hashref of info
  my $info = $source->column_info($col);

Returns the column metadata hashref for a column, as originally passed to "add_columns". See "add_columns" above for information on the contents of the hashref.


Arguments: none
Return Value: Ordered list of column names
  my @column_names = $source->columns;

Returns all column names in the order they were declared to "add_columns".


Arguments: \@colnames ?
Return Value: Hashref of column name/info pairs
  my $columns_info = $source->columns_info;

Like "column_info" but returns information for the requested columns. If the optional column-list arrayref is omitted it returns info on all columns currently defined on the ResultSource via "add_columns".


Arguments: @colnames
Return Value: not defined
  $source->remove_columns(qw/col1 col2 col3/);

Removes the given list of columns by name, from the result source.

Warning: Removing a column that is also used in the sources primary key, or in one of the sources unique constraints, will result in a broken result source.


Arguments: $colname
Return Value: not defined

Remove a single column by name from the result source, similar to "remove_columns".



Arguments: @cols
Return Value: not defined

Defines one or more columns as primary key for this source. Must be called after "add_columns".

Additionally, defines a unique constraint named primary.

Note: you normally do want to define a primary key on your sources even if the underlying database table does not have a primary key. See "The Significance and Importance of Primary Keys" in DBIx::Class::Manual::Intro for more info.


Arguments: none
Return Value: Ordered list of primary column names

Read-only accessor which returns the list of primary keys, supplied by "set_primary_key".


Manually define the correct sequence for your table, to avoid the overhead associated with looking up the sequence automatically. The supplied sequence will be applied to the "column_info" of each primary_key

Arguments: $sequence_name
Return Value: not defined


Arguments: $name?, \@colnames
Return Value: not defined

Declare a unique constraint on this source. Call once for each unique constraint.

  # For UNIQUE (column1, column2)
    constraint_name => [ qw/column1 column2/ ],

Alternatively, you can specify only the columns:

  __PACKAGE__->add_unique_constraint([ qw/column1 column2/ ]);

This will result in a unique constraint named table_column1_column2, where table is replaced with the table name.

Unique constraints are used, for example, when you pass the constraint name as the key attribute to "find" in DBIx::Class::ResultSet. Then only columns in the constraint are searched.

Throws an error if any of the given column names do not yet exist on the result source.


Arguments: @constraints
Return Value: not defined

Declare multiple unique constraints on this source.

    constraint_name1 => [ qw/column1 column2/ ],
    constraint_name2 => [ qw/column2 column3/ ],

Alternatively, you can specify only the columns:

    [ qw/column1 column2/ ],
    [ qw/column3 column4/ ]

This will result in unique constraints named table_column1_column2 and table_column3_column4, where table is replaced with the table name.


See also "add_unique_constraint".


Arguments: \@colnames
Return Value: Constraint name
  $source->name_unique_constraint(['col1', 'col2']);
  # returns

Return a name for a unique constraint containing the specified columns. The name is created by joining the table name and each column name, using an underscore character.

For example, a constraint on a table named cd containing the columns artist and title would result in a constraint name of cd_artist_title.

This is used by "add_unique_constraint" if you do not specify the optional constraint name.


Arguments: none
Return Value: Hash of unique constraint data

Read-only accessor which returns a hash of unique constraints on this source.

The hash is keyed by constraint name, and contains an arrayref of column names as values.


Arguments: none
Return Value: Unique constraint names

Returns the list of unique constraint names defined on this source.


Arguments: $constraintname
Return Value: List of constraint columns

Returns the list of columns that make up the specified unique constraint.


Arguments: $callback_name | \&callback_code
Return Value: $callback_name | \&callback_code


  __PACKAGE__->sqlt_deploy_callback(sub {
    my ($source_instance, $sqlt_table) = @_;
  } );

An accessor to set a callback to be called during deployment of the schema via "create_ddl_dir" in DBIx::Class::Schema or "deploy" in DBIx::Class::Schema.

The callback can be set as either a code reference or the name of a method in the current result class.

Defaults to "default_sqlt_deploy_hook".

Your callback will be passed the $source object representing the ResultSource instance being deployed, and the SQL::Translator::Schema::Table object being created from it. The callback can be used to manipulate the table object or add your own customised indexes. If you need to manipulate a non-table object, use the "sqlt_deploy_hook" in DBIx::Class::Schema.

See "Adding Indexes And Functions To Your SQL" in DBIx::Class::Manual::Cookbook for examples.

This sqlt deployment callback can only be used to manipulate SQL::Translator objects as they get turned into SQL. To execute post-deploy statements which SQL::Translator does not currently handle, override "deploy" in DBIx::Class::Schema in your Schema class and call dbh_do.


This is the default deploy hook implementation which checks if your current Result class has a sqlt_deploy_hook method, and if present invokes it on the Result class directly. This is to preserve the semantics of sqlt_deploy_hook which was originally designed to expect the Result class name and the $sqlt_table instance of the table being deployed.


Arguments: $classname
Return Value: $classname
 use My::Schema::ResultClass::Inflator;

 use My::Schema::Artist;

Set the default result class for this source. You can use this to create and use your own result inflator. See "result_class" in DBIx::Class::ResultSet for more details.

Please note that setting this to something like DBIx::Class::ResultClass::HashRefInflator will make every result unblessed and make life more difficult. Inflators like those are better suited to temporary usage via "result_class" in DBIx::Class::ResultSet.


Arguments: none
Return Value: $resultset

Returns a resultset for the given source. This will initially be created on demand by calling

  $self->resultset_class->new($self, $self->resultset_attributes)

but is cached from then on unless resultset_class changes.


Arguments: $classname
Return Value: $classname
  package My::Schema::ResultSet::Artist;
  use base 'DBIx::Class::ResultSet';

  # In the result class

  # Or in code

Set the class of the resultset. This is useful if you want to create your own resultset methods. Create your own class derived from DBIx::Class::ResultSet, and set it here. If called with no arguments, this method returns the name of the existing resultset class, if one exists.


Arguments: \%attrs
Return Value: \%attrs
  # In the result class
  __PACKAGE__->resultset_attributes({ order_by => [ 'id' ] });

  # Or in code
  $source->resultset_attributes({ order_by => [ 'id' ] });

Store a collection of resultset attributes, that will be set on every DBIx::Class::ResultSet produced from this result source.

CAVEAT: resultset_attributes comes with its own set of issues and bugs! While resultset_attributes isn't deprecated per se, its usage is not recommended!

Since relationships use attributes to link tables together, the "default" attributes you set may cause unpredictable and undesired behavior. Furthermore, the defaults cannot be turned off, so you are stuck with them.

In most cases, what you should actually be using are project-specific methods:

  package My::Schema::ResultSet::Artist;
  use base 'DBIx::Class::ResultSet';

  #__PACKAGE__->resultset_attributes({ prefetch => 'tracks' });

  sub with_tracks { shift->search({}, { prefetch => 'tracks' }) }

  # in your code

This gives you the flexibility of not using it when you don't need it.

For more complex situations, another solution would be to use a virtual view via DBIx::Class::ResultSource::View.


Arguments: none
Result value: $name

Returns the name of the result source, which will typically be the table name. This may be a scalar reference if the result source has a non-standard name.


Arguments: $source_name
Result value: $source_name

Set an alternate name for the result source when it is loaded into a schema. This is useful if you want to refer to a result source by a name other than its class name.

  package ArchivedBooks;
  use base qw/DBIx::Class/;

  # from your schema...


Arguments: none
Return Value: FROM clause
  my $from_clause = $source->from();

Returns an expression of the source to be supplied to storage to specify retrieval from this source. In the case of a database, the required FROM clause contents.


Arguments: $schema?
Return Value: $schema
  my $schema = $source->schema();

Sets and/or returns the DBIx::Class::Schema object to which this result source instance has been attached to.


Arguments: none
Return Value: $storage

Returns the storage handle for the current schema.


Arguments: $rel_name, $related_source_name, \%cond, \%attrs?
Return Value: 1/true if it succeeded
  $source->add_relationship('rel_name', 'related_source', $cond, $attrs);

DBIx::Class::Relationship describes a series of methods which create pre-defined useful types of relationships. Look there first before using this method directly.

The relationship name can be arbitrary, but must be unique for each relationship attached to this result source. 'related_source' should be the name with which the related result source was registered with the current schema. For example:

  $schema->source('Book')->add_relationship('reviews', 'Review', {
    'foreign.book_id' => '',

The condition $cond needs to be an SQL::Abstract-style representation of the join between the tables. For example, if you're creating a relation from Author to Book,

  { 'foreign.author_id' => '' }

will result in the JOIN clause

  author me JOIN book foreign ON foreign.author_id =

You can specify as many foreign => self mappings as necessary.

Valid attributes are as follows:


Explicitly specifies the type of join to use in the relationship. Any SQL join type is valid, e.g. LEFT or RIGHT. It will be placed in the SQL command immediately before JOIN.


An arrayref containing a list of accessors in the foreign class to proxy in the main class. If, for example, you do the following:

  CD->might_have(liner_notes => 'LinerNotes', undef, {
    proxy => [ qw/notes/ ],

Then, assuming LinerNotes has an accessor named notes, you can do:

  my $cd = CD->find(1);
  # set notes -- LinerNotes object is created if it doesn't exist
  $cd->notes('Notes go here');

Specifies the type of accessor that should be created for the relationship. Valid values are single (for when there is only a single related object), multi (when there can be many), and filter (for when there is a single related object, but you also want the relationship accessor to double as a column accessor). For multi accessors, an add_to_* method is also created, which calls create_related for the relationship.

Throws an exception if the condition is improperly supplied, or cannot be resolved.


Arguments: none
Return Value: @rel_names
  my @relnames = $source->relationships();

Returns all relationship names for this source.


Arguments: $rel_name
Return Value: \%rel_data

Returns a hash of relationship information for the specified relationship name. The keys/values are as specified for "add_relationship" in DBIx::Class::Relationship::Base.


Arguments: $rel_name
Return Value: 1/0 (true/false)

Returns true if the source has a relationship of this name, false otherwise.


Arguments: $rel_name
Return Value: \%rel_data

Looks through all the relationships on the source this relationship points to, looking for one whose condition is the reverse of the condition on this relationship.

A common use of this is to find the name of the belongs_to relation opposing a has_many relation. For definition of these look in DBIx::Class::Relationship.

The returned hashref is keyed by the name of the opposing relationship, and contains its data in the same manner as "relationship_info".


Arguments: $rel_name
Return Value: $source

Returns the result source object for the given relationship.


Arguments: $rel_name
Return Value: $classname

Returns the class name for objects in the given relationship.


Arguments: none
Return Value: $source_handle

Obtain a new result source handle instance for this source. Used as a serializable pointer to this resultsource, as it is not easy (nor advisable) to serialize CODErefs which may very well be present in e.g. relationship definitions.




Stores a hashref of per-source metadata. No specific key names have yet been standardized, the examples below are purely hypothetical and don't actually accomplish anything on their own:

    "_tablespace" => 'fast_disk_array_3',
    "_engine" => 'InnoDB',



  $class->new({attribute_name => value});

Creates a new ResultSource object. Not normally called directly by end users.


Arguments: 1/0 (default: 0)
Return Value: 1/0

Enables the on-demand automatic loading of the above column metadata from storage as necessary. This is *deprecated*, and should not be used. It will be removed before 1.0.





syntax highlighting: