Marcello Romani wrote:
> I have written a small paragraph that clarifies (I hope :-) why DBIC has
> no "stringify_self" method or "Stringify" column group.
>
> This obviously intended for DBIC newcomers coming from CDBI...
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> --- FAQ.pod 2006-08-18 13:00:27.000000000 +0200
> +++ FAQ_modified.pod 2006-09-07 12:09:23.000000000 +0200
> @@ -324,3 +324,43 @@
> you ask the resultset for an actual row object.
>
> =back
> +
> +=head2 Notes for CDBI users
> +
> +=over 4
> +
> +=item Is there a way to make an object auto-stringify itself as a particular
> column or group of columns (a-la cdbi Stringfy column group, or
> stringify_self method) ?
> +
> +Perl already offers a method to make an object stringify itself, through the
> C<use overload> pragma.
> +
> +Therefore there is no need for a specialized stringification method like
> C<stringify_self>.
> +
> +B<Quick example:>
> +
> + use overload "" => sub { $_[0]->name . ", " . $_[0]->address }
> +
> +
> +B<Scenario:>
> +
> +Suppose we have two tables: C<Product> and C<Category>. The table
> specifications are:
> +
> + Product(id, Description, category)
> + Category(id, Description)
> +
> +C<category> is a foreign key into the Category table.
> +
> +If you have a Product object C<$obj> and write something like
> +
> + print $obj->category
> +
> +things will not work as expected.
> +
> +To obtain, for example, the category description, you should add this method
> to the class mapping the Category table (tipically C<DB::Main::Category>):
> +
> + use overload "" => sub {
> + my $self = shift;
> +
> + return $self->Description;
> + }
> +
> +=back
There's already a rather more minimal entry at
http://search.cpan.org/dist/DBIx-Class/lib/DBIx/Class/Manual/Cookbook.pod#Stringification
Maybe merge the better description into the cookbook and create a simpler FAQ
entry that links to it?
Anybody got any better ideas?
--
Matt S Trout Offering custom development, consultancy and support
Technical Director contracts for Catalyst, DBIx::Class and BAST. Contact
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