NAME

       Cookbook - Examples of how to use Data::Serializer

DESCRIPTION

       Data::Serializer::Cookbook is a collection of solutions for using Data::Serializer.

CONVENTIONS

       Unless otherwise specified, all examples can be assumed to begin with:

         use Data::Serializer;

         my $serializer = Data::Serializer->new();

       Some examples will show different arguments to the new method, where specified simply use
       that line instead of the simple form above.

CONVENTIONS for Raw Access

       Fort hose who want a straight pass through to the underlying serializer, where nothing
       else is done (no encoding, encryption, compression, etc) there is
       Data::Serializer::Raw(3).

       These begin like this:

         use Data::Serializer::Raw;

         my $raw_serializer = Data::Serializer::Raw->new();

Encrypting your data

       You wish to encrypt your data structure, so that it can only be decoded by someone who
       shares the same key.

   Solution
         $serializer->secret('mysecret');

         my $encrypted_hashref = $serializer->serializer($hash);

         ... (in other program) ...

         $serializer->secret('mysecret');

         my $clear_hash = $serializer->deserializer($encrypted_hash);

       Note:  You will have to have the Crypt::CBC module installed for this to work.

Compressing your data

       You wish to compress your data structure to cut down on how much disk space it will take
       up.

   Solution
         $serializer->compress(1);

         my $compressed_hashref = $serializer->serializer($hash);

         ... (in other program) ...

         my $clear_hash = $serializer->deserializer($compressed_hash);

       Note:  You will have to have the Compress::Zlib module installed for this to work.  Your
       mileage will vary dramatically depending on what serializer you use.  Some serializers are
       already fairly compact.

You want to read in data serialized outside of Data::Serializer

       You need to write a program that can read in data serialized in a format other than
       Data::Serializer.  For example you need to be able to be able to process data serialized
       by XML::Dumper.

   Solution
         use Data::Serializer::Raw;

         my $xml_raw_serializer = Data::Serializer::Raw->(serializer => 'XML::Dumper');

         my $hash_ref = $xml_raw_serializer->deserialize($xml_data);

You want to write serialized data in a form understood outside of Data::Serializer

       You need to write a program that can write out data in a format other than
       Data::Serializer.  Or said more generically you need to write out data in the format
       native to the underlying serializer.  For our example we will be exporting data using
       XML::Dumper format.

   Solution
         ues Data::Serializer::Raw;

         my $xml_raw_serializer = Data::Serializer::Raw->(serializer => 'XML::Dumper');

         my $xml_data = $xml_raw_serializer->serialize($hash_ref);

You want to convert data between two different serializers native formats

       You have data serialized by php that you want to convert to xml for use by other programs.

   Solution
         use Data::Serializer::Raw;

         my $xml_raw_serializer = Data::Serializer::Raw->(serializer => 'XML::Dumper');

         my $php_raw_serializer = Data::Serializer::Raw->(serializer => 'PHP::Serialization');

         my $hash_ref = $php_raw_serializer->deserialize($php_data);

         my $xml_data = $xml_raw_serializer->serialize($hash_ref);

Keeping data persistent between executions of a program.

       You have a program that you run every 10 minutes, it uses SNMP to pull some counters from
       one of your routers.  You want your program to keep the counters from the last run so that
       it can see how much traffic has passed over a link since it last ran.

   Solution
         # path to store our serialized data
         # be paranoid, use full paths
         my $last_run_datafile = '/full/path/to/file/lastrun.data';

         #We keep our data as a hash reference
         my $last_data = $serializer->retrieve($last_run_datafile);

         #Pull in our new data through 'pull_data()';
         my $new_data = query_router($router);

         #run comparison code
         run_comparison($last_data,$new_data);

         $serializer->store($new_data);

AUTHOR

       Neil Neely <neil@neely.cx>.

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (c) 2001-2011 Neil Neely.  All rights reserved.

       This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same
       terms as Perl itself.

SEE ALSO

       Data::Serializer(3)
       Data::Serializer::Raw(3)