NAME

       Data::ObjectDriver::Driver::Partition - base class for partitioned object drivers

SYNOPSIS

           package SomeObject;

           __PACKAGE__->install_properties({
               ...
               primary_key => 'id',
               driver      => Data::ObjectDriver::Driver::Partition->new(get_driver => \&find_partition),
           });

           # Say we have a list of 5 arrayrefs of the DBI driver information.
           my @DBI_INFO;

           sub find_partition {
               my ($part_key, $args) = @_;

               my $id;

               if (ref $terms && ref $terms eq 'HASH') {
                   # This is a search($terms, $args) call.
                   my $terms = $part_key;
                   $id = $terms->{id}
                       or croak "Can't determine partition from a search() with no id field";
               }
               else {
                   # This is a lookup($id) or some method invoked on an object where we know the ID.
                   my $id = $part_key;
               }

               # "ID modulo N" is not a good partitioning strategy, but serves as an example.
               my $partition = $id % 5;
               return Data::ObjectDriver::Driver::DBI->new( @{ $DBI_INFO[$partition] } );
           }

DESCRIPTION

       Data::ObjectDriver::Driver::Partition provides the basic structure for partitioning
       objects into different databases. Using partitions, you can horizontally scale your
       application by using different database servers to hold sets of data.

       To partition data, you need a certain criteria to determine which partition data goes in.
       Partition drivers use a "get_driver" function to find the database driver for the correct
       partition, given either the arguments to a "search()" or the object's primary key for a
       "lookup()", "update()", etc where the key is known.

SUGGESTED PRACTICES

       While you can use any stable, predictable method of selecting the partition for an object,
       the most flexible way is to keep an unpartitioned table that maps object keys to their
       partitions. You can then look up the appropriate record in your get_driver method to find
       the partition.

       For many applications, you can partition several classes of data based on the ID of the
       user account that "owns" them. In this case, you would include the user ID as the first
       part of a complex primary key.

       Because multiple objects can use the same partitioning scheme, often
       Data::ObjectDriver::Driver::Partition is subclassed to define the "get_driver" function
       once and automatically specify it to the Data::ObjectDriver::Driver::Partition
       constructor.

       Note these practices are codified into the Data::ObjectDriver::Driver::SimplePartition
       class.

USAGE

   "Data::ObjectDriver::Driver::Partition->new(%params)"
       Creates a new partitioning driver. The required members of %params are:

       •   "get_driver"

           A reference to a function to be used to retrieve for a given object or set of search
           terms. Your function is invoked as either:

           •   "get_driver(\%terms, \%args)"

               Return a driver based on the given "search()" parameters.

           •   "get_driver($id)"

               Return a driver based on the given object ID. Note that $id may be an arrayref, if
               the class was defined with a complex primary key.

       •   "pk_generator"

           A reference to a function that, given a data object, generates a primary key for it.
           This is the same "pk_generator" given to "Data::ObjectDriver"'s constructor.

   "$driver->search($class, $terms, $args)"
   "$driver->lookup($class, $id)"
   "$driver->lookup_multi($class, @ids)"
   "$driver->exists($obj)"
   "$driver->insert($obj)"
   "$driver->update($obj)"
   "$driver->remove($obj)"
   "$driver->fetch_data($what)"
       Performs the named action, by passing these methods through to the appropriate database
       driver as determined by $driver's "get_driver" function.

DIAGNOSTICS

       No errors are created by Data::ObjectDriver::Driver::Partition itself.  Errors may come
       from a specific partitioning subclass or the driver for a particular database.

BUGS AND LIMITATIONS

       There are no known bugs in this module.

SEE ALSO

       Data::ObjectDriver::Driver::SimplePartition

LICENSE

       Data::ObjectDriver is free software; you may redistribute it and/or modify it under the
       same terms as Perl itself.

AUTHOR & COPYRIGHT

       Except where otherwise noted, Data::ObjectDriver is Copyright 2005-2006 Six Apart,
       cpan@sixapart.com. All rights reserved.