NAME

       MARC::Charset::Table - character mapping db

SYNOPSIS

           use MARC::Charset::Table;
           use MARC::Charset::Constants qw(:all);

           # create the table object
           my $table = MARC::Charset::Table->new();

           # get a code using the marc8 character set code and the character
           my $code = $table->lookup_by_marc8(CYRILLIC_BASIC, 'K');

           # get a code using the utf8 value
           $code = $table->lookup_by_utf8(chr(0x043A));

DESCRIPTION

       MARC::Charset::Table is a wrapper around the character mapping database, which is
       implemented as a tied hash on disk. This database gets generated by Makefile.PL on
       installation of MARC::Charset using MARC::Charset::Compiler.

       The database is essentially a key/value mapping where a key is a MARC-8 character set code
       + a MARC-8 character, or an integer representing the UCS code point. These keys map to a
       serialized MARC::Charset::Code object.

   new()
       The consturctor.

   add_code()
       Add a MARC::Charset::Code to the table.

   get_code()
       Retrieve a code using a hash key.

   lookup_by_marc8()
       Looks up MARC::Charset::Code entry using a character set code and a MARC-8 value.

           use MARC::Charset::Constants qw(HEBREW);
           $code = $table->lookup_by_marc8(HEBREW, chr(0x60));

   lookup_by_utf8()
       Looks up a MARC::Charset::Code object using a utf8 value.

   db()
       Returns a reference to a tied character database. MARC::Charset::Table wraps access to the
       db, but you can get at it if you want.

   db_path()
       Returns the path to the character encoding database. Can be called statically too:

           print MARC::Charset::Table->db_path();

   brand_new()
       An alternate constructor which removes the existing database and starts afresh. Be careful
       with this one, it's really only used on MARC::Charset installation.