Provided by: libmqdb-perl_0.954-3_all
NAME
MQdb::DBObject - DESCRIPTION of Object
SYNOPSIS
Root class for all objects in MappedQuery toolkit
DESCRIPTION
Root object for toolkit and all derived subclasses. All objects in the MappedQuery structure are designed to be persisted in a database. Here database is a more broad term and can be considered any object persistance systems. Currently the toolkit works with SQL based systems but object databases or custom storage engines are possible. Provides base common methods used by all objects.
AUTHOR
Contact Jessica Severin: jessica.severin@gmail.com
LICENSE
* Software License Agreement (BSD License) * MappedQueryDB [MQdb] toolkit * copyright (c) 2006-2009 Jessica Severin * All rights reserved. * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without * modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met: * * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright * notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. * * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright * notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the * documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution. * * Neither the name of Jessica Severin nor the * names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products * derived from this software without specific prior written permission. * * THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS ''AS IS'' AND ANY * EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED * WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE * DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY * DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES * (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; * LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND * ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT * (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS * SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
APPENDIX
The rest of the documentation details each of the object methods. Internal methods are usually preceded with a _ new Description: instance creation method Returntype : instance of this Class (subclass) Exceptions : none init Description: initialization method which subclasses can extend Returntype : $self Exceptions : subclass dependent copy Description: Shallow copy which copies all base attributes of object to new instance of same class Returntype : same as calling instance Exceptions : subclass dependent class Description: fixed string symbol for this class. Must be implemented for each subclass and each subclass within toolkit should return a unique name. used by global methods. Returntype : string Exceptions : error if subclass does not redefine database Description: the MQdb::Database where this object is permanently persisted to. Here database is any object persistance system. Returntype : MQdb::Database Exceptions : die if invalid setter value type is provided primary_id Description: the unique identifier for this object within database. Returntype : scalar or UNDEF Exceptions : none id Description: the unique identifier for this object within database. Returns empty string if not persisted. Returntype : scalar or '' Exceptions : none db_id Description: the worldwide unique identifier for this object. A URL-like combination of database, class, and id Returntype : string or undef if database is not defined Exceptions : none display_desc Description: general purpose debugging method that returns a nice human readable description of the object instance contents. Each subclass should implement and return a nice string. Returntype : string scalar Exceptions : none display_info Description: convenience method which prints the display_desc string with a carriage return to STDOUT. useful for debugging. Returntype : none Exceptions : none xml Description: every object in system should be persistable in XML format. returns an XML description of the object and all child objects. Each subclass must implement and return a proper XML string. Best if one implements xml_start() and xml_end() and use here. Returntype : string scalar Exceptions : none Default : default is a simple xml_start + xml_end xml_start Description: every object in system should be persistable in XML format. returns an XML description of the object and all child objects. Each subclass should OVERRIDE this method and return a proper XML string. xml_start is the primary XML start tag Example : return sprintf("<feature id='%d' name='%d' ..... >", $id, $name....); Returntype : string scalar Exceptions : none xml_end Description: every object in system should be persistable in XML format. returns an XML description of the object and all child objects. Each subclass should OVERRIDE this method and return a proper XML string. xml_end is the primary XML end tag Example : return "</feature>"; Returntype : string scalar Exceptions : none simple_xml Description: short hand for xml_start() . xml_end() Can be used when only the primary XML start tag and attributes are needed No need to override if xml_start() and xml_end() are implemented Returntype : string scalar Exceptions : none