NAME

       Tangram::Type::Scalar - map scalar fields

SYNOPSIS

          use Tangram;

          Tangram::Schema->new(
             classes => { NaturalPerson => { fields => {
                string => [ qw( name firstName gender ) ],
                int => [ qw( age ) ],
                real => [ qw( height weight ) ],

          $schema = Tangram::Schema->new(
             classes => { NaturalPerson => { fields => {
                string =>
                {
                   name    => { sql => 'VARCHAR(100)' },

                   1stname => {
                      col => 'firstName',
                      sql => 'VARCHAR(100) NULL' },

                   gender    => undef()
                },

DESCRIPTION

       Classes Tangram::Type::String, ::Int and ::Real and ::Ref are responsible for mapping the
       various subtypes of scalars. The first three mappings are documented here since they
       differ very little. See Tangram::Type::Ref::FromMany for information on mapping
       references.

       Tangram::Type::String uses DBI's quote() method to quote strings if that method is
       available, thus making it possible to store binary objects or multiline text in databases
       that support it (thanks to Marian Kelc <marian.kelc@ruhr-uni-bochum.de> for suggesting
       this improvement).

       The three predefined typetags "string", "int" and "real" are for the corresponding Perl
       scalar subtypes.

       Each scalar field is stored in a single column of the table associated to the class.

       The persistent fields may be specified either as a hash or as an array of field names.

       In the hash form, each entry consists in a field name and an associated option hash. The
       option hash may contain the following fields:

       •   col

       •   sql

       •   automatic

       "col" sets the name of the column used to store the field's value. This field is optional,
       it defaults to the persistent field name. Override if the field name is not an acceptable
       SQL column name.

       "sql" sets the SQL type of the column. Used by Schema::deploy() when initializing a
       database. Defaults to 'VARCHAR(255) NULL' for strings, 'INT NULL' for ints and 'REAL NULL'
       for reals.

       "automatic", if set to true, tells Tangram not to save the field to storage. This is
       useful for auto-increment or timestamp columns.

       The persistent fields may also be specified as an array of strings, in which case the
       defaults are used.