NAME

       DBIx::Class::InflateColumn::Serializer - Inflators to serialize data structures for
       DBIx::Class

SYNOPSIS

         package MySchema::Table;
         use base 'DBIx::Class';

         __PACKAGE__->load_components('InflateColumn::Serializer', 'Core');
         __PACKAGE__->add_columns(
           'data_column' => {
             'data_type' => 'VARCHAR',
             'size'      => 255,
             'serializer_class'   => 'JSON'
           }
         );

       Then in your code...

         my $struct = { 'I' => { 'am' => 'a struct' };
         $obj->data_column($struct);
         $obj->update;

       And you can recover your data structure with:

         my $obj = ...->find(...);
         my $struct = $obj->data_column;

       The data structures you assign to "data_column" will be saved in the database in JSON
       format.

DESCRIPTION

       These modules help you store and access serialized data structures in the columns of your
       DB from your DBIx::Classes. They are inspired from the DBIx::Class::Manual::FAQ and the
       DBIC test suite, and provide a bit more protection than the inflators proposed in the FAQ.
       The intention is to provide a suite of well proven and reusable inflators and deflators to
       complement DBIx::Class.

       Added features for these inflators are:
        - throw an exception if the serialization doesn't fit in the field
        - throw an exception if the deserialization results in an error

       Right now there are three serializers:
        - Storable
        - JSON
        - YAML

USAGE

       1. Choose your serializer: JSON, YAML or Storable

       2. Add 'InflateColumn::Serializer' into the load_components of your table class

       3. add 'serializer_class' => SERIALIZER to the properties of the column that you want to
       (de/i)nflate
          with the SERIALIZER class.

NOTES

       As stated in the DBIC FAQ: "Be careful not to overuse this capability, however. If you
       find yourself depending more and more on some data within the inflated column, then it may
       be time to factor that data out."

AUTHOR

           Jose Luis Martinez
           CPAN ID: JLMARTIN
           CAPSiDE
           jlmartinez@capside.com
           http://www.pplusdomain.net

COPYRIGHT

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

       The full text of the license can be found in the LICENSE file included with this module.

THANKS

       Matt S Trout for his valuable feedback

       Ask Bjorn Hansen

SEE ALSO

       DBIx::Class, DBIx::Class::Manual::FAQ