NAME

       Tangram::Type::Dump::Perl - map any Perl object as scalar dump

SYNOPSIS

          use Tangram::Core;
          use Tangram::Type::Dump::Perl; # always

          $schema = Tangram::Schema->new(
             classes => { NaturalPerson => { fields => {

             perl_dump =>
             {
                diary => # diary is a perl hash
                {
                   col => 'diarydata',
                   sql => 'TEXT',
                   indent => 0,
                   terse => 1,
                   purity => 0
                },

                lucky_numbers => 'int', # use defaults
             }

DESCRIPTION

       Maps arbitrary Perl data structures by serializing to a string representation. The
       persistent fields are grouped in a hash under the "perl_dump" key in the field hash.

       Serialization is done by Data::Dumper, which traverses the Perl data structure and creates
       a string representation of it. The resulting string will be mapped to the DBMS as a scalar
       value. During restore, the scalar value will be eval'd to reconstruct the original data
       structure.

       As of Tangram 2.07.1, persistent references are safely handled via the Tangram::Type::Dump
       utility class.

       The field names are passed in a hash that associates a field name with a field descriptor.
       The field descriptor may be either a hash or a string. The hash uses the following fields:

       •   col

       •   sql

       •   indent

       •   terse

       •   purity

       The optional fields "col" and "sql" specify the column name and the column type for the
       scalar value in the database. If not present, "col" defaults to the field name and "sql"
       defaults to VARCHAR(255).  Values will be always quoted as they are passed to the
       database.

       The remaining optional fields control the serialization process. They will be passed down
       to Data::Dumper as values to the corresponding Data::Dumper options. The default settings
       are: no indentation ("indent=0"), compact format ("terse=1"), and quick dump ("purity=0").

AUTHOR

       This mapping was contributed by Gabor Herr <herr@iti.informatik.tu-darmstadt.de>