NAME

Tangram::Expr - manipulate expressions on database server side

SYNOPSIS

	my ($r1, $r2) = $storage->remote(qw( ... ));

	$r1->{field} operator $value
   	$r1->{field} operator $r2->{field2}
   
   	$r1->{collection}->includes( $obj )
   	$r1->{collection}->exists( $obj, $filter )

DESCRIPTION

Tangram::Expr objects represent expressions that will be evaluated on the database server side.

Expression objects fall into one of the following categories: numeric, string, reference or collection.

The methods in Expr are needed only by people extending Tangram. See Tangram::Dialect.

NUMERIC EXPRESSIONS

Numeric expression objects can be compared using the operators ==, !=, <, >, <= and >=. The other operand must be either another numeric expression object, or a normal Perl numeric value. The result of the comparison is a Filter.

STRING EXPRESSIONS

String expression objects can be compared using the operators eq, ne, lt, gt, le, and ge. The other operand must be either a string expression object or any Perl scalar value. Tangram will automatically quote the operand as required by the SQL syntax. The result of the comparison is a Tangram::Filter.

String expression objects also support the method like($str), where $str is a string that may contain SQL wildcards. The result is a Tangram::Filter that translates to a SQL LIKE $str predicate.

REFERENCE EXPRESSIONS

Reference expression objects can be compared for equality using operators == and !=. The other operand must be another reference expression, a persistent object or undef(). The result of the comparison is a Filter.

COLLECTION EXPRESSIONS

Collection expression objects represents a collection inside an object. It supports the includes methods, which returns a Tangram::Filter stating that the collection must contain the operand. The operand may be a Tangram::Remote, a persistent object, or an object ID.

operator < is provided as a synonym for includes().

PREDICATES

Predicate objects represent logical expressions, or conditions. Predicates support logical operators &, | and !. Note that a single ampersand or vertical bar must be used. The result is another predicate.

CLASS METHODS

new($type, $expr, @remotes)

Returns a new instance.

$type is a Type object corresponding to this expression (see Tangram::Type).

$expr is a SQL expression. It will eventually become part of a WHERE-CLAUSE.

@remotes contains the Remote objects (see Tangram::Remote) that participate in the expression. Tangram uses this list to insert the corresponding tables in the FROM clause and conditions in the WHERE-CLAUSE.

INSTANCE METHODS

expr()

Returns the SQL equivalent for this expression.

type()

Returns the Type (see Tangram::Type) corresponding to this expression.

objects()

Returns the list of the objects that participate in this expression.

storage()

Returns the Storage associated with this expression.

EXAMPLES

$person is called 'Homer'

$person->{name} eq 'Homer'

$person's name ends with 'mer'

$person->{name}->like('%mer');

$person is older than 35

$person->{age} > 35

$person is married to $homer

$person->{partner} == $homer

$person is not $homer

$person != $homer

$person is not $homer and is older than 65

$person != $homer & $person->{age} > 65

$person is $bart's parent

$person->{children}->includes( $bart )
$person->{children} < $bart

$person is not $bart's parent

!$person->{children}->includes( $bart )
!($person->{children} < $bart)

SEE ALSO

Tangram::Remote, Tangram::Expr, Tangram::Storage, overload