NAME

SQL::Abstract::Limit - portable LIMIT emulation

SYNOPSIS

use SQL::Abstract::Limit;

my $sql = SQL::Abstract::Limit->new( limit_dialect => 'LimitOffset' );;

# or autodetect from a DBI $dbh:
my $sql = SQL::Abstract::Limit->new( limit_dialect => $dbh );

# or from a Class::DBI class:
my $sql = SQL::Abstract::Limit->new( limit_dialect => 'My::CDBI::App' );

# or object:
my $obj = My::CDBI::App->retrieve( $id );
my $sql = SQL::Abstract::Limit->new( limit_dialect => $obj );

# generate SQL:
my ( $stmt, @bind ) = $sql->select( $table, \@fields, \%where, \@order, $limit, $offset );

# Then, use these in your DBI statements
my $sth = $dbh->prepare( $stmt );
$sth->execute( @bind );

# Just generate the WHERE clause (only available for some syntaxes)
my ( $stmt, @bind )  = $sql->where( \%where, \@order, $limit, $offset );

DESCRIPTION

Portability layer for LIMIT emulation.

new( case => 'lower', cmp => 'like', logic => 'and', convert => 'upper', limit_dialect => 'Top' )

All settings are optional.

limit_dialect

Sets the default syntax model to use for emulating a LIMIT $rows OFFSET $offset clause. Default setting is GenericSubQ. You can still pass other syntax settings in method calls, this just sets the default. Possible values are:

LimitOffset     PostgreSQL, SQLite
LimitXY         MySQL, MaxDB, anything that uses SQL::Statement
LimitYX         SQLite (optional)
RowsTo          InterBase/FireBird

Top             SQL/Server, MS Access
RowNum          Oracle
FetchFirst      DB2
First           Informix    # not implemented yet
GenericSubQ     Sybase, plus any databases not recognised by this module

$dbh            a DBI database handle

CDBI subclass
CDBI object

other DBI-based thing

The first group are implemented by appending a short clause to the end of the statement. The second group require more intricate wrapping of the original statement in subselects.

You can pass a DBI database handle, and the module will figure out which dialect to use.

You can pass a Class::DBI subclass or object, and the module will find the $dbh and use it to find the dialect.

Anything else based on DBI can be easily added by locating the $dbh. Patches or suggestions welcome.

Other options are described in SQL::Abstract.

select( $table, \@fields, $where, [ \@order, [ $rows, [ $offset ], [ $dialect ] ] ] )

Same as SQL::Abstract::select, but accepts additional $rows, $offset and $dialect parameters.

The $order parameter is required if $rows is specified.

The $fields parameter is required, but can be set to undef, '' or '*' (all these get set to '*').

The $where parameter is also required. It can be a hashref or an arrayref, or undef.

where( [ $where, [ \@order, [ $rows, [ $offset ], [ $dialect ] ] ] ] )

Same as SQL::Abstract::where, but accepts additional $rows, $offset and $dialect parameters.

Some SQL dialects support syntaxes that can be applied as simple phrases tacked on to the end of the WHERE clause. These are:

LimitOffset
LimitXY
LimitYX
RowsTo

This method returns a modified WHERE clause, if the limit syntax is set to one of these options (either in the call to where or in the constructor), and if $rows is passed in.

Dies via croak if you try to use it for other syntaxes.

$order is required if $rows is set.

$where is required if any other parameters are specified. It can be a hashref or an arrayref, or undef.

Returns a regular WHERE clause if no limits are set.

insert

update

delete

values

generate

See SQL::Abstract for these methods.

update and delete are not provided with any LIMIT emulation in this release, and no support is planned at the moment. But patches would be welcome.

Limit emulation

The following dialects are available for emulating the LIMIT clause. In each case, $sql represents the SQL statement generated by SQL::Abstract::select, minus the ORDER BY clause, e.g.

SELECT foo, bar FROM my_table WHERE some_conditions

$sql_after_select represents $sql with the leading SELECT keyword removed.

order_cols_up represents the sort column(s) and direction(s) specified in the order parameter.

order_cols_down represents the opposite sort.

$last = $rows + $offset

LimitOffset

Syntax

$sql ORDER BY order_cols_up LIMIT $rows OFFSET $offset

$sql ORDER BY order_cols_up LIMIT $rows

if $offset == 0.

Databases

PostgreSQL
SQLite

LimitXY

Syntax

$sql ORDER BY order_cols_up LIMIT $offset, $rows

$sql ORDER BY order_cols_up LIMIT $rows

if $offset == 0.

Databases

MySQL

LimitYX

Syntax

$sql ORDER BY order_cols_up LIMIT $rows, $offset

$sql ORDER BY order_cols_up LIMIT $rows

if $offset == 0.

Databases

SQLite understands this syntax, or LimitOffset. If autodetecting the
       dialect, it will be set to LimitOffset.

RowsTo

Syntax

$sql ORDER BY order_cols_up ROWS $offset TO $last

Databases

InterBase
FireBird

Top

Syntax

SELECT * FROM
(
    SELECT TOP $rows * FROM
    (
        SELECT TOP $last $sql_after_select
        ORDER BY order_cols_up
    ) AS foo
    ORDER BY order_cols_down
) AS bar
ORDER BY order_cols_up

Databases

SQL/Server
MS Access

RowNum

Syntax

Oracle numbers rows from 1, not zero, so here $offset has been incremented by 1.

SELECT * FROM
(
    SELECT A.*, ROWNUM r FROM
    (
        $sql ORDER BY order_cols_up
    ) A
    WHERE ROWNUM <= $last
) B
WHERE r >= $offset

Databases

Oracle

FetchFirst

Syntax

SELECT * FROM (
    SELECT * FROM (
        $sql
        ORDER BY order_cols_up
        FETCH FIRST $last ROWS ONLY
    ) foo
    ORDER BY order_cols_down
    FETCH FIRST $rows ROWS ONLY
) bar
ORDER BY order_cols_up

Databases

IBM DB2

GenericSubQ

When all else fails, this should work for many databases, but it is probably fairly slow.

This method relies on having a column with unique values as the first column in the SELECT clause (i.e. the first column in the \@fields parameter). The results will be sorted by that unique column, so any $order parameter is ignored, unless it matches the unique column, in which case the direction of the sort is honoured.

Syntax

SELECT field_list FROM $table X WHERE where_clause AND
(
    SELECT COUNT(*) FROM $table WHERE $pk > X.$pk
)
BETWEEN $offset AND $last
ORDER BY $pk $asc_desc

$pk is the first column in field_list.

$asc_desc is the opposite direction to that specified in the method call. So if you want the final results sorted ASC, say so, and it gets flipped internally, but the results come out as you'd expect. I think.

The BETWEEN $offset AND $last clause is replaced with < $rows if <$offset == 0>.

Databases

Sybase Anything not otherwise known to this module.

First

Syntax: Looks to be identical to Top, e.g. SELECT FIRST 10 * FROM table. Can probably be implemented in a very similar way, but not done yet.
Databases: Informix

SUBCLASSING

You can create your own syntax by making a subclass that provides an emulate_limit method. This might be useful if you are using stored procedures to provide more efficient paging.

emulate_limit( $self, $sql, $order, $rows, $offset )

$sql

This is the SQL statement built by SQL::Abstract, but without the ORDER BY clause, e.g.

SELECT foo, bar FROM my_table WHERE conditions

or just

WHERE conditions

if calling where instead of select.

$order

The order parameter passed to the select or where call. You can get an ORDER BY clause from this by calling

my $order_by = $self->_order_by( $order );

You can get a pair of ORDER BY clauses that sort in opposite directions by saying

my ( $up, $down ) = $self->_order_directions( $order );

The method should return a suitably modified SQL statement.

AUTO-DETECTING THE DIALECT

The $dialect parameter that can be passed to the constructor or to the select and where methods can be a number of things. The module will attempt to determine the appropriate syntax to use.

Supported $dialect things are:

dialect name (e.g. LimitOffset, RowsTo, Top etc.)
database moniker (e.g. Oracle, SQLite etc.)
DBI database handle
Class::DBI subclass or object

CAVEATS

Paging results sets is a complicated undertaking, with several competing factors to take into account. This module does not magically give you the optimum paging solution for your situation. It gives you a solution that may be good enough in many situations. But if your tables are large, the SQL generated here will often not be efficient. Or if your queries involve joins or other complications, you will probably need to look elsewhere.

But if your tables aren't too huge, and your queries straightforward, you can just plug this module in and move on to your next task.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to Aaron Johnson for the Top syntax model (SQL/Server and MS Access).

Thanks to Emanuele Zeppieri for the IBM DB2 syntax model.

TODO

Find more syntaxes to implement.

Test the syntaxes against real databases. I only have access to MySQL. Reports of success or failure would be great.

DEPENDENCIES

SQL::Abstract, DBI::Const::GetInfoType, Carp.

BUGS

Please report all bugs via the CPAN Request Tracker at http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/Bugs.html?Dist=SQL-Abstract-Limit.

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

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

AUTHOR

David Baird, cpan@riverside-cms.co.uk

HOW IS IT DONE ELSEWHERE

A few CPAN modules do this for a few databases, but the most comprehensive seem to be DBIx::SQLEngine, DBIx::SearchBuilder and DBIx::RecordSet.

Have a look in the source code for my notes on how these modules tackle similar problems.

To install SQL::Abstract::Limit, copy and paste the appropriate command in to your terminal.

cpanm

cpanm SQL::Abstract::Limit

CPAN shell

perl -MCPAN -e shell
install SQL::Abstract::Limit

For more information on module installation, please visit the detailed CPAN module installation guide.

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NAME

SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION

Limit emulation

SUBCLASSING

AUTO-DETECTING THE DIALECT

CAVEATS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

TODO

DEPENDENCIES

SEE ALSO

BUGS

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

AUTHOR

HOW IS IT DONE ELSEWHERE

Module Install Instructions