NAME

CPAN::SQLite::Search - perform queries on the database

SYNOPSIS

my $max_results = 200;
my $query = CPAN::SQLite::Search->new(db_dir => $db_dir,
                                      db_name => $db_name,
                                      max_results => $max_results);
$query->query(mode => 'module', name => 'Net::FTP');
my $results = $query->{results};

CONSTRUCTING THE QUERY

This module queries the database via various types of queries and returns the results for subsequent display. The CPAN::SQLite::Search object is created via the new method as

my $query = CPAN::SQLite::Search->new(db_dir => $db_dir,
                                      db_name => $db_name,
                                      max_results => $max_results);

which takes as arguments

• db_dir => $db_dir

  This is the directory where the database file is stored. This is optional if the CPAN option is given.

• CPAN => $CPAN

  This option specifies the cpan_home directory of an already configured CPAN.pm, which is where the database file will be stored if db_dir is not given.

• max_results => $max_results

  This is the maximum value used to limit the number of results returned under a user query. If not specified, a value contained within CPAN::SQLite::Search will be used.

A basic query then is constructed as

$query->query(mode => $mode, $type => $value);

with the results available as

my $results = $query->{results}

There are three basic modes:

• module

  This is for information on modules.

• dist

  This is for information on distributions.

• author

  This is for information on CPAN authors or cpanids.

module, dist, and author modes

For a mode of module, dist, and author, there are four basic options to be used for the $type => $value option:

• query => $query_term

  This will search through module names, distribution names, or CPAN author names and ids (for module, dist, and author modes respectively). The results are case insensitive, and Perl regular expressions for the $query_term are recognized.

• name => $name

  This will report exact matches (in a case sensitive manner) for the module name, distribution name, or CPAN author id, for module, dist, and author modes respectively.

• id => $id

  This will look up information on the primary key according to the mode specified. This is more for internal use, to help speed up queries; using this "publically" is probably not a good idea, as the ids may change over the course of time.

RESULTS

After making the query, the results can be accessed through

my $results = $query->{results};

No results either can mean no matches were found, or else an error in making the query resulted (in which case, a brief error message is contained in $query->{error}). Assuming there are results, what is returned depends on the mode and on the type of query. See CPAN::SQLite::Populate for a description of the fields in the various tables listed below - these fields are used as the keys of the hash references that arise.

author mode

• name or id query

  This returns the auth_id, cpanid, email, and fullname of the auths table. As well, an array reference $results->{dists} is returned representing all distributions associated with that cpanid - each member of the array reference is a hash reference describing the dist_id, dist_name, dist_abs, dist_vers, and dist_file fields in the dists table. An additional entry, download, is supplied, which can be used as $CPAN/authors/id/$download to specify the url of the distribution.

• query query

  If this results in more than one match, an array reference is returned, each member of which is a hash reference containg the auth_id, cpanid, and fullname fields. If there is only one result found, a name query based on the matched cpanid is performed.

module mode

• name or id query

  This returns the mod_id, mod_name, mod_abs, mod_vers, dslip, chapterid, dist_id, dist_name, dist_file, auth_id, cpanid, fullname, and email of the auths, mods, and dists tables. As well, the following entries may be present.

  • download

    This can be used as $CPAN/authors/id/$download to specify the url of the distribution.

  • dslip_info

    If dslip is available, an array reference dslip_info is supplied, each entry being a hash reference. The hash reference contains two keys - desc, whose value is a general description of the what the dslip entry represents, and what, whose value is a description of the entry itself.

• query query

  If this results in more than one match, an array reference is returned, each member of which is a hash reference containing the mod_id, mod_name, mod_abs, mod_abs, dist_vers, dist_abs, auth_id, cpanid, dist_id, dist_name, and dist_file. As well, a download field which can be used as $CPAN/authors/id/$download to specify the url of the distribution is provided. If there is only one result found, a name query based on the matched mod_name is performed.

dist mode

• name or id query

  This returns the dist_id, dist_name, dist_abs, dist_vers, dist_file, size, birth, auth_id, cpanid, and fullname of the auths, mods, and dists tables. As well, the following entries may be present.

  • download

    This can be used as $CPAN/authors/id/$download to specify the url of the distribution.

  • mods

    This is an array reference containing information on the modules present. Each entry is a hash reference containing the mod_id, mod_name, mod_abs, mod_vers, and dslip fields for the module.

  • dslip and dslip_info

    If the module name and distribution name are related by s/::/-, the dslip and dslip_info entries for that module are returned.

• query query

  If this results in more than one match, an array reference is returned, each member of which is a hash reference containing the dist_id, dist_name, dist_abs, dist_file, and cpanid fields. As well, a download field which can be used as $CPAN/authors/id/$download to specify the url of the distribution is provided. If there is only one result found, a name query based on the matched dist_name is performed.

SEE ALSO

CPAN::SQLite::Populate.

COPYRIGHT

This software is copyright 2006 by Randy Kobes <r.kobes@uwinnipeg.ca>. Use and redistribution are under the same terms as Perl itself.

cpanm CPAN::SQLite

perl -MCPAN -e shell
install CPAN::SQLite