Provided by: librose-db-object-perl_0.820-2_all 
NAME
Rose::DB::Object::Metadata::Relationship::ManyToMany - Many to many table relationship metadata object.
SYNOPSIS
use Rose::DB::Object::Metadata::Relationship::ManyToMany;
$rel = Rose::DB::Object::Metadata::Relationship::ManyToMany->new(...);
$rel->make_methods(...);
...
DESCRIPTION
Objects of this class store and manipulate metadata for relationships in which rows from one table are
connected to rows in another table through an intermediate table that maps between them.
This class inherits from Rose::DB::Object::Metadata::Relationship. Inherited methods that are not
overridden will not be documented a second time here. See the Rose::DB::Object::Metadata::Relationship
documentation for more information.
EXAMPLE
Consider the following tables.
CREATE TABLE widgets
(
id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
name VARCHAR(255)
);
CREATE TABLE colors
(
id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
name VARCHAR(255)
);
CREATE TABLE widget_color_map
(
id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
widget_id INT NOT NULL REFERENCES widgets (id),
color_id INT NOT NULL REFERENCES colors (id),
UNIQUE(widget_id, color_id)
);
Given these tables, each widget can have zero or more colors, and each color can be applied to zero or
more widgets. This is the type of "many to many" relationship that this class is designed to handle.
In order to do so, each of the three of the tables that participate in the relationship must be fronted
by its own Rose::DB::Object-derived class. Let's call those classes "Widget", "Color", and
"WidgetColorMap".
The class that maps between the other two classes is called the "map class." In this example, it's
"WidgetColorMap". The map class must have a foreign key and/or "many to one" relationship pointing to
each of the two classes that it maps between.
When it comes to actually creating the three classes that participate in a "many to many" relationship,
there's a bit of a "chicken and egg" problem. All these classes need to know about each other more or
less "simultaneously," but they must be defined in a serial fashion, and may be loaded in any order by
the user.
In order to account for this, method creation may be deferred for any foreign key or relationship that
does not yet have all the information it requires to do its job. This should be transparent to the
developer.
Here's a complete example using the "Widget", "Color", and "WidgetColorMap" classes. First, the "Widget"
class which has a "many to many" relationship through which it can retrieve its colors.
package Widget;
use base 'Rose::DB::Object';
__PACKAGE__->meta->setup
(
table => 'widgets',
columns =>
[
id => { type => 'int', primary_key => 1 },
name => { type => 'varchar', length => 255 },
],
relationships =>
[
# Define "many to many" relationship to get colors
colors =>
{
type => 'many to many',
map_class => 'WidgetColorMap',
# These are only necessary if the relationship is ambiguous
#map_from => 'widget',
#map_to => 'color',
},
],
);
1;
Next, the "Color" class which has a "many to many" relationship through which it can retrieve all the
widgets that have this color.
package Color;
use base 'Rose::DB::Object';
__PACKAGE__->meta->setup
(
table => 'colors',
columns =>
[
id => { type => 'int', primary_key => 1 },
name => { type => 'varchar', length => 255 },
],
relationships =>
[
# Define "many to many" relationship to get widgets
widgets =>
{
type => 'many to many',
map_class => 'WidgetColorMap',
# These are only necessary if the relationship is ambiguous
#map_from => 'color',
#map_to => 'widget',
},
],
);
1;
Finally, the "WidgetColorMap" class must have a foreign key or "many to one" relationship for each of the
two classes that it maps between ("Widget" and "Color").
package WidgetColorMap;
use base 'Rose::DB::Object';
__PACKAGE__->meta->setup
(
table => 'widget_color_map',
columns =>
[
id => { type => 'int', primary_key => 1 },
widget_id => { type => 'int' },
color_id => { type => 'int' },
],
foreign_keys =>
[
# Define foreign keys that point to each of the two classes
# that this class maps between.
color =>
{
class => 'Color',
key_columns => { color_id => 'id' },
},
widget =>
{
class => 'Widget',
key_columns => { widget_id => 'id' },
},
],
);
1;
Here's an initial set of data and some examples of the above classes in action. First, the data:
INSERT INTO widgets (id, name) VALUES (1, 'Sprocket');
INSERT INTO widgets (id, name) VALUES (2, 'Flange');
INSERT INTO colors (id, name) VALUES (1, 'Red');
INSERT INTO colors (id, name) VALUES (2, 'Green');
INSERT INTO colors (id, name) VALUES (3, 'Blue');
INSERT INTO widget_color_map (widget_id, color_id) VALUES (1, 1);
INSERT INTO widget_color_map (widget_id, color_id) VALUES (1, 2);
INSERT INTO widget_color_map (widget_id, color_id) VALUES (2, 3);
Now the code:
use Widget;
use Color;
$widget = Widget->new(id => 1);
$widget->load;
@colors = map { $_->name } $widget->colors; # ('Red', 'Green')
$color = Color->new(id => 1);
$color->load;
@widgets = map { $_->name } $color->widgets; # ('Sprocket')
METHOD MAP
"count"
Rose::DB::Object::MakeMethods::Generic, objects_by_map, "interface => 'count'" ...
"find"
Rose::DB::Object::MakeMethods::Generic, objects_by_map, "interface => 'find'" ...
"iterator"
Rose::DB::Object::MakeMethods::Generic, objects_by_map, "interface => 'iterator'" ...
"get_set"
Rose::DB::Object::MakeMethods::Generic, objects_by_map, "interface => 'get_set'" ...
"get_set_now"
Rose::DB::Object::MakeMethods::Generic, objects_by_map, "interface => 'get_set_now'" ...
"get_set_on_save"
Rose::DB::Object::MakeMethods::Generic, objects_by_map, "interface => 'get_set_on_save'" ...
"add_now"
Rose::DB::Object::MakeMethods::Generic, objects_by_map, "interface => 'add_now'" ...
"add_on_save"
Rose::DB::Object::MakeMethods::Generic, objects_by_map, "interface => 'add_on_save'" ...
See the Rose::DB::Object::Metadata::Relationship documentation for an explanation of this method map.
CLASS METHODS
default_auto_method_types [TYPES]
Get or set the default list of auto_method_types. TYPES should be a list of relationship method
types. Returns the list of default relationship method types (in list context) or a reference to an
array of the default relationship method types (in scalar context). The default list contains
"get_set_on_save" and "add_on_save".
OBJECT METHODS
build_method_name_for_type TYPE
Return a method name for the relationship method type TYPE.
For the method types "get_set", "get_set_now", and "get_set_on_save", the relationship's name is
returned.
For the method types "add_now" and "add_on_save", the relationship's name prefixed with "add_" is
returned.
For the method type "find", the relationship's name prefixed with "find_" is returned.
For the method type "count", the relationship's name suffixed with "_count" is returned.
For the method type "iterator", the relationship's name suffixed with "_iterator" is returned.
Otherwise, undef is returned.
is_singular
Returns false.
manager_class [CLASS]
Get or set the name of the Rose::DB::Object::Manager-derived class that the map_class will use to
fetch records. The make_methods method will use Rose::DB::Object::Manager if this value is left
undefined.
manager_method [METHOD]
Get or set the name of the manager_class class method to call when fetching records. The
make_methods method will use get_objects if this value is left undefined.
manager_count_method [METHOD]
Get or set the name of the manager_class class method to call when counting objects. The
make_methods method will use get_objects_count if this value is left undefined.
manager_iterator_method [METHOD]
Get or set the name of the manager_class class method to call when creating an iterator. The
make_methods method will use get_objects_iterator if this value is left undefined.
manager_args [HASHREF]
Get or set a reference to a hash of name/value arguments to pass to the manager_method when fetching
objects. For example, this can be used to enforce a particular sort order for objects fetched via
this relationship. Modifying the example above:
Widget->meta->add_relationship
(
colors =>
{
type => 'many to many',
map_class => 'WidgetColorMap',
manager_args => { sort_by => Color->meta->table . '.name' },
},
);
This would ensure that a "Widget"'s "colors()" are listed in alphabetical order. Note that the
"name" column is prefixed by the name of the table fronted by the "Color" class. This is important
because several tables may have a column named "name." If this relationship is used to form a JOIN
in a query along with one of those tables, then the "name" column will be ambiguous. Adding a table
name prefix disambiguates the column name.
Also note that the table name is not hard-coded. Instead, it is fetched from the
Rose::DB::Object-derived class that fronts the table. This is more verbose, but is a much better
choice than including the literal table name when it comes to long-term maintenance of the code.
See the documentation for Rose::DB::Object::Manager's get_objects method for a full list of valid
arguments for use with the "manager_args" parameter, but remember that you can define your own custom
manager_class and thus can also define what kinds of arguments "manager_args" will accept.
Note: when the name of a relationship that has "manager_args" is used in a Rose::DB::Object::Manager
with_objects or require_objects parameter value, only the sort_by argument will be copied from
"manager_args" and incorporated into the query.
map_class [CLASS]
Get or set the name of the Rose::DB::Object-derived class that fronts the table that maps between the
other two tables. This class must have a foreign key and/or "many to one" relationship for each of
the two tables that it maps between.
In the example above, the map class is "WidgetColorMap".
map_from [NAME]
Get or set the name of the "many to one" relationship or foreign key in map_class that points to the
object of the current class. Setting this value is only necessary if the map class has more than one
foreign key or "many to one" relationship that points to one of the classes that it maps between.
In the example above, the value of map_from would be "widget" when defining the "many to many"
relationship in the "Widget" class, or "color" when defining the "many to many" relationship in the
"Color" class. Neither of these settings is necessary in the example because the "WidgetColorMap"
class has one foreign key that points to each class, so there is no ambiguity.
map_to [NAME]
Get or set the name of the "many to one" relationship or foreign key in map_class that points to the
"foreign" object to be fetched. Setting this value is only necessary if the map class has more than
one foreign key or "many to one" relationship that points to one of the classes that it maps between.
In the example above, the value of map_from would be "color" when defining the "many to many"
relationship in the "Widget" class, or "widget" when defining the "many to many" relationship in the
"Color" class. Neither of these settings is necessary in the example because the "WidgetColorMap"
class has one foreign key that points to each class, so there is no ambiguity.
query_args [ARRAYREF]
Get or set a reference to an array of query arguments to add to the query passed to the
manager_method when fetching objects.
This can be used to limit the objects fetched via this relationship. For example, modifying the
example above:
Widget->meta->add_relationship
(
colors =>
{
type => 'many to many',
map_class => 'WidgetColorMap',
query_args => [ name => { like => '%e%' } ],
},
);
See the documentation for Rose::DB::Object::Manager's get_objects method for a full list of valid
"query" arguments.
share_db [BOOL]
Get or set a boolean flag that indicates whether or not all of the classes involved in fetching
objects via this relationship (including the objects themselves) will share the same Rose::DB-derived
db object. Defaults to true.
type
Returns "many to many".
AUTHOR
John C. Siracusa (siracusa@gmail.com)
LICENSE
Copyright (c) 2010 by John C. Siracusa. All rights reserved. This program is free software; you can
redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.
perl v5.36.0 2022-10-14 Rose::DB::Objec...hip::ManyToMany(3pm)