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.