=pod
=head1 NAME
Mongoose::Intro - an introduction
=head1 VERSION
version 0.27
=head1 MOTIVATION
This module is an attempt to bring together the full power
of Moose into one of the hottest new databases out there: MongoDB.
Before using this module you should take a little time to
read on MongoDB.
=head1 Why not use KiokuDB?
KiokuDB is an awesome module that maps objects to data
and caters to a wide variety of backends. Currently there's even a
MongoDB backend that may suit your needs.
So, why use Mongoose instead?
=over 4
=item *
You want your objects to have their own collection. KiokuDB stores all objects in
a single collection. MongoDB performs best the more collections you have.
=item *
You want to be able to store relations as either embedded documents or
foreign documents. KiokuDB embeds everything. Here you get to choose.
=item *
You want to abstract your data from your class representation. KiokuDB stores
an extra field called __CLASS__ that ties data to its representation.
It's not a bad decision, it's just a design choice.
=item *
You don't need to keep a scope. KiokuDB will keep objects in scope for
you, avoiding breakage in relationships. Here nothing is kept in scope.
=item *
You don't plan to use transactions. KiokuDB is transaction ready.
But MongoDB is not. So, what's the point here?
=item *
You feel adventurous.
=back
If you don't need any of this, go grab KiokuDB instead. It's much more
configurable, stable and you can painlessly switch backends in the future.
=head1 REQUIREMENTS
To use this module, you need:
=head2 MongoDB installed somewhere in your network.
Grab a pre-built copy for your OS from
L<here|http://www.mongodb.org/downloads>, or build it
from L<sources|http://www.mongodb.org/display/DOCS/Source+Code>.
After intalling the software, start the Mongo daemon:
mongod -dbpath /path/to/data
=head2 The L<MongoDB> Perl driver
cpan MongoDB
cpan Mongoose
Set the C<MONGOOSEDB> environment variable to your MongoDB connection
in case it's not standard (localhost).
make
export MONGOOSEDB=host,mongodb://localhost,db_name,mytestdb
make test
make install
=head2 Moose classes
Create some Moose classes to start using Mongoose;
package MyClass;
use Moose;
with 'Mongoose::Document';
has 'yada' => ( is=>'rw', isa=>'Str' );
=head1 FEATURES
Some of Mongoose features:
=over 4
=item *
It's fast. Not as fast as working with MongoDB documents directly though.
But it's way faster than any other ORM and relational mapping modules
out there.
=item *
It handles most object relationships, circular references included.
=item *
No persistency. It doesn't manage states for your object. If you save
your object twice, it writes twice to the database. In most cases,
this is actually faster than trying to manage states.
=item *
Primary keys. This is quite a extraneuos concept for objects, and
it's not mandatory. But it allows you to automatically control
when new objects translate to new MongoDB documents, or just update
them.
This is an experimental feature. There are other ways to do this
anyway with the MongoDB built-in C<_id> primary-key attribute.
=item *
Schema-less data. MongoDB does not need a schema. You can create
new attributes for your object and delete old ones at your leasure.
=item *
No data-object binding means that you may reuse collections,
and peruse inheritance to great extent.
=back
=head1 CAVEATS
=over 4
=item *
This is very much *BETA* software. In fact it's almost alpha, except that the
API is so simple it will probably not change, so let's call it "beta".
=item *
This module intrusively imports singleton based methods into your class. It's
the price to pay for a simpler user interface and less keystrokes.
=item *
Object expansion from the database is done using plain bless most of the time.
Which means your attribute triggers, etc. will not be fired during expansion.
There are exceptions to this rule though.
=item *
After saving or loading objects from the database, your object will have
an extra attribute, C<_id>. This is a unique identifier. The _id value
can be overwritten if you wish.
=back
=head1 GETTING STARTED
There are only two steps to start using Mongoose in your code:
1) Create at least one class that consumes a L<Mongoose::Document> role.
2) Connect to a Mongo database in your main program.
MongoDB does not require you to previously create a database, a collection
or a document schema for your collection. This is done on the fly for you.
To make your Moose classes "Mongoable", all they need is to consume either
one of two roles: L<Mongoose::Document> or L<Mongoose::EmbeddedDocument>.
Read on for details on the difference.
=head2 Turning your classes into Mongo Documents
There are two roles to make your Moose class a Mongoose document:
* L<Mongoose::Document>
* L<Mongoose::EmbeddedDocument>
The difference between these roles lies in the way objects
of different classes will be joined and stored (collapsed) into the DB.
Read the L<MongoDB docs|http://http://www.mongodb.org/display/DOCS/Schema+Design#SchemaDesign-EmbeddingandLinking>
if you don't understand the difference.
=head3 Document
Akin to a row in the relational model. Objects are stored into
independent collections. Relationships are stored using
references, MongoDB's foreign key system.
=head3 EmbbededDocument
Tells Mongoose to store your class as an embedded document, inside a
parent document.
This is usually faster than using document-to-document reference joins. But
it's not meant for object reuse by foreign documents.
=head2 Methods you get when using the Document roles
Both C<Document> and C<EmbeddedDocument> will import into
your class the following methods:
=head3 save
Saves the current object to the database, inserting the document if needed.
$person->save;
=head3 delete
Deletes the correspondind document from the database.
$person->delete;
=head3 find
Wraps MongoDB's find method to return a cursor that expands data into objects.
=head3 query
my $cursor = Person->query({ age => { '$lt' => 30 } });
=head3 find_one
Finds exactly one document.
my $jack = Person->find_one({ first_name => 'Jack' });
=head3 collection
Returns the L<MongoDB::Collection> object supporting this class. It's a way
to switch quickly back to MongoDB hash documents.
Person->find_one({ name=>'thyself' }); # isa Person
# whereas
Person->collection->find_one({ name=>'thyself' }); # ref = HASH
=head3 _id
Not really a method but an attribute used by Mongoose (and MongoDB).
Contains a unique L<MongoDB::OID> instance.
Deleting or modifying this attribute
may cause your object to be re-inserted on the next C<save>, instead of
being updated.
=head2 The Default Engine
Mongoose comes with a default engine, L<Mongoose::Engine::Base> that takes
care of expanding and collapsing objects to and from the Mongo database.
=head3 Collapsing
Collapsing is the process of serializing classes.
Your Moose objects are collapsed by unblessing them until they become
a hash. Relationships are mantained in the process.
=head3 Expanding
Expansion is the process of inflating Mongo documents (plain hashes)
into Moose objects.
This is done by inspecting the class attribute metadata. The base engine
tries to do it's best identifying data types. The document is then C<bless>ed
into your class. This is faster than calling C<new>, but also means
that B<no special class or attribute methods will be fired,
such as default values, setters, triggers or coercion>. You've been warned.
Naturally, there are many cases where
this guesswork is not enough. These may be addressed in the future
using attribute traits, but should be fine for most trivial classes.
=head1 CONFIGURATION
Mongoose roles are L<role parameterized|MooseX::Role::Parameterized>
for greater flexibility.
=head2 Collection naming
You can control the collection name for an individual
class this way:
package My::Mumbo::Jumbo::Class;
use Moose;
with 'Mongoose::Document' => {
-collection_name => 'mumbo_jumbo'
};
=head2 Global collection naming stategy
By default, Mongoose will turn package names into collections
this way:
Package name | Collection name
----------------------+----------------------
Person | person
Humpty::Dumpty | humpty_dumpty
HumptyDumpty | humpty_dumpty
MyApp::Schema::Jumbo | my_app_schema_jumbo
You can change this standard anytime, by setting the
C<Mongoose::naming> anonymous sub to something
of your liking:
# remove prefix and return
# a lower case collection name
Mongoose->naming( sub{
my $pkg = shift;
$pkg =~ s{^MyApp::Schema::}{}g;
return lc $pkg;
});
=head2 Primary keys
The standard way MongoDB deals with primary keys is by using
the C<_id> attribute. By default, a L<MongoDB::OID> is assigned
to each object you commit to the database with C<save>.
Checkout this L<Devel::REPL> example:
$ re.pl
> use Person;
> my $hurley = Person->new(name=>'Hurley');
$Person1 = Person=HASH(0x102099d08);
> $hurley->dump;
$VAR1 = bless( {
'name' => 'Hurley'
}, 'Person' );
> $hurley->save;
4c683525a74100a8df000000 $ $hurley->dump;
> $hurley->dump;
$VAR1 = bless( {
'_id' => bless( {
'value' => '4c683525a74100a8df000000'
}, 'MongoDB::OID' ),
'name' => 'Hurley'
}, 'Person' );
This is pretty standard MongoDB stuff.
Now, for a more control over your primary key, use
the role parameter C<-pk>.
package BankAccount;
use Moose;
with 'Mongoose::Document' => {
-pk => [qw/ drivers_license /]
};
has 'drivers_license' => (is=>'rw', isa=>'Int' );
That way, updates use the C<drivers_license> field and
inserts will fail if the primary key exists. (But be sure
to set a unique index on your primary key.)
=head2 Schema Changes
If you first had a class definition as such:
package Author;
use Moose; with 'Mongoose::Document';
has 'name' => ( is=>'rw', isa=>'Str' );
Saved some objects into the DB:
Author->new( name=>'Mike Old Schema' )->save;
Then, later on, changed it to:
has 'first_name' => ( is=>'rw', isa=>'Str' );
When reading from the database, at expansion time,
since the MongoDB document is just blessed into your
class the old attribute will be loaded as if nothing had
happened:
# load old schema document using the new schema:
my $obj = Author->find_one({ name => 'Mike Old Schema' });
print Dump $obj;
# prints
--- !!perl/hash:MyTestApp::Schema::Author
_id: !!perl/hash:MongoDB::OID
value: 4c723348a741001455000000
name: Mike Old Schema
At this time, no C<BUILD> or C<BUILDARGS> methods are
called, which could be used to rearrange the object
into the new schema. This will be probably fixed soon.
On the meanwhile, you can always invoke an "alignment"
method after loading the data, or do a bulk migration:
Author->find->each( sub{
my $obj = shift;
$obj->first_name( delete $obj->{name} );
$obj->save;
});
=head1 SEE ALSO
Now head on to the L<Mongoose::Cookbook>.
=cut