Test::Database(3pm)					User Contributed Perl Documentation				       Test::Database(3pm)

NAME

       Test::Database - Database handles ready for testing

SYNOPSIS

       Maybe you wrote generic code you want to test on all available databases:

	   use Test::More;
	   use Test::Database;

	   # get all available handles
	   my @handles = Test::Database->handles();

	   # plan the tests
	   plan tests => 3 + 4 * @handles;

	   # run the tests
	   for my $handle (@handles) {
	       diag "Testing with " . $handle->dbd();	 # mysql, SQLite, etc.

	       # there are several ways to access the dbh:

	       # let $handle do the connect()
	       my $dbh = $handle->dbh();

	       # do the connect() yourself
	       my $dbh = DBI->connect( $handle->connection_info() );
	       my $dbh = DBI->connect( $handle->dsn(), $handle->username(),
		   $handle->password() );
	   }

       It's possible to limit the results, based on the databases your code supports:

	   my @handles = Test::Database->handles(
	       'SQLite',		 # SQLite database
	       { dbd	=> 'mysql' },	 # or mysql database
	       { driver => 'Pg' },	 # or Postgres database
	   );

	   # use them as above

       If you only need a single database handle, all the following return the same one:

	   my $handle	= ( Test::Database->handles(@requests) )[0];
	   my ($handle) = Test::Database->handles(@requests);
	   my $handle	= Test::Database->handles(@requests);	 # scalar context
	   my $handle	= Test::Database->handle(@requests);	 # singular!
	   my @handles	= Test::Database->handle(@requests);	 # one or zero item

       You can use the same requests again if you need to use the same test databases over several test scripts.

DESCRIPTION

       Quoting Michael Schwern:

       There's plenty of modules which need a database, and they all have to be configured differently and they're always a PITA when you first
       install and each and every time they upgrade.

       User setup can be dealt with by making Test::Database a build dependency. As part of Test::Database's install process it walks the user
       through the configuration process. Once it's done, it writes out a config file and then it's done for good.

       See <http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.qa/2008/10/msg11645.html> for the thread that led to the creation of "Test::Database".

       "Test::Database" provides a simple way for test authors to request a test database, without worrying about environment variables or the
       test host configuration.

       See SYNOPSIS for typical usage.

METHODS

       "Test::Database" provides the following methods:

       list_drivers( [$type] )
	   Return a list of driver names of the given "type".

	   "all" returns the list of all existing "Test::Database::Driver" subclasses.

	   "available" returns the list of "Test::Database::Driver" subclasses for which the matching "DBD" class is available.

	   Called with no parameter (or anything not matching "all" or "available"), it will return the list of currently loaded drivers.

       drivers()
	   Returns the "Test::Database::Driver" instances that are setup by "load_drivers()" and updated by "load_config()".

       load_drivers()
	   Load the available drivers from the system (file-based drivers, usually).

       load_config( @files )
	   Read configuration from the files in @files.

	   If no file is provided, the local equivalent of ~/.test-database is used.

       clean_config()
	   Empties whatever configuration has already been loaded.  Also removes the loaded drivers list.

       handles( @requests )
	   Return a set of "Test::Database::Handle" objects that match the given @requests.

	   If @requests is not provided, return all the available handles.

	   See REQUESTS for details about writing requests.

       handle( @request )
	   Singular version of "handles()", that returns the first matching handle.

REQUESTS

       The "handles()" method takes requests as parameters. A request is a simple hash reference, with a number of recognized keys.

       o   "dbd": driver name (based on the "DBD::" name).

	   "driver" is an alias for "dbd".  If the two keys are present, the "driver" key will be ignored.

	   If missing, all available drivers will match.

       o   "version": exact database engine version

	   Only database engines having a version string identical to the given version string will match.

       o   "min_version": minimum database engine version

	   Only database engines having a version number greater or equal to the given minimum version will match.

       o   "max_version": maximum database engine version

	   Only database engines having a version number lower (and not equal) to the given maximum version will match.

       o   "regex_version": matching database engine version

	   Only database engines having a version string that matches the given regular expression will match.

       A request can also consist of a single string, in which case it is interpreted as a shortcut for "{ dbd =" $string }>.

FILES

       The list of available, authorized DSN is stored in the local equivalent of ~/.test-database. It's a simple list of key/value pairs, with
       the "dsn", "driver_dsn" or "key" keys being used to split successive entries:

	   # mysql
	   dsn	    = dbi:mysql:database=mydb;host=localhost;port=1234
	   username = user
	   password = s3k r3t

	   # Oracle
	   dsn	    = dbi:Oracle:test

	   # set a unique key when creating databases
	   key = thwapp

	   # a "driver" with full access (create/drop databases)
	   driver_dsn = dbi:mysql:
	   username   = root

       The "username" and "password" keys are optional and empty strings will be used if they are not provided.

       Empty lines and comments are ignored.

       Optionaly, the "key" section is used to add a "unique" element to the databases created by the drivers (as defined by "driver_dsn"). It
       allows several hosts to share access to the same database server without risking a race condition when creating a new database. See
       Test::Database::Tutorial for a longer explanation.

       Individual drivers may accept extra parameters. See their documetation for details. Unrecognized parameters and not used, and therefore
       ignored.

AUTHOR

       Philippe Bruhat (BooK), "<book@cpan.org>"

BUGS

       Please report any bugs or feature requests to "bug-test-database at rt.cpan.org", or through the web interface at
       <http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=Test-Database>.	I will be notified, and then you'll automatically be notified of progress
       on your bug as I make changes.

SUPPORT

       You can find documentation for this module with the perldoc command.

	   perldoc Test::Database

       You can also look for information at:

       o   RT: CPAN's request tracker

	   <http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/Bugs.html?Dist=Test-Database>

       o   AnnoCPAN: Annotated CPAN documentation

	   <http://annocpan.org/dist/Test-Database>

       o   CPAN Ratings

	   <http://cpanratings.perl.org/d/Test-Database>

       o   Search CPAN

	   <http://search.cpan.org/dist/Test-Database>

TODO

       Some of the items on the TODO list:

       o   Add a database engine autodetection script/module, to automatically write the .test-database configuration file.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

       Thanks to "<perl-qa@perl.org>" for early comments.

       Thanks to Nelson Ferraz for writing "DBIx::Slice", the testing of which made me want to have a generic way to obtain a test database.

       Thanks to Mark Lawrence for discussing this module with me, and sending me an alternative implementation to show me what he needed.

       Thanks to Kristian Koehntopp for helping me write a mysql driver, and to Greg Sabino Mullane for writing a full Postgres driver, none of
       which made it into the final release because of the complete change in goals and implementation between versions 0.02 and 0.03.

       The work leading to the new implementation (version 0.99 and later) was carried on during the Perl QA Hackathon, held in Birmingham in
       March 2009. Thanks to Birmingham.pm for organizing it and to Booking.com for sending me there.

       Thanks to the early adopters: Alexis Sukrieh (SUKRIA), Nicholas Bamber (SILASMONK) and Adam Kennedy (ADAMK).

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright 2008-2010 Philippe Bruhat (BooK), all rights reserved.

LICENSE

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

perl v5.10.1							    2010-11-27						       Test::Database(3pm)