Data::Serializer::Cookbook(3pm) 			User Contributed Perl Documentation			   Data::Serializer::Cookbook(3pm)

NAME

       Cookbook - Examples of how to use Data::Serializer

DESCRIPTION

       Data::Serializer::Cookbook is a collection of solutions for using Data::Serializer.

CONVENTIONS

       Unless otherwise specified, all examples can be assumed to begin with:

	 use Data::Serializer;

	 my $serializer = Data::Serializer->new();

       Some examples will show different arguments to the new method, where specified simply use that line instead of the simple form above.

CONVENTIONS for Raw Access
       Fort hose who want a straight pass through to the underlying serializer, where nothing else is done (no encoding, encryption, compression,
       etc) there is Data::Serializer::Raw(3).

       These begin like this:

	 use Data::Serializer::Raw;

	 my $raw_serializer = Data::Serializer::Raw->new();

Encrypting your data
       You wish to encrypt your data structure, so that it can only be decoded by someone who shares the same key.

   Solution
	 $serializer->secret('mysecret');

	 my $encrypted_hashref = $serializer->serializer($hash);

	 ... (in other program) ...

	 $serializer->secret('mysecret');

	 my $clear_hash = $serializer->deserializer($encrypted_hash);

       Note:  You will have to have the Crypt::CBC module installed for this to work.

Compressing your data
       You wish to compress your data structure to cut down on how much disk space it will take up.

   Solution
	 $serializer->compress(1);

	 my $compressed_hashref = $serializer->serializer($hash);

	 ... (in other program) ...

	 my $clear_hash = $serializer->deserializer($compressed_hash);

       Note:  You will have to have the Compress::Zlib module installed for this to work.  Your mileage will vary dramatically depending on what
       serializer you use.  Some serializers are already fairly compact.

You want to read in data serialized outside of Data::Serializer
       You need to write a program that can read in data serialized in a format other than Data::Serializer.  For example you need to be able to
       be able to process data serialized by XML::Dumper.

   Solution
	 use Data::Serializer::Raw;

	 my $xml_raw_serializer = Data::Serializer::Raw->(serializer => 'XML::Dumper');

	 my $hash_ref = $xml_raw_serializer->deserialize($xml_data);

You want to write serialized data in a form understood outside of Data::Serializer
       You need to write a program that can write out data in a format other than Data::Serializer.  Or said more generically you need to write
       out data in the format native to the underlying serializer.  For our example we will be exporting data using XML::Dumper format.

   Solution
	 ues Data::Serializer::Raw;

	 my $xml_raw_serializer = Data::Serializer::Raw->(serializer => 'XML::Dumper');

	 my $xml_data = $xml_raw_serializer->serialize($hash_ref);

You want to convert data between two different serializers native formats
       You have data serialized by php that you want to convert to xml for use by other programs.

   Solution
	 use Data::Serializer::Raw;

	 my $xml_raw_serializer = Data::Serializer::Raw->(serializer => 'XML::Dumper');

	 my $php_raw_serializer = Data::Serializer::Raw->(serializer => 'PHP::Serialization');

	 my $hash_ref = $php_raw_serializer->deserialize($php_data);

	 my $xml_data = $xml_raw_serializer->serialize($hash_ref);

Keeping data persistent between executions of a program.
       You have a program that you run every 10 minutes, it uses SNMP to pull some counters from one of your routers.  You want your program to
       keep the counters from the last run so that it can see how much traffic has passed over a link since it last ran.

   Solution
	 # path to store our serialized data
	 # be paranoid, use full paths
	 my $last_run_datafile = '/full/path/to/file/lastrun.data';

	 #We keep our data as a hash reference
	 my $last_data = $serializer->retrieve($last_run_datafile);

	 #Pull in our new data through 'pull_data()';
	 my $new_data = query_router($router);

	 #run comparison code
	 run_comparison($last_data,$new_data);

	 $serializer->store($new_data);

AUTHOR

       Neil Neely <neil@neely.cx>.

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (c) 2001-2011 Neil Neely.  All rights reserved.

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

SEE ALSO

       Data::Serializer(3)
       Data::Serializer::Raw(3)

perl v5.12.4							    2011-08-16					   Data::Serializer::Cookbook(3pm)