RT::Client::REST::Object(3pm)				User Contributed Perl Documentation			     RT::Client::REST::Object(3pm)

NAME

       RT::Client::REST::Object -- base class for RT objects.

SYNOPSIS

	 # Create a new type
	 package RT::Client::REST::MyType;

	 use base qw(RT::Client::REST::Object);

	 sub _attributes {{
	   myattribute => {
	     validation => {
	       type => SCALAR,
	     },
	   },
	 }}

	 sub rt_type { "mytype" }

	 1;

DESCRIPTION

       The RT::Client::REST::Object module is a superclass providing a whole bunch of class and object methods in order to streamline the
       development of RT's REST client interface.

ATTRIBUTES

       Attributes are defined by method "_attributes" that should be defined in your class.  This method returns a reference to a hash whose keys
       are the attributes.  The values of the hash are attribute settings, which are as follows:

       list
	 If set to true, this is a list attribute.  See "LIST ATTRIBUTE PROPERTIES" below.

       validation
	 A hash reference.  This is passed to validation routines when associated mutator is called.  See Params::Validate for reference.

       rest_name
	 This specifies this attribute's REST name.  For example, attribute "final_priority" corresponds to RT REST's "FinalPriority".	This
	 option may be omitted if the two only differ in first letter capitalization.

       form2value
	 Convert form value (one that comes from the server) into attribute-digestible format.

       value2form
	 Convert value into REST form format.

       Example:

	 sub _attributes {{
	   id  => {
	       validation  => {
		   type    => SCALAR,
		   regex   => qr/^d+$/,
	       },
	       form2value  => sub {
		   shift =~ m~^ticket/(d+)$~i;
		   return $1;
	       },
	       value2form  => sub {
		   return 'ticket/' . shift;
	       },
	   },
	   admin_cc	   => {
	       validation  => {
		   type    => ARRAYREF,
	       },
	       list	   => 1,
	       rest_name   => 'AdminCc',
	   },
	 }}

LIST ATTRIBUTE PROPERTIES

       List attributes have the following properties:

       o When called as accessors, return a list of items

       o When called as mutators, only accept an array reference

       o Convenience methods "add_attr" and "delete_attr" are available.  For example:

	   # Get the list
	   my @requestors = $ticket->requestors;

	   # Replace with a new list
	   $ticket->requestors( [qw(dude@localhost)] );

	   # Add some random guys to the current list
	   $ticket->add_requestors('randomguy@localhost', 'evil@local');

SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES

       id and parent_id are special attributes.  They are used by various DB-related methods and are especially relied upon by autostore,
       autosync, and autoget features.

METHODS

       new
	 Constructor

       _generate_methods
	 This class method generates accessors and mutators based on _attributes method which your class should provide.  For items that are
	 lists, 'add_' and 'delete_' methods are created.  For instance, the following two attributes specified in _attributes will generate
	 methods 'creator', 'cc', 'add_cc', and 'delete_cc':

	   creator => {
	     validation => { type => SCALAR },
	   },
	   cc => {
	     list => 1,
	     validation => { type => ARRAYREF },
	   },

       _mark_dirty($attrname)
	 Mark an attribute as dirty.

       _dirty
	 Return the list of dirty attributes.

       _mark_dirty_cf($attrname)
	 Mark an custom flag as dirty.

       _dirty_cf
	 Return the list of dirty custom flags.

       to_form($all)
	 Convert the object to 'form' (used by REST protocol). This is done based on _attributes method. If $all is true, create a form from all
	 of the object's attributes and custom flags, otherwise use only dirty (see _dirty method) attributes and custom flags. Defaults to the
	 latter.

       from_form
	 Set object's attributes from form received from RT server.

       param($name, $value)
	 Set an arbitrary parameter.

       cf([$name, [$value]])
	 Given no arguments, returns the list of custom field names.  With one argument, returns the value of custom field $name.  With two
	 arguments, sets custom field $name to $value.	Given a reference to a hash, uses it as a list of custom fields and their values,
	 returning the new list of all custom field names.

       rt
	 Get or set the 'rt' object, which should be of type RT::Client::REST.

DB METHODS

       The following are methods that have to do with reading, creating, updating, and searching objects.

       count
	 Takes the same arguments as "search()" but returns the actual count of the found items.  Throws the same exceptions.

       retrieve
	 Retrieve object's attributes.	Note that 'id' attribute must be set for this to work.

       search (%opts)
	 This method is used for searching objects.  It returns an object of type RT::Client::REST::SearchResult, which can then be used to
	 process results.  %opts is a list of key-value pairs, which are as follows:

	 limits
	   This is a reference to array containing hash references with limits to apply to the search (think SQL limits).

	 orderby
	   Specifies attribute to sort the result by (in ascending order).

	 reverseorder
	   If set to a true value, sorts by attribute specified by orderby in descending order.

	 If the client cannot construct the query from the specified arguments, or if the server cannot make it out,
	 "RT::Client::REST::Object::InvalidSearchParametersException" is thrown.

       store
	 Store the object.  If 'id' is set, this is an update; otherwise, a new object is created and the 'id' attribute is set.  Note that only
	 changed (dirty) attributes are sent to the server.

CLASS METHODS

       use_single_rt
	 This method takes a single argument -- RT::Client::REST object and makes this class use it for all instantiations.  For example:

	   my $rt = RT::Client::REST->new(%args);

	   # Make all tickets use this RT:
	   RT::Client::REST::Ticket->use_single_rt($rt);

	   # Now make all objects use it:
	   RT::Client::REST::Object->use_single_rt($rt);

       use_autostore
	 Turn autostoring on and off.  Autostoring means that you do not have to explicitly call "store()" on an object - it will be called when
	 the object goes out of scope.

	   # Autostore tickets:
	   RT::Client::REST::Ticket->use_autostore(1);
	   my $ticket = RT::Client::REST::Ticket->new(%opts)->retrieve;
	   $ticket->priority(10);
	   # Don't have to call store().

       use_autoget
	 Turn autoget feature on or off (off by default).  When set to on, "retrieve()" will be automatically called from the constructor if it is
	 called with that object's special attributes (see "SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES" above).

	   RT::Client::Ticket->use_autoget(1);
	   my $ticket = RT::Client::Ticket->new(id => 1);
	   # Now all attributes are available:
	   my $subject = $ticket->subject;

       use_autosync
	 Turn autosync feature on or off (off by default).  When set, every time an attribute is changed, "store()" method is invoked.	This may
	 be pretty expensive.

       be_transparent
	 This turns on autosync and autoget.  Transparency is a neat idea, but it may be expensive and slow.  Depending on your circumstances, you
	 may want a finer control of your objects.  Transparency makes "retrieve()" and "store()" calls invisible:

	   RT::Client::REST::Ticket->be_transparent($rt);

	   my $ticket = RT::Client::REST::Ticket->new(id => $id); # retrieved
	   $ticket->add_cc('you@localhost.localdomain'); # stored
	   $ticket->status('stalled'); # stored

	   # etc.

	 Do not forget to pass RT::Client::REST object to this method.

SEE ALSO

       RT::Client::REST::Ticket, RT::Client::REST::SearchResult.

AUTHOR

       Dmitri Tikhonov <dtikhonov@yahoo.com>

perl v5.14.2							    2011-12-27					     RT::Client::REST::Object(3pm)