DBD::Mem(3)

💾 DBD::Mem — the tea ☕

okay bestie, so you know how the manual page header said DBD::Mem(3) under User Contributed Perl Documentation? Yeah. that's this. a DBI driver for Mem & MLMem files, and honestly? she's iconic. let's get into it. 💅

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✨ NAME ✨

DBD::Mem — a DBI driver for Mem & MLMem files. no cap, that's literally the whole name section. short, sweet, main character energy. 👑

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

the vibe check starts here, bestie:

 use DBI;
 $dbh = DBI->connect('dbi:Mem:', undef, undef, {});
 $dbh = DBI->connect('dbi:Mem:', undef, undef, {RaiseError => 1});

 # or
 $dbh = DBI->connect('dbi:Mem:');
 $dbh = DBI->connect('DBI:Mem(RaiseError=1):');

and like, other variations on connect() as shown in the DBI docs and in the DBI::DBD::SqlEngine metadata section (that's DBI::DBD::SqlEngine/Metadata, iykyk 🫶).

then you just... use the standard DBI prepare, execute, fetch, placeholders, etc. all of it. slay. ✨

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💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

DBD::Mem is a database management system that works right out of the box. 🎁 like, for real — if you have a standard installation of Perl and DBI, you can start creating, accessing, and modifying simple database tables with no further modules. none. zero. not me being lowkey obsessed 😭. and if you want more, you can add other modules (e.g., SQL::Statement) for improved functionality. more is more, periodt.

now here's the important part, listen closely bestie: DBD::Mem doesn't store any data persistently — all data has the lifetime of the instantiated $dbh. it's giving mayfly. it's giving "here for a good time not a long time". 💀 the main reason to use DBD::Mem is to use extended features of SQL::Statement where temporary tables are required. you can use DBD::Mem to simulate "VIEWS" or sub-queries. 🦋

and why does she even exist? okay so — bundling "DBD::Mem" with DBI will allow us further compatibility checks of DBI::DBD::SqlEngine beyond the capabilities of DBD::File and DBD::DBM. this will ensure DBI provided basis for drivers like DBD::AnyData2 or DBD::Amazon are better prepared and tested for not-file based backends. she's not just a driver, she's a test queen. 👑

🎀 Metadata 🎀

there're no new meta data introduced by "DBD::Mem". that's it, that's the section. for the full description go see "Metadata" in DBI::DBD::SqlEngine. 💜

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🆘 GETTING HELP, MAKING SUGGESTIONS, AND REPORTING BUGS 🆘

if you need help installing or using DBD::Mem, please write to the DBI users mailing list at <mailto:dbi-users@perl.org> or to the comp.lang.perl.modules newsgroup on usenet. i cannot always answer every question quickly but there are many on the mailing list or in the newsgroup who can. the group chat is popping, fr fr. 🫶

DBD developers for DBD's which rely on DBI::DBD::SqlEngine or DBD::Mem — or who use one of them as an example — are suggested to join the DBI developers mailing list at <mailto:dbi-dev@perl.org> and strongly encouraged to join our IRC channel at <irc://irc.perl.org/dbi>. come thru!! 🎉

if you have suggestions, ideas for improvements, or bugs to report, please report a bug as described in DBI. do not mail any of the authors directly — you might not get an answer. 🙈 seriously bestie, don't do it, the inbox is not the vibe.

when reporting bugs, please send the output of "$dbh->mem_versions($table)" for a table that exhibits the bug, and as small a sample as you can make of the code that produces the bug. minimal repro or it didn't happen 💅. and of course, patches are welcome, too :-) 🌈

if you need enhancements quickly, you can get commercial support as described at <http://dbi.perl.org/support/> or you can contact Jens Rehsack at rehsack@googlemail.com for commercial support. speedrun support, let's go ⭐

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👑 AUTHOR AND COPYRIGHT 👑

this module is written by Jens Rehsack < rehsack AT googlemail.com >.

 Copyright (c) 2016- by Jens Rehsack, all rights reserved.

you may freely distribute and/or modify this module under the terms of either the GNU General Public License (GPL) or the Artistic License, as specified in the Perl README file. two licenses, both iconic, pick your fighter ⭐

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🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

• DBI — for the Database interface of the Perl Programming Language. the whole reason we're here 💖
• SQL::Statement and DBI::SQL::Nano — for the available SQL engines. the brains of the operation 🧠✨
• SQL::Statement::RAM — where the implementation is shamelessly stolen from to allow DBI bundled Pure-Perl drivers increase the test coverage. not me calling myself out 😭💀 she said "shamelessly", and we respect the honesty 🫶
• DBD::SQLite — using dbname=:memory: for an incredible fast in-memory database engine. okay she's fast, we get it, we're all a little jealous 🔥

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and that's the whole page bestie!! this was perl v5.42.3, dated 2026-10-19, and it's a DBD::Mem(3) moment. go forth and make temporary tables, you absolute legend. 💖 ✨ 🎀 🦋 🌸 💅 🫶 😭 🔥 👑 🌈 ⭐ 💀 🙈 🍓 🧚 💜