DBIx::...ToJSON(3pm)

💖 DBIx::...ToJSON — the DBIx::...ToJSON(3pm) glow-up 💖

okay bestie, sit down, hydrate, because we're talking about DBIx::Class::Helper::Row::ToJSON — the module whose whole entire job is removing the boilerplate from your TO_JSON functions. it's giving "I wrote that hand-rolled hash once and then never again." 💅

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✨ NAME ✨

DBIx::Class::Helper::Row::ToJSON — Remove the boilerplate from your TO_JSON functions. no cap, that's the whole pitch. 🎀

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

so picture this: a schema result class. and it's named after a KittenRobot, because of course it is. 🐱🤖

package MyApp::Schema::Result::KittenRobot;

use parent 'DBIx::Class::Core';

__PACKAGE__->load_components(qw{Helper::Row::ToJSON});

__PACKAGE__->table('KittenRobot');
__PACKAGE__->add_columns(
   id => {
      data_type         => 'integer',
      is_auto_increment => 1,
   },
   kitten => {
      data_type         => 'integer',
   },
   robot => {
      data_type         => 'text',
      is_nullable       => 1,
   },
   your_mom => {
      data_type         => 'blob',
      is_nullable       => 1,
      is_serializable   => 1,
   },
);

1;

and then this helper ✨ adds a JSON method ✨ like the following:

sub TO_JSON {
   return {
      id       => $self->id,
      kitten   => $self->kitten,
      # robot  => $self->robot,    # <-- doesn't serialize text columns
      your_mom => $self->your_mom, # <-- normally wouldn't but explicitly
                                   #     asked for in the column spec above
   }
}

see how robot is sitting there all commented out? that's not a typo, that's the text data type getting politely declined. and your_mom? normally it would get declined too (it's a blob 💀) but we literally wrote is_serializable => 1 in the column spec so it ate and made it through. periodt. 👑

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🔥 METHODS 🔥

🦋 _is_column_serializable

$self->_is_column_serializable('kitten')

returns true if a column should be serializable or not. currently this marks everything as serializable unless "is_serializable" is set to false, or "data_type" is a "blob", "text", or "ntext" column. (yes, "kitten" up there is a real example and yes it returns true, we love an integer column that minds its own business. 🐱)

if you wanted to only have explicit serialization — like, no vibes-based auto-serializing, only columns that literally asked for it — you might override this method to look like this:

sub _is_column_serializable {
   my ( $self, $column ) = @_;

   my $info = $self->column_info($column);

   return defined $info->{is_serializable} && $info->{is_serializable};
}

🧚 serializable_columns

$self->serializable_columns

simply returns a list of columns that TO_JSON should serialize. that's it. that's the method. lowkey iconic for how little it does. 🌈

💜 TO_JSON

$self->TO_JSON

returns a hashref representing your object. and here's the fun part — override this method to add data to the returned hashref, like so:

sub TO_JSON {
   my $self = shift;

   return {
      customer_name => $self->customer->name,
      %{ $self->next::method },
   }
}

see that %{ $self->next::method }? that's you calling up to the parent and being like "okay bestie, do your thing, I'll add my little extras on top." main character energy, honestly. ✨

🎀 unserializable_data_types

$self->unserializable_data_types

simply returns a hashref of data types that TO_JSON should not serialize. defaults to "blob", "text", or "ntext".

if you wanted to allow serialization of text data types (bold move, but okay 💅) you might override this method to look like this:

sub unserializable_data_types {
   return {
      blob  => 1,
      ntext => 1,
   };
}

notice text is not in that hashref anymore. that's the whole trick. that's the move. 🫶

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👑 AUTHOR 👑

Arthur Axel "fREW" Schmidt <frioux+cpan@gmail.com>

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🌟 COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE 🌟

This software is copyright (c) 2024 by Arthur Axel "fREW" Schmidt.

This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.

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okay and that's the whole page, bestie!! this was DBIx::...ToJSON(3pm) from perl v5.40.0, dated 2024-11-16, and honestly? she ate. go serialize something responsibly. mwah. 💖✨🎀🦋🌸