NAME¶

DBIx::Class::InflateColumn::DateTime - Auto-create DateTime objects from date and datetime columns.

SYNOPSIS¶

Load this component and then declare one or more columns to be of the datetime, timestamp or date datatype.

  package Event;
  use base 'DBIx::Class::Core';
  __PACKAGE__->load_components(qw/InflateColumn::DateTime/);
  __PACKAGE__->add_columns(
    starts_when => { data_type => 'datetime' }
    create_date => { data_type => 'date' }
  );

Then you can treat the specified column as a DateTime object.

  print "This event starts the month of ".
    $event->starts_when->month_name();

If you want to set a specific timezone and locale for that field, use:

  __PACKAGE__->add_columns(
    starts_when => { data_type => 'datetime', timezone => "America/Chicago", locale => "de_DE" }
  );

If you want to inflate no matter what data_type your column is, use inflate_datetime or inflate_date:

  __PACKAGE__->add_columns(
    starts_when => { data_type => 'varchar', inflate_datetime => 1 }
  );
  __PACKAGE__->add_columns(
    starts_when => { data_type => 'varchar', inflate_date => 1 }
  );

It's also possible to explicitly skip inflation:

  __PACKAGE__->add_columns(
    starts_when => { data_type => 'datetime', inflate_datetime => 0 }
  );

NOTE: Don't rely on "InflateColumn::DateTime" to parse date strings for you. The column is set directly for any non-references and "InflateColumn::DateTime" is completely bypassed. Instead, use an input parser to create a DateTime object. For instance, if your user input comes as a 'YYYY-MM-DD' string, you can use "DateTime::Format::ISO8601" thusly:

  use DateTime::Format::ISO8601;
  my $dt = DateTime::Format::ISO8601->parse_datetime('YYYY-MM-DD');

DESCRIPTION¶

This module figures out the type of DateTime::Format::* class to inflate/deflate with based on the type of DBIx::Class::Storage::DBI::* that you are using. If you switch from one database to a different one your code should continue to work without modification (though note that this feature is new as of 0.07, so it may not be perfect yet - bug reports to the list very much welcome).

If the data_type of a field is "date", "datetime" or "timestamp" (or a derivative of these datatypes, e.g. "timestamp with timezone"), this module will automatically call the appropriate parse/format method for deflation/inflation as defined in the storage class. For instance, for a "datetime" field the methods "parse_datetime" and "format_datetime" would be called on deflation/inflation. If the storage class does not provide a specialized inflator/deflator, "[parse|format]_datetime" will be used as a fallback. See "Formatters And Stringification" in DateTime for more information on date formatting.

For more help with using components, see "USING" in DBIx::Class::Manual::Component.

    "broken_date",
    {
        data_type => "datetime",
        default_value => '0000-00-00',
        is_nullable => 1,
        datetime_undef_if_invalid => 1
    }

USAGE NOTES¶

If you have a datetime column with an associated "timezone", and subsequently create/update this column with a DateTime object in the DateTime::TimeZone::Floating timezone, you will get a warning (as there is a very good chance this will not have the result you expect). For example:

  __PACKAGE__->add_columns(
    starts_when => { data_type => 'datetime', timezone => "America/Chicago" }
  );
  my $event = $schema->resultset('EventTZ')->create({
    starts_at => DateTime->new(year=>2007, month=>12, day=>31, ),
  });

The warning can be avoided in several ways:

Fix your broken code

When calling "set_time_zone" on a Floating DateTime object, the timezone is simply set to the requested value, and no time conversion takes place. It is always a good idea to be supply explicit times to the database:

  my $event = $schema->resultset('EventTZ')->create({
    starts_at => DateTime->new(year=>2007, month=>12, day=>31, time_zone => "America/Chicago" ),
  });
    

Suppress the check on per-column basis

  __PACKAGE__->add_columns(
    starts_when => { data_type => 'datetime', timezone => "America/Chicago", floating_tz_ok => 1 }
  );
    

Suppress the check globally

Set the environment variable DBIC_FLOATING_TZ_OK to some true value.

Putting extra attributes like timezone, locale or floating_tz_ok into extra => {} has been DEPRECATED because this gets you into trouble using DBIx::Class::Schema::Versioned. Instead put it directly into the columns definition like in the examples above. If you still use the old way you'll see a warning - please fix your code then!

SEE ALSO¶

More information about the add_columns method, and column metadata, can be found in the documentation for DBIx::Class::ResultSource.

Further discussion of problems inherent to the Floating timezone: Floating DateTimes and $dt->set_time_zone

FURTHER QUESTIONS?¶

Check the list of additional DBIC resources.

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE¶

This module is free software copyright by the DBIx::Class (DBIC) authors. You can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as the DBIx::Class library.