1BerkeleyDB(3)         User Contributed Perl Documentation        BerkeleyDB(3)
2
3
4

NAME

6       BerkeleyDB - Perl extension for Berkeley DB version 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6
7

SYNOPSIS

9         use BerkeleyDB;
10
11         $env = new BerkeleyDB::Env [OPTIONS] ;
12
13         $db  = tie %hash, 'BerkeleyDB::Hash', [OPTIONS] ;
14         $db  = new BerkeleyDB::Hash [OPTIONS] ;
15
16         $db  = tie %hash, 'BerkeleyDB::Btree', [OPTIONS] ;
17         $db  = new BerkeleyDB::Btree [OPTIONS] ;
18
19         $db  = tie @array, 'BerkeleyDB::Recno', [OPTIONS] ;
20         $db  = new BerkeleyDB::Recno [OPTIONS] ;
21
22         $db  = tie @array, 'BerkeleyDB::Queue', [OPTIONS] ;
23         $db  = new BerkeleyDB::Queue [OPTIONS] ;
24
25         $db  = new BerkeleyDB::Heap [OPTIONS] ;
26
27         $db  = new BerkeleyDB::Unknown [OPTIONS] ;
28
29         $status = BerkeleyDB::db_remove [OPTIONS]
30         $status = BerkeleyDB::db_rename [OPTIONS]
31         $status = BerkeleyDB::db_verify [OPTIONS]
32
33         $hash{$key} = $value ;
34         $value = $hash{$key} ;
35         each %hash ;
36         keys %hash ;
37         values %hash ;
38
39         $env = $db->Env()
40         $status = $db->db_get()
41         $status = $db->db_exists() ;
42         $status = $db->db_put() ;
43         $status = $db->db_del() ;
44         $status = $db->db_sync() ;
45         $status = $db->db_close() ;
46         $status = $db->db_pget()
47         $hash_ref = $db->db_stat() ;
48         $status = $db->db_key_range();
49         $type = $db->type() ;
50         $status = $db->status() ;
51         $boolean = $db->byteswapped() ;
52         $status = $db->truncate($count) ;
53         $status = $db->compact($start, $stop, $c_data, $flags, $end);
54         $status = $db->get_blob_threshold($t1) ;
55         $status = $db->get_blob_dir($dir) ;
56
57         $bool = $env->cds_enabled();
58         $bool = $db->cds_enabled();
59         $lock = $db->cds_lock();
60         $lock->cds_unlock();
61
62         ($flag, $old_offset, $old_length) = $db->partial_set($offset, $length) ;
63         ($flag, $old_offset, $old_length) = $db->partial_clear() ;
64
65         $cursor = $db->db_cursor([$flags]) ;
66         $newcursor = $cursor->c_dup([$flags]);
67         $status = $cursor->c_get() ;
68         $status = $cursor->c_put() ;
69         $status = $cursor->c_del() ;
70         $status = $cursor->c_count() ;
71         $status = $cursor->c_pget() ;
72         $status = $cursor->status() ;
73         $status = $cursor->c_close() ;
74         $stream = $cursor->db_stream() ;
75
76         $cursor = $db->db_join() ;
77         $status = $cursor->c_get() ;
78         $status = $cursor->c_close() ;
79
80         $status = $stream->size($S);
81         $status = $stream->read($data, $offset, $size);
82         $status = $stream->write($data, $offset);
83
84         $status = $env->txn_checkpoint()
85         $hash_ref = $env->txn_stat()
86         $status = $env->set_mutexlocks()
87         $status = $env->set_flags()
88         $status = $env->set_timeout()
89         $status = $env->lock_detect()
90         $status = $env->lsn_reset()
91         $status = $env->get_blob_threshold($t1) ;
92         $status = $env->get_blob_dir($dir) ;
93
94         $txn = $env->txn_begin() ;
95         $db->Txn($txn);
96         $txn->Txn($db1, $db2,...);
97         $status = $txn->txn_prepare()
98         $status = $txn->txn_commit()
99         $status = $txn->txn_abort()
100         $status = $txn->txn_id()
101         $status = $txn->txn_discard()
102         $status = $txn->set_timeout()
103
104         $status = $env->set_lg_dir();
105         $status = $env->set_lg_bsize();
106         $status = $env->set_lg_max();
107
108         $status = $env->set_data_dir() ;
109         $status = $env->set_tmp_dir() ;
110         $status = $env->set_verbose() ;
111         $db_env_ptr = $env->DB_ENV() ;
112
113         $BerkeleyDB::Error
114         $BerkeleyDB::db_version
115
116         # DBM Filters
117         $old_filter = $db->filter_store_key  ( sub { ... } ) ;
118         $old_filter = $db->filter_store_value( sub { ... } ) ;
119         $old_filter = $db->filter_fetch_key  ( sub { ... } ) ;
120         $old_filter = $db->filter_fetch_value( sub { ... } ) ;
121
122         # deprecated, but supported
123         $txn_mgr = $env->TxnMgr();
124         $status = $txn_mgr->txn_checkpoint()
125         $hash_ref = $txn_mgr->txn_stat()
126         $txn = $txn_mgr->txn_begin() ;
127

DESCRIPTION

129       NOTE: This document is still under construction. Expect it to be
130       incomplete in places.
131
132       This Perl module provides an interface to most of the functionality
133       available in Berkeley DB versions 2, 3, 5 and 6. In general it is safe
134       to assume that the interface provided here to be identical to the
135       Berkeley DB interface. The main changes have been to make the Berkeley
136       DB API work in a Perl way. Note that if you are using Berkeley DB 2.x,
137       the new features available in Berkeley DB 3.x or later are not
138       available via this module.
139
140       The reader is expected to be familiar with the Berkeley DB
141       documentation. Where the interface provided here is identical to the
142       Berkeley DB library and the... TODO
143
144       The db_appinit, db_cursor, db_open and db_txn man pages are
145       particularly relevant.
146
147       The interface to Berkeley DB is implemented with a number of Perl
148       classes.
149

The BerkeleyDB::Env Class

151       The BerkeleyDB::Env class provides an interface to the Berkeley DB
152       function db_appinit in Berkeley DB 2.x or db_env_create and DBENV->open
153       in Berkeley DB 3.x (or later). Its purpose is to initialise a number of
154       sub-systems that can then be used in a consistent way in all the
155       databases you make use of in the environment.
156
157       If you don't intend using transactions, locking or logging, then you
158       shouldn't need to make use of BerkeleyDB::Env.
159
160       Note that an environment consists of a number of files that Berkeley DB
161       manages behind the scenes for you. When you first use an environment,
162       it needs to be explicitly created. This is done by including
163       "DB_CREATE" with the "Flags" parameter, described below.
164
165   Synopsis
166           $env = new BerkeleyDB::Env
167                    [ -Home         => $path, ]
168                    [ -Server       => $name, ]
169                    [ -CacheSize    => $number, ]
170                    [ -Config       => { name => value, name => value }, ]
171                    [ -ErrFile      => filename, ]
172                    [ -MsgFile      => filename, ]
173                    [ -ErrPrefix    => "string", ]
174                    [ -Flags        => number, ]
175                    [ -SetFlags     => bitmask, ]
176                    [ -LockDetect   => number, ]
177                    [ -TxMax        => number, ]
178                    [ -LogConfig    => number, ]
179                    [ -MaxLockers   => number, ]
180                    [ -MaxLocks     => number, ]
181                    [ -MaxObjects   => number, ]
182                    [ -SharedMemKey => number, ]
183                    [ -Verbose      => boolean, ]
184                    [ -BlobThreshold=> $number, ]
185                    [ -BlobDir      => directory, ]
186                    [ -Encrypt      => { Password => "string",
187                                         Flags    => number }, ]
188
189       All the parameters to the BerkeleyDB::Env constructor are optional.
190
191       -Home
192            If present, this parameter should point to an existing directory.
193            Any files that aren't specified with an absolute path in the sub-
194            systems that are initialised by the BerkeleyDB::Env class will be
195            assumed to live in the Home directory.
196
197            For example, in the code fragment below the database "fred.db"
198            will be opened in the directory "/home/databases" because it was
199            specified as a relative path, but "joe.db" will be opened in
200            "/other" because it was part of an absolute path.
201
202                $env = new BerkeleyDB::Env
203                         -Home         => "/home/databases"
204                ...
205
206                $db1 = new BerkeleyDB::Hash
207                         -Filename => "fred.db",
208                         -Env => $env
209                ...
210
211                $db2 = new BerkeleyDB::Hash
212                         -Filename => "/other/joe.db",
213                         -Env => $env
214                ...
215
216       -Server
217            If present, this parameter should be the hostname of a server that
218            is running the Berkeley DB RPC server. All databases will be
219            accessed via the RPC server.
220
221       -Encrypt
222            If present, this parameter will enable encryption of  all data
223            before it is written to the database. This parameters must be
224            given a hash reference. The format is shown below.
225
226                -Encrypt => { -Password => "abc", Flags => DB_ENCRYPT_AES }
227
228            Valid values for the Flags are 0 or "DB_ENCRYPT_AES".
229
230            This option requires Berkeley DB 4.1 or better.
231
232       -Cachesize
233            If present, this parameter sets the size of the environments
234            shared memory buffer pool.
235
236       -TxMax
237            If present, this parameter sets the number of simultaneous
238            transactions that are allowed.  Default 100.  This default is
239            definitely too low for programs using the MVCC capabilities.
240
241       -LogConfig
242            If present, this parameter is used to configure log options.
243
244       -MaxLockers
245            If present, this parameter is used to configure the maximum number
246            of processes doing locking on the database.  Default 1000.
247
248       -MaxLocks
249            If present, this parameter is used to configure the maximum number
250            of locks on the database.  Default 1000.  This is often lower than
251            required.
252
253       -MaxObjects
254            If present, this parameter is used to configure the maximum number
255            of locked objects.  Default 1000.  This is often lower than
256            required.
257
258       -SharedMemKey
259            If present, this parameter sets the base segment ID for the shared
260            memory region used by Berkeley DB.
261
262            This option requires Berkeley DB 3.1 or better.
263
264            Use "$env->get_shm_key($id)" to find out the base segment ID used
265            once the environment is open.
266
267       -ThreadCount
268            If present, this parameter declares the approximate number of
269            threads that will be used in the database environment. This
270            parameter is only necessary when the $env->failchk method will be
271            used. It does not actually set the maximum number of threads but
272            rather is used to determine memory sizing.
273
274            This option requires Berkeley DB 4.4 or better. It is only
275            supported on Unix/Linux.
276
277       -BlobThreshold
278            Sets the size threshold that will be used to decide when data is
279            stored as a BLOB. This option must be set for a blobs to be used.
280
281            This option requires Berkeley DB 6.0 or better.
282
283       -BlobDir
284            The directory where the BLOB objects are stored.
285
286            If not specified blob files are stores in the environment
287            directoy.
288
289            This option requires Berkeley DB 6.0 or better.
290
291       -Config
292            This is a variation on the "-Home" parameter, but it allows finer
293            control of where specific types of files will be stored.
294
295            The parameter expects a reference to a hash. Valid keys are:
296            DB_DATA_DIR, DB_LOG_DIR and DB_TMP_DIR
297
298            The code below shows an example of how it can be used.
299
300                $env = new BerkeleyDB::Env
301                         -Config => { DB_DATA_DIR => "/home/databases",
302                                      DB_LOG_DIR  => "/home/logs",
303                                      DB_TMP_DIR  => "/home/tmp"
304                                    }
305                ...
306
307       -ErrFile
308            Expects a filename or filehandle. Any errors generated internally
309            by Berkeley DB will be logged to this file. A useful debug setting
310            is to open environments with either
311
312                -ErrFile => *STDOUT
313
314            or
315
316                -ErrFile => *STDERR
317
318       -ErrPrefix
319            Allows a prefix to be added to the error messages before they are
320            sent to -ErrFile.
321
322       -Flags
323            The Flags parameter specifies both which sub-systems to
324            initialise, as well as a number of environment-wide options.  See
325            the Berkeley DB documentation for more details of these options.
326
327            Any of the following can be specified by OR'ing them:
328
329            DB_CREATE
330
331            If any of the files specified do not already exist, create them.
332
333            DB_INIT_CDB
334
335            Initialise the Concurrent Access Methods
336
337            DB_INIT_LOCK
338
339            Initialise the Locking sub-system.
340
341            DB_INIT_LOG
342
343            Initialise the Logging sub-system.
344
345            DB_INIT_MPOOL
346
347            Initialize the shared memory buffer pool subsystem. This subsystem
348            should be used whenever an application is using any Berkeley DB
349            access method.
350
351            DB_INIT_TXN
352
353            Initialize the transaction subsystem. This subsystem should be
354            used when recovery and atomicity of multiple operations are
355            important. The DB_INIT_TXN flag implies the DB_INIT_LOG flag.
356
357            DB_MPOOL_PRIVATE
358
359            Create a private memory pool; see memp_open. Ignored unless
360            DB_INIT_MPOOL is also specified.
361
362            DB_INIT_MPOOL is also specified.
363
364            DB_NOMMAP
365
366            Do not map this database into process memory.
367
368            DB_RECOVER
369
370            Run normal recovery on this environment before opening it for
371            normal use. If this flag is set, the DB_CREATE flag must also be
372            set since the regions will be removed and recreated.
373
374            The db_appinit function returns successfully if DB_RECOVER is
375            specified and no log files exist, so it is necessary to ensure all
376            necessary log files are present before running recovery.
377
378            DB_PRIVATE
379
380            DB_RECOVER_FATAL
381
382            Run catastrophic recovery on this environment before opening it
383            for normal use. If this flag is set, the DB_CREATE flag must also
384            be set since the regions will be removed and recreated.
385
386            The db_appinit function returns successfully if DB_RECOVER_FATAL
387            is specified and no log files exist, so it is necessary to ensure
388            all necessary log files are present before running recovery.
389
390            DB_THREAD
391
392            Ensure that handles returned by the Berkeley DB subsystems are
393            useable by multiple threads within a single process, i.e., that
394            the system is free-threaded.
395
396            DB_TXN_NOSYNC
397
398            On transaction commit, do not synchronously flush the log; see
399            txn_open. Ignored unless DB_INIT_TXN is also specified.
400
401            DB_USE_ENVIRON
402
403            The Berkeley DB process' environment may be permitted to specify
404            information to be used when naming files; see Berkeley DB File
405            Naming. As permitting users to specify which files are used can
406            create security problems, environment information will be used in
407            file naming for all users only if the DB_USE_ENVIRON flag is set.
408
409            DB_USE_ENVIRON_ROOT
410
411            The Berkeley DB process' environment may be permitted to specify
412            information to be used when naming files; see Berkeley DB File
413            Naming. As permitting users to specify which files are used can
414            create security problems, if the DB_USE_ENVIRON_ROOT flag is set,
415            environment information will be used for file naming only for
416            users with a user-ID matching that of the superuser (specifically,
417            users for whom the getuid(2) system call returns the user-ID 0).
418
419       -SetFlags
420            Calls ENV->set_flags with the supplied bitmask. Use this when you
421            need to make use of DB_ENV->set_flags before DB_ENV->open is
422            called.
423
424            Only valid when Berkeley DB 3.x or better is used.
425
426       -LockDetect
427            Specifies what to do when a lock conflict occurs. The value should
428            be one of
429
430            DB_LOCK_DEFAULT
431
432            Use the default policy as specified by db_deadlock.
433
434            DB_LOCK_OLDEST
435
436            Abort the oldest transaction.
437
438            DB_LOCK_RANDOM
439
440            Abort a random transaction involved in the deadlock.
441
442            DB_LOCK_YOUNGEST
443
444            Abort the youngest transaction.
445
446       -Verbose
447            Add extra debugging information to the messages sent to -ErrFile.
448
449   Methods
450       The environment class has the following methods:
451
452       $env->errPrefix("string") ;
453            This method is identical to the -ErrPrefix flag. It allows the
454            error prefix string to be changed dynamically.
455
456       $env->set_flags(bitmask, 1|0);
457       $txn = $env->TxnMgr()
458            Constructor for creating a TxnMgr object.  See "TRANSACTIONS" for
459            more details of using transactions.
460
461            This method is deprecated. Access the transaction methods using
462            the txn_ methods below from the environment object directly.
463
464       $env->txn_begin()
465            TODO
466
467       $env->txn_stat()
468            TODO
469
470       $env->txn_checkpoint()
471            TODO
472
473       $env->status()
474            Returns the status of the last BerkeleyDB::Env method.
475
476       $env->DB_ENV()
477            Returns a pointer to the underlying DB_ENV data structure that
478            Berkeley DB uses.
479
480       $env->get_shm_key($id)
481            Writes the base segment ID for the shared memory region used by
482            the Berkeley DB environment into $id. Returns 0 on success.
483
484            This option requires Berkeley DB 4.2 or better.
485
486            Use the "-SharedMemKey" option when opening the environmet to set
487            the base segment ID.
488
489       $env->set_isalive()
490            Set the callback that determines if the thread of control,
491            identified by the pid and tid arguments, is still running.  This
492            method should only be used in combination with $env->failchk.
493
494            This option requires Berkeley DB 4.4 or better.
495
496       $env->failchk($flags)
497            The $env->failchk method checks for threads of control (either a
498            true thread or a process) that have exited while manipulating
499            Berkeley DB library data structures, while holding a logical
500            database lock, or with an unresolved transaction (that is, a
501            transaction that was never aborted or committed).
502
503            If $env->failchk determines a thread of control exited while
504            holding database read locks, it will release those locks. If
505            $env->failchk determines a thread of control exited with an
506            unresolved transaction, the transaction will be aborted.
507
508            Applications calling the $env->failchk method must have already
509            called the $env->set_isalive method, on the same DB environment,
510            and must have configured their database environment using the
511            -ThreadCount flag. The ThreadCount flag cannot be used on an
512            environment that wasn't previously initialized with it.
513
514            This option requires Berkeley DB 4.4 or better.
515
516       $env->stat_print
517            Prints statistical information.
518
519            If the "MsgFile" option is specified the output will be sent to
520            the file. Otherwise output is sent to standard output.
521
522            This option requires Berkeley DB 4.3 or better.
523
524       $env->lock_stat_print
525            Prints locking subsystem statistics.
526
527            If the "MsgFile" option is specified the output will be sent to
528            the file. Otherwise output is sent to standard output.
529
530            This option requires Berkeley DB 4.3 or better.
531
532       $env->mutex_stat_print
533            Prints mutex subsystem statistics.
534
535            If the "MsgFile" option is specified the output will be sent to
536            the file. Otherwise output is sent to standard output.
537
538            This option requires Berkeley DB 4.4 or better.
539
540       $status = $env->get_blob_threshold($t1) ;
541            Sets the parameter $t1 to the threshold value (in bytes) that is
542            used to determine when a data item is stored as a Blob.
543
544       $status = $env->get_blob_dir($dir) ;
545            Sets the $dir parameter to the directory where blob files are
546            stored.
547
548       $env->set_timeout($timeout, $flags)
549       $env->status()
550            Returns the status of the last BerkeleyDB::Env method.
551
552   Examples
553       TODO.
554

Global Classes

556         $status = BerkeleyDB::db_remove [OPTIONS]
557         $status = BerkeleyDB::db_rename [OPTIONS]
558         $status = BerkeleyDB::db_verify [OPTIONS]
559

THE DATABASE CLASSES

561       BerkeleyDB supports the following database formats:
562
563       BerkeleyDB::Hash
564            This database type allows arbitrary key/value pairs to be stored
565            in data files. This is equivalent to the functionality provided by
566            other hashing packages like DBM, NDBM, ODBM, GDBM, and SDBM.
567            Remember though, the files created using BerkeleyDB::Hash are not
568            compatible with any of the other packages mentioned.
569
570            A default hashing algorithm, which will be adequate for most
571            applications, is built into BerkeleyDB. If you do need to use your
572            own hashing algorithm it is possible to write your own in Perl and
573            have BerkeleyDB use it instead.
574
575       BerkeleyDB::Btree
576            The Btree format allows arbitrary key/value pairs to be stored in
577            a B+tree.
578
579            As with the BerkeleyDB::Hash format, it is possible to provide a
580            user defined Perl routine to perform the comparison of keys. By
581            default, though, the keys are stored in lexical order.
582
583       BerkeleyDB::Recno
584            TODO.
585
586       BerkeleyDB::Queue
587            TODO.
588
589       BerkeleyDB::Heap
590            TODO.
591
592       BerkeleyDB::Unknown
593            This isn't a database format at all. It is used when you want to
594            open an existing Berkeley DB database without having to know what
595            type is it.
596
597       Each of the database formats described above is accessed via a
598       corresponding BerkeleyDB class. These will be described in turn in the
599       next sections.
600

BerkeleyDB::Hash

602       Equivalent to calling db_open with type DB_HASH in Berkeley DB 2.x and
603       calling db_create followed by DB->open with type DB_HASH in Berkeley DB
604       3.x or greater.
605
606       Two forms of constructor are supported:
607
608           $db = new BerkeleyDB::Hash
609                       [ -Filename      => "filename", ]
610                       [ -Subname       => "sub-database name", ]
611                       [ -Flags         => flags,]
612                       [ -Property      => flags,]
613                       [ -Mode          => number,]
614                       [ -Cachesize     => number,]
615                       [ -Lorder        => number,]
616                       [ -Pagesize      => number,]
617                       [ -Env           => $env,]
618                       [ -Txn           => $txn,]
619                       [ -Encrypt       => { Password => "string",
620                                             Flags    => number }, ],
621                       [ -BlobThreshold=> $number, ]
622                       [ -BlobDir      => directory, ]
623                       # BerkeleyDB::Hash specific
624                       [ -Ffactor       => number,]
625                       [ -Nelem         => number,]
626                       [ -Hash          => code reference,]
627                       [ -DupCompare    => code reference,]
628
629       and this
630
631           [$db =] tie %hash, 'BerkeleyDB::Hash',
632                       [ -Filename      => "filename", ]
633                       [ -Subname       => "sub-database name", ]
634                       [ -Flags         => flags,]
635                       [ -Property      => flags,]
636                       [ -Mode          => number,]
637                       [ -Cachesize     => number,]
638                       [ -Lorder        => number,]
639                       [ -Pagesize      => number,]
640                       [ -Env           => $env,]
641                       [ -Txn           => $txn,]
642                       [ -Encrypt       => { Password => "string",
643                                             Flags    => number }, ],
644                       [ -BlobThreshold=> $number, ]
645                       [ -BlobDir      => directory, ]
646                       # BerkeleyDB::Hash specific
647                       [ -Ffactor       => number,]
648                       [ -Nelem         => number,]
649                       [ -Hash          => code reference,]
650                       [ -DupCompare    => code reference,]
651
652       When the "tie" interface is used, reading from and writing to the
653       database is achieved via the tied hash. In this case the database
654       operates like a Perl associative array that happens to be stored on
655       disk.
656
657       In addition to the high-level tied hash interface, it is possible to
658       make use of the underlying methods provided by Berkeley DB
659
660   Options
661       In addition to the standard set of options (see "COMMON OPTIONS")
662       BerkeleyDB::Hash supports these options:
663
664       -Property
665            Used to specify extra flags when opening a database. The following
666            flags may be specified by bitwise OR'ing together one or more of
667            the following values:
668
669            DB_DUP
670
671            When creating a new database, this flag enables the storing of
672            duplicate keys in the database. If DB_DUPSORT is not specified as
673            well, the duplicates are stored in the order they are created in
674            the database.
675
676            DB_DUPSORT
677
678            Enables the sorting of duplicate keys in the database. Ignored if
679            DB_DUP isn't also specified.
680
681       -Ffactor
682       -Nelem
683            See the Berkeley DB documentation for details of these options.
684
685       -Hash
686            Allows you to provide a user defined hash function. If not
687            specified, a default hash function is used. Here is a template for
688            a user-defined hash function
689
690                sub hash
691                {
692                    my ($data) = shift ;
693                    ...
694                    # return the hash value for $data
695                    return $hash ;
696                }
697
698                tie %h, "BerkeleyDB::Hash",
699                    -Filename => $filename,
700                    -Hash     => \&hash,
701                    ...
702
703            See "" for an example.
704
705       -DupCompare
706            Used in conjunction with the DB_DUPOSRT flag.
707
708                sub compare
709                {
710                    my ($key, $key2) = @_ ;
711                    ...
712                    # return  0 if $key1 eq $key2
713                    #        -1 if $key1 lt $key2
714                    #         1 if $key1 gt $key2
715                    return (-1 , 0 or 1) ;
716                }
717
718                tie %h, "BerkeleyDB::Hash",
719                    -Filename   => $filename,
720                    -Property   => DB_DUP|DB_DUPSORT,
721                    -DupCompare => \&compare,
722                    ...
723
724   Methods
725       BerkeleyDB::Hash only supports the standard database methods.  See
726       "COMMON DATABASE METHODS".
727
728   A Simple Tied Hash Example
729           use strict ;
730           use BerkeleyDB ;
731           use vars qw( %h $k $v ) ;
732
733           my $filename = "fruit" ;
734           unlink $filename ;
735           tie %h, "BerkeleyDB::Hash",
736                       -Filename => $filename,
737                       -Flags    => DB_CREATE
738               or die "Cannot open file $filename: $! $BerkeleyDB::Error\n" ;
739
740           # Add a few key/value pairs to the file
741           $h{"apple"} = "red" ;
742           $h{"orange"} = "orange" ;
743           $h{"banana"} = "yellow" ;
744           $h{"tomato"} = "red" ;
745
746           # Check for existence of a key
747           print "Banana Exists\n\n" if $h{"banana"} ;
748
749           # Delete a key/value pair.
750           delete $h{"apple"} ;
751
752           # print the contents of the file
753           while (($k, $v) = each %h)
754             { print "$k -> $v\n" }
755
756           untie %h ;
757
758       here is the output:
759
760           Banana Exists
761
762           orange -> orange
763           tomato -> red
764           banana -> yellow
765
766       Note that the like ordinary associative arrays, the order of the keys
767       retrieved from a Hash database are in an apparently random order.
768
769   Another Simple Hash Example
770       Do the same as the previous example but not using tie.
771
772           use strict ;
773           use BerkeleyDB ;
774
775           my $filename = "fruit" ;
776           unlink $filename ;
777           my $db = new BerkeleyDB::Hash
778                       -Filename => $filename,
779                       -Flags    => DB_CREATE
780               or die "Cannot open file $filename: $! $BerkeleyDB::Error\n" ;
781
782           # Add a few key/value pairs to the file
783           $db->db_put("apple", "red") ;
784           $db->db_put("orange", "orange") ;
785           $db->db_put("banana", "yellow") ;
786           $db->db_put("tomato", "red") ;
787
788           # Check for existence of a key
789           print "Banana Exists\n\n" if $db->db_get("banana", $v) == 0;
790
791           # Delete a key/value pair.
792           $db->db_del("apple") ;
793
794           # print the contents of the file
795           my ($k, $v) = ("", "") ;
796           my $cursor = $db->db_cursor() ;
797           while ($cursor->c_get($k, $v, DB_NEXT) == 0)
798             { print "$k -> $v\n" }
799
800           undef $cursor ;
801           undef $db ;
802
803   Duplicate keys
804       The code below is a variation on the examples above. This time the hash
805       has been inverted. The key this time is colour and the value is the
806       fruit name.  The DB_DUP flag has been specified to allow duplicates.
807
808           use strict ;
809           use BerkeleyDB ;
810
811           my $filename = "fruit" ;
812           unlink $filename ;
813           my $db = new BerkeleyDB::Hash
814                       -Filename => $filename,
815                       -Flags    => DB_CREATE,
816                       -Property  => DB_DUP
817               or die "Cannot open file $filename: $! $BerkeleyDB::Error\n" ;
818
819           # Add a few key/value pairs to the file
820           $db->db_put("red", "apple") ;
821           $db->db_put("orange", "orange") ;
822           $db->db_put("green", "banana") ;
823           $db->db_put("yellow", "banana") ;
824           $db->db_put("red", "tomato") ;
825           $db->db_put("green", "apple") ;
826
827           # print the contents of the file
828           my ($k, $v) = ("", "") ;
829           my $cursor = $db->db_cursor() ;
830           while ($cursor->c_get($k, $v, DB_NEXT) == 0)
831             { print "$k -> $v\n" }
832
833           undef $cursor ;
834           undef $db ;
835
836       here is the output:
837
838           orange -> orange
839           yellow -> banana
840           red -> apple
841           red -> tomato
842           green -> banana
843           green -> apple
844
845   Sorting Duplicate Keys
846       In the previous example, when there were duplicate keys, the values are
847       sorted in the order they are stored in. The code below is identical to
848       the previous example except the DB_DUPSORT flag is specified.
849
850           use strict ;
851           use BerkeleyDB ;
852
853           my $filename = "fruit" ;
854           unlink $filename ;
855           my $db = new BerkeleyDB::Hash
856                       -Filename => $filename,
857                       -Flags    => DB_CREATE,
858                       -Property  => DB_DUP | DB_DUPSORT
859               or die "Cannot open file $filename: $! $BerkeleyDB::Error\n" ;
860
861           # Add a few key/value pairs to the file
862           $db->db_put("red", "apple") ;
863           $db->db_put("orange", "orange") ;
864           $db->db_put("green", "banana") ;
865           $db->db_put("yellow", "banana") ;
866           $db->db_put("red", "tomato") ;
867           $db->db_put("green", "apple") ;
868
869           # print the contents of the file
870           my ($k, $v) = ("", "") ;
871           my $cursor = $db->db_cursor() ;
872           while ($cursor->c_get($k, $v, DB_NEXT) == 0)
873             { print "$k -> $v\n" }
874
875           undef $cursor ;
876           undef $db ;
877
878       Notice that in the output below the duplicate values are sorted.
879
880           orange -> orange
881           yellow -> banana
882           red -> apple
883           red -> tomato
884           green -> apple
885           green -> banana
886
887   Custom Sorting Duplicate Keys
888       Another variation
889
890       TODO
891
892   Changing the hash
893       TODO
894
895   Using db_stat
896       TODO
897

BerkeleyDB::Btree

899       Equivalent to calling db_open with type DB_BTREE in Berkeley DB 2.x and
900       calling db_create followed by DB->open with type DB_BTREE in Berkeley
901       DB 3.x or greater.
902
903       Two forms of constructor are supported:
904
905           $db = new BerkeleyDB::Btree
906                       [ -Filename      => "filename", ]
907                       [ -Subname       => "sub-database name", ]
908                       [ -Flags         => flags,]
909                       [ -Property      => flags,]
910                       [ -Mode          => number,]
911                       [ -Cachesize     => number,]
912                       [ -Lorder        => number,]
913                       [ -Pagesize      => number,]
914                       [ -Env           => $env,]
915                       [ -Txn           => $txn,]
916                       [ -Encrypt       => { Password => "string",
917                                             Flags    => number }, ],
918                       [ -BlobThreshold=> $number, ]
919                       [ -BlobDir      => directory, ]
920                       # BerkeleyDB::Btree specific
921                       [ -Minkey        => number,]
922                       [ -Compare       => code reference,]
923                       [ -DupCompare    => code reference,]
924                       [ -Prefix        => code reference,]
925
926       and this
927
928           [$db =] tie %hash, 'BerkeleyDB::Btree',
929                       [ -Filename      => "filename", ]
930                       [ -Subname       => "sub-database name", ]
931                       [ -Flags         => flags,]
932                       [ -Property      => flags,]
933                       [ -Mode          => number,]
934                       [ -Cachesize     => number,]
935                       [ -Lorder        => number,]
936                       [ -Pagesize      => number,]
937                       [ -Env           => $env,]
938                       [ -Txn           => $txn,]
939                       [ -Encrypt       => { Password => "string",
940                                             Flags    => number }, ],
941                       [ -BlobThreshold=> $number, ]
942                       [ -BlobDir      => directory, ]
943                       # BerkeleyDB::Btree specific
944                       [ -Minkey        => number,]
945                       [ -Compare       => code reference,]
946                       [ -DupCompare    => code reference,]
947                       [ -Prefix        => code reference,]
948
949   Options
950       In addition to the standard set of options (see "COMMON OPTIONS")
951       BerkeleyDB::Btree supports these options:
952
953       -Property
954            Used to specify extra flags when opening a database. The following
955            flags may be specified by bitwise OR'ing together one or more of
956            the following values:
957
958            DB_DUP
959
960            When creating a new database, this flag enables the storing of
961            duplicate keys in the database. If DB_DUPSORT is not specified as
962            well, the duplicates are stored in the order they are created in
963            the database.
964
965            DB_DUPSORT
966
967            Enables the sorting of duplicate keys in the database. Ignored if
968            DB_DUP isn't also specified.
969
970       Minkey
971            TODO
972
973       Compare
974            Allow you to override the default sort order used in the database.
975            See "Changing the sort order" for an example.
976
977                sub compare
978                {
979                    my ($key, $key2) = @_ ;
980                    ...
981                    # return  0 if $key1 eq $key2
982                    #        -1 if $key1 lt $key2
983                    #         1 if $key1 gt $key2
984                    return (-1 , 0 or 1) ;
985                }
986
987                tie %h, "BerkeleyDB::Hash",
988                    -Filename   => $filename,
989                    -Compare    => \&compare,
990                    ...
991
992       Prefix
993                sub prefix
994                {
995                    my ($key, $key2) = @_ ;
996                    ...
997                    # return number of bytes of $key2 which are
998                    # necessary to determine that it is greater than $key1
999                    return $bytes ;
1000                }
1001
1002                tie %h, "BerkeleyDB::Hash",
1003                    -Filename   => $filename,
1004                    -Prefix     => \&prefix,
1005                    ...
1006            =item DupCompare
1007
1008                sub compare
1009                {
1010                    my ($key, $key2) = @_ ;
1011                    ...
1012                    # return  0 if $key1 eq $key2
1013                    #        -1 if $key1 lt $key2
1014                    #         1 if $key1 gt $key2
1015                    return (-1 , 0 or 1) ;
1016                }
1017
1018                tie %h, "BerkeleyDB::Hash",
1019                    -Filename   => $filename,
1020                    -DupCompare => \&compare,
1021                    ...
1022
1023       set_bt_compress
1024            Enabled compression of the btree data. The callback interface is
1025            not supported at present. Need Berkeley DB 4.8 or better.
1026
1027   Methods
1028       BerkeleyDB::Btree supports the following database methods.  See also
1029       "COMMON DATABASE METHODS".
1030
1031       All the methods below return 0 to indicate success.
1032
1033       $status = $db->db_key_range($key, $less, $equal, $greater [, $flags])
1034            Given a key, $key, this method returns the proportion of keys less
1035            than $key in $less, the proportion equal to $key in $equal and the
1036            proportion greater than $key in $greater.
1037
1038            The proportion is returned as a double in the range 0.0 to 1.0.
1039
1040   A Simple Btree Example
1041       The code below is a simple example of using a btree database.
1042
1043           use strict ;
1044           use BerkeleyDB ;
1045
1046           my $filename = "tree" ;
1047           unlink $filename ;
1048           my %h ;
1049           tie %h, 'BerkeleyDB::Btree',
1050                       -Filename   => $filename,
1051                       -Flags      => DB_CREATE
1052             or die "Cannot open $filename: $! $BerkeleyDB::Error\n" ;
1053
1054           # Add a key/value pair to the file
1055           $h{'Wall'} = 'Larry' ;
1056           $h{'Smith'} = 'John' ;
1057           $h{'mouse'} = 'mickey' ;
1058           $h{'duck'}  = 'donald' ;
1059
1060           # Delete
1061           delete $h{"duck"} ;
1062
1063           # Cycle through the keys printing them in order.
1064           # Note it is not necessary to sort the keys as
1065           # the btree will have kept them in order automatically.
1066           foreach (keys %h)
1067             { print "$_\n" }
1068
1069           untie %h ;
1070
1071       Here is the output from the code above. The keys have been sorted using
1072       Berkeley DB's default sorting algorithm.
1073
1074           Smith
1075           Wall
1076           mouse
1077
1078   Changing the sort order
1079       It is possible to supply your own sorting algorithm if the one that
1080       Berkeley DB used isn't suitable. The code below is identical to the
1081       previous example except for the case insensitive compare function.
1082
1083           use strict ;
1084           use BerkeleyDB ;
1085
1086           my $filename = "tree" ;
1087           unlink $filename ;
1088           my %h ;
1089           tie %h, 'BerkeleyDB::Btree',
1090                       -Filename   => $filename,
1091                       -Flags      => DB_CREATE,
1092                       -Compare    => sub { lc $_[0] cmp lc $_[1] }
1093             or die "Cannot open $filename: $!\n" ;
1094
1095           # Add a key/value pair to the file
1096           $h{'Wall'} = 'Larry' ;
1097           $h{'Smith'} = 'John' ;
1098           $h{'mouse'} = 'mickey' ;
1099           $h{'duck'}  = 'donald' ;
1100
1101           # Delete
1102           delete $h{"duck"} ;
1103
1104           # Cycle through the keys printing them in order.
1105           # Note it is not necessary to sort the keys as
1106           # the btree will have kept them in order automatically.
1107           foreach (keys %h)
1108             { print "$_\n" }
1109
1110           untie %h ;
1111
1112       Here is the output from the code above.
1113
1114           mouse
1115           Smith
1116           Wall
1117
1118       There are a few point to bear in mind if you want to change the
1119       ordering in a BTREE database:
1120
1121       1.   The new compare function must be specified when you create the
1122            database.
1123
1124       2.   You cannot change the ordering once the database has been created.
1125            Thus you must use the same compare function every time you access
1126            the database.
1127
1128   Using db_stat
1129       TODO
1130

BerkeleyDB::Recno

1132       Equivalent to calling db_open with type DB_RECNO in Berkeley DB 2.x and
1133       calling db_create followed by DB->open with type DB_RECNO in Berkeley
1134       DB 3.x or greater.
1135
1136       Two forms of constructor are supported:
1137
1138           $db = new BerkeleyDB::Recno
1139                       [ -Filename      => "filename", ]
1140                       [ -Subname       => "sub-database name", ]
1141                       [ -Flags         => flags,]
1142                       [ -Property      => flags,]
1143                       [ -Mode          => number,]
1144                       [ -Cachesize     => number,]
1145                       [ -Lorder        => number,]
1146                       [ -Pagesize      => number,]
1147                       [ -Env           => $env,]
1148                       [ -Txn           => $txn,]
1149                       [ -Encrypt       => { Password => "string",
1150                                             Flags    => number }, ],
1151                       # BerkeleyDB::Recno specific
1152                       [ -Delim           => byte,]
1153                       [ -Len             => number,]
1154                       [ -Pad             => byte,]
1155                       [ -Source          => filename,]
1156
1157       and this
1158
1159           [$db =] tie @arry, 'BerkeleyDB::Recno',
1160                       [ -Filename      => "filename", ]
1161                       [ -Subname       => "sub-database name", ]
1162                       [ -Flags         => flags,]
1163                       [ -Property      => flags,]
1164                       [ -Mode          => number,]
1165                       [ -Cachesize     => number,]
1166                       [ -Lorder        => number,]
1167                       [ -Pagesize      => number,]
1168                       [ -Env           => $env,]
1169                       [ -Txn           => $txn,]
1170                       [ -Encrypt       => { Password => "string",
1171                                             Flags    => number }, ],
1172                       # BerkeleyDB::Recno specific
1173                       [ -Delim           => byte,]
1174                       [ -Len             => number,]
1175                       [ -Pad             => byte,]
1176                       [ -Source          => filename,]
1177
1178   A Recno Example
1179       Here is a simple example that uses RECNO (if you are using a version of
1180       Perl earlier than 5.004_57 this example won't work -- see "Extra RECNO
1181       Methods" for a workaround).
1182
1183           use strict ;
1184           use BerkeleyDB ;
1185
1186           my $filename = "text" ;
1187           unlink $filename ;
1188
1189           my @h ;
1190           tie @h, 'BerkeleyDB::Recno',
1191                       -Filename   => $filename,
1192                       -Flags      => DB_CREATE,
1193                       -Property   => DB_RENUMBER
1194             or die "Cannot open $filename: $!\n" ;
1195
1196           # Add a few key/value pairs to the file
1197           $h[0] = "orange" ;
1198           $h[1] = "blue" ;
1199           $h[2] = "yellow" ;
1200
1201           push @h, "green", "black" ;
1202
1203           my $elements = scalar @h ;
1204           print "The array contains $elements entries\n" ;
1205
1206           my $last = pop @h ;
1207           print "popped $last\n" ;
1208
1209           unshift @h, "white" ;
1210           my $first = shift @h ;
1211           print "shifted $first\n" ;
1212
1213           # Check for existence of a key
1214           print "Element 1 Exists with value $h[1]\n" if $h[1] ;
1215
1216           untie @h ;
1217
1218       Here is the output from the script:
1219
1220           The array contains 5 entries
1221           popped black
1222           shifted white
1223           Element 1 Exists with value blue
1224           The last element is green
1225           The 2nd last element is yellow
1226

BerkeleyDB::Queue

1228       Equivalent to calling db_create followed by DB->open with type DB_QUEUE
1229       in Berkeley DB 3.x or greater. This database format isn't available if
1230       you use Berkeley DB 2.x.
1231
1232       Two forms of constructor are supported:
1233
1234           $db = new BerkeleyDB::Queue
1235                       [ -Filename      => "filename", ]
1236                       [ -Subname       => "sub-database name", ]
1237                       [ -Flags         => flags,]
1238                       [ -Property      => flags,]
1239                       [ -Mode          => number,]
1240                       [ -Cachesize     => number,]
1241                       [ -Lorder        => number,]
1242                       [ -Pagesize      => number,]
1243                       [ -Env           => $env,]
1244                       [ -Txn           => $txn,]
1245                       [ -Encrypt       => { Password => "string",
1246                                             Flags    => number }, ],
1247                       # BerkeleyDB::Queue specific
1248                       [ -Len             => number,]
1249                       [ -Pad             => byte,]
1250                       [ -ExtentSize    => number, ]
1251
1252       and this
1253
1254           [$db =] tie @arry, 'BerkeleyDB::Queue',
1255                       [ -Filename      => "filename", ]
1256                       [ -Subname       => "sub-database name", ]
1257                       [ -Flags         => flags,]
1258                       [ -Property      => flags,]
1259                       [ -Mode          => number,]
1260                       [ -Cachesize     => number,]
1261                       [ -Lorder        => number,]
1262                       [ -Pagesize      => number,]
1263                       [ -Env           => $env,]
1264                       [ -Txn           => $txn,]
1265                       [ -Encrypt       => { Password => "string",
1266                                             Flags    => number }, ],
1267                       # BerkeleyDB::Queue specific
1268                       [ -Len             => number,]
1269                       [ -Pad             => byte,]
1270

BerkeleyDB::Heap

1272       Equivalent to calling db_create followed by DB->open with type DB_HEAP
1273       in Berkeley DB 5.2.x or greater. This database format isn't available
1274       if you use an older version of Berkeley DB.
1275
1276       One form of constructor is supported:
1277
1278           $db = new BerkeleyDB::Heap
1279                       [ -Filename      => "filename", ]
1280                       [ -Subname       => "sub-database name", ]
1281                       [ -Flags         => flags,]
1282                       [ -Property      => flags,]
1283                       [ -Mode          => number,]
1284                       [ -Cachesize     => number,]
1285                       [ -Lorder        => number,]
1286                       [ -Pagesize      => number,]
1287                       [ -Env           => $env,]
1288                       [ -Txn           => $txn,]
1289                       [ -Encrypt       => { Password => "string",
1290                                             Flags    => number }, ],
1291                       [ -BlobThreshold=> $number, ]
1292                       [ -BlobDir      => directory, ]
1293                       # BerkeleyDB::Heap specific
1294                       [ -HeapSize      => number, ]
1295                       [ -HeapSizeGb    => number, ]
1296

BerkeleyDB::Unknown

1298       This class is used to open an existing database.
1299
1300       Equivalent to calling db_open with type DB_UNKNOWN in Berkeley DB 2.x
1301       and calling db_create followed by DB->open with type DB_UNKNOWN in
1302       Berkeley DB 3.x or greater.
1303
1304       The constructor looks like this:
1305
1306           $db = new BerkeleyDB::Unknown
1307                       [ -Filename      => "filename", ]
1308                       [ -Subname       => "sub-database name", ]
1309                       [ -Flags         => flags,]
1310                       [ -Property      => flags,]
1311                       [ -Mode          => number,]
1312                       [ -Cachesize     => number,]
1313                       [ -Lorder        => number,]
1314                       [ -Pagesize      => number,]
1315                       [ -Env           => $env,]
1316                       [ -Txn           => $txn,]
1317                       [ -Encrypt       => { Password => "string",
1318                                             Flags    => number }, ],
1319
1320   An example

COMMON OPTIONS

1322       All database access class constructors support the common set of
1323       options defined below. All are optional.
1324
1325       -Filename
1326            The database filename. If no filename is specified, a temporary
1327            file will be created and removed once the program terminates.
1328
1329       -Subname
1330            Specifies the name of the sub-database to open.  This option is
1331            only valid if you are using Berkeley DB 3.x or greater.
1332
1333       -Flags
1334            Specify how the database will be opened/created. The valid flags
1335            are:
1336
1337            DB_CREATE
1338
1339            Create any underlying files, as necessary. If the files do not
1340            already exist and the DB_CREATE flag is not specified, the call
1341            will fail.
1342
1343            DB_NOMMAP
1344
1345            Not supported by BerkeleyDB.
1346
1347            DB_RDONLY
1348
1349            Opens the database in read-only mode.
1350
1351            DB_THREAD
1352
1353            Not supported by BerkeleyDB.
1354
1355            DB_TRUNCATE
1356
1357            If the database file already exists, remove all the data before
1358            opening it.
1359
1360       -Mode
1361            Determines the file protection when the database is created.
1362            Defaults to 0666.
1363
1364       -Cachesize
1365       -Lorder
1366       -Pagesize
1367       -Env When working under a Berkeley DB environment, this parameter
1368
1369            Defaults to no environment.
1370
1371       -Encrypt
1372            If present, this parameter will enable encryption of  all data
1373            before it is written to the database. This parameters must be
1374            given a hash reference. The format is shown below.
1375
1376                -Encrypt => { -Password => "abc", Flags => DB_ENCRYPT_AES }
1377
1378            Valid values for the Flags are 0 or "DB_ENCRYPT_AES".
1379
1380            This option requires Berkeley DB 4.1 or better.
1381
1382       -Txn TODO.
1383

COMMON DATABASE METHODS

1385       All the database interfaces support the common set of methods defined
1386       below.
1387
1388       All the methods below return 0 to indicate success.
1389
1390   $env = $db->Env();
1391       Returns the environment object the database is associated with or
1392       "undef" when no environment was used when opening the database.
1393
1394   $status = $db->db_get($key, $value [, $flags])
1395       Given a key ($key) this method reads the value associated with it from
1396       the database. If it exists, the value read from the database is
1397       returned in the $value parameter.
1398
1399       The $flags parameter is optional. If present, it must be set to one of
1400       the following values:
1401
1402       DB_GET_BOTH
1403            When the DB_GET_BOTH flag is specified, db_get checks for the
1404            existence of both the $key and $value in the database.
1405
1406       DB_SET_RECNO
1407            TODO.
1408
1409       In addition, the following value may be set by bitwise OR'ing it into
1410       the $flags parameter:
1411
1412       DB_RMW
1413            TODO
1414
1415       The variant "db_pget" allows you to query a secondary database:
1416
1417               $status = $sdb->db_pget($skey, $pkey, $value);
1418
1419       using the key $skey in the secondary db to lookup $pkey and $value from
1420       the primary db.
1421
1422   $status = $db->db_exists($key [, $flags])
1423       This method checks for the existence of the given key ($key), but does
1424       not read the value. If the key is not found, db_exists will return
1425       DB_NOTFOUND. Requires BDB 4.6 or better.
1426
1427   $status = $db->db_put($key, $value [, $flags])
1428       Stores a key/value pair in the database.
1429
1430       The $flags parameter is optional. If present it must be set to one of
1431       the following values:
1432
1433       DB_APPEND
1434            This flag is only applicable when accessing a BerkeleyDB::Recno
1435            database.
1436
1437            TODO.
1438
1439       DB_NOOVERWRITE
1440            If this flag is specified and $key already exists in the database,
1441            the call to db_put will return DB_KEYEXIST.
1442
1443   $status = $db->db_del($key [, $flags])
1444       Deletes a key/value pair in the database associated with $key.  If
1445       duplicate keys are enabled in the database, db_del will delete all
1446       key/value pairs with key $key.
1447
1448       The $flags parameter is optional and is currently unused.
1449
1450   $status = $env->stat_print([$flags])
1451       Prints statistical information.
1452
1453       If the "MsgFile" option is specified the output will be sent to the
1454       file. Otherwise output is sent to standard output.
1455
1456       This option requires Berkeley DB 4.3 or better.
1457
1458   $status = $db->db_sync()
1459       If any parts of the database are in memory, write them to the database.
1460
1461   $cursor = $db->db_cursor([$flags])
1462       Creates a cursor object. This is used to access the contents of the
1463       database sequentially. See CURSORS for details of the methods available
1464       when working with cursors.
1465
1466       The $flags parameter is optional. If present it must be set to one of
1467       the following values:
1468
1469       DB_RMW
1470            TODO.
1471
1472   ($flag, $old_offset, $old_length) = $db->partial_set($offset, $length) ;
1473       TODO
1474
1475   ($flag, $old_offset, $old_length) = $db->partial_clear() ;
1476       TODO
1477
1478   $db->byteswapped()
1479       TODO
1480
1481   $status = $db->get_blob_threshold($t1) ;
1482       Sets the parameter $t1 to the threshold value (in bytes) that is used
1483       to determine when a data item is stored as a Blob.
1484
1485   $status = $db->get_blob_dir($dir) ;
1486       Sets the $dir parameter to the directory where blob files are stored.
1487
1488   $db->type()
1489       Returns the type of the database. The possible return code are DB_HASH
1490       for a BerkeleyDB::Hash database, DB_BTREE for a BerkeleyDB::Btree
1491       database and DB_RECNO for a BerkeleyDB::Recno database. This method is
1492       typically used when a database has been opened with
1493       BerkeleyDB::Unknown.
1494
1495   $bool = $env->cds_enabled();
1496       Returns true if the Berkeley DB environment $env has been opened on CDS
1497       mode.
1498
1499   $bool = $db->cds_enabled();
1500       Returns true if the database $db has been opened on CDS mode.
1501
1502   $lock = $db->cds_lock();
1503       Creates a CDS write lock object $lock.
1504
1505       It is a fatal error to attempt to create a cds_lock if the Berkeley DB
1506       environment has not been opened in CDS mode.
1507
1508   $lock->cds_unlock();
1509       Removes a CDS lock. The destruction of the CDS lock object
1510       automatically calls this method.
1511
1512       Note that if multiple CDS lock objects are created, the underlying
1513       write lock will not be released until all CDS lock objects are either
1514       explicitly unlocked with this method, or the CDS lock objects have been
1515       destroyed.
1516
1517   $ref = $db->db_stat()
1518       Returns a reference to an associative array containing information
1519       about the database. The keys of the associative array correspond
1520       directly to the names of the fields defined in the Berkeley DB
1521       documentation. For example, in the DB documentation, the field
1522       bt_version stores the version of the Btree database. Assuming you
1523       called db_stat on a Btree database the equivalent field would be
1524       accessed as follows:
1525
1526           $version = $ref->{'bt_version'} ;
1527
1528       If you are using Berkeley DB 3.x or better, this method will work will
1529       all database formats. When DB 2.x is used, it only works with
1530       BerkeleyDB::Btree.
1531
1532   $status = $db->status()
1533       Returns the status of the last $db method called.
1534
1535   $status = $db->truncate($count)
1536       Truncates the database and returns the number or records deleted in
1537       $count.
1538
1539   $status = $db->compact($start, $stop, $c_data, $flags, $end);
1540       Compacts the database $db.
1541
1542       All the parameters are optional - if only want to make use of some of
1543       them, use "undef" for those you don't want.  Trailing unused parameters
1544       can be omitted. For example, if you only want to use the $c_data
1545       parameter to set the "compact_fillpercent", write you code like this
1546
1547           my %hash;
1548           $hash{compact_fillpercent} = 50;
1549           $db->compact(undef, undef, \%hash);
1550
1551       The parameters operate identically to the C equivalent of this method.
1552       The $c_data needs a bit of explanation - it must be a hash reference.
1553       The values of the following keys can be set before calling "compact"
1554       and will affect the operation of the compaction.
1555
1556       •    compact_fillpercent
1557
1558       •    compact_timeout
1559
1560       The following keys, along with associated values, will be created in
1561       the hash reference if the "compact" operation was successful.
1562
1563       •    compact_deadlock
1564
1565       •    compact_levels
1566
1567       •    compact_pages_free
1568
1569       •    compact_pages_examine
1570
1571       •    compact_pages_truncated
1572
1573       You need to be running Berkeley DB 4.4 or better if you want to make
1574       use of "compact".
1575
1576   $status = $db->associate($secondary, \&key_callback)
1577       Associate $db with the secondary DB $secondary
1578
1579       New key/value pairs inserted to the database will be passed to the
1580       callback which must set its third argument to the secondary key to
1581       allow lookup. If an array reference is set multiple keys secondary keys
1582       will be associated with the primary database entry.
1583
1584       Data may be retrieved fro the secondary database using "db_pget" to
1585       also obtain the primary key.
1586
1587       Secondary databased are maintained automatically.
1588
1589   $status = $db->associate_foreign($secondary, callback, $flags)
1590       Associate a foreign key database $db with the secondary DB $secondary.
1591
1592       The second parameter must be a reference to a sub or "undef".
1593
1594       The $flags parameter must be either "DB_FOREIGN_CASCADE",
1595       "DB_FOREIGN_ABORT" or "DB_FOREIGN_NULLIFY".
1596
1597       When the flags parameter is "DB_FOREIGN_NULLIFY" the second parameter
1598       is a reference to a sub of the form
1599
1600           sub foreign_cb
1601           {
1602               my $key = \$_[0];
1603               my $value = \$_[1];
1604               my $foreignkey = \$_[2];
1605               my $changed = \$_[3] ;
1606
1607               # for ... set $$value and set $$changed to 1
1608
1609               return 0;
1610           }
1611
1612           $foreign_db->associate_foreign($secondary, \&foreign_cb, DB_FOREIGN_NULLIFY);
1613

CURSORS

1615       A cursor is used whenever you want to access the contents of a database
1616       in sequential order.  A cursor object is created with the "db_cursor"
1617
1618       A cursor object has the following methods available:
1619
1620   $newcursor = $cursor->c_dup($flags)
1621       Creates a duplicate of $cursor. This method needs Berkeley DB 3.0.x or
1622       better.
1623
1624       The $flags parameter is optional and can take the following value:
1625
1626       DB_POSITION
1627            When present this flag will position the new cursor at the same
1628            place as the existing cursor.
1629
1630   $status = $cursor->c_get($key, $value, $flags)
1631       Reads a key/value pair from the database, returning the data in $key
1632       and $value. The key/value pair actually read is controlled by the
1633       $flags parameter, which can take one of the following values:
1634
1635       DB_FIRST
1636            Set the cursor to point to the first key/value pair in the
1637            database. Return the key/value pair in $key and $value.
1638
1639       DB_LAST
1640            Set the cursor to point to the last key/value pair in the
1641            database. Return the key/value pair in $key and $value.
1642
1643       DB_NEXT
1644            If the cursor is already pointing to a key/value pair, it will be
1645            incremented to point to the next key/value pair and return its
1646            contents.
1647
1648            If the cursor isn't initialised, DB_NEXT works just like DB_FIRST.
1649
1650            If the cursor is already positioned at the last key/value pair,
1651            c_get will return DB_NOTFOUND.
1652
1653       DB_NEXT_DUP
1654            This flag is only valid when duplicate keys have been enabled in a
1655            database.  If the cursor is already pointing to a key/value pair
1656            and the key of the next key/value pair is identical, the cursor
1657            will be incremented to point to it and their contents returned.
1658
1659       DB_PREV
1660            If the cursor is already pointing to a key/value pair, it will be
1661            decremented to point to the previous key/value pair and return its
1662            contents.
1663
1664            If the cursor isn't initialised, DB_PREV works just like DB_LAST.
1665
1666            If the cursor is already positioned at the first key/value pair,
1667            c_get will return DB_NOTFOUND.
1668
1669       DB_CURRENT
1670            If the cursor has been set to point to a key/value pair, return
1671            their contents.  If the key/value pair referenced by the cursor
1672            has been deleted, c_get will return DB_KEYEMPTY.
1673
1674       DB_SET
1675            Set the cursor to point to the key/value pair referenced by $key
1676            and return the value in $value.
1677
1678       DB_SET_RANGE
1679            This flag is a variation on the DB_SET flag. As well as returning
1680            the value, it also returns the key, via $key.  When used with a
1681            BerkeleyDB::Btree database the key matched by c_get will be the
1682            shortest key (in length) which is greater than or equal to the key
1683            supplied, via $key. This allows partial key searches.  See ??? for
1684            an example of how to use this flag.
1685
1686       DB_GET_BOTH
1687            Another variation on DB_SET. This one returns both the key and the
1688            value.
1689
1690       DB_SET_RECNO
1691            TODO.
1692
1693       DB_GET_RECNO
1694            TODO.
1695
1696       In addition, the following value may be set by bitwise OR'ing it into
1697       the $flags parameter:
1698
1699       DB_RMW
1700            TODO.
1701
1702   $status = $cursor->c_put($key, $value, $flags)
1703       Stores the key/value pair in the database. The position that the data
1704       is stored in the database is controlled by the $flags parameter, which
1705       must take one of the following values:
1706
1707       DB_AFTER
1708            When used with a Btree or Hash database, a duplicate of the key
1709            referenced by the current cursor position will be created and the
1710            contents of $value will be associated with it - $key is ignored.
1711            The new key/value pair will be stored immediately after the
1712            current cursor position.  Obviously the database has to have been
1713            opened with DB_DUP.
1714
1715            When used with a Recno ... TODO
1716
1717       DB_BEFORE
1718            When used with a Btree or Hash database, a duplicate of the key
1719            referenced by the current cursor position will be created and the
1720            contents of $value will be associated with it - $key is ignored.
1721            The new key/value pair will be stored immediately before the
1722            current cursor position.  Obviously the database has to have been
1723            opened with DB_DUP.
1724
1725            When used with a Recno ... TODO
1726
1727       DB_CURRENT
1728            If the cursor has been initialised, replace the value of the
1729            key/value pair stored in the database with the contents of $value.
1730
1731       DB_KEYFIRST
1732            Only valid with a Btree or Hash database. This flag is only really
1733            used when duplicates are enabled in the database and sorted
1734            duplicates haven't been specified.  In this case the key/value
1735            pair will be inserted as the first entry in the duplicates for the
1736            particular key.
1737
1738       DB_KEYLAST
1739            Only valid with a Btree or Hash database. This flag is only really
1740            used when duplicates are enabled in the database and sorted
1741            duplicates haven't been specified.  In this case the key/value
1742            pair will be inserted as the last entry in the duplicates for the
1743            particular key.
1744
1745   $status = $cursor->c_del([$flags])
1746       This method deletes the key/value pair associated with the current
1747       cursor position. The cursor position will not be changed by this
1748       operation, so any subsequent cursor operation must first initialise the
1749       cursor to point to a valid key/value pair.
1750
1751       If the key/value pair associated with the cursor have already been
1752       deleted, c_del will return DB_KEYEMPTY.
1753
1754       The $flags parameter is not used at present.
1755
1756   $status = $cursor->c_count($cnt [, $flags])
1757       Stores the number of duplicates at the current cursor position in $cnt.
1758
1759       The $flags parameter is not used at present. This method needs Berkeley
1760       DB 3.1 or better.
1761
1762   $status = $cursor->status()
1763       Returns the status of the last cursor method as a dual type.
1764
1765   $status = $cursor->c_pget() ;
1766       See "db_pget"
1767
1768   $status = $cursor->c_close()
1769       Closes the cursor $cursor.
1770
1771   $stream = $cursor->db_stream($flags);
1772       Create a BerkeleyDB::DbStream object to read the blob at the current
1773       cursor location.  See Blob for details of the the BerkeleyDB::DbStream
1774       object.
1775
1776       $flags must be one or more of the following OR'ed together
1777
1778       DB_STREAM_READ DB_STREAM_WRITE DB_STREAM_SYNC_WRITE
1779
1780       For full information on the flags refer to the Berkeley DB Reference
1781       Guide.
1782
1783   Cursor Examples
1784       TODO
1785
1786       Iterating from first to last, then in reverse.
1787
1788       examples of each of the flags.
1789

JOIN

1791       Join support for BerkeleyDB is in progress. Watch this space.
1792
1793       TODO
1794

TRANSACTIONS

1796       Transactions are created using the "txn_begin" method on
1797       BerkeleyDB::Env:
1798
1799               my $txn = $env->txn_begin;
1800
1801       If this is a nested transaction, supply the parent transaction as an
1802       argument:
1803
1804               my $child_txn = $env->txn_begin($parent_txn);
1805
1806       Then in order to work with the transaction, you must set it as the
1807       current transaction on the database handles you want to work with:
1808
1809               $db->Txn($txn);
1810
1811       Or for multiple handles:
1812
1813               $txn->Txn(@handles);
1814
1815       The current transaction is given by BerkeleyDB each time to the various
1816       BDB operations. In the C api it is required explicitly as an argument
1817       to every operation.
1818
1819       To commit a transaction call the "commit" method on it:
1820
1821               $txn->txn_commit;
1822
1823       and to roll back call abort:
1824
1825               $txn->txn_abort
1826
1827       After committing or aborting a child transaction you need to set the
1828       active transaction again using "Txn".
1829

BerkeleyDBB::DbStream -- support for BLOB

1831       Blob support is available in Berkeley DB starting with version 6.0.
1832       Refer to the section "Blob Support" in the Berkeley DB Programmer
1833       Reference for details of how Blob supports works.
1834
1835       A Blob is access via a BerkeleyDBB::DbStream object. This is created
1836       via a cursor object.
1837
1838           # Note - error handling not shown below.
1839
1840           # Set the key we want
1841           my $k = "some key";
1842
1843           # Don't want the value retrieved by the cursor,
1844           # so use partial_set to make sure no data is retrieved.
1845           my $v = '';
1846           $cursor->partial_set(0,0) ;
1847           $cursor->c_get($k, $v, DB_SET) ;
1848           $cursor->partial_clear() ;
1849
1850           # Now create a stream to the blob
1851           my $stream = $cursor->db_stream(DB_STREAM_WRITE) ;
1852
1853           # get the size of the blob
1854           $stream->size(my $s) ;
1855
1856           # Read the first 1k of data from the blob
1857           my $data ;
1858           $stream->read($data, 0, 1024);
1859
1860       A BerkeleyDB::DbStream object has the following methods available:
1861
1862   $status = $stream->size($SIZE);
1863       Outputs the length of the Blob in the $SIZE parameter.
1864
1865   $status = $stream->read($data, $offset, $size);
1866       Read from the blob. $offset is the number of bytes from the start of
1867       the blob to read from. $size if the number of bytes to read.
1868
1869   $status = $stream->write($data, $offset, $flags);
1870       Write $data to the blob, starting at offset $offset.
1871
1872       Example
1873
1874       Below is an example of how to walk through a database when you don't
1875       know beforehand which entries are blobs and which are not.
1876
1877           while (1)
1878           {
1879               my $k = '';
1880               my $v = '';
1881               $cursor->partial_set(0,0) ;
1882               my $status = $cursor->c_get($k, $v, DB_NEXT) ;
1883               $cursor->partial_clear();
1884
1885               last if $status != 0 ;
1886
1887               my $stream = $cursor->db_stream(DB_STREAM_WRITE);
1888
1889               if (defined $stream)
1890               {
1891                   # It's a Blob
1892                   $stream->size(my $s) ;
1893               }
1894               else
1895               {
1896                   # Not a Blob
1897                   $cursor->c_get($k, $v, DB_CURRENT) ;
1898               }
1899           }
1900

Berkeley DB Concurrent Data Store (CDS)

1902       The Berkeley DB Concurrent Data Store (CDS) is a lightweight locking
1903       mechanism that is useful in scenarios where transactions are overkill.
1904
1905   What is CDS?
1906       The Berkeley DB CDS interface is a simple lightweight locking mechanism
1907       that allows safe concurrent access to Berkeley DB databases. Your
1908       application can have multiple reader and write processes, but Berkeley
1909       DB will arrange it so that only one process can have a write lock
1910       against the database at a time, i.e. multiple processes can read from a
1911       database concurrently, but all write processes will be serialised.
1912
1913   Should I use it?
1914       Whilst this simple locking model is perfectly adequate for some
1915       applications, it will be too restrictive for others. Before deciding on
1916       using CDS mode, you need to be sure that it is suitable for the
1917       expected behaviour of your application.
1918
1919       The key features of this model are
1920
1921       •    All writes operations are serialised.
1922
1923       •    A write operation will block until all reads have finished.
1924
1925       There are a few of the attributes of your application that you need to
1926       be aware of before choosing to use CDS.
1927
1928       Firstly, if you application needs either recoverability or transaction
1929       support, then CDS will not be suitable.
1930
1931       Next what is the ratio of read operation to write operations will your
1932       application have?
1933
1934       If it is carrying out mostly read operations, and very few writes, then
1935       CDS may be appropriate.
1936
1937       What is the expected throughput of reads/writes in your application?
1938
1939       If you application does 90% writes and 10% reads, but on average you
1940       only have a transaction every 5 seconds, then the fact that all writes
1941       are serialised will not matter, because there will hardly ever be
1942       multiple writes processes blocking.
1943
1944       In summary CDS mode may be appropriate for your application if it
1945       performs mostly reads and very few writes or there is a low throughput.
1946       Also, if you do not need to be able to roll back a series of database
1947       operations if an error occurs, then CDS is ok.
1948
1949       If any of these is not the case you will need to use Berkeley DB
1950       transactions. That is outside the scope of this document.
1951
1952   Locking Used
1953       Berkeley DB implements CDS mode using two kinds of lock behind the
1954       scenes - namely read locks and write locks. A read lock allows multiple
1955       processes to access the database for reading at the same time. A write
1956       lock will only get access to the database when there are no read or
1957       write locks active.  The write lock will block until the process
1958       holding the lock releases it.
1959
1960       Multiple processes with read locks can all access the database at the
1961       same time as long as no process has a write lock. A process with a
1962       write lock can only access the database if there are no other active
1963       read or write locks.
1964
1965       The majority of the time the Berkeley DB CDS mode will handle all
1966       locking without your application having to do anything. There are a
1967       couple of exceptions you need to be aware of though - these will be
1968       discussed in "Safely Updating Records" and "Implicit Cursors" below.
1969
1970       A Berkeley DB Cursor (created with "$db->db_cursor") will by hold a
1971       lock on the database until it is either explicitly closed or destroyed.
1972       This means the lock has the potential to be long lived.
1973
1974       By default Berkeley DB cursors create a read lock, but it is possible
1975       to create a cursor that holds a write lock, thus
1976
1977           $cursor = $db->db_cursor(DB_WRITECURSOR);
1978
1979       Whilst either a read or write cursor is active, it will block any other
1980       processes that wants to write to the database.
1981
1982       To avoid blocking problems, only keep cursors open as long as they are
1983       needed. The same is true when you use the "cursor" method or the
1984       "cds_lock" method.
1985
1986       For full information on CDS see the "Berkeley DB Concurrent Data Store
1987       applications" section in the Berkeley DB Reference Guide.
1988
1989   Opening a database for CDS
1990       Here is the typical signature that is used when opening a database in
1991       CDS mode.
1992
1993           use BerkeleyDB ;
1994
1995           my $env = new BerkeleyDB::Env
1996                         -Home   => "./home" ,
1997                         -Flags  => DB_CREATE| DB_INIT_CDB | DB_INIT_MPOOL
1998               or die "cannot open environment: $BerkeleyDB::Error\n";
1999
2000           my $db  = new BerkeleyDB::Hash
2001                       -Filename       => 'test1.db',
2002                       -Flags          => DB_CREATE,
2003                       -Env            => $env
2004               or die "cannot open database: $BerkeleyDB::Error\n";
2005
2006       or this, if you use the tied interface
2007
2008           tie %hash, "BerkeleyDB::Hash",
2009                       -Filename       => 'test2.db',
2010                       -Flags          => DB_CREATE,
2011                       -Env            => $env
2012               or die "cannot open database: $BerkeleyDB::Error\n";
2013
2014       The first thing to note is that you MUST always use a Berkeley DB
2015       environment if you want to use locking with Berkeley DB.
2016
2017       Remember, that apart from the actual database files you explicitly
2018       create yourself, Berkeley DB will create a few behind the scenes to
2019       handle locking - they usually have names like "__db.001". It is
2020       therefore a good idea to use the "-Home" option, unless you are happy
2021       for all these files to be written in the current directory.
2022
2023       Next, remember to include the "DB_CREATE" flag when opening the
2024       environment for the first time. A common mistake is to forget to add
2025       this option and then wonder why the application doesn't work.
2026
2027       Finally, it is vital that all processes that are going to access the
2028       database files use the same Berkeley DB environment.
2029
2030   Safely Updating a Record
2031       One of the main gotchas when using CDS is if you want to update a
2032       record in a database, i.e. you want to retrieve a record from a
2033       database, modify it in some way and put it back in the database.
2034
2035       For example, say you are writing a web application and you want to keep
2036       a record of the number of times your site is accessed in a Berkeley DB
2037       database. So your code will have a line of code like this (assume, of
2038       course, that %hash has been tied to a Berkeley DB database):
2039
2040           $hash{Counter} ++ ;
2041
2042       That may look innocent enough, but there is a race condition lurking in
2043       there. If I rewrite the line of code using the low-level Berkeley DB
2044       API, which is what will actually be executed, the race condition may be
2045       more apparent:
2046
2047           $db->db_get("Counter", $value);
2048           ++ $value ;
2049           $db->db_put("Counter", $value);
2050
2051       Consider what happens behind the scenes when you execute the commands
2052       above.  Firstly, the existing value for the key "Counter" is fetched
2053       from the database using "db_get". A read lock will be used for this
2054       part of the update.  The value is then incremented, and the new value
2055       is written back to the database using "db_put". This time a write lock
2056       will be used.
2057
2058       Here's the problem - there is nothing to stop two (or more) processes
2059       executing the read part at the same time. Remember multiple processes
2060       can hold a read lock on the database at the same time. So both will
2061       fetch the same value, let's say 7, from the database. Both increment
2062       the value to 8 and attempt to write it to the database. Berkeley DB
2063       will ensure that only one of the processes gets a write lock, while the
2064       other will be blocked. So the process that happened to get the write
2065       lock will store the value 8 to the database and release the write lock.
2066       Now the other process will be unblocked, and it too will write the
2067       value 8 to the database. The result, in this example, is we have missed
2068       a hit in the counter.
2069
2070       To deal with this kind of scenario, you need to make the update atomic.
2071       A convenience method, called "cds_lock", is supplied with the
2072       BerkeleyDB module for this purpose. Using "cds_lock", the counter
2073       update code can now be rewritten thus:
2074
2075           my $lk = $dbh->cds_lock() ;
2076           $hash{Counter} ++ ;
2077           $lk->cds_unlock;
2078
2079       or this, where scoping is used to limit the lifetime of the lock object
2080
2081           {
2082               my $lk = $dbh->cds_lock() ;
2083               $hash{Counter} ++ ;
2084           }
2085
2086       Similarly, "cds_lock" can be used with the native Berkeley DB API
2087
2088           my $lk = $dbh->cds_lock() ;
2089           $db->db_get("Counter", $value);
2090           ++ $value ;
2091           $db->db_put("Counter", $value);
2092           $lk->unlock;
2093
2094       The "cds_lock" method will ensure that the current process has
2095       exclusive access to the database until the lock is either explicitly
2096       released, via the "$lk->cds_unlock()" or by the lock object being
2097       destroyed.
2098
2099       If you are interested, all that "cds_lock" does is open a "write"
2100       cursor.  This has the useful side-effect of holding a write-lock on the
2101       database until the cursor is deleted. This is how you create a write-
2102       cursor
2103
2104           $cursor = $db->db_cursor(DB_WRITECURSOR);
2105
2106       If you have instantiated multiple "cds_lock" objects for one database
2107       within a single process, that process will hold a write-lock on the
2108       database until ALL "cds_lock" objects have been destroyed.
2109
2110       As with all write-cursors, you should try to limit the scope of the
2111       "cds_lock" to as short a time as possible. Remember the complete
2112       database will be locked to other process whilst the write lock is in
2113       place.
2114
2115   Cannot write with a read cursor while a write cursor is active
2116       This issue is easier to demonstrate with an example, so consider the
2117       code below. The intention of the code is to increment the values of all
2118       the elements in a database by one.
2119
2120           # Assume $db is a database opened in a CDS environment.
2121
2122           # Create a write-lock
2123           my $lock = $db->db_cursor(DB_WRITECURSOR);
2124           # or
2125           # my $lock = $db->cds_lock();
2126
2127
2128           my $cursor = $db->db_cursor();
2129
2130           # Now loop through the database, and increment
2131           # each value using c_put.
2132           while ($cursor->c_get($key, $value, DB_NEXT) == 0)
2133           {
2134                $cursor->c_put($key, $value+1, DB_CURRENT) == 0
2135                    or die "$BerkeleyDB::Error\n";
2136           }
2137
2138       When this code is run, it will fail on the "c_put" line with this error
2139
2140           Write attempted on read-only cursor
2141
2142       The read cursor has automatically disallowed a write operation to
2143       prevent a deadlock.
2144
2145       So the rule is -- you CANNOT carry out a write operation using a read-
2146       only cursor (i.e. you cannot use "c_put" or "c_del") whilst another
2147       write-cursor is already active.
2148
2149       The workaround for this issue is to just use "db_put" instead of
2150       "c_put", like this
2151
2152           # Assume $db is a database opened in a CDS environment.
2153
2154           # Create a write-lock
2155           my $lock = $db->db_cursor(DB_WRITECURSOR);
2156           # or
2157           # my $lock = $db->cds_lock();
2158
2159
2160           my $cursor = $db->db_cursor();
2161
2162           # Now loop through the database, and increment
2163           # each value using c_put.
2164           while ($cursor->c_get($key, $value, DB_NEXT) == 0)
2165           {
2166                $db->db_put($key, $value+1) == 0
2167                    or die "$BerkeleyDB::Error\n";
2168           }
2169
2170   Implicit Cursors
2171       All Berkeley DB cursors will hold either a read lock or a write lock on
2172       the database for the existence of the cursor. In order to prevent
2173       blocking of other processes you need to make sure that they are not
2174       long lived.
2175
2176       There are a number of instances where the Perl interface to Berkeley DB
2177       will create a cursor behind the scenes without you being aware of it.
2178       Most of these are very short-lived and will not affect the running of
2179       your script, but there are a few notable exceptions.
2180
2181       Consider this snippet of code
2182
2183           while (my ($k, $v) = each %hash)
2184           {
2185               # do something
2186           }
2187
2188       To implement the "each" functionality, a read cursor will be created
2189       behind the scenes to allow you to iterate through the tied hash, %hash.
2190       While that cursor is still active, a read lock will obviously be held
2191       against the database. If your application has any other writing
2192       processes, these will be blocked until the read cursor is closed. That
2193       won't happen until the loop terminates.
2194
2195       To avoid blocking problems, only keep cursors open as long as they are
2196       needed. The same is true when you use the "cursor" method or the
2197       "cds_lock" method.
2198
2199       The locking behaviour of the "values" or "keys" functions, shown below,
2200       is subtly different.
2201
2202           foreach my $k (keys %hash)
2203           {
2204               # do something
2205           }
2206
2207           foreach my $v (values %hash)
2208           {
2209               # do something
2210           }
2211
2212       Just as in the "each" function, a read cursor will be created to
2213       iterate over the database in both of these cases. Where "keys" and
2214       "values" differ is the place where the cursor carries out the iteration
2215       through the database. Whilst "each" carried out a single iteration
2216       every time it was invoked, the "keys" and "values" functions will
2217       iterate through the entire database in one go -- the complete database
2218       will be read into memory before the first iteration of the loop.
2219
2220       Apart from the fact that a read lock will be held for the amount of
2221       time required to iterate through the database, the use of "keys" and
2222       "values" is not recommended because it will result in the complete
2223       database being read into memory.
2224
2225   Avoiding Deadlock with multiple databases
2226       If your CDS application uses multiple database files, and you need to
2227       write to more than one of them, you need to be careful you don't create
2228       a deadlock.
2229
2230       For example, say you have two databases, D1 and D2, and two processes,
2231       P1 and P2. Assume you want to write a record to each database. If P1
2232       writes the records to the databases in the order D1, D2 while process
2233       P2 writes the records in the order D2, D1, there is the potential for a
2234       deadlock to occur.
2235
2236       This scenario can be avoided by either always acquiring the write locks
2237       in exactly the same order in your application code, or by using the
2238       "DB_CDB_ALLDB" flag when opening the environment. This flag will make a
2239       write-lock apply to all the databases in the environment.
2240
2241       Add example here
2242

DBM Filters

2244       A DBM Filter is a piece of code that is be used when you always want to
2245       make the same transformation to all keys and/or values in a DBM
2246       database. All of the database classes (BerkeleyDB::Hash,
2247       BerkeleyDB::Btree and BerkeleyDB::Recno) support DBM Filters.
2248
2249       An example is when you need to encode your data in UTF-8 before writing
2250       to the database and then decode the UTF-8 when reading from the
2251       database file.
2252
2253       There are two ways to use a DBM Filter.
2254
2255       1.   Using the low-level API defined below.
2256
2257       2.   Using the DBM_Filter module.  This module hides the complexity of
2258            the API defined below and comes with a number of "canned" filters
2259            that cover some of the common use-cases.
2260
2261       Use of the DBM_Filter module is recommended.
2262
2263   DBM Filter Low-level API
2264       There are four methods associated with DBM Filters. All work
2265       identically, and each is used to install (or uninstall) a single DBM
2266       Filter. Each expects a single parameter, namely a reference to a sub.
2267       The only difference between them is the place that the filter is
2268       installed.
2269
2270       To summarise:
2271
2272       filter_store_key
2273            If a filter has been installed with this method, it will be
2274            invoked every time you write a key to a DBM database.
2275
2276       filter_store_value
2277            If a filter has been installed with this method, it will be
2278            invoked every time you write a value to a DBM database.
2279
2280       filter_fetch_key
2281            If a filter has been installed with this method, it will be
2282            invoked every time you read a key from a DBM database.
2283
2284       filter_fetch_value
2285            If a filter has been installed with this method, it will be
2286            invoked every time you read a value from a DBM database.
2287
2288       You can use any combination of the methods, from none, to all four.
2289
2290       All filter methods return the existing filter, if present, or "undef"
2291       in not.
2292
2293       To delete a filter pass "undef" to it.
2294
2295   The Filter
2296       When each filter is called by Perl, a local copy of $_ will contain the
2297       key or value to be filtered. Filtering is achieved by modifying the
2298       contents of $_. The return code from the filter is ignored.
2299
2300   An Example -- the NULL termination problem.
2301       Consider the following scenario. You have a DBM database that you need
2302       to share with a third-party C application. The C application assumes
2303       that all keys and values are NULL terminated. Unfortunately when Perl
2304       writes to DBM databases it doesn't use NULL termination, so your Perl
2305       application will have to manage NULL termination itself. When you write
2306       to the database you will have to use something like this:
2307
2308           $hash{"$key\0"} = "$value\0" ;
2309
2310       Similarly the NULL needs to be taken into account when you are
2311       considering the length of existing keys/values.
2312
2313       It would be much better if you could ignore the NULL terminations issue
2314       in the main application code and have a mechanism that automatically
2315       added the terminating NULL to all keys and values whenever you write to
2316       the database and have them removed when you read from the database. As
2317       I'm sure you have already guessed, this is a problem that DBM Filters
2318       can fix very easily.
2319
2320           use strict ;
2321           use BerkeleyDB ;
2322
2323           my %hash ;
2324           my $filename = "filt.db" ;
2325           unlink $filename ;
2326
2327           my $db = tie %hash, 'BerkeleyDB::Hash',
2328                       -Filename   => $filename,
2329                       -Flags      => DB_CREATE
2330             or die "Cannot open $filename: $!\n" ;
2331
2332           # Install DBM Filters
2333           $db->filter_fetch_key  ( sub { s/\0$//    } ) ;
2334           $db->filter_store_key  ( sub { $_ .= "\0" } ) ;
2335           $db->filter_fetch_value( sub { s/\0$//    } ) ;
2336           $db->filter_store_value( sub { $_ .= "\0" } ) ;
2337
2338           $hash{"abc"} = "def" ;
2339           my $a = $hash{"ABC"} ;
2340           # ...
2341           undef $db ;
2342           untie %hash ;
2343
2344       Hopefully the contents of each of the filters should be self-
2345       explanatory. Both "fetch" filters remove the terminating NULL, and both
2346       "store" filters add a terminating NULL.
2347
2348   Another Example -- Key is a C int.
2349       Here is another real-life example. By default, whenever Perl writes to
2350       a DBM database it always writes the key and value as strings. So when
2351       you use this:
2352
2353           $hash{12345} = "something" ;
2354
2355       the key 12345 will get stored in the DBM database as the 5 byte string
2356       "12345". If you actually want the key to be stored in the DBM database
2357       as a C int, you will have to use "pack" when writing, and "unpack" when
2358       reading.
2359
2360       Here is a DBM Filter that does it:
2361
2362           use strict ;
2363           use BerkeleyDB ;
2364           my %hash ;
2365           my $filename = "filt.db" ;
2366           unlink $filename ;
2367
2368
2369           my $db = tie %hash, 'BerkeleyDB::Btree',
2370                       -Filename   => $filename,
2371                       -Flags      => DB_CREATE
2372             or die "Cannot open $filename: $!\n" ;
2373
2374           $db->filter_fetch_key  ( sub { $_ = unpack("i", $_) } ) ;
2375           $db->filter_store_key  ( sub { $_ = pack ("i", $_) } ) ;
2376           $hash{123} = "def" ;
2377           # ...
2378           undef $db ;
2379           untie %hash ;
2380
2381       This time only two filters have been used -- we only need to manipulate
2382       the contents of the key, so it wasn't necessary to install any value
2383       filters.
2384

Using BerkeleyDB with MLDBM

2386       Both BerkeleyDB::Hash and BerkeleyDB::Btree can be used with the MLDBM
2387       module. The code fragment below shows how to open associate MLDBM with
2388       BerkeleyDB::Btree. To use BerkeleyDB::Hash just replace
2389       BerkeleyDB::Btree with BerkeleyDB::Hash.
2390
2391           use strict ;
2392           use BerkeleyDB ;
2393           use MLDBM qw(BerkeleyDB::Btree) ;
2394           use Data::Dumper;
2395
2396           my $filename = 'testmldbm' ;
2397           my %o ;
2398
2399           unlink $filename ;
2400           tie %o, 'MLDBM', -Filename => $filename,
2401                            -Flags    => DB_CREATE
2402                           or die "Cannot open database '$filename: $!\n";
2403
2404       See the MLDBM documentation for information on how to use the module
2405       and for details of its limitations.
2406

EXAMPLES

2408       TODO.
2409

HINTS & TIPS

2411   Sharing Databases With C Applications
2412       There is no technical reason why a Berkeley DB database cannot be
2413       shared by both a Perl and a C application.
2414
2415       The vast majority of problems that are reported in this area boil down
2416       to the fact that C strings are NULL terminated, whilst Perl strings are
2417       not. See "An Example -- the NULL termination problem." in the DBM
2418       FILTERS section for a generic way to work around this problem.
2419
2420   The untie Gotcha
2421       TODO
2422

COMMON QUESTIONS

2424       This section attempts to answer some of the more common questions that
2425       I get asked.
2426
2427   Relationship with DB_File
2428       Before Berkeley DB 2.x was written there was only one Perl module that
2429       interfaced to Berkeley DB. That module is called DB_File. Although
2430       DB_File can be build with Berkeley DB 1.x, 2.x, 3.x or 4.x, it only
2431       provides an interface to the functionality available in Berkeley DB
2432       1.x. That means that it doesn't support transactions, locking or any of
2433       the other new features available in DB 2.x or better.
2434
2435   How do I store Perl data structures with BerkeleyDB?
2436       See "Using BerkeleyDB with MLDBM".
2437

HISTORY

2439       See the Changes file.
2440

SUPPORT

2442       General feedback/questions/bug reports should be sent to
2443       <https://github.com/pmqs/BerkeleyDB/issues> (preferred) or
2444       <https://rt.cpan.org/Public/Dist/Display.html?Name=BerkeleyDB>.
2445

AVAILABILITY

2447       The most recent version of BerkeleyDB can always be found on CPAN (see
2448       "CPAN" in perlmod for details), in the directory
2449       modules/by-module/BerkeleyDB.
2450
2451       The official web site for Berkeley DB is
2452       http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/berkeley-db/db/index.html.
2453
2455       Copyright (c) 1997-2022 Paul Marquess. All rights reserved. This
2456       program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
2457       under the same terms as Perl itself.
2458
2459       Although BerkeleyDB is covered by the Perl license, the library it
2460       makes use of, namely Berkeley DB, is not. Berkeley DB has its own
2461       copyright and its own license.  See AGPL
2462       <https://www.oracle.com/downloads/licenses/berkeleydb-oslicense.html>
2463       for more details.  Please take the time to read the Berkeley DB license
2464       and decide how it impacts your use of this Perl module.
2465

AUTHOR

2467       Paul Marquess <pmqs@cpan.org>.
2468

SEE ALSO

2470       perl(1), DB_File, Berkeley DB.
2471
2472
2473
2474perl v5.36.0                      2023-01-20                     BerkeleyDB(3)
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