DESCRIPTION This class provides application developers with an abstraction class a level away from DBI, that allows them to write an application that works on multiple database platforms. The idea isn't to take away the responsibility for coding different SQL on different platforms, but to simply provide a platform that uses the right class at the right time for whatever DB is currently in use. Example Usage use DBIx::AnyDBD; my $db = DBIx::AnyDBD->connect("dbi:Oracle:sid1", "user", "pass", {}, "MyClass"); my $foo = $db->db_foo; my $blee = $db->db_blee; That doesn't really tell you much... Because you have to implement a bit more than that. Underneath you have to have a module MyClass::Oracle that has methods foo() and blee in it. If those methods don't exist in MyClass::Oracle, it will check in MyClass::Default, allowing you to implement code that doesn't need to be driver dependant in the same module. The foo() and blee() methods will recieve the DBIx::AnyDBD instance as thier first parameter, and any parameters you pass just go as parameters. Implementation Underneath it's all implemented using clever use of AUTOLOAD, but don't fret - the AUTOLOAD overhead only occurs the first time you use the method, thereafter if assigns the appropriate method to the *{$AUTOLOAD} glob. I borrowed that code from Object Oriented Perl, so thanks go to Damian Conway for that. The subclass it uses is "$package::" . $dbh- >{Driver}->{Name}, so make sure you check with whichever driver you're using for what that returns, it's been tested with Oracle and Sybase (which use the driver names "Oracle" and "Sybase" respectively. API new( ... ) dsn => $dsn, user => $user, pass => $pass, attr => $attr, package => $package new() is a named parameter call that connects and creates a new db object for your use. The named parameters are dsn, user, pass, attr and package. The first 4 are just the parameters passed to DBI->connect, and package contains the package prefix for your database dependant modules, for example, if package was "MyPackage", the AUTOLOADer would look for MyPackage::Oracle::func, and then MyPackage::Default::func. If attr is undefined then the default attributes are: AutoCommit => 0 PrintError => 0 RaiseError => 1 So be aware if you don't want your application dying to either eval{} all db sections and catch the exception, or pass in a different attr parameter. connect($dsn, $user, $pass, $attr, $package) connect() is very similar to DBI->connect, taking exactly the same first 4 parameters. The 5th parameter is the package prefix, as above. connect() doesn't try and default attributes for you if you don't pass them. $db->get_dbh() This method is mainly for the DB dependant modules to use, it returns the underlying DBI database handle. There will probably have code added here to check the db is still connected, so it may be wise to always use this method rather than trying to retrieve $self->{dbh} directly. LICENCE This module is free software, and you may distribute it under the same terms as Perl itself. SUPPORT Commercial support for this module is available on a pay per incident basis from Fastnet Software Ltd. Contact matt@sergeant.org for further details.