RT::Client::REST::Object -- base class for RT objects.

  # Create a new type
  package RT::Client::REST::MyType;

  use base qw(RT::Client::REST::Object);

  sub _attributes {{
    myattribute => {
      validation => {
        type => SCALAR,
      },
    },
  }}

  sub rt_type { "mytype" }

  1;

The RT::Client::REST::Object module is a superclass providing a whole bunch of class and object methods in order to streamline the development of RT's REST client interface.

Attributes are defined by method _attributes that should be defined in your class. This method returns a reference to a hash whose keys are the attributes. The values of the hash are attribute settings, which are as follows:

list

If set to true, this is a list attribute. See LIST ATTRIBUTE PROPERTIES below.

validation

A hash reference. This is passed to validation routines when associated mutator is called. See Params::Validate for reference.

rest_name

This specifies this attribute's REST name. For example, attribute "final_priority" corresponds to RT REST's "FinalPriority". This option may be omitted if the two only differ in first letter capitalization.

form2value

Convert form value (one that comes from the server) into attribute-digestible format.

value2form

Convert value into REST form format.

Example:

  sub _attributes {{
    id  => {
        validation  => {
            type    => SCALAR,
            regex   => qr/^\d+$/,
        },
        form2value  => sub {
            shift =~ m~^ticket/(\d+)$~i;
            return $1;
        },
        value2form  => sub {
            return 'ticket/' . shift;
        },
    },
    admin_cc        => {
        validation  => {
            type    => ARRAYREF,
        },
        list        => 1,
        rest_name   => 'AdminCc',
    },
  }}

List attributes have the following properties:

• When called as accessors, return a list of items
• When called as mutators, only accept an array reference
• Convenience methods "add_attr" and "delete_attr" are available. For example:
  
  

    # Get the list
    my @requestors = $ticket->requestors;
  
  

  
  
  

    # Replace with a new list
    $ticket->requestors( [qw(dude@localhost)] );
  
  

  
  
  

    # Add some random guys to the current list
    $ticket->add_requestors('randomguy@localhost', 'evil@local');
  
  

id and parent_id are special attributes. They are used by various DB-related methods and are especially relied upon by autostore, autosync, and autoget features.

new

Constructor

_generate_methods

This class method generates accessors and mutators based on _attributes method which your class should provide. For items that are lists, 'add_' and 'delete_' methods are created. For instance, the following two attributes specified in _attributes will generate methods 'creator', 'cc', 'add_cc', and 'delete_cc':

  creator => {
    validation => { type => SCALAR },
  },
  cc => {
    list => 1,
    validation => { type => ARRAYREF },
  },

_mark_dirty($attrname)

Mark an attribute as dirty.

_dirty

Return the list of dirty attributes.

_mark_dirty_cf($attrname)

Mark an custom flag as dirty.

_dirty_cf

Return the list of dirty custom flags.

to_form($all)

Convert the object to 'form' (used by REST protocol). This is done based on _attributes method. If $all is true, create a form from all of the object's attributes and custom flags, otherwise use only dirty (see _dirty method) attributes and custom flags. Defaults to the latter.

from_form

Set object's attributes from form received from RT server.

param($name, $value)

Set an arbitrary parameter.

cf([$name, [$value]])

Given no arguments, returns the list of custom field names. With one argument, returns the value of custom field $name. With two arguments, sets custom field $name to $value. Given a reference to a hash, uses it as a list of custom fields and their values, returning the new list of all custom field names.

rt

Get or set the 'rt' object, which should be of type RT::Client::REST.

The following are methods that have to do with reading, creating, updating, and searching objects.

count

Takes the same arguments as search() but returns the actual count of the found items. Throws the same exceptions.

retrieve

Retrieve object's attributes. Note that 'id' attribute must be set for this to work.

search (%opts)

This method is used for searching objects. It returns an object of type RT::Client::REST::SearchResult, which can then be used to process results. %opts is a list of key-value pairs, which are as follows:

limits

This is a reference to array containing hash references with limits to apply to the search (think SQL limits).

orderby

Specifies attribute to sort the result by (in ascending order).

reverseorder

If set to a true value, sorts by attribute specified by orderby in descending order.

If the client cannot construct the query from the specified arguments, or if the server cannot make it out, RT::Client::REST::Object::InvalidSearchParametersException is thrown.

store

Store the object. If 'id' is set, this is an update; otherwise, a new object is created and the 'id' attribute is set. Note that only changed (dirty) attributes are sent to the server.

use_single_rt

This method takes a single argument -- RT::Client::REST object and makes this class use it for all instantiations. For example:

  my $rt = RT::Client::REST->new(%args);

  # Make all tickets use this RT:
  RT::Client::REST::Ticket->use_single_rt($rt);

  # Now make all objects use it:
  RT::Client::REST::Object->use_single_rt($rt);

use_autostore

Turn autostoring on and off. Autostoring means that you do not have to explicitly call store() on an object - it will be called when the object goes out of scope.

  # Autostore tickets:
  RT::Client::REST::Ticket->use_autostore(1);
  my $ticket = RT::Client::REST::Ticket->new(%opts)->retrieve;
  $ticket->priority(10);
  # Don't have to call store().

use_autoget

Turn autoget feature on or off (off by default). When set to on, retrieve() will be automatically called from the constructor if it is called with that object's special attributes (see SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES above).

  RT::Client::Ticket->use_autoget(1);
  my $ticket = RT::Client::Ticket->new(id => 1);
  # Now all attributes are available:
  my $subject = $ticket->subject;

use_autosync

Turn autosync feature on or off (off by default). When set, every time an attribute is changed, store() method is invoked. This may be pretty expensive.

be_transparent

This turns on autosync and autoget. Transparency is a neat idea, but it may be expensive and slow. Depending on your circumstances, you may want a finer control of your objects. Transparency makes retrieve() and store() calls invisible:

  RT::Client::REST::Ticket->be_transparent($rt);

  my $ticket = RT::Client::REST::Ticket->new(id => $id); # retrieved
  $ticket->add_cc('you@localhost.localdomain'); # stored
  $ticket->status('stalled'); # stored

  # etc.

Do not forget to pass RT::Client::REST object to this method.

RT::Client::REST::Ticket, RT::Client::REST::SearchResult.

Dmitri Tikhonov <dtikhonov@yahoo.com>