Programming the Perl DBI

Chapter 5. Interacting with the Database

In our journey through the DBI so far, we have discussed ways in which you can connect and disconnect from databases of various types within Perl programs. We have also discussed ways in which you can detect and rectify errors when calling DBI methods.

What we haven’t discussed yet is how to manipulate data within your databases: that is, retrieving, updating, and deleting information (amongst other activities). This chapter discusses how to perform these activities with the DBI and how to use Perl’s powerful data manipulation functionality to efficiently manipulate your data.

Recall the discussion in Chapter 4 about the architecture of DBI—specifically, the topic of statement handles. These handles, and the methods associated with them, provide the functionality to manipulate data within your databases.