Any input/comments on best practices for extending a DBIC model? I have a DBIC schema that for the most part does what I need it to do. I find where I need model specific enhancements I can easily extend the schema objects themselves keeping the data centric code out of my controller layer. What I'm struggling with is how best to handle things at a higher level - i.e. modifying the resultsets themselves. <br>
<br>e.g. say I have a Clients table and I want to get *all* clients in the system and then massage them in some way. I cannot do this with simple SQL or DBIC joins. I can extend Clients.pm for level stuff but what I really need is a way to extend the DBIx::Class::ResultSet object that is returned by $c->model('DB::Clients') so that that I can perform something like the following:<br>
<br>my @clients = $c->model('DB::Clients')->grouped_clients;<br><br>I'm using Catalyst::Model::DBIC::Schema. Is there a preferred way to hook into the result set to customize things the way I need?<br><br>
Or do I just create a new model altogether and call the schema from that model?<br><br>my @clients = $c->model('MyNewModel')->grouped_clients;<br><br>I dunno. The second method just seems a little kludgey to me unless I make it a complete wrapper around my DBIC schema. Any insight into how you guys build your apps would be most appreciated. <br>
<br>Thanks!<br>Eric<br>