NAME CGI::Session::Driver::pure_sql - Pure SQL driver with no embedded Perl stored in the database SYNOPSIS use CGI::Session::Driver::pure_sql; $session = CGI::Session->new("driver:pure_sql;serializer:sql_abstract", undef, {Handle=>$dbh}); For more examples, consult CGI::Session manual DESCRIPTION *Disclaimer* While this software is complete and includes a working test suite, I'm marking it as a development release to leave room for feedback on the interface. Until that happens, it's possible I may make changes that aren't backwards compatible. You can help things along by communicating by providing feedback about the module yourself. CGI::Session::Driver::pure_sql is a CGI::Session driver to store session data in a SQL table. Unlike the "CGI::Session::Driver::postgresql" driver, this "pure SQL" driver does not serialize any Perl data structures to the database. The means that you can access all the data in the session easily using standard SQL syntax. The downside side is that you have create the columns for any data you want to store, and each field will have just one value: You can't store arbitrary data like you can with the CGI::Session::Driver::postgresql driver. However, you may already be in the habit of writing applications which use standard SQL structures, so this may not be much of a drawback. :) It currently requires the sql_abstract serializer to work, which is included in the distribution. STORAGE To store session data in SQL database, you first need to create a suitable table for it with the following command: -- This syntax for for Postgres; flavor to taste CREATE TABLE sessions ( session_id CHAR(32) NOT NULL, remote_addr inet, creation_time timestamp, last_access_time timestamp, duration interval ); You can also add any number of additional columns to the table, but the above fields are required. For any additional columns you add, if you would like to expire that column individually, you need to an additional column to do that. For example, to add a column named "order_id" which you want to allow to be expired, you would add these two columns: order_id int, order_id_exp_secs int, If you want to store the session data in other table than "sessions", you will also need to specify TableName attribute as the first argument to new(): use CGI::Session; $session = CGI::Session->new("driver:pure_sql;serializer:sql_abstract", undef, {Handle=>$dbh, TableName=>'my_sessions'}); Every write access to session records is done through PostgreSQL own row locking mechanism, enabled by `FOR UPDATE' clauses in SELECTs or implicitly enabled in UPDATEs and DELETEs. To write your own drivers for CGI::Session refere CGI::Session manual. COPYRIGHT Copyright (C) 2003 Mark Stosberg All rights reserved. This library is free software and can be modified and distributed under the same terms as Perl itself. CONTRIBUTING Patches, questions and feedback are welcome. I maintain CGI::Session::Driver::pure_sql using darcs, a CVS alternative ( http://www.darcs.net/ ). My darcs archive is here: http://mark.stosberg.com/darcs_hive/puresql AUTHOR Mark Stosberg SEE ALSO * CGI::Session - CGI::Session manual * CGI::Session::Tutorial - extended CGI::Session manual * CGI::Session::CookBook - practical solutions for real life problems * RFC 2965 - "HTTP State Management Mechanism" found at ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc2965.txt * CGI - standard CGI library * Apache::Session - another fine alternative to CGI::Session