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David E. Wheeler


URI::db - Database URIs


  use URI;
  my $db_uri = URI->new('db:pg://user@localhost');
  my $pg_uri = URI->new('postgres://example.com/template1');
  my $sl_uri = URI->new('sqlite:/var/db/widgets.db');


This class provides support for database URIs. They're inspired by JDBC URIs and PostgreSQL URIs, though they're a bit more formal. The specification for their format is documented in README.md.

Warning: This is an alpha release. I will do my best to preserve functionality going forward, especially as Sqitch uses this module. However, as the database URI specification moves forward, changes may require backwards-incompatible changes. Caveat Hackor.


A database URI is made up of these parts:


The literal string db is the scheme that defines a database URI. Optional for well-known engines.


A string identifying the database engine.


The user name to use when connecting to the database.


The password to use when connecting to the database.


The host address to connect to.


The network port to connect to.


The name of the database. For some engines, this will be a file name, in which case it may be a complete or local path, as appropriate.


A URI-standard GET query string representing additional parameters to be passed to the engine.


Identifies a database part, such as a table or view.


Some examples:

  • db:sqlite

  • db:sqlite:dbname

  • db:sqlite:/path/to/some.db

  • sqlite:../relative.db

  • db:firebird://localhost/%2Fpath/to/some.db

  • db:firebird://localhost//path/to/some.db

  • firebird://localhost/relative.db

  • db:pg://

  • db:pg://localhost

  • db:pg://localhost:5433

  • db:pg://localhost/mydb

  • db:pg://user@localhost

  • db:pg://user:secret@/mydb

  • pg:///mydb

  • pg://other@localhost/otherdb?connect_timeout=10&application_name=myapp

  • db://localhost/mydb

  • db:unknown://example.com/mydb


The following differences exist compared to the URI class interface:

Class Method


Returns the default port for the engine. This is a class method value defined by each recognized URI engine.



  my $uri = URI::db->new($string);
  my $uri = URI::db->new($string, $base);

Always returns a URI::db object. $base may be another URI object or string. Unlike in URI's new(), the scheme will always be applied to the URI if it does not already have one.



  my $scheme = $uri->scheme;
  $uri->scheme( $new_scheme );

Gets or sets the scheme part of the URI. For db: URIs, the scheme cannot be changed to any value other than "db" (or any case variation thereof). For non-db: URIs, the scheme may be changed to any value, though the URI object may no longer be a database URI.


  my $engine = $uri->engine;
  $uri->engine( $new_engine );

Gets or sets the engine part of the URI, which may be any valid URI scheme value, though recognized engines provide additional context, such as the default_port() and a driver-specific dbi_dsn().

If called with an argument, it updates the engine, possibly changing the class of the URI, and returns the old engine value.


  my $dbname = $uri->dbname;
  $uri->dbname( $new_dbname );

Gets or sets the name of the database. If called with an argument, the path will also be updated.


  my $host = $uri->host;
  $uri->host( $new_host );

Gets or sets the host to connect to.


  my $port = $uri->port;
  $uri->port( $new_port );

Gets or sets the port to connect to.


  my $user = $uri->user;
  $uri->user( $new_user );

Gets or sets the user name.


  my $password = $uri->password;
  $uri->password( $new_password );

Gets or sets the password.


Returns the underlying engine URI. For URIs starting with db:, this will be the URI that follows. For database URIs without db:, the URI itself will be returned.

Instance Methods


  my $has_recognized_engine = $uri->has_recognized_engine;

Returns true if the engine is recognized by URI::db, and false if it is not. A recognized engine is simply one that inherits from URI::_db.


  my @params = $uri->query_params;

Returns a list of key/value pairs representing all query parameters. Parameters specified more than once will be returned more than once, so avoid assigning to a hash. If you want a hash, use URI::QueryParam's query_from_hash(), where duplicate keys lead to an array of values for that key:

  use URI::QueryParam;
  my $params = $uri->query_form_hash;


  if ( my $driver = $uri->dbi_driver ) {
      eval "require DBD::$driver" or die;

Returns a string representing the DBI driver name for the database engine, if one is known. Returns undef if no driver is known.


  DBI->connect( $uri->dbi_dsn, $uri->user, $uri->pass );

Returns a DBI DSN appropriate for use in a call to DBI->connect. If no driver is known for the URI, the dbi:$driver: part of the DSN will be omitted, in which case you can use the $DBI_DRIVER environment variable to identify an appropriate driver.


  my @params = $uri->dbi_params;

Returns a list of key/value pairs used as parameters in the DBI DSN, including query parameters. Parameters specified more than once will be returned more than once, so avoid assigning to a hash.


  my $abs = $uri->abs( $base_uri );

For db: URIs, simply returns the URI::db object itself. For Non-db: URIs, the behavior is the same as for URI including respect for $URI::ABS_ALLOW_RELATIVE_SCHEME.


  my $rel = $uri->rel( $base_uri );




Please file bug reports via GitHub Issues or by sending mail to bug-URI-db@rt.cpan.org.


David E. Wheeler <david@justatheory.com>

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