Class::DBI has a way to make this interface for your persistent objects:

    $row_obj->set_field("foo");
    $row_obj->get_field();

    # instead of 
    $row_obj->field("foo");
    $row->obj_field();
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That's what you meant, right?

Look for mutator_name and accessor_name - this is under http://search.cpan.org/~tmtm/Class-DBI-v3.0.14/lib/Class/DBI.pm#Changing_Your_Column_Accessor_Method_Names.

Specifically, look at

  sub mutator_name_for {
    my ($class, $column) = @_;
    return "set_" . $column->accessor;
  }
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And copy over the implementation of the code that uses mutator_name to create write only accessors and readonly accessors.