It takes an array ref of scalars not an array ref of a scalar with commas (and your single quotes are making it a literal string too: $DocumentReference). :) Try something like this. Note I adjusted it to match what I consider normal/idiomatic syntax-

if ( $document_reference ) {
    my @docs = split /\|/, $document_reference;

    if ( @docs > 1 )
    {
        $where{DocumentRef} = { -in => \@docs };
    }
    else
    {
        $where{DocumentRef} = $document_reference;
    }
}
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Untested. Have fun.

Well that worked perfectly. Thanks so much. Would it be ok to ask for more advice with the same module? Suppose my data may take the form of 'A|B*|C*|D', where i want to make the * a wild card, oracle "Like" query. Is it possible to add this functionality to your way of doing things? I can do it when the data is single values, for example 'A*', but I can't figure out how to make it all work together. Also does my post get bumped when I reply?
Sarah

Sarah:

The way I'd approach that would be to first make your code use the '-in' hash element as a hash array, rather than a fixed-format string. Next, I'd do the same with the '-like' element (I'm assuming it's existence from your question). Then, to use it, I'd split the string on the delimiter (|) to make a list and put each item on the appropriate list. Something like this (untested):

my @vals = split /\|/, $DocumentReference;
for my $V (@vals) {
    if ($V =~ /\*/) {
        $V=~s/\*/%/;
        push @{$where{DocumentRef}{'-like'}}, $V;
    }
    else {
        push @{$where{DocumentRef}{'-in'}}, $V;
    }
}
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Then, when it comes time to use it, you can create your IN clause like:

$SQL .= ' IN (' . join(", ", @{$where{DocumentRef}{'-in'}}), ') ';
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and your LIKE clauses something like this:

$SQL .= join(' OR ', map { "LIKE $_ " } @{$where{DocumentRef}{'-like'}
+});
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Note: You'll still need to ensure that the values are all quoted properly, and that you have the proper conjunctions between all your clauses, error handling, etc. etc.

...roboticus

Update: Moved last paragraph (it was accidentally in code tags...)

I am *not* sure this is right but might be worth playing with-

use strict;
use warnings;
use YAML;
use SQL::Abstract;

my $original = 'A*|B|C*|D|Z';

my @refs = split /\|/, $original;

my ( %like, %in );
for my $ref ( @refs )
{
    $ref =~ s/\*\z/%/;
    $ref =~ /%\z/ ?
        $like{$ref}++
        :
        $in{$ref}++;
}

# See what we've got so far-
print Dump \(%like, %in);

my $sqla = SQL::Abstract->new();

my @doc_like;
push @doc_like, doc => { -like => $_ } for keys %like;

my ( $stmt, @bind ) = $sqla
    ->where({
             -or => [
                     doc => { -in => [ keys %in ] },
                     @doc_like
                    ]
            });
print $stmt, $/;
print join(",", @bind), $/;
#
---
A%: 1
C%: 1
---
B: 1
D: 1
Z: 1
 WHERE ( ( doc IN ( ?, ?, ? ) OR doc LIKE ? OR doc LIKE ? ) )
Z,D,B,C%,A%
[download]

You get semi-bumped on new posts and the user you're responding to gets a notice. :) Create an account and you'll get them too.