NAME
       Sforce::Sfdc - Access sforce via XML

SYNOPSIS
         use Sforce::Sfdc;

         $sfdc = new Sforce::Sfdc (secure_mode => 1, autotype_as_described => 1);

         $sfdc->login(username => 'bob@example.com', password => 'mypasswd');

         $result = $sfdc->describe(type => 'global');

         $result = $sfdc->describe(type => 'account');

         $result = $sfdc->insert(type => 'account', record => \%record);

         $result = $sfdc->update(type => 'account', record => \%record);

         $result = $sfdc->query(type => 'account', scope => 'filter',
                                select => \@field_names, filter => \@filters);

         $sfdc->logout();

DESCRIPTION
       Sforce::Sfdc provides a Perl interface to sforce, the
       client/server application platform for salesforce.com,
       implementing version 2.0 of the sforce API.  Sforce::Sfdc
       inherits from XMLRPC::Lite.

       OPTIONS

       These options may be set when creating a new Sforce::Sfdc
       object.  Certain options may also be set later, by using
       the object as a hash reference, e.g.
       "$sfdc->{'retry_limit'} = 5".

       secure_mode
           If secure_mode is true, login() will open a secure
           connection to sforce via SSL; otherwise a normal non-
           secure connection is opened.  Changing secure_mode
           after login() has been called will not affect the con-
           nection.

           secure_mode defaults to true.

       autotype_as_described
           autotype_as_described provides a more accurate system
           of autotyping than the normal regular expression
           matching.  If autotype_as_described is true, then
           Sforce::Sfdc will set the type of each field value
           based on the actual description of that field in
           sforce.  Before calling the method in which the auto-
           typing is to occur, you must first call describe() on
           the appropriate entity type, which caches the field
           descriptions for that entity type in the Sforce::Sfdc
           object.

           autotype_as_described is supported in the following
           methods: insert(), update(), query(), batch().  auto-
           type_as_described is not supported in calls made
           directly to call().

             $sfdc->describe(type => 'account');
             $sfdc->insert(type => 'account',
                           record => { name          => 'My Company',
                                       accountNumber => '137946',
                                       type          => 'client',
                                       industry      => 'marketing',
                                       sales         => 100_000,
                                       ...
                                     }
                          );

           In the above example, without autotype_as_described
           the value of 100000 for sales would be passed to
           sforce as an int.  This would cause an error, because
           sforce is expecting a double.  With auto-
           type_as_described, the value will be correctly passed
           as a double.

           autotype_as_described defaults to false.

       retry_limit
           Sforce imposes a rate limit on requests; when the rate
           limit is exceeded, Sforce returns a retry response
           indicating the number of milliseconds to sleep before
           trying again.  retry_limit specifies the maximum num-
           ber of times to retry a call in this situation.  If
           the retry_limit is exceeded, the method sets
           $Sforce::Sfdc::errstr and returns false.

           retry_limit defaults to 10.

       METHODS


       new
             my $sfdc = new Sforce::Sfdc (secure_mode => 1,
                                          autotype_as_described => 1);

           Creates a new Sforce::Sfdc object.  After creating the
           object, login() must be called to establish an actual
           connection to sforce.

           See "OPTIONS" for a description of the options when
           creating a new object.

       errstr
             die $sfdc->errstr();

           Returns the contents of $Sforce::Sfdc::errstr.

       type
             $sfdc->type(double => 7);
             Sforce::Sfdc::type(string => '02458');

           Calls SOAP:ata::type to cast a value as a specific
           type.  Use this when the autotyping would choose the
           wrong type.

       The following methods are wrappers around the sfdc calls
       of the same name.  Although sforce calls can be made using
       the call() method, using the specific wrapper methods such
       as describe() and insert() provides some efficient error
       checking before the sforce request is made and, in some
       cases, support for autotype_as_described.

       If the method succeeds it returns the XMLRPC result
       object.  The actual response from sforce may be retrieved
       by calling the result() method of that object.  Refer to
       the sforce API reference documentation for details on the
       arguments and response members for each call.  (When the
       sforce documentation says 'struct', think 'hash'.)

       If the method fails, it stores an error message in
       $Sforce::Sfdc::errstr and returns false.

       login
             my $session_id = $sfdc->login(username => $email, password => $password);

           Opens a connection to sforce, and stores the session
           id and server url in the object for subsequent calls.

       logout
             $sfdc->logout();

           Closes the connection to sforce.  A new connection can
           be opened with login() on the same object.

       describe
           Retrieves a list of valid entity types, or descriptive
           information about an entity type.

           If autotype_as_described is set, caches the descrip-
           tion of an entity type for use in later calls.  (See
           "autotype_as_described".)

       insert
           Inserts a new entity into sforce.

           If autotype_as_described is set, and describe has pre-
           viously been called on the entity type, the field val-
           ues in the record argument are automatically cast to
           the appropriate types.

       update
           Updates an existing entity in sforce.

           If autotype_as_described is set, and describe has pre-
           viously been called on the entity type, the field val-
           ues in the record argument are automatically cast to
           the appropriate types.

       delete
           Deletes an entity in sforce.

       query
           Queries sforce for a list of entities that meet the
           specified criteria.

           For a filter query, if autotype_as_described is set,
           and describe has previously been called on the entity
           type, the field values in the filter argument are
           automatically cast to the appropriate types.

       batch
           Performs a batch of insert, update, or delete opera-
           tions.

           If autotype_as_described is set, and describe has pre-
           viously been called on the entity type, the field val-
           ues in the arguments argument are automatically cast
           to the appropriate types.

       call
           Calls the specified sfdc call.

           Note that call() does not support auto-
           type_as_described.

AUTHOR
       Ronald J Kimball 

       Initial version based on XML::Sfdc by Ron Hess.

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
       Copyright (C) 2003 Focalex, Inc.

       Focalex, Inc., 90 Bridge St, Newton, MA  02458  USA

       This library is free software; you can redistribute it
       and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General
       Public License as published by the Free Software Founda-
       tion; either version 2.1 of the License, or (at your
       option) any later version.

       This library is distributed in the hope that it will be
       useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied
       warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
       PURPOSE.  See the GNU Lesser General Public License for
       more details.

       You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General
       Public License along with this library; if not, write to
       the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite
       330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA

SEE ALSO
       <http://www.sforce.com/>

       XMLRPC::Lite, LWP::UserAgent

Very cool, this is a big improvement, and well written doc too !

the naming looks fine, I will port some of my nightly jobs over to this module and let you know what i run into.

Thanks !.