/usr/share/perl5/CGI/Application.pm is in libcgi-application-perl 4.50-4.
This file is owned by root:root, with mode 0o644.
The actual contents of the file can be viewed below.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 526 527 528 529 530 531 532 533 534 535 536 537 538 539 540 541 542 543 544 545 546 547 548 549 550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 559 560 561 562 563 564 565 566 567 568 569 570 571 572 573 574 575 576 577 578 579 580 581 582 583 584 585 586 587 588 589 590 591 592 593 594 595 596 597 598 599 600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613 614 615 616 617 618 619 620 621 622 623 624 625 626 627 628 629 630 631 632 633 634 635 636 637 638 639 640 641 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 649 650 651 652 653 654 655 656 657 658 659 660 661 662 663 664 665 666 667 668 669 670 671 672 673 674 675 676 677 678 679 680 681 682 683 684 685 686 687 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 695 696 697 698 699 700 701 702 703 704 705 706 707 708 709 710 711 712 713 714 715 716 717 718 719 720 721 722 723 724 725 726 727 728 729 730 731 732 733 734 735 736 737 738 739 740 741 742 743 744 745 746 747 748 749 750 751 752 753 754 755 756 757 758 759 760 761 762 763 764 765 766 767 768 769 770 771 772 773 774 775 776 777 778 779 780 781 782 783 784 785 786 787 788 789 790 791 792 793 794 795 796 797 798 799 800 801 802 803 804 805 806 807 808 809 810 811 812 813 814 815 816 817 818 819 820 821 822 823 824 825 826 827 828 829 830 831 832 833 834 835 836 837 838 839 840 841 842 843 844 845 846 847 848 849 850 851 852 853 854 855 856 857 858 859 860 861 862 863 864 865 866 867 868 869 870 871 872 873 874 875 876 877 878 879 880 881 882 883 884 885 886 887 888 889 890 891 892 893 894 895 896 897 898 899 900 901 902 903 904 905 906 907 908 909 910 911 912 913 914 915 916 917 918 919 920 921 922 923 924 925 926 927 928 929 930 931 932 933 934 935 936 937 938 939 940 941 942 943 944 945 946 947 948 949 950 951 952 953 954 955 956 957 958 959 960 961 962 963 964 965 966 967 968 969 970 971 972 973 974 975 976 977 978 979 980 981 982 983 984 985 986 987 988 989 990 991 992 993 994 995 996 997 998 999 1000 1001 1002 1003 1004 1005 1006 1007 1008 1009 1010 1011 1012 1013 1014 1015 1016 1017 1018 1019 1020 1021 1022 1023 1024 1025 1026 1027 1028 1029 1030 1031 1032 1033 1034 1035 1036 1037 1038 1039 1040 1041 1042 1043 1044 1045 1046 1047 1048 1049 1050 1051 1052 1053 1054 1055 1056 1057 1058 1059 1060 1061 1062 1063 1064 1065 1066 1067 1068 1069 1070 1071 1072 1073 1074 1075 1076 1077 1078 1079 1080 1081 1082 1083 1084 1085 1086 1087 1088 1089 1090 1091 1092 1093 1094 1095 1096 1097 1098 1099 1100 1101 1102 1103 1104 1105 1106 1107 1108 1109 1110 1111 1112 1113 1114 1115 1116 1117 1118 1119 1120 1121 1122 1123 1124 1125 1126 1127 1128 1129 1130 1131 1132 1133 1134 1135 1136 1137 1138 1139 1140 1141 1142 1143 1144 1145 1146 1147 1148 1149 1150 1151 1152 1153 1154 1155 1156 1157 1158 1159 1160 1161 1162 1163 1164 1165 1166 1167 1168 1169 1170 1171 1172 1173 1174 1175 1176 1177 1178 1179 1180 1181 1182 1183 1184 1185 1186 1187 1188 1189 1190 1191 1192 1193 1194 1195 1196 1197 1198 1199 1200 1201 1202 1203 1204 1205 1206 1207 1208 1209 1210 1211 1212 1213 1214 1215 1216 1217 1218 1219 1220 1221 1222 1223 1224 1225 1226 1227 1228 1229 1230 1231 1232 1233 1234 1235 1236 1237 1238 1239 1240 1241 1242 1243 1244 1245 1246 1247 1248 1249 1250 1251 1252 1253 1254 1255 1256 1257 1258 1259 1260 1261 1262 1263 1264 1265 1266 1267 1268 1269 1270 1271 1272 1273 1274 1275 1276 1277 1278 1279 1280 1281 1282 1283 1284 1285 1286 1287 1288 1289 1290 1291 1292 1293 1294 1295 1296 1297 1298 1299 1300 1301 1302 1303 1304 1305 1306 1307 1308 1309 1310 1311 1312 1313 1314 1315 1316 1317 1318 1319 1320 1321 1322 1323 1324 1325 1326 1327 1328 1329 1330 1331 1332 1333 1334 1335 1336 1337 1338 1339 1340 1341 1342 1343 1344 1345 1346 1347 1348 1349 1350 1351 1352 1353 1354 1355 1356 1357 1358 1359 1360 1361 1362 1363 1364 1365 1366 1367 1368 1369 1370 1371 1372 1373 1374 1375 1376 1377 1378 1379 1380 1381 1382 1383 1384 1385 1386 1387 1388 1389 1390 1391 1392 1393 1394 1395 1396 1397 1398 1399 1400 1401 1402 1403 1404 1405 1406 1407 1408 1409 1410 1411 1412 1413 1414 1415 1416 1417 1418 1419 1420 1421 1422 1423 1424 1425 1426 1427 1428 1429 1430 1431 1432 1433 1434 1435 1436 1437 1438 1439 1440 1441 1442 1443 1444 1445 1446 1447 1448 1449 1450 1451 1452 1453 1454 1455 1456 1457 1458 1459 1460 1461 1462 1463 1464 1465 1466 1467 1468 1469 1470 1471 1472 1473 1474 1475 1476 1477 1478 1479 1480 1481 1482 1483 1484 1485 1486 1487 1488 1489 1490 1491 1492 1493 1494 1495 1496 1497 1498 1499 1500 1501 1502 1503 1504 1505 1506 1507 1508 1509 1510 1511 1512 1513 1514 1515 1516 1517 1518 1519 1520 1521 1522 1523 1524 1525 1526 1527 1528 1529 1530 1531 1532 1533 1534 1535 1536 1537 1538 1539 1540 1541 1542 1543 1544 1545 1546 1547 1548 1549 1550 1551 1552 1553 1554 1555 1556 1557 1558 1559 1560 1561 1562 1563 1564 1565 1566 1567 1568 1569 1570 1571 1572 1573 1574 1575 1576 1577 1578 1579 1580 1581 1582 1583 1584 1585 1586 1587 1588 1589 1590 1591 1592 1593 1594 1595 1596 1597 1598 1599 1600 1601 1602 1603 1604 1605 1606 1607 1608 1609 1610 1611 1612 1613 1614 1615 1616 1617 1618 1619 1620 1621 1622 1623 1624 1625 1626 1627 1628 1629 1630 1631 1632 1633 1634 1635 1636 1637 1638 1639 1640 1641 1642 1643 1644 1645 1646 1647 1648 1649 1650 1651 1652 1653 1654 1655 1656 1657 1658 1659 1660 1661 1662 1663 1664 1665 1666 1667 1668 1669 1670 1671 1672 1673 1674 1675 1676 1677 1678 1679 1680 1681 1682 1683 1684 1685 1686 1687 1688 1689 1690 1691 1692 1693 1694 1695 1696 1697 1698 1699 1700 1701 1702 1703 1704 1705 1706 1707 1708 1709 1710 1711 1712 1713 1714 1715 1716 1717 1718 1719 1720 1721 1722 1723 1724 1725 1726 1727 1728 1729 1730 1731 1732 1733 1734 1735 1736 1737 1738 1739 1740 1741 1742 1743 1744 1745 1746 1747 1748 1749 1750 1751 1752 1753 1754 1755 1756 1757 1758 1759 1760 1761 1762 1763 1764 1765 1766 1767 1768 1769 1770 1771 1772 1773 1774 1775 1776 1777 1778 1779 1780 1781 1782 1783 1784 1785 1786 1787 1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 2035 2036 2037 2038 2039 2040 2041 2042 2043 2044 2045 2046 2047 2048 2049 2050 2051 2052 2053 2054 2055 2056 2057 2058 2059 2060 2061 2062 2063 2064 2065 2066 2067 2068 2069 2070 2071 2072 2073 2074 2075 2076 2077 2078 2079 2080 2081 2082 2083 2084 2085 2086 2087 2088 2089 2090 2091 2092 2093 2094 2095 2096 2097 2098 2099 2100 2101 2102 2103 2104 2105 2106 2107 2108 2109 2110 2111 2112 2113 2114 2115 2116 2117 2118 2119 2120 2121 2122 2123 2124 2125 2126 2127 2128 2129 2130 2131 2132 2133 2134 2135 2136 2137 2138 2139 2140 2141 2142 2143 2144 2145 2146 2147 2148 2149 2150 2151 2152 2153 2154 2155 2156 2157 2158 2159 2160 2161 2162 2163 2164 2165 2166 2167 2168 2169 2170 2171 2172 2173 2174 2175 2176 2177 2178 2179 2180 2181 2182 2183 2184 2185 2186 2187 2188 2189 2190 2191 2192 2193 2194 2195 2196 2197 2198 2199 2200 2201 2202 2203 2204 2205 2206 2207 2208 2209 2210 2211 2212 2213 2214 2215 2216 2217 2218 2219 2220 2221 2222 2223 2224 2225 2226 2227 2228 2229 2230 2231 2232 2233 2234 2235 2236 2237 2238 2239 2240 2241 2242 2243 2244 2245 2246 2247 2248 2249 2250 2251 2252 2253 2254 2255 2256 2257 2258 2259 2260 2261 2262 2263 2264 2265 2266 2267 2268 2269 2270 2271 2272 2273 2274 2275 2276 2277 2278 2279 2280 2281 2282 2283 2284 2285 2286 2287 2288 2289 2290 2291 2292 2293 2294 2295 2296 2297 2298 2299 2300 2301 2302 2303 2304 2305 2306 2307 2308 2309 2310 2311 2312 2313 2314 2315 2316 2317 2318 2319 2320 2321 2322 2323 2324 2325 2326 2327 2328 2329 2330 2331 2332 2333 2334 2335 2336 2337 2338 2339 2340 2341 2342 2343 2344 2345 2346 2347 2348 2349 2350 2351 2352 2353 2354 2355 2356 2357 2358 2359 2360 2361 2362 2363 2364 2365 2366 2367 2368 2369 2370 2371 2372 2373 2374 2375 2376 2377 2378 2379 2380 2381 2382 2383 2384 2385 2386 2387 2388 2389 2390 2391 2392 2393 2394 2395 2396 2397 2398 2399 2400 2401 2402 2403 2404 2405 2406 2407 2408 2409 2410 2411 2412 2413 2414 2415 2416 2417 2418 2419 2420 2421 2422 2423 2424 2425 2426 2427 2428 2429 2430 2431 2432 2433 2434 2435 2436 2437 2438 2439 2440 2441 2442 2443 2444 2445 2446 2447 2448 2449 2450 2451 2452 2453 2454 2455 2456 2457 2458 2459 2460 2461 2462 2463 2464 2465 2466 2467 2468 2469 2470 2471 2472 2473 2474 2475 2476 2477 2478 2479 2480 2481 2482 2483 2484 2485 2486 2487 2488 2489 2490 2491 2492 2493 2494 2495 2496 2497 2498 2499 2500 2501 2502 2503 2504 2505 2506 2507 2508 2509 2510 2511 2512 2513 2514 2515 2516 2517 2518 2519 2520 2521 2522 2523 2524 2525 2526 2527 2528 2529 2530 2531 2532 2533 2534 2535 2536 2537 2538 2539 2540 2541 2542 2543 2544 2545 2546 2547 2548 2549 2550 2551 2552 2553 2554 2555 2556 2557 2558 2559 2560 2561 2562 2563 2564 2565 2566 2567 2568 2569 2570 2571 2572 2573 2574 2575 2576 2577 2578 2579 2580 2581 2582 2583 2584 2585 2586 | package CGI::Application;
use Carp;
use strict;
use Class::ISA;
$CGI::Application::VERSION = '4.50';
my %INSTALLED_CALLBACKS = (
# hook name package sub
init => { 'CGI::Application' => [ 'cgiapp_init' ] },
prerun => { 'CGI::Application' => [ 'cgiapp_prerun' ] },
postrun => { 'CGI::Application' => [ 'cgiapp_postrun' ] },
teardown => { 'CGI::Application' => [ 'teardown' ] },
load_tmpl => { },
error => { },
);
###################################
#### INSTANCE SCRIPT METHODS ####
###################################
sub new {
my $class = shift;
my @args = @_;
if (ref($class)) {
# No copy constructor yet!
$class = ref($class);
}
# Create our object!
my $self = {};
bless($self, $class);
### SET UP DEFAULT VALUES ###
#
# We set them up here and not in the setup() because a subclass
# which implements setup() still needs default values!
$self->header_type('header');
$self->mode_param('rm');
$self->start_mode('start');
# Process optional new() parameters
my $rprops;
if (ref($args[0]) eq 'HASH') {
$rprops = $self->_cap_hash($args[0]);
} else {
$rprops = $self->_cap_hash({ @args });
}
# Set tmpl_path()
if (exists($rprops->{TMPL_PATH})) {
$self->tmpl_path($rprops->{TMPL_PATH});
}
# Set CGI query object
if (exists($rprops->{QUERY})) {
$self->query($rprops->{QUERY});
}
# Set up init param() values
if (exists($rprops->{PARAMS})) {
croak("PARAMS is not a hash ref") unless (ref($rprops->{PARAMS}) eq 'HASH');
my $rparams = $rprops->{PARAMS};
while (my ($k, $v) = each(%$rparams)) {
$self->param($k, $v);
}
}
# Lock prerun_mode from being changed until cgiapp_prerun()
$self->{__PRERUN_MODE_LOCKED} = 1;
# Call cgiapp_init() method, which may be implemented in the sub-class.
# Pass all constructor args forward. This will allow flexible usage
# down the line.
$self->call_hook('init', @args);
# Call setup() method, which should be implemented in the sub-class!
$self->setup();
return $self;
}
sub __get_runmode {
my $self = shift;
my $rm_param = shift;
my $rm;
# Support call-back instead of CGI mode param
if (ref($rm_param) eq 'CODE') {
# Get run mode from subref
$rm = $rm_param->($self);
}
# support setting run mode from PATH_INFO
elsif (ref($rm_param) eq 'HASH') {
$rm = $rm_param->{run_mode};
}
# Get run mode from CGI param
else {
$rm = $self->query->param($rm_param);
}
# If $rm undefined, use default (start) mode
$rm = $self->start_mode unless defined($rm) && length($rm);
return $rm;
}
sub __get_runmeth {
my $self = shift;
my $rm = shift;
my $rmeth;
my $is_autoload = 0;
my %rmodes = ($self->run_modes());
if (exists($rmodes{$rm})) {
$rmeth = $rmodes{$rm};
}
else {
# Look for run mode "AUTOLOAD" before dieing
unless (exists($rmodes{'AUTOLOAD'})) {
croak("No such run mode '$rm'");
}
$rmeth = $rmodes{'AUTOLOAD'};
$is_autoload = 1;
}
return ($rmeth, $is_autoload);
}
sub __get_body {
my $self = shift;
my $rm = shift;
my ($rmeth, $is_autoload) = $self->__get_runmeth($rm);
my $body;
eval {
$body = $is_autoload ? $self->$rmeth($rm) : $self->$rmeth();
};
if ($@) {
my $error = $@;
$self->call_hook('error', $error);
if (my $em = $self->error_mode) {
$body = $self->$em( $error );
} else {
croak("Error executing run mode '$rm': $error");
}
}
# Make sure that $body is not undefined (suppress 'uninitialized value'
# warnings)
return defined $body ? $body : '';
}
sub run {
my $self = shift;
my $q = $self->query();
my $rm_param = $self->mode_param();
my $rm = $self->__get_runmode($rm_param);
# Set get_current_runmode() for access by user later
$self->{__CURRENT_RUNMODE} = $rm;
# Allow prerun_mode to be changed
delete($self->{__PRERUN_MODE_LOCKED});
# Call PRE-RUN hook, now that we know the run mode
# This hook can be used to provide run mode specific behaviors
# before the run mode actually runs.
$self->call_hook('prerun', $rm);
# Lock prerun_mode from being changed after cgiapp_prerun()
$self->{__PRERUN_MODE_LOCKED} = 1;
# If prerun_mode has been set, use it!
my $prerun_mode = $self->prerun_mode();
if (length($prerun_mode)) {
$rm = $prerun_mode;
$self->{__CURRENT_RUNMODE} = $rm;
}
# Process run mode!
my $body = $self->__get_body($rm);
# Support scalar-ref for body return
$body = $$body if ref $body eq 'SCALAR';
# Call cgiapp_postrun() hook
$self->call_hook('postrun', \$body);
my $return_value;
if ($self->{__IS_PSGI}) {
my ($status, $headers) = $self->_send_psgi_headers();
$return_value = [ $status, $headers, [ $body ]];
}
else {
# Set up HTTP headers non-PSGI responses
my $headers = $self->_send_headers();
# Build up total output
$return_value = $headers.$body;
print $return_value unless $ENV{CGI_APP_RETURN_ONLY};
}
# clean up operations
$self->call_hook('teardown');
return $return_value;
}
sub psgi_app {
my $class = shift;
my $args_to_new = shift;
return sub {
my $env = shift;
if (not defined $args_to_new->{QUERY}) {
require CGI::PSGI;
$args_to_new->{QUERY} = CGI::PSGI->new($env);
}
my $webapp = $class->new($args_to_new);
return $webapp->run_as_psgi;
}
}
sub run_as_psgi {
my $self = shift;
$self->{__IS_PSGI} = 1;
# Run doesn't officially support any args, but pass them through in case some sub-class uses them.
return $self->run(@_);
}
############################
#### OVERRIDE METHODS ####
############################
sub cgiapp_get_query {
my $self = shift;
# Include CGI.pm and related modules
require CGI;
# Get the query object
my $q = CGI->new();
return $q;
}
sub cgiapp_init {
my $self = shift;
my @args = (@_);
# Nothing to init, yet!
}
sub cgiapp_prerun {
my $self = shift;
my $rm = shift;
# Nothing to prerun, yet!
}
sub cgiapp_postrun {
my $self = shift;
my $bodyref = shift;
# Nothing to postrun, yet!
}
sub setup {
my $self = shift;
}
sub teardown {
my $self = shift;
# Nothing to shut down, yet!
}
######################################
#### APPLICATION MODULE METHODS ####
######################################
sub dump {
my $self = shift;
my $output = '';
# Dump run mode
my $current_runmode = $self->get_current_runmode();
$current_runmode = "" unless (defined($current_runmode));
$output .= "Current Run mode: '$current_runmode'\n";
# Dump Params
$output .= "\nQuery Parameters:\n";
my @params = $self->query->param();
foreach my $p (sort(@params)) {
my @data = $self->query->param($p);
my $data_str = "'".join("', '", @data)."'";
$output .= "\t$p => $data_str\n";
}
# Dump ENV
$output .= "\nQuery Environment:\n";
foreach my $ek (sort(keys(%ENV))) {
$output .= "\t$ek => '".$ENV{$ek}."'\n";
}
return $output;
}
sub dump_html {
my $self = shift;
my $query = $self->query();
my $output = '';
# Dump run-mode
my $current_runmode = $self->get_current_runmode();
$output .= "<p>Current Run-mode:
'<strong>$current_runmode</strong>'</p>\n";
# Dump Params
$output .= "<p>Query Parameters:</p>\n";
$output .= $query->Dump;
# Dump ENV
$output .= "<p>Query Environment:</p>\n<ol>\n";
foreach my $ek ( sort( keys( %ENV ) ) ) {
$output .= sprintf(
"<li> %s => '<strong>%s</strong>'</li>\n",
$query->escapeHTML( $ek ),
$query->escapeHTML( $ENV{$ek} )
);
}
$output .= "</ol>\n";
return $output;
}
sub no_runmodes {
my $self = shift;
my $query = $self->query();
# If no runmodes specified by app return error message
my $current_runmode = $self->get_current_runmode();
my $query_params = $query->Dump;
my $output = qq{
<h2>Error - No runmodes specified.</h2>
<p>Runmode called: $current_runmode"</p>
<p>Query paramaters:</p> $query_params
<p>Your application has not specified any runmodes.</p>
<p>Please read the <a href="http://search.cpan.org/~markstos/CGI-Appli
cation/">CGI::Application</a> documentation.</p>
};
return $output;
}
sub header_add {
my $self = shift;
return $self->_header_props_update(\@_,add=>1);
}
sub header_props {
my $self = shift;
return $self->_header_props_update(\@_,add=>0);
}
# used by header_props and header_add to update the headers
sub _header_props_update {
my $self = shift;
my $data_ref = shift;
my %in = @_;
my @data = @$data_ref;
# First use? Create new __HEADER_PROPS!
$self->{__HEADER_PROPS} = {} unless (exists($self->{__HEADER_PROPS}));
my $props;
# If data is provided, set it!
if (scalar(@data)) {
if ($self->header_type eq 'none') {
warn "header_props called while header_type set to 'none', headers will NOT be sent!"
}
# Is it a hash, or hash-ref?
if (ref($data[0]) eq 'HASH') {
# Make a copy
%$props = %{$data[0]};
} elsif ((scalar(@data) % 2) == 0) {
# It appears to be a possible hash (even # of elements)
%$props = @data;
} else {
my $meth = $in{add} ? 'add' : 'props';
croak("Odd number of elements passed to header_$meth(). Not a valid hash")
}
# merge in new headers, appending new values passed as array refs
if ($in{add}) {
for my $key_set_to_aref (grep { ref $props->{$_} eq 'ARRAY'} keys %$props) {
my $existing_val = $self->{__HEADER_PROPS}->{$key_set_to_aref};
next unless defined $existing_val;
my @existing_val_array = (ref $existing_val eq 'ARRAY') ? @$existing_val : ($existing_val);
$props->{$key_set_to_aref} = [ @existing_val_array, @{ $props->{$key_set_to_aref} } ];
}
$self->{__HEADER_PROPS} = { %{ $self->{__HEADER_PROPS} }, %$props };
}
# Set new headers, clobbering existing values
else {
$self->{__HEADER_PROPS} = $props;
}
}
# If we've gotten this far, return the value!
return (%{ $self->{__HEADER_PROPS}});
}
sub header_type {
my $self = shift;
my ($header_type) = @_;
my @allowed_header_types = qw(header redirect none);
# First use? Create new __HEADER_TYPE!
$self->{__HEADER_TYPE} = 'header' unless (exists($self->{__HEADER_TYPE}));
# If data is provided, set it!
if (defined($header_type)) {
$header_type = lc($header_type);
croak("Invalid header_type '$header_type'")
unless(grep { $_ eq $header_type } @allowed_header_types);
$self->{__HEADER_TYPE} = $header_type;
}
# If we've gotten this far, return the value!
return $self->{__HEADER_TYPE};
}
sub param {
my $self = shift;
my (@data) = (@_);
# First use? Create new __PARAMS!
$self->{__PARAMS} = {} unless (exists($self->{__PARAMS}));
my $rp = $self->{__PARAMS};
# If data is provided, set it!
if (scalar(@data)) {
# Is it a hash, or hash-ref?
if (ref($data[0]) eq 'HASH') {
# Make a copy, which augments the existing contents (if any)
%$rp = (%$rp, %{$data[0]});
} elsif ((scalar(@data) % 2) == 0) {
# It appears to be a possible hash (even # of elements)
%$rp = (%$rp, @data);
} elsif (scalar(@data) > 1) {
croak("Odd number of elements passed to param(). Not a valid hash");
}
} else {
# Return the list of param keys if no param is specified.
return (keys(%$rp));
}
# If exactly one parameter was sent to param(), return the value
if (scalar(@data) <= 2) {
my $param = $data[0];
return $rp->{$param};
}
return; # Otherwise, return undef
}
sub delete {
my $self = shift;
my ($param) = @_;
# return undef it the param name isn't given
return undef unless defined $param;
#simply delete this param from $self->{__PARAMS}
delete $self->{__PARAMS}->{$param};
}
sub query {
my $self = shift;
my ($query) = @_;
# If data is provided, set it! Otherwise, create a new one.
if (defined($query)) {
$self->{__QUERY_OBJ} = $query;
} else {
# We're only allowed to create a new query object if one does not yet exist!
unless (exists($self->{__QUERY_OBJ})) {
$self->{__QUERY_OBJ} = $self->cgiapp_get_query();
}
}
return $self->{__QUERY_OBJ};
}
sub run_modes {
my $self = shift;
my (@data) = (@_);
# First use? Create new __RUN_MODES!
$self->{__RUN_MODES} = { 'start' => 'no_runmodes' } unless (exists($self->{__RUN_MODES}));
my $rr_m = $self->{__RUN_MODES};
# If data is provided, set it!
if (scalar(@data)) {
# Is it a hash, hash-ref, or array-ref?
if (ref($data[0]) eq 'HASH') {
# Make a copy, which augments the existing contents (if any)
%$rr_m = (%$rr_m, %{$data[0]});
} elsif (ref($data[0]) eq 'ARRAY') {
# Convert array-ref into hash table
foreach my $rm (@{$data[0]}) {
$rr_m->{$rm} = $rm;
}
} elsif ((scalar(@data) % 2) == 0) {
# It appears to be a possible hash (even # of elements)
%$rr_m = (%$rr_m, @data);
} else {
croak("Odd number of elements passed to run_modes(). Not a valid hash");
}
}
# If we've gotten this far, return the value!
return (%$rr_m);
}
sub start_mode {
my $self = shift;
my ($start_mode) = @_;
# First use? Create new __START_MODE
$self->{__START_MODE} = 'start' unless (exists($self->{__START_MODE}));
# If data is provided, set it
if (defined($start_mode)) {
$self->{__START_MODE} = $start_mode;
}
return $self->{__START_MODE};
}
sub error_mode {
my $self = shift;
my ($error_mode) = @_;
# First use? Create new __ERROR_MODE
$self->{__ERROR_MODE} = undef unless (exists($self->{__ERROR_MODE}));
# If data is provided, set it.
if (defined($error_mode)) {
$self->{__ERROR_MODE} = $error_mode;
}
return $self->{__ERROR_MODE};
}
sub tmpl_path {
my $self = shift;
my ($tmpl_path) = @_;
# First use? Create new __TMPL_PATH!
$self->{__TMPL_PATH} = '' unless (exists($self->{__TMPL_PATH}));
# If data is provided, set it!
if (defined($tmpl_path)) {
$self->{__TMPL_PATH} = $tmpl_path;
}
# If we've gotten this far, return the value!
return $self->{__TMPL_PATH};
}
sub prerun_mode {
my $self = shift;
my ($prerun_mode) = @_;
# First use? Create new __PRERUN_MODE
$self->{__PRERUN_MODE} = '' unless (exists($self->{__PRERUN_MODE}));
# Was data provided?
if (defined($prerun_mode)) {
# Are we allowed to set prerun_mode?
if (exists($self->{__PRERUN_MODE_LOCKED})) {
# Not allowed! Throw an exception.
croak("prerun_mode() can only be called within cgiapp_prerun()! Error");
} else {
# If data is provided, set it!
$self->{__PRERUN_MODE} = $prerun_mode;
}
}
# If we've gotten this far, return the value!
return $self->{__PRERUN_MODE};
}
sub get_current_runmode {
my $self = shift;
# It's OK if we return undef if this method is called too early
return $self->{__CURRENT_RUNMODE};
}
###########################
#### PRIVATE METHODS ####
###########################
# return headers as a string
sub _send_headers {
my $self = shift;
my $q = $self->query;
my $type = $self->header_type;
return
$type eq 'redirect' ? $q->redirect( $self->header_props )
: $type eq 'header' ? $q->header ( $self->header_props )
: $type eq 'none' ? ''
: croak "Invalid header_type '$type'"
}
# return a 2 element array modeling the first PSGI redirect values: status code and arrayref of header pairs
sub _send_psgi_headers {
my $self = shift;
my $q = $self->query;
my $type = $self->header_type;
return
$type eq 'redirect' ? $q->psgi_redirect( $self->header_props )
: $type eq 'header' ? $q->psgi_header ( $self->header_props )
: $type eq 'none' ? ''
: croak "Invalid header_type '$type'"
}
# Make all hash keys CAPITAL
# although this method is internal, some other extensions
# have come to rely on it, so any changes here should be
# made with great care or avoided.
sub _cap_hash {
my $self = shift;
my $rhash = shift;
my %hash = map {
my $k = $_;
my $v = $rhash->{$k};
$k =~ tr/a-z/A-Z/;
$k => $v;
} keys(%{$rhash});
return \%hash;
}
1;
=pod
=head1 NAME
CGI::Application - Framework for building reusable web-applications
=head1 SYNOPSIS
# In "WebApp.pm"...
package WebApp;
use base 'CGI::Application';
# ( setup() can even be skipped for common cases. See docs below. )
sub setup {
my $self = shift;
$self->start_mode('mode1');
$self->mode_param('rm');
$self->run_modes(
'mode1' => 'do_stuff',
'mode2' => 'do_more_stuff',
'mode3' => 'do_something_else'
);
}
sub do_stuff { ... }
sub do_more_stuff { ... }
sub do_something_else { ... }
1;
### In "webapp.cgi"...
use WebApp;
my $webapp = WebApp->new();
$webapp->run();
### Or, in a PSGI file, webapp.psgi
use WebApp;
WebApp->psgi_app();
=head1 INTRODUCTION
CGI::Application makes it easier to create sophisticated, high-performance,
reusable web-based applications. CGI::Application helps makes your web
applications easier to design, write, and evolve.
CGI::Application judiciously avoids employing technologies and techniques which
would bind a developer to any one set of tools, operating system or web server.
It is lightweight in terms of memory usage, making it suitable for common CGI
environments, and a high performance choice in persistent environments like
FastCGI or mod_perl.
By adding L<PLUG-INS> as your needs grow, you can add advanced and complex
features when you need them.
First released in 2000 and used and expanded by a number of professional
website developers, CGI::Application is a stable, reliable choice.
=head1 USAGE EXAMPLE
Imagine you have to write an application to search through a database
of widgets. Your application has three screens:
1. Search form
2. List of results
3. Detail of a single record
To write this application using CGI::Application you will create two files:
1. WidgetView.pm -- Your "Application Module"
2. widgetview.cgi -- Your "Instance Script"
The Application Module contains all the code specific to your
application functionality, and it exists outside of your web server's
document root, somewhere in the Perl library search path.
The Instance Script is what is actually called by your web server. It is
a very small, simple file which simply creates an instance of your
application and calls an inherited method, run(). Following is the
entirety of "widgetview.cgi":
#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use WidgetView;
my $webapp = WidgetView->new();
$webapp->run();
As you can see, widgetview.cgi simply "uses" your Application module
(which implements a Perl package called "WidgetView"). Your Application Module,
"WidgetView.pm", is somewhat more lengthy:
package WidgetView;
use base 'CGI::Application';
use strict;
# Needed for our database connection
use CGI::Application::Plugin::DBH;
sub setup {
my $self = shift;
$self->start_mode('mode1');
$self->run_modes(
'mode1' => 'showform',
'mode2' => 'showlist',
'mode3' => 'showdetail'
);
# Connect to DBI database, with the same args as DBI->connect();
$self->dbh_config();
}
sub teardown {
my $self = shift;
# Disconnect when we're done, (Although DBI usually does this automatically)
$self->dbh->disconnect();
}
sub showform {
my $self = shift;
# Get CGI query object
my $q = $self->query();
my $output = '';
$output .= $q->start_html(-title => 'Widget Search Form');
$output .= $q->start_form();
$output .= $q->textfield(-name => 'widgetcode');
$output .= $q->hidden(-name => 'rm', -value => 'mode2');
$output .= $q->submit();
$output .= $q->end_form();
$output .= $q->end_html();
return $output;
}
sub showlist {
my $self = shift;
# Get our database connection
my $dbh = $self->dbh();
# Get CGI query object
my $q = $self->query();
my $widgetcode = $q->param("widgetcode");
my $output = '';
$output .= $q->start_html(-title => 'List of Matching Widgets');
## Do a bunch of stuff to select "widgets" from a DBI-connected
## database which match the user-supplied value of "widgetcode"
## which has been supplied from the previous HTML form via a
## CGI.pm query object.
##
## Each row will contain a link to a "Widget Detail" which
## provides an anchor tag, as follows:
##
## "widgetview.cgi?rm=mode3&widgetid=XXX"
##
## ...Where "XXX" is a unique value referencing the ID of
## the particular "widget" upon which the user has clicked.
$output .= $q->end_html();
return $output;
}
sub showdetail {
my $self = shift;
# Get our database connection
my $dbh = $self->dbh();
# Get CGI query object
my $q = $self->query();
my $widgetid = $q->param("widgetid");
my $output = '';
$output .= $q->start_html(-title => 'Widget Detail');
## Do a bunch of things to select all the properties of
## the particular "widget" upon which the user has
## clicked. The key id value of this widget is provided
## via the "widgetid" property, accessed via the CGI.pm
## query object.
$output .= $q->end_html();
return $output;
}
1; # Perl requires this at the end of all modules
CGI::Application takes care of implementing the new() and the run()
methods. Notice that at no point do you call print() to send any
output to STDOUT. Instead, all output is returned as a scalar.
CGI::Application's most significant contribution is in managing
the application state. Notice that all which is needed to push
the application forward is to set the value of a HTML form
parameter 'rm' to the value of the "run mode" you wish to handle
the form submission. This is the key to CGI::Application.
=head1 ABSTRACT
The guiding philosophy behind CGI::Application is that a web-based
application can be organized into a specific set of "Run Modes."
Each Run Mode is roughly analogous to a single screen (a form, some
output, etc.). All the Run Modes are managed by a single "Application
Module" which is a Perl module. In your web server's document space
there is an "Instance Script" which is called by the web server as a
CGI (or an Apache::Registry script if you're using Apache + mod_perl).
This methodology is an inversion of the "Embedded" philosophy (ASP, JSP,
EmbPerl, Mason, etc.) in which there are "pages" for each state of the
application, and the page drives functionality. In CGI::Application,
form follows function -- the Application Module drives pages, and the
code for a single application is in one place; not spread out over
multiple "pages". If you feel that Embedded architectures are
confusing, unorganized, difficult to design and difficult to manage,
CGI::Application is the methodology for you!
Apache is NOT a requirement for CGI::Application. Web applications based on
CGI::Application will run equally well on NT/IIS or any other
CGI-compatible environment. CGI::Application-based projects
are, however, ripe for use on Apache/mod_perl servers, as they
naturally encourage Good Programming Practices and will often work
in persistent environments without modification.
For more information on using CGI::Application with mod_perl, please see our
website at http://www.cgi-app.org/, as well as
L<CGI::Application::Plugin::Apache>, which integrates with L<Apache::Request>.
=head1 DESCRIPTION
It is intended that your Application Module will be implemented as a sub-class
of CGI::Application. This is done simply as follows:
package My::App;
use base 'CGI::Application';
B<Notation and Conventions>
For the purpose of this document, we will refer to the
following conventions:
WebApp.pm The Perl module which implements your Application Module class.
WebApp Your Application Module class; a sub-class of CGI::Application.
webapp.cgi The Instance Script which implements your Application Module.
$webapp An instance (object) of your Application Module class.
$c Same as $webapp, used in instance methods to pass around the
current object. (Sometimes referred as "$self" in other code)
=head2 Instance Script Methods
By inheriting from CGI::Application you have access to a
number of built-in methods. The following are those which
are expected to be called from your Instance Script.
=head3 new()
The new() method is the constructor for a CGI::Application. It returns
a blessed reference to your Application Module package (class). Optionally,
new() may take a set of parameters as key => value pairs:
my $webapp = WebApp->new(
TMPL_PATH => 'App/',
PARAMS => {
'custom_thing_1' => 'some val',
'another_custom_thing' => [qw/123 456/]
}
);
This method may take some specific parameters:
B<TMPL_PATH> - This optional parameter defines a path to a directory of templates.
This is used by the load_tmpl() method (specified below), and may also be used
for the same purpose by other template plugins. This run-time parameter allows
you to further encapsulate instantiating templates, providing potential for
more re-usability. It can be either a scalar or an array reference of multiple
paths.
B<QUERY> - This optional parameter allows you to specify an
already-created CGI.pm query object. Under normal use,
CGI::Application will instantiate its own CGI.pm query object.
Under certain conditions, it might be useful to be able to use
one which has already been created.
B<PARAMS> - This parameter, if used, allows you to set a number
of custom parameters at run-time. By passing in different
values in different instance scripts which use the same application
module you can achieve a higher level of re-usability. For instance,
imagine an application module, "Mailform.pm". The application takes
the contents of a HTML form and emails it to a specified recipient.
You could have multiple instance scripts throughout your site which
all use this "Mailform.pm" module, but which set different recipients
or different forms.
One common use of instance scripts is to provide a path to a config file. This
design allows you to define project wide configuration objects used by many
several instance scripts. There are several plugins which simplify the syntax
for this and provide lazy loading. Here's an example using
L<CGI::Application::Plugin::ConfigAuto>, which uses L<Config::Auto> to support
many configuration file formats.
my $app = WebApp->new(PARAMS => { cfg_file => 'config.pl' });
# Later in your app:
my %cfg = $self->cfg()
# or ... $self->cfg('HTML_ROOT_DIR');
See the list of of plugins below for more config file integration solutions.
=head3 run()
The run() method is called upon your Application Module object, from
your Instance Script. When called, it executes the functionality
in your Application Module.
my $webapp = WebApp->new();
$webapp->run();
This method first determines the application state by looking at the
value of the CGI parameter specified by mode_param() (defaults to
'rm' for "Run Mode"), which is expected to contain the name of the mode of
operation. If not specified, the state defaults to the value
of start_mode().
Once the mode has been determined, run() looks at the dispatch
table stored in run_modes() and finds the function pointer which
is keyed from the mode name. If found, the function is called and the
data returned is print()'ed to STDOUT and to the browser. If
the specified mode is not found in the run_modes() table, run() will
croak().
=head2 PSGI support
CGI::Application offers native L<PSGI> support. The default query object
for this is L<CGI::PSGI>, which simply wrappers CGI.pm to provide PSGI
support to it.
=head3 psgi_app()
$psgi_coderef = WebApp->psgi_app({ ... args to new() ... });
The simplest way to create and return a PSGI-compatible coderef. Pass in
arguments to a hashref just as would to new. This returns a PSGI-compatible
coderef, using L<CGI:::PSGI> as the query object. To use a different query
object, construct your own object using C<< run_as_psgi() >>, as shown below.
It's possible that we'll change from CGI::PSGI to a different-but-compatible
query object for PSGI support in the future, perhaps if CGI.pm adds native
PSGI support.
=head3 run_as_psgi()
my $psgi_aref = $webapp->run_as_psgi;
Just like C<< run >>, but prints no output and returns the data structure
required by the L<PSGI> specification. Use this if you want to run the
application on top of a PSGI-compatible handler, such as L<Plack> provides.
If you are just getting started, just use C<< run() >>. It's easy to switch to using
C<< run_as_psgi >> later.
Why use C<< run_as_psgi() >>? There are already solutions to run
CGI::Application-based projects on several web servers with dozens of plugins.
Running as a PSGI-compatible application provides the ability to run on
additional PSGI-compatible servers, as well as providing access to all of the
"Middleware" solutions available through the L<Plack> project.
The structure returned is an arrayref, containing the status code, an arrayref
of header key/values and an arrayref containing the body.
[ 200, [ 'Content-Type' => 'text/html' ], [ $body ] ]
By default the body is a single scalar, but plugins may modify this to return
other value PSGI values. See L<PSGI/"The Response"> for details about the
response format.
Note that calling C<< run_as_psgi >> only handles the I<output> portion of the
PSGI spec. to handle the input, you need to use a CGI.pm-like query object that
is PSGI-compliant, such as L<CGI::PSGI>. This query object must provide L<psgi_header>
and L<psgi_redirect> methods.
The final result might look like this:
use WebApp;
use CGI::PSGI;
my $handler = sub {
my $env = shift;
my $webapp = WebApp->new({ QUERY => CGI::PSGI->new($env) });
$webapp->run_as_psgi;
};
=head2 Methods to possibly override
CGI::Application implements some methods which are expected to be overridden
by implementing them in your sub-class module. These methods are as follows:
=head3 setup()
This method is called by the inherited new() constructor method. The
setup() method should be used to define the following property/methods:
mode_param() - set the name of the run mode CGI param.
start_mode() - text scalar containing the default run mode.
error_mode() - text scalar containing the error mode.
run_modes() - hash table containing mode => function mappings.
tmpl_path() - text scalar or array reference containing path(s) to template files.
Your setup() method may call any of the instance methods of your application.
This function is a good place to define properties specific to your application
via the $webapp->param() method.
Your setup() method might be implemented something like this:
sub setup {
my $self = shift;
$self->tmpl_path('/path/to/my/templates/');
$self->start_mode('putform');
$self->error_mode('my_error_rm');
$self->run_modes({
'putform' => 'my_putform_func',
'postdata' => 'my_data_func'
});
$self->param('myprop1');
$self->param('myprop2', 'prop2value');
$self->param('myprop3', ['p3v1', 'p3v2', 'p3v3']);
}
However, often times all that needs to be in setup() is defining your run modes
and your start mode. L<CGI::Application::Plugin::AutoRunmode> allows you to do
this with a simple syntax, using run mode attributes:
use CGI::Application::Plugin::AutoRunmode;
sub show_first : StartRunmode { ... };
sub do_next : Runmode { ... }
=head3 teardown()
If implemented, this method is called automatically after your application runs. It
can be used to clean up after your operations. A typical use of the
teardown() function is to disconnect a database connection which was
established in the setup() function. You could also use the teardown()
method to store state information about the application to the server.
=head3 cgiapp_init()
If implemented, this method is called automatically right before the
setup() method is called. This method provides an optional initialization
hook, which improves the object-oriented characteristics of
CGI::Application. The cgiapp_init() method receives, as its parameters,
all the arguments which were sent to the new() method.
An example of the benefits provided by utilizing this hook is
creating a custom "application super-class" from which all
your web applications would inherit, instead of CGI::Application.
Consider the following:
# In MySuperclass.pm:
package MySuperclass;
use base 'CGI::Application';
sub cgiapp_init {
my $self = shift;
# Perform some project-specific init behavior
# such as to load settings from a database or file.
}
# In MyApplication.pm:
package MyApplication;
use base 'MySuperclass';
sub setup { ... }
sub teardown { ... }
# The rest of your CGI::Application-based follows...
By using CGI::Application and the cgiapp_init() method as illustrated,
a suite of applications could be designed to share certain
characteristics. This has the potential for much cleaner code
built on object-oriented inheritance.
=head3 cgiapp_prerun()
If implemented, this method is called automatically right before the
selected run mode method is called. This method provides an optional
pre-runmode hook, which permits functionality to be added at the point
right before the run mode method is called. To further leverage this
hook, the value of the run mode is passed into cgiapp_prerun().
Another benefit provided by utilizing this hook is
creating a custom "application super-class" from which all
your web applications would inherit, instead of CGI::Application.
Consider the following:
# In MySuperclass.pm:
package MySuperclass;
use base 'CGI::Application';
sub cgiapp_prerun {
my $self = shift;
# Perform some project-specific init behavior
# such as to implement run mode specific
# authorization functions.
}
# In MyApplication.pm:
package MyApplication;
use base 'MySuperclass';
sub setup { ... }
sub teardown { ... }
# The rest of your CGI::Application-based follows...
By using CGI::Application and the cgiapp_prerun() method as illustrated,
a suite of applications could be designed to share certain
characteristics. This has the potential for much cleaner code
built on object-oriented inheritance.
It is also possible, within your cgiapp_prerun() method, to change the
run mode of your application. This can be done via the prerun_mode()
method, which is discussed elsewhere in this POD.
=head3 cgiapp_postrun()
If implemented, this hook will be called after the run mode method
has returned its output, but before HTTP headers are generated. This
will give you an opportunity to modify the body and headers before they
are returned to the web browser.
A typical use for this hook is pipelining the output of a CGI-Application
through a series of "filter" processors. For example:
* You want to enclose the output of all your CGI-Applications in
an HTML table in a larger page.
* Your run modes return structured data (such as XML), which you
want to transform using a standard mechanism (such as XSLT).
* You want to post-process CGI-App output through another system,
such as HTML::Mason.
* You want to modify HTTP headers in a particular way across all
run modes, based on particular criteria.
The cgiapp_postrun() hook receives a reference to the output from
your run mode method, in addition to the CGI-App object. A typical
cgiapp_postrun() method might be implemented as follows:
sub cgiapp_postrun {
my $self = shift;
my $output_ref = shift;
# Enclose output HTML table
my $new_output = "<table border=1>";
$new_output .= "<tr><td> Hello, World! </td></tr>";
$new_output .= "<tr><td>". $$output_ref ."</td></tr>";
$new_output .= "</table>";
# Replace old output with new output
$$output_ref = $new_output;
}
Obviously, with access to the CGI-App object you have full access to use all
the methods normally available in a run mode. You could, for example, use
C<load_tmpl()> to replace the static HTML in this example with HTML::Template.
You could change the HTTP headers (via C<header_type()> and C<header_props()>
methods) to set up a redirect. You could also use the objects properties
to apply changes only under certain circumstance, such as a in only certain run
modes, and when a C<param()> is a particular value.
=head3 cgiapp_get_query()
my $q = $webapp->cgiapp_get_query;
Override this method to retrieve the query object if you wish to use a
different query interface instead of CGI.pm.
CGI.pm is only loaded if it is used on a given request.
If you can use an alternative to CGI.pm, it needs to have some compatibility
with the CGI.pm API. For normal use, just having a compatible C<param> method
should be sufficient.
If you use the C<path_info> option to the mode_param() method, then we will call
the C<path_info()> method on the query object.
If you use the C<Dump> method in CGI::Application, we will call the C<Dump> and
C<escapeHTML> methods on the query object.
=head2 Essential Application Methods
The following methods are inherited from CGI::Application, and are
available to be called by your application within your Application
Module. They are called essential because you will use all are most
of them to get any application up and running. These functions are listed in alphabetical order.
=head3 load_tmpl()
my $tmpl_obj = $webapp->load_tmpl;
my $tmpl_obj = $webapp->load_tmpl('some.html');
my $tmpl_obj = $webapp->load_tmpl( \$template_content );
my $tmpl_obj = $webapp->load_tmpl( FILEHANDLE );
This method takes the name of a template file, a reference to template data
or a FILEHANDLE and returns an HTML::Template object. If the filename is undefined or missing, CGI::Application will default to trying to use the current run mode name, plus the extension ".html".
If you use the default template naming system, you should also use
L<CGI::Application::Plugin::Forward>, which simply helps to keep the current
name accurate when you pass control from one run mode to another.
( For integration with other template systems
and automated template names, see "Alternatives to load_tmpl() below. )
When you pass in a filename, the HTML::Template->new_file() constructor
is used for create the object. When you pass in a reference to the template
content, the HTML::Template->new_scalar_ref() constructor is used and
when you pass in a filehandle, the HTML::Template->new_filehandle()
constructor is used.
Refer to L<HTML::Template> for specific usage of HTML::Template.
If tmpl_path() has been specified, load_tmpl() will set the
HTML::Template C<path> option to the path(s) provided. This further
assists in encapsulating template usage.
The load_tmpl() method will pass any extra parameters sent to it directly to
HTML::Template->new_file() (or new_scalar_ref() or new_filehandle()).
This will allow the HTML::Template object to be further customized:
my $tmpl_obj = $webapp->load_tmpl('some_other.html',
die_on_bad_params => 0,
cache => 1
);
Note that if you want to pass extra arguments but use the default template
name, you still need to provide a name of C<undef>:
my $tmpl_obj = $webapp->load_tmpl(undef,
die_on_bad_params => 0,
cache => 1
);
B<Alternatives to load_tmpl()>
If your application requires more specialized behavior than this, you can
always replace it by overriding load_tmpl() by implementing your own
load_tmpl() in your CGI::Application sub-class application module.
First, you may want to check out the template related plugins.
L<CGI::Application::Plugin::TT> focuses just on Template Toolkit integration,
and features pre-and-post features, singleton support and more.
L<CGI::Application::Plugin::Stream> can help if you want to return a stream and
not a file. It features a simple syntax and MIME-type detection.
B<specifying the template class with html_tmpl_class()>
You may specify an API-compatible alternative to L<HTML::Template> by setting
a new C<html_tmpl_class()>:
$self->html_tmpl_class('HTML::Template::Dumper');
The default is "HTML::Template". The alternate class should
provide at least the following parts of the HTML::Template API:
$t = $class->new( scalarref => ... ); # If you use scalarref templates
$t = $class->new( filehandle => ... ); # If you use filehandle templates
$t = $class->new( filename => ... );
$t->param(...);
Here's an example case allowing you to precisely test what's sent to your
templates:
$ENV{CGI_APP_RETURN_ONLY} = 1;
my $webapp = WebApp->new;
$webapp->html_tmpl_class('HTML::Template::Dumper');
my $out_str = $webapp->run;
my $tmpl_href = eval "$out_str";
# Now Precisely test what would be set to the template
is ($tmpl_href->{pet_name}, 'Daisy', "Daisy is sent template");
This is a powerful technique because HTML::Template::Dumper loads and considers
the template file that would actually be used. If the 'pet_name' token was missing
in the template, the above test would fail. So, you are testing both your code
and your templates in a much more precise way than using simple regular
expressions to see if the string "Daisy" appeared somewhere on the page.
B<The load_tmpl() callback>
Plugin authors will be interested to know that you can register a callback that
will be executed just before load_tmpl() returns:
$self->add_callback('load_tmpl',\&your_method);
When C<your_method()> is executed, it will be passed three arguments:
1. A hash reference of the extra params passed into C<load_tmpl>
2. Followed by a hash reference to template parameters.
With both of these, you can modify them by reference to affect
values that are actually passed to the new() and param() methods of the
template object.
3. The name of the template file.
Here's an example stub for a load_tmpl() callback:
sub my_load_tmpl_callback {
my ($c, $ht_params, $tmpl_params, $tmpl_file) = @_
# modify $ht_params or $tmpl_params by reference...
}
=head3 param()
$webapp->param('pname', $somevalue);
The param() method provides a facility through which you may set
application instance properties which are accessible throughout
your application.
The param() method may be used in two basic ways. First, you may use it
to get or set the value of a parameter:
$webapp->param('scalar_param', '123');
my $scalar_param_values = $webapp->param('some_param');
Second, when called in the context of an array, with no parameter name
specified, param() returns an array containing all the parameters which
currently exist:
my @all_params = $webapp->param();
The param() method also allows you to set a bunch of parameters at once
by passing in a hash (or hashref):
$webapp->param(
'key1' => 'val1',
'key2' => 'val2',
'key3' => 'val3',
);
The param() method enables a very valuable system for
customizing your applications on a per-instance basis.
One Application Module might be instantiated by different
Instance Scripts. Each Instance Script might set different values for a
set of parameters. This allows similar applications to share a common
code-base, but behave differently. For example, imagine a mail form
application with a single Application Module, but multiple Instance
Scripts. Each Instance Script might specify a different recipient.
Another example would be a web bulletin boards system. There could be
multiple boards, each with a different topic and set of administrators.
The new() method provides a shortcut for specifying a number of run-time
parameters at once. Internally, CGI::Application calls the param()
method to set these properties. The param() method is a powerful tool for
greatly increasing your application's re-usability.
=head3 query()
my $q = $webapp->query();
my $remote_user = $q->remote_user();
This method retrieves the CGI.pm query object which has been created
by instantiating your Application Module. For details on usage of this
query object, refer to L<CGI>. CGI::Application is built on the CGI
module. Generally speaking, you will want to become very familiar
with CGI.pm, as you will use the query object whenever you want to
interact with form data.
When the new() method is called, a CGI query object is automatically created.
If, for some reason, you want to use your own CGI query object, the new()
method supports passing in your existing query object on construction using
the QUERY attribute.
There are a few rare situations where you want your own query object to be
used after your Application Module has already been constructed. In that case
you can pass it to c<query()> like this:
$webapp->query($new_query_object);
my $q = $webapp->query(); # now uses $new_query_object
=head3 run_modes()
# The common usage: an arrayref of run mode names that exactly match subroutine names
$webapp->run_modes([qw/
form_display
form_process
/]);
# With a hashref, use a different name or a code ref
$webapp->run_modes(
'mode1' => 'some_sub_by_name',
'mode2' => \&some_other_sub_by_ref
);
This accessor/mutator specifies the dispatch table for the
application states, using the syntax examples above. It returns
the dispatch table as a hash.
The run_modes() method may be called more than once. Additional values passed
into run_modes() will be added to the run modes table. In the case that an
existing run mode is re-defined, the new value will override the existing value.
This behavior might be useful for applications which are created via inheritance
from another application, or some advanced application which modifies its
own capabilities based on user input.
The run() method uses the data in this table to send the application to the
correct function as determined by reading the CGI parameter specified by
mode_param() (defaults to 'rm' for "Run Mode"). These functions are referred
to as "run mode methods".
The hash table set by this method is expected to contain the mode
name as a key. The value should be either a hard reference (a subref)
to the run mode method which you want to be called when the application enters
the specified run mode, or the name of the run mode method to be called:
'mode_name_by_ref' => \&mode_function
'mode_name_by_name' => 'mode_function'
The run mode method specified is expected to return a block of text (e.g.:
HTML) which will eventually be sent back to the web browser. The run mode
method may return its block of text as a scalar or a scalar-ref.
An advantage of specifying your run mode methods by name instead of
by reference is that you can more easily create derivative applications
using inheritance. For instance, if you have a new application which is
exactly the same as an existing application with the exception of one
run mode, you could simply inherit from that other application and override
the run mode method which is different. If you specified your run mode
method by reference, your child class would still use the function
from the parent class.
An advantage of specifying your run mode methods by reference instead of by name
is performance. Dereferencing a subref is faster than eval()-ing
a code block. If run-time performance is a critical issue, specify
your run mode methods by reference and not by name. The speed differences
are generally small, however, so specifying by name is preferred.
Specifying the run modes by array reference:
$webapp->run_modes([ 'mode1', 'mode2', 'mode3' ]);
Is is the same as using a hash, with keys equal to values
$webapp->run_modes(
'mode1' => 'mode1',
'mode2' => 'mode2',
'mode3' => 'mode3'
);
Often, it makes good organizational sense to have your run modes map to
methods of the same name. The array-ref interface provides a shortcut
to that behavior while reducing verbosity of your code.
Note that another importance of specifying your run modes in either a
hash or array-ref is to assure that only those Perl methods which are
specifically designated may be called via your application. Application
environments which don't specify allowed methods and disallow all others
are insecure, potentially opening the door to allowing execution of
arbitrary code. CGI::Application maintains a strict "default-deny" stance
on all method invocation, thereby allowing secure applications
to be built upon it.
B<IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT RUN MODE METHODS>
Your application should *NEVER* print() to STDOUT.
Using print() to send output to STDOUT (including HTTP headers) is
exclusively the domain of the inherited run() method. Breaking this
rule is a common source of errors. If your program is erroneously
sending content before your HTTP header, you are probably breaking this rule.
B<THE RUN MODE OF LAST RESORT: "AUTOLOAD">
If CGI::Application is asked to go to a run mode which doesn't exist
it will usually croak() with errors. If this is not your desired
behavior, it is possible to catch this exception by implementing
a run mode with the reserved name "AUTOLOAD":
$self->run_modes(
"AUTOLOAD" => \&catch_my_exception
);
Before CGI::Application calls croak() it will check for the existence
of a run mode called "AUTOLOAD". If specified, this run mode will in
invoked just like a regular run mode, with one exception: It will
receive, as an argument, the name of the run mode which invoked it:
sub catch_my_exception {
my $self = shift;
my $intended_runmode = shift;
my $output = "Looking for '$intended_runmode', but found 'AUTOLOAD' instead";
return $output;
}
This functionality could be used for a simple human-readable error
screen, or for more sophisticated application behaviors.
=head3 start_mode()
$webapp->start_mode('mode1');
The start_mode contains the name of the mode as specified in the run_modes()
table. Default mode is "start". The mode key specified here will be used
whenever the value of the CGI form parameter specified by mode_param() is
not defined. Generally, this is the first time your application is executed.
=head3 tmpl_path()
$webapp->tmpl_path('/path/to/some/templates/');
This access/mutator method sets the file path to the directory (or directories)
where the templates are stored. It is used by load_tmpl() to find the template
files, using HTML::Template's C<path> option. To set the path you can either
pass in a text scalar or an array reference of multiple paths.
=head2 More Application Methods
You can skip this section if you are just getting started.
The following additional methods are inherited from CGI::Application, and are
available to be called by your application within your Application Module.
These functions are listed in alphabetical order.
=head3 delete()
$webapp->delete('my_param');
The delete() method is used to delete a parameter that was previously
stored inside of your application either by using the PARAMS hash that
was passed in your call to new() or by a call to the param() method.
This is similar to the delete() method of CGI.pm. It is useful if your
application makes decisions based on the existence of certain params that
may have been removed in previous sections of your app or simply to
clean-up your param()s.
=head3 dump()
print STDERR $webapp->dump();
The dump() method is a debugging function which will return a
chunk of text which contains all the environment and web form
data of the request, formatted nicely for human readability.
Useful for outputting to STDERR.
=head3 dump_html()
my $output = $webapp->dump_html();
The dump_html() method is a debugging function which will return
a chunk of text which contains all the environment and web form
data of the request, formatted nicely for human readability via
a web browser. Useful for outputting to a browser. Please consider
the security implications of using this in production code.
=head3 error_mode()
$webapp->error_mode('my_error_rm');
If the runmode dies for whatever reason, C<run() will> see if you have set a
value for C<error_mode()>. If you have, C<run()> will call that method
as a run mode, passing $@ as the only parameter.
Plugins authors will be interested to know that just before C<error_mode()> is
called, the C<error> hook will be executed, with the error message passed in as
the only parameter.
No C<error_mode> is defined by default. The death of your C<error_mode()> run
mode is not trapped, so you can also use it to die in your own special way.
For a complete integrated logging solution, check out L<CGI::Application::Plugin::LogDispatch>.
=head3 get_current_runmode()
$webapp->get_current_runmode();
The C<get_current_runmode()> method will return a text scalar containing
the name of the run mode which is currently being executed. If the
run mode has not yet been determined, such as during setup(), this method
will return undef.
=head3 header_add()
# add or replace the 'type' header
$webapp->header_add( -type => 'image/png' );
- or -
# add an additional cookie
$webapp->header_add(-cookie=>[$extra_cookie]);
The C<header_add()> method is used to add one or more headers to the outgoing
response headers. The parameters will eventually be passed on to the CGI.pm
header() method, so refer to the L<CGI> docs for exact usage details.
Unlike calling C<header_props()>, C<header_add()> will preserve any existing
headers. If a scalar value is passed to C<header_add()> it will replace
the existing value for that key.
If an array reference is passed as a value to C<header_add()>, values in
that array ref will be appended to any existing values values for that key.
This is primarily useful for setting an additional cookie after one has already
been set.
=head3 header_props()
# Set a complete set of headers
%set_headers = $webapp->header_props(-type=>'image/gif',-expires=>'+3d');
# clobber / reset all headers
%set_headers = $webapp->header_props({});
# Just retrieve the headers
%set_headers = $webapp->header_props();
The C<header_props()> method expects a hash of CGI.pm-compatible
HTTP header properties. These properties will be passed directly
to the C<header()> or C<redirect()> methods of the query() object. Refer
to the docs of your query object for details. (Be default, it's L<CGI>.pm).
Calling header_props with an empty hashref clobber any existing headers that have
previously set.
C<header_props()> returns a hash of all the headers that have currently been
set. It can be called with no arguments just to get the hash current headers
back.
To add additional headers later without clobbering the old ones,
see C<header_add()>.
B<IMPORTANT NOTE REGARDING HTTP HEADERS>
It is through the C<header_props()> and C<header_add()> method that you may modify the outgoing
HTTP headers. This is necessary when you want to set a cookie, set the mime
type to something other than "text/html", or perform a redirect. The
header_props() method works in conjunction with the header_type() method.
The value contained in header_type() determines if we use CGI::header() or
CGI::redirect(). The content of header_props() is passed as an argument to
whichever CGI.pm function is called.
Understanding this relationship is important if you wish to manipulate
the HTTP header properly.
=head3 header_type()
$webapp->header_type('redirect');
$webapp->header_type('none');
This method used to declare that you are setting a redirection header,
or that you want no header to be returned by the framework.
The value of 'header' is almost never used, as it is the default.
B<Example of redirecting>:
sub some_redirect_mode {
my $self = shift;
# do stuff here....
$self->header_type('redirect');
$self->header_props(-url=> "http://site/path/doc.html" );
}
To simplify that further, use L<CGI::Application::Plugin::Redirect>:
return $self->redirect('http://www.example.com/');
Setting the header to 'none' may be useful if you are streaming content.
In other contexts, it may be more useful to set C<$ENV{CGI_APP_RETURN_ONLY} = 1;>,
which supresses all printing, including headers, and returns the output instead.
That's commonly used for testing, or when using L<CGI::Application> as a controller
for a cron script!
=cut
sub html_tmpl_class {
my $self = shift;
my $tmpl_class = shift;
# First use? Create new __ERROR_MODE
$self->{__HTML_TMPL_CLASS} = 'HTML::Template' unless (exists($self->{__HTML_TMPL_CLASS}));
if (defined $tmpl_class) {
$self->{__HTML_TMPL_CLASS} = $tmpl_class;
}
return $self->{__HTML_TMPL_CLASS};
}
sub load_tmpl {
my $self = shift;
my ($tmpl_file, @extra_params) = @_;
# add tmpl_path to path array if one is set, otherwise add a path arg
if (my $tmpl_path = $self->tmpl_path) {
my @tmpl_paths = (ref $tmpl_path eq 'ARRAY') ? @$tmpl_path : $tmpl_path;
my $found = 0;
for( my $x = 0; $x < @extra_params; $x += 2 ) {
if ($extra_params[$x] eq 'path' and
ref $extra_params[$x+1] eq 'ARRAY') {
unshift @{$extra_params[$x+1]}, @tmpl_paths;
$found = 1;
last;
}
}
push(@extra_params, path => [ @tmpl_paths ]) unless $found;
}
my %tmpl_params = ();
my %ht_params = @extra_params;
%ht_params = () unless keys %ht_params;
# Define our extension if doesn't already exist;
$self->{__CURRENT_TMPL_EXTENSION} = '.html' unless defined $self->{__CURRENT_TMPL_EXTENSION};
# Define a default template name based on the current run mode
unless (defined $tmpl_file) {
$tmpl_file = $self->get_current_runmode . $self->{__CURRENT_TMPL_EXTENSION};
}
$self->call_hook('load_tmpl', \%ht_params, \%tmpl_params, $tmpl_file);
my $ht_class = $self->html_tmpl_class;
eval "require $ht_class;" || die "require $ht_class failed: $@";
# let's check $tmpl_file and see what kind of parameter it is - we
# now support 3 options: scalar (filename), ref to scalar (the
# actual html/template content) and reference to FILEHANDLE
my $t = undef;
if ( ref $tmpl_file eq 'SCALAR' ) {
$t = $ht_class->new( scalarref => $tmpl_file, %ht_params );
} elsif ( ref $tmpl_file eq 'GLOB' ) {
$t = $ht_class->new( filehandle => $tmpl_file, %ht_params );
} else {
$t = $ht_class->new( filename => $tmpl_file, %ht_params);
}
if (keys %tmpl_params) {
$t->param(%tmpl_params);
}
return $t;
}
=pod
=head3 mode_param()
# Name the CGI form parameter that contains the run mode name.
# This is the the default behavior, and is often sufficient.
$webapp->mode_param('rm');
# Set the run mode name directly from a code ref
$webapp->mode_param(\&some_method);
# Alternate interface, which allows you to set the run
# mode name directly from $ENV{PATH_INFO}.
$webapp->mode_param(
path_info=> 1,
param =>'rm'
);
This accessor/mutator method is generally called in the setup() method.
It is used to help determine the run mode to call. There are three options for calling it.
$webapp->mode_param('rm');
Here, a CGI form parameter is named that will contain the name of the run mode
to use. This is the default behavior, with 'rm' being the parameter named used.
$webapp->mode_param(\&some_method);
Here a code reference is provided. It will return the name of the run mode
to use directly. Example:
sub some_method {
my $self = shift;
return 'run_mode_x';
}
This would allow you to programmatically set the run mode based on arbitrary logic.
$webapp->mode_param(
path_info=> 1,
param =>'rm'
);
This syntax allows you to easily set the run mode from $ENV{PATH_INFO}. It
will try to set the run mode from the first part of $ENV{PATH_INFO} (before the
first "/"). To specify that you would rather get the run mode name from the 2nd
part of $ENV{PATH_INFO}:
$webapp->mode_param( path_info=> 2 );
This also demonstrates that you don't need to pass in the C<param> hash key. It will
still default to C<rm>.
You can also set C<path_info> to a negative value. This works just like a negative
list index: if it is -1 the run mode name will be taken from the last part of
$ENV{PATH_INFO}, if it is -2, the one before that, and so on.
If no run mode is found in $ENV{PATH_INFO}, it will fall back to looking in the
value of a the CGI form field defined with 'param', as described above. This
allows you to use the convenient $ENV{PATH_INFO} trick most of the time, but
also supports the edge cases, such as when you don't know what the run mode
will be ahead of time and want to define it with JavaScript.
B<More about $ENV{PATH_INFO}>.
Using $ENV{PATH_INFO} to name your run mode creates a clean separation between
the form variables you submit and how you determine the processing run mode. It
also creates URLs that are more search engine friendly. Let's look at an
example form submission using this syntax:
<form action="/cgi-bin/instance.cgi/edit_form" method=post>
<input type="hidden" name="breed_id" value="4">
Here the run mode would be set to "edit_form". Here's another example with a
query string:
/cgi-bin/instance.cgi/edit_form?breed_id=2
This demonstrates that you can use $ENV{PATH_INFO} and a query string together
without problems. $ENV{PATH_INFO} is defined as part of the CGI specification
should be supported by any web server that supports CGI scripts.
=cut
sub mode_param {
my $self = shift;
my $mode_param;
# First use? Create new __MODE_PARAM
$self->{__MODE_PARAM} = 'rm' unless (exists($self->{__MODE_PARAM}));
my %p;
# expecting a scalar or code ref
if ((scalar @_) == 1) {
$mode_param = $_[0];
}
# expecting hash style params
else {
croak("CGI::Application->mode_param() : You gave me an odd number of parameters to mode_param()!")
unless ((@_ % 2) == 0);
%p = @_;
$mode_param = $p{param};
if ( $p{path_info} && $self->query->path_info() ) {
my $pi = $self->query->path_info();
my $idx = $p{path_info};
# two cases: negative or positive index
# negative index counts from the end of path_info
# positive index needs to be fixed because
# computer scientists like to start counting from zero.
$idx -= 1 if ($idx > 0) ;
# remove the leading slash
$pi =~ s!^/!!;
# grab the requested field location
$pi = (split q'/', $pi)[$idx] || '';
$mode_param = (length $pi) ? { run_mode => $pi } : $mode_param;
}
}
# If data is provided, set it
if (defined $mode_param and length $mode_param) {
$self->{__MODE_PARAM} = $mode_param;
}
return $self->{__MODE_PARAM};
}
=head3 prerun_mode()
$webapp->prerun_mode('new_run_mode');
The prerun_mode() method is an accessor/mutator which can be used within
your cgiapp_prerun() method to change the run mode which is about to be executed.
For example, consider:
# In WebApp.pm:
package WebApp;
use base 'CGI::Application';
sub cgiapp_prerun {
my $self = shift;
# Get the web user name, if any
my $q = $self->query();
my $user = $q->remote_user();
# Redirect to login, if necessary
unless ($user) {
$self->prerun_mode('login');
}
}
In this example, the web user will be forced into the "login" run mode
unless they have already logged in. The prerun_mode() method permits
a scalar text string to be set which overrides whatever the run mode
would otherwise be.
The use of prerun_mode() within cgiapp_prerun() differs from setting
mode_param() to use a call-back via subroutine reference. It differs
because cgiapp_prerun() allows you to selectively set the run mode based
on some logic in your cgiapp_prerun() method. The call-back facility of
mode_param() forces you to entirely replace CGI::Application's mechanism
for determining the run mode with your own method. The prerun_mode()
method should be used in cases where you want to use CGI::Application's
normal run mode switching facility, but you want to make selective
changes to the mode under specific conditions.
B<Note:> The prerun_mode() method may ONLY be called in the context of
a cgiapp_prerun() method. Your application will die() if you call
prerun_mode() elsewhere, such as in setup() or a run mode method.
=head2 Dispatching Clean URIs to run modes
Modern web frameworks dispense with cruft in URIs, providing in clean
URIs instead. Instead of:
/cgi-bin/item.cgi?rm=view&id=15
A clean URI to describe the same resource might be:
/item/15/view
The process of mapping these URIs to run modes is called dispatching and is
handled by L<CGI::Application::Dispatch>. Dispatching is not required and is a
layer you can fairly easily add to an application later.
=head2 Offline website development
You can work on your CGI::Application project on your desktop or laptop without
installing a full-featured web-server like Apache. Instead, install
L<CGI::Application::Server> from CPAN. After a few minutes of setup, you'll
have your own private application server up and running.
=head2 Automated Testing
There a couple of testing modules specifically made for CGI::Application.
L<Test::WWW::Mechanize::CGIApp> allows functional testing of a CGI::App-based project
without starting a web server. L<Test::WWW::Mechanize> could be used to test the app
through a real web server.
L<Test::WWW::Selenium::CGIApp> is similar, but uses Selenium for the testing,
meaning that a local web-browser would be used, allowing testing of websites
that contain JavaScript.
Direct testing is also easy. CGI::Application will normally print the output of it's
run modes directly to STDOUT. This can be suppressed with an environment variable,
CGI_APP_RETURN_ONLY. For example:
$ENV{CGI_APP_RETURN_ONLY} = 1;
$output = $webapp->run();
like($output, qr/good/, "output is good");
Examples of this style can be seen in our own test suite.
=head1 PLUG-INS
CGI::Application has a plug-in architecture that is easy to use and easy
to develop new plug-ins for.
=head2 Recommended Plug-ins
The following plugins are recommended for general purpose web/db development:
=over 4
=item *
L<CGI::Application::Plugin::Redirect> - is a simple plugin to provide a shorter syntax for executing a redirect.
=item *
L<CGI::Application::Plugin::ConfigAuto> - Keeping your config details in a separate file is recommended for every project. This one integrates with L<Config::Auto>. Several more config plugin options are listed below.
=item *
L<CGI::Application::Plugin::DBH> - Provides easy management of one or more database handles and can delay making the database connection until the moment it is actually used.
=item *
L<CGI::Application::Plugin::FillInForm> - makes it a breeze to fill in an HTML form from data originating from a CGI query or a database record.
=item *
L<CGI::Application::Plugin::Session> - For a project that requires session
management, this plugin provides a useful wrapper around L<CGI::Session>
=item *
L<CGI::Application::Plugin::ValidateRM> - Integration with Data::FormValidator and HTML::FillInForm
=back
=head2 More plug-ins
Many more plugins are available as alternatives and for specific uses. For a
current complete list, please consult CPAN:
http://search.cpan.org/search?m=dist&q=CGI%2DApplication%2DPlugin
=over 4
=item *
L<CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate> - Use any templating system from within CGI::Application using a unified interface
=item *
L<CGI::Application::Plugin::Apache> - Use Apache::* modules without interference
=item *
L<CGI::Application::Plugin::AutoRunmode> - Automatically register runmodes
=item *
L<CGI::Application::Plugin::Config::Context> - Integration with L<Config::Context>.
=item *
L<CGI::Application::Plugin::Config::General> - Integration with L<Config::General>.
=item *
L<CGI::Application::Plugin::Config::Simple> - Integration with L<Config::Simple>.
=item *
L<CGI::Application::Plugin::CompressGzip> - Add Gzip compression
=item *
L<CGI::Application::Plugin::LogDispatch> - Integration with L<Log::Dispatch>
=item *
L<CGI::Application::Plugin::Stream> - Help stream files to the browser
=item *
L<CGI::Application::Plugin::TemplateRunner> - Allows for more of an ASP-style
code structure, with the difference that code and HTML for each screen are in
separate files.
=item *
L<CGI::Application::Plugin::TT> - Use L<Template::Toolkit> as an alternative to HTML::Template.
=back
Consult each plug-in for the exact usage syntax.
=head2 Writing Plug-ins
Writing plug-ins is simple. Simply create a new package, and export the
methods that you want to become part of a CGI::Application project. See
L<CGI::Application::Plugin::ValidateRM> for an example.
In order to avoid namespace conflicts within a CGI::Application object,
plugin developers are recommended to use a unique prefix, such as the
name of plugin package, when storing information. For instance:
$app->{__PARAM} = 'foo'; # BAD! Could conflict.
$app->{'MyPlugin::Module::__PARAM'} = 'foo'; # Good.
$app->{'MyPlugin::Module'}{__PARAM} = 'foo'; # Good.
=head2 Writing Advanced Plug-ins - Using callbacks
When writing a plug-in, you may want some action to happen automatically at a
particular stage, such as setting up a database connection or initializing a
session. By using these 'callback' methods, you can register a subroutine
to run at a particular phase, accomplishing this goal.
B<Callback Examples>
# register a callback to the standard CGI::Application hooks
# one of 'init', 'prerun', 'postrun', 'teardown' or 'load_tmpl'
# As a plug-in author, this is probably the only method you need.
# Class-based: callback will persist for all runs of the application
$class->add_callback('init', \&some_other_method);
# Object-based: callback will only last for lifetime of this object
$self->add_callback('prerun', \&some_method);
# If you want to create a new hook location in your application,
# You'll need to know about the following two methods to create
# the hook and call it.
# Create a new hook
$self->new_hook('pretemplate');
# Then later execute all the callbacks registered at this hook
$self->call_hook('pretemplate');
B<Callback Methods>
=head3 add_callback()
$self->add_callback ('teardown', \&callback);
$class->add_callback('teardown', 'method');
The add_callback method allows you to register a callback
function that is to be called at the given stage of execution.
Valid hooks include 'init', 'prerun', 'postrun' and 'teardown',
'load_tmpl', and any other hooks defined using the C<new_hook>
method.
The callback should be a reference to a subroutine or the name of a
method.
If multiple callbacks are added to the same hook, they will all be
executed one after the other. The exact order depends on which class
installed each callback, as described below under B<Callback Ordering>.
Callbacks can either be I<object-based> or I<class-based>, depending
upon whether you call C<add_callback> as an object method or a class
method:
# add object-based callback
$self->add_callback('teardown', \&callback);
# add class-based callbacks
$class->add_callback('teardown', \&callback);
My::Project->add_callback('teardown', \&callback);
Object-based callbacks are stored in your web application's C<$c>
object; at the end of the request when the C<$c> object goes out of
scope, the callbacks are gone too.
Object-based callbacks are useful for one-time tasks that apply only to
the current running application. For instance you could install a
C<teardown> callback to trigger a long-running process to execute at the
end of the current request, after all the HTML has been sent to the
browser.
Class-based callbacks survive for the duration of the running Perl
process. (In a persistent environment such as C<mod_perl> or
C<PersistentPerl>, a single Perl process can serve many web requests.)
Class-based callbacks are useful for plugins to add features to all web
applications.
Another feature of class-based callbacks is that your plugin can create
hooks and add callbacks at any time - even before the web application's
C<$c> object has been initialized. A good place to do this is in
your plugin's C<import> subroutine:
package CGI::Application::Plugin::MyPlugin;
use base 'Exporter';
sub import {
my $caller = scalar(caller);
$caller->add_callback('init', 'my_setup');
goto &Exporter::import;
}
Notice that C<< $caller->add_callback >> installs the callback
on behalf of the module that contained the line:
use CGI::Application::Plugin::MyPlugin;
=cut
sub add_callback {
my ($c_or_class, $hook, $callback) = @_;
$hook = lc $hook;
die "no callback provided when calling add_callback" unless $callback;
die "Unknown hook ($hook)" unless exists $INSTALLED_CALLBACKS{$hook};
if (ref $c_or_class) {
# Install in object
my $self = $c_or_class;
push @{ $self->{__INSTALLED_CALLBACKS}{$hook} }, $callback;
}
else {
# Install in class
my $class = $c_or_class;
push @{ $INSTALLED_CALLBACKS{$hook}{$class} }, $callback;
}
}
=head3 new_hook(HOOK)
$self->new_hook('pretemplate');
The C<new_hook()> method can be used to create a new location for developers to
register callbacks. It takes one argument, a hook name. The hook location is
created if it does not already exist. A true value is always returned.
For an example, L<CGI::Application::Plugin::TT> adds hooks before and after every
template is processed.
See C<call_hook(HOOK)> for more details about how hooks are called.
=cut
sub new_hook {
my ($class, $hook) = @_;
$INSTALLED_CALLBACKS{$hook} ||= {};
return 1;
}
=head3 call_hook(HOOK)
$self->call_hook('pretemplate', @args);
The C<call_hook> method is used to executed the callbacks that have been registered
at the given hook. It is used in conjunction with the C<new_hook> method which
allows you to create a new hook location.
The first argument to C<call_hook> is the hook name. Any remaining arguments
are passed to every callback executed at the hook location. So, a stub for a
callback at the 'pretemplate' hook would look like this:
sub my_hook {
my ($c,@args) = @_;
# ....
}
Note that hooks are semi-public locations. Calling a hook means executing
callbacks that were registered to that hook by the current object and also
those registered by any of the current object's parent classes. See below for
the exact ordering.
=cut
sub call_hook {
my $self = shift;
my $app_class = ref $self || $self;
my $hook = lc shift;
my @args = @_;
die "Unknown hook ($hook)" unless exists $INSTALLED_CALLBACKS{$hook};
my %executed_callback;
# First, run callbacks installed in the object
foreach my $callback (@{ $self->{__INSTALLED_CALLBACKS}{$hook} }) {
next if $executed_callback{$callback};
eval { $self->$callback(@args); };
$executed_callback{$callback} = 1;
die "Error executing object callback in $hook stage: $@" if $@;
}
# Next, run callbacks installed in class hierarchy
# Cache this value as a performance boost
$self->{__CALLBACK_CLASSES} ||= [ Class::ISA::self_and_super_path($app_class) ];
# Get list of classes that the current app inherits from
foreach my $class (@{ $self->{__CALLBACK_CLASSES} }) {
# skip those classes that contain no callbacks
next unless exists $INSTALLED_CALLBACKS{$hook}{$class};
# call all of the callbacks in the class
foreach my $callback (@{ $INSTALLED_CALLBACKS{$hook}{$class} }) {
next if $executed_callback{$callback};
eval { $self->$callback(@args); };
$executed_callback{$callback} = 1;
die "Error executing class callback in $hook stage: $@" if $@;
}
}
}
=pod
B<Callback Ordering>
Object-based callbacks are run before class-based callbacks.
The order of class-based callbacks is determined by the inheritance tree of the
running application. The built-in methods of C<cgiapp_init>, C<cgiapp_prerun>,
C<cgiapp_postrun>, and C<teardown> are also executed this way, according to the
ordering below.
In a persistent environment, there might be a lot of applications
in memory at the same time. For instance:
CGI::Application
Other::Project # uses CGI::Application::Plugin::Baz
Other::App # uses CGI::Application::Plugin::Bam
My::Project # uses CGI::Application::Plugin::Foo
My::App # uses CGI::Application::Plugin::Bar
Suppose that each of the above plugins each added a callback to be run
at the 'init' stage:
Plugin init callback
------ -------------
CGI::Application::Plugin::Baz baz_startup
CGI::Application::Plugin::Bam bam_startup
CGI::Application::Plugin::Foo foo_startup
CGI::Application::Plugin::Bar bar_startup
When C<My::App> runs, only C<foo_callback> and C<bar_callback> will
run. The other callbacks are skipped.
The C<@ISA> list of C<My::App> is:
My::App
My::Project
CGI::Application
This order determines the order of callbacks run.
When C<call_hook('init')> is run on a C<My::App> application, callbacks
installed by these modules are run in order, resulting in:
C<bar_startup>, C<foo_startup>, and then finally C<cgiapp_init>.
If a single class installs more than one callback at the same hook, then
these callbacks are run in the order they were registered (FIFO).
=cut
=head1 COMMUNITY
Therese are primary resources available for those who wish to learn more
about CGI::Application and discuss it with others.
B<Wiki>
This is a community built and maintained resource that anyone is welcome to
contribute to. It contains a number of articles of its own and links
to many other CGI::Application related pages:
L<http://www.cgi-app.org>
B<Support Mailing List>
If you have any questions, comments, bug reports or feature suggestions,
post them to the support mailing list! To join the mailing list, simply
send a blank message to "cgiapp-subscribe@lists.erlbaum.net".
B<IRC>
You can also drop by C<#cgiapp> on C<irc.perl.org> with a good chance of finding
some people involved with the project there.
B<Source Code>
This project is managed using git and is available on Github:
https://github.com/markstos/CGI--Application
=head1 SEE ALSO
=over 4
=item o
L<CGI>
=item o
L<HTML::Template>
=item o
B<CGI::Application::Framework> - A full-featured web application based on
CGI::Application. http://www.cafweb.org/
=back
=head1 MORE READING
If you're interested in finding out more about CGI::Application, the
following articles are available on Perl.com:
Using CGI::Application
http://www.perl.com/pub/a/2001/06/05/cgi.html
Rapid Website Development with CGI::Application
http://www.perl.com/pub/a/2006/10/19/cgi_application.html
Thanks to O'Reilly for publishing these articles, and for the incredible value
they provide to the Perl community!
=head1 AUTHOR
Jesse Erlbaum <jesse@erlbaum.net>
Mark Stosberg has served as a co-maintainer since version 3.2, with the help of
the numerous contributors documented in the Changes file.
=head1 CREDITS
CGI::Application was originally developed by The Erlbaum Group, a software
engineering and consulting firm in New York City.
Thanks to Vanguard Media (http://www.vm.com) for funding the initial
development of this library and for encouraging Jesse Erlbaum to release it to
the world.
Many thanks to Sam Tregar (author of the most excellent
HTML::Template module!) for his innumerable contributions
to this module over the years, and most of all for getting
me off my ass to finally get this thing up on CPAN!
Many other people have contributed specific suggestions or patches,
which are documented in the C<Changes> file.
Thanks also to all the members of the CGI-App mailing list!
Your ideas, suggestions, insights (and criticism!) have helped
shape this module immeasurably. (To join the mailing list, simply
send a blank message to "cgiapp-subscribe@lists.erlbaum.net".)
=head1 LICENSE
CGI::Application : Framework for building reusable web-applications
Copyright (C) 2000-2003 Jesse Erlbaum <jesse@erlbaum.net>
This module is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the terms of either:
a) the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
Foundation; either version 1, or (at your option) any later version,
or
b) the "Artistic License" which comes with this module.
This program 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 either
the GNU General Public License or the Artistic License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the Artistic License with this
module, in the file ARTISTIC. If not, I'll be glad to provide one.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307
USA
=cut
|