NAME
CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate - Use any templating system from
within CGI::Application using a unified interface
VERSION
Version 0.18
SYNOPSIS
In your CGI::Application-based webapp:
use base 'CGI::Application';
use CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate;
sub cgiapp_init {
my $self = shift;
# Set template options
$self->template->config(
default_type => 'TemplateToolkit',
);
}
Later on, in a runmode:
sub my_runmode {
my $self = shift;
my %template_params = (
name => 'Winston Churchill',
age => 7,
);
$self->template->fill('some_template', \%template_params);
}
DESCRIPTION
Template-Independence
"CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate" allows you to use any supported
Perl templating system using a single consistent interface.
Currently supported templating systems include HTML::Template,
HTML::Template::Expr, HTML::Template::Pluggable, Template::Toolkit and
Petal.
You can access any of these templating systems using the same interface.
In this way, you can use the same code and switch templating systems on
the fly.
This approach has many uses. For instance, it can be useful in migrating
your application from one templating system to another.
Embedded Components
In addition to template abstraction, "AnyTemplate" also provides a
*embedded component mechanism*. For instance, you might include a
*header* component at the top of every page and a *footer* component at
the bottom of every page.
These components are actually full CGI::Application run modes, and can
do anything normal run mode can do, including processing form parameters
and filling in their own templates. See below under "EMBEDDED
COMPONENTS" for details.
Multiple Named Template Configurations
You can set up multiple named template configurations and select between
them at run time.
sub cgiapp_init {
my $self = shift;
# Can't use Template::Toolkit any more -
# The boss wants everything has to be XML,
# so we switch to Petal
# Set old-style template options (legacy scripts)
$self->template('oldstyle')->config(
default_type => 'TemplateToolkit',
TemplateToolkit => {
POST_CHOMP => 1,
}
);
# Set new-style template options as default
$self->template->config(
default_type => 'Petal',
auto_add_template_extension => 0,
);
}
sub old_style_runmode {
my $self = shift;
# ...
# use TemplateToolkit to fill template edit_user.tmpl
$self->template('oldstyle')->fill('edit_user', \%params);
}
sub new_style_runmode {
my $self = shift;
# ...
# use Petal to fill template edit_user.xhml
$self->template->fill('edit_user.xhtml', \%params);
}
Flexible Syntax
The syntax is pretty flexible. Pick a style that's most comfortable for
you.
CGI::Application::Plugin::TT style syntax
$self->template->process('edit_user', \%params);
or (with slightly less typing):
$self->template->fill('edit_user', \%params);
CGI::Application load_tmpl style syntax
my $template = $self->template->load('edit_user');
$template->param('foo' => 'bar');
$template->output;
Verbose syntax (for complete control)
my $template = $self->template('named_config')->load(
file => 'edit_user'
type => 'TemplateToolkit'
add_include_paths => '.',
);
$template->param('foo' => 'bar');
$template->output;
See also below under "CHANGING THE NAME OF THE 'template' METHOD".
METHODS
config
Initialize the "AnyTemplate" system and provide the default
configuration.
$self->template->config(
default_type => 'HTMLTemplate',
);
You can keep multiple configurations handy at the same time by passing a
value to "template":
$self->template('oldstyle')->config(
default_type => 'HTML::Template',
);
$self->template('newstyle')->config(
default_type => 'HTML::Template::Expr',
);
Then in a runmode you can mix and match configurations:
$self->template('oldstyle')->load # loads an HTML::Template driver object
$self->template('newstyle')->load # loads an HTML::Template::Expr driver object
The configuration passed to "config" is divided into three areas:
*plugin configuration*, *driver configuration*, and *native
configuration*:
Config Type What it Configures
----------- ------------------
Plugin Config AnyTemplate itself
Driver Config AnyTemplate Driver (e.g. HTMLTemplate)
Native Config Actual template module (e.g. HTML::Template)
These are described in more detail below.
Plugin Configuration
These configuration params are specific to the
"CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate" itself. They are included at the
top level of the configuration hash passed to "config". For instance:
$self->template->config(
default_type => 'HTMLTemplate',
auto_add_template_extension => 0,
);
The *plugin configuration* parameters and their defaults are as follows:
default_type
type
The default type of template for this named configuration. Should be
the name of a driver in the
"CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate::Driver" namespace:
Type Driver
---- ------
HTMLTemplate CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate::Driver::HTMLTemplate
HTMLTemplateExpr CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate::Driver::HTMLTemplateExpr
TemplateToolkit CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate::Driver::TemplateToolkit
Petal CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate::Driver::Petal
include_paths
Include Paths (sometimes called search paths) are used by the
various template backends to find filenames that aren't fully
qualified by an absolute path. Each directory is searched in turn
until the template file is found.
Can be a single string or a reference to a list.
auto_add_template_extension
Add a template-system specific extension to template filenames.
So, if this feature is enabled and you provide the filename
"myfile", then the actual filename will depend on the current
template driver:
Driver Template
------ --------
HTMLTemplate myfile.html
HTMLTemplateExpr myfile.html
TemplateToolkit myfile.tmpl
Petal myfile.xhtml
The per-type extension is controlled by the driver config for each
"AnyTemplate" driver (see below under "Driver and Native
Configuration" for how to set this).
The "auto_add_template_extension" feature is on by default. To
disable it, pass a value of zero:
$self->template->config(
auto_add_template_extension => 0,
);
The automatic extension feature is not just there to save typing -
it's actually there so you can have templates of different types
sitting in the same directory.
sub my_runmode {
my $self = shift;
$self->template->fill;
}
Then in your template path you can have three files:
my_runmode.html
my_runmode.tmpl
my_runmode.xhtml
Then you can change which templates is used by changing the value of
"type" that you pass to "$self->template->config".
For applications that want to dynamically choose their template
system without changing app code, it's a cleaner solution to use the
extensions than trying to swap template paths at runtime. Even if
you keep each type of template in its own directory, it's simpler to
include all the directories all the time and use different
extensions for different template types.
template_filename_generator
If you don't pass a filename to "load", one will be generated for
you based on the current run mode. If you want to customize this
process, you can pass a reference to a subroutine to do the
translation. This subroutine will be passed a reference to the
CGI::Application $self object.
Here is a subroutine that emulates the built-in behaviour of
"AnyTemplate":
$self->template->config(
template_filename_generator => sub {
my ($self, $calling_method_name) = @_;
return $self->get_current_runmode;
}
}
);
Here is an example of using a template filename generator to make
full templates with full paths based on the module name as well as
the current run mode (this is similar to how
CGI::Application::Plugin::TT generates its template filenames):
package My::WebApp;
use File::Spec;
sub cgiapp_init {
my $self = shift;
$self->template->config(
template_filename_generator => sub {
my $self = shift;
my $run_mode = $self->get_current_runmode;
my $module = ref $self;
my @segments = split /::/, $module;
return File::Spec->catfile(@segments, $run_mode);
}
);
}
sub run_mode {
my $self = shift;
$self->template->load; # loads My/WebApp/run_mode.html
}
sub other_run_mode {
my $self = shift;
$self->template->load; # loads My/WebApp/other_run_mode.html
}
Note that if the "auto_add_template_extension" option is on (which
it is by default), then the extension will be added to your
generated filename after you return it. If you do not want this to
happen, then set "auto_add_template_extension" to a false value.
component_handler_class
Normally, component embedding is handled by
CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate::ComponentHandler. If you want
to use a different class for this purpose, specify the class name as
the value of this paramter.
It still has to provide the same interface as
CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate::ComponentHandler. See the
source code of that module for details.
return_references
When true (the default), "output" will return a reference to a
string rather than a copy. Normally this won't matter. For instance,
"CGI::Application" doesn't care whether you return a string or a
reference to a string from your run modes.
However, if you want to manipulate the output of the $html returned
from the template, you may find it convenient to make "output"
return a string instead of a reference. Especially if you are
converting old code based on HTML::Template which expects "output"
to return a string.
Driver and Native Configuration
You can configure all the drivers at once with a single call to
"config", by including subsections for each driver type:
$self->template->config(
default_type => 'HTMLTemplate',
HTMLTemplate => {
cache => 1,
global_vars => 1,
die_on_bad_params => 0,
template_extension => '.html',
},
HTMLTemplateExpr => {
cache => 1,
global_vars => 1,
die_on_bad_params => 0,
template_extension => '.html',
},
HTMLTemplatePluggable => {
cache => 1,
global_vars => 1,
die_on_bad_params => 0,
template_extension => '.html',
},
TemplateToolkit => {
POST_CHOMP => 1,
template_extension => '.tmpl',
},
Petal => {
error_on_undef => 0,
template_extension => '.xhtml',
},
);
Each driver knows how to separate its own configuration from the
configuration belonging to the underlying template system.
For instance in the example above, the "HTMLTemplate" driver knows that
"template_extension" is a driver config parameter, but
"cache_global_vars" and "die_on_bad_params" are all HTML::Template
configuration parameters.
Similarly, The "TemplateToolkit" driver knows that template_extension is
a driver config parameter, but "POST_CHOMP" is a "Template::Toolkit"
configuration parameter.
For details on driver configuration, see the docs for the individual
drivers:
CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate::Driver::HTMLTemplate
CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate::Driver::HTMLTemplateExpr
CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate::Driver::HTMLTemplatePluggable
CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate::Driver::TemplateToolkit
CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate::Driver::Petal
Copying Query data into Templates
This feature is now deprecated and will be removed in a future release.
When you enable this feature all data in "$self->query" are copied into
the template object before the template is processed.
For the "HTMLTemplate", "HTMLTemplateExpr" and "HTMLTemplatePluggable"
drivers this is done with the "associate" feature of HTML::Template and
HTML::Template::Expr, respectively:
my $template = HTML::Template->new(
associate => $self->query,
);
For the other systems, this feature is emulated, by copying the query
params into the template params before the template is processed.
To enable this feature, pass a true value to "associate_query" or
"emulate_associate_query" (depending on the template system):
$self->template->config( default_type => 'HTMLTemplate', HTMLTemplate =>
{ associate_query => 1, }, HTMLTemplateExpr => { associate_query => 1,
}, HTMLTemplatePluggable => { associate_query => 1, }, TemplateToolkit
=> { emulate_associate_query => 1, }, Petal => { emulate_associate_query
=> 1, }, );
The reason this feature is now disabled by default is that it poses a
potential XSS (Cross Site Scripting) security risk.
The reason this feature is now deprecated is that in an ideal world
developers shouldn't have to flatten objects and hashes in order to make
them available to their templates. They should be able to pass the query
object (or another object such as a config object) directly into the
template:
$template->param(
'query' => $self->query,
'cfg' => $self->cfg,
'ENV' => $ENV,
);
And in the template retrieve parameters directly:
your username: [% query.param('username') %]
administrator: [% cfg.admin %]
hostname: [% ENV.SERVER_NAME %]
This approach works with Template::Toolkit, Petal, and
HTML::Template::Pluggable (via the HTML::Template::Plugin::Dot plugin).
Note that "associate" and "associate_query" are not compatible. So if
you want to associate the query and an additional object, pass a list to
"associate":
$template->config(
HTMLTemplate => {
associate => [$self->query, $self->conf]
}
);
load
Create a new template object and configure it.
This can be as simple (and magical) as:
my $template = $self->template->load;
When you call "load" with no parameters, it uses the default template
type, the default template configuration, and it determines the name of
the template based on the name of the current run mode. It determines
the current run mode by calling "$self->get_current_runmode".
If you want to have the current runmode updated when you pass control to
another runmode, use the CGI::Application::Plugin::Forward module:
use CGI::Application::Plugin::Forward;
sub first_runmode {
my $self = shift;
return $self->forward('second_runmode');
}
sub second_runmode {
my $self = shift;
my $template = $self->template->load; # loads 'second_runmode.html'
}
If instead you call "$self->other_method" directly, the value of
"$self->get_current_runmode" will not be updated:
sub first_runmode {
my $self = shift;
return $self->other_method;
}
sub other_method {
my $self = shift;
my $template = $self->template->load; # loads 'first_runmode.html'
}
If you want to override the way the default template filename is
generated, you can do so with the "template_filename_generator"
configuration parameter.
If you call "load" with one paramter, it is taken to be either the
filename or a reference to a string containing the template text:
my $template = $self->template->load('somefile');
my $template = $self->template->load(\$some_text);
If the parameter "auto_add_template_exension" is true, then the
appropriate extension will be added for this template type.
If you call "load" with more than one parameter, then you can specify
filename and configuration paramters directly:
my $template = $self->template->load(
file => 'some_file.tmpl',
type => 'HTMLTemplate',
auto_add_template_extension => 0,
add_include_paths => '..',
HTMLTemplate => {
die_on_bad_params => 1,
},
);
To initialize the template from a string rather than a file, use:
my $template = $self->template->load(
string => \$some_text,
);
The configuration parameters you pass to "load" are merged with the
configuration that was passed to "config".
You can include any of the configuration parameters that you can pass to
config, plus the following extra parameters:
file
If you are loading the template from a file, then the "file"
parameter contains the template's filename.
string
If you are loading the template from a string, then the "string"
parameter contains the text of the template. It can be either a
scalar or a reference to a scalar. Both of the following will work:
# passing a string
my $template = $self->template->load(
string => $some_text,
);
# passing a reference to a string
my $template = $self->template->load(
string => \$some_text,
);
add_include_paths
Additional include paths. These will be merged with "include_paths"
before being passed to the template driver.
The "load" method returns a template driver object. See below under
"DRIVER METHODS", for how to use this object.
fill
Fill is a convenience method which in a single step creates the
template, fills it with the template paramters and returns its output.
You can call it with or without a filename (or string ref).
The code:
$self->template->fill('filename', \%params);
is equivalent to:
my $template = $self->template->load('filename');
$template->output(\%params);
And the code:
$self->template->fill(\$some_text, \%params);
is equivalent to:
my $template = $self->template->load(\$some_text);
$template->output(\%params);
And the code:
$self->template->fill(\%params);
is equivalent to:
my $template = $self->template->load;
$template->output(\%params);
And the code:
$self->template->fill('filename');
is equivalent to:
my $template = $self->template->load('filename');
$template->output;
And the code:
$self->template->fill(\$some_text);
is equivalent to:
my $template = $self->template->load(\$some_text);
$template->output;
And the code:
$self->template->fill;
is equivalent to:
my $template = $self->template->load;
$template->output;
process
"process" is an alias for "fill".
APPLICATION METHODS
These methods are called directly on your application's $self object.
load_tmpl
This is an emulation of CGI::Application's built-in "load_tmpl" method.
For instance:
$self->load_tmpl('some_template.html');
It is not exported by default. To enable it, use:
use CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate qw/:load_tmpl/;
You can call it the same way as documented in "CGI::Application" and it
will have the same effect. However, it will respect the current template
"type", so you can still use it to fill templates of different backends.
The idea is that you can take an existing CGI::Application-based webapp
which uses "HTML::Template" templates, and add the following code to it:
use CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate qw/:load_tmpl/;
sub setup {
my $self = shift;
$self->template->config(type => TemplateToolkit);
}
This will change all existing calls to load_tmpl within your application
to use Template::Toolkit based templates.
Calling:
my $template = $self->load_tmpl('some_template.html');
It is the equivalent of calling:
my $template = $self->template->load(
file => 'some_template.html',
auto_add_template_extension => 0,
);
If you add extra options to "load_tmpl", these will be assumed to be
HTML::Template specific options, with the exception of the "path"
option, which will be extracted and used as 'add_include_paths':
my $template = $self->load_tmpl('some_template.html',
cache => 0,
path => '/path/to/templates',
);
This will get translated into:
my $template = $self->template->load(
file => 'some_template.html',
auto_add_template_extension => 0,
add_include_paths => '/path/to/templates',
HTMLTemplate => {
cache => 0,
}
);
Note that if you specify any HTML::Template-specific options here, they
will completely overwrite any options that you passed to config.
Some notes and caveats about using the "load_tmpl" method:
* This method only works for the default template configuration (i.e.
"$self->template()"). If you set up a named configuration (e.g.
"$self->template('myconfig')") there is no way to access it with
"load_tmpl". Since plugins should be using named configurations,
this means that the "load_tmpl" method should not be used by
plugins. See "NOTES FOR AUTHORS OF PLUGINS AND REUSABLE
APPLICATIONS", below.
* The "load_tmpl" method does not automatically add an extension to
the filename you pass to it, even if you have
"auto_add_template_extension" set to a true value in your call to
"$self->template->config".
* The "load_tmpl" method ignores always returns a string, not a
reference to a string. It ignores the setting of the
"returns_references" option.
tmpl_path
You can set the template "include_paths" by calling
"$self->tmpl_path('/path/to/templates')".
You can also do so by passing a value to the "TMPL_PATH" parameter to
your application's "new" method:
my $webapp = App->new(
TMPL_PATH => '/path/to/templates',
);
Paths that you set via "tmpl_path"/"TMPL_PATH" will be put last in the
list of include paths, after "add_include_paths" and "include_paths".
DRIVER METHODS
These are the most commonly used methods of the "AnyTemplate" driver
object. The driver is what you get back from calling
"$self->template->load".
param
The "param" method gets and sets values within the template.
my $template = $self->template->load;
my @param_names = $template->param();
my $value = $template->param('name');
$template->param('name' => 'value');
$template->param(
'name1' => 'value1',
'name2' => 'value2'
);
It is designed to behave similarly to the "param" method in other
modules like CGI and HTML::Template.
get_param_hash
Returns the template variables as a hash of names and values.
my %params = $self->template->get_param_hash;
In a scalar context, returns a reference to the hash used internally to
contain the values:
my $params_ref = $self->template->get_param_hash;
$params_ref->{'foo'} = 'bar'; # directly change parameter 'foo'
output
Returns the template with all the values filled in.
return $template->output;
You can also supply names and values to the template at this stage:
return $template->output('name' => 'value', 'name2' => 'value2');
If "return_references" option is set to true, then the return value of
"output" will be a reference to a string. If the "return_references"
option is false, then a copy of the string will be returned. By default
"return_references" is true.
When you call the "output" method, any components embedded in the
template are run. See "EMBEDDED COMPONENTS", below.
PRE- AND POST- PROCESS
There are several ways to customize the template process. You can modify
the template parameters before the template is filled, and you can
modify the output of the template after it has been filled.
Multiple applications and plugins can hook into the template process
pipeline, each making changes to the template input and output.
For instance, it will be possible to make a general-purpose
"CGI::Application" plugin that adds arbitrary data to each new template
(such as query parameters or configuration data).
Note that the API has changed for version 0.10 in a
non-backwards-compatible way in order to use the new hook system
provided by recent versions of "CGI::Application".
The load_tmpl hook
The "load_tmpl" hook is designed to be compatible with the "load_tmpl"
hook defined by "CGI::Application" itself.
The "load_tmpl" hook is called before the template object is created.
Any callbacks that you register to this hook will be called before each
template is loaded. Register a "load_tmpl" callback with:
$self->add_callback('load_tmpl',\&my_load_tmpl);
When the "load_tmpl" callback is executed it will be passed three
arguments (*adapted from the* CGI::Application *docs*):
1. A hash reference of the extra params passed into C<load_tmpl>
(ignored by AnyTemplate with the exception of 'path')
2. Followed by a hash reference to template parameters.
You can modify this hash by reference to affect values that are
actually passed to the param() method of the template object.
3. The name of the template file.
Here's an example stub for a load_tmpl() callback:
sub my_load_tmpl_callback {
my ($self, $ht_params, $tmpl_params, $tmpl_file) = @_;
# modify $tmpl_params by reference...
}
Currently, of all the params in $ht_params, all but 'path' are ignored,
because these are specific to "HTML::Template". If you want to write a
generic callback that needs to be able to access or modify
"HTML::Template" parameters then let me know, or add a feature request
on <http://rt.cpan.org>.
The "path" param of $ht_params is initially set to the value of
"add_include_paths" (if set). Your callback can modify the "path" param,
and "add_include_param" will be set to the result.
Plugin authors who want to provide template processing features are
encouraged to use the 'load_tmpl' hook when possible, since it will work
both with AnyTemplate and with CGI::Application's built-in "load_tmpl".
The template_pre_process and template_post_process hooks
Before the template output is generated, the "template_pre_process" hook
is called. Any callbacks that you register to this hook will be called
before each template is processed. Register a "template_pre_process"
callback as follows:
$self->add_callback('template_pre_process', \&my_tmpl_pre_process);
Pre-process callbacks will be passed a reference to the $template
object, and can can modify the parameters passed into the template by
using the "param" method:
sub my_tmpl_pre_process {
my ($self, $template) = @_;
# Change the internal template parameters by reference
my $params = $template->get_param_hash;
foreach my $key (keys %$params) {
$params{$key} = to_piglatin($params{$key});
}
# Can also set values using the param method
$template->param('foo', 'bar');
}
After the template output is generated, the "template_post_process" hook
is called. You can register a "template_post_process" callback as
follows:
$self->add_callback('template_post_process', \&my_tmpl_post_process);
Any callbacks that you register to this hook will be called after each
template is processed, and will be passed both a reference to the
template object and a reference to the output generated by the template.
This allows you to modify the output of the template:
sub my_tmpl_post_process {
my ($self, $template, $output_ref) = @_;
$$output_ref =~ s/foo/bar/;
}
EMBEDDED COMPONENTS
Introduction
"CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate" allows you to include
application components within your templates.
For instance, you might include a *header* component a the top of every
page and a *footer* component at the bottom of every page.
These componenets are actually first-class run modes. When the template
engine finds a special tag marking an embedded component, it passes
control to the run mode of that name. That run mode can then do whatever
a normal run mode could do. But typically it will load its own template
and return the template's output.
This output returned from the embedded run mode is inserted into the
containing template.
The syntax for embed components is specific to each type of template
driver.
Syntax
HTML::Template syntax:
<TMPL_VAR NAME="CGIAPP_embed('some_run_mode')">
HTML::Template::Expr syntax:
<TMPL_VAR EXPR="CGIAPP_embed('some_run_mode')">
HTML::Template::Pluggable syntax:
<TMPL_VAR EXPR="cgiapp.embed('some_run_mode')">
Template::Toolkit syntax:
[% CGIAPP.embed("some_run_mode") %]
Petal syntax:
<span tal:replace="structure CGIAPP/embed 'some_run_mode'">
this text gets replaced by the output of some_run_mode
</span>
Getting Template Variables from the Containing Template
The component run mode is passed a reference to the template object that
contained the component. The component run mode can use this object to
access the params that were passed to the containing template.
For instance:
sub header {
my ($self, $containing_template, @other_params) = @_;
my %tmplvars = (
'title' => 'My glorious home page',
);
my $template = $self->template->load;
$template->param(%tmplvars, $containing_template->get_param_hash);
return $template->output;
}
In this example, the template values of the enclosing template would
override any values set by the embedded component.
Passing Parameters
The template can pass parameters to the target run mode. These are
passed in after the reference to the containing template object.
Parameters can either be literal strings, specified within the template
text, or they can be keys that will be looked up in the template's
params.
Literal strings are enclosed in double or single quotes. Param keys are
barewords.
HTML::Template syntax:
<TMPL_VAR NAME="CGIAPP_embed('some_run_mode', param1, 'literal string2')">
*Note that HTML::Template doesn't support this type of callback
natively* *and that this behaviour is emulated by the HTMLTemplate
driver* *see the docs to*
CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate::Driver::HTMLTemplate *for
limitations to the emulation*.
HTML::Template::Expr syntax:
<TMPL_VAR EXPR="CGIAPP_embed('some_run_mode', param1, 'literal string2')">
HTML::Template::Pluggable syntax:
<TMPL_VAR EXPR="cgiapp.embed('some_run_mode', param1, 'literal string2')">
Template::Toolkit syntax:
[% CGIAPP.embed("some_run_mode", param1, 'literal string2' ) %]
Petal syntax:
<span tal:replace="structure CGIAPP/embed 'some_run_mode' param1 'literal string2' ">
this text gets replaced by the output of some_run_mode
</span>
NOTES FOR AUTHORS OF PLUGINS AND REUSABLE APPLICATIONS
If you are writing a CGI::Application plugin module, or you are writing
a "CGI::Application" program that will be distributed to other people
(e.g. on CPAN), then it's important to take steps to prevent your
application's use of CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate from
conflicting with other plugins or with your end users.
When a plugin that uses CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate calls:
$self->template->config(...)
It overwrites any existing template configuration with the new settings.
So if two plugins do that, they probably clobber each other.
However, CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate has the feature of named
independent configs:
$self->template('your_module')->config(...)
$self->template('my_plugin')->config(...)
These configs remain separate from each other. However, you have to keep
using these names throughout your module, even when you load and fill
the template. For instance:
sub my_runmode {
my $self = shift;
my $template = $self->template('my_plugin')->load;
$template->output;
}
sub your_runmode {
my $self = shift;
my %params;
$self->template('your_module')->fill(\%params);
}
It's uglier and more verbose, but it also prevents plugins from stepping
on each other's toes.
CGI::Application plugins that use CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate
should default to using their own package name for the AnyTemplate
config name:
$self->template(__PACKAGE__)->config(...);
$self->template(__PACKAGE__)->fill(...);
CHANGING THE NAME OF THE 'template' METHOD
If you want to access the features of this module using a method other
than "template", you can do so via Anno Siegel's Exporter::Renaming
module (available on CPAN).
For instance, to use syntax similar to CGI::Application::Plugin::TT:
use Exporter::Renaming;
use CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate Renaming => [ template => tt];
sub cgiapp_init {
my $self = shift;
my %params = ( ... );
# Set config file and other options
$self->tt->config(
default_type => 'TemplateToolkit',
);
}
sub my_runmode {
my $self = shift;
$self->tt->process('file', \%params);
}
And to use syntax similar to CGI::Application's "load_tmpl" mechanism:
use Exporter::Renaming;
use CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate Renaming => [ template => tmpl];
sub cgiapp_init {
my $self = shift;
# Set config file and other options
$self->tmpl->config(
default_type => 'HTMLTemplate',
);
}
sub my_runmode {
my $self = shift;
my %params = ( ... );
my $template = $self->tmpl->load('file');
$template->param(\%params);
$template->output;
}
AUTHOR
Michael Graham, "<mgraham@cpan.org>"
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I originally wrote this to be a subsystem in Richard Dice's
CGI::Application-based framework, before I moved it into its own module.
Various ideas taken from CGI::Application (Jesse Erlbaum),
CGI::Application::Plugin::TT (Cees Hek) and "Text::Boilerplate" (Stephen
Nelson).
"Template::Toolkit" singleton support code stolen from
CGI::Application::Plugin::TT.
BUGS
Please report any bugs or feature requests to
"bug-cgi-application-plugin-anytemplate@rt.cpan.org", or through the web
interface at <http://rt.cpan.org>. I will be notified, and then you'll
automatically be notified of progress on your bug as I make changes.
SOURCE
The source code repository for this module can be found at
http://github.com/mgraham/CAP-AnyTemplate/
SEE ALSO
CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate::Base
CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate::ComponentHandler
CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate::Driver::HTMLTemplate
CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate::Driver::HTMLTemplateExpr
CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate::Driver::HTMLTemplatePluggable
CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate::Driver::TemplateToolkit
CGI::Application::Plugin::AnyTemplate::Driver::Petal
CGI::Application
Template::Toolkit
HTML::Template
HTML::Template::Pluggable
HTML::Template::Plugin::Dot
Petal
Exporter::Renaming
CGI::Application::Plugin::TT
COPYRIGHT & LICENSE
Copyright 2005 Michael Graham, All Rights Reserved.
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the same terms as Perl itself.