NAME CGI::AppBuilder - CGI Application Builder SYNOPSIS use CGI::AppBuilder; my $cg = CGI::AppBuilder->new('ifn', 'my_init.cfg', 'opt', 'vhS:a:'); my $ar = $cg->get_inputs; DESCRIPTION There are already many application builders out there. Why you need another one? Well, if you are already familiar with CGI::Builder or CGI::Application, this one will provide some useful methods to you to read your configuration file and pre-process your templates. Please read on. new (ifn => 'file.cfg', opt => 'hvS:') Input variables: $ifn - input/initial file name. $opt - options for Getopt::Std Variables used or routines called: None How to use: my $ca = new CGI::AppBuilder; # or my $ca = CGI::AppBuilder->new; # or my $ca = CGI::AppBuilder->new(ifn=>'file.cfg',opt=>'hvS:'); # or my $ca = CGI::AppBuilder->new('ifn', 'file.cfg','opt','hvS:'); Return: new empty or initialized CGI::AppBuilder object. This method constructs a Perl object and capture any parameters if specified. It creates and defaults the following variables: $self->{ifn} = "" $self->{opt} = 'hvS:'; start_app ($prg,$arg,$nhh) Input variables: $prg - program name $arg - array ref for arguments - %ARGV $nhh - no html header pre-printed 1 - no HTML header is set in any circumstance 0 - HTML header will be set when it is possible Variables used or routines called: build_html_header - build HTML header array Debug::EchoMessage echo_msg - echo messages start_log - start and write message log CGI::Getopt get_inputs - read input file and/or CGI form inputs How to use: my ($q, $ar, $ar_log) = $self->start_app($0,\@ARGV); Return: ($q,$ar,$ar_log) where $q - a CGI object $ar - hash ref containing parameters from input file and/or CGI form inputs and the following elements: ifn - initial file name opt - command input options cfg - configuratoin array html_header - HTML header parameters (hash ref) msg - contain message hash $ar_log - hash ref containing log information This method performs the following tasks: 1) initial a CGI object 2) read initial file if specified or search for a default file (the same as $prg with .ini extension) and save the file name to $ar->{ifn}. 3) define message level 4) start HTML header and body using I and I if they are defined. 5) parse CGI form inputs and combine them with parameters defined in initial file 6) read configuration file ($prg.cfg) if it exists and save the array to $ar->{cfg} 7) prepare log record if write log is enabled It checks the parameters read from initial file for page_title, page_style, page_author, page_meta, top_nav, bottom_nav, and js_src. end_app ($q, $ar, $ar_log, $nhh) Input variables: $q - CGI object $ar - array ref for parameters $ar_log - hash ref for log record $nhh - no html header pre-printed 1 - no HTML is printed in any circumstance 0 - HTML header will be printed when it is possible Variables used or routines called: Debug::EchoMessage echo_msg - echo messages end_log - start and write message log set_param - get a parameter from hash array How to use: my ($q, $ar, $ar_log) = $self->start_app($0,\@ARGV); $self->end_app($q, $ar, $ar_log); Return: none This method performs the following tasks: 1) ends HTML document 2) writes log records to log files 3) close database connection if it finds DB handler in {dbh} HISTORY * Version 0.10 This version is to extract out the app methods from CGI::Getopt class. It was too much for CGI::Getopt to include the start_app, end_app, build_html_header, and disp_form methods. 0.11 Rewrote start_app method so that content-type can be changed. 0.12 Moved disp_form to CGI::AppBuilder::Form, moved build_html_header to CGI::AppBuilder::Header, and imported all the methods in sub-classes into this class. * Version 0.20 SEE ALSO (some of docs that I check often) Oracle::Loader, Oracle::Trigger, CGI::Getopt, File::Xcopy, CGI::AppBuilder, CGI::AppBuilder::Message, CGI::AppBuilder::Log, CGI::AppBuilder::Config, etc. AUTHOR Copyright (c) 2005 Hanming Tu. All rights reserved. This package is free software and is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty. It may be used, redistributed and/or modified under the terms of the Perl Artistic License (see http://www.perl.com/perl/misc/Artistic.html)