source: text-formbuilder/trunk/lib/Text/FormBuilder.pm @ 32

Last change on this file since 32 was 32, checked in by peter, 20 years ago

fall through to CGI::FormBuilder builtin option lists if @LIST does not match a list directive

File size: 23.9 KB
RevLine 
[1]1package Text::FormBuilder;
2
3use strict;
4use warnings;
5
[19]6use vars qw($VERSION);
[1]7
[28]8$VERSION = '0.06_02';
[19]9
[16]10use Carp;
[1]11use Text::FormBuilder::Parser;
12use CGI::FormBuilder;
13
[28]14# the static default options passed to CGI::FormBuilder->new
[23]15my %DEFAULT_OPTIONS = (
16    method => 'GET',
17    javascript => 0,
18    keepextras => 1,
19);
20
[30]21# the built in CSS for the template
22my $DEFAULT_CSS = <<END;
23table { padding: 1em; }
24#author, #footer { font-style: italic; }
25caption h2 { padding: .125em .5em; background: #ccc; text-align: left; }
26th { text-align: left; }
27th h3 { padding: .125em .5em; background: #eee; }
28th.label { font-weight: normal; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; }
29td ul { list-style: none; padding-left: 0; margin-left: 0; }
30.sublabel { color: #999; }
31.invalid { background: red; }
32END
33
[1]34sub new {
35    my $invocant = shift;
36    my $class = ref $invocant || $invocant;
37    my $self = {
38        parser => Text::FormBuilder::Parser->new,
39    };
40    return bless $self, $class;
41}
42
43sub parse {
[19]44    my ($self, $source) = @_;
45    if (ref $source && ref $source eq 'SCALAR') {
46        $self->parse_text($$source);
47    } else {
48        $self->parse_file($source);
49    }
50}
51
52sub parse_file {
[1]53    my ($self, $filename) = @_;
54   
55    # so it can be called as a class method
56    $self = $self->new unless ref $self;
57   
58    local $/ = undef;
[32]59    open SRC, "< $filename" or croak "[Text::FormBuilder::parse_file] Can't open $filename: $!" and return;
[1]60    my $src = <SRC>;
61    close SRC;
62   
63    return $self->parse_text($src);
64}
65
66sub parse_text {
67    my ($self, $src) = @_;
[16]68   
[1]69    # so it can be called as a class method
70    $self = $self->new unless ref $self;
[16]71   
[32]72    # append a newline so that it can be called on a single field easily
73    $src .= "\n";
74   
[1]75    $self->{form_spec} = $self->{parser}->form_spec($src);
[16]76   
77    # mark structures as not built (newly parsed text)
78    $self->{built} = 0;
79   
[1]80    return $self;
81}
82
83sub build {
84    my ($self, %options) = @_;
[16]85
86    # save the build options so they can be used from write_module
[12]87    $self->{build_options} = { %options };
88   
89    # our custom %options:
90    # form_only: use only the form part of the template
91    my $form_only = $options{form_only};
[30]92    my $css;
93    $css = $options{css} || $DEFAULT_CSS;
94    $css .= $options{extra_css} if $options{extra_css};
[12]95   
[30]96    # remove our custom options
97    delete $options{$_} foreach qw(form_only css extra_css);
98   
[1]99    # substitute in custom pattern definitions for field validation
[28]100    if (my %patterns = %{ $self->{form_spec}{patterns} || {} }) {
[1]101        foreach (@{ $self->{form_spec}{fields} }) {
102            if ($$_{validate} and exists $patterns{$$_{validate}}) {
103                $$_{validate} = $patterns{$$_{validate}};
104            }
105        }
106    }
107   
[21]108    # expand groups
[28]109    my %groups = %{ $self->{form_spec}{groups} || {} };
[29]110    for my $section (@{ $self->{form_spec}{sections} || [] }) {
111        foreach (grep { $$_[0] eq 'group' } @{ $$section{lines} }) {
112            $$_[1]{group} =~ s/^\%//;       # strip leading % from group var name
113           
114            if (exists $groups{$$_[1]{group}}) {
115                my @fields; # fields in the group
116                push @fields, { %$_ } foreach @{ $groups{$$_[1]{group}} };
117                for my $field (@fields) {
118                    $$field{label} ||= ucfirst $$field{name};
119                    $$field{name} = "$$_[1]{name}_$$field{name}";               
120                }
121                $_ = [ 'group', { label => $$_[1]{label} || ucfirst(join(' ',split('_',$$_[1]{name}))), group => \@fields } ];
[21]122            }
123        }
124    }
[1]125   
[21]126    $self->{form_spec}{fields} = [];
[29]127   
128    for my $section (@{ $self->{form_spec}{sections} || [] }) {
129        #for my $line (@{ $self->{form_spec}{lines} || [] }) {
130        for my $line (@{ $$section{lines} }) {
131            if ($$line[0] eq 'group') {
132                push @{ $self->{form_spec}{fields} }, $_ foreach @{ $$line[1]{group} };
133            } elsif ($$line[0] eq 'field') {
134                push @{ $self->{form_spec}{fields} }, $$line[1];
135            }
[21]136        }
137    }
138   
[1]139    # substitute in list names
[28]140    my %lists = %{ $self->{form_spec}{lists} || {} };
[25]141    foreach (@{ $self->{form_spec}{fields} }) {
142        next unless $$_{list};
143       
144        $$_{list} =~ s/^\@//;   # strip leading @ from list var name
145       
146        # a hack so we don't get screwy reference errors
147        if (exists $lists{$$_{list}}) {
148            my @list;
149            push @list, { %$_ } foreach @{ $lists{$$_{list}} };
150            $$_{options} = \@list;
151        } else {
[32]152            # assume that the list name is a builtin
153            # and let it fall through to CGI::FormBuilder
154            $$_{options} = $$_{list};
[1]155        }
[25]156    } continue {
157        delete $$_{list};
[30]158    }
[21]159   
[30]160    # special case single-value checkboxes
161    foreach (grep { $$_{type} && $$_{type} eq 'checkbox' } @{ $self->{form_spec}{fields} }) {
162        unless ($$_{options}) {
163            $$_{options} = [ { $$_{name} => $$_{label} || ucfirst join(' ',split(/_/,$$_{name})) } ];
164        }
165    }
166   
[16]167    # TODO: configurable threshold for this
[14]168    foreach (@{ $self->{form_spec}{fields} }) {
[32]169        $$_{ulist} = 1 if ref $$_{options} and @{ $$_{options} } >= 3;
[14]170    }
[1]171   
[24]172    # remove extraneous undefined values
173    for my $field (@{ $self->{form_spec}{fields} }) {
174        defined $$field{$_} or delete $$field{$_} foreach keys %{ $field };
175    }
176   
177    # because this messes up things at the CGI::FormBuilder::field level
178    # it seems to be marking required based on the existance of a 'required'
179    # param, not whether it is true or defined
180    $$_{required} or delete $$_{required} foreach @{ $self->{form_spec}{fields} };
[23]181
[29]182    # need to explicity set the fields so that simple text fields get picked up
[1]183    $self->{form} = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
[23]184        %DEFAULT_OPTIONS,
[29]185        fields   => [ map { $$_{name} } @{ $self->{form_spec}{fields} } ],
[24]186        required => [ map { $$_{name} } grep { $$_{required} } @{ $self->{form_spec}{fields} } ],
187        title => $self->{form_spec}{title},
[25]188        text  => $self->{form_spec}{description},
[1]189        template => {
190            type => 'Text',
191            engine => {
192                TYPE       => 'STRING',
[30]193                SOURCE     => $form_only ? $self->_form_template : $self->_template($css),
[11]194                DELIMITERS => [ qw(<% %>) ],
[1]195            },
196            data => {
[29]197                sections    => $self->{form_spec}{sections},
[14]198                author      => $self->{form_spec}{author},
199                description => $self->{form_spec}{description},
[1]200            },
201        },
202        %options,
203    );
204    $self->{form}->field(%{ $_ }) foreach @{ $self->{form_spec}{fields} };
205   
[16]206    # mark structures as built
207    $self->{built} = 1;
208   
[1]209    return $self;
210}
211
212sub write {
213    my ($self, $outfile) = @_;
[16]214   
215    # automatically call build if needed to
216    # allow the new->parse->write shortcut
217    $self->build unless $self->{built};
218   
[1]219    if ($outfile) {
220        open FORM, "> $outfile";
221        print FORM $self->form->render;
222        close FORM;
223    } else {
224        print $self->form->render;
225    }
226}
227
[12]228sub write_module {
[16]229    my ($self, $package, $use_tidy) = @_;
[12]230
[32]231    croak '[Text::FormBuilder::write_module] Expecting a package name' unless $package;
[16]232   
233    # automatically call build if needed to
234    # allow the new->parse->write shortcut
235    $self->build unless $self->{built};
236   
237    # conditionally use Data::Dumper
238    eval 'use Data::Dumper;';
239    die "Can't write module; need Data::Dumper. $@" if $@;
240   
[12]241    # don't dump $VARn names
242    $Data::Dumper::Terse = 1;
243   
[30]244    my $css;
245    $css = $self->{build_options}{css} || $DEFAULT_CSS;
246    $css .= $self->{build_options}{extra_css} if $self->{build_options}{extra_css};
247   
[23]248    my %options = (
249        %DEFAULT_OPTIONS,
[24]250        title => $self->{form_spec}{title},
[25]251        text  => $self->{form_spec}{description},
[29]252        fields   => [ map { $$_{name} } @{ $self->{form_spec}{fields} } ],
[24]253        required => [ map { $$_{name} } grep { $$_{required} } @{ $self->{form_spec}{fields} } ],
[23]254        template => {
255            type => 'Text',
256            engine => {
257                TYPE       => 'STRING',
[30]258                SOURCE     => $self->{build_options}{form_only} ? $self->_form_template : $self->_template($css),
[23]259                DELIMITERS => [ qw(<% %>) ],
260            },
261            data => {
[29]262                sections    => $self->{form_spec}{sections},
[23]263                author      => $self->{form_spec}{author},
264                description => $self->{form_spec}{description},
265            },
266        }, 
267        %{ $self->{build_options} },
268    );
269   
[16]270    my $source = $options{form_only} ? $self->_form_template : $self->_template;
[12]271   
[30]272    # remove our custom options
273    delete $options{$_} foreach qw(form_only css extra_css);
[16]274   
[23]275    my $form_options = keys %options > 0 ? Data::Dumper->Dump([\%options],['*options']) : '';
[16]276   
[12]277    my $field_setup = join(
278        "\n", 
279        map { '$cgi_form->field' . Data::Dumper->Dump([$_],['*field']) . ';' } @{ $self->{form_spec}{fields} }
280    );
281   
282    my $module = <<END;
283package $package;
284use strict;
285use warnings;
286
287use CGI::FormBuilder;
288
[15]289sub get_form {
[12]290    my \$cgi = shift;
[23]291    my \$cgi_form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
[12]292        params => \$cgi,
[16]293        $form_options
[12]294    );
295   
296    $field_setup
297   
298    return \$cgi_form;
299}
300
301# module return
3021;
303END
[23]304
[12]305    my $outfile = (split(/::/, $package))[-1] . '.pm';
306   
[16]307    if ($use_tidy) {
308        # clean up the generated code, if asked
309        eval 'use Perl::Tidy';
310        die "Can't tidy the code: $@" if $@;
311        Perl::Tidy::perltidy(source => \$module, destination => $outfile);
312    } else {
313        # otherwise, just print as is
[12]314        open FORM, "> $outfile";
315        print FORM $module;
316        close FORM;
317    }
318}
319
[16]320sub form {
321    my $self = shift;
322   
323    # automatically call build if needed to
324    # allow the new->parse->write shortcut
325    $self->build unless $self->{built};
[1]326
[16]327    return $self->{form};
328}
329
[12]330sub _form_template {
[15]331q[<% $description ? qq[<p id="description">$description</p>] : '' %>
332<% (grep { $_->{required} } @fields) ? qq[<p id="instructions">(Required fields are marked in <strong>bold</strong>.)</p>] : '' %>
[12]333<% $start %>
[23]334<%
335    # drop in the hidden fields here
336    $OUT = join("\n", map { $$_{field} } grep { $$_{type} eq 'hidden' } @fields);
337%>
338
[29]339<%
340    SECTION: while (my $section = shift @sections) {
[30]341        $OUT .= qq[<table id="] . ($$section{id} || '_default') . qq[">\n];
342        $OUT .= qq[  <caption><h2 class="sectionhead">$$section{head}</h2></caption>] if $$section{head};
[29]343        TABLE_LINE: for my $line (@{ $$section{lines} }) {
344            if ($$line[0] eq 'head') {
[30]345                $OUT .= qq[  <tr><th class="subhead" colspan="2"><h3>$$line[1]</h3></th></tr>\n]
[29]346            } elsif ($$line[0] eq 'field') {
347                #TODO: we only need the field names, not the full field spec in the lines strucutre
348                local $_ = $field{$$line[1]{name}};
349                # skip hidden fields in the table
350                next TABLE_LINE if $$_{type} eq 'hidden';
351               
352                $OUT .= $$_{invalid} ? qq[  <tr class="invalid">] : qq[  <tr>];
[30]353               
354                # special case single value checkboxes
355                if ($$_{type} eq 'checkbox' && @{ $$_{options} } == 1) {
356                    $OUT .= qq[<th></th>];
357                } else {
358                    $OUT .= '<th class="label">' . ($$_{required} ? qq[<strong class="required">$$_{label}:</strong>] : "$$_{label}:") . '</th>';
359                }
[29]360                if ($$_{invalid}) {
[30]361                    $OUT .= qq[<td>$$_{field} $$_{comment} Missing or invalid value.</td>];
[29]362                } else {
[30]363                    $OUT .= qq[<td>$$_{field} $$_{comment}</td>];
[29]364                }
[30]365                $OUT .= qq[</tr>\n];
366               
[29]367            } elsif ($$line[0] eq 'group') {
368                my @field_names = map { $$_{name} } @{ $$line[1]{group} };
369                my @group_fields = map { $field{$_} } @field_names;
370                $OUT .= (grep { $$_{invalid} } @group_fields) ? qq[  <tr class="invalid">\n] : qq[  <tr>\n];
371               
372                $OUT .= '    <th class="label">';
373                $OUT .= (grep { $$_{required} } @group_fields) ? qq[<strong class="required">$$line[1]{label}:</strong>] : "$$line[1]{label}:";
374                $OUT .= qq[</th>\n];
375               
376                $OUT .= qq[    <td>];
377                $OUT .= join(' ', map { qq[<small class="sublabel">$$_{label}</small> $$_{field} $$_{comment}] } @group_fields);
378                $OUT .= qq[    </td>\n];
379                $OUT .= qq[  </tr>\n];
380            }   
[21]381        }
[29]382        # close the table if there are sections remaining
383        # but leave the last one open for the submit button
384        $OUT .= qq[</table>\n] if @sections;
385    }
386%>
[12]387  <tr><th></th><td style="padding-top: 1em;"><% $submit %></td></tr>
388</table>
389<% $end %>
390];
391}
392
[1]393sub _template {
[12]394    my $self = shift;
[30]395    my $css = shift || $DEFAULT_CSS;
[12]396q[<html>
[1]397<head>
398  <title><% $title %><% $author ? ' - ' . ucfirst $author : '' %></title>
[30]399  <style type="text/css">] .
400$css . q[
[1]401  </style>
402</head>
403<body>
404
405<h1><% $title %></h1>
406<% $author ? qq[<p id="author">Created by $author</p>] : '' %>
[12]407] . $self->_form_template . q[
[1]408<hr />
409<div id="footer">
[16]410  <p id="creator">Made with <a href="http://formbuilder.org/">CGI::FormBuilder</a> version <% CGI::FormBuilder->VERSION %>.</p>
[1]411</div>
412</body>
413</html>
414];
415}
416
[7]417sub dump { 
418    eval "use YAML;";
419    unless ($@) {
420        print YAML::Dump(shift->{form_spec});
421    } else {
422        warn "Can't dump form spec structure: $@";
423    }
424}
[1]425
426
427# module return
4281;
429
430=head1 NAME
431
[21]432Text::FormBuilder - Create CGI::FormBuilder objects from simple text descriptions
[1]433
434=head1 SYNOPSIS
435
[16]436    use Text::FormBuilder;
437   
[1]438    my $parser = Text::FormBuilder->new;
439    $parser->parse($src_file);
440   
[16]441    # returns a new CGI::FormBuilder object with
442    # the fields from the input form spec
[7]443    my $form = $parser->form;
[19]444   
445    # write a My::Form module to Form.pm
446    $parser->write_module('My::Form');
[1]447
[23]448=head1 REQUIRES
449
450L<Parse::RecDescent>, L<CGI::FormBuilder>, L<Text::Template>
451
[1]452=head1 DESCRIPTION
453
454=head2 new
455
456=head2 parse
457
[19]458    # parse a file
459    $parser->parse($filename);
[7]460   
[19]461    # or pass a scalar ref for parse a literal string
462    $parser->parse(\$string);
463
464Parse the file or string. Returns the parser object.
465
466=head2 parse_file
467
468    $parser->parse_file($src_file);
469   
[7]470    # or as a class method
[16]471    my $parser = Text::FormBuilder->parse($src_file);
[7]472
473=head2 parse_text
474
[16]475    $parser->parse_text($src);
476
[19]477Parse the given C<$src> text. Returns the parser object.
[16]478
[1]479=head2 build
480
[12]481    $parser->build(%options);
[7]482
[12]483Builds the CGI::FormBuilder object. Options directly used by C<build> are:
484
485=over
486
[19]487=item C<form_only>
[12]488
489Only uses the form portion of the template, and omits the surrounding html,
[19]490title, author, and the standard footer. This does, however, include the
491description as specified with the C<!description> directive.
[12]492
[30]493=item C<css>, C<extra_css>
494
495These options allow you to tell Text::FormBuilder to use different
496CSS styles for the built in template. A value given a C<css> will
497replace the existing CSS, and a value given as C<extra_css> will be
498appended to the CSS. If both options are given, then the CSS that is
499used will be C<css> concatenated with C<extra_css>.
500
[12]501=back
502
503All other options given to C<build> are passed on verbatim to the
504L<CGI::FormBuilder> constructor. Any options given here override the
505defaults that this module uses.
506
[16]507The C<form>, C<write>, and C<write_module> methods will all call
508C<build> with no options for you if you do not do so explicitly.
509This allows you to say things like this:
510
511    my $form = Text::FormBuilder->new->parse('formspec.txt')->form;
512
513However, if you need to specify options to C<build>, you must call it
514explictly after C<parse>.
515
[7]516=head2 form
517
518    my $form = $parser->form;
519
[16]520Returns the L<CGI::FormBuilder> object. Remember that you can modify
521this object directly, in order to (for example) dynamically populate
522dropdown lists or change input types at runtime.
[7]523
[1]524=head2 write
525
[7]526    $parser->write($out_file);
527    # or just print to STDOUT
528    $parser->write;
529
[29]530Calls C<render> on the FormBuilder form, and either writes the resulting
531HTML to a file, or to STDOUT if no filename is given.
[7]532
[29]533CSS Hint: to get multiple sections to all line up their fields, set a
534standard width for th.label
535
[12]536=head2 write_module
537
[16]538    $parser->write_module($package, $use_tidy);
[12]539
540Takes a package name, and writes out a new module that can be used by your
541CGI script to render the form. This way, you only need CGI::FormBuilder on
542your server, and you don't have to parse the form spec each time you want
[16]543to display your form. The generated module has one function (not exported)
544called C<get_form>, that takes a CGI object as its only argument, and returns
545a CGI::FormBuilder object.
[12]546
[16]547First, you parse the formspec and write the module, which you can do as a one-liner:
548
[19]549    $ perl -MText::FormBuilder -e"Text::FormBuilder->parse('formspec.txt')->write_module('My::Form')"
[16]550
551And then, in your CGI script, use the new module:
552
[12]553    #!/usr/bin/perl -w
554    use strict;
555   
556    use CGI;
[19]557    use My::Form;
[12]558   
559    my $q = CGI->new;
[19]560    my $form = My::Form::get_form($q);
[12]561   
562    # do the standard CGI::FormBuilder stuff
563    if ($form->submitted && $form->validate) {
564        # process results
565    } else {
566        print $q->header;
567        print $form->render;
568    }
569
[16]570If you pass a true value as the second argument to C<write_module>, the parser
571will run L<Perl::Tidy> on the generated code before writing the module file.
572
[19]573    # write tidier code
574    $parser->write_module('My::Form', 1);
575
[7]576=head2 dump
577
[16]578Uses L<YAML> to print out a human-readable representation of the parsed
[7]579form spec.
580
[1]581=head1 LANGUAGE
582
[19]583    field_name[size]|descriptive label[hint]:type=default{option1[display string],...}//validate
[1]584   
585    !title ...
586   
[12]587    !author ...
588   
[16]589    !description {
590        ...
591    }
592   
[1]593    !pattern name /regular expression/
[16]594   
[1]595    !list name {
[7]596        option1[display string],
597        option2[display string],
[1]598        ...
599    }
[12]600   
601    !list name &{ CODE }
602   
[29]603    !section id heading
604   
[12]605    !head ...
[1]606
607=head2 Directives
608
609=over
610
611=item C<!pattern>
612
[12]613Defines a validation pattern.
614
[1]615=item C<!list>
616
[12]617Defines a list for use in a C<radio>, C<checkbox>, or C<select> field.
618
[1]619=item C<!title>
620
[7]621=item C<!author>
622
[16]623=item C<!description>
624
[19]625A brief description of the form. Suitable for special instructions on how to
626fill out the form.
627
[29]628=item C<!section>
629
630Starts a new section. Each section has its own heading and id, which are
631written by default into spearate tables.
632
[12]633=item C<!head>
634
635Inserts a heading between two fields. There can only be one heading between
636any two fields; the parser will warn you if you try to put two headings right
637next to each other.
638
[1]639=back
640
641=head2 Fields
642
[24]643First, a note about multiword strings in the fields. Anywhere where it says
644that you may use a multiword string, this means that you can do one of two
645things. For strings that consist solely of alphanumeric characters (i.e.
646C<\w+>) and spaces, the string will be recognized as is:
[1]647
[24]648    field_1|A longer label
649
650If you want to include non-alphanumerics (e.g. punctuation), you must
651single-quote the string:
652
653    field_2|'Dept./Org.'
654
655To include a literal single-quote in a single-quoted string, escape it with
656a backslash:
657
658    field_3|'\'Official\' title'
659
660Now, back to the basics. Form fields are each described on a single line.
661The simplest field is just a name (which cannot contain any whitespace):
662
[19]663    color
664
665This yields a form with one text input field of the default size named `color'.
666The label for this field as generated by CGI::FormBuilder would be ``Color''.
667To add a longer or more descriptive label, use:
668
669    color|Favorite color
670
[24]671The descriptive label can be a multiword string, as described above.
[19]672
673To use a different input type:
674
675    color|Favorite color:select{red,blue,green}
676
677Recognized input types are the same as those used by CGI::FormBuilder:
678
679    text        # the default
680    textarea
[23]681    password
682    file
683    checkbox
684    radio
[19]685    select
[23]686    hidden
[19]687    static
688
[21]689To change the size of the input field, add a bracketed subscript after the
690field name (but before the descriptive label):
[19]691
[21]692    # for a single line field, sets size="40"
693    title[40]:text
694   
695    # for a multiline field, sets rows="4" and cols="30"
696    description[4,30]:textarea
697
698For the input types that can have options (C<select>, C<radio>, and
699C<checkbox>), here's how you do it:
700
701    color|Favorite color:select{red,blue,green}
702
[24]703Values are in a comma-separated list of single words or multiword strings
704inside curly braces. Whitespace between values is irrelevant.
[21]705
[26]706To add more descriptive display text to a value in a list, add a square-bracketed
[19]707``subscript,'' as in:
708
709    ...:select{red[Scarlet],blue[Azure],green[Olive Drab]}
710
[1]711If you have a list of options that is too long to fit comfortably on one line,
[26]712you should use the C<!list> directive:
[1]713
[19]714    !list MONTHS {
715        1[January],
716        2[February],
717        3[March],
718        # and so on...
719    }
720   
721    month:select@MONTHS
722
723There is another form of the C<!list> directive: the dynamic list:
724
725    !list RANDOM &{ map { rand } (0..5) }
726
727The code inside the C<&{ ... }> is C<eval>ed by C<build>, and the results
728are stuffed into the list. The C<eval>ed code can either return a simple
[21]729list, as the example does, or the fancier C<< ( { value1 => 'Description 1'},
730{ value2 => 'Description 2}, ... ) >> form.
[19]731
[24]732I<B<NOTE:> This feature of the language may go away unless I find a compelling
[19]733reason for it in the next few versions. What I really wanted was lists that
734were filled in at run-time (e.g. from a database), and that can be done easily
[24]735enough with the CGI::FormBuilder object directly.>
[19]736
[26]737If you want to have a single checkbox (e.g. for a field that says ``I want to
738recieve more information''), you can just specify the type as checkbox without
739supplying any options:
740
741    moreinfo|I want to recieve more information:checkbox
742
[30]743In this case, the label ``I want to recieve more information'' will be
744printed to the right of the checkbox.
[26]745
[19]746You can also supply a default value to the field. To get a default value of
747C<green> for the color field:
748
749    color|Favorite color:select=green{red,blue,green}
750
[24]751Default values can also be either single words or multiword strings.
752
[19]753To validate a field, include a validation type at the end of the field line:
754
755    email|Email address//EMAIL
756
[21]757Valid validation types include any of the builtin defaults from L<CGI::FormBuilder>,
[19]758or the name of a pattern that you define with the C<!pattern> directive elsewhere
759in your form spec:
760
761    !pattern DAY /^([1-3][0-9])|[1-9]$/
762   
763    last_day//DAY
764
765If you just want a required value, use the builtin validation type C<VALUE>:
766
767    title//VALUE
768
[24]769By default, adding a validation type to a field makes that field required. To
770change this, add a C<?> to the end of the validation type:
771
772    contact//EMAIL?
773
774In this case, you would get a C<contact> field that was optional, but if it
775were filled in, would have to validate as an C<EMAIL>.
776
[1]777=head2 Comments
778
779    # comment ...
780
781Any line beginning with a C<#> is considered a comment.
782
[7]783=head1 TODO
784
[31]785Allow for custom wrappers around the C<form_template>
786
[23]787Use the custom message file format for messages in the built in template
788
[30]789Maybe use HTML::Template instead of Text::Template for the built in template
[28]790(since CGI::FormBuilder users may be more likely to already have HTML::Template)
791
[23]792Better examples in the docs (maybe a standalone or two as well)
793
794Document the defaults that are passed to CGI::FormBuilder
795
[16]796C<!include> directive to include external formspec files
[7]797
[19]798Better tests!
[16]799
[23]800=head1 BUGS
801
[30]802I'm sure they're in there, I just haven't tripped over any new ones lately. :-)
[26]803
[1]804=head1 SEE ALSO
805
806L<CGI::FormBuilder>
807
[23]808=head1 THANKS
809
[26]810Thanks to eszpee for pointing out some bugs in the default value parsing,
811as well as some suggestions for i18n/l10n and splitting up long forms into
[29]812sections.
[23]813
[16]814=head1 AUTHOR
815
816Peter Eichman <peichman@cpan.org>
817
818=head1 COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
819
820Copyright E<copy>2004 by Peter Eichman.
821
822This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
823modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.
824
[1]825=cut
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