package Text::FormBuilder; use strict; use warnings; use base qw(Exporter); use vars qw($VERSION @EXPORT); $VERSION = '0.07_03'; @EXPORT = qw(create_form); use Carp; use Text::FormBuilder::Parser; use CGI::FormBuilder; # the static default options passed to CGI::FormBuilder->new my %DEFAULT_OPTIONS = ( method => 'GET', javascript => 0, keepextras => 1, ); # the built in CSS for the template my $DEFAULT_CSS = < 'Created by %s', text_madewith => 'Made with %s version %s', text_required => '(Required fields are marked in bold.)', text_invalid => 'Missing or invalid value.', ); my $DEFAULT_CHARSET = 'iso-8859-1'; # options to clean up the code with Perl::Tidy my $TIDY_OPTIONS = '-nolq -ci=4 -ce'; my $HTML_EXTS = qr/\.html?$/; my $MODULE_EXTS = qr/\.pm$/; my $SCRIPT_EXTS = qr/\.(pl|cgi)$/; # superautomagical exported function sub create_form { my ($source, $options, $destination) = @_; my $parser = __PACKAGE__->parse($source); $parser->build(%{ $options || {} }); if ($destination) { if (ref $destination) { croak "[Text::FormBuilder::create_form] Don't know what to do with a ref for $destination"; #TODO: what do ref dests mean? } else { # write webpage, script, or module if ($destination =~ $MODULE_EXTS) { $parser->write_module($destination); } elsif ($destination =~ $SCRIPT_EXTS) { $parser->write_script($destination); } else { $parser->write($destination); } } } else { defined wantarray ? return $parser->form : $parser->write; } } sub new { my $invocant = shift; my $class = ref $invocant || $invocant; my $self = { parser => Text::FormBuilder::Parser->new, }; return bless $self, $class; } sub parse { my ($self, $source) = @_; if (my $type = ref $source) { if ($type eq 'SCALAR') { $self->parse_text($$source); } elsif ($type eq 'ARRAY') { $self->parse_array(@$source); } else { croak "[Text::FormBuilder::parse] Unknown ref type $type passed as source"; } } else { $self->parse_file($source); } } sub parse_array { my ($self, @lines) = @_; # so it can be called as a class method $self = $self->new unless ref $self; $self->parse_text(join("\n", @lines)); return $self; } sub parse_file { my ($self, $filename) = @_; # so it can be called as a class method $self = $self->new unless ref $self; local $/ = undef; open SRC, "< $filename" or croak "[Text::FormBuilder::parse_file] Can't open $filename: $!" and return; my $src = ; close SRC; return $self->parse_text($src); } sub parse_text { my ($self, $src) = @_; # so it can be called as a class method $self = $self->new unless ref $self; # append a newline so that it can be called on a single field easily $src .= "\n"; $self->{form_spec} = $self->{parser}->form_spec($src); # mark structures as not built (newly parsed text) $self->{built} = 0; return $self; } # this is where a lot of the magic happens sub build { my ($self, %options) = @_; # our custom %options: # form_only: use only the form part of the template my $form_only = $options{form_only}; # css, extra_css: allow for custom inline stylesheets # neat trick: css => '@import(my_external_stylesheet.css);' # will let you use an external stylesheet # CSS Hint: to get multiple sections to all line up their fields, # set a standard width for th.label my $css; $css = $options{css} || $DEFAULT_CSS; $css .= $options{extra_css} if $options{extra_css}; # messages # code pulled (with modifications) from CGI::FormBuilder if ($options{messages}) { # if its a hashref, we'll just pass it on to CGI::FormBuilder if (my $ref = ref $options{messages}) { # hashref pass on to CGI::FormBuilder croak "[Text::FormBuilder] Argument to 'messages' option must be a filename or hashref" unless $ref eq 'HASH'; while (my ($key,$value) = each %DEFAULT_MESSAGES) { $options{messages}{$key} ||= $DEFAULT_MESSAGES{$key}; } } else { # filename, just *warn* on missing, and use defaults if (-f $options{messages} && -r _ && open(MESSAGES, "< $options{messages}")) { $options{messages} = { %DEFAULT_MESSAGES }; while() { next if /^\s*#/ || /^\s*$/; chomp; my($key,$value) = split ' ', $_, 2; ($options{messages}{$key} = $value) =~ s/\s+$//; } close MESSAGES; } else { carp "[Text::FormBuilder] Could not read messages file $options{messages}: $!"; } } } else { $options{messages} = { %DEFAULT_MESSAGES }; } my $charset = $options{charset}; # save the build options so they can be used from write_module $self->{build_options} = { %options }; # remove our custom options before we hand off to CGI::FormBuilder delete $options{$_} foreach qw(form_only css extra_css charset); # expand groups if (my %groups = %{ $self->{form_spec}{groups} || {} }) { for my $section (@{ $self->{form_spec}{sections} || [] }) { foreach (grep { $$_[0] eq 'group' } @{ $$section{lines} }) { $$_[1]{group} =~ s/^\%//; # strip leading % from group var name if (exists $groups{$$_[1]{group}}) { my @fields; # fields in the group push @fields, { %$_ } foreach @{ $groups{$$_[1]{group}} }; for my $field (@fields) { $$field{label} ||= ucfirst $$field{name}; $$field{name} = "$$_[1]{name}_$$field{name}"; } $_ = [ 'group', { label => $$_[1]{label} || ucfirst(join(' ',split('_',$$_[1]{name}))), group => \@fields } ]; } } } } # the actual fields that are given to CGI::FormBuilder # make copies so that when we trim down the sections # we don't lose the form field information $self->{form_spec}{fields} = []; for my $section (@{ $self->{form_spec}{sections} || [] }) { for my $line (@{ $$section{lines} }) { if ($$line[0] eq 'group') { push @{ $self->{form_spec}{fields} }, { %{$_} } foreach @{ $$line[1]{group} }; } elsif ($$line[0] eq 'field') { push @{ $self->{form_spec}{fields} }, { %{$$line[1]} }; } } } # substitute in custom validation subs and pattern definitions for field validation my %patterns = %{ $self->{form_spec}{patterns} || {} }; my %subs = %{ $self->{form_spec}{subs} || {} }; foreach (@{ $self->{form_spec}{fields} }) { if ($$_{validate}) { if (exists $patterns{$$_{validate}}) { $$_{validate} = $patterns{$$_{validate}}; # TODO: need the Data::Dumper code to work for this # for now, we just warn that it doesn't work } elsif (exists $subs{$$_{validate}}) { warn "[Text::FormBuilder] validate coderefs don't work yet"; delete $$_{validate}; ## $$_{validate} = $subs{$$_{validate}}; } } } # substitute in list names if (my %lists = %{ $self->{form_spec}{lists} || {} }) { foreach (@{ $self->{form_spec}{fields} }) { next unless $$_{list}; $$_{list} =~ s/^\@//; # strip leading @ from list var name # a hack so we don't get screwy reference errors if (exists $lists{$$_{list}}) { my @list; push @list, { %$_ } foreach @{ $lists{$$_{list}} }; $$_{options} = \@list; } else { # assume that the list name is a builtin # and let it fall through to CGI::FormBuilder $$_{options} = $$_{list}; } } continue { delete $$_{list}; } } # special case single-value checkboxes foreach (grep { $$_{type} && $$_{type} eq 'checkbox' } @{ $self->{form_spec}{fields} }) { unless ($$_{options}) { $$_{options} = [ { $$_{name} => $$_{label} || ucfirst join(' ',split(/_/,$$_{name})) } ]; } } # use the list for displaying checkbox groups foreach (@{ $self->{form_spec}{fields} }) { $$_{ulist} = 1 if ref $$_{options} and @{ $$_{options} } >= 3; } # remove extraneous undefined values for my $field (@{ $self->{form_spec}{fields} }) { defined $$field{$_} or delete $$field{$_} foreach keys %{ $field }; } # remove false $$_{required} params because this messes up things at # the CGI::FormBuilder::field level; it seems to be marking required # based on the existance of a 'required' param, not whether it is # true or defined $$_{required} or delete $$_{required} foreach @{ $self->{form_spec}{fields} }; foreach (@{ $self->{form_spec}{sections} }) { #for my $line (grep { $$_[0] eq 'field' } @{ $$_{lines} }) { for my $line (@{ $$_{lines} }) { if ($$line[0] eq 'field') { $$line[1] = $$line[1]{name}; ## $_ eq 'name' or delete $$line[1]{$_} foreach keys %{ $$line[1] }; ## } elsif ($$line[0] eq 'group') { ## $$line[1] = [ map { $$_{name} } @{ $$line[1]{group} } ]; } } } $self->{form} = CGI::FormBuilder->new( %DEFAULT_OPTIONS, # need to explicity set the fields so that simple text fields get picked up fields => [ map { $$_{name} } @{ $self->{form_spec}{fields} } ], required => [ map { $$_{name} } grep { $$_{required} } @{ $self->{form_spec}{fields} } ], title => $self->{form_spec}{title}, text => $self->{form_spec}{description}, template => { type => 'Text', engine => { TYPE => 'STRING', SOURCE => $form_only ? $self->_form_template : $self->_template($css, $charset), DELIMITERS => [ qw(<% %>) ], }, data => { sections => $self->{form_spec}{sections}, author => $self->{form_spec}{author}, description => $self->{form_spec}{description}, }, }, %options, ); $self->{form}->field(%{ $_ }) foreach @{ $self->{form_spec}{fields} }; # mark structures as built $self->{built} = 1; return $self; } sub write { my ($self, $outfile) = @_; # automatically call build if needed to # allow the new->parse->write shortcut $self->build unless $self->{built}; if ($outfile) { open FORM, "> $outfile"; print FORM $self->form->render; close FORM; } else { print $self->form->render; } } # generates the core code to create the $form object # the generated code assumes that you have a CGI.pm # object named $q sub _form_code { my $self = shift; # automatically call build if needed to # allow the new->parse->write shortcut $self->build unless $self->{built}; # conditionally use Data::Dumper eval 'use Data::Dumper;'; die "Can't write module; need Data::Dumper. $@" if $@; $Data::Dumper::Terse = 1; # don't dump $VARn names $Data::Dumper::Quotekeys = 0; # don't quote simple string keys my $css; $css = $self->{build_options}{css} || $DEFAULT_CSS; $css .= $self->{build_options}{extra_css} if $self->{build_options}{extra_css}; my %options = ( %DEFAULT_OPTIONS, title => $self->{form_spec}{title}, text => $self->{form_spec}{description}, fields => [ map { $$_{name} } @{ $self->{form_spec}{fields} } ], required => [ map { $$_{name} } grep { $$_{required} } @{ $self->{form_spec}{fields} } ], template => { type => 'Text', engine => { TYPE => 'STRING', SOURCE => $self->{build_options}{form_only} ? $self->_form_template : $self->_template($css, $self->{build_options}{charset}), DELIMITERS => [ qw(<% %>) ], }, data => { sections => $self->{form_spec}{sections}, author => $self->{form_spec}{author}, description => $self->{form_spec}{description}, }, }, %{ $self->{build_options} }, ); # remove our custom options delete $options{$_} foreach qw(form_only css extra_css); my %module_subs; my $d = Data::Dumper->new([ \%options ], [ '*options' ]); use B::Deparse; my $deparse = B::Deparse->new; ## ## #TODO: need a workaround/better solution since Data::Dumper doesn't like dumping coderefs ## foreach (@{ $self->{form_spec}{fields} }) { ## if (ref $$_{validate} eq 'CODE') { ## my $body = $deparse->coderef2text($$_{validate}); ## #$d->Seen({ "*_validate_$$_{name}" => $$_{validate} }); ## #$module_subs{$$_{name}} = "sub _validate_$$_{name} $$_{validate}"; ## } ## } ## my $sub_code = join("\n", each %module_subs); my $form_options = keys %options > 0 ? $d->Dump : ''; my $field_setup = join( "\n", map { '$form->field' . Data::Dumper->Dump([$_],['*field']) . ';' } @{ $self->{form_spec}{fields} } ); return <new( params => \$q, $form_options ); $field_setup END } sub write_module { my ($self, $package, $use_tidy) = @_; croak '[Text::FormBuilder::write_module] Expecting a package name' unless $package; my $form_code = $self->_form_code; my $module = <_form_code; my $script = <new; $form_code unless (\$form->submitted && \$form->validate) { print \$form->render; } else { # do something with the entered data } END _write_output_file($script, $script_name, $use_tidy); return $self; } sub _write_output_file { my ($source_code, $outfile, $use_tidy) = @_; if ($use_tidy) { # clean up the generated code, if asked eval 'use Perl::Tidy'; die "Can't tidy the code: $@" if $@; Perl::Tidy::perltidy(source => \$source_code, destination => $outfile, argv => $TIDY_OPTIONS); } else { # otherwise, just print as is open OUT, "> $outfile" or die $!; print OUT $source_code; close OUT; } } sub form { my $self = shift; # automatically call build if needed to # allow the new->parse->write shortcut $self->build unless $self->{built}; return $self->{form}; } sub _form_template { my $self = shift; my $msg_required = $self->{build_options}{messages}{text_required}; my $msg_invalid = $self->{build_options}{messages}{text_invalid}; return q{<% $description ? qq[

$description

] : '' %> <% (grep { $_->{required} } @fields) ? qq[

} . $msg_required . q{

] : '' %> <% $start %> <% # drop in the hidden fields here $OUT = join("\n", map { $$_{field} } grep { $$_{type} eq 'hidden' } @fields); %>} . q[ <% SECTION: while (my $section = shift @sections) { $OUT .= qq[\n]; $OUT .= qq[ ] if $$section{head}; TABLE_LINE: for my $line (@{ $$section{lines} }) { if ($$line[0] eq 'head') { $OUT .= qq[ \n] } elsif ($$line[0] eq 'field') { local $_ = $field{$$line[1]}; # skip hidden fields in the table next TABLE_LINE if $$_{type} eq 'hidden'; $OUT .= $$_{invalid} ? qq[ ] : qq[ ]; # special case single value checkboxes if ($$_{type} eq 'checkbox' && @{ $$_{options} } == 1) { $OUT .= qq[]; } else { $OUT .= ''; } # mark invalid fields if ($$_{invalid}) { $OUT .= ""; } else { $OUT .= qq[]; } $OUT .= qq[\n]; } elsif ($$line[0] eq 'group') { my @group_fields = map { $field{$_} } map { $$_{name} } @{ $$line[1]{group} }; $OUT .= (grep { $$_{invalid} } @group_fields) ? qq[ \n] : qq[ \n]; $OUT .= ' \n]; $OUT .= qq[ \n]; $OUT .= qq[ \n]; } } # close the table if there are sections remaining # but leave the last one open for the submit button $OUT .= qq[

$$section{head}

$$line[1]

' . ($$_{required} ? qq[$$_{label}:] : "$$_{label}:") . '$$_{field} $$_{comment} ] . $msg_invalid . q[$$_{field} $$_{comment}
'; $OUT .= (grep { $$_{required} } @group_fields) ? qq[$$line[1]{label}:] : "$$line[1]{label}:"; $OUT .= qq[]; $OUT .= join(' ', map { qq[$$_{label} $$_{field} $$_{comment}] } @group_fields); $OUT .= " $msg_invalid" if $$_{invalid}; $OUT .= qq[
\n] if @sections; } %> <% $submit %> <% $end %> ]; } # usage: $self->_pre_template($css, $charset) sub _pre_template { my $self = shift; my $css = shift || $DEFAULT_CSS; my $charset = shift || $DEFAULT_CHARSET; my $msg_author = 'sprintf("' . quotemeta($self->{build_options}{messages}{text_author}) . '", $author)'; return q[ <% $title %><% $author ? ' - ' . ucfirst $author : '' %> <% $jshead %>

<% $title %>

<% $author ? qq[

] . ] . $msg_author . q{ . q[

] : '' %> }; } sub _post_template { my $self = shift; my $msg_madewith = 'sprintf("' . quotemeta($self->{build_options}{messages}{text_madewith}) . '", q[CGI::FormBuilder], CGI::FormBuilder->VERSION)'; return qq[
]; } # usage: $self->_template($css, $charset) sub _template { my $self = shift; return $self->_pre_template(@_) . $self->_form_template . $self->_post_template; } sub dump { eval "use YAML;"; unless ($@) { print YAML::Dump(shift->{form_spec}); } else { warn "Can't dump form spec structure: $@"; } } # module return 1; =head1 NAME Text::FormBuilder - Create CGI::FormBuilder objects from simple text descriptions =head1 SYNOPSIS use Text::FormBuilder; my $parser = Text::FormBuilder->new; $parser->parse($src_file); # returns a new CGI::FormBuilder object with # the fields from the input form spec my $form = $parser->form; # write a My::Form module to Form.pm $parser->write_module('My::Form'); =head1 REQUIRES L, L, L =head1 DESCRIPTION This module is intended to extend the idea of making it easy to create web forms by allowing you to describe them with a simple langauge. These I are then passed through this module's parser and converted into L objects that you can easily use in your CGI scripts. In addition, this module can generate code for standalone modules which allow you to separate your form design from your script code. A simple formspec looks like this: name//VALUE email//EMAIL langauge:select{English,Spanish,French,German} moreinfo|Send me more information:checkbox interests:checkbox{Perl,karate,bass guitar} This will produce a required C test field, a required C text field that must look like an email address, an optional select dropdown field C with the choices English, Spanish, French, and German, an optional C checkbox labeled ``Send me more information'', and finally a set of checkboxes named C with the choices Perl, karate, and bass guitar. =head1 METHODS =head2 new my $parser = Text::FormBuilder->new; =head2 parse # parse a file (regular scalar) $parser->parse($filename); # or pass a scalar ref for parse a literal string $parser->parse(\$string); # or an array ref to parse lines $parser->parse(\@lines); Parse the file or string. Returns the parser object. This method, along with all of its C siblings, may be called as a class method to construct a new object. =head2 parse_file $parser->parse_file($src_file); # or as a class method my $parser = Text::FormBuilder->parse($src_file); =head2 parse_text $parser->parse_text($src); Parse the given C<$src> text. Returns the parser object. =head2 parse_array $parser->parse_array(@lines); Concatenates and parses C<@lines>. Returns the parser object. =head2 build $parser->build(%options); Builds the CGI::FormBuilder object. Options directly used by C are: =over =item C Only uses the form portion of the template, and omits the surrounding html, title, author, and the standard footer. This does, however, include the description as specified with the C directive. =item C, C These options allow you to tell Text::FormBuilder to use different CSS styles for the built in template. A value given a C will replace the existing CSS, and a value given as C will be appended to the CSS. If both options are given, then the CSS that is used will be C concatenated with C. If you want to use an external stylesheet, a quick way to get this is to set the C parameter to import your file: css => '@import(my_external_stylesheet.css);' =item C This works the same way as the C parameter to C<< CGI::FormBuilder->new >>; you can provide either a hashref of messages or a filename. The default messages used by Text::FormBuilder are: text_author Created by %s text_madewith Made with %s version %s text_required (Required fields are marked in bold.) text_invalid Missing or invalid value. Any messages you set here get passed on to CGI::FormBuilder, which means that you should be able to put all of your customization messages in one big file. =item C Sets the character encoding for the generated page. The default is ISO-8859-1. =back All other options given to C are passed on verbatim to the L constructor. Any options given here override the defaults that this module uses. The C
, C, and C methods will all call C with no options for you if you do not do so explicitly. This allows you to say things like this: my $form = Text::FormBuilder->new->parse('formspec.txt')->form; However, if you need to specify options to C, you must call it explictly after C. =head2 form my $form = $parser->form; Returns the L object. Remember that you can modify this object directly, in order to (for example) dynamically populate dropdown lists or change input types at runtime. =head2 write $parser->write($out_file); # or just print to STDOUT $parser->write; Calls C on the FormBuilder form, and either writes the resulting HTML to a file, or to STDOUT if no filename is given. =head2 write_module $parser->write_module($package, $use_tidy); Takes a package name, and writes out a new module that can be used by your CGI script to render the form. This way, you only need CGI::FormBuilder on your server, and you don't have to parse the form spec each time you want to display your form. The generated module has one function (not exported) called C, that takes a CGI object as its only argument, and returns a CGI::FormBuilder object. First, you parse the formspec and write the module, which you can do as a one-liner: $ perl -MText::FormBuilder -e"Text::FormBuilder->parse('formspec.txt')->write_module('My::Form')" And then, in your CGI script, use the new module: #!/usr/bin/perl -w use strict; use CGI; use My::Form; my $q = CGI->new; my $form = My::Form::get_form($q); # do the standard CGI::FormBuilder stuff if ($form->submitted && $form->validate) { # process results } else { print $q->header; print $form->render; } If you pass a true value as the second argument to C, the parser will run L on the generated code before writing the module file. # write tidier code $parser->write_module('My::Form', 1); =head2 write_script $parser->write_script($filename, $use_tidy); If you don't need the reuseability of a separate module, you can have Text::FormBuilder write the form object to a script for you, along with the simplest framework for using it, to which you can add your actual form processing code. The generated script looks like this: #!/usr/bin/perl use strict; use warnings; use CGI; use CGI::FormBuilder; my $q = CGI->new; my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new( params => $q, # ... lots of other stuff to set up the form ... ); $form->field( name => 'month' ); $form->field( name => 'day' ); unless ( $form->submitted && $form->validate ) { print $form->render; } else { # do something with the entered data ... # this is where your form processing code should go } Like C, you can optionally pass a true value as the second argument to have Perl::Tidy make the generated code look nicer. =head2 dump Uses L to print out a human-readable representation of the parsed form spec. =head1 EXPORTS There is one exported function, C, that is intended to ``do the right thing'' in simple cases. =head2 create_form # get a CGI::FormBuilder object my $form = create_form($source, $options, $destination); # or just write the form immediately create_form($source, $options, $destination); C<$source> accepts any of the types of arguments that C does. C<$options> is a hashref of options that should be passed to C. Finally, C<$destination> is a simple scalar that determines where and what type of output C should generate. /\.pm$/ ->write_module($destination) /\.(cgi|pl)$/ ->write_script($destination) everything else ->write($destination) For anything more than simple, one-off cases, you are usually better off using the object-oriented interface, since that gives you more control over things. =head1 DEFAULTS These are the default settings that are passed to C<< CGI::FormBuilder->new >>: method => 'GET' javascript => 0 keepextras => 1 Any of these can be overriden by the C method: # use POST instead $parser->build(method => 'POST')->write; =head1 LANGUAGE field_name[size]|descriptive label[hint]:type=default{option1[display string],...}//validate !title ... !author ... !description { ... } !pattern NAME /regular expression/ !list NAME { option1[display string], option2[display string], ... } !list NAME &{ CODE } !group NAME { field1 field2 ... } !section id heading !head ... =head2 Directives =over =item C Defines a validation pattern. =item C Defines a list for use in a C, C, or C, C, and C), here's how you do it: color|Favorite color:select{red,blue,green} Values are in a comma-separated list of single words or multiword strings inside curly braces. Whitespace between values is irrelevant. To add more descriptive display text to a value in a list, add a square-bracketed ``subscript,'' as in: ...:select{red[Scarlet],blue[Azure],green[Olive Drab]} If you have a list of options that is too long to fit comfortably on one line, you should use the C directive: !list MONTHS { 1[January], 2[February], 3[March], # and so on... } month:select@MONTHS There is another form of the C directive: the dynamic list: !list RANDOM &{ map { rand } (0..5) } The code inside the C<&{ ... }> is Ced by C, and the results are stuffed into the list. The Ced code can either return a simple list, as the example does, or the fancier C<< ( { value1 => 'Description 1'}, { value2 => 'Description 2}, ... ) >> form. I This feature of the language may go away unless I find a compelling reason for it in the next few versions. What I really wanted was lists that were filled in at run-time (e.g. from a database), and that can be done easily enough with the CGI::FormBuilder object directly.> If you want to have a single checkbox (e.g. for a field that says ``I want to recieve more information''), you can just specify the type as checkbox without supplying any options: moreinfo|I want to recieve more information:checkbox In this case, the label ``I want to recieve more information'' will be printed to the right of the checkbox. You can also supply a default value to the field. To get a default value of C for the color field: color|Favorite color:select=green{red,blue,green} Default values can also be either single words or multiword strings. To validate a field, include a validation type at the end of the field line: email|Email address//EMAIL Valid validation types include any of the builtin defaults from L, or the name of a pattern that you define with the C directive elsewhere in your form spec: !pattern DAY /^([1-3][0-9])|[1-9]$/ last_day//DAY If you just want a required value, use the builtin validation type C: title//VALUE By default, adding a validation type to a field makes that field required. To change this, add a C to the end of the validation type: contact//EMAIL? In this case, you would get a C field that was optional, but if it were filled in, would have to validate as an C. =head2 Field Groups You can define groups of fields using the C directive: !group DATE { month:select@MONTHS//INT day[2]//INT year[4]//INT } You can then include instances of this group using the C directive: !field %DATE birthday This will create a line in the form labeled ``Birthday'' which contains a month dropdown, and day and year text entry fields. The actual input field names are formed by concatenating the C name (e.g. C) with the name of the subfield defined in the group (e.g. C, C, C). Thus in this example, you would end up with the form fields C, C, and C. =head2 Comments # comment ... Any line beginning with a C<#> is considered a comment. =head1 TODO Allow renaming of the submit button; allow renaming and inclusion of a reset button Allow for custom wrappers around the C Maybe use HTML::Template instead of Text::Template for the built in template (since CGI::FormBuilder users may be more likely to already have HTML::Template) C directive to include external formspec files Better tests! =head1 BUGS Creating two $parsers in the same script causes the second one to get the data from the first one. I'm sure there are more in there, I just haven't tripped over any new ones lately. :-) Suggestions on how to improve the (currently tiny) test suite would be appreciated. =head1 SEE ALSO L =head1 THANKS Thanks to eszpee for pointing out some bugs in the default value parsing, as well as some suggestions for i18n/l10n and splitting up long forms into sections. =head1 AUTHOR Peter Eichman C<< >> =head1 COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE Copyright E2004 by Peter Eichman. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. =cut