CGI::FormBuilder::Source3pm

Usage

    # Define a source adapter
    package CGI::FormBuilder::Source::Whatever;
    sub new {
        my $self  = shift;
        my $class = ref($self) || $self;
        my %opt   = @_;
        return bless \%opt, $class;
    }
    sub parse {
        my $self = shift;
        my $file = shift || $self->{source};
        # open the file and parse it, or whatever
        my %formopt;
        open(F, "<$file") || die "Can't read $file: $!";
        while (<F>) {
            # ... do stuff to the line ...
            $formopt{$fb_option} = $fb_value;
        }
        # return hash of $form options
        return wantarray ? %formopt : \%formopt;
    }

Overview

This documentation describes the usage of FormBuilder sources, as well as how to write your own source adapter.

An external source is invoked by using the "source" option to the top-level new() method:

    my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
                    source => 'source_file.conf'
               );

This example points to a filename that contains a file following the "CGI::FormBuilder::Source::File" layout. Like with the "template" option, you can also specify "source" as a reference to a hash, allowing you to use other source adapters:

    my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
                    fields => \@fields,
                    source => {
                        type => 'File',
                        source => '/path/to/source.conf',
                    }
               );

The "type" option specifies the name of the source adapter. Currently accepted types are:

    File  -  CGI::FormBuilder::Source::File

In addition to one of these types, you can also specify a complete package name, in which case that module will be autoloaded and its new() and parse() routines used. For example:

    my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
                    fields => \@fields,
                    source => {
                        type => 'My::Source::Module',
                        somefile => '/path/to/source.conf',
                    }
               );

All other options besides "type" are passed to the constructor for that source module verbatim, so it's up to you and/or the source module on how these additional options should be handled.

Revision

$Id: Source.pm 100 2007-03-02 18:13:13Z nwiger $