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1 | =head1 NAME |
2 | |
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3 | Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::Intro - Catalyst Tutorial - Part 1: Introduction |
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4 | |
5 | |
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6 | =head1 OVERVIEW |
7 | |
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8 | This is B<Part 1 of 9> of the Catalyst Tutorial. |
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9 | |
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10 | L<Tutorial Overview|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial> |
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11 | |
12 | =over 4 |
13 | |
14 | =item 1 |
15 | |
16 | B<Introduction> |
17 | |
18 | =item 2 |
19 | |
20 | L<Catalyst Basics|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::CatalystBasics> |
21 | |
22 | =item 3 |
23 | |
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24 | L<Basic CRUD|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::BasicCRUD> |
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25 | |
26 | =item 4 |
27 | |
28 | L<Authentication|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::Authentication> |
29 | |
30 | =item 5 |
31 | |
32 | L<Authorization|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::Authorization> |
33 | |
34 | =item 6 |
35 | |
36 | L<Debugging|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::Debugging> |
37 | |
38 | =item 7 |
39 | |
40 | L<Testing|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::Testing> |
41 | |
42 | =item 8 |
43 | |
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44 | L<Advanced CRUD|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::AdvancedCRUD> |
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45 | |
46 | =item 9 |
47 | |
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48 | L<Appendices|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::Appendices> |
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49 | |
50 | =back |
51 | |
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52 | =head1 DESCRIPTION |
53 | |
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54 | This tutorial provides a multipart introduction to the Catalyst web |
55 | framework. It seeks to provide a rapid overview of many of its most |
56 | commonly used features. The focus is on the real-world best practices |
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57 | required in the construction of nearly all Catalyst applications. |
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58 | |
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59 | Although the primary target of the tutorial is users new to the Catalyst |
60 | framework, experienced users may wish to review specific sections (for |
61 | example, how to use DBIC for their model classes or how to add |
62 | authentication and authorization to an existing application). |
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63 | |
64 | Subjects covered include: |
65 | |
66 | =over 4 |
67 | |
68 | =item * |
69 | |
70 | A simple application that lists and adds books. |
71 | |
72 | =item * |
73 | |
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74 | The use of L<DBIx::Class|DBIx::Class> (DBIC) for the model. |
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75 | |
76 | =item * |
77 | |
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78 | How to write CRUD (Create, Read, Update, and Delete) operations in |
79 | Catalyst. |
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80 | |
81 | =item * |
82 | |
83 | Authentication ("auth"). |
84 | |
85 | =item * |
86 | |
87 | Role-based authorization ("authz"). |
88 | |
89 | =item * |
90 | |
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91 | Attempts to provide an example showing current (5.7X) Catalyst |
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92 | practices. For example, the use of |
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93 | L<Catalyst::Action::RenderView|Catalyst::Action::RenderView>, |
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94 | DBIC, L<Catalyst::Plugin::ConfigLoader|Catalyst::Plugin::ConfigLoader> |
95 | with C<myapp.yml>, the use of C<lib/MyApp/Controller/Root.pm> |
96 | vs. C<lib/MyApp.pm>, etc. |
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97 | |
98 | =item * |
99 | |
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100 | The use of Template Toolkit (TT) and the |
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101 | L<Catalyst::Helper::View::TTSite|Catalyst::Helper::View::TTSite> |
102 | view helper. |
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103 | |
104 | =item * |
105 | |
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106 | Useful techniques for troubleshooting and debugging Catalyst |
107 | applications. |
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108 | |
109 | =item * |
110 | |
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111 | The use of SQLite as a database (with code also provided for MySQL and |
112 | PostgreSQL). |
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113 | |
114 | =item * |
115 | |
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116 | The use of L<HTML::Widget|HTML::Widget> for automated form processing |
117 | and validation. |
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118 | |
119 | =back |
120 | |
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121 | This tutorial makes the learning process its main priority. For |
122 | example, the level of comments in the code found here would like be |
123 | considered excessive in a "normal project". Because of their contextual |
124 | value, this tutorial will generally favor inline comments over a |
125 | separate discussion in the text. It also deliberately tries to |
126 | demonstrate multiple approaches to various features (in general, you |
127 | should try to be as consistent as possible with your own production |
128 | code). |
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129 | |
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130 | Furthermore, this tutorial tries to minimize the number of controllers, |
131 | models, TT templates, and database tables. Although this does result in |
132 | things being a bit contrived at times, the concepts should be applicable |
133 | to more complex environments. More complete and complicated example |
134 | applications can be found in the C<examples> area of the Catalyst |
135 | Subversion repository at |
136 | L<http://dev.catalyst.perl.org/repos/Catalyst/trunk/examples/>. |
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137 | |
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138 | B<Note:> There are a variety of other introductory materials available |
139 | through the Catalyst web site and at |
140 | L<http://dev.catalyst.perl.org/wiki/UserIntroductions> and |
141 | L<http://dev.catalyst.perl.org/>. |
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142 | |
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143 | =head1 VERSIONS AND CONVENTIONS USED IN THIS TUTORIAL |
144 | |
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145 | This tutorial was built using the following resources. Please note that |
146 | you may need to make adjustments for different environments and |
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147 | versions: |
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148 | |
149 | =over 4 |
150 | |
151 | =item * |
152 | |
153 | OS = CentOS 4 Linux (RHEL 4) |
154 | |
155 | =item * |
156 | |
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157 | Catalyst v5.6902 |
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158 | |
159 | =item * |
160 | |
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161 | DBIx::Class v0.06003 |
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162 | |
163 | =item * |
164 | |
165 | Catalyst Plugins |
166 | |
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167 | The plugins used in this tutorial all have sufficiently stable APIs that |
168 | you shouldn't need to worry about versions. However, there could be |
169 | cases where the tutorial is affected by what version of plugins you |
170 | use. The plugins used for this tutorial are: |
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171 | |
172 | =over 4 |
173 | |
174 | =item * |
175 | |
176 | Catalyst::Plugin::Authentication -- 0.07 |
177 | |
178 | =item * |
179 | |
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180 | Catalyst::Plugin::Authentication::Credential::Password -- 0.07 |
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181 | |
182 | =item * |
183 | |
184 | Catalyst::Plugin::Authentication::Store::DBIC -- 0.06 |
185 | |
186 | =item * |
187 | |
188 | Catalyst::Plugin::Authorization::ACL -- 0.06 |
189 | |
190 | =item * |
191 | |
192 | Catalyst::Plugin::Authorization::Roles -- 0.04 |
193 | |
194 | =item * |
195 | |
196 | Catalyst::Plugin::ConfigLoader -- 0.07 |
197 | |
198 | =item * |
199 | |
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200 | Catalyst::Plugin::HTML::Widget -- 1.1 |
201 | |
202 | =item * |
203 | |
204 | Catalyst::Plugin::Session -- 0.05 |
205 | |
206 | =item * |
207 | |
208 | Catalyst::Plugin::Session::FastMmap -- 0.12 |
209 | |
210 | =item * |
211 | |
212 | Catalyst::Plugin::Session::State::Cookie -- 0.02 |
213 | |
214 | =item * |
215 | |
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216 | Catalyst::Plugin::Session::Store::FastMmap -- 0.02 |
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217 | |
218 | =item * |
219 | |
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220 | Catalyst::Plugin::StackTrace -- 0.04 |
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221 | |
222 | =item * |
223 | |
224 | Catalyst::Plugin::Static::Simple -- 0.14 |
225 | |
226 | =back |
227 | |
228 | =item * |
229 | |
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230 | Since the web browser is being used on the same box where Perl and the |
231 | Catalyst development server is running, the URL of |
232 | C<http://localhost:3000> will be used (the Catalyst development server |
233 | defaults to port 3000). If you are running Perl on a different box than |
234 | where your web browser is located (or using a different port number via |
235 | the C<-p> I<port_number> option to the development server), then you |
236 | will need to update the URL you use accordingly. |
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237 | |
238 | =item * |
239 | |
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240 | Depending on the web browser you are using, you might need to hit |
241 | C<Shift+Reload> to pull a fresh page when testing your application at |
242 | various points. Also, the C<-k> keepalive option to the development |
243 | server can be necessary with some browsers (especially Internet |
244 | Explorer). |
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245 | |
246 | =back |
247 | |
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248 | =head1 CATALYST INSTALLATION |
249 | |
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250 | Unfortunately, one of the most daunting tasks faced by newcomers to |
251 | Catalyst is getting it installed. Although a compelling strength of |
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252 | Catalyst is that it can easily make use of many of the modules in the |
253 | vast repository that is CPAN, this can result in initial installations |
254 | that are both time consuming and frustrating. However, there are a |
255 | growing number of methods that can dramatically ease this undertaking. |
256 | Of these, the following are likely to be applicable to the largest |
257 | number of potential new users: |
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258 | |
259 | =over 4 |
260 | |
261 | =item * |
262 | |
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263 | Matt Trout's C<cat-install> |
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264 | |
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265 | Available at L<http://www.shadowcatsystems.co.uk/static/cat-install>, |
266 | C<cat-install> can be a quick and painless way to get Catalyst up and |
267 | running. Just download the script from the link above and type C<perl |
268 | cat-install>. |
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269 | |
270 | =item * |
271 | |
272 | Chris Laco's CatInABox |
273 | |
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274 | Download the tarball from |
275 | L<http://handelframework.com/downloads/CatInABox.tar.gz> and unpack it |
276 | on your machine. Depending on your OS platform, either run C<start.bat> |
277 | or C<start.sh>. |
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278 | |
279 | =item * |
280 | |
281 | Pre-Built VMWare Images |
282 | |
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283 | Under the VMWare community program, work is ongoing to develop a number |
284 | of VMWare images where an entire Catalyst development environment has |
285 | already been installed, complete with database engines and a full |
286 | complement of Catalyst plugins. |
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287 | |
288 | =back |
289 | |
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290 | For additional information and recommendations on Catalyst installation, |
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291 | please refer to |
292 | L<Catalyst::Manual::Installation|Catalyst::Manual::Installation>. |
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293 | |
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294 | B<NOTE:> Step-by-step instructions to replicate the environment on |
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295 | which this tutorial was developed can be found at |
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296 | L<Catalyst::Manual::Installation::CentOS4|Catalyst::Manual::Installation::CentOS4>. |
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297 | Using these instructions, you should be able to build a complete CentOS |
298 | 4.X server with Catalyst and all the plugins required to run this |
299 | tutorial. |
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300 | |
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301 | =head1 DATABASES |
302 | |
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303 | This tutorial will primarily focus on SQLite because of its simplicity |
304 | of installation and use; however, modifications in the script required |
305 | to support MySQL and PostgreSQL will be presented in Appendix 2. |
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306 | |
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307 | B<Note:> One of the advantages of the MVC design patterns is that |
308 | applications become much more database independent. As such, you will |
309 | notice that only the C<.sql> files used to initialize the database |
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310 | change between database systems: the Catalyst code generally remains the |
311 | same. |
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312 | |
313 | =head1 WHERE TO GET WORKING CODE |
314 | |
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315 | Each part of the tutorial has complete code available in the main |
316 | Catalyst Subversion repository (see the note at the beginning of each |
317 | part for the appropriate svn command to use). Additionally, the final |
318 | code is available as a ready-to-run tarball at |
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319 | I<TO_BE_ADDED_TO_FINAL_VERSION>. |
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320 | |
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321 | |
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322 | =head1 AUTHOR |
323 | |
324 | Kennedy Clark, C<hkclark@gmail.com> |
325 | |
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326 | Please report any errors, issues or suggestions to the author. The |
327 | most recent version of the Catlayst Tutorial can be found at |
328 | L<http://dev.catalyst.perl.org/repos/Catalyst/trunk/Catalyst-Runtime/lib/Catalyst/Manual/Tutorial/>. |
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329 | |
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330 | Copyright 2006, Kennedy Clark, under Creative Commons License |
331 | (L<http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/>). |
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332 | |
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333 | |