Catalyst::Upgrading - Instructions for upgrading to the latest Catalyst
+=head1 Upgrading to Catalyst 5.90060
+
+Starting in the v5.90059_001 development release, the regexp dispatch type is
+no longer automatically included as a dependency. If you are still using this
+dispatch type, you need to add L<Catalyst::DispatchType::Regex> into your build
+system.
+
+The standalone distribution of Regexp will be supported for the time being, but
+should we find that supporting it prevents us from moving L<Catalyst> forward
+in necessary ways, we reserve the right to drop that support. It is highly
+recommended that you use this last stage of deprecation to change your code.
+
+=head1 Upgrading to Catalyst 5.90040
+
+=head2 Catalyst::Plugin::Unicode::Encoding is now core
+
+The previously stand alone Unicode support module L<Catalyst::Plugin::Unicode::Encoding>
+has been brought into core as a default plugin. Going forward, all you need is
+to add a configuration setting for the encoding type. For example:
+
+ package Myapp::Web;
+
+ use Catalyst;
+
+ __PACKAGE__->config( encoding => 'UTF-8' );
+
+Please note that this is different from the old stand alone plugin which applied
+C<UTF-8> encoding by default (that is, if you did not set an explicit
+C<encoding> configuration value, it assumed you wanted UTF-8). In order to
+preserve backwards compatibility you will need to explicitly turn it on via the
+configuration setting. THIS MIGHT CHANGE IN THE FUTURE, so please consider
+starting to test your application with proper UTF-8 support and remove all those
+crappy hacks you munged into the code because you didn't know the Plugin
+existed :)
+
+For people that are using the Plugin, you will note a startup warning suggesting
+that you can remove it from the plugin list. When you do so, please remember to
+add the configuration setting, since you can no longer rely on the default being
+UTF-8. We'll add it for you if you continue to use the stand alone plugin and
+we detect this, but this backwards compatibility shim will likely be removed in
+a few releases (trying to clean up the codebase after all).
+
+If you have trouble with any of this, please bring it to the attention of the
+Catalyst maintainer group.
+
+=head2 basic async and event loop support
+
+This version of L<Catalyst> offers some support for using L<AnyEvent> and
+L<IO::Async> event loops in your application. These changes should work
+fine for most applications however if you are already trying to perform
+some streaming, minor changes in this area of the code might affect your
+functionality. Please see L<Catalyst::Response\write_fh> for more and for a
+basic example.
+
+We consider this feature experimental. We will try not to break it, but we
+reserve the right to make necessary changes to fix major issues that people
+run into when the use this functionality in the wild.
+
+=head1 Upgrading to Catalyst 5.90030
+
+=head2 Regex dispatch type is deprecated.
+
+The Regex dispatchtype (L<Catalyst::DispatchType::Regex>) has been deprecated.
+
+You are encouraged to move your application to Chained dispatch (L<Catalyst::DispatchType::Chained>).
+
+If you cannot do so, please add a dependency to Catalyst::DispatchType::Regex to your application's
+Makefile.PL
+
+=head1 Upgrading to Catalyst 5.9
+
+The major change is that L<Plack>, a toolkit for using the L<PSGI>
+specification, now replaces most of the subclasses of L<Catalyst::Engine>. If
+you are using one of the standard subclasses of L<Catalyst::Engine> this
+should be a straightforward upgrade for you. It was a design goal for
+this release to preserve as much backwards compatibility as possible.
+However, since L<Plack> is different from L<Catalyst::Engine>, it is
+possible that differences exist for edge cases. Therefore, we recommend
+that care be taken with this upgrade and that testing should be greater
+than would be the case with a minor point update. Please inform the
+Catalyst developers of any problems so that we can fix them and
+incorporate tests.
+
+It is highly recommended that you become familiar with the L<Plack> ecosystem
+and documentation. Being able to take advantage of L<Plack> development and
+middleware is a major bonus to this upgrade. Documentation about how to
+take advantage of L<Plack::Middleware> by writing your own C<< .psgi >> file
+is contained in L<Catalyst::PSGI>.
+
+If you have created a custom subclass of L<Catalyst:Engine>, you will
+need to convert it to be a subclass of L<Plack::Handler>.
+
+If you are using the L<Plack> engine, L<Catalyst::Engine::PSGI>, this new
+release supersedes that code.
+
+If you are using a subclass of L<Catalyst::Engine> that is aimed at
+nonstandard or internal/testing uses, such as
+L<Catalyst::Engine::Embeddable>, you should still be able to continue
+using that engine.
+
+Advice for specific subclasses of L<Catalyst::Engine> follows:
+
+=head2 Upgrading the FastCGI Engine
+
+No upgrade is needed if your myapp_fastcgi.pl script is already upgraded
+to use L<Catalyst::Script::FastCGI>.
+
+=head2 Upgrading the mod_perl / Apache Engines
+
+The engines that are built upon the various iterations of mod_perl,
+L<Catalyst::Engine::Apache::MP13> (for mod_perl 1, and Apache 1.x) and
+L<Catalyst::Engine::Apache2::MP20> (for mod_perl 2, and Apache 2.x),
+should be seamless upgrades and will work using L<Plack::Handler::Apache1>
+or L<Plack::Handler::Apache2> as required.
+
+L<Catalyst::Engine::Apache2::MP19>, however, is no longer supported, as
+Plack does not support mod_perl version 1.99. This is unlikely to be a
+problem for anyone, as 1.99 was a brief beta-test release for mod_perl
+2, and all users of mod_perl 1.99 are encouraged to upgrade to a
+supported release of Apache 2 and mod_perl 2.
+
+=head2 Upgrading the HTTP Engine
+
+The default development server that comes with the L<Catalyst> distribution
+should continue to work as expected with no changes as long as your C<myapp_server>
+script is upgraded to use L<Catalyst::Script::HTTP>.
+
+=head2 Upgrading the CGI Engine
+
+If you were using L<Catalyst::Engine::CGI> there is no upgrade needed if your
+myapp_cgi.pl script is already upgraded to use L<Catalyst::Script::CGI>.
+
+=head2 Upgrading Catalyst::Engine::HTTP::Prefork
+
+If you were using L<Catalyst::Engine::HTTP::Prefork> then L<Starman>
+is automatically loaded. You should (at least) change your C<Makefile.PL>
+to depend on Starman.
+
+You can regenerate your C<myapp_server.pl> script with C<catalyst.pl>
+and implement a C<MyApp::Script::Server> class that looks like this:
+
+ package MyApp::Script::Server;
+ use Moose;
+ use namespace::autoclean;
+
+ extends 'CatalystX::Script::Server::Starman';
+
+ 1;
+
+This takes advantage of the new script system, and will add a number of
+options to the standard server script as extra options are added by
+Starman.
+
+More information about these options can be seen at
+L<CatalystX::Script::Server::Starman/SYNOPSIS>.
+
+An alternate route to implement this functionality is to write a simple .psgi
+file for your application, and then use the L<plackup> utility to start the
+server.
+
+=head2 Upgrading the PSGI Engine
+
+If you were using L<Catalyst::Engine::PSGI>, this new release supersedes
+this engine in supporting L<Plack>. By default the Engine is now always
+L<Plack>. As a result, you can remove the dependency on
+L<Catalyst::Engine::PSGI> in your C<Makefile.PL>.
+
+Applications that were using L<Catalyst::Engine::PSGI>
+previously should entirely continue to work in this release with no changes.
+
+However, if you have an C<app.psgi> script, then you no longer need to
+specify the PSGI engine. Instead, the L<Catalyst> application class now
+has a new method C<psgi_app> which returns a L<PSGI> compatible coderef
+which you can wrap in the middleware of your choice.
+
+Catalyst will use the .psgi for your application if it is located in the C<home>
+directory of the application.
+
+For example, if you were using L<Catalyst::Engine::PSGI> in the past, you will
+have written (or generated) a C<script/myapp.psgi> file similar to this one:
+
+ use Plack::Builder;
+ use MyCatalytApp;
+
+ MyCatalystApp->setup_engine('PSGI');
+
+ builder {
+ enable ... # enable your desired middleware
+ sub { MyCatalystApp->run(@_) };
+ };
+
+Instead, you now say:
+
+ use Plack::Builder;
+ use MyCatalystApp;
+
+ builder {
+ enable ... #enable your desired middleware
+ MyCatalystApp->psgi_app;
+ };
+
+In the simplest case:
+
+ MyCatalystApp->setup_engine('PSGI');
+ my $app = sub { MyCatalystApp->run(@_) }
+
+becomes
+
+ my $app = MyCatalystApp->psgi_app(@_);
+
+B<NOT>:
+
+ my $app = sub { MyCatalystApp->psgi_app(@_) };
+ # If you make ^^ this mistake, your app won't work, and will confuse the hell out of you!
+
+You can now move C<< script/myapp.psgi >> to C<< myapp.psgi >>, and the built-in
+Catalyst scripts and your test suite will start using your .psgi file.
+
+B<NOTE:> If you rename your .psgi file without these modifications, then
+any tests run via L<Catalyst::Test> will not be compatible with the new
+release, and will result in the development server starting, rather than
+the expected test running.
+
+B<NOTE:> If you are directly accessing C<< $c->req->env >> to get the PSGI
+environment then this accessor is moved to C<< $c->engine->env >>,
+you will need to update your code.
+
+=head2 Engines which are known to be broken
+
+The following engines B<DO NOT> work as of Catalyst version 5.9. The
+core team will be happy to work with the developers and/or users of
+these engines to help them port to the new Plack/Engine system, but for
+now, applications which are currently using these engines B<WILL NOT>
+run without modification to the engine code.
+
+=over
+
+=item Catalyst::Engine::Wx
+
+=item Catalyst::Engine::Zeus
+
+=item Catalyst::Engine::JobQueue::POE
+
+=item Catalyst::Engine::XMPP2
+
+=item Catalyst::Engine::SCGI
+
+=back
+
+=head2 Engines with unknown status
+
+The following engines are untested or have unknown compatibility.
+Reports are highly encouraged:
+
+=over
+
+=item Catalyst::Engine::Mojo
+
+=item Catalyst::Engine::Server (marked as Deprecated)
+
+=item Catalyst::Engine::HTTP::POE (marked as Deprecated)
+
+=back
+
+=head2 Plack functionality
+
+See L<Catalyst::PSGI>.
+
+=head2 Tests in 5.9
+
+Tests should generally work the same in Catalyst 5.9, but there are
+some differences.
+
+Previously, if using L<Catalyst::Test> and doing local requests (against
+a local server), if the application threw an exception then this
+exception propagated into the test.
+
+This behavior has been removed, and now a 500 response will be returned
+to the test. This change standardizes behavior, so that local test
+requests behave similarly to remote requests.
+
=head1 Upgrading to Catalyst 5.80
Most applications and plugins should run unaltered on Catalyst 5.80.
is using deprecated code, or relying on side effects, then you could have
issues upgrading to this release.
-Most issues found with pre-existing components have been easy to
+Most issues found with existing components have been easy to
solve. This document provides a complete description of behavior changes
which may cause compatibility issues, and of new Catalyst warnings which
-be unclear.
+might be unclear.
If you think you have found an upgrade-related issue which is not covered in
this document, please email the Catalyst list to discuss the problem.
You can only apply method modifiers after the application's C<< ->setup >>
method has been called. This means that modifiers will not work with methods
-which run during the call to C<< ->setup >>.
+run during the call to C<< ->setup >>.
See L<Catalyst::Manual::ExtendingCatalyst> for more information about using
L<Moose> in your applications.
to resolve methods using C3, rather than the unpredictable dispatch
order of L<NEXT>.
-This issue is characterised by your application failing to start due to an
+This issue manifests itself by your application failing to start due to an
error message about having a non-linear @ISA.
The Catalyst plugin most often causing this is
To be able to generate a linear @ISA, the list of superclasses for each
class must be resolvable using the C3 algorithm. Unfortunately, when
superclasses are being used as mixins (to add functionality used in your class),
-and with multiple inheritence, it is easy to get this wrong.
+and with multiple inheritance, it is easy to get this wrong.
Most common is the case of:
use Test::More;
isnt(BaseClass->can('foo'), Child->can('foo'));
-=head2 Extending Catalyst::Request or other classes in an ad-hoc manner using mk_accessors
+=head2 Extending Catalyst::Request or other classes in an ad hoc manner using mk_accessors
Previously, it was possible to add additional accessors to Catalyst::Request
(or other classes) by calling the mk_accessors class method.
COMPONENT method you would like to inherit is the first (left-hand most)
COMPONENT method in your @ISA.
+=head2 Development server relying on environment variables
+
+Previously, the development server would allow propagation of system
+environment variables into the request environment, this has changed with the
+adoption of Plack. You can use L<Plack::Middleware::ForceEnv> to achieve the
+same effect.
+
=head1 WARNINGS
=head2 Actions in your application class
The first time one of these methods is called, a warning will be emitted:
Class $class is calling the deprecated method Catalyst::Dispatcher::$public_method_name,
- this will be removed in Catalyst 5.9X
+ this will be removed in Catalyst 5.9
You should B<NEVER> be calling any of these methods from application code.