=head1 NAME Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::Intro - Catalyst Tutorial - Part 1: Introduction =head1 OVERVIEW This is B for the Catalyst tutorial. L =over 4 =item 1 B =item 2 L =item 3 L =item 4 L =item 5 L =item 6 L =item 7 L =item 8 L =item 9 L =item 10 L =back =head1 DESCRIPTION This tutorial provides a multipart introduction to the Catalyst web framework. It seeks to provide a rapid overview of many of its most commonly used features. The focus is on the real-world best practices required in the construction of nearly all Catalyst applications. Although the primary target of the tutorial is users new to the Catalyst framework, experienced users may wish to review specific sections (for example, how to use DBIC for their model classes, how to add authentication and authorization to an existing application, or form management). You can obtain the code for all the tutorial examples from the catalyst subversion repository by issuing the command: svn co http://dev.catalyst.perl.org/repos/Catalyst/tags/examples/Tutorial/MyApp/5.7/ CatalystTutorial This will download the current code for each tutorial chapter in the CatalystTutorial directory. Each example application directory has the same name as the tutorial chapter. B B It should make little or no difference to Catalyst's operation, but this tutorial has been written using Ubuntu 8.04 because that represents a quick and easy for most people to try out Catalyst with virtually zero setup time and hassles. See the Catalyst installation section below for more information. If you're reading this manual online, you can download the example program and all the necessary dependencies to your local machine by installing the C distribution from CPAN: cpan Task::Catalyst::Tutorial This will also test to make sure the dependencies are working. If you have trouble installing these, please ask for help on the #catalyst IRC channel, or the Catalyst mailing list. Subjects covered by the tutorial include: =over 4 =item * A simple application that lists and adds books. =item * The use of L (DBIC) for the model. =item * How to write CRUD (Create, Read, Update, and Delete) operations in Catalyst. =item * Authentication ("auth"). =item * Role-based authorization ("authz"). =item * Attempts to provide an example showing current (5.7XXX) Catalyst practices. For example, the use of L, DBIC, L with C, the use of C vs. C, etc. =item * The use of Template Toolkit (TT) and the L view helper. =item * Useful techniques for troubleshooting and debugging Catalyst applications. =item * The use of SQLite as a database (with code also provided for MySQL and PostgreSQL). =item * The use of L for automated form processing and validation. =back This tutorial makes the learning process its main priority. For example, the level of comments in the code found here would likely be considered excessive in a "normal project." Because of their contextual value, this tutorial will generally favor inline comments over a separate discussion in the text. It also deliberately tries to demonstrate multiple approaches to various features (in general, you should try to be as consistent as possible with your own production code). Furthermore, this tutorial tries to minimize the number of controllers, models, TT templates, and database tables. Although this does result in things being a bit contrived at times, the concepts should be applicable to more complex environments. More complete and complicated example applications can be found in the C area of the Catalyst Subversion repository at L. B There are a variety of other introductory materials available through the Catalyst web site and at L and L. =head1 VERSIONS AND CONVENTIONS USED IN THIS TUTORIAL This tutorial was built using the following resources. Please note that you may need to make adjustments for different environments and versions: =over 4 =item * Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron =item * Catalyst v5.7011 =item * Catalyst::Devel v1.03 =item * DBIx::Class v0.08008 =item * Catalyst Plugins The plugins used in this tutorial all have sufficiently stable APIs that you shouldn't need to worry about versions. However, there could be cases where the tutorial is affected by what version of plugins you use. This tutorial has been tested against the following set of plugins: =over 4 =item * Catalyst::Plugin::Authentication -- v0.10002 =item * Catalyst::Plugin::Authentication::Store::DBIC -- v0.09 =item * Catalyst::Plugin::Authorization::ACL -- v0.08 =item * Catalyst::Plugin::Authorization::Roles -- v0.05 =item * Catalyst::Plugin::ConfigLoader -- v0.17 =item * Catalyst::Plugin::Session -- v0.18 =item * Catalyst::Plugin::Session::State::Cookie -- v0.08 =item * Catalyst::Plugin::Session::Store::FastMmap -- v0.03 =item * Catalyst::Plugin::StackTrace -- v0.06 =item * Catalyst::Plugin::Static::Simple -- v0.20 =back =item * Since the web browser is being used on the same box where Perl and the Catalyst development server is running, the URL of C will be used (the Catalyst development server defaults to port 3000). If you are running Perl on a different box than where your web browser is located (or using a different port number via the C<-p> I option to the development server), then you will need to update the URL you use accordingly. =item * Depending on the web browser you are using, you might need to hit C to pull a fresh page when testing your application at various points. Also, the C<-k> keepalive option to the development server can be necessary with some browsers (especially Internet Explorer). =back =head1 CATALYST INSTALLATION If approach in the wrong manner, it can be a daunting tasks to get Catalyst initially installed. Although a compelling strength of Catalyst is that it makes use of many of the modules in the vast repository that is CPAN, this can complicate the installation process. However, there are a growing number of methods that can dramatically ease this undertaking. Of these, the following are likely to be applicable to the largest number of potential new users: =over 4 =item * Ubuntu Given the popularity of Ubuntu and it's ease of use, Ubuntu can be a great way for newcomers to experiment with Catalyst. Because it is a "live CD," you can simply boot from the CD, run a few commands, and you should have a fully functional environment in which to do this tutorial in a matter of minutes. =over 4 =item * Download Ubuntu 8.04 (aka, Hardy Heron) Desktop edition and boot from the CD and/or image file, select your language, and then "Try Ubuntu without any changes to your computer." =item * Open a terminal session (click "Applications" in the upper-left corner, then "Accessories," then "Terminal"). =item * Add the 'universe' repositories: sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list And remove the comments from the lines under the comments about the 'universe' repositories. =item * Install Catalyst: sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install libdbd-sqlite3-perl libcatalyst-perl libcatalyst-modules-perl libconfig-general-perl Accept all of the dependencies. Done. NOTE: If you are low on disk space after the above commands (use C to tell), you can free up some space with C (the Live CD uses memory for disk space, so having a decent amount of memory will help). And, while the instructions above mention the Live CD because that makes it easy for people new to Linux, you can obviously also use one of the options to install Ubuntu on your drive. =back =item * Matt Trout's C Available at L, C can be a quick and painless way to get Catalyst up and running. Just download the script from the link above and type C. =item * Chris Laco's CatInABox Download the tarball from L and unpack it on your machine. Depending on your OS platform, either run C or C. =item * Pre-Built VMWare Images Under the VMWare community program, work is ongoing to develop a number of VMWare images where an entire Catalyst development environment has already been installed, complete with database engines and a full complement of Catalyst plugins. =back For additional information and recommendations on Catalyst installation, please refer to L. B Step-by-step instructions to replicate the environment on which this tutorial was developed can be found at L. Using these instructions, you should be able to build a complete CentOS 4.X server with Catalyst and all the plugins required to run this tutorial. =head1 DATABASES This tutorial will primarily focus on SQLite because of its simplicity of installation and use; however, modifications in the script required to support MySQL and PostgreSQL will be presented in Appendix 2. B One of the advantages of the MVC design patterns is that applications become much more database independent. As such, you will notice that only the C<.sql> files used to initialize the database change between database systems: the Catalyst code generally remains the same. =head1 WHERE TO GET WORKING CODE Each part of the tutorial has complete code available in the main Catalyst Subversion repository (see the note at the beginning of each part for the appropriate svn command to use). Additionally, the final code is available as a ready-to-run tarball at L. B You can run the test cases for the final code with the following commands: wget http://dev.catalyst.perl.org/repos/Catalyst/trunk/examples/Tutorial/Final_Tarball/MyApp.tgz tar zxvf MyApp.tgz cd MyApp CATALYST_DEBUG=0 prove --lib lib t =head1 AUTHOR Kennedy Clark, C Please report any errors, issues or suggestions to the author. The most recent version of the Catalyst Tutorial can be found at L. Copyright 2006, Kennedy Clark, under Creative Commons License (L).