=head1 DESCRIPTION
-This portion of the tutorial explores L<HTML::FormFu> and
-how it can be used to manage forms, perform validation of form input,
-as well as save and restore data to/from the database. This was written
-using HTML::FormFu version 0.05001.
+This portion of the tutorial explores L<HTML::FormFu> and how it can be
+used to manage forms, perform validation of form input, as well as save
+and restore data to/from the database. This was written using
+HTML::FormFu version 0.05001.
-See
-L<Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::09_AdvancedCRUD>
-for additional form management options other than
-L<HTML::FormFu>.
+See L<Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::09_AdvancedCRUD> for additional form
+management options other than L<HTML::FormFu>.
=head1 HTML::FormFu FORM CREATION
-This section looks at how L<HTML::FormFu> can be used to
-add additional functionality to the manually created form from Chapter 4.
+This section looks at how L<HTML::FormFu> can be used to add additional
+functionality to the manually created form from Chapter 4.
=head2 Inherit From Catalyst::Controller::HTML::FormFu
First, change your C<lib/MyApp/Controller/Books.pm> to inherit from
-L<Catalyst::Controller::HTML::FormFu>
-by changing the C<extends> line from the default of:
+L<Catalyst::Controller::HTML::FormFu> by changing the C<extends> line
+from the default of:
BEGIN {extends 'Catalyst::Controller'; }
=head2 Create a Form Config File
Although C<HTML::FormFu> supports any configuration file handled by
-L<Config::Any>, most people tend to use YAML. First
-create a directory to hold your form configuration files:
+L<Config::Any>, most people tend to use YAML. First create a directory
+to hold your form configuration files:
mkdir -p root/forms/books
-Then create the file C<root/forms/books/formfu_create.yml> and enter the
+Then create the file C<root/forms/books/formfu_create.yml> and enter the
following text:
---
name: submit
value: Submit
-B<NOTE:> Copying and pasting YAML from perl documentation is sometimes
+B<NOTE:> Copying and pasting YAML from Perl documentation is sometimes
tricky. See the L<Config::General Config for this tutorial> section of
this document for a more foolproof config format.
=head2 Update the CSS
-Edit C<root/static/css/main.css> and add the following lines to the bottom of
-the file:
+Edit C<root/static/css/main.css> and add the following lines to the
+bottom of the file:
...
input {
=head2 Create a Template Page To Display The Form
-Open C<root/src/books/formfu_create.tt2> in your editor and enter the following:
+Open C<root/src/books/formfu_create.tt2> in your editor and enter the
+following:
[% META title = 'Create/Update Book' %]
<a href="[% c.uri_for(c.controller.action_for('formfu_create')) %]">Create</a>
</p>
-This adds a new link to the bottom of the book list page that we can
-use to easily launch our HTML::FormFu-based form.
+This adds a new link to the bottom of the book list page that we can use
+to easily launch our HTML::FormFu-based form.
=head2 Test The HTML::FormFu Create Form
with a "Book created" status message displayed.
Also note that this implementation allows you to create books with any
-bogus information. Although we have constrained the authors with the
-drop-down list (note that this isn't bulletproof because we still have
-not prevented a user from "hacking" the form to specify other values),
-there are no restrictions on items such as the length of the title (for
-example, you can create a one-letter title) and the value of the rating
-(you can use any number you want, and even non-numeric values with
+bogus information. Although we have constrained the authors with the
+drop-down list (note that this isn't bulletproof because we still have
+not prevented a user from "hacking" the form to specify other values),
+there are no restrictions on items such as the length of the title (for
+example, you can create a one-letter title) and the value of the rating
+(you can use any number you want, and even non-numeric values with
SQLite). The next section will address this concern.
B<Note:> Depending on the database you are using and how you established
=head1 HTML::FormFu VALIDATION AND FILTERING
-Although the use of L<HTML::FormFu> in the previous section
-did provide an automated mechanism to build the form, the real power of
-this module stems from functionality that can automatically validate and
-filter the user input. Validation uses constraints to be sure that
-users input appropriate data (for example, that the email field of a
-form contains a valid email address). Filtering can also be used to
-remove extraneous whitespace from fields or to escape meta-characters in
-user input.
+Although the use of L<HTML::FormFu> in the previous section did provide
+an automated mechanism to build the form, the real power of this module
+stems from functionality that can automatically validate and filter the
+user input. Validation uses constraints to be sure that users input
+appropriate data (for example, that the email field of a form contains a
+valid email address). Filtering can also be used to remove extraneous
+whitespace from fields or to escape meta-characters in user input.
=head2 Add Constraints
-Open C<root/forms/books/formfu_create.yml> in your editor and update it
+Open C<root/forms/books/formfu_create.yml> in your editor and update it
to match:
---
# Escape HTML characters for safety
- HTMLEscape
-B<NOTE:> Copying and pasting YAML from perl documentation is sometimes
+B<NOTE:> Copying and pasting YAML from Perl documentation is sometimes
tricky. See the L<Config::General Config for this tutorial> section of
this document for a more foolproof config format.
=item *
The C<Select> element for C<authors> is changed from a single-select
-drop-down to a multi-select list by adding configuration for the
+drop-down to a multi-select list by adding configuration for the
C<multiple> and C<size> options in C<formfu_create.yml>.
=item *
Constraints are added to provide validation of the user input. See
-L<HTML::FormFu::Constraint> for other
-constraints that are available.
+L<HTML::FormFu::Constraint> for other constraints that are available.
=item *
-A variety of filters are run on every field to remove and escape
-unwanted input. See L<HTML::FormFu::Filter>
-for more filter options.
+A variety of filters are run on every field to remove and escape
+unwanted input. See L<HTML::FormFu::Filter> for more filter options.
=back
=head2 Try Out the Updated Form
-Make sure you are still logged in as C<test01> and try adding a book
-with various errors: title less than 5 characters, non-numeric rating, a
-rating of 0 or 6, etc. Also try selecting one, two, and zero authors.
-When you click Submit, the HTML::FormFu C<constraint> items will
-validate the logic and insert feedback as appropriate. Try adding blank
-spaces at the front or the back of the title and note that it will be
+Make sure you are still logged in as C<test01> and try adding a book
+with various errors: title less than 5 characters, non-numeric rating, a
+rating of 0 or 6, etc. Also try selecting one, two, and zero authors.
+When you click Submit, the HTML::FormFu C<constraint> items will
+validate the logic and insert feedback as appropriate. Try adding blank
+spaces at the front or the back of the title and note that it will be
removed.
=head1 CREATE AND UPDATE/EDIT ACTION
-Let's expand the work done above to add an edit action. First, open
-C<lib/MyApp/Controller/Books.pm> and add the following method to the
+Let's expand the work done above to add an edit action. First, open
+C<lib/MyApp/Controller/Books.pm> and add the following method to the
bottom:
=head2 formfu_edit
$c->stash(template => 'books/formfu_create.tt2');
}
-Most of this code should look familiar to what we used in the
-C<formfu_create> method (in fact, we should probably centralize some of
+Most of this code should look familiar to what we used in the
+C<formfu_create> method (in fact, we should probably centralize some of
the common code in separate methods). The main differences are:
=over 4
=item *
-We have to manually specify the name of the FormFu .yml file as an
-argument to C<:FormConfig> because the name can no longer be
+We have to manually specify the name of the FormFu .yml file as an
+argument to C<:FormConfig> because the name can no longer be
automatically deduced from the name of our action/method (by default,
FormFu would look for a file named C<books/formfu_edit.yml>).
=item *
-We load the book object from the stash (found using the $id passed to
+We load the book object from the stash (found using the $id passed to
the Chained object method)
=item *
=item *
-We make sure the book lookup returned a valid book. If not, we set
-the error message and return to the book list.
+We make sure the book lookup returned a valid book. If not, we set the
+error message and return to the book list.
=item *
-If the form has been submitted and passes validation, we skip creating a
-new book and just use C<$form-E<gt>model-E<gt>update> to update the existing
-book.
+If the form has been submitted and passes validation, we skip creating a
+new book and just use C<$form-E<gt>model-E<gt>update> to update the
+existing book.
=item *
-If the form is being displayed for the first time (or has failed
+If the form is being displayed for the first time (or has failed
validation and it being redisplayed), we use
- C<$form-E<gt>model-E<gt>default_values> to populate the form with data from the
-database.
+C<$form-E<gt>model-E<gt>default_values> to populate the form with data
+from the database.
=back
-Then, edit C<root/src/books/list.tt2> and add a new link below the
-existing "Delete" link that allows us to edit/update each existing book.
-The last E<lt>tdE<gt> cell in the book list table should look like the
+Then, edit C<root/src/books/list.tt2> and add a new link below the
+existing "Delete" link that allows us to edit/update each existing book.
+The last E<lt>tdE<gt> cell in the book list table should look like the
following:
...
</td>
...
-B<Note:> Only add two lines (the "Add a link to edit a book" comment
-and the href for C<formfu_edit>). Make sure you add it below the
-existing C<delete> link.
+B<Note:> Only add two lines (the "Add a link to edit a book" comment and
+the href for C<formfu_edit>). Make sure you add it below the existing
+C<delete> link.
=head2 Try Out the Edit/Update Feature
-Make sure you are still logged in as C<test01> and go to the
-L<http://localhost:3000/books/list> URL in your browser. Click the
-"Edit" link next to "Internetworking with TCP/IP Vol. II", change the
-rating to a 3, the "II" at end of the title to the number "2", add
-Stevens as a co-author (control-click), and click Submit. You will then
-be returned to the book list with a "Book edited" message at the top in
+Make sure you are still logged in as C<test01> and go to the
+L<http://localhost:3000/books/list> URL in your browser. Click the
+"Edit" link next to "Internetworking with TCP/IP Vol. II", change the
+rating to a 3, the "II" at end of the title to the number "2", add
+Stevens as a co-author (control-click), and click Submit. You will then
+be returned to the book list with a "Book edited" message at the top in
green. Experiment with other edits to various books.
If you are having difficulty with YAML config above, please save the
below into the file C<formfu_create.conf> and delete the
-C<formfu_create.yml> file. The below is in
-L<Config::General> format which follows the syntax of
-Apache config files.
+C<formfu_create.yml> file. The below is in L<Config::General> format
+which follows the syntax of Apache config files.
constraints Required
<elements>
projects / catagits/Catalyst-Manual.git / blobdiff