=head1 DESCRIPTION
-This tutorial provides a multi-part introduction to the Catalyst web
-framework. It seeks to provide a rapid overview of many of its most
+This tutorial provides a multi-part 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.
authentication and authorization to an existing application, and/or
form management).
-You can obtain the code for all the tutorial examples from the
-catalyst subversion repository by issuing the command:
+The most recent code for the tutorial is included on the Tutorial Virtual
+Machine you can download from:
svn co http://dev.catalyst.perl.org/repos/Catalyst/trunk/examples/Tutorial/ CatalystTutorial
tutorial into the CatalystTutorial directory on your machine.
B<These reference implementations are provided so that when you follow
-the tutorial, you can use the code from the subversion repository to
-ensure that your system is set up correctly, and that you have not
-inadvertently made any typographic errors, or accidentally skipped
-part of the tutorial.>
+the tutorial, you can use the code to ensure that your system is set up
+correctly (which shouldn't be an issue if you use the Tutorial Virtual
+Machine), :-) and that you have not inadvertently made any typographic
+errors, or accidentally skipped part of the tutorial.>
B<NOTE: You can use any Perl-supported OS and environment to run
Catalyst.> It should make little or no difference to Catalyst's
-operation, B<but this tutorial has been written using the Debian 6 Live
-CD> because that represents a quick and easy way for most people to try
-out Catalyst with virtually zero setup time and hassles. Also, the
-tutorial has been tested to work correctly with the versions of Catalyst
-and all the supporting modules in Debian 6 (see "VERSIONS AND
-CONVENTIONS USED IN THIS TUTORIAL" below for the specific versions for
-some of the key modules), so B<if you think you might be running into an
-issue related to versions> (for example, a module changed its behavior
-in a newer version or a bug was introduced), B<it might be worth giving
-Debian 6 a try>.
-
-If you plan to follow along with Debian 6, you can jump down to the
-"Debian" section under L</"CATALYST INSTALLATION"> below and it will
-walk you though the setup of a fully functional Catalyst environment. If
-you would prefer to install directly from CPAN, you can download the
-example program and all the necessary dependencies to your local machine
-by installing the C<Task::Catalyst::Tutorial> distribution:
+operation, B<but this tutorial has been written using the Debian-based
+Tutorial Virtual Machine that you can download and use to work through
+the full tutorial step by step. B<WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU USE
+THE VIRTUAL MACHINE IMAGE TO WORK THROUGH THE TUTORIAL> to avoid issues
+that may crop up if you are working with a different configuration. We
+have tested the Tutorial Virtual Machine to make sure all of the
+examples work correctly, but it is hard to guarantee this on other
+platforms and versions.
+
+If you would prefer to install directly from CPAN and not use the
+Tutorial Virtual machine, you can download the example program and all
+the necessary dependencies to your local machine by installing the
+C<Task::Catalyst::Tutorial> distribution:
cpan Task::Catalyst::Tutorial
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<examples> area of the Catalyst
-Subversion repository at
+applications can be found at
+L<http://wiki.catalystframework.org/wiki/resources/catalystexamples> and
+in the C<examples> area of the Catalyst Subversion repository at
L<http://dev.catalyst.perl.org/repos/Catalyst/trunk/examples/>.
***Todo: update link above?
-=head1 QUICK START
-For those who want to get going quickly, here is a short "cookbook-style
-recipe" to quickly get you up and running. Although there are many
-different ways to get a Catalyst environment going, this tutorial has
-been written with and tested against the Debian 6 Live CD, using the
-steps in this Quick Start.
-
-If you want, you can follow the directions in this section and then jump
-right to L<Chapter 2|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::02_CatalystBasics> of
-the tutorial. However, it would be a good idea to come back and read the
-sections below the Quick Start when you have time. Or, continue reading
-those other sections for suggestions if you do not wish to use the
-Debian 6 Live CD.
+=head1 STARTING WITH THE TUTORIAL VIRTUAL MACHINE
=over 4
=item 2
-Boot this disk, either in a physical machine, or possibly some sort
-of virtual machine (using a VM can be a very handy way to practice).
+Uncompress the image:
+
+ tar zxvf CatalystTutorial.tgz
=item 3
-Select "C<Live>" from the initial boot menu.
+Boot the virtual machine using a tool like VMWare Player
+L<http://www.vmware.com/products/player> or VirtualBox
+L<http://www.virtualbox.org/>.
=item 4
-At the "C<user@debian:~$>" prompt, type:
+Once you get a login prompt, enter the username B<root> and a password
+for C<catalyst>. You should now be at a prompt that looks like:
- sudo aptitude -y install subversion
+ login: root
+ password: catalyst
+ root@catalyst:~#
=item 5
-If you want to be able to remotely SSH to this system, set a
-password for root (you might want to do "dpkg -l | grep openssh-server"
-to be sure the ISO image you downloaded has the SSH daemon installed...
-if it's missing, do a "sudo aptitude -y install openssh-server"):
+Type "C<ifconfig>" to get the IP address assigned to the virtual
+machine. You should get output along the lines of:
- sudo passwd
+ eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:01:22:3b:45:69
+ inet addr:192.168.245.128 Bcast:192.168.245.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
...
-=item 6
+You want the IP address on the second line below the C<eth0> interface.
+The image it design to automatically use a DHCP-assigned address.
+
+If DHCP is not working or is not available in your location, most
+virtual machine "host" environments let's you select between one of
+several different types of networking between the "guest" and the "host"
+machine.
+
+ 1) Bridged
+ 2) NAT
+ 3) Local host only
-Add the "unstable" Debian package repository:
+The Tutorial Virtual Machine defaults to "Bridged" -- this should result
+in the VM acting like another device on your network that will get a
+different DHCP IP address than the host machine. The advantage of this
+approach, is that you can easily SSH and web browse to the guest virtual
+machine.
- sudo vi /etc/apt/sources.list
+In some environments, you might have better luck with "NAT" (Network
+Address Translation) mode. With this configuration, the guest VM shares
+the same IP address as the host machine. The downside of the approach
+is that special configuration is required if you want to be able to SSH
+or web browse to the guest VM (some virtual machine host environments
+let you configure a "static NAT" or "port forwarding" to reach the guest
+OS).
-Add the following line to the bottom of this file:
+"Local host only" mode let's the guest VM and the host machine talk on a
+"private subnet" that other devices in your network cannot reach.
- deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ unstable main
+Consult the documentation on your virtual machine host environment for
+help configuring the options above.
+
+=item 6
+
+B<From your main desktop machine>, open an SSH client and connect to
+the IP address found in the previous step. You should get a login
+prompt (accept the SSH key). Login with the same username and password:
+B<root> / B<catalyst>
=item 7
-Install Catalyst and related libraries:
+B<Using the SSH session>, change to the sample code directory for
+Chapter 3 included with the Tutorial Virtual Machine and start the
+Catalyst Development Server:
- sudo aptitude update
- sudo aptitude -y install libcatalyst-perl libdatetime-format-sqlite-perl \
- libdbix-class-encodedcolumn-perl sqlite3 libcatalyst-modules-perl \
- libperl6-junction-perl libcatalyst-modules-extra-perl \
- libdbix-class-timestamp-perl
- sudo aptitude clean
+ $ cd Final/Chapter03
+ $ perl scripts/myapp_server -r
=item 8
-Test example code:
+B<From your main desktop machine>, open a web browser and go to
+B<http://A.B.C.D:3000/>, where C<A.B.C.D> is the IP address to your
+virtual machine that you looked up in Step 5. For example, if your
+virtual machine is using the IP address C<192.168.0.21>, you would put
+the following URL into your web browser:
+
+ http://192.168.0.21:3000/
+
+Make sure you don't forget the B<:3000> to use port 3000 instead of the
+usual port 80 that is used by HTTP by default.
- mkdir test
- cd test
- svn co http://dev.catalystframework.org/repos/Catalyst/trunk/examples/Tutorial/MyApp_Chapter8
- cd MyApp_Chapter8/MyApp
- CATALYST_DEBUG=0 prove -wl t
- cd
+You should get a Catalyst Welcome Screen. If you do, feel free to jump
+right in to L<Chapter 2|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::02_CatalystBasics>
+of the tutorial. If you don't go get the Catalyst Welcome Screen, go
+back and carefully check each of the steps above.
+
+=item 9
+
+B<Optional:> The VI/VIM editor is already installed on the Tutorial
+Virtual Machine. In order to reduce the size of the download, Emacs is
+not pre-installed. Since people obviously have very strong opinions
+about which editor is best, :-) Debian fortunately make it very easy to
+install Emacs:
+
+ $ aptitude install emacs
=back
=item *
-Catalyst v5.80025
+Catalyst v5.90002
=item *
-Catalyst::Devel v1.28
+Catalyst::Devel v1.34
=item *
-DBIx::Class v0.08123
+DBIx::Class v0.08195
=item *
-Catalyst::Model::DBIC::Schema v0.41
+Catalyst::Model::DBIC::Schema v0.54
=item *
=item *
-HTML::FormFu -- v0.07002
+HTML::FormFu -- v0.09004
=item *
=item *
-This tutorial will assume that the web browser is located on the same
-system where the Catalyst development server is running, and therefore
-use a URL of C<http://localhost:3000> (the Catalyst development server
-defaults to port 3000, but can be changed with the "-p" option to the
-development server). 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<port_number> option to the development server), then you
-will need to update the URL you use accordingly.
-
-Please Note: Depending on the web browser you are using, you might need
+This tutorial will show URLs in the format of C<http://localhost:3000>,
+but if you are running your web browser from outside the Tutorial
+Virtual Machine, you will want to substitute the IP address of your VM
+for the C<localhost> in the URLs (again, you can get the IP address for
+eth0 from the C<ifconfig> command). For example, if your VM has an
+IP address of 192.168.245.128, you will want to use a base URL of
+C<http://192.168.245.128:3000>. Note that the development server
+defaults to port 3000 (you can change with with the "-p" option on the
+command line.
+
+B<Please Note:> Depending on the web browser you are using, you might need
to hit C<Shift+Reload> or C<Ctrl+Reload> to pull a fresh page when
testing your application at various points (see
L<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bypass_your_cache> for a comprehensive
list of options for each browser). Also, the C<-k> keepalive option to
the development server can be necessary with some browsers (especially
-Internet Explorer). ***Todo: is this still true?
-
-=back
-
-
-=head1 CATALYST INSTALLATION
-
-Although Catalyst installation has been a challenge in the past, the
-good news is that there are a growing number of options to eliminate (or
-at least dramatically simplify) this concern. 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 if you approach it in the wrong way. Consider the following
-suggestions on the most common ways to get started with a Catalyst
-development environment:
-
-=over 4
-
-=item *
-
-Debian
-
-The Debian 6 Live CD represents a great way for newcomers to experiment
-with Catalyst. As a "live CD," you can simple boot from the CD, run a
-few commands, and in a matter of minutes you should have a fully
-function environment in which do this tutorial. B<The tutorial was fully
-tested to work under Debian 6. Although it SHOULD work under any
-Catalyst installation method you might choose, it can be hard to
-guarantee this.>
-
-=over 4
-
-=item *
-
-Download one of the ISO files from
-L<http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/release/current-live/i386/iso-hybrid/>
-(the current version at the time this was written was 6.0.1). You can
-pick any one of the live CD variations will work, but you may wish to
-consider the following points:
-
-=over 4
-
-=item *
-
-"C<debian-live-6.0.1-i386-rescue.iso>" is probably the best all-around
-option for most people because it includes many extra tools such as the
-GCC compiler, therefore saving RAM (every package you need to install
-when running from a Live CD consumes memory because RAM disk is being
-used in lieu of real disk space). When initially booting under this
-image, you may see some cryptic warning messages having to do with
-various diagnostic tools it tries to load or enable, but you should be
-able to safely ignore these.
-
-=item *
-
-"C<debian-live-6.0.1-i386-standard.iso>" is a great option because of
-its compact size, but you will probably need approximately 1 GB of RAM
-in the computer where you will run the tutorial. Because the "standard"
-live CD comes with with a minimal set of tools, we will have to install
-extra packages (such as the GCC compiler), all of which will require RAM
-when running from a live CD.
-
-=item *
-
-The other ISO images include different flavors of X-Windows desktop
-managers. You can select one of these if you don't mind the larger
-download size and prefer a graphical environment. Be aware that these
-disks do not come with the extra tools found on the "rescue" image, so
-you will need adequate RAM to be able to install them just as you would
-under the "standard" image. B<Use one of the "graphical" ISO images if
-you want a graphical web browser on the same machine as where you will
-run the tutorial.> (If you are using one of the non- graphical images
-discussed above, you can still use a graphical web browser from another
-machine and point it to your Catalyst development machine.)
-
-=back
-
-=item *
-
-Boot off the CD.
-
-=item *
-
-Select "C<Live>" from the initial boot menu.
-
-=item *
-
-Once the system has booted to a "C<user@debian:~$>" prompt, first
-install the Subversion client in case you want to check out the
-completed chapter example code:
-
- sudo aptitude -y install subversion
-
-If you want to be able to remotely SSH to this system, set a
-password for root:
-
- sudo passwd
- ...
-
-Then enter the following command to add the more current "unstable"
-package repository so we get the latest versions of Catalyst and related
-packages:
-
- sudo vi /etc/apt/sources.list
-
-Add the following line to the bottom of this file:
-
- deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ unstable main
-
-If you are not familiar with VI, you can move to the bottom of this file
-and press the "o" key to insert a new line and type the line above.
-Then press the "Esc" key followed by a colon (":"), the letters "wq" and
-then the "Enter" key. The rest of the tutorial will assume that you
-know how to use some editor that is available from the Linux
-command-line environment.
-
-=item *
-
-Install Catalyst:
-
- sudo aptitude update
- sudo aptitude -y install libcatalyst-perl libdatetime-format-sqlite-perl \
- libdbix-class-encodedcolumn-perl sqlite3 libcatalyst-modules-perl \
- libperl6-junction-perl libcatalyst-modules-extra-perl \
- libdbix-class-timestamp-perl
-
-Let it install (normally about a 30 to 90-second operation) and you are
-done. (Note the '\' above. Depending on your environment, you might be
-able to cut and paste the text as shown or need to remove the '\'
-characters to that the command is all on a single line.)
-
-If you are using an image other than the "rescue" ISO, you will also need
-to run the following command to install additional packages:
-
- sudo aptitude -y install gcc make libc6-dev
-
-If you are running from the Live CD, you probably also want to free up
-some RAM disk space with the following:
-
- sudo aptitude clean
-
-NOTE: While the instructions above mention the Live CD because that
-makes it easy for people new to Linux, you can obviously pick a
-different Debian ISO image and install it to your hard drive. Although
-there are many different ways to download and install Debian, the
-"netinst" ISO image (such as "C<debian-500-i386-netinst.iso>" represents
-a great option because it keeps your initial download small (but still
-lets you install anything you want "over the network").
-
-Here are some tips if you are running from a live CD and are running
-out of disk space (which really means you are running out of RAM):
-
-=over 4
-
-=item *
-
-Always run "C<aptitude clean>" after you install new packages to delete
-the original .deb files (the files installed B<by> the .deb package
-B<will> remain available, just the .deb package itself is deleted).
-
-=item *
-
-If you are installing modules from CPAN, you can free up some space with
-"C<rm -rf /root/.cpan/*>" (change "/root/" in the previous command to
-match your home directory or the location where CPAN has been configured
-to perform build operations).
-
-=item *
-
-If necessary, you can remove the cached package information with the
-command "C<rm -f /var/lib/apt/lists/*>". You can later pull this
-information again via the command "C<aptitude update>".
-
-=item *
-
-You can save a small amount of space by commenting out the lines in
-C</etc/apt/sources.list> that reference "deb-src" and
-"security.debian.org". If you have already done an "C<aptitude update>"
-with these repositories enabled, you can use the tip in the previous
-bullet to free the space up (and then do another "C<aptitude update>").
-
-=item *
-
-Although you can free up space by removing packages you installed since
-you last booted (check out "C<aptitude remove _pkg_name_>"), don't bother
-trying to remove packages already available at the time of boot. Instead
-of freeing up space, it will actual consume I<more> space. (The live CD
-uses these "burn in" packages right from the CD disk vs. first loading
-them on the virtual RAM disk. However, if you remove them, the system
-has to update various files, something that I<does> consume some space
-on the virtual RAM disk.)
-
-=back
-
-=back
-
-=item *
-
-Ubuntu
-
-Ubuntu is a popular offshoot of Debian. It provides cutting edge
-versions of many common tools, application and libraries in an
-easy-to-run live CD configuration (and because a single download option
-can be used for both live CD and install-to-disk usage, it keeps your
-download options nice and simple). As with Debian 6, you should be able
-to generate a fully function Catalyst environment in a matter of
-minutes. Here are quick instructions on how to use Ubuntu to prepare
-for the tutorial:
-
-=over 4
-
-=item *
-
-Download the Ubuntu 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 aptitude update
- sudo aptitude install libdbd-sqlite3-perl libcatalyst-perl libcatalyst-modules-perl libconfig-general-perl
-
-Accept all of the dependencies. Done.
-
-If you are running from the Live CD, you probably also want to free up
-some disk space with the following:
-
- sudo aptitude clean
-
-NOTE: 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<cat-install>
-
-Available at L<http://www.shadowcat.co.uk/static/cat-install>,
-C<cat-install> can be a fairly painless way to get Catalyst up and
-running. Just download the script from the link above and type
-C<perl cat-install>. Depending on the speed of your Internet connection
-and your computer, it will probably take 30 to 60 minutes to install
-because it downloads, makes, compiles, and tests every module. But this
-is an excellent way to automate the installation of all the latest
-modules used by Catalyst from CPAN.
-
-
-=item *
-
-Other Possibilities
-
-=over 4
-
-=item *
-
-OpenBSD Packages
-
-The 2008 Advent Day 4 entry has more information on using OpenBSD
-packages to quickly build a system:
-L<http://www.catalystframework.org/calendar/2008/4>.
-
-=item *
-
-NetBSD Package Collection on Solaris
-
-The 2008 Advent Day 15 entry has more information on using C<pkgsrc> and
-NetBSD packages on Solaris:
-L<http://www.catalystframework.org/calendar/2008/15>.
-
-=item *
-
-CatInABox
-
-You can get more information at
-L<http://www.catalystframework.org/calendar/2008/7> or
-L<Perl::Dist::CatInABox>.
-
-=item *
-
-Frank Speiser's Amazon EC2 Catalyst SDK
-
-There are currently two flavors of publicly available Amazon Machine
-Images (AMI) that include all the elements you'd need to begin
-developing in a fully functional Catalyst environment within minutes.
-See L<Catalyst::Manual::Installation>
-for more details.
+Internet Explorer).
=back
-=back
-
-For additional information and recommendations on Catalyst installation,
-please refer to
-L<Catalyst::Manual::Installation>.
-
=head1 DATABASES
same.
-=head1 WHERE TO GET WORKING CODE
-
-Each chapter of the tutorial has complete code available as a tarball in
-the main Catalyst Subversion repository (see the note at the beginning
-of each part for the appropriate svn command to use).
-
-B<NOTE:> You can run the test cases for the final code through Chapter 8
-with the following commands:
-
- svn co http://dev.catalystframework.org/repos/Catalyst/trunk/examples/Tutorial/MyApp_Chapter8
- cd MyApp_Chapter8/MyApp
- CATALYST_DEBUG=0 prove -wl t
-
-If you wish to include the L<HTML::FormFu> section in your tests,
-substitute C<MyApp_Chapter9_FormFu> for C<MyApp_Chapter8> in the URL
-above (don't forget to "cd" out of the Ch8 directory if you ran the code above).
-
- svn co http://dev.catalystframework.org/repos/Catalyst/trunk/examples/Tutorial/MyApp_Chapter9_FormFu
- cd MyApp_Chapter9_FormFu/MyApp
- CATALYST_DEBUG=0 prove -wl t
-
-You can also fire up the application under the development server that is conveniently
-built in to Catalyst. Just issue this command from the C<MyApp> directory where you
-ran the test suite above:
-
- script/myapp_server.pl
-
-And the application will start. You can try out the application by
-pulling up C<http://localhost:3000> in your web browser (as mentioned
-earlier, change C<localhost> to a different IP address or DNS name if
-you are running your web browser and your Catalyst development on
-different boxes). We will obviously see more about how to use the
-application as we go through the remaining chapters of the tutorial, but
-for now you can log in using the username "test01" and a password of
-"mypass".
-
-
=head1 AUTHOR
Kennedy Clark, C<hkclark@gmail.com>
projects / catagits/Catalyst-Manual.git / commitdiff