3 Catalyst::Delta - Overview of changes between versions of Catalyst
7 This is an overview of the user-visible changes to Catalyst between major
10 =head2 VERSION 5.90060+
12 We changed the way we return body content (from response) to whatever
13 Plack handler you are using (Starman, FastCGI, etc.) We no longer
14 always use the streaming interface for the cases when the body is a
15 simple scalar, object or filehandle like. In those cases we now just
16 pass the simple response on to the plack handler. This might lead to
17 some minor differences in how streaming is handled. For example, you
18 might notice that streaming starts using chunked encoding when running
19 on a server that supports that, or that previously missing headers
20 (possible content-length) might appear suddenly correct. Also, if you
21 are using middleware like L<Plack::Middleware::XSendfile> and are using
22 a filehandle that sets a readable path, your server might now correctly
23 handle the file (rather than as before where Catalyst would stream it
24 very likely very slowly).
26 In other words, some things might be meaninglessly different and some
27 things that were broken codewise but worked because of Catalyst being
28 incorrect might suddenly be really broken. The behavior is now more
29 correct in that Catalyst plays better with features that Plack offers
30 but if you are making heavy use of the streaming interface there could
31 be some differences so you should test carefully (this is probably not
32 the vast majority of people). In particular if you are developing
33 using one server but deploying using a different one, differences in
34 what those server do with streaming should be noted.
36 We also now more carefully distingush the different between a body set
37 to '' and a body that is undef. This might lead to situations where
38 again you'll get a content-length were you didn't get one before or
39 where a supporting server will start chunking output. If this is an
40 issue you can apply the middleware L<Plack::Middleware::BufferedStreaming>
41 or report specific problems to the dev team.
43 =head2 VERSION 5.9XXXX 'cataplack'
45 The Catalyst::Engine sub-classes have all been removed and deprecated,
46 to be replaced with Plack handlers.
48 Plack is an implementation of the L<PSGI> specification, which is
49 a standard interface between web servers and application frameworks.
51 This should be no different for developers, and you should not have to
52 migrate your applications unless you are using a custom engine already.
54 This change benefits Catalyst significantly by reducing the amount of
55 code inside the framework, and means that the framework gets upstream
56 bug fixes in L<Plack>, and automatically gains support for any web server
57 which a L<PSGI> compliant handler is written for.
59 It also allows you more flexibility with your application, and allows
60 the use of cross web framework 'middleware'.
62 Developers are recommended to read L<Catalyst::Upgrading> for notes about
63 upgrading, especially if you are using an unusual deployment method.
65 Documentation for how to take advantage of L<PSGI> can be found in
66 L<Catalyst::PSGI>, and information about deploying your application
67 has been moved to L<Catalyst::Manual::Deployment>.
69 =head3 Updated modules:
71 A number of modules have been updated to pass their tests or not
72 produce deprecation warnings with the latest version of Catalyst.
73 It is recommended that you upgrade any of these that you are using
74 after installing this version of Catalyst.
80 =item L<Catalyst::Engine::HTTP::Prefork>
82 This is now deprecated, see L<Catalyst::Upgrading>.
84 =item L<Test::WWW::Mechanize::Catalyst>
86 Has been updated to not produce deprecation warnings, upgrade recommended.
88 =item Catalyst::ActionRole::ACL
90 Has been updated to fix failing tests (although older versions still
91 function perfectly with this version of Catalyst).
93 =item Catalyst::Plugin::Session::Store::DBIC
95 Has been updated to fix failing tests (although older versions still
96 function perfectly with this version of Catalyst).
98 =item Catalyst::Plugin::Authentication
100 Has been updated to fix failing tests (although older versions still
101 function perfectly with this version of Catalyst).
105 =head1 PREVIOUS VERSIONS
107 =head2 VERSION 5.8XXXX 'catamoose'
111 Please see L<Catalyst::Upgrading> for a full description of how changes in the
112 framework may affect your application.
114 Below is a brief list of features which have been deprecated in this release:
118 =item ::[MVC]:: style naming scheme has been deprecated and will warn
120 =item NEXT is deprecated for all applications and components, use MRO::Compat
122 =item Dispatcher methods which are an implementation detail made private, public versions now warn.
124 =item MyApp->plugin method is deprecated, use L<Catalyst::Model::Adaptor> instead.
126 =item __PACKAGE__->mk_accessors() is supported for backward compatibility only, use Moose attributes instead in new code.
128 =item Use of Catalyst::Base now warns
138 =item Fix forwarding to Catalyst::Action objects.
140 =item Add the dispatch_type method
146 The development server restarter has been improved to be compatible with
147 immutable Moose classes, and also to optionally use
148 L<B::Hooks::OP::Check::StashChange> to handle more complex application layouts
151 =head3 $c->uri_for_action method.
153 Give a private path to the Catalyst action you want to create a URI for.
157 Log levels have been made additive.
159 =head3 L<Catalyst::Test>
163 =item Change to use L<Sub::Exporter>.
165 =item Support mocking multiple virtual hosts
167 =item New methods like action_ok and action_redirect to write more compact tests
171 =head3 Catalyst::Response
177 New print method which prints @data to the output stream, separated by $,.
178 This lets you pass the response object to functions that want to write to an
183 Added code method as an alias for C<< $res->status >>
187 =head3 Consequences of the Moose back end
193 Components are fully compatible with Moose, and all Moose features, such as
194 method modifiers, attributes, roles, BUILD and BUILDARGS methods are fully
195 supported and may be used in components and applications.
199 Many reusable extensions which would previously have been plugins or base
200 classes are better implemented as Moose roles.
204 L<MooseX::MethodAttributes::Role::AttrContainer::Inheritable> is used to contain action
205 attributes. This means that attributes are represented in the MOP, and
206 decouples action creation from attributes.
210 There is a reasonable API in Catalyst::Controller for working with
211 and registering actions, allowing a controller sub-class to replace
212 subroutine attributes for action declarations with an alternate
217 Refactored capturing of $app from L<Catalyst::Controller> into
218 L<Catalyst::Component::ApplicationAttribute> for easier reuse in other
223 Your application class is forced to become immutable at the end of compilation.
233 Don't ignore SIGCHLD while handling requests with the development server, so that
234 system() and other ways of creating child processes work as expected.
238 Fixes for FastCGI when used with IIS 6.0
242 Fix a bug in uri_for which could cause it to generate paths with multiple
247 Fix a bug in Catalyst::Stats, stopping garbage being inserted into
248 the stats if a user calls begin => but no end