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 5.90090+
12 =head2 Type constraints on Args and CaptureArgs.
14 You may now use a type constraint (using L<Moose>, L<MooseX::Types> or preferably
15 L<Type::Tiny> in your Args or CaptureArgs action attributes. This can be used
16 to restrict the value of the Arg. For example:
18 sub myaction :Local Args(Int) { ... }
20 Would match '.../myaction/5' but not '.../myaction/string'.
22 When an action (or action chain) has Args (or CaptureArgs) that declare type constraints
23 your arguments to $c->uri_for(...) must match those constraints.
25 See L<Catalyst::RouteMatching> for more.
27 =head2 Move CatalystX::InjectComponent into core
29 L<Catalyst::Utils> has a new method 'inject_component' which works the same as the method of
30 the same name in L<CatalystX::InjectComponent>.
32 =head2 VERSION 5.90080+
34 The biggest change in this release is that UTF8 encoding is now enabled by
35 default. So you no longer need any plugins (such as L<Catalyst::Plugin::Unicode::Encoding>)
36 which you can just no go ahead and remove. You also don't need to set
37 the encoding configuration (__PACKAGE__->config(encoding=>'UTF-8')) anymore
38 as well (although its presence hurts nothing).
40 If this change causes you trouble, you can disable it:
42 __PACKAGE__->config(encoding=>undef);
44 For further information, please see L<Catalyst::UTF8>
46 But please report bugs. You will find that a number of common Views have been
47 updated for this release (such as L<Catalyst::View::TT>). In all cases that the
48 author is aware of these updates were to fix test cases only. You shouldn't
49 need to update unless you are installing fresh and want tests to pass.
51 L<Catalyst::Plugin::Compress> was updated to be compatible with this release.
52 You will need to upgrade if you are using this plugin. L<Catalyst::Upgrading>
55 A small change is that the configuration setting C<using_frontend_proxy>
56 was not doing the right thing if you started your application with C<psgi_app>
57 and did not apply the default middleware. This setting is now honored in
58 all the ways an application may be started. This could cause trouble if you
59 are using the configuration value and also adding the proxy middleware
60 manually with a custom application startup. The solution is that you only
61 need the configuration value set, or the middleware manually added (not both).
63 =head2 VERSION 5.90060+
65 =head3 Catalyst::Log object autoflush on by default
67 Starting in 5.90065, the Catalyst::Log object has 'autoflush' which is on
68 by default. This causes all messages to be written to the log immediately
69 instead of at the end of startup and then at the end of each request. In
70 order to access the old behavior, you must now call:
72 $c->log->autoflush(0);
74 =head3 Deprecate Catalyst::Utils::ensure_class_loaded
76 Going forward we recommend you use L<Module::Runtime>. In fact we will
77 be converting all uses of L<Class::Load> to L<Module::Runtime>. We will
78 also convert L<Catalyst::Utils\ensure_class_loaded> to be based on
79 L<Module::Runtime> to allow some time for you to update code, however at
80 some future point this method will be removed so you should stop
83 =head3 Support passing Body filehandles directly to your Plack server.
85 We changed the way we return body content (from response) to whatever
86 Plack handler you are using (Starman, FastCGI, etc.) We no longer
87 always use the streaming interface for the cases when the body is a
88 simple scalar, object or filehandle like. In those cases we now just
89 pass the simple response on to the plack handler. This might lead to
90 some minor differences in how streaming is handled. For example, you
91 might notice that streaming starts properly supporting chunked encoding when
92 on a server that supports that, or that previously missing headers
93 (possible content-length) might appear suddenly correct. Also, if you
94 are using middleware like L<Plack::Middleware::XSendfile> and are using
95 a filehandle that sets a readable path, your server might now correctly
96 handle the file (rather than as before where Catalyst would stream it
97 very likely very slowly).
99 In other words, some things might be meaninglessly different and some
100 things that were broken codewise but worked because of Catalyst being
101 incorrect might suddenly be really broken. The behavior is now more
102 correct in that Catalyst plays better with features that Plack offers
103 but if you are making heavy use of the streaming interface there could
104 be some differences so you should test carefully (this is probably not
105 the vast majority of people). In particular if you are developing
106 using one server but deploying using a different one, differences in
107 what those server do with streaming should be noted.
109 Please see note below about changes to filehandle support and existing
110 Plack middleware to aid in backwards compatibility.
112 =head3 Distinguish between body null versus undef.
114 We also now more carefully distingush the different between a body set
115 to '' and a body that is undef. This might lead to situations where
116 again you'll get a content-length were you didn't get one before or
117 where a supporting server will start chunking output. If this is an
118 issue you can apply the middleware L<Plack::Middleware::BufferedStreaming>
119 or report specific problems to the dev team.
121 =head3 More Catalyst Middleware
123 We have started migrating code in Catalyst to equivilent Plack
124 Middleware when such exists and is correct to do so. For example we now use
125 L<Plack::Middleware::ContentLength> to determine content length of a response
126 when none is provided. This replaces similar code inlined with L<Catalyst>
127 The main advantages to doing this is 1) more similar Catalyst core that is
128 focused on the Catalyst special sauce, 2) Middleware is more broadly shared
129 so we benefit from better collaboration with developers outside Catalyst, 3)
130 In the future you'll be able to change or trim the middleware stack to get
131 additional performance when you don't need all the checks and constraints.
133 =head3 Deprecate Filehandle like objects that do read but not getline
135 We also deprecated setting the response body to an object that does 'read'
136 but not 'getline'. If you are using a custom IO-Handle like object for
137 response you should verify that 'getline' is supported in your interface.
138 Unless we here this case is a major issue for people, we will be removing support
139 in a near future release of Catalyst. When the code encounters this it
140 will issue a warning. You also may run into this issue with L<MogileFS::Client>
141 which does read but not getline. For now we will just warn when encountering
142 such an object and fallback to the previous behavior (where L<Catalyst::Engine>
143 itself unrolls the filehandle and performs blocking streams). However
144 this backwards compatibility will be removed in an upcoming release so you should either
145 rewrite your custom filehandle objects to support getline or start using the
146 middleware that adapts read for getline L<Plack::Middleware::AdaptFilehandleRead>.
148 =head3 Response->headers become read-only after finalizing
150 Once the response headers are finalized, trying to change them is not allowed
151 (in the past you could change them and this would lead to unexpected results).
153 =head3 Officially deprecate L<Catalyst::Engine::PSGI>
155 L<Catalyst::Engine::PSGI> is also officially no longer supported. We will
156 no long run test cases against this and can remove backwards compatibility code for it
157 as deemed necessary for the evolution of the platform. You should simply
158 discontinue use of this engine, as L<Catalyst> has been PSGI at the core for
161 =head3 Officially deprecate finding the PSGI $env anyplace other than Request
163 A few early releases of Cataplack had the PSGI $env in L<Catalyst::Engine>.
164 Code has been maintained here for backwards compatibility reasons. This is no
165 longer supported and will be removed in upcoming release, so you should update
166 your code and / or upgrade to a newer version of L<Catalyst>
168 =head3 Deprecate setting Response->body after using write/write_fh
170 Setting $c->res->body to a filehandle after using $c->res->write or
171 $c->res->write_fh is no longer considered allowed, since we can't send
172 the filehandle to the underlying Plack handler. For now we will continue
173 to support setting body to a simple value since this is possible, but at
174 some future release a choice to use streaming indicates that you will do
175 so for the rest of the request.
178 =head2 VERSION 5.90053
180 We are now clarifying the behavior of log, plugins and configuration during
181 the setup phase. Since Plugins might require a log during setup, setup_log
182 must run BEFORE setup_plugins. This has the unfortunate side effect that
183 anyone using the popular ConfigLoader plugin will not be able to supply
184 configuration to custom logs since the configuration is not yet finalized
185 when setup_log is run (when using ConfigLoader, which is a plugin and is
186 not loaded until later.)
188 As a workaround, you can supply custom log configuration directly into
195 my_custom_log_info => { %custom_args },
200 If you wish to configure the custom logger differently based on ENV, you can
209 Catalyst::Utils::merge_hashes(
210 +{ my_custom_log_info => { %base_custom_args } },
211 +{ do __PACKAGE__->path_to( $ENV{WHICH_CONF}."_conf.pl") },
217 Or create a standalone Configuration class that does the right thing.
219 Basically if you want to configure a logger via Catalyst global configuration
220 you can't use ConfigLoader because it will always be loaded too late to be of
221 any use. Patches and workaround options welcomed!
223 =head2 VERSION 5.9XXXX 'cataplack'
225 The Catalyst::Engine sub-classes have all been removed and deprecated,
226 to be replaced with Plack handlers.
228 Plack is an implementation of the L<PSGI> specification, which is
229 a standard interface between web servers and application frameworks.
231 This should be no different for developers, and you should not have to
232 migrate your applications unless you are using a custom engine already.
234 This change benefits Catalyst significantly by reducing the amount of
235 code inside the framework, and means that the framework gets upstream
236 bug fixes in L<Plack>, and automatically gains support for any web server
237 which a L<PSGI> compliant handler is written for.
239 It also allows you more flexibility with your application, and allows
240 the use of cross web framework 'middleware'.
242 Developers are recommended to read L<Catalyst::Upgrading> for notes about
243 upgrading, especially if you are using an unusual deployment method.
245 Documentation for how to take advantage of L<PSGI> can be found in
246 L<Catalyst::PSGI>, and information about deploying your application
247 has been moved to L<Catalyst::Manual::Deployment>.
249 =head3 Updated modules:
251 A number of modules have been updated to pass their tests or not
252 produce deprecation warnings with the latest version of Catalyst.
253 It is recommended that you upgrade any of these that you are using
254 after installing this version of Catalyst.
256 These extensions are:
260 =item L<Catalyst::Engine::HTTP::Prefork>
262 This is now deprecated, see L<Catalyst::Upgrading>.
264 =item L<Test::WWW::Mechanize::Catalyst>
266 Has been updated to not produce deprecation warnings, upgrade recommended.
268 =item Catalyst::ActionRole::ACL
270 Has been updated to fix failing tests (although older versions still
271 function perfectly with this version of Catalyst).
273 =item Catalyst::Plugin::Session::Store::DBIC
275 Has been updated to fix failing tests (although older versions still
276 function perfectly with this version of Catalyst).
278 =item Catalyst::Plugin::Authentication
280 Has been updated to fix failing tests (although older versions still
281 function perfectly with this version of Catalyst).
285 =head1 PREVIOUS VERSIONS
287 =head2 VERSION 5.8XXXX 'catamoose'
291 Please see L<Catalyst::Upgrading> for a full description of how changes in the
292 framework may affect your application.
294 Below is a brief list of features which have been deprecated in this release:
298 =item ::[MVC]:: style naming scheme has been deprecated and will warn
300 =item NEXT is deprecated for all applications and components, use MRO::Compat
302 =item Dispatcher methods which are an implementation detail made private, public versions now warn.
304 =item MyApp->plugin method is deprecated, use L<Catalyst::Model::Adaptor> instead.
306 =item __PACKAGE__->mk_accessors() is supported for backwards compatibility only, use Moose attributes instead in new code.
308 =item Use of Catalyst::Base now warns
318 =item Fix forwarding to Catalyst::Action objects.
320 =item Add the dispatch_type method
326 The development server restarter has been improved to be compatible with
327 immutable Moose classes, and also to optionally use
328 L<B::Hooks::OP::Check::StashChange> to handle more complex application layouts
331 =head3 $c->uri_for_action method.
333 Give a private path to the Catalyst action you want to create a URI for.
337 Log levels have been made additive.
339 =head3 L<Catalyst::Test>
343 =item Change to use L<Sub::Exporter>.
345 =item Support mocking multiple virtual hosts
347 =item New methods like action_ok and action_redirect to write more compact tests
351 =head3 Catalyst::Response
357 New print method which prints @data to the output stream, separated by $,.
358 This lets you pass the response object to functions that want to write to an
363 Added code method as an alias for C<< $res->status >>
367 =head3 Consequences of the Moose back end
373 Components are fully compatible with Moose, and all Moose features, such as
374 method modifiers, attributes, roles, BUILD and BUILDARGS methods are fully
375 supported and may be used in components and applications.
379 Many reusable extensions which would previously have been plugins or base
380 classes are better implemented as Moose roles.
384 L<MooseX::MethodAttributes::Role::AttrContainer::Inheritable> is used to contain action
385 attributes. This means that attributes are represented in the MOP, and
386 decouples action creation from attributes.
390 There is a reasonable API in Catalyst::Controller for working with
391 and registering actions, allowing a controller sub-class to replace
392 subroutine attributes for action declarations with an alternate
397 Refactored capturing of $app from L<Catalyst::Controller> into
398 L<Catalyst::Component::ApplicationAttribute> for easier reuse in other
403 Your application class is forced to become immutable at the end of compilation.
413 Don't ignore SIGCHLD while handling requests with the development server, so that
414 system() and other ways of creating child processes work as expected.
418 Fixes for FastCGI when used with IIS 6.0
422 Fix a bug in uri_for which could cause it to generate paths with multiple
427 Fix a bug in Catalyst::Stats, stopping garbage being inserted into
428 the stats if a user calls begin => but no end