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 Also, we have started migrating code in Catalyst to equivilent Plack
44 Middleware when such exists and is correct to do so.
46 We also deprecated setting the response body to an object that does 'read'
47 but not 'getline'. If you are using a custom IO-Handle like object for
48 response you should verify that 'getline' is supported in your interface.
49 You will get a first use warning for this error in your logs. Unless we
50 here this case is a major issue for people, we will be removing support
51 in a near future release of Catalyst.
53 L<Catalyst::Engine::PSGI> is also officially no longer supported. We will
54 no long run test cases against this and can remove backcompat code for it
55 as deemed necessary for the evolution of the platform. You should simple
56 discontinue use of this engine, as L<Catalyst> has been PSGI at the core
59 =head2 VERSION 5.90053
61 We are now clarifying the behavior of log, plugins and configuration during
62 the setup phase. Since Plugins might require a log during setup, setup_log
63 must run BEFORE setup_plugins. This has the unfortunate side effect that
64 anyone using the popular ConfigLoader plugin will not be able to supply
65 configuration to custom logs since the configuration is not yet finalized
66 when setup_log is run (when using ConfigLoader, which is a plugin and is
67 not loaded until later.)
69 As a workaround, you can supply custom log configuration directly into
76 my_custom_log_info => { %custom_args },
81 If you wish to configure the custom logger differently based on ENV, you can
90 Catalyst::Utils::merge_hashes(
91 +{ my_custom_log_info => { %base_custom_args } },
92 +{ do __PACKAGE__->path_to( $ENV{WHICH_CONF}."_conf.pl") },
98 Or create a standalone Configuration class that does the right thing.
100 Basically if you want to configure a logger via Catalyst global configuration
101 you can't use ConfigLoader because it will always be loaded too late to be of
102 any use. Patches and workaround options welcomed!
104 =head2 VERSION 5.9XXXX 'cataplack'
106 The Catalyst::Engine sub-classes have all been removed and deprecated,
107 to be replaced with Plack handlers.
109 Plack is an implementation of the L<PSGI> specification, which is
110 a standard interface between web servers and application frameworks.
112 This should be no different for developers, and you should not have to
113 migrate your applications unless you are using a custom engine already.
115 This change benefits Catalyst significantly by reducing the amount of
116 code inside the framework, and means that the framework gets upstream
117 bug fixes in L<Plack>, and automatically gains support for any web server
118 which a L<PSGI> compliant handler is written for.
120 It also allows you more flexibility with your application, and allows
121 the use of cross web framework 'middleware'.
123 Developers are recommended to read L<Catalyst::Upgrading> for notes about
124 upgrading, especially if you are using an unusual deployment method.
126 Documentation for how to take advantage of L<PSGI> can be found in
127 L<Catalyst::PSGI>, and information about deploying your application
128 has been moved to L<Catalyst::Manual::Deployment>.
130 =head3 Updated modules:
132 A number of modules have been updated to pass their tests or not
133 produce deprecation warnings with the latest version of Catalyst.
134 It is recommended that you upgrade any of these that you are using
135 after installing this version of Catalyst.
137 These extensions are:
141 =item L<Catalyst::Engine::HTTP::Prefork>
143 This is now deprecated, see L<Catalyst::Upgrading>.
145 =item L<Test::WWW::Mechanize::Catalyst>
147 Has been updated to not produce deprecation warnings, upgrade recommended.
149 =item Catalyst::ActionRole::ACL
151 Has been updated to fix failing tests (although older versions still
152 function perfectly with this version of Catalyst).
154 =item Catalyst::Plugin::Session::Store::DBIC
156 Has been updated to fix failing tests (although older versions still
157 function perfectly with this version of Catalyst).
159 =item Catalyst::Plugin::Authentication
161 Has been updated to fix failing tests (although older versions still
162 function perfectly with this version of Catalyst).
166 =head1 PREVIOUS VERSIONS
168 =head2 VERSION 5.8XXXX 'catamoose'
172 Please see L<Catalyst::Upgrading> for a full description of how changes in the
173 framework may affect your application.
175 Below is a brief list of features which have been deprecated in this release:
179 =item ::[MVC]:: style naming scheme has been deprecated and will warn
181 =item NEXT is deprecated for all applications and components, use MRO::Compat
183 =item Dispatcher methods which are an implementation detail made private, public versions now warn.
185 =item MyApp->plugin method is deprecated, use L<Catalyst::Model::Adaptor> instead.
187 =item __PACKAGE__->mk_accessors() is supported for backward compatibility only, use Moose attributes instead in new code.
189 =item Use of Catalyst::Base now warns
199 =item Fix forwarding to Catalyst::Action objects.
201 =item Add the dispatch_type method
207 The development server restarter has been improved to be compatible with
208 immutable Moose classes, and also to optionally use
209 L<B::Hooks::OP::Check::StashChange> to handle more complex application layouts
212 =head3 $c->uri_for_action method.
214 Give a private path to the Catalyst action you want to create a URI for.
218 Log levels have been made additive.
220 =head3 L<Catalyst::Test>
224 =item Change to use L<Sub::Exporter>.
226 =item Support mocking multiple virtual hosts
228 =item New methods like action_ok and action_redirect to write more compact tests
232 =head3 Catalyst::Response
238 New print method which prints @data to the output stream, separated by $,.
239 This lets you pass the response object to functions that want to write to an
244 Added code method as an alias for C<< $res->status >>
248 =head3 Consequences of the Moose back end
254 Components are fully compatible with Moose, and all Moose features, such as
255 method modifiers, attributes, roles, BUILD and BUILDARGS methods are fully
256 supported and may be used in components and applications.
260 Many reusable extensions which would previously have been plugins or base
261 classes are better implemented as Moose roles.
265 L<MooseX::MethodAttributes::Role::AttrContainer::Inheritable> is used to contain action
266 attributes. This means that attributes are represented in the MOP, and
267 decouples action creation from attributes.
271 There is a reasonable API in Catalyst::Controller for working with
272 and registering actions, allowing a controller sub-class to replace
273 subroutine attributes for action declarations with an alternate
278 Refactored capturing of $app from L<Catalyst::Controller> into
279 L<Catalyst::Component::ApplicationAttribute> for easier reuse in other
284 Your application class is forced to become immutable at the end of compilation.
294 Don't ignore SIGCHLD while handling requests with the development server, so that
295 system() and other ways of creating child processes work as expected.
299 Fixes for FastCGI when used with IIS 6.0
303 Fix a bug in uri_for which could cause it to generate paths with multiple
308 Fix a bug in Catalyst::Stats, stopping garbage being inserted into
309 the stats if a user calls begin => but no end