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 =head2 VERSION 5.9XXXX 'cataplack'
48 The Catalyst::Engine sub-classes have all been removed and deprecated,
49 to be replaced with Plack handlers.
51 Plack is an implementation of the L<PSGI> specification, which is
52 a standard interface between web servers and application frameworks.
54 This should be no different for developers, and you should not have to
55 migrate your applications unless you are using a custom engine already.
57 This change benefits Catalyst significantly by reducing the amount of
58 code inside the framework, and means that the framework gets upstream
59 bug fixes in L<Plack>, and automatically gains support for any web server
60 which a L<PSGI> compliant handler is written for.
62 It also allows you more flexibility with your application, and allows
63 the use of cross web framework 'middleware'.
65 Developers are recommended to read L<Catalyst::Upgrading> for notes about
66 upgrading, especially if you are using an unusual deployment method.
68 Documentation for how to take advantage of L<PSGI> can be found in
69 L<Catalyst::PSGI>, and information about deploying your application
70 has been moved to L<Catalyst::Manual::Deployment>.
72 =head3 Updated modules:
74 A number of modules have been updated to pass their tests or not
75 produce deprecation warnings with the latest version of Catalyst.
76 It is recommended that you upgrade any of these that you are using
77 after installing this version of Catalyst.
83 =item L<Catalyst::Engine::HTTP::Prefork>
85 This is now deprecated, see L<Catalyst::Upgrading>.
87 =item L<Test::WWW::Mechanize::Catalyst>
89 Has been updated to not produce deprecation warnings, upgrade recommended.
91 =item Catalyst::ActionRole::ACL
93 Has been updated to fix failing tests (although older versions still
94 function perfectly with this version of Catalyst).
96 =item Catalyst::Plugin::Session::Store::DBIC
98 Has been updated to fix failing tests (although older versions still
99 function perfectly with this version of Catalyst).
101 =item Catalyst::Plugin::Authentication
103 Has been updated to fix failing tests (although older versions still
104 function perfectly with this version of Catalyst).
108 =head1 PREVIOUS VERSIONS
110 =head2 VERSION 5.8XXXX 'catamoose'
114 Please see L<Catalyst::Upgrading> for a full description of how changes in the
115 framework may affect your application.
117 Below is a brief list of features which have been deprecated in this release:
121 =item ::[MVC]:: style naming scheme has been deprecated and will warn
123 =item NEXT is deprecated for all applications and components, use MRO::Compat
125 =item Dispatcher methods which are an implementation detail made private, public versions now warn.
127 =item MyApp->plugin method is deprecated, use L<Catalyst::Model::Adaptor> instead.
129 =item __PACKAGE__->mk_accessors() is supported for backward compatibility only, use Moose attributes instead in new code.
131 =item Use of Catalyst::Base now warns
141 =item Fix forwarding to Catalyst::Action objects.
143 =item Add the dispatch_type method
149 The development server restarter has been improved to be compatible with
150 immutable Moose classes, and also to optionally use
151 L<B::Hooks::OP::Check::StashChange> to handle more complex application layouts
154 =head3 $c->uri_for_action method.
156 Give a private path to the Catalyst action you want to create a URI for.
160 Log levels have been made additive.
162 =head3 L<Catalyst::Test>
166 =item Change to use L<Sub::Exporter>.
168 =item Support mocking multiple virtual hosts
170 =item New methods like action_ok and action_redirect to write more compact tests
174 =head3 Catalyst::Response
180 New print method which prints @data to the output stream, separated by $,.
181 This lets you pass the response object to functions that want to write to an
186 Added code method as an alias for C<< $res->status >>
190 =head3 Consequences of the Moose back end
196 Components are fully compatible with Moose, and all Moose features, such as
197 method modifiers, attributes, roles, BUILD and BUILDARGS methods are fully
198 supported and may be used in components and applications.
202 Many reusable extensions which would previously have been plugins or base
203 classes are better implemented as Moose roles.
207 L<MooseX::MethodAttributes::Role::AttrContainer::Inheritable> is used to contain action
208 attributes. This means that attributes are represented in the MOP, and
209 decouples action creation from attributes.
213 There is a reasonable API in Catalyst::Controller for working with
214 and registering actions, allowing a controller sub-class to replace
215 subroutine attributes for action declarations with an alternate
220 Refactored capturing of $app from L<Catalyst::Controller> into
221 L<Catalyst::Component::ApplicationAttribute> for easier reuse in other
226 Your application class is forced to become immutable at the end of compilation.
236 Don't ignore SIGCHLD while handling requests with the development server, so that
237 system() and other ways of creating child processes work as expected.
241 Fixes for FastCGI when used with IIS 6.0
245 Fix a bug in uri_for which could cause it to generate paths with multiple
250 Fix a bug in Catalyst::Stats, stopping garbage being inserted into
251 the stats if a user calls begin => but no end