Updated Intro.pod

[catagits/Catalyst-Runtime.git] / lib / Catalyst / Manual / Intro.pod

=head1 NAME

Catalyst::Manual::Intro - Introduction to Catalyst

=head1 DESCRIPTION

This is a brief overview of why and how to use Catalyst. It explains how
Catalyst works and shows how to get a simple application up and running quickly.

=head2 What is Catalyst?

Catalyst is an elegant web application framework, extremely flexible yet
extremely simple. It's similar to Ruby on Rails, Spring (Java) and L<Maypole>,
upon which it was originally based.

=head3 MVC

Catalyst follows the Model-View-Controller (MVC) design pattern, allowing you to
easily separate concerns, like content, presentation, and flow control, into
separate modules. This separation allows you to modify code that handles one
concern without affecting code that handles the others. Catalyst promotes the
re-use of existing Perl modules that already handle common web application
concerns well.

Here's how the M, V, and C map to those concerns, with examples of well-known
Perl modules you may want to use for each.

=over 4

=item * B<Model>

Access and modify content (data). L<Class::DBI>, L<Plucene>, L<Net::LDAP>...

=item * B<View>

Present content to the user. L<Template Toolkit|Template>, L<Mason|HTML::Mason>,
L<HTML::Template>...

=item * B<Controller>

Control the whole request phase, check parameters, dispatch actions, flow
control. Catalyst!

=back

If you're unfamiliar with MVC and design patterns, you may want to check
out the original book on the subject, I<Design Patterns>, by Gamma,
Helm, Johnson, and Vlissides, also known as the Gang of Four (GoF). You
can also just Google it.  Many, many web application frameworks are
based on MVC, including all those listed above.

=head3 Flexibility

Catalyst is much more flexible than many other frameworks. We'll talk more about
this later, but rest assured you can use your favorite Perl modules with
Catalyst.

=over 4

=item * B<Multiple Models, Views, and Controllers>

To build a Catalyst application, you handle each type of concern inside special
modules called L</Components>. Often this code will be very simple, just calling
out to Perl modules like those listed above under L</MVC>. Catalyst handles
these components in a very flexible way. Use as many Models, Views, and
Controllers as you like, using as many different Perl modules as you like, all
in the same application. Want to manipulate multiple databases, and retrieve
some data via LDAP? No problem. Want to present data from the same Model using
L<Template Toolkit|Template> and L<PDF::Template>? Easy.

=item * B<Reuseable Components>

Not only does Catalyst promote the re-use of already existing Perl modules, it
also allows you to re-use your Catalyst components in multiple Catalyst
applications. 

=item * B<Unrestrained URL-to-Action Dispatching>

Catalyst allows you to dispatch any URLs to any application L<Actions>, even
through regular expressions! Unlike most other frameworks, it doesn't require
mod_rewrite or class and method names in URLs.

With Catalyst you register your actions and address them directly. For example:

    sub hello : Global {
        my ( $self, $context ) = @_;
        $context->response->body('Hello World!');
    }

Now http://localhost:3000/hello prints "Hello World!".

=item * B<Support for CGI, mod_perl, Apache::Request>

Use L<Catalyst::Engine::Apache> or L<Catalyst::Engine::CGI>.

=back

=head3 Simplicity

The best part is that Catalyst implements all this flexibility in a very simple
way.

=over 4

=item * B<Building Block Interface>

Components interoperate very smoothly. For example, Catalyst automatically makes
a L<Context> object available to every component. Via the context, you can
access the request object, share data between components, and control the flow
of your application. Building a Catalyst application feels a lot like snapping
together toy building blocks, and everything just works.

=item * B<Component Auto-Discovery>

No need to C<use> all of your components. Catalyst automatically finds and loads
them.

=item * B<Pre-Built Components for Popular Modules>

See L<Catalyst::Model::CDBI> for L<Class::DBI>, or L<Catalyst::View::TT> for
L<Template Toolkit|Template>. You can even get an instant web database front end
with L<Catalyst::Model::CDBI::CRUD>.

=item * B<Built-in Test Framework>

Catalyst comes with a built-in, lightweight http server and test framework,
making it easy to test applications from the command line.

=item * B<Helper Scripts>

Catalyst provides helper scripts to quickly generate running starter code for
components and unit tests.

=back

=head2 Quickstart

Here's how to install Catalyst and get a simple application up and running,
using the helper scripts described above.

=head3 Install

    $ perl -MCPAN -e 'install Bundle::Catalyst'

=head3 Setup

    $ catalyst.pl MyApp
    # output omitted
    $ cd MyApp
    $ script/myapp_create.pl controller Library::Login

=head3 Run

    $ script/myapp_server.pl

Now visit these locations with your favorite browser or user agent to see
Catalyst in action:

=over 4

=item http://localhost:3000/

=item http://localhost:3000/library/login/

=back

Dead easy!

=head2 How It Works

Let's see how Catalyst works, by taking a closer look at the components and
other parts of a Catalyst application.

=head3 Application Class

In addition to the Model, View, and Controller components, there's a single
class that represents your application itself. This is where you configure your
application, load plugins, define application-wide actions, and extend Catalyst.

    package MyApp;

    use strict;
    use Catalyst qw/-Debug/;

    MyApp->config(
        name => 'My Application',

        # You can put anything else you want in here:
        my_configuration_variable => 'something',
    );

    sub default : Private {
        my ( $self, $context ) = @_;
        $context->response->body('Catalyst rockz!');
    }

    1;

For most applications, Catalyst requires you to define only one config
parameter:

=over 4

=item * B<name>

Name of your application.

=back

Optionally, you can specify a B<root> parameter for templates and static data.
If omitted, Catalyst will try to auto-detect the directory's location. You
can define as many parameters as you want for plugins or whatever you
need. You can access them anywhere in your application
via C<$context-E<gt>config-E<gt>{$param_name}>.

=head3 Context

Catalyst automatically blesses a Context object into your application class and
makes it available everywhere in your application. Use the Context to directly
interact with Catalyst and glue your L<Components> together. For example, if you
need to use the Context from within a Template Toolkit template, it's already
there:

    <h1>Welcome to [% c.config.name %]!</h1>

As illustrated earlier in our URL-to-Action dispatching example, the Context is
always the second method parameter, behind the Component object reference or
class name itself. Previously we called it C<$context> for clarity, but most
Catalyst developers just call it C<$c>:

    sub hello : Global {
        my ( $self, $c ) = @_;
        $c->res->body('Hello World!');
    }

The Context contains several important objects:

=over 4

=item * L<Catalyst::Request>

    $c->request
    $c->req # alias

The request object contains all kinds of request-specific information, like
query parameters, cookies, uploads, headers, and more.

    $c->req->params->{foo};
    $c->req->cookies->{sessionid};
    $c->req->headers->content_type;
    $c->req->base;

=item * L<Catalyst::Response>

    $c->response
    $c->res # alias

The response is like the request, but contains just response-specific
information.

    $c->res->body('Hello World');
    $c->res->status(404);
    $c->res->redirect('http://oook.de');

=item * L<Catalyst::Config>

    $c->config

    $c->config->root;
    $c->config->name;

=item * L<Catalyst::Log>

    $c->log

    $c->log->debug('Something happened');
    $c->log->info('Something you should know');

=item * B<Stash>

    $c->stash

    $c->stash->{foo} = 'bar';

=back

The last of these, the stash, is a universal hash for sharing data among
application components. For an example, we return to our 'hello' action:

    sub hello : Global {
        my ( $self, $c ) = @_;
        $c->stash->{message} = 'Hello World!';
        $c->forward('show_message');
    }

    sub show_message : Private {
        my ( $self, $c ) = @_;
        $c->res->body( $c->stash->{message} );
    }

Note that the stash should be used only for passing data in an individual
request cycle; it gets cleared at a new request. If you need to maintain more
persistent data, use a session.

=head3 Actions

A Catalyst controller is defined by its actions. An action is a sub with a
special attribute. You've already seen some examples of actions in this
document. The URL (for example http://localhost.3000/foo/bar) consists of two
parts, the base (http://localhost:3000/ in this example) and the path (foo/bar).
Please note that the trailing slash after the hostname[:port] always belongs to
base and not to the action.

Catalyst supports several types of actions:

=over 4

=item * B<Literal>

    sub bar : Path('foo/bar') { }

Matches only http://localhost:3000/foo/bar.

=item * B<Regex>

    sub bar : Regex('^item(\d+)/order(\d+)$') { }

Matches any URL that matches the pattern in the action key, e.g.
http://localhost:3000/item23/order42. The '' around the regexp is optional, but
perltidy likes it. :)

Regex matches act globally, i.e. without reference to the namespace from which
it is called, so that a C<bar> method in the
C<MyApp::Controller::Catalog::Order::Process> namespace won't match any form of
C<bar>, C<Catalog>, C<Order>, or C<Process> unless you explicitly put this in
the regex. To achieve the above, you should consider using a C<LocalRegex> action.

=item * B<LocalRegex>

    sub bar : LocalRegex('^widget(\d+)$') { }

LocalRegex actions act locally. If you were to use C<bar> in
C<MyApp::Controller::Catalogue>, the above example would match urls like
http://localhost:3000/catalogue/widget23.

For both LocalRegex and Regex actions, if you use capturing parentheses to
extract values within the matching URL ("widget23" would capture "23" in the
above example), those values are available in the $c->req->snippets
array. If you want to pass arguments at the end of your URL, you must use regex
action keys. See L</URL Argument Handling> below.

=item * B<Top-level>

    package MyApp; 
    sub foo : Global { }

Matches http://localhost:3000/foo. The function name is mapped directly
to the application base.

=item * B<Namespace-Prefixed>

    package MyApp::C::My::Controller; 
    sub foo : Local { }

Matches http://localhost:3000/my/controller/foo. 

This action type indicates that the matching URL must be prefixed with a
modified form of the component's class (package) name. This modified class name
excludes the parts that have a pre-defined meaning in Catalyst ("MyApp::C" in
the above example), replaces "::" with "/", and converts the name to lower case.
See L</Components> for a full explanation of the pre-defined meaning of Catalyst
component class names.

=item * B<Private>

    sub foo : Private { }

Matches no URL, and cannot be executed by requesting a URL that corresponds to
the action key. Private actions can be executed only inside a Catalyst
application, by calling the C<forward> method:

    $c->forward('foo');

See L</Flow Control> for a full explanation of C<forward>. Note that, as
discussed there, when forwarding from another component, you must use
the absolute path to the method, so that a private C<bar> method in your
C<MyApp::Controller::Catalog::Order::Process> controller must, if called
from elsewhere, be reached with
C<$c-E<gt>forward('/catalog/order/process/bar')>.

=back

B<Note:> After seeing these examples, you probably wonder what the point
is of defining names for regex and path actions. Actually, every public
action is also a private one, so you have one unified way of addressing
components in your C<forward>s.

=head4 Built-in Private Actions

In response to specific application states, Catalyst will automatically
call these built-in private actions in your application class:

=over 4

=item * B<default : Private>

Called when no other action matches. Could be used, for example, for
displaying a generic frontpage for the main app, or an error page for
individual controllers.

=item * B<index : Private>

C<index> is much like C<default> except that it takes no arguments
and it is weighted slightly higher in the matching process.

=item * B<begin : Private>

Called at the beginning of a request, before any matching actions are
called.

=item * B<end : Private>

Called at the end of a request, after all matching actions are called.

=back

=head4 Built-in actions in controllers/autochaining

    Package MyApp::C::Foo;
    sub begin : Private { }
    sub default : Private { }
    sub auto : Private { }

You can define built-in private actions within your controllers as
well. The actions will override the ones in less-specific controllers,
or your application class. In other words, for each of the three
built-in private actions, only one will be run in any request
cycle. Thus, if C<MyApp::C::Catalog::begin> exists, it will be run in
place of C<MyApp::begin> if you're in the C<catalog> namespace, and
C<MyApp::C::Catalog::Order::begin> would override this in turn.

In addition to the normal built-in actions, you have a special action
for making chains, C<auto>. Such C<auto> actions will be run after any
C<begin>, but before your action is processed. Unlike the other
built-ins, C<auto> actions I<do not> override each other; they will be
called in turn, starting with the application class and going through to
the I<most> specific class. I<This is the reverse of the order in which
the normal built-ins override each other>.

Here are some examples of the order in which the various built-ins
would be called:

=over 4

=item for a request for C</foo/foo>

  MyApp::begin
  MyApp::auto
  MyApp::C::Foo::default # in the absence of MyApp::C::Foo::Foo
  MyApp::end

=item for a request for C</foo/bar/foo>

  MyApp::C::Foo::Bar::begin
  MyApp::auto
  MyApp::C::Foo::auto
  MyApp::C::Foo::Bar::auto
  MyApp::C::Foo::Bar::default # for MyApp::C::Foo::Bar::foo
  MyApp::C::Foo::Bar::end

=back

The C<auto> action is also distinguished by the fact that you can break
out of the processing chain by returning 0. If an C<auto> action returns
0, any remaining actions will be skipped, except for C<end>. So, for the
request above, if the first auto returns false, the chain would look
like this:

=over 4

=item for a request for C</foo/bar/foo> where first C<auto> returns
false

  MyApp::C::Foo::Bar::begin
  MyApp::auto
  MyApp::C::Foo::Bar::end

=back

An example of why one might use this is an authentication action: you
could set up a C<auto> action to handle authentication in your
application class (which will always be called first), and if
authentication fails, returning 0 would skip any remaining methods
for that URL.

B<Note:> Looking at it another way, C<auto> actions have to return a
true value to continue processing! You can also C<die> in the autochain
action; in that case, the request will go straight to the finalize
stage, without processing further actions.

=head4 URL Path Handling

You can pass variable arguments as part of the URL path. In this case,
you must use regex action keys with '^' and '$' anchors, and the
arguments must be separated with forward slashes (/) in the URL. For
example, suppose you want to handle C</foo/$bar/$baz>, where C<$bar> and
C<$baz> may vary:

    sub foo : Regex('^foo$') { my ($self, $context, $bar, $baz) = @_; }

But what if you also defined actions for C</foo/boo> and C</foo/boo/hoo>?

    sub boo : Path('foo/boo') { .. }
    sub hoo : Path('foo/boo/hoo') { .. }

Catalyst matches actions in most specific to least specific order:

    /foo/boo/hoo
    /foo/boo
    /foo # might be /foo/bar/baz but won't be /foo/boo/hoo

So Catalyst would never mistakenly dispatch the first two URLs to the
'^foo$' action.

=head4 Parameter Processing

Parameters passed in the URL query string are handled with methods in
the L<Catalyst::Request> class. The C<param> method is functionally
equivalent to the C<param> method of C<CGI.pm> and can be used in
modules that require this.

    # http://localhost:3000/catalog/view/?category=hardware&page=3
    my $category = $c->req->param('category');
    my $current_page = $c->req->param('page') || 1;

    # multiple values for single parameter name
    my @values = $c->req->param('scrolling_list');          

    # DFV requires a CGI.pm-like input hash
    my $results = Data::FormValidator->check($c->req->params, \%dfv_profile);

=head3 Flow Control

You control the application flow with the C<forward> method, which
accepts the key of an action to execute. This can be an action in the
same or another Catalyst controller, or a Class name, optionally
followed by a method name. After a C<forward>, the control flow will
return to the method from which the C<forward> was issued.

A C<forward> is similar to a method call. The main differences are that
it wraps the call in an C<eval> to allow exception handling; it
automatically passes along the context object (C<$c> or C<$context>);
and it allows profiling of each call (displayed in the log with
debugging enabled).

    sub hello : Global {
        my ( $self, $c ) = @_;
        $c->stash->{message} = 'Hello World!';
        $c->forward('check_message'); # $c is automatically included
    }

    sub check_message : Private {
        my ( $self, $c ) = @_;
        return unless $c->stash->{message};
        $c->forward('show_message');
    }

    sub show_message : Private {
        my ( $self, $c ) = @_;
        $c->res->body( $c->stash->{message} );
    }

A C<forward> does not create a new request, so your request
object (C<$c-E<gt>req>) will remain unchanged. This is a
key difference between using C<forward> and issuing a
redirect.

You can pass new arguments to a C<forward> by adding them
in an anonymous array. In this case C<$c-E<gt>req-E<gt>args>
will be changed for the duration of the C<forward> only; upon
return, the original value of C<$c-E<gt>req-E<gt>args> will
be reset.

    sub hello : Global {
        my ( $self, $c ) = @_;
        $c->stash->{message} = 'Hello World!';
        $c->forward('check_message',[qw/test1/]);
        # now $c->req->args is back to what it was before
    }

    sub check_message : Private {
        my ( $self, $c ) = @_;
        my $first_argument = $c->req->args[0]; # now = 'test1'
        # do something...
    }
    
As you can see from these examples, you can just use the method name as
long as you are referring to methods in the same controller. If you want
to forward to a method in another controller, or the main application,
you will have to refer to the method by absolute path.

  $c->forward('/my/controller/action');
  $c->forward('/default'); # calls default in main application

Here are some examples of how to forward to classes and methods.

    sub hello : Global {
        my ( $self, $c ) = @_;
        $c->forward(qw/MyApp::M::Hello say_hello/);
    }

    sub bye : Global {
        my ( $self, $c ) = @_;
        $c->forward('MyApp::M::Hello'); # no method: will try 'process'
    }

    package MyApp::M::Hello;

    sub say_hello {
        my ( $self, $c ) = @_;
        $c->res->body('Hello World!');
    }

    sub process {
        my ( $self, $c ) = @_;
        $c->res->body('Goodbye World!');
    }

Note that C<forward> returns to the calling action and continues
processing after the action finishes. If you want all further processing
in the calling action to stop, use C<detach> instead, which will execute
the C<detach>ed action and not return to the calling sub. In both cases,
Catalyst will automatically try to call process() if you omit the
method.

=head3 Components

Catalyst has an uncommonly flexible component system. You can define as many
L<Models>, L<Views>, and L<Controllers> as you like.

All components must inherit from L<Catalyst::Base>, which provides a simple
class structure and some common class methods like C<config> and C<new>
(constructor).

    package MyApp::C::Catalog;

    use strict;
    use base 'Catalyst::Base';

    __PACKAGE__->config( foo => 'bar' );

    1;

You don't have to C<use> or otherwise register Models, Views, and
Controllers.  Catalyst automatically discovers and instantiates them
when you call C<setup> in the main application. All you need to do is
put them in directories named for each Component type. Notice that you
can use some very terse aliases for each one.

=over 4

=item * B<MyApp/Model/> 

=item * B<MyApp/M/>

=item * B<MyApp/View/>

=item * B<MyApp/V/>

=item * B<MyApp/Controller/>

=item * B<MyApp/C/>

=back

=head4 Views

To show how to define views, we'll use an already-existing base class for the
L<Template Toolkit|Template>, L<Catalyst::View::TT>. All we need to do is
inherit from this class:

    package MyApp::V::TT;

    use strict;
    use base 'Catalyst::View::TT';

    1;

(You can also generate this automatically by using the helper script:

    script/myapp_create.pl view TT TT

where the first C<TT> tells the script that the name of the view should
be C<TT>, and the second that it should be a Template Toolkit view.)

This gives us a process() method and we can now just do
$c->forward('MyApp::V::TT') to render our templates. The base class makes
process() implicit, so we don't have to say C<$c-E<gt>forward(qw/MyApp::V::TT
process/)>.

    sub hello : Global {
        my ( $self, $c ) = @_;
        $c->stash->{template} = 'hello.tt';
    }

    sub end : Private {
        my ( $self, $c ) = @_;
        $c->forward('MyApp::V::TT');
    }

You normally render templates at the end of a request, so it's a perfect
use for the global C<end> action.

Also, be sure to put the template under the directory specified in
C<$c-E<gt>config-E<gt>{root}>, or you'll be forced to look at our
eyecandy debug screen. ;)

=head4 Models

To show how to define models, again we'll use an already-existing base class,
this time for L<Class::DBI>: L<Catalyst::Model::CDBI>.

But first, we need a database.

    -- myapp.sql
    CREATE TABLE foo (
        id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
        data TEXT
    );

    CREATE TABLE bar (
        id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
        foo INTEGER REFERENCES foo,
        data TEXT
    );

    INSERT INTO foo (data) VALUES ('TEST!');


    % sqlite /tmp/myapp.db < myapp.sql

Now we can create a CDBI component for this database.

    package MyApp::M::CDBI;

    use strict;
    use base 'Catalyst::Model::CDBI';

    __PACKAGE__->config(
        dsn           => 'dbi:SQLite:/tmp/myapp.db',
        relationships => 1
    );

    1;

Catalyst automatically loads table layouts and relationships. Use the stash to
pass data to your templates.

    package MyApp;

    use strict;
    use Catalyst '-Debug';

    __PACKAGE__->config(
        name => 'My Application',
        root => '/home/joeuser/myapp/root'
    );
    
    __PACKAGE__->setup;

    sub end : Private {
        my ( $self, $c ) = @_;
        $c->stash->{template} ||= 'index.tt';
        $c->forward('MyApp::V::TT');
    }

    sub view : Global {
        my ( $self, $c, $id ) = @_;
        $c->stash->{item} = MyApp::M::CDBI::Foo->retrieve($id);
    }

    1;

    # Then, in a TT template:
    The id is [% item.data %]

Models do not have to be part of your Catalyst application; you
can always call an outside module that serves as your Model:

    # in a Controller
    sub list : Local {
      my ( $self, $c ) = @_;
      $c->stash->{template} = 'list.tt';
      use Some::Outside::CDBI::Module;
      my @records = Some::Outside::CDBI::Module->retrieve_all;
      $c->stash->{records} = \@records;
    }

But by using a Model that is part of your Catalyst application, you gain
several things: you don't have to C<use> each component, Catalyst will
find and load it automatically at compile-time; you can C<forward> to
the module, which can only be done to Catalyst components; and only
Catalyst components can be fetched with
C<$c-E<gt>comp('MyApp::M::SomeModel')>.

Happily, since many people have existing Model classes that they
would like to use with Catalyst (or, conversely, they want to
write Catalyst models that can be used outside of Catalyst, e.g.
in a cron job), it's trivial to write a simple component in
Catalyst that slurps in an outside Model:

    package MyApp::M::Catalog;
    use base qw/Catalyst::Base Some::Other::CDBI::Module::Catalog/;
    1;

and that's it! Now C<Some::Other::CDBI::Module::Catalog> is part of your
Cat app as C<MyApp::M::Catalog>.

=head4 Controllers

Multiple controllers are a good way to separate logical domains of your
application.

    package MyApp::C::Login;

    sub sign-in : Local { }
    sub new-password : Local { }
    sub sign-out : Local { }

    package MyApp::C::Catalog;

    sub view : Local { }
    sub list : Local { }

    package MyApp::C::Cart;

    sub add : Local { }
    sub update : Local { }
    sub order : Local { }

=head3 Testing

Catalyst has a built-in http server for testing! (Later, you can easily use a
more powerful server, e.g. Apache/mod_perl, in a production environment.)

Start your application on the command line...

    script/myapp_server.pl

...then visit http://localhost:3000/ in a browser to view the output.

You can also do it all from the command line:

    script/myapp_test.pl http://localhost/

Have fun!

=head1 SUPPORT

IRC:

    Join #catalyst on irc.perl.org.

Mailing-lists:

    http://lists.rawmode.org/mailman/listinfo/catalyst
    http://lists.rawmode.org/mailman/listinfo/catalyst-dev

=head1 AUTHOR

Sebastian Riedel, C<sri@oook.de> 
David Naughton, C<naughton@umn.edu>
Marcus Ramberg, C<mramberg@cpan.org>
Jesse Sheidlower, C<jester@panix.com>
Danijel Milicevic, C<me@danijel.de>

=head1 COPYRIGHT

This program is free software, you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
the same terms as Perl itself.