=head1 NAME
HTML::FormFu::Manual::Cookbook - Cooking with HTML::FormFu
=head1 VERSION
version 2.05
=head1 DESCRIPTION
Miscellaneous useful recipes for use with HTML::FormFu
=head1 GETTING STARTED
Some useful info for beginners.
=head2 Default search paths for config files
The current working directory (C<cwd>) (see L<HTML::FormFu/"load_config_file">).
If you're using the C<FormConfig> action attribute from
L<Catalyst::Controller::HTML::FormFu>, forms should be saved in C<root/forms>.
See L<Catalyst::Controller::HTML::FormFu/SYNOPSIS> and
L<Catalyst::Controller::HTML::FormFu/config_file_path> for further details.
=head2 YAML
Most examples given in the L<HTML::FormFu> documentation use L<YAML> syntax.
You can use any configuration file type supported by L<Config::Any>, but
this author's preferred format is YAML.
A form can be populated by a config file by calling
L<HTML::FormFu/load_config_file> with the filename as an argument. The
config file is converted to a perl data-structure, and then passed to
L<HTML::FormFu/populate>.
The config file must contain a hash-ref, with the keys corresponding to
form method-names, and the values being the method arguments. For example,
the following are equivalent:
---
auto_fieldset: 1
elements:
- name: foo
- name: bar
# the above YAML is equivalent to the following perl code
$form->auto_fieldset(1);
$form->elements([
{ name => 'foo' },
{ name => 'bar' },
]);
When writing your config file, remember that perl hashes are unordered and
cannot have multiple keys with the same name.
See L<HTML::FormFu/load_config_file> and L<HTML::FormFu/populate> for
more details.
See L<http://www.yaml.org/spec/> for the YAML specification.
=head1 BUILDING A FORM
=head2 Quick single-file prototypes
You can run the following script to quickly view a form's markup - replace
the contents of the C<__DATA__> section with your own YAML config.
#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;
use HTML::FormFu;
use YAML::XS qw( LoadFile );
my $form = HTML::FormFu->new;
my $data = LoadFile(\*DATA);
$form->populate($data);
print $form;
__DATA__
---
auto_fieldset: 1
elements:
- type: Text
name: foo
=head2 Unsupported HTML tags
You can use the L<HTML::FormFu::Element::Block> element, and set
the L<tag|HTML::FormFu::Element::Block/tag> to create any arbitrary pair of
tags.
---
elements:
- type: Block
tag: span
content_xml: "<b>Hi!</b>"
You can use L<HTML::FormFu::Element::Block/content>,
L<HTML::FormFu::Element::Block/content_xml> or
L<HTML::FormFu::Element::Block/content_loc> to add any content you wish, or
use L<HTML::FormFu::Element::Block/element> to add elements.
=head1 Application-wide default values
You can automatically set defaults using L<HTML::FormFu/default_args>,
and if you set this in a L<Catalyst> application config file, it'll take
effect throughout your entire application, for example:
myapp.yml
---
'Controller::HTML::FormFu':
constructor:
default_args:
elements:
Textarea:
rows: 10
=head1 MODIFYING A FORM
=head2 Insert a new field before existing form fields
See L<HTML::FormFu/insert_before> and L<HTML::FormFu/insert_after>.
my $fieldset = $form->get_element({ type => 'Fieldset' });
$fieldset->insert_before(
$form->element(\%specs),
$form->get_field($name)
);
Another way to approach the problem is to use multiple config files, and
decide which to load at runtime:
# user_edit.yml
---
elements:
- type: Text
name: email
# user_username.yml
---
elements:
- type: Text
name: username
# user_register.yml
---
load_config_file:
- user_username.yml
- user_edit.yml
# create a user edit form, with only the email field
$form->load_config_file( 'user_edit.yml' );
# create a user registration form with username and email fields
$form->load_config_file( 'user_register.yml' );
=head2 Form and Field attributes
You can add any arbitrary attributes to a form with
L<HTML::FormFu/attributes>, or to any element with
L<HTML::FormFu::Element/attributes>.
---
attributes_xml:
onsubmit: "js_function()"
elements:
- type: Text
name: foo
attributes_xml:
onchange: "js_function()"
=head1 FORM VALIDATION
=head2 Check valid dates
Use L<HTML::FormFu::Inflator::DateTime>. When the inflator is processed, it
will try to create a DateTime object. An error will be returned if the
supplied values do not make a valid date.
=head2 Check valid URI / URLs
See L<HTML::FormFu::Element::URL> or L<HTML::FormFu::Constraint::Regex>.
=head2 Implement a custom constraint / validator
If L<HTML::FormFu::Constraint::Callback> or
L<HTML::FormFu::Validator::Callback> isn't sufficient for your needs, you
can create your own class that inherits from L<HTML::FormFu::Constraint> or
L<HTML::FormFu::Validator>, respectively.
It should implement a C<validate_value> method, which returns true is the
value is valid, or false otherwise.
package My::Custom::Validator;
use Moose;
extends 'HTML::FormFu::Validator';
sub validate_value {
my ( $self, $value, $params ) = @_;
return 1 if value_is_valid( $value );
return;
}
1;
Then add your custom validator to the form:
---
elements:
- type: Text
name: foo
validators:
- '+My::Custom::Validator'
=head2 Constrain one form field based on the value of another
For example, you have a radiogroup and several text fields, with different text
fields being required depending on the value of the radiogroup.
This is achieved using the C<when> attribute of a constraint:
constraints:
- type: Length
min: 8
when:
field: bar
values: [ 1, 3, 5 ]
In the above example, the Length constraint is only processed when the form
field named "bar" has a value of either 1, 3 or 5.
You can also test for a negative condition using the C<not> attribute:
constraints:
- type: Length
min: 8
when:
field: bar
values: [ 1, 3, 5 ]
not: 1
Now the constraint will be processed only if the value of field "bar" is NOT 1,
3 or 5.
Note: if you rely on the value of a checkbox for a when-restricted
contraint, you might want to consider setting C<default_empty_value> for
that checkbox. Take a look at L<HTML::FormFu::Role::Element::Field> to learn more.
Please read L<HTML::FormFu::Constraint> for further information.
=head2 Constrain one form field based on the return value of a callback
You can use the C<when> attribute of a constraint also to decide using a
callback if the constraint should be applied.
For instance, the following (code) example shows a constraint being applied
only if the value of another field contains a pattern
my $apply_if_pattern = sub {
my $params = shift;
return 1 if $params->{other_field} =~ m/\A ice_cream \z/xms;
return 0;
};
$field->{constraints} = {
type => 'Required',
when => {
callback => $apply_if_pattern,
}
}
Please read L<HTML::FormFu::Constraint> for further information.
=head1 HTML MARKUP
=head2 Indented HTML
Use L<HTML::FormFu::OutputProcessor::Indent>:
---
output_processors:
- Indent
=head2 Add a blank div (e.g. for AJAX purposes)
Simply add a Block element in the relevant place, it defaults to a C<DIV>
tag.
---
elements:
- type: Text
name: user
- type: Block
id: foo
- type: Text
name: email
=head1 DISPLAY
=head2 Custom error messages
If you want to display an error message due to an error in your own code,
such as a database check; something which isn't implemented as a
L<Constraint|HTML::FormFu::Constraint> or
L<Validator|HTML::FormFu::Validator>; you can use a
L<Callback Constraint|HTML::FormFu::Constraint::Callback>.
If you don't provide your own callback routine, the default callback will
always pass, regardless of user input.
You can take advantage of this by setting
L<force_errors|HTML::FormFu/force_errors>, to display its error message
when needed.
Example config:
---
elements:
- type: Text
- name: email
- constraints:
type: Callback
message: 'Email address already in use'
Example usage:
if ( $@ =~ m/duplicate entry for key 'email'/i ) {
$form->get_field('email')
->get_constraint({ type => 'Callback' })
->force_errors(1);
$form->process;
# then redisplay the form as normal
}
=head2 Highlight required fields (or fields with certain types of constraint)
This can be achieved using the form's C<auto_constraint_class> method:
$form->auto_constraint_class( 'constraint_%t' );
The container divs around any form field with a constraint will then have extra
CSS classes added, which indicate the type of constraint and allow you to apply
appropriate styling with CSS:
/* change background of labels for fields with a Required constraint */
fieldset .constraint_required label {
background: #f00;
}
This technique can also be used to add content before or after the fields in
question (note this will not work in older browsers with more limited CSS
support such as IE6):
/* add an asterisk at the end of the label for required fields */
fieldset .constraint_required label:after {
content: '*'
}
=head2 Add a popup hint to a field
Most display a tooltip when a user hovers their mouse pointer over an HTML
element with a "title" tag.
Aural browsers may try to turn the content into speech.
You can take advantage of this behaviour to provide a hint to the user about
how to complete a form field.
elements:
- type: URL
name: url
label: Website
title: 'Must start with http:// or https://'
The above will provide a hint when the "url" field receives focus.
Or you could provide the hint for the container tag around both field and label:
elements:
- type: URL
name: url
label: Website
container_attributes:
title: 'Must start with http:// or https://'
=head2 Display filtered values
If you have a Filter on a field, such as L<HTML::FormFu::Filter::Whitespace>
to strip leading / trailing whitespace, then if you redisplay the form the
field is normally populated with the value the user originally entered.
If you would like the field to contain the filtered value, use
L<HTML::FormFu/render_processed_value>.
=head2 Multiple forms using Catalyst::Controller::HTML::FormFu
Sometimes you need to display multiple forms on a single page. If you
try to use FormConfig on several actions in a chain, or similar, they
all use C<< $c->stash->{form} >> to store the form, hence you only get the last
form.
One way to work around such problems is to do a little of the work yourself:
In this example we have a login_form that we want on every page
# root/forms/login.yml:
---
indicator: username
elements:
-
type: Text
name: username
constraints:
- Required
...
We also have an edit-form
# root/forms/foo/edit.yml
---
indicator: foo
elements:
-
type: Text
name: foo
constraints:
- Required
...
In this example, we want the login form to appear on every page, so
we load this in the top-most auto action:
package MyApp::Controller::Root;
BEGIN { extends 'Catalyst::Controller::HTML::FormFu'; }
sub auto : Private {
my ($self, $c) = @_;
# We want to utilize a lot of the magic that the controller
# gives us, so therefore we call $self->form like this
my $login_form = $self->form;
$login_form->load_config_file('login.yml');
# Notice how we put it into another stash var, not 'form'
$c->stash->{login_form} = $login_form;
unless ($c->user_exists) {
$login_form->process();
if ($login_form->submitted_and_valid) {
# Since we set indicator, we should only end up here if we
# have a username in the form
$c->authenticate({
username => $login_form->param_value('username'),
password => $login_form->param_value('password'),
});
}
}
}
Any other page that wants to load another form, can now do so freely:
package MyApp::Controller::Foo;
sub edit : Local FormConfig {
my ( $self, $c ) = @_;
my $form = $c->stash->{form};
if ($form->submitted_and_valid) {
# Do whatever you want with it :p
}
}
In the view we now have two stash-variables:
In F<root/foo/edit.tt>:
[% login_form %]
<h2>edit</h2>
[% form %]
=head1 ADVANCED CUSTOMISATION
=head2 Installing the TT templates
It only makes sense to use the template files if you plan on customising
them, as the default C<string> render-method is faster.
As of C<HTML::FormFu v1.00>, L<TT|Template> is no longer listed a required
prerequisite - so you'll need to install it manually if you with to use the
template files.
If you're using the L<Catalyst> web framework, install
L<Catalyst::Controller::HTML::FormFu> and run the following command:
$ script/myapp_create.pl HTML::FormFu
This will create a directory, C<root/formfu>, containing the HTML::FormFu
template files.
If you extend L<Catalyst::Controller::HTML::FormFu> and you don't set
HTML::FormFu's INCLUDE_PATH yourself, it will automatically be set
to C<root/formfu> if that directory exists.
If you're not using L<Catalyst>, you can create the template files by
running the following command:
$ html_formfu_deploy.pl <target-directory>
Take note that if you choose to customise your own copy of HTML::FormFu's
template files, you'll need to keep track of the C<Changes> file, when
updating HTML::FormFu, so that you can update your own templates if the
core templates are updated.
=head1 PERFORMANCE
=head2 Catalyst::Plugin::StackTrace
If you're using L<Catalyst::Plugin::StackTrace>, make sure you're using at
least version C<0.09> - earlier versions had performance problems with
C<HTML::FormFu>.
=head2 Template::Alloy
You can also use L<Template::Alloy> instead of
L<Template::Toolkit|Template>, it's mostly compatible, and in many cases
provides a reasonable speed increase. You can do this either by setting the
C<HTML_FORMFU_TEMPLATE_ALLOY> environment variable to a true value, or by
passing C<TEMPLATE_ALLOY> to L<HTML::FormFu/tt_args>:
tt_args:
TEMPLATE_ALLOY: 1
COMPILE_DIR: /tmp
COMPILE_PERL: 1
Template::Alloy's caching is off by default. Switch it on by setting either
C<COMPILE_EXT> or C<COMPILE_DIR>. If you're running under a persistent
environment such as modperl or fastcgi, you should also set C<COMPILE_PERL>
to compile the cached templates down to perl code.
Of cource, if you wish you can still use L<Template::Toolkit|Template> to
process your own application templates, letting L<Template::Alloy> process
just the HTML::FormFu templates.
=head2 HTML:FormFu::Preload
To reduce the runtime for each form that uses a previously unused
element or processor - at the expense of greater memory usage - you
can preload all FormFu modules - this is only recommended for persistent
environments such as modperl or fastcgi:
use HTML::FormFu::Preload;
=head1 FAQs
=head2 Force an element to always have a certain value
See the following:
L<HTML::FormFu::Role::Element::Field/"retain_default">,
L<HTML::FormFu::Role::Element::Field/"force_default">
=head1 AUTHORS
Will Hawes C<wdhawes@gmail.com>
Carl Franks C<cfranks@cpan.org>
=head1 COPYRIGHT
This document is free, you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the same terms as Perl itself.
=cut