package WWW::Form; use strict; use warnings; use Data::Dumper; use CGI; our $VERSION = "1.13"; =head1 NAME WWW::Form - Simple, extendable OO module for HTML form validation and display =head1 SYNOPSIS Simple and extendable module that allows developers to handle HTML form validation and display flexibly and consistently. =head1 DESCRIPTION This module: =over =item * provides functionality to handle all of the various types of HTML form inputs this includes displaying HTML for the various form inputs) =item * handles populating form inputs with user entered data or progammer specified default values =item * provides robust validation of user entered input =item * handles presenting customizable error feedback to users =item * is easily extended, the WWW::Form module is designed to be easily inherited from, so you can add your own features. =back The most time consuming process (and it's not too bad) is creating the data structure used for instantiating a WWW::Form object. Once you have a WWW::Form object almost all your work is done, as it will have enough information to handle just about everything. Before we get too involved in the details, let's take a look at a sample usage of the WWW::Form module in a typical setting. The following example uses CGI instead of mod_perl, so if you're using mod_perl, certain pieces of the code would look a little different. The WWW::Form module is used the same way in both environments (CGI or mod_perl), though. #!/usr/bin/perl use strict; use warnings; use CGI; use WWW::Form; # Used by WWW::Form to perform various validations on user entered input use WWW::FieldValidator; # Define values for form input name attributes as constants use constant EMAIL_FIELD_NAME => 'emailAddress'; use constant PASSWORD_FIELD_NAME => 'password'; # Gets us access to the HTTP request data my $q = CGI->new(); # Hash ref of HTTP vars, would be $r->param() if you're using mod_perl my $params = $q->Vars() || {}; my $form = WWW::Form->new( get_form_fields(), $params, [&EMAIL_FIELD_NAME, &PASSWORD_FIELD_NAME] ); # Check to see that the form was submitted by the user if you're using # mod_perl, instead of $ENV{REQUEST_METHOD} you'd have $r->method() if ($form->is_submitted($ENV{REQUEST_METHOD})) { # Validate user entered data $form->validate_fields(); # If the data was good, do something if ($form->is_valid()) { # Do some stuff with params because we know the user entered data # passed all of its validation } } # Display the HTML web page print < A Simple HTML Form HTML # Display the HTML form content print $form->get_form_HTML(action => './form_test.pl'); print < HTML # Returns data structure suitable for passing to WWW::Form object # constructor, the keys will become the names of the HTML form inputs sub get_form_fields { my %fields = ( &EMAIL_FIELD_NAME => { label => 'Email address', defaultValue => 'you@emailaddress.com', type => 'text', validators => [WWW::FieldValidator->new( WWW::FieldValidator::WELL_FORMED_EMAIL, 'Make sure email address is well formed' )] }, &PASSWORD_FIELD_NAME => { label => 'Password', defaultValue => '', type => 'password', validators => [WWW::FieldValidator->new( WWW::FieldValidator::MIN_STR_LENGTH, 'Password must be at least 6 characters', 6 )] } ); return \%fields; } =head2 Instantiating A WWW::Form Object As I said, instantiating a form object is the trickiest part. The WWW::Form constructor takes three parameters. The first parameter called $fieldsData, is a hash reference that describes how the form should be built. $fieldsData should be keyed with values that are suitable for using as the value of the form inputs' name HTML attributes. That is, if you call a key of your $fieldsData hash 'full_name', then you will have some type of form input whose name attribute will have the value 'full_name'. The values of the $fieldsData keys (i.e., $fieldsData->{$fieldName}) should also be hash references. This hash reference will be used to tell the WWW::Form module about your form input. All of these hash references will be structured similarly, however, there are a couple of variations to accommodate the various types of form inputs. The basic structure is as follows: { # UI presentable value that will label the form input label => 'Your name', # If set, the form input will be pre-populated with this value # you could hard code a default value or use a value retrieved # from a data base table, for example defaultValue => 'Homer Simpson', # The type of form input, i.e. text, checkbox, textarea, etc. # (more on this later) type => 'text', # An array ref of various validations that should be performed on the # user entered input validators => [], # A hash ref that contains extra HTML attributes to add to the # container. container_attributes => {}, # A hint that will be displayed to the user near the control and its # label to guide him what to fill in that control. (optional) hint => 'text', # A hash ref that contains extra HTML attributes to add to the # container of the hint. hint_container_attributes => {}, } So to create a WWW::Form object with one text box you would have the following data structure: my $fields = { emailAddress => { label => 'Email address', defaultValue => 'you@emailaddress.com', type => 'text', validators => [WWW::FieldValidator->new( WWW::FieldValidator::WELL_FORMED_EMAIL, 'Make sure email address is well formed )], container_attributes => { 'class' => "green",}, hint => "Fill in a valid E-mail address", hint_container_attributes => { 'style' => "border : double", }, } }; You could then say the following to create that WWW::Form object: my $form = WWW::Form->new($fields); Now let's talk about the second parameter. If a form is submitted, the second parameter is used. This parameter should be a hash reference of HTTP POST parameters. So if the previous form was submitted you would instantiate the WWW::Form object like so: my $params = $r->param(); # or $q->Vars if you're using CGI my $form = WWW::Form->new($fields, $params); At this point, let me briefly discuss how to specify validators for your form inputs. The validators keys in the $fieldsData->{$fieldName} hash reference can be left empty, which means that the user entered input does not need to be validated at all, or it can take a comma separated list of WWW::FieldValidator objects. The basic format for a WWW::FieldValidator constructor is as follows: WWW::FieldValidator->new( $validatorType, $errorFeedbackIfFieldNotValid, # Optional, depends on type of validator, if input is entered validation # is run, if nothing is entered input is OK $otherVarThatDependsOnValidatorType, $isOptional ) The FieldValidator types are: WWW::FieldValidator::WELL_FORMED_EMAIL WWW::FieldValidator::MIN_STR_LENGTH WWW::FieldValidator::MAX_STR_LENGTH WWW::FieldValidator::REGEX_MATCH WWW::FieldValidator::USER_DEFINED_SUB So to create a validator for a field that would make sure the input of said field was a minimum length, if any input was entered, you would have: WWW::FieldValidator->new( WWW::FieldValidator::MIN_STR_LENGTH, 'String must be at least 6 characters', 6, # input must be at least 6 chars # input is only validated if user entered something if field left blank, # it's OK 1 # field is optional ) Now for the third parameter. The third parameter is simply an array reference of the keys of the $fieldsData hash, but the order of elements in the array ref should be the order that you want your form inputs to be displayed in. This array ref is used by the get_form_HTML method to return a form block that can be displayed in an HTML page. # The third parameter will be used to generate an HTML form whose inputs # will be in the order of their appearance in the array ref, note this is # the constructor format you should use when instantiating form objects my $form = WWW::Form->new( $fieldsData, $params, ['name', 'emailAddress', 'password'] ); =head2 How To Create All The Various Form Inputs The following form input types are supported by the WWW::Form module (these values should be used for the 'type' key of your $fieldsData->{$fieldName} hash ref): text password hidden file checkbox radio select textarea The following structure can be used for text, password, hidden, file, and textarea form inputs: $fieldName => { label => 'Your name', defaultValue => 'Homer Simpson', type => 'text', # or file, password, hidden, textarea validators => [] } The following structure should be used for radio and select form inputs: The data structure for input types radio and select use an array of hash references called optionsGroup. The optionsGroup label is what will be displayed in the select box or beside the radio button, and the optionsGroup value is the value that will be in the hash of HTTP params depending on what the user selects. To pre-select a select box option or radio button, set its defaultValue to a value that is found in the optionsGroup hash ref. For example, if you wanted the option 'Blue' to be selected by default in the example below, you would set defaultValue to 'blue'. $fieldName => { label => 'Favorite color', defaultValue => '', type => 'select', optionsGroup => [ {label => 'Green', value => 'green'}, {label => 'Red', value => 'red'}, {label => 'Blue', value => 'blue'} ], validators => [] } The following structure should be used for checkboxes: Note: All checkbox form inputs need a defaultValue to be specified, this is the value that will be used if the checkbox is checked when the form is submitted. If a checkbox is not checked then there will not be an entry for it in the hash of HTTP POST params. If defaultChecked is 1 the checkbox will be selected by default, if it is 0 it will not be selected by default. $fieldName => { label => 'Do you like spam?', defaultValue => 'Yes, I love it!', defaultChecked => 0, # 1 or 0 type => 'checkbox', validators => [] } =head1 FUNCTION REFERENCE NOTE: For style conscious developers all public methods are available using internalCapsStyle and underscore_separated_style. So 'isSubmitted' is also available as 'is_submitted', and 'getFieldHTMLRow' is also available as 'get_field_HTML_row', and so on and so forth. =head2 new Creates a WWW::Form object. $fieldsData is a hash reference that describes your WWW::Form object. (See instantiating a WWW::Form object above.) $fieldsValues (i.e., $params below) has keys identical to $fieldsData. $fieldsValues is a hash reference of HTTP POST variables. $fieldsOrder is an array reference of $fieldsData keys that is used to determine the order that form inputs are displayed in when getFormHTML() is called. If you don't use this parameter you should use the other public methods provided and display your form inputs by hand. Example: my $params = $r->param() || {}; my $form = WWW::Form->new($fieldsData, $params, $fieldsOrder); =cut sub new { my $class = shift; # Hash that contains various bits of data in regard to the form fields, # i.e. the form field's label, its input type (e.g. radio, text, textarea, # select, etc.) validators to check the user entered input against a # default value to use before the form is submitted and an option group # hash if the type of the form input is select or radio this hash should # be keyed with the values you want to use for the name attributes of your # form inputs my $fieldsData = shift; # Values to populate value keys of field hashes with generally this will # be a hash of HTTP params needs to have the same keys as fieldsData my $fieldValues = shift || {}; # Array ref of field name keys that should be in the order that you want # to display your form inputs my $fieldsOrder = shift || []; my $self = {}; $self->{fieldsOrder} = $fieldsOrder; bless($self, $class); # Creates and populates fields hash $self->_setFields($fieldsData, $fieldValues); return $self; } =head2 validateFields Validates field's values input according to the validators (WWW::FieldValidators) that were specified when the WWW::Form object was created. This will also set error feedback as necessary for form inputs that are not valid. Returns hash reference of all the fields that are valid (generally you don't need to use this for anything though because if all the validation passes you can just use your hash ref of HTTP $params, i.e. $r->param()). Example: if ($form->isSubmitted($r->method)) { # validate fields because form was POSTed $form->validateFields(); } =cut sub validateFields { my $self = shift; # Initialize hash of valid fields my %validFields = (); # Init isValid property to 1 that is, the form starts out as being valid # until an invalid field is found, at which point the form gets set to # invalid (i.e., $self->{isValid} = 0) $self->{isValid} = 1; # Go through all the fields and look to see if they have any validators, # if so check the validators to see if the input is valid, if the field # has no validators then the field is always valid foreach my $fieldName (keys %{$self->{fields}}) { # Look up hash ref of data for the current field name my $field = $self->getField($fieldName); my $fieldValue = $self->getFieldValue($fieldName); # If this field has any validators, run them if (scalar(@{$field->{validators}}) > 0) { # Keeps track of how many validators pass my $validValidators = 0; # Check the field's validator(s) to see if the user input is valid foreach my $validator (@{$field->{validators}}) { if ($validator->validate($fieldValue)) { # Increment the validator counter because the current # validator passed, i.e. the form input was good $validValidators++; } else { # Mark field as invalid so error feedback can be displayed # to the user $field->{isValid} = 0; # Mark form as invalid because at least one input is not # valid $self->{isValid} = 0; # Add the validators feedback to the array of feedback for # this field push @{$field->{feedback}}, $validator->{feedback}; } } # Only set the field to valid if ALL of the validators pass if (scalar(@{$field->{validators}}) == $validValidators) { $field->{isValid} = 1; $validFields{$fieldName} = $fieldValue; } } else { # This field didn't have any validators so it's ok $field->{isValid} = 1; $validFields{$fieldName} = $fieldValue; } } # Return hash ref of valid fields return \%validFields; } *validate_fields = \&validateFields; =head2 getFields Returns hash ref of fields data. Example: my $fields = $form->getFields(); =cut sub getFields { my $self = shift; return $self->{fields}; } *get_fields = \&getFields; =head2 resetFields Resets values and default values for all fields Example: $form->resetFields(include_defaults => 1); =cut sub resetFields { my ($self, %args) = @_; my $fields = $self->getFields(); for my $fieldName (keys %$fields) { $self->setFieldValue($fieldName, ''); $self->getField($fieldName)->{defaultValue} = '' if ($args{include_defaults}); } } *reset_fields = \&resetFields; =head2 getField Returns hash ref of field data that describes the form input that corresponds to the passed $fieldName ($fieldName should be a value of a key in the $fieldsData hash ref you used to construct your WWW::Form instance). Example: my $field = $form->getField('address'); =cut sub getField { my $self = shift; my $fieldName = shift; return $self->{fields}{$fieldName}; } *get_field = \&getField; =head2 getFieldErrorFeedback Returns an array of all the error feedback (if any) for the specified $fieldName. Example: my $name_feedback = $form->getFieldErrorFeedback('fullName'); =cut sub getFieldErrorFeedback { my $self = shift; my $fieldName = shift; my $field = $self->getField($fieldName); if ($field->{feedback}) { return @{$field->{feedback}}; } else { return (); } } *get_field_error_feedback = \&getFieldErrorFeedback; =head2 getFieldsOrder Returns array ref of field names in the order they should be displayed. Example: $form->getFieldsOrder(); =cut sub getFieldsOrder { my $self = shift; return $self->{fieldsOrder}; } *get_fields_order = \&getFieldsOrder; =head2 getFieldValue Returns the current value of the specified $fieldName. Example: $form->getFieldValue('comments'); =cut sub getFieldValue { my $self = shift; my $fieldName = shift; return $self->getField($fieldName)->{value}; } *get_field_value = \&getFieldValue; =head2 isFieldValid Returns 1 or 0 depending on whether or not the specified field name is valid. Example: $form->isFieldValid('zip_code'); =cut sub isFieldValid { my $self = shift; my $fieldName = shift; return $self->getField($fieldName)->{isValid}; } *is_field_valid = \&isFieldValid; =head2 getFieldValidators Returns array ref of validators for the passed field name. Example: $validators = $form->getFieldValidators($fieldName); =cut sub getFieldValidators { my ($self, $fieldName) = @_; return $self->getField($fieldName)->{validators}; } *get_field_validators = \&getFieldValidators; =head2 getFieldType Returns value of a field's 'type' key for the specified $fieldName. Example: my $input_type = $form->getFieldType('favoriteColor'); =cut sub getFieldType { my $self = shift; my $fieldName = shift; return $self->getField($fieldName)->{type}; } *get_field_type = \&getFieldType; =head2 getFieldLabel Returns the label associated with the specified $fieldName. Example: my $ui_label = $form->getFieldLabel('favoriteBand'); =cut sub getFieldLabel { my $self = shift; my $fieldName = shift; my $field = $self->getField($fieldName); if ($self->getFieldType($fieldName) eq 'checkbox') { return "'; } else { return $field->{label}; } } *get_field_label = \&getFieldLabel; =head2 getFieldHint Returns the hint associated with the specified $fieldName or undef if it does not exist. Example: my $hint = $form->getFieldHint('favoriteBand'); =cut sub getFieldHint { my $self = shift; my $fieldName = shift; my $field = $self->getField($fieldName); return $field->{hint}; } *get_field_hint = \&getFieldHint; =head2 setFieldValue Sets the value of the specified $fieldName to $value. You might use this if you need to convert a user entered value to some other value. Example: $form->setFieldValue('fullName', uc($form->getFieldValue('fullName'))); =cut sub setFieldValue { my $self = shift; my $fieldName = shift; my $newValue = shift; if (my $field = $self->getField($fieldName)) { $field->{value} = $newValue; #warn("set field value for field: $fieldName to '$new_value'"); } else { #warn("could not find field for field name: '$fieldName'"); } } *set_field_value = \&setFieldValue; =head2 isValid Returns true if all form fields are valid or false otherwise. Example: if ($form->isSubmitted($r->method)) { # validate fields because form was POSTed $form->validateFields($params); # now check to see if form inputs are all valid if ($form->isValid()) { # do some stuff with $params because we know # the validation passed for all the form inputs } } =cut sub isValid { my $self = shift; return $self->{isValid}; } *is_valid = \&isValid; =head2 isSubmitted Returns true if the HTTP request method is POST. If for some reason you're using GET to submit a form then this method won't be of much help. If you're not using POST as the method for submitting your form you may want to override this method in a subclass. Example: # Returns true if HTTP method is POST if ($form->isSubmitted($r->method())) { print "You submitted the form."; } =cut sub isSubmitted { my $self = shift; # The actual HTTP request method that the form was sent using my $formRequestMethod = shift; # This should be GET or POST, defaults to POST my $formMethodToCheck = shift || 'POST'; if ($formRequestMethod eq $formMethodToCheck) { return 1; } else { return 0; } } *is_submitted = \&isSubmitted; # Private method # # Populates fields hash for each field of the form sub _setFields { my $self = shift; my $fieldsData = shift; my $fieldValues = shift; # TODO : # Create a _setField() method that will encapsulate the functionality # inside the loop. This will enable adding more variables to each field # in the sub-classes more easily. foreach my $fieldName (keys %{$fieldsData}) { # Use the supplied field value if one is given generally the supplied # data will be a hash of HTTP POST data my $fieldValue = ''; # Only use the default value of a check box if the form has been # submitted, that is, the default value should be the value that you # want to show up in the POST data if the checkbox is selected when # the form is submitted if ($fieldsData->{$fieldName}{type} eq 'checkbox') { # If the checkbox was selected then we're going to use the default # value for the checkbox input's value in our WWW::Form object, if # the checkbox was not selected and the form was submitted that # variable will not show up in the hash of HTTP variables if ($fieldValues->{$fieldName}) { $fieldValue = $fieldsData->{$fieldName}{defaultValue}; } # See if this checkbox should be checked by default $self->{fields}{$fieldName}{defaultChecked} = $fieldsData->{$fieldName}{defaultChecked}; } else { # If a key exists in the $fieldValues hashref, use that value # instead of the default, we generally want to favor displaying # user entered values than defaults if (exists($fieldValues->{$fieldName})) { $fieldValue = $fieldValues->{$fieldName}; } else { $fieldValue = $fieldsData->{$fieldName}{defaultValue}; } } # Value suitable for displaying to users as a label for a form input, # e.g. 'Email address', 'Full name', 'Street address', 'Phone number', # etc. $self->{fields}{$fieldName}{label} = $fieldsData->{$fieldName}{label}; # Holds the value that the user enters after the form is submitted $self->{fields}{$fieldName}{value} = $fieldValue; # The value to pre-populate a form input with before the form is # submitted, the only exception is a checkbox form input in the case # of a checkbox, the default value will be the value of the checkbox # input if the check box is selected and the form is submitted, see # form_test.pl for an example $self->{fields}{$fieldName}{defaultValue} = $fieldsData->{$fieldName}{defaultValue}; # The validators for this field, validators are used to test user # entered form input to make sure that it the user entered data is # acceptable $self->{fields}{$fieldName}{validators} = \@{$fieldsData->{$fieldName}{validators}}; # Type of the form input, i.e. 'radio', 'text', 'select', 'checkbox', # etc. this is mainly used to determine what type of HTML method # should be used to display the form input in a web page $self->{fields}{$fieldName}{type} = $fieldsData->{$fieldName}{type}; # If any validators fail, this property will contain the error # feedback associated with those failing validators # # TODO : Added by Shlomif: Should it be a [] ? # 12/28/2003 - Added by Ben Schmaus: # each field has an array of feedback, right now it's implemented # as an array () and not an array ref []. I can't really think # of a great reason to make this an array reference internally instead # of an array. # 15-Jan-2004 - Added by Shlomi Fish # Changing to [] as assigning an array here does not make much # sense. (as discussed over IM). A hash value is always a scalar. $self->{fields}{$fieldName}{feedback} = []; # If the input type is a select box or a radio button then we need an # array of labels and values for the radio button group or select box # option groups if (my $optionsGroup = $fieldsData->{$fieldName}{optionsGroup}) { $self->{fields}{$fieldName}{optionsGroup} = \@{$optionsGroup}; } # Arbitrary HTML attributes that will be used when the field's input # element is displayed. $self->{fields}{$fieldName}{extraAttributes} = ($fieldsData->{$fieldName}{extraAttributes} || ""); # Add the hint # 12/28/2003 - Added by Ben Schmaus: # Shlomi, could you please be more specific about the purpose of this # property? It doesn't appear to be mentioned anywhere else in the # documentation. I assume that this is some helpful text that can # be displayed if the user enters a field's input incorrectly. Is that # right? # # 2004-Jan-04 - Added by Shlomi Fish: # Ben, no. Actually it's a hint that will always be displayed below # the table row to instruct the users what to input there. For instance # +----------+---------------------------+ # | City: | [================] | # +----------+---------------------------+ # | Input the city in which you live | # | in. | # +--------------------------------------- # So "Input the city..." would be the hint. if (my $hint = $fieldsData->{$fieldName}{hint}) { $self->{fields}{$fieldName}{hint} = $hint; } # Add the container_attributes. These are HTML attributes that would # be added to the rows of this HTML row. if (my $attribs = $fieldsData->{$fieldName}{container_attributes}) { $self->{fields}{$fieldName}{container_attributes} = $attribs; } # Add the hint_container_attributes. These are HTML attributes that # would be added to the Hint row of this HTML row. if (my $attribs = $fieldsData->{$fieldName}{hint_container_attributes}) { $self->{fields}{$fieldName}{hint_container_attributes} = $attribs; } } } =head2 asString Returns a string representation of the current instance. Example: &LOG->debug("WWW::Form instance: " . $form->asString()); =cut sub asString { my $self = shift; return Data::Dumper::Dumper($self); } *as_string = \&asString; #----------------------------------------------------------------------------- # Convenience methods for displaying HTML form data including form inputs, # labels, and error feedback # # Note: You do not need to use these methods to display your form inputs, but # they should be reasonably flexible enough to handle most cases #----------------------------------------------------------------------------- =head2 getFieldFormInputHTML Returns an HTML form input for the specified $fieldName. $attributesString is an (optional) arbitrary string of HTML attribute key='value' pairs that you can use to add attributes to the form input, such as size='20' or onclick='someJSFunction()', and so forth. Example: $html .= $form->getFieldFormInputHTML( 'password', " size='6' class='PasswordInput' " ); =cut sub getFieldFormInputHTML { my $self = shift; # The value of the HTML name attribute of the form field my $fieldName = shift; # A string that can contain an arbitrary number of HTML attribute # name=value pairs, this lets you apply CSS classes to form inputs # or control the size of your text inputs, for example my $attributesString = shift || ''; my $type = $self->getField($fieldName)->{type}; if ($type =~ /text$|password|hidden|file/) { return $self->_getInputHTML($fieldName, $attributesString); } elsif ($type eq 'checkbox') { return $self->_getCheckBoxHTML($fieldName, $attributesString); } elsif ($type eq 'radio') { return $self->_getRadioButtonHTML($fieldName, $attributesString); } elsif ($type eq 'select') { return $self->_getSelectBoxHTML($fieldName, $attributesString); } elsif ($type eq 'textarea') { return $self->_getTextAreaHTML($fieldName, $attributesString); } } *get_field_form_input_HTML = \&getFieldFormInputHTML; =head2 getFieldHTMLRow Note: Need to make sure you can pass in attributesString param unnamed! $self->getFieldHTMLRow($fieldName, 'attributesString' => $attributesString, 'form_args' => \%form_args, ); Returns HTML to display in a web page. $fieldName is a key of the $fieldsData hash that was used to create a WWW::Form object. $attributesString is an (optional) arbitrary string of HTML attribute key='value' pairs that you can use to add attributes to the form input. %form_args are the parameters passed to the form as a whole, and this function will extract relevant parameters out of there. The only caveat for using this method is that it must be called between and
tags. It produces the following output: $errorFeedback $fieldLabel $fieldFormInput =cut sub _render_attributes { my $self = shift; my $attribs = shift; # We sort the keys to produce reproducible output on perl 5.8.1 and above # where the order of the hash keys is not deterministic return join("", map { " $_=\"" . $self->_escapeValue($attribs->{$_}) . "\"" } (sort {$a cmp $b} keys(%$attribs)) ); } sub getFieldHTMLRow { my $self = shift; my $fieldName = shift; my %func_args = (@_); my $attributesString = $func_args{'attributesString'}; my $form_args = $func_args{'form_args'}; my $field = $self->getField($fieldName); $attributesString ||= $field->{extraAttributes}; my @feedback = $self->getFieldErrorFeedback($fieldName); my $html = ""; my %tr_attributes = (); if (exists($field->{container_attributes})) { %tr_attributes = (%tr_attributes, %{$field->{container_attributes}}); } my $tr_attr_string = $self->_render_attributes(\%tr_attributes); foreach my $error (@feedback) { $html .= "" . "$error" . "\n"; } $html .= "" . $self->getFieldLabel($fieldName) . "" . "" . $self->getFieldFormInputHTML( $fieldName, $attributesString ) . "\n"; my $hint = $self->getFieldHint($fieldName); if (defined($hint)) { my %hint_attributes = (); my $hint_attributes = $form_args->{'hint_container_attributes'}; if (defined($hint_attributes)) { %hint_attributes = (%hint_attributes, %$hint_attributes); } %hint_attributes = (%hint_attributes, %tr_attributes); if (exists($field->{hint_container_attributes})) { %hint_attributes = (%hint_attributes, %{$field->{hint_container_attributes}}); } my $hint_attr_string = $self->_render_attributes(\%hint_attributes); $html .= "$hint\n"; } return $html; } *get_field_HTML_row = \&getFieldHTMLRow; =head2 getFieldFeedbackHTML Returns HTML error content for each vaildator belonging to $fieldName that doesn't pass validation. Returns following HTML: Note: If you use this, you should implement a CSS class named 'feedback' that styles your error messages appropriately. Example: $html .= $form->getFieldFeedbackHTML('emailAddress'); =cut sub getFieldFeedbackHTML { my $self = shift; my $fieldName = shift; my @feedback = $self->getFieldErrorFeedback($fieldName); my $feedbackHTML = ''; foreach my $fieldFeedback (@feedback) { $feedbackHTML .= "\n"; } return $feedbackHTML; } *get_field_feedback_HTML = \&getFieldFeedbackHTML; =head2 startForm Returns an opening HTML form tag. Arguments: name - Value of HTML name attribute. action - Value of action HTML attribute. attributes - Optional hash ref of HTML attribute name value pairs. is_file_upload - Optional, boolean, should be true if your form contains file inputs. Example: $form->start_form( action => '/some_script.pl', name => 'MyFormName', attributes => {class => 'MyFormClass'} ); Returns HTML similar to:
=cut sub startForm { my ($self, %args) = @_; my $method = $args{method} || 'post'; my $attributes = $args{attributes} || {}; my $name_attributes = ''; if ($args{name}) { $name_attributes = " name='$args{name}' id='$args{name}'"; } my $html = "'; } *start_form = \&startForm; =head2 endForm Returns HTML to close form. Example: $html .= $form->endForm(); =cut sub endForm { my $self = shift; return '
'; } *end_form = \&endForm; =head2 getFormHTML Loops through the fieldsOrder array and builds markup for each form input in your form. Returns HTML markup that when output will display your form. Arguments: action - Value of form's action attribute. name - Value that will be used for form's name and id attribute. attributes - hashref of key value pairs that can be used to add arbitrary attributes to the opening form element. submit_label - Optional label for your form's submit button. submit_name - Optional Value of your submit button's name attribute. This value will also be used for your submit button's id attribute. submit_type - Optional string value, defaults to submit, if you want to use an image submit button pass submit_type as 'image'. submit_src - Optional unless submit_type is 'image' then an image src should be specified with submit_src, e.g. submit_src => './img/submit_button.png'. submit_class - Optional string that specifies a CSS class. submit_attributes - Optional hash ref of arbitrary name => 'value' HTML attributes. is_file_upload - Optional boolean that should be true if your form contains a file input. hint_container_attributes - Optional HTML attributes for all the table rows containing the hints. buttons - Use this if you want your form to have multiple submit buttons. See API documentation for getSubmitButtonHTML() for more info on this parameter. Example: print $form->getFormHTML( action => './my_form.pl', name => 'LoginForm', attributes => { class => 'FormBlueBackground' }, submit_label => 'Login', is_file_upload => 1 ); =cut sub getFormHTML { my ($self, %args) = @_; my $html = $self->startForm(%args) . "\n"; $html .= "\n"; # Go through all of our form fields and build an HTML input for each field for my $fieldName (@{$self->getFieldsOrder()}) { #warn("field name is: $fieldName"); $html .= $self->getFieldHTMLRow( $fieldName, 'form_args' => \%args, ); } $html .= "
\n"; unless ($args{submit_label}) { $args{submit_label} = 'Submit'; } unless ($args{submit_name}) { $args{submit_name} = 'submit'; } # Add submit button $html .= "

" . $self->_getSubmitButtonHTML(%args) . "

\n"; return $html . $self->endForm() . "\n"; } *get_form_HTML = \&getFormHTML; #----------------------------------------------------------------------------- # More private methods #----------------------------------------------------------------------------- # Returns HTML to display a form text input. sub _getInputHTML { my $self = shift; my $fieldName = shift; my $attributesString = shift; my $field = $self->getField($fieldName); my $inputHTML = "{type} eq 'checkbox') { $value_to_put = $field->{defaultValue}; } else { $value_to_put = $field->{value}; } $inputHTML .= $self->_escapeValue($value_to_put); $inputHTML .= "\"" . $attributesString . " />"; return $inputHTML; } =head2 getSubmitButtonHTML Used by get_form_HTML to get HTML to display a type of a submit button. Returns string of HTML. Arguments: submit_type - 'submit' or 'image', defaults to 'submit' if not specified. submit_src - If type is 'image', this specifies the image to use. submit_label - Optional label for the button, defaults to 'Submit'. submit_class - Optional value for class attribute. submit_attributes - Optional hash ref of name => value pairs used to specify arbitrary attributes. buttons - Optional, array reference of hash refs of the previous arguments. You can use this parameter if you want your form to have multiple submit buttons. =cut sub getSubmitButtonHTML { my ($class, %args) = @_; if (exists($args{buttons})) { my $xhtml; foreach my $button (@{$args{buttons}}) { $xhtml .= $class->_getSubmitButtonHTML(%$button); } return $xhtml; } my $type = $args{submit_type} || 'submit'; # Optional param that specifies an image for the submit button, this # should only be used if the type is 'image' my $img_src = $args{submit_src} || ''; my $label = $args{submit_label} || 'Submit'; my $xhtml = "getField($fieldName); if ($self->getFieldValue($fieldName) || $field->{defaultChecked}) { $attributesString .= " checked='checked'"; } return $self->_getInputHTML($fieldName, $attributesString); } # Returns a radio button group sub _getRadioButtonHTML { my $self = shift; my $fieldName = shift; my $attributesString = shift; my $field = $self->getField($fieldName); # Get the select boxes' list of options my $group = $field->{optionsGroup}; my $inputHTML = ''; if ($group) { foreach my $option (@{$group}) { $inputHTML .= '
"; } } else { warn( "No option group found for radio button group named: '$fieldName'" ); } return $inputHTML; } # Returns HTML to display a textarea. sub _getTextAreaHTML { my $self = shift; my $fieldName = shift; my $attributesString = shift; my $field = $self->getField($fieldName); my $textarea = ""; return $textarea; } # Returns HTML to display a select box. sub _getSelectBoxHTML { my $self = shift; my $fieldName = shift; my $attributesString = shift; my $html = "\n"; return $html; } sub _escapeValue { my $self = shift; my $string = shift; return CGI::escapeHTML($string); } 1; __END__ =head1 SEE ALSO WWW::FieldValidator To see a demo of WWW::Form and WWW::FieldValidator point your web browser to: http://www.benschmaus.com/cgi-bin/perl/form_test.pl The following modules are related to WWW::Form and WWW::FieldValidator, you might want to check them out. Data::FormValidator Embperl::Form::Validate HTML::Form =head1 AUTHOR Ben Schmaus If you find this module useful or have any suggestions or comments please send me an email at perlmods@benschmaus.com. =head1 CHANGELOG July 2, 2003 Code formatting and cleanup. Adds support for file inputs. July 3, 2003 Adds code examples to documentation for public methods. September 25, 2003 Adds new methods including: resetFields(), isFieldValid(), and getFieldValidators(). Changes _setFields method to handle empty user values. That is, in previous releases, if a form is submitted and the value for a field is empty, the value of the field will be set to the field's default value if it has one. This release updates _setFields to prefer submitted values over default values. Fixes some pdoc stuff. September 26, 2003 More pdoc changes. January 10, 2004 Adds support for displaying multiple submit buttons. Adds new public method: getSubmitButtonHTML. Adds support for escaping the value of HTML input 'value' attributes. =head1 TODO Add more helpful error logging. Add functionality for generating client side validation. =head1 THANKS Thanks to Shlomi Fish for suggestions and code submissions. =head1 BUGS Nothing that I'm aware of, but please let me know if you have any problems. Send email to perlmods@benschmaus.com. =head1 COPYRIGHT Copyright 2003, Ben Schmaus. All Rights Reserved. This program is free software. You may copy or redistribute it under the same terms as Perl itself. =cut