package Data::Form::Elements;
use strict;
use warnings;
use Carp;
# we are wrapping Data::FormValidator to do our heavy lifting.
# I am just trying to use as little code as possible to set a form
# up.
use Data::FormValidator;
=head1 Data::Form::Elements
Data::Form::Elements - a wrapper API for Data::FormValidator and a module for
providing elemental access to the fields of a form, from a generic
perspective. The form in question does not need to be an HTML form.
Basically, if Data::FormValidator can use it as a form, so can we.
=head1 Version
Version 0.60
=cut
our $VERSION = '0.60';
=head1 Synopsis
A quick example of using this module for a login form:
use Data::Form::Elements;
my $form = Data::Form::Elements->new();
# add a couple elements
$form->add_element( "username", {
required => 1, errmsg => "Please provide your username." } );
$form->add_element( "password", {
required => 1, errmsg => "Please provide your password." } );
...
$form->validate( %ARGS );
if ( $form->is_valid() ) {
# continue logging on ...
}
=head1 Functions
=head2 new()
Simple constructor.
=cut
sub new {
my $class = shift;
# my $elements = shift;
# my $profile = shift;
my $self = {};
# our form elements, their messages and values
$self->{elements} = {}; # $elements;
# stash our validation profile
$self->{profile} = {}; # $profile;
# use Data::Dumper;
# make a placeholder for our validator
$self->{validator} = {};
bless $self, $class;
return $self;
}
=head2 add_element()
Add an element to the form object.
A full form element looks like this
$form->add_element( "sort_position" , {
required => 0,
valid => 0,
value => '',
errmsg => 'Please choose where this section will show up on the list.',
constratints => qr/^\d+$/,
invmsg => 'Only numbers are allowed for this field. Please use the dropdown to select the position for this section.' });
By default, only the name (key) is required. the required element will
default to 0 if it is not specified. If required is set to 1 and the
errmsg has not been initialized, it will also be set to a default.
=cut
sub add_element {
my ( $self, $param_name, $param_details ) = @_;
# get our elements hash
my $elements = $self->{elements};
unless ( exists $$param_details{required} ) {
$$param_details{required} = 0;
}
if ( $$param_details{required} == 1 ) {
# do we have an error message set?
unless ( exists( $$param_details{errmsg} ) ) {
$$param_details{errmsg} = "Please fill in this field.";
}
}
# TODO: do we have an invalid message set?
if ( exists $$param_details{constraints} ) {
# do we have an error message set?
unless ( exists( $$param_details{invmsg} ) ) {
$$param_details{invmsg} = "The data for this field is in the wrong format.";
}
}
# set up our default valid, value and message fields
$$param_details{valid} = 0;
$$param_details{value} = '';
$$param_details{message} = '';
# put this element into our object's list.
$$elements{ $param_name } = $param_details;
# send our newly updated elements hash back to the object
$self->{elements} = $elements;
}
=head2 _params()
Deprecated for external use. Returns a list of the elements in this form.
This was changed to be an "internal" method at the behest of David Baird for
compatibility with Apache::Request and CGI. If you really need to get the
list of form elements, call $form->param().
=cut
sub _params {
my ( $self ) = @_;
my @params;
my %constraints;
foreach my $el ( keys %{$self->{elements}} ) {
push @params, $el;
}
return @params;
}
=head2 dump_form()
use Data::Dumper to help debug a form.
=cut
sub dump_form {
my ( $self ) = @_;
use Data::Dumper;
print Dumper( $self->{elements} );
}
=head2 dump_validator()
use Data::Dumper to help debug a form's underlying Data::FormValidator.
=cut
sub dump_validator {
my ( $self ) = @_;
use Data::Dumper;
print Dumper( $self->{validator} );
}
=head2 validate()
Takes a hash of values, a CGI object or an Apache::Request object for the form elements
and validates them against the rules you have set up. Support for CGI and
Apache::Request objects sent in by David Baird L.
Hash Ref Example:
$form->validate( \%ARGS );
if ( $form->is_valid() ) {
# continue processing form...
}
CGI object Example
$form->validate( \$query );
if ( $form->is_valid() ) {
# continue processing form...
}
Apache::Request Example
$form->validate( \$r );
if ( $form->is_valid() ) {
# continue processing form...
}
=cut
sub validate {
my ( $self, $form ) = @_;
# $form can be a hashref, or an object with a param method that
# operates like in CGI or Apache::Request
croak 'Form is not a reference' unless ref( $form );
my %raw_form;
if ( ref( $form ) eq 'HASH' ) {
%raw_form = %$form;
}
elsif ( $form->can( 'param' ) ) {
# for CGI or Apache::Request objects, calling
# $form->param() in list context returns a list of keys.
# Calling $form->param( $key ) returns the value for that
# form field.
%raw_form = map { $_ => $form->param( $_ ) } $form->param;
} else {
croak sprintf '%s form does not have a param method',
ref( $form );
}
# pull in our elements
my %elements = %{$self->{elements}};
# build our profile for use with Data::FormValidator
# TODO: make this its own internal (_buildProfile) function
my @required;
my @optional;
my %constraints;
my %dependencies;
foreach my $el ( keys %elements ) {
if ( $elements{$el}{required} == 1 ) {
push @required, $el;
} else {
push @optional, $el;
}
if ( exists $elements{$el}{constraints} ) {
$constraints{ $el } = $elements{$el}{constraints};
}
if ( exists $elements{$el}{dependencies} ) {
$dependencies{ $el } = $elements{$el}{dependencies};
}
}
my %profile = (
required => [@required],
optional => [@optional],
filters => ['trim'],
# TODO: make a constraints wrapper for each form element object.
constraints => \%constraints,
dependencies => \%dependencies
);
# populate our elements array with the new values from $raw_form
my %form_els = %raw_form;
foreach my $el ( keys %elements ) {
# print "el: $el\n";
# print "form_el: ", $form_els{$el}, "\n";
$elements{$el}{value} = $form_els{$el};
}
# create our initial validator
my $validator = Data::FormValidator->check( \%raw_form, \%profile );
# check out our new values.
# For instance, if we have 'trim' for a filter, then we want to be able to
# get at that for use with future $form->param() calls
foreach my $field ( keys %elements ) {
# print "Our form : !", $elements{$field}{value}, "!\n";
# print "Valid from Validator: !", $validator->{valid}{$field}, "!\n";
# print "Invalid from Validator: !", $validator->{invalid}{$field}, "!\n";
if ( exists $validator->{valid}{$field} ) {
$elements{$field}{value} = $validator->{valid}{$field};
}
if ( exists $validator->{invalid}{$field} ) {
# don't reset the value here, as D::FV will not preserve the data
# from an invalid field, except in an interal hash that we will
# not access.
# $elements{$field}{value} = $validator->{invalid}{$field};
}
}
# populate any relevant error messages
if ( $validator->has_missing or $validator->has_invalid ) {
# process the form elements, since we didn't pass
# foreach my $field ( @{$self->{profile}{required}} ) {
foreach my $field ( keys %elements ) {
if ( $validator->missing($field) ) {
$self->{elements}{$field}{message} .= $self->{elements}{$field}{errmsg};
}
if ( $validator->invalid($field) ) {
$self->{elements}{$field}{message} .= $self->{elements}{$field}{invmsg};
}
}
}
$self->{validator} = $validator;
}
=head2 is_valid()
Returns true/false.
=cut
sub is_valid {
my ($self) = @_;
my $valid = 0;
# eval this, since we may not have a proper validator when this is called
eval {
unless ( $self->{validator}->has_missing or $self->{validator}->has_invalid ) {
$valid = 1;
}
};
return $valid;
}
=head2 param()
Getter/Setter methods for setting an individual form element.
Example:
# getter
print $form->param("username");
# setter
$form->param("username", "jason");
=cut
sub param {
my ($self, $element, $value) = @_;
return $self->_params unless defined($element);
unless ( defined( $value ) ) {
# just return the value
return $self->{elements}{$element}{value};
} else {
# set a new value
$self->{elements}{$element}{value} = $value;
}
}
=head2 message()
returns the error or invalid message for a form element, if there is one.
Returns undef if no message exists.
=cut
sub message {
my ($self, $element) = @_;
return $self->{elements}{$element}{message};
}
=head1 Field Name Accessor Methods
Thanks to Dr. David R. Baird, we now also have basic accessor methods for form
elements. For example, now you can use either of the following lines to get a
value.
# normal, function based method.
print $form->param("username"), "
\n";
# accessor method
print $form->username, "
\n";
Thanks a ton, David!
=cut
use vars '$AUTOLOAD';
sub AUTOLOAD {
my ($self, $new_value) = @_;
# get everything after the last ':'
$AUTOLOAD =~ /([^:]+)$/ ||
croak "Can't extract key from $AUTOLOAD";
my $key = $1;
return $self->param( $key, $new_value );
}
# this is required for AUTOLOAD
sub DESTROY {}
=head1 Author
jason gessner, C<< >>
=head1 Bugs
Please report any bugs or feature requests to
C, or through the web interface at
L. I will be notified, and then you'll automatically
be notified of progress on your bug as I make changes.
=head1 Copyright & License
Copyright 2004 me, All Rights Reserved.
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the same terms as Perl itself.
=cut
1;