/ 
CGI-FormBuilder-3.000
River stage two • 11 direct dependents • 16 total dependents
/ CGI::FormBuilder::Messages

NAME

CGI::FormBuilder::Messages - localized message support for FormBuilder

SYNOPSIS

use CGI::FormBuilder::Messages;

my $mesg = CGI::FormBuilder::Messages->new($file || \%hash);

print $mesg->js_invalid_text;

DESCRIPTION

This module handles multilingual messaging for FormBuilder. It is invoked by specifying the messages option to the top-level new() method. Each message that FormBuilder outputs is given a unique key. If you specify a custom message for a given key, then that message is used. Otherwise, the default is printed. Note that it is up to you to figure out what to pass in - there is no magic LC_MESSAGES mysterium to this module.

For example, let's say you wrote a script that needed to display custom JavaScript error messages. You could do something like this:

# Get language requested
my $lang = $ENV{HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE} || 'en';

# Get the appropriate file
my $langfile = "/languages/formbuilder/messages.$lang";

my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
                fields => \@fields,
                messages => $langfile,
           );

print $form->render;

Your language file would then contain something like the following:

# FormBuilder messages for "en" locale
js_invalid_start      %s error(s) were found in your form:\n
js_invalid_end        Fix these fields and try again!
js_invalid_select     - You must choose an option for the "%s" field\n

Alternatively, you could specify this directly as a hashref:

my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
                fields => \@fields,
                messages => {
                    js_invalid_start  => '%s error(s) were found in your form:\n',
                    js_invalid_end    => 'Fix these fields and try again!',
                    js_invalid_select => '- Choose an option from the "%s" list\n',
                }
           );

Although in practice this is rarely useful, unless you just want to tweak one or two things.

This system is easy, and there are many many messages that can be customized. Here is a list of the fields that can be customized, along with their default values.

js_invalid_start        %s error(s) were encountered with your submission:
js_invalid_end          Please correct these fields and try again.

js_invalid_input        - You must enter a valid value for the "%s" field
js_invalid_select       - You must choose an option for the "%s" field
js_invalid_checkbox     - You must choose an option for the "%s" field
js_invalid_radio        - You must choose an option for the "%s" field
js_invalid_password     - You must enter a valid value for the "%s" field
js_invalid_textarea     - You must fill in the "%s" field
js_invalid_file         - You must specify a valid file for the "%s" field
js_invalid_default      - You must enter a valid value for the "%s" field

js_noscript             <p><font color="red"><b>Please enable JavaScript or
                        use a newer browser.</b></font></p>

form_required_text      <p>Fields that are highlighted are required.</p>
form_required_opentag   <b>
form_required_closetag  </b>

form_invalid_text       <p>%s error(s) were encountered with your submission.
                        Please correct the fields highlighted below.</p>
form_invalid_opentag    <font color="red"><b>
form_invalid_closetag   </font></b>

form_invalid_input      You must enter a valid value
form_invalid_select     You must choose an option from this list
form_invalid_checkbox   You must choose an option from this group
form_invalid_radio      You must choose an option from this group
form_invalid_password   You must enter a valid value
form_invalid_textarea   You must fill in this field
form_invalid_file       You must specify a valid filename
form_invalid_default    You must enter a valid value

form_select_default     -select-
form_submit_default     Submit
form_reset_default      Reset

form_confirm_text       Success! Your submission has been received %s.

mail_results_subject    %s Submission Results
mail_confirm_subject    %s Submission Confirmation
mail_confirm_text       Your submission has been received %s.

The js_ tags are used in JavaScript alerts, whereas the form_ tags are used in HTML and templates managed by FormBuilder.

In some of the messages, you will notice a %s printf format. This is because these messages will include certain details for you. For example, the js_invalid_start tag will print the number of errors if you include the %s format tag. Of course, you this is optional, so if you leave it out then you won't get the number of errors.

The best way to get an idea of how these work is to experiment a little. It should become obvious really quickly.

SUBCLASSING

In addition, this module can be used as a base class which you can override to create arbitrarily complicated message handling routines. For each message type, FormBuilder calls an accessor method for that message. For example:

my $select_error = $mesg->form_invalid_select;

As such, you could create a sub class, say My::Messages, that overrode this message:

package My::Messages;
use base 'CGI::FormBuilder::Messages';

sub form_invalid_select {
    return 'oopsie! the "%s" field is broken!';
}

Then, you would instantiate an object from this class and pass that to the top-level new() method:

use CGI::FormBuilder;
use My::Messages;

my $mesg = My::Messages->new;   # provided in base class
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
                messages => $mesg
           );

If this doesn't make immediate sense, just stick to using a messages file.

SEE ALSO

CGI::FormBuilder

REVISION

$Id: Messages.pm,v 1.5 2005/02/07 19:16:28 nwiger Exp $

AUTHOR

Copyright (c) 2000-2005 Nathan Wiger <nate@sun.com>. All Rights Reserved.

This module is free software; you may copy this under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or the Artistic License, copies of which should have accompanied your Perl kit.