NAME
README - README for FormBuilder 3.0, please also see Changes
DESCRIPTION
I hate form generation and validation because the majority of the process is tedious and mindless. In addition to being boring, there is too much room for simple error, which could render your application insecure or just plain useless.
So I wrote FormBuilder to try and get rid rid of the stoopid parts, as well as take care of some tricky parts. As a result, you can build a complete application with something like this:
use CGI::FormBuilder;
# Assume we did a DBI query to get existing values
my $dbval = $sth->fetchrow_hashref;
# First create our form
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
fields => [qw(name email phone gender)],
header => 1,
method => 'POST',
values => $dbval,
validate => {
email => 'EMAIL',
phone => '/^1?-?\d{3}-?\d{3}-?\d{4}$/',
},
required => 'ALL',
stylesheet => '/path/to/style.css',
);
# Change gender field to have options
$form->field(name => 'gender', options => [qw(Male Female)] );
if ($form->submitted && $form->validate) {
# Get form fields as hashref
my $fields = $form->fields;
# Do something to update your data (you would write this)
do_data_update($fields->{name}, $fields->{email},
$fields->{phone}, $fields->{gender});
# Show confirmation screen
print $form->confirm;
} else {
# Print out the form
print $form->render;
}That simple bit of code would print out an entire form, laid out in a table. Your default database values would be filled in from the DBI hashref. It would also handle stickiness across multiple submissions correctly, and it will also be able to tell if it's been submitted. Finally, it will do both JavaScript and server-side validation too.
KEY FEATURES
Here's the main stuff that I think is cool:
Input field abstraction
You simply define your fields and their values, and this module will take care of figuring out the rest. FormBuilder will automatically generate the appropriate input fields (input, select, radio, etc), even changing any JavaScript actions appropriately.
Easy handling of defaults
Just specify a hash of values to use as the defaults for your fields. This will be searched case-insensitively and displayed in the form. What's more, if the user enters something via the CGI that overrides a default, when you use the field() method to get the data you'll get the correct value.
Correct stickiness
Stickiness is a PITA. FormBuilder correctly handles even multiple values selected in a multiple select list, integrated with proper handling of defaults.
Multiple submit mode support
Related to the above, FormBuilder allows you to reliably tell whether the person clicked on the Update or Delete button of your form, normally a big pain.
Robust field validation
Form validation sucks, and this is where FormBuilder is a big help. It has tons of builtin patterns, and will even generate gobs of JavaScript validation code for you. You can specify your own regexps as well, and FormBuilder will correctly check even multivalued inputs.
Template driver support
FormBuilder can natively "drive" several major templating engines, including HTML::Template, Template Toolkit, and Text::Template. if you want to build a form application with a template in less that 20 lines of Perl, FormBuilder is for you.
SUPPORT
There is a whole website devoted to this module:
www.formbuilder.orgThere are online tutorials, code examples, full documentation, and much more. There is also a mailing list with some pretty smart people on it:
fbusers-subscribe@formbuilder.orgHave fun!
INSTALLATION
For details on installation, please read the file INSTALL.
AUTHOR
Copyright (c) 2000-2005 Nathan Wiger, Sun Microsystems <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.