CGI::FormBuilder(3) User Contributed Perl Documentation CGI::FormBuilder(3)NAMECGI::FormBuilder - Easily generate and process stateful forms
SYNOPSIS
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(
name => 'acctinfo',
method => 'post',
stylesheet => '/path/to/style.css',
values => $dbval, # defaults
);
# Now create form fields, in order
# FormBuilder will automatically determine the type for you
$form->field(name => 'fname', label => 'First Name');
$form->field(name => 'lname', label => 'Last Name');
# Setup gender field to have options
$form->field(name => 'gender',
options => [qw(Male Female)] );
# Include validation for the email field
$form->field(name => 'email',
size => 60,
validate => 'EMAIL',
required => 1);
# And the (optional) phone field
$form->field(name => 'phone',
size => 10,
validate => '/^1?-?\d{3}-?\d{3}-?\d{4}$/',
comment => '<i>optional</i>');
# Check to see if we're submitted and valid
if ($form->submitted && $form->validate) {
# Get form fields as hashref
my $field = $form->fields;
# Do something to update your data (you would write this)
do_data_update($field->{lname}, $field->{fname},
$field->{email}, $field->{phone},
$field->{gender});
# Show confirmation screen
print $form->confirm(header => 1);
} else {
# Print out the form
print $form->render(header => 1);
}
DESCRIPTION
If this is your first time using FormBuilder, you should check out the
website for tutorials and examples:
www.formbuilder.org
You should also consider joining the mailing list by sending an email
to:
fbusers-subscribe@formbuilder.org
There are some pretty smart people on the list that can help you out.
Overview
I hate generating and processing forms. Hate it, hate it, hate it, hate
it. My forms almost always end up looking the same, and almost always
end up doing the same thing. Unfortunately, there haven't really been
any tools out there that streamline the process. Many modules simply
substitute Perl for HTML code:
# The manual way
print qq(<input name="email" type="text" size="20">);
# The module way
print input(-name => 'email', -type => 'text', -size => '20');
The problem is, that doesn't really gain you anything - you still have
just as much code. Modules like "CGI.pm" are great for decoding
parameters, but not for generating and processing whole forms.
The goal of CGI::FormBuilder (FormBuilder) is to provide an easy way
for you to generate and process entire CGI form-based applications.
Its main features are:
Field Abstraction
Viewing fields as entities (instead of just params), where the HTML
representation, CGI values, validation, and so on are properties of
each field.
DWIMmery
Lots of built-in "intelligence" (such as automatic field typing),
giving you about a 4:1 ratio of the code it generates versus what
you have to write.
Built-in Validation
Full-blown regex validation for fields, even including JavaScript
code generation.
Template Support
Pluggable support for external template engines, such as
"HTML::Template", "Text::Template", "Template Toolkit", and
"CGI::FastTemplate".
Plus, the native HTML generated is valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional.
Quick Reference
For the incredibly impatient, here's the quickest reference you can
get:
# Create form
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
# Important options
fields => \@array | \%hash, # define form fields
header => 0 | 1, # send Content-type?
method => 'post' | 'get', # default is get
name => $string, # namespace (recommended)
reset => 0 | 1 | $str, # "Reset" button
submit => 0 | 1 | $str | \@array, # "Submit" button(s)
text => $text, # printed above form
title => $title, # printed up top
required => \@array | 'ALL' | 'NONE', # required fields?
values => \%hash | \@array, # from DBI, session, etc
validate => \%hash, # automatic field validation
# Lesser-used options
action => $script, # not needed (loops back)
cookies => 0 | 1, # use cookies for sessionid?
debug => 0 | 1 | 2 | 3, # gunk into error_log?
fieldsubs => 0 | 1, # allow $form->$field()
javascript => 0 | 1 | 'auto', # generate JS validate() code?
keepextras => 0 | 1 | \@array, # keep non-field params?
params => $object, # instead of CGI.pm
sticky => 0 | 1, # keep CGI values "sticky"?
messages => $file | \%hash | $locale | 'auto',
template => $file | \%hash | $object, # custom HTML
# HTML formatting and JavaScript options
body => \%attr, # {background => 'black'}
disabled => 0 | 1, # display as grayed-out?
fieldsets => \@arrayref # split form into <fieldsets>
font => $font | \%attr, # 'arial,helvetica'
jsfunc => $jscode, # JS code into validate()
jshead => $jscode, # JS code into <head>
linebreaks => 0 | 1, # put breaks in form?
selectnum => $threshold, # for auto-type generation
smartness => 0 | 1 | 2, # tweak "intelligence"
static => 0 | 1 | 2, # show non-editable form?
styleclass => $string, # style class to use ("fb")
stylesheet => 0 | 1 | $path, # turn on style class=
table => 0 | 1 | \%attr, # wrap form in <table>?
td => \%attr, # <td> options
tr => \%attr, # <tr> options
# These are deprecated and you should use field() instead
fieldtype => 'type',
fieldattr => \%attr,
labels => \%hash,
options => \%hash,
sortopts => 'NAME' | 'NUM' | 1 | \&sub,
# External source file (see CGI::FormBuilder::Source::File)
source => $file,
);
# Tweak fields individually
$form->field(
# Important options
name => $name, # name of field (required)
label => $string, # shown in front of <input>
type => $type, # normally auto-determined
multiple => 0 | 1, # allow multiple values?
options => \@options | \%options, # radio/select/checkbox
value => $value | \@values, # default value
# Lesser-used options
fieldset => $string, # put field into <fieldset>
force => 0 | 1, # override CGI value?
growable => 0 | 1 | $limit, # expand text/file inputs?
jsclick => $jscode, # instead of onclick
jsmessage => $string, # on JS validation failure
message => $string, # other validation failure
other => 0 | 1, # create "Other:" input?
required => 0 | 1, # must fill field in?
validate => '/regex/', # validate user input
# HTML formatting options
cleanopts => 0 | 1, # HTML-escape options?
columns => 0 | $width, # wrap field options at $width
comment => $string, # printed after field
disabled => 0 | 1, # display as grayed-out?
labels => \%hash, # deprecated (use "options")
linebreaks => 0 | 1, # insert breaks in options?
nameopts => 0 | 1, # auto-name options?
sortopts => 'NAME' | 'NUM' | 1 | \&sub, # sort options?
# Change size, maxlength, or any other HTML attr
$htmlattr => $htmlval,
);
# Check for submission
if ($form->submitted && $form->validate) {
# Get single value
my $value = $form->field('name');
# Get list of fields
my @field = $form->field;
# Get hashref of key/value pairs
my $field = $form->field;
my $value = $field->{name};
}
# Print form
print $form->render(any_opt_from_new => $some_value);
That's it. Keep reading.
Walkthrough
Let's walk through a whole example to see how FormBuilder works. We'll
start with this, which is actually a complete (albeit simple) form
application:
use CGI::FormBuilder;
my @fields = qw(name email password confirm_password zipcode);
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
fields => \@fields,
header => 1
);
print $form->render;
The above code will render an entire form, and take care of maintaining
state across submissions. But it doesn't really do anything useful at
this point.
So to start, let's add the "validate" option to make sure the data
entered is valid:
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
fields => \@fields,
header => 1,
validate => {
name => 'NAME',
email => 'EMAIL'
}
);
We now get a whole bunch of JavaScript validation code, and the
appropriate hooks are added so that the form is validated by the
browser "onsubmit" as well.
Now, we also want to validate our form on the server side, since the
user may not be running JavaScript. All we do is add the statement:
$form->validate;
Which will go through the form, checking each field specified to the
"validate" option to see if it's ok. If there's a problem, then that
field is highlighted, so that when you print it out the errors will be
apparent.
Of course, the above returns a truth value, which we should use to see
if the form was valid. That way, we only update our database if
everything looks good:
if ($form->validate) {
# print confirmation screen
print $form->confirm;
} else {
# print the form for them to fill out
print $form->render;
}
However, we really only want to do this after our form has been
submitted, since otherwise this will result in our form showing errors
even though the user hasn't gotten a chance to fill it out yet. As
such, we want to check for whether the form has been "submitted()" yet:
if ($form->submitted && $form->validate) {
# print confirmation screen
print $form->confirm;
} else {
# print the form for them to fill out
print $form->render;
}
Now that know that our form has been submitted and is valid, we need to
get our values. To do so, we use the "field()" method along with the
name of the field we want:
my $email = $form->field(name => 'email');
Note we can just specify the name of the field if it's the only option:
my $email = $form->field('email'); # same thing
As a very useful shortcut, we can get all our fields back as a hashref
of field/value pairs by calling "field()" with no arguments:
my $fields = $form->field; # all fields as hashref
To make things easy, we'll use this form so that we can pass it easily
into a sub of our choosing:
if ($form->submitted && $form->validate) {
# form was good, let's update database
my $fields = $form->field;
# update database (you write this part)
do_data_update($fields);
# print confirmation screen
print $form->confirm;
}
Finally, let's say we decide that we like our form fields, but we need
the HTML to be laid out very precisely. No problem! We simply create an
"HTML::Template" compatible template and tell FormBuilder to use it.
Then, in our template, we include a couple special tags which
FormBuilder will automatically expand:
<html>
<head>
<title><tmpl_var form-title></title>
<tmpl_var js-head><!-- this holds the JavaScript code -->
</head>
<tmpl_var form-start><!-- this holds the initial form tag -->
<h3>User Information</h3>
Please fill out the following information:
<!-- each of these tmpl_var's corresponds to a field -->
<p>Your full name: <tmpl_var field-name>
<p>Your email address: <tmpl_var field-email>
<p>Choose a password: <tmpl_var field-password>
<p>Please confirm it: <tmpl_var field-confirm_password>
<p>Your home zipcode: <tmpl_var field-zipcode>
<p>
<tmpl_var form-submit><!-- this holds the form submit button -->
</form><!-- can also use "tmpl_var form-end", same thing -->
Then, all we need to do add the "template" option, and the rest of the
code stays the same:
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
fields => \@fields,
header => 1,
validate => {
name => 'NAME',
email => 'EMAIL'
},
template => 'userinfo.tmpl'
);
So, our complete code thus far looks like this:
use CGI::FormBuilder;
my @fields = qw(name email password confirm_password zipcode);
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
fields => \@fields,
header => 1,
validate => {
name => 'NAME',
email => 'EMAIL'
},
template => 'userinfo.tmpl',
);
if ($form->submitted && $form->validate) {
# form was good, let's update database
my $fields = $form->field;
# update database (you write this part)
do_data_update($fields);
# print confirmation screen
print $form->confirm;
} else {
# print the form for them to fill out
print $form->render;
}
You may be surprised to learn that for many applications, the above is
probably all you'll need. Just fill in the parts that affect what you
want to do (like the database code), and you're on your way.
Note: If you are confused at all by the backslashes you see in front of
some data pieces above, such as "\@fields", skip down to the brief
section entitled "REFERENCES" at the bottom of this document (it's
short).
METHODS
This documentation is very extensive, but can be a bit dizzying due to
the enormous number of options that let you tweak just about anything.
As such, I recommend that you stop and visit:
www.formbuilder.org
And click on "Tutorials" and "Examples". Then, use the following
section as a reference later on.
new()
This method creates a new $form object, which you then use to generate
and process your form. In the very shortest version, you can just
specify a list of fields for your form:
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
fields => [qw(first_name birthday favorite_car)]
);
As of 3.02:
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
source => 'myform.conf' # form and field options
);
For details on the external file format, see
CGI::FormBuilder::Source::File.
Any of the options below, in addition to being specified to "new()",
can also be manipulated directly with a method of the same name. For
example, to change the "header" and "stylesheet" options, either of
these works:
# Way 1
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
fields => \@fields,
header => 1,
stylesheet => '/path/to/style.css',
);
# Way 2
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
fields => \@fields
);
$form->header(1);
$form->stylesheet('/path/to/style.css');
The second form is useful if you want to wrap certain options in
conditionals:
if ($have_template) {
$form->header(0);
$form->template('template.tmpl');
} else {
$form->header(1);
$form->stylesheet('/path/to/style.css');
}
The following is a description of each option, in alphabetical order:
action => $script
What script to point the form to. Defaults to itself, which is the
recommended setting.
body => \%attr
This takes a hashref of attributes that will be stuck in the
"<body>" tag verbatim (for example, bgcolor, alink, etc). See the
"fieldattr" tag for more details, and also the "template" option.
charset
This forcibly overrides the charset. Better handled by loading an
appropriate "messages" module, which will set this for you. See
CGI::FormBuilder::Messages for more details.
debug => 0 | 1 | 2 | 3
If set to 1, the module spits copious debugging info to STDERR. If
set to 2, it spits out even more gunk. 3 is too much. Defaults to
0.
fields => \@array | \%hash
As shown above, the "fields" option takes an arrayref of fields to
use in the form. The fields will be printed out in the same order
they are specified. This option is needed if you expect your form
to have any fields, and is the central option to FormBuilder.
You can also specify a hashref of key/value pairs. The advantage is
you can then bypass the "values" option. However, the big
disadvantage is you cannot control the order of the fields. This is
ok if you're using a template, but in real-life it turns out that
passing a hashref to "fields" is not very useful.
fieldtype => 'type'
This can be used to set the default type for all fields in the
form. You can then override it on a per-field basis using the
"field()" method.
fieldattr => \%attr
This option allows you to specify any HTML attribute and have it be
the default for all fields. This used to be good for stylesheets,
but now that there is a "stylesheet" option, this is fairly
useless.
fieldsets => \@attr
This allows you to define fieldsets for your form. Fieldsets are
used to group fields together. Fields are rendered in order, inside
the fieldset they belong to. If a field does not have a fieldset,
it is appended to the end of the form.
To use fieldsets, specify an arrayref of "<fieldset>" names:
fieldsets => [qw(account preferences contacts)]
You can get a different "<legend>" tag if you specify a nested
arrayref:
fieldsets => [
[ account => 'Account Information' ],
[ preferences => 'Website Preferences' ],
[ contacts => 'Email and Phone Numbers' ],
]
If you're using the source file, that looks like this:
fieldsets: account=Account Information,preferences=...
Then, for each field, specify which fieldset it belongs to:
$form->field(name => 'first_name', fieldset => 'account');
$form->field(name => 'last_name', fieldset => 'account');
$form->field(name => 'email_me', fieldset => 'preferences');
$form->field(name => 'home_phone', fieldset => 'contacts');
$form->field(name => 'work_phone', fieldset => 'contacts');
You can also automatically create a new "fieldset" on the fly by
specifying a new one:
$form->field(name => 'remember_me', fieldset => 'advanced');
To set the "<legend>" in this case, you have two options. First,
you can just choose a more readable "fieldset" name:
$form->field(name => 'remember_me',
fieldset => 'Advanced');
Or, you can change the name using the "fieldset" accessor:
$form->fieldset(advanced => 'Advanced Options');
Note that fieldsets without fields are silently ignored, so you can
also just specify a huge list of possible fieldsets to "new()", and
then only add fields as you need them.
fieldsubs => 0 | 1
This allows autoloading of field names so you can directly access
them as:
$form->$fieldname(opt => 'val');
Instead of:
$form->field(name => $fieldname, opt => 'val');
Warning: If present, it will hide any attributes of the same name.
For example, if you define "name" field, you won't be able to
change your form's name dynamically. Also, you cannot use this
format to create new fields. Use with caution.
font => $font | \%attr
The font face to use for the form. This is output as a series of
"<font>" tags for old browser compatibility, and will properly nest
them in all of the table elements. If you specify a hashref instead
of just a font name, then each key/value pair will be taken as part
of the "<font>" tag:
font => {face => 'verdana', size => '-1', color => 'gray'}
The above becomes:
<font face="verdana" size="-1" color="gray">
I used to use this all the time, but the "stylesheet" option is SO
MUCH BETTER. Trust me, take a day and learn the basics of CSS, it's
totally worth it.
header => 0 | 1
If set to 1, a valid "Content-type" header will be printed out,
along with a whole bunch of HTML "<body>" code, a "<title>" tag,
and so on. This defaults to 0, since often people end up using
templates or embedding forms in other HTML.
javascript => 0 | 1
If set to 1, JavaScript is generated in addition to HTML, the
default setting.
jserror => 'function_name'
If specified, this will get called instead of the standard JS
"alert()" function on error. The function signature is:
function_name(form, invalid, alertstr, invalid_fields)
The function can be named anything you like. A simple one might
look like this:
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
jserror => 'field_errors',
jshead => <<'EOJS',
function field_errors(form, invalid, alertstr, invalid_fields) {
// first reset all fields
for (var i=0; i < form.elements.length; i++) {
form.elements[i].className = 'normal_field';
}
// now attach a special style class to highlight the field
for (var i=0; i < invalid_fields.length; i++) {
form.elements[invalid_fields[i]].className = 'invalid_field';
}
alert(alertstr);
return false;
}
EOJS
);
Note that it should return false to prevent form submission.
This can be used in conjunction with "jsfunc", which can add
additional manual validations before "jserror" is called.
jsfunc => $jscode
This is verbatim JavaScript that will go into the "validate"
JavaScript function. It is useful for adding your own validation
code, while still getting all the automatic hooks. If something
fails, you should do two things:
1. append to the JavaScript string "alertstr"
2. increment the JavaScript number "invalid"
For example:
my $jsfunc = <<'EOJS'; # note single quote (see Hint)
if (form.password.value == 'password') {
alertstr += "Moron, you can't use 'password' for your password!\\n";
invalid++;
}
EOJS
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(... jsfunc => $jsfunc);
Then, this code will be automatically called when form validation
is invoked. I find this option can be incredibly useful. Most
often, I use it to bypass validation on certain submit modes. The
submit button that was clicked is "form._submit.value":
my $jsfunc = <<'EOJS'; # note single quotes (see Hint)
if (form._submit.value == 'Delete') {
if (confirm("Really DELETE this entry?")) return true;
return false;
} else if (form._submit.value == 'Cancel') {
// skip validation since we're cancelling
return true;
}
EOJS
Hint: To prevent accidental expansion of embedding strings and
escapes, you should put your "HERE" string in single quotes, as
shown above.
jshead => $jscode
If using JavaScript, you can also specify some JavaScript code that
will be included verbatim in the <head> section of the document.
I'm not very fond of this one, what you probably want is the
previous option.
keepextras => 0 | 1 | \@array
If set to 1, then extra parameters not set in your fields
declaration will be kept as hidden fields in the form. However, you
will need to use "cgi_param()", NOT "field()", to access the
values.
This is useful if you want to keep some extra parameters like mode
or company available but not have them be valid form fields:
keepextras => 1
That will preserve any extra params. You can also specify an
arrayref, in which case only params in that list will be preserved.
For example:
keepextras => [qw(mode company)]
Will only preserve the params "mode" and "company". Again, to
access them:
my $mode = $form->cgi_param('mode');
$form->cgi_param(name => 'mode', value => 'relogin');
See "CGI.pm" for details on "param()" usage.
labels => \%hash
Like "values", this is a list of key/value pairs where the keys are
the names of "fields" specified above. By default, FormBuilder does
some snazzy case and character conversion to create pretty labels
for you. However, if you want to explicitly name your fields, use
this option.
For example:
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
fields => [qw(name email)],
labels => {
name => 'Your Full Name',
email => 'Primary Email Address'
}
);
Usually you'll find that if you're contemplating this option what
you really want is a template.
lalign => 'left' | 'right' | 'center'
A legacy shortcut for:
th => { align => 'left' }
Even better, use the "stylesheet" option and tweak the ".fb_label"
class. Either way, don't use this.
lang
This forcibly overrides the lang. Better handled by loading an
appropriate "messages" module, which will set this for you. See
CGI::FormBuilder::Messages for more details.
method => 'post' | 'get'
The type of CGI method to use, either "post" or "get". Defaults to
"get" if nothing is specified. Note that for forms that cause
changes on the server, such as database inserts, you should use the
"post" method.
messages => 'auto' | $file | \%hash | $locale
This option overrides the default FormBuilder messages in order to
provide multilingual locale support (or just different text for the
picky ones). For details on this option, please refer to
CGI::FormBuilder::Messages.
name => $string
This names the form. It is optional, but when used, it renames
several key variables and functions according to the name of the
form. In addition, it also adds the following "<div>" tags to each
row of the table:
<tr id="${form}_${field}_row">
<td id="${form}_${field}_label">Label</td>
<td id="${form}_${field}_input"><input tag></td>
<td id="${form}_${field}_error">Error</td><!-- if invalid -->
</tr>
These changes allow you to (a) use multiple forms in a sequential
application and/or (b) display multiple forms inline in one
document. If you're trying to build a complex multi-form app and
are having problems, try naming your forms.
options => \%hash
This is one of several meta-options that allows you to specify
stuff for multiple fields at once:
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
fields => [qw(part_number department in_stock)],
options => {
department => [qw(hardware software)],
in_stock => [qw(yes no)],
}
);
This has the same effect as using "field()" for the "department"
and "in_stock" fields to set options individually.
params => $object
This specifies an object from which the parameters should be
derived. The object must have a "param()" method which will return
values for each parameter by name. By default a CGI object will be
automatically created and used.
However, you will want to specify this if you're using "mod_perl":
use Apache::Request;
use CGI::FormBuilder;
sub handler {
my $r = Apache::Request->new(shift);
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(... params => $r);
print $form->render;
}
Or, if you need to initialize a "CGI.pm" object separately and are
using a "post" form method:
use CGI;
use CGI::FormBuilder;
my $q = new CGI;
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(... params => $q);
Usually you don't need to do this, unless you need to access other
parameters outside of FormBuilder's control.
required => \@array | 'ALL' | 'NONE'
This is a list of those values that are required to be filled in.
Those fields named must be included by the user. If the "required"
option is not specified, by default any fields named in "validate"
will be required.
In addition, the "required" option also takes two other settings,
the strings "ALL" and "NONE". If you specify "ALL", then all fields
are required. If you specify "NONE", then none of them are in spite
of what may be set via the "validate" option.
This is useful if you have fields that are optional, but that you
want to be validated if filled in:
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
fields => qw[/name email/],
validate => { email => 'EMAIL' },
required => 'NONE'
);
This would make the "email" field optional, but if filled in then
it would have to match the "EMAIL" pattern.
In addition, it is very important to note that if the "required"
and "validate" options are specified, then they are taken as an
intersection. That is, only those fields specified as "required"
must be filled in, and the rest are optional. For example:
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
fields => qw[/name email/],
validate => { email => 'EMAIL' },
required => [qw(name)]
);
This would make the "name" field mandatory, but the "email" field
optional. However, if "email" is filled in, then it must match the
builtin "EMAIL" pattern.
reset => 0 | 1 | $string
If set to 0, then the "Reset" button is not printed. If set to
text, then that will be printed out as the reset button. Defaults
to printing out a button that says "Reset".
selectnum => $threshold
This detects how FormBuilder's auto-type generation works. If a
given field has options, then it will be a radio group by default.
However, if more than "selectnum" options are present, then it will
become a select list. The default is 5 or more options. For
example:
# This will be a radio group
my @opt = qw(Yes No);
$form->field(name => 'answer', options => \@opt);
# However, this will be a select list
my @states = qw(AK CA FL NY TX);
$form->field(name => 'state', options => \@states);
# Single items are checkboxes (allows unselect)
$form->field(name => 'answer', options => ['Yes']);
There is no threshold for checkboxes since, if you think about it,
they are really a multi-radio select group. As such, a radio group
becomes a checkbox group if the "multiple" option is specified and
the field has less than "selectnum" options. Got it?
smartness => 0 | 1 | 2
By default CGI::FormBuilder tries to be pretty smart for you, like
figuring out the types of fields based on their names and number of
options. If you don't want this behavior at all, set "smartness" to
0. If you want it to be really smart, like figuring out what type
of validation routines to use for you, set it to 2. It defaults to
1.
sortopts => BUILTIN | 1 | \&sub
If specified to "new()", this has the same effect as the same-named
option to "field()", only it applies to all fields.
source => $filename
You can use this option to initialize FormBuilder from an external
configuration file. This allows you to separate your field code
from your form layout, which is pretty cool. See
CGI::FormBuilder::Source::File for details on the format of the
external file.
static => 0 | 1 | 2
If set to 1, then the form will be output with static hidden
fields. If set to 2, then in addition fields without values will
be omitted. Defaults to 0.
sticky => 0 | 1
Determines whether or not form values should be sticky across
submissions. This defaults to 1, meaning values are sticky.
However, you may want to set it to 0 if you have a form which does
something like adding parts to a database. See the "EXAMPLES"
section for a good example.
submit => 0 | 1 | $string | \@array
If set to 0, then the "Submit" button is not printed. It defaults
to creating a button that says "Submit" verbatim. If given an
argument, then that argument becomes the text to show. For example:
print $form->render(submit => 'Do Lookup');
Would make it so the submit button says "Do Lookup" on it.
If you pass an arrayref of multiple values, you get a key benefit.
This will create multiple submit buttons, each with a different
value. In addition, though, when submitted only the one that was
clicked will be sent across CGI via some JavaScript tricks. So
this:
print $form->render(submit => ['Add A Gift', 'No Thank You']);
Would create two submit buttons. Clicking on either would submit
the form, but you would be able to see which one was submitted via
the "submitted()" function:
my $clicked = $form->submitted;
So if the user clicked "Add A Gift" then that is what would end up
in the variable $clicked above. This allows nice conditionality:
if ($form->submitted eq 'Add A Gift') {
# show the gift selection screen
} elsif ($form->submitted eq 'No Thank You')
# just process the form
}
See the "EXAMPLES" section for more details.
styleclass => $string
The string to use as the "style" name, if the following option is
enabled.
stylesheet => 0 | 1 | $path
This option turns on stylesheets in the HTML output by FormBuilder.
Each element is printed with the "class" of "styleclass" ("fb" by
default). It is up to you to provide the actual style definitions.
If you provide a $path rather than just a 1/0 toggle, then that
$path will be included in a "<link>" tag as well.
The following tags are created by this option:
${styleclass} top-level table/form class
${styleclass}_required labels for fields that are required
${styleclass}_invalid any fields that failed validate()
If you're contemplating stylesheets, the best thing is to just turn
this option on, then see what's spit out.
See the section on "STYLESHEETS" for more details on FormBuilder
style sheets.
table => 0 | 1 | \%tabletags
By default FormBuilder decides how to layout the form based on the
number of fields, values, etc. You can force it into a table by
specifying 1, or force it out of one with 0.
If you specify a hashref instead, then these will be used to create
the "<table>" tag. For example, to create a table with no
cellpadding or cellspacing, use:
table => {cellpadding => 0, cellspacing => 0}
Also, you can specify options to the "<td>" and "<tr>" elements as
well in the same fashion.
template => $filename | \%hash | \&sub | $object
This points to a filename that contains an "HTML::Template"
compatible template to use to layout the HTML. You can also specify
the "template" option as a reference to a hash, allowing you to
further customize the template processing options, or use other
template engines.
If "template" points to a sub reference, that routine is called and
its return value directly returned. If it is an object, then that
object's "render()" routine is called and its value returned.
For lots more information, please see CGI::FormBuilder::Template.
text => $text
This is text that is included below the title but above the actual
form. Useful if you want to say something simple like "Contact $adm
for more help", but if you want lots of text check out the
"template" option above.
title => $title
This takes a string to use as the title of the form.
values => \%hash | \@array
The "values" option takes a hashref of key/value pairs specifying
the default values for the fields. These values will be overridden
by the values entered by the user across the CGI. The values are
used case-insensitively, making it easier to use DBI hashref
records (which are in upper or lower case depending on your
database).
This option is useful for selecting a record from a database or
hardwiring some sensible defaults, and then including them in the
form so that the user can change them if they wish. For example:
my $rec = $sth->fetchrow_hashref;
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(fields => \@fields,
values => $rec);
You can also pass an arrayref, in which case each value is used
sequentially for each field as specified to the "fields" option.
validate => \%hash | $object
This option takes either a hashref of key/value pairs or a
Data::FormValidator object.
In the case of the hashref, each key is the name of a field from
the "fields" option, or the string "ALL" in which case it applies
to all fields. Each value is one of the following:
- a regular expression in 'quotes' to match against
- an arrayref of values, of which the field must be one
- a string that corresponds to one of the builtin patterns
- a string containing a literal code comparison to do
- a reference to a sub to be used to validate the field
(the sub will receive the value to check as the first arg)
In addition, each of these can also be grouped together as:
- a hashref containing pairings of comparisons to do for
the two different languages, "javascript" and "perl"
By default, the "validate" option also toggles each field to make
it required. However, you can use the "required" option to change
this, see it for more details.
Let's look at a concrete example:
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
fields => [
qw(username password confirm_password
first_name last_name email)
],
validate => {
username => [qw(nate jim bob)],
first_name => '/^\w+$/', # note the
last_name => '/^\w+$/', # single quotes!
email => 'EMAIL',
password => \&check_password,
confirm_password => {
javascript => '== form.password.value',
perl => 'eq $form->field("password")'
},
},
);
# simple sub example to check the password
sub check_password ($) {
my $v = shift; # first arg is value
return unless $v =~ /^.{6,8}/; # 6-8 chars
return if $v eq "password"; # dummy check
return unless passes_crack($v); # you write "passes_crack()"
return 1; # success
}
This would create both JavaScript and Perl routines on the fly that
would ensure:
- "username" was either "nate", "jim", or "bob"
- "first_name" and "last_name" both match the regex's specified
- "email" is a valid EMAIL format
- "password" passes the checks done by check_password(), meaning
that the sub returns true
- "confirm_password" is equal to the "password" field
Any regular expressions you specify must be enclosed in single
quotes because they need to be used in both JavaScript and Perl
code. As such, specifying a "qr//" will NOT work.
Note that for both the "javascript" and "perl" hashref code
options, the form will be present as the variable named "form". For
the Perl code, you actually get a complete $form object meaning
that you have full access to all its methods (although the
"field()" method is probably the only one you'll need for
validation).
In addition to taking any regular expression you'd like, the
"validate" option also has many builtin defaults that can prove
helpful:
VALUE - is any type of non-null value
WORD - is a word (\w+)
NAME - matches [a-zA-Z] only
FNAME - person's first name, like "Jim" or "Joe-Bob"
LNAME - person's last name, like "Smith" or "King, Jr."
NUM - number, decimal or integer
INT - integer
FLOAT - floating-point number
PHONE - phone number in form "123-456-7890" or "(123) 456-7890"
INTPHONE- international phone number in form "+prefix local-number"
EMAIL - email addr in form "name@host.domain"
CARD - credit card, including Amex, with or without -'s
DATE - date in format MM/DD/YYYY
EUDATE - date in format DD/MM/YYYY
MMYY - date in format MM/YY or MMYY
MMYYYY - date in format MM/YYYY or MMYYYY
CCMM - strict checking for valid credit card 2-digit month ([0-9]|1[012])
CCYY - valid credit card 2-digit year
ZIPCODE - US postal code in format 12345 or 12345-6789
STATE - valid two-letter state in all uppercase
IPV4 - valid IPv4 address
NETMASK - valid IPv4 netmask
FILE - UNIX format filename (/usr/bin)
WINFILE - Windows format filename (C:\windows\system)
MACFILE - MacOS format filename (folder:subfolder:subfolder)
HOST - valid hostname (some-name)
DOMAIN - valid domainname (www.i-love-bacon.com)
ETHER - valid ethernet address using either : or . as separators
I know some of the above are US-centric, but then again that's
where I live. :-) So if you need different processing just create
your own regular expression and pass it in. If there's something
really useful let me know and maybe I'll add it.
You can also pass a Data::FormValidator object as the value of
"validate". This allows you to do things like requiring any one of
several fields (but where you don't care which one). In this case,
the "required" option to "new()" is ignored, since you should be
setting the required fields through your FormValidator profile.
By default, FormBuilder will try to use a profile named `fb' to
validate itself. You can change this by providing a different
profile name when you call "validate()".
Note that currently, doing validation through a FormValidator
object doesn't generate any JavaScript validation code for you.
Note that any other options specified are passed to the "<form>" tag
verbatim. For example, you could specify "onsubmit" or "enctype" to add
the respective attributes.
prepare()
This function prepares a form for rendering. It is automatically called
by "render()", but calling it yourself may be useful if you are using
Catalyst or some other large framework. It returns the same hash that
will be used by "render()":
my %expanded = $form->prepare;
You could use this to, say, tweak some custom values and then pass it
to your own rendering object.
render()
This function renders the form into HTML, and returns a string
containing the form. The most common use is simply:
print $form->render;
You can also supply options to "render()", just like you had called the
accessor functions individually. These two uses are equivalent:
# this code:
$form->header(1);
$form->stylesheet('style.css');
print $form->render;
# is the same as:
print $form->render(header => 1,
stylesheet => 'style.css');
Note that both forms make permanent changes to the underlying object.
So the next call to "render()" will still have the header and
stylesheet options in either case.
field()
This method is used to both get at field values:
my $bday = $form->field('birthday');
As well as make changes to their attributes:
$form->field(name => 'fname',
label => "First Name");
A very common use is to specify a list of options and/or the field
type:
$form->field(name => 'state',
type => 'select',
options => \@states); # you supply @states
In addition, when you call "field()" without any arguments, it returns
a list of valid field names in an array context:
my @fields = $form->field;
And a hashref of field/value pairs in scalar context:
my $fields = $form->field;
my $name = $fields->{name};
Note that if you call it in this manner, you only get one single value
per field. This is fine as long as you don't have multiple values per
field (the normal case). However, if you have a field that allows
multiple options:
$form->field(name => 'color', options => \@colors,
multiple => 1); # allow multi-select
Then you will only get one value for "color" in the hashref. In this
case you'll need to access it via "field()" to get them all:
my @colors = $form->field('color');
The "name" option is described first, and the remaining options are in
order:
name => $name
The field to manipulate. The "name =>" part is optional if it's the
only argument. For example:
my $email = $form->field(name => 'email');
my $email = $form->field('email'); # same thing
However, if you're specifying more than one argument, then you must
include the "name" part:
$form->field(name => 'email', size => '40');
columns => 0 | $width
If set and the field is of type 'checkbox' or 'radio', then the
options will be wrapped at the given width.
comment => $string
This prints out the given comment after the field. A good use of
this is for additional help on what the field should contain:
$form->field(name => 'dob',
label => 'D.O.B.',
comment => 'in the format MM/DD/YY');
The above would yield something like this:
D.O.B. [____________] in the format MM/DD/YY
The comment is rendered verbatim, meaning you can use HTML links or
code in it if you want.
cleanopts => 0 | 1
If set to 1 (the default), field options are escaped to make sure
any special chars don't screw up the HTML. Set to 0 if you want to
include verbatim HTML in your options, and know what you're doing.
cookies => 0 | 1
Controls whether to generate a cookie if "sessionid" has been set.
This also requires that "header" be set as well, since the cookie
is wrapped in the header. Defaults to 1, meaning it will
automatically work if you turn on "header".
force => 0 | 1
This is used in conjunction with the "value" option to forcibly
override a field's value. See below under the "value" option for
more details. For compatibility with "CGI.pm", you can also call
this option "override" instead, but don't tell anyone.
growable => 0 | 1 | $limit
This option adds a button and the appropriate JavaScript code to
your form to allow the additional copies of the field to be added
by the client filling out the form. Currently, this only works with
"text" and "file" field types.
If you set "growable" to a positive integer greater than 1, that
will become the limit of growth for that field. You won't be able
to add more than $limit extra inputs to the form, and FormBuilder
will issue a warning if the CGI params come in with more than the
allowed number of values.
jsclick => $jscode
This is a cool abstraction over directly specifying the JavaScript
action. This turns out to be extremely useful, since if a field
type changes from "select" to "radio" or "checkbox", then the
action changes from "onchange" to "onclick". Why?!?!
So if you said:
$form->field(name => 'credit_card',
options => \@cards,
jsclick => 'recalc_total();');
This would generate the following code, depending on the number of
@cards:
<select name="credit_card" onchange="recalc_total();"> ...
<radio name="credit_card" onclick="recalc_total();"> ...
You get the idea.
jsmessage => $string
You can use this to specify your own custom message for the field,
which will be printed if it fails validation. The "jsmessage"
option affects the JavaScript popup box, and the "message" option
affects what is printed out if the server-side validation fails.
If "message" is specified but not "jsmessage", then "message" will
be used for JavaScript as well.
$form->field(name => 'cc',
label => 'Credit Card',
message => 'Invalid credit card number',
jsmessage => 'The card number in "%s" is invalid');
The %s will be filled in with the field's "label".
label => $string
This is the label printed out before the field. By default it is
automatically generated from the field name. If you want to be
really lazy, get in the habit of naming your database fields as
complete words so you can pass them directly to/from your form.
labels => \%hash
This option to field() is outdated. You can get the same effect by
passing data structures directly to the "options" argument (see
below). If you have well-named data, check out the "nameopts"
option.
This takes a hashref of key/value pairs where each key is one of
the options, and each value is what its printed label should be:
$form->field(name => 'state',
options => [qw(AZ CA NV OR WA)],
labels => {
AZ => 'Arizona',
CA => 'California',
NV => 'Nevada',
OR => 'Oregon',
WA => 'Washington
});
When rendered, this would create a select list where the option
values were "CA", "NV", etc, but where the state's full name was
displayed for the user to select. As mentioned, this has the exact
same effect:
$form->field(name => 'state',
options => [
[ AZ => 'Arizona' ],
[ CA => 'California' ],
[ NV => 'Nevada' ],
[ OR => 'Oregon' ],
[ WA => 'Washington ],
]);
I can think of some rare situations where you might have a set of
predefined labels, but only some of those are present in a given
field... but usually you should just use the "options" arg.
linebreaks => 0 | 1
Similar to the top-level "linebreaks" option, this one will put
breaks in between options, to space things out more. This is useful
with radio and checkboxes especially.
message => $string
Like "jsmessage", this customizes the output error string if
server-side validation fails for the field. The "message" option
will also be used for JavaScript messages if it is specified but
"jsmessage" is not. See above under "jsmessage" for details.
multiple => 0 | 1
If set to 1, then the user is allowed to choose multiple values
from the options provided. This turns radio groups into checkboxes
and selects into multi-selects. Defaults to automatically being
figured out based on number of values.
nameopts => 0 | 1
If set to 1, then options for select lists will be automatically
named using the same algorithm as field labels. For example:
$form->field(name => 'department',
options => qw[(molecular_biology
philosophy psychology
particle_physics
social_anthropology)],
nameopts => 1);
This would create a list like:
<select name="department">
<option value="molecular_biology">Molecular Biology</option>
<option value="philosophy">Philosophy</option>
<option value="psychology">Psychology</option>
<option value="particle_physics">Particle Physics</option>
<option value="social_anthropology">Social Anthropology</option>
</select>
Basically, you get names for the options that are determined in the
same way as the names for the fields. This is designed as a simpler
alternative to using custom "options" data structures if your data
is regular enough to support it.
other => 0 | 1 | \%attr
If set, this automatically creates an "other" field to the right of
the main field. This is very useful if you want to present a
present list, but then also allow the user to enter their own
entry:
$form->field(name => 'vote_for_president',
options => [qw(Bush Kerry)],
other => 1);
That would generate HTML somewhat like this:
Vote For President: [ ] Bush [ ] Kerry [ ] Other: [______]
If the "other" button is checked, then the box becomes editable so
that the user can write in their own text. This "other" box will be
subject to the same validation as the main field, to make sure your
data for that field is consistent.
options => \@options | \%options | \&sub
This takes an arrayref of options. It also automatically results in
the field becoming a radio (if < 5) or select list (if >= 5),
unless you explicitly set the type with the "type" parameter:
$form->field(name => 'opinion',
options => [qw(yes no maybe so)]);
From that, you will get something like this:
<select name="opinion">
<option value="yes">yes</option>
<option value="no">no</option>
<option value="maybe">maybe</option>
<option value="so">so</option>
</select>
Also, this can accept more complicated data structures, allowing
you to specify different labels and values for your options. If a
given item is either an arrayref or hashref, then the first element
will be taken as the value and the second as the label. For
example, this:
push @opt, ['yes', 'You betcha!'];
push @opt, ['no', 'No way Jose'];
push @opt, ['maybe', 'Perchance...'];
push @opt, ['so', 'So'];
$form->field(name => 'opinion', options => \@opt);
Would result in something like the following:
<select name="opinion">
<option value="yes">You betcha!</option>
<option value="no">No way Jose</option>
<option value="maybe">Perchance...</option>
<option value="so">So</option>
</select>
And this code would have the same effect:
push @opt, { yes => 'You betcha!' };
push @opt, { no => 'No way Jose' };
push @opt, { maybe => 'Perchance...' };
push @opt, { so => 'So' };
$form->field(name => 'opinion', options => \@opt);
Finally, you can specify a "\&sub" which must return either an
"\@arrayref" or "\%hashref" of data, which is then expanded using
the same algorithm.
optgroups => 0 | 1 | \%hashref
If "optgroups" is specified for a field ("select" fields only),
then the above "options" array is parsed so that the third argument
is taken as the name of the optgroup, and an "<optgroup>" tag is
generated appropriately.
An example will make this behavior immediately obvious:
my $opts = $dbh->selectall_arrayref(
"select id, name, category from software
order by category, name"
);
$form->field(name => 'software_title',
options => $opts,
optgroups => 1);
The "optgroups" setting would then parse the third element of $opts
so that you'd get an "optgroup" every time that "category" changed:
<optgroup label="antivirus">
<option value="12">Norton Anti-virus 1.2</option>
<option value="11">McAfee 1.1</option>
</optgroup>
<optgroup label="office">
<option value="3">Microsoft Word</option>
<option value="4">Open Office</option>
<option value="6">WordPerfect</option>
</optgroup>
In addition, if "optgroups" is instead a hashref, then the name of
the optgroup is gotten from that. Using the above example, this
would help if you had the category name in a separate table, and
were just storing the "category_id" in the "software" table. You
could provide an "optgroups" hash like:
my %optgroups = (
1 => 'antivirus',
2 => 'office',
3 => 'misc',
);
$form->field(..., optgroups => \%optgroups);
Note: No attempt is made by FormBuilder to properly sort your
option optgroups - it is up to you to provide them in a sensible
order.
required => 0 | 1
If set to 1, the field must be filled in:
$form->field(name => 'email', required => 1);
This is rarely useful - what you probably want are the "validate"
and "required" options to "new()".
selectname => 0 | 1 | $string
By default, this is set to 1 and any single-select lists are
prefixed by the message "form_select_default" ("-select-" for
English). If set to 0, then this string is not prefixed. If set to
a $string, then that string is used explicitly.
Philosophically, the "-select-" behavior is intentional because it
allows a null item to be transmitted (the same as not checking any
checkboxes or radio buttons). Otherwise, the first item in a select
list is automatically sent when the form is submitted. If you
would like an item to be "pre-selected", consider using the "value"
option to specify the default value.
sortopts => BUILTIN | 1 | \&sub
If set, and there are options, then the options will be sorted in
the specified order. There are four possible values for the
"BUILTIN" setting:
NAME Sort option values by name
NUM Sort option values numerically
LABELNAME Sort option labels by name
LABELNUM Sort option labels numerically
For example:
$form->field(name => 'category',
options => \@cats,
sortopts => 'NAME');
Would sort the @cats options in alphabetic ("NAME") order. The
option "NUM" would sort them in numeric order. If you specify "1",
then an alphabetic sort is done, just like the default Perl sort.
In addition, you can specify a sub reference which takes pairs of
values to compare and returns the appropriate return value that
Perl "sort()" expects.
type => $type
The type of input box to create. Default is "text", and valid
values include anything allowed by the HTML specs, including
"select", "radio", "checkbox", "textarea", "password", "hidden",
and so on.
By default, the type is automatically determined by FormBuilder
based on the following algorithm:
Field options?
No = text (done)
Yes:
Less than 'selectnum' setting?
No = select (done)
Yes:
Is the 'multiple' option set?
Yes = checkbox (done)
No:
Have just one single option?
Yes = checkbox (done)
No = radio (done)
I recommend you let FormBuilder do this for you in most cases, and
only tweak those you really need to.
value => $value | \@values
The "value" option can take either a single value or an arrayref of
multiple values. In the case of multiple values, this will result
in the field automatically becoming a multiple select list or radio
group, depending on the number of options specified.
If a CGI value is present it will always win. To forcibly change a
value, you need to specify the "force" option:
# Example that hides credit card on confirm screen
if ($form->submitted && $form->validate) {
my $val = $form->field;
# hide CC number
$form->field(name => 'credit_card',
value => '(not shown)',
force => 1);
print $form->confirm;
}
This would print out the string "(not shown)" on the "confirm()"
screen instead of the actual number.
validate => '/regex/'
Similar to the "validate" option used in "new()", this affects the
validation just of that single field. As such, rather than a
hashref, you would just specify the regex to match against.
This regex must be specified as a single-quoted string, and NOT as
a qr// regex. The reason for this is it needs to be usable by the
JavaScript routines as well.
$htmlattr => $htmlval
In addition to the above tags, the "field()" function can take any
other valid HTML attribute, which will be placed in the tag
verbatim. For example, if you wanted to alter the class of the
field (if you're using stylesheets and a template, for example),
you could say:
$form->field(name => 'email', class => 'FormField',
size => 80);
Then when you call "$form-"render> you would get a field something
like this:
<input type="text" name="email" class="FormField" size="80">
(Of course, for this to really work you still have to create a
class called "FormField" in your stylesheet.)
See also the "fieldattr" option which provides global attributes to
all fields.
cgi_param()
The above "field()" method will only return fields which you have
explicitly defined in your form. Excess parameters will be silently
ignored, to help ensure users can't mess with your form.
But, you may have some times when you want extra params so that you can
maintain state, but you don't want it to appear in your form. Branding
is an easy example:
http://hr-outsourcing.com/newuser.cgi?company=mr_propane
This could change your page's HTML so that it displayed the appropriate
company name and logo, without polluting your form parameters.
This call simply redispatches to "CGI.pm"'s "param()" method, so
consult those docs for more information.
tmpl_param()
This allows you to manipulate template parameters directly. Extending
the above example:
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(template => 'some.tmpl');
my $company = $form->cgi_param('company');
$form->tmpl_param(company => $company);
Then, in your template:
Hello, <tmpl_var company> employee!
<p>
Please fill out this form:
<tmpl_var form-start>
<!-- etc... -->
For really precise template control, you can actually create your own
template object and then pass it directly to FormBuilder. See
CGI::FormBuilder::Template for more details.
sessionid()
This gets and sets the sessionid, which is stored in the special form
field "_sessionid". By default no session ids are generated or used.
Rather, this is intended to provide a hook for you to easily integrate
this with a session id module like "CGI::Session".
Since you can set the session id via the "_sessionid" field, you can
pass it as an argument when first showing the form:
http://mydomain.com/forms/update_info.cgi?_sessionid=0123-091231
This would set things up so that if you called:
my $id = $form->sessionid;
This would get the value "0123-091231" in your script. Conversely, if
you generate a new sessionid on your own, and wish to include it
automatically, simply set is as follows:
$form->sessionid($id);
If the sessionid is set, and "header" is set, then FormBuilder will
also automatically generate a cookie for you.
See "EXAMPLES" for "CGI::Session" example.
submitted()
This returns the value of the "Submit" button if the form has been
submitted, undef otherwise. This allows you to either test it in a
boolean context:
if ($form->submitted) { ... }
Or to retrieve the button that was actually clicked on in the case of
multiple submit buttons:
if ($form->submitted eq 'Update') {
...
} elsif ($form->submitted eq 'Delete') {
...
}
It's best to call "validate()" in conjunction with this to make sure
the form validation works. To make sure you're getting accurate info,
it's recommended that you name your forms with the "name" option
described above.
If you're writing a multiple-form app, you should name your forms with
the "name" option to ensure that you are getting an accurate return
value from this sub. See the "name" option above, under "render()".
You can also specify the name of an optional field which you want to
"watch" instead of the default "_submitted" hidden field. This is
useful if you have a search form and also want to be able to link to it
from other documents directly, such as:
mysearch.cgi?lookup=what+to+look+for
Normally, "submitted()" would return false since the "_submitted" field
is not included. However, you can override this by saying:
$form->submitted('lookup');
Then, if the lookup field is present, you'll get a true value.
(Actually, you'll still get the value of the "Submit" button if
present.)
validate()
This validates the form based on the validation criteria passed into
"new()" via the "validate" option. In addition, you can specify
additional criteria to check that will be valid for just that call of
"validate()". This is useful is you have to deal with different geos:
if ($location eq 'US') {
$form->validate(state => 'STATE', zipcode => 'ZIPCODE');
} else {
$form->validate(state => '/^\w{2,3}$/');
}
You can also provide a Data::FormValidator object as the first
argument. In that case, the second argument (if present) will be
interpreted as the name of the validation profile to use. A single
string argument will also be interpreted as a validation profile name.
Note that if you pass args to your "validate()" function like this, you
will not get JavaScript generated or required fields placed in bold.
So, this is good for conditional validation like the above example, but
for most applications you want to pass your validation requirements in
via the "validate" option to the "new()" function, and just call the
"validate()" function with no arguments.
confirm()
The purpose of this function is to print out a static confirmation
screen showing a short message along with the values that were
submitted. It is actually just a special wrapper around "render()",
twiddling a couple options.
If you're using templates, you probably want to specify a separate
success template, such as:
if ($form->submitted && $form->validate) {
print $form->confirm(template => 'success.tmpl');
} else {
print $form->render(template => 'fillin.tmpl');
}
So that you don't get the same screen twice.
mailconfirm()
This sends a confirmation email to the named addresses. The "to"
argument is required; everything else is optional. If no "from" is
specified then it will be set to the address "auto-reply" since that is
a common quasi-standard in the web app world.
This does not send any of the form results. Rather, it simply prints
out a message saying the submission was received.
mailresults()
This emails the form results to the specified address(es). By default
it prints out the form results separated by a colon, such as:
name: Nate Wiger
email: nate@wiger.org
colors: red green blue
And so on. You can change this by specifying the "delimiter" and
"joiner" options. For example this:
$form->mailresults(to => $to, delimiter => '=', joiner => ',');
Would produce an email like this:
name=Nate Wiger
email=nate@wiger.org
colors=red,green,blue
Note that now the last field ("colors") is separated by commas since
you have multiple values and you specified a comma as your "joiner".
mailresults() with plugin
Now you can also specify a plugin to use with mailresults, in the
namespace "CGI::FormBuilder::Mail::*". These plugins may depend on
other libraries. For example, this:
$form->mailresults(
plugin => 'FormatMultiPart',
from => 'Mark Hedges <hedges@ucsd.edu>',
to => 'Nate Wiger <nwiger@gmail.com>',
smtp => $smtp_host_or_ip,
format => 'plain',
);
will send your mail formatted nicely in text using "Text::FormatTable".
(And if you used format => 'html' it would use "HTML::QuickTable".)
This particular plugin uses "MIME::Lite" and "Net::SMTP" to communicate
directly with the SMTP server, and does not rely on a shell escape.
See CGI::FormBuilder::Mail::FormatMultiPart for more information.
This establishes a simple mail plugin implementation standard for your
own mailresults() plugins. The plugin should reside under the
"CGI::FormBuilder::Mail::*" namespace. It should have a constructor
new() which accepts a hash-as-array of named arg parameters, including
form => $form. It should have a mailresults() object method that does
the right thing. It should use "CGI::FormBuilder::Util" and puke() if
something goes wrong.
Calling $form->mailresults( plugin => 'Foo', ... ) will load
"CGI::FormBuilder::Mail::Foo" and will pass the FormBuilder object as a
named param 'form' with all other parameters passed intact.
If it should croak, confess, die or otherwise break if something goes
wrong, FormBuilder.pm will warn any errors and the built-in
mailresults() method will still try.
mail()
This is a more generic version of the above; it sends whatever is given
as the "text" argument via email verbatim to the "to" address. In
addition, if you're not running "sendmail" you can specify the "mailer"
parameter to give the path of your mailer. This option is accepted by
the above functions as well.
COMPATIBILITY
The following methods are provided to make FormBuilder behave more like
other modules, when desired.
header()
Returns a "CGI.pm" header, but only if "header => 1" is set.
param()
This is an alias for "field()", provided for compatibility. However,
while "field()" does act "compliantly" for easy use in "CGI::Session",
"Apache::Request", etc, it is not 100% the same. As such, I recommend
you use "field()" in your code, and let receiving objects figure the
"param()" thing out when needed:
my $sess = CGI::Session->new(...);
$sess->save_param($form); # will see param()query_string()
This returns a query string similar to "CGI.pm", but ONLY containing
form fields and any "keepextras", if specified. Other params are
ignored.
self_url()
This returns a self url, similar to "CGI.pm", but again ONLY with form
fields.
script_name()
An alias for "$form->action".
STYLESHEETS (CSS)
If the "stylesheet" option is enabled (by setting it to 1 or the path
of a CSS file), then FormBuilder will automatically output style
classes for every single form element:
fb main form table
fb_label td containing field label
fb_field td containing field input tag
fb_submit td containing submit button(s)
fb_input input types
fb_select select types
fb_checkbox checkbox types
fb_radio radio types
fb_option labels for checkbox/radio options
fb_button button types
fb_hidden hidden types
fb_static static types
fb_required span around labels for required fields
fb_invalid span around labels for invalid fields
fb_comment span around field comment
fb_error span around field error message
Here's a simple example that you can put in "fb.css" which spruces up a
couple basic form features:
/* FormBuilder */
.fb {
background: #ffc;
font-family: verdana,arial,sans-serif;
font-size: 10pt;
}
.fb_label {
text-align: right;
padding-right: 1em;
}
.fb_comment {
font-size: 8pt;
font-style: italic;
}
.fb_submit {
text-align: center;
}
.fb_required {
font-weight: bold;
}
.fb_invalid {
color: #c00;
font-weight: bold;
}
.fb_error {
color: #c00;
font-style: italic;
}
Of course, if you're familiar with CSS, you know alot more is possible.
Also, you can mess with all the id's (if you name your forms) to
manipulate fields more exactly.
EXAMPLES
I find this module incredibly useful, so here are even more examples,
pasted from sample code that I've written:
Ex1: order.cgi
This example provides an order form, complete with validation of the
important fields, and a "Cancel" button to abort the whole thing.
#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use CGI::FormBuilder;
my @states = my_state_list(); # you write this
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
method => 'post',
fields => [
qw(first_name last_name
email send_me_emails
address state zipcode
credit_card expiration)
],
header => 1,
title => 'Finalize Your Order',
submit => ['Place Order', 'Cancel'],
reset => 0,
validate => {
email => 'EMAIL',
zipcode => 'ZIPCODE',
credit_card => 'CARD',
expiration => 'MMYY',
},
required => 'ALL',
jsfunc => <<EOJS,
// skip js validation if they clicked "Cancel"
if (this._submit.value == 'Cancel') return true;
EOJS
);
# Provide a list of states
$form->field(name => 'state',
options => \@states,
sortopts=> 'NAME');
# Options for mailing list
$form->field(name => 'send_me_emails',
options => [[1 => 'Yes'], [0 => 'No']],
value => 0); # "No"
# Check for valid order
if ($form->submitted eq 'Cancel') {
# redirect them to the homepage
print $form->cgi->redirect('/');
exit;
}
elsif ($form->submitted && $form->validate) {
# your code goes here to do stuff...
print $form->confirm;
}
else {
# either first printing or needs correction
print $form->render;
}
This will create a form called "Finalize Your Order" that will provide
a pulldown menu for the "state", a radio group for "send_me_emails",
and normal text boxes for the rest. It will then validate all the
fields, using specific patterns for those fields specified to
"validate".
Ex2: order_form.cgi
Here's an example that adds some fields dynamically, and uses the
"debug" option spit out gook:
#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use CGI::FormBuilder;
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
method => 'post',
fields => [
qw(first_name last_name email
address state zipcode)
],
header => 1,
debug => 2, # gook
required => 'NONE',
);
# This adds on the 'details' field to our form dynamically
$form->field(name => 'details',
type => 'textarea',
cols => '50',
rows => '10');
# And this adds user_name with validation
$form->field(name => 'user_name',
value => $ENV{REMOTE_USER},
validate => 'NAME');
if ($form->submitted && $form->validate) {
# ... more code goes here to do stuff ...
print $form->confirm;
} else {
print $form->render;
}
In this case, none of the fields are required, but the "user_name"
field will still be validated if filled in.
Ex3: ticket_search.cgi
This is a simple search script that uses a template to layout the
search parameters very precisely. Note that we set our options for our
different fields and types.
#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use CGI::FormBuilder;
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
fields => [qw(type string status category)],
header => 1,
template => 'ticket_search.tmpl',
submit => 'Search', # search button
reset => 0, # and no reset
);
# Need to setup some specific field options
$form->field(name => 'type',
options => [qw(ticket requestor hostname sysadmin)]);
$form->field(name => 'status',
type => 'radio',
options => [qw(incomplete recently_completed all)],
value => 'incomplete');
$form->field(name => 'category',
type => 'checkbox',
options => [qw(server network desktop printer)]);
# Render the form and print it out so our submit button says "Search"
print $form->render;
Then, in our "ticket_search.tmpl" HTML file, we would have something
like this:
<html>
<head>
<title>Search Engine</title>
<tmpl_var js-head>
</head>
<body bgcolor="white">
<center>
<p>
Please enter a term to search the ticket database.
<p>
<tmpl_var form-start>
Search by <tmpl_var field-type> for <tmpl_var field-string>
<tmpl_var form-submit>
<p>
Status: <tmpl_var field-status>
<p>
Category: <tmpl_var field-category>
<p>
</form>
</body>
</html>
That's all you need for a sticky search form with the above HTML
layout. Notice that you can change the HTML layout as much as you want
without having to touch your CGI code.
Ex4: user_info.cgi
This script grabs the user's information out of a database and lets
them update it dynamically. The DBI information is provided as an
example, your mileage may vary:
#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use CGI::FormBuilder;
use DBI;
use DBD::Oracle
my $dbh = DBI->connect('dbi:Oracle:db', 'user', 'pass');
# We create a new form. Note we've specified very little,
# since we're getting all our values from our database.
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
fields => [qw(username password confirm_password
first_name last_name email)]
);
# Now get the value of the username from our app
my $user = $form->cgi_param('user');
my $sth = $dbh->prepare("select * from user_info where user = '$user'");
$sth->execute;
my $default_hashref = $sth->fetchrow_hashref;
# Render our form with the defaults we got in our hashref
print $form->render(values => $default_hashref,
title => "User information for '$user'",
header => 1);
Ex5: add_part.cgi
This presents a screen for users to add parts to an inventory database.
Notice how it makes use of the "sticky" option. If there's an error,
then the form is presented with sticky values so that the user can
correct them and resubmit. If the submission is ok, though, then the
form is presented without sticky values so that the user can enter the
next part.
#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use CGI::FormBuilder;
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
method => 'post',
fields => [qw(sn pn model qty comments)],
labels => {
sn => 'Serial Number',
pn => 'Part Number'
},
sticky => 0,
header => 1,
required => [qw(sn pn model qty)],
validate => {
sn => '/^[PL]\d{2}-\d{4}-\d{4}$/',
pn => '/^[AQM]\d{2}-\d{4}$/',
qty => 'INT'
},
font => 'arial,helvetica'
);
# shrink the qty field for prettiness, lengthen model
$form->field(name => 'qty', size => 4);
$form->field(name => 'model', size => 60);
if ($form->submitted) {
if ($form->validate) {
# Add part to database
} else {
# Invalid; show form and allow corrections
print $form->render(sticky => 1);
exit;
}
}
# Print form for next part addition.
print $form->render;
With the exception of the database code, that's the whole application.
Ex6: Session Management
This creates a session via "CGI::Session", and ties it in with
FormBuilder:
#!/usr/bin/perl
use CGI::Session;
use CGI::FormBuilder;
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(fields => \@fields);
# Initialize session
my $session = CGI::Session->new('driver:File',
$form->sessionid,
{ Directory=>'/tmp' });
if ($form->submitted && $form->validate) {
# Automatically save all parameters
$session->save_param($form);
}
# Ensure we have the right sessionid (might be new)
$form->sessionid($session->id);
print $form->render;
Yes, it's pretty much that easy. See CGI::FormBuilder::Multi for how to
tie this into a multi-page form.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)
There are a couple questions and subtle traps that seem to poke people
on a regular basis. Here are some hints.
I'm confused. Why doesn't this work like CGI.pm?
If you're used to "CGI.pm", you have to do a little bit of a brain
shift when working with this module.
FormBuilder is designed to address fields as abstract entities. That
is, you don't create a "checkbox" or "radio group" per se. Instead,
you create a field for the data you want to collect. The HTML
representation is just one property of this field.
So, if you want a single-option checkbox, simply say something like
this:
$form->field(name => 'join_mailing_list',
options => ['Yes']);
If you want it to be checked by default, you add the "value" arg:
$form->field(name => 'join_mailing_list',
options => ['Yes'],
value => 'Yes');
You see, you're creating a field that has one possible option: "Yes".
Then, you're saying its current value is, in fact, "Yes". This will
result in FormBuilder creating a single-option field (which is a
checkbox by default) and selecting the requested value (meaning that
the box will be checked).
If you want multiple values, then all you have to do is specify
multiple options:
$form->field(name => 'join_mailing_list',
options => ['Yes', 'No'],
value => 'Yes');
Now you'll get a radio group, and "Yes" will be selected for you! By
viewing fields as data entities (instead of HTML tags) you get much
more flexibility and less code maintenance. If you want to be able to
accept multiple values, simply use the "multiple" arg:
$form->field(name => 'favorite_colors',
options => [qw(red green blue)],
multiple => 1);
In all of these examples, to get the data back you just use the
"field()" method:
my @colors = $form->field('favorite_colors');
And the rest is taken care of for you.
How do I make a multi-screen/multi-mode form?
This is easily doable, but you have to remember a couple things. Most
importantly, that FormBuilder only knows about those fields you've told
it about. So, let's assume that you're going to use a special parameter
called "mode" to control the mode of your application so that you can
call it like this:
myapp.cgi?mode=list&...
myapp.cgi?mode=edit&...
myapp.cgi?mode=remove&...
And so on. You need to do two things. First, you need the "keepextras"
option:
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(..., keepextras => 1);
This will maintain the "mode" field as a hidden field across requests
automatically. Second, you need to realize that since the "mode" is not
a defined field, you have to get it via the "cgi_param()" method:
my $mode = $form->cgi_param('mode');
This will allow you to build a large multiscreen application easily,
even integrating it with modules like "CGI::Application" if you want.
You can also do this by simply defining "mode" as a field in your
"fields" declaration. The reason this is discouraged is because when
iterating over your fields you'll get "mode", which you likely don't
want (since it's not "real" data).
Why won't CGI::FormBuilder work with post requests?
It will, but chances are you're probably doing something like this:
use CGI qw(:standard);
use CGI::FormBuilder;
# Our "mode" parameter determines what we do
my $mode = param('mode');
# Change our form based on our mode
if ($mode eq 'view') {
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
method => 'post',
fields => [qw(...)],
);
} elsif ($mode eq 'edit') {
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
method => 'post',
fields => [qw(...)],
);
}
The problem is this: Once you read a "post" request, it's gone forever.
In the above code, what you're doing is having "CGI.pm" read the "post"
request (on the first call of "param()").
Luckily, there is an easy solution. First, you need to modify your code
to use the OO form of "CGI.pm". Then, simply specify the "CGI" object
you create to the "params" option of FormBuilder:
use CGI;
use CGI::FormBuilder;
my $cgi = CGI->new;
# Our "mode" parameter determines what we do
my $mode = $cgi->param('mode');
# Change our form based on our mode
# Note: since it is post, must specify the 'params' option
if ($mode eq 'view') {
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
method => 'post',
fields => [qw(...)],
params => $cgi # get CGI params
);
} elsif ($mode eq 'edit') {
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
method => 'post',
fields => [qw(...)],
params => $cgi # get CGI params
);
}
Or, since FormBuilder gives you a "cgi_param()" function, you could
also modify your code so you use FormBuilder exclusively, as in the
previous question.
How can I change option XXX based on a conditional?
To change an option, simply use its accessor at any time:
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
method => 'post',
fields => [qw(name email phone)]
);
my $mode = $form->cgi_param('mode');
if ($mode eq 'add') {
$form->title('Add a new entry');
} elsif ($mode eq 'edit') {
$form->title('Edit existing entry');
# do something to select existing values
my %values = select_values();
$form->values(\%values);
}
print $form->render;
Using the accessors makes permanent changes to your object, so be aware
that if you want to reset something to its original value later, you'll
have to first save it and then reset it:
my $style = $form->stylesheet;
$form->stylesheet(0); # turn off
$form->stylesheet($style); # original setting
You can also specify options to "render()", although using the
accessors is the preferred way.
How do I manually override the value of a field?
You must specify the "force" option:
$form->field(name => 'name_of_field',
value => $value,
force => 1);
If you don't specify "force", then the CGI value will always win. This
is because of the stateless nature of the CGI protocol.
How do I make it so that the values aren't shown in the form?
Turn off sticky:
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(... sticky => 0);
By turning off the "sticky" option, you will still be able to access
the values, but they won't show up in the form.
I can't get "validate" to accept my regular expressions!
You're probably not specifying them within single quotes. See the
section on "validate" above.
Can FormBuilder handle file uploads?
It sure can, and it's really easy too. Just change the "enctype" as an
option to "new()":
use CGI::FormBuilder;
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
enctype => 'multipart/form-data',
method => 'post',
fields => [qw(filename)]
);
$form->field(name => 'filename', type => 'file');
And then get to your file the same way as "CGI.pm":
if ($form->submitted) {
my $file = $form->field('filename');
# save contents in file, etc ...
open F, ">$dir/$file" or die $!;
while (<$file>) {
print F;
}
close F;
print $form->confirm(header => 1);
} else {
print $form->render(header => 1);
}
In fact, that's a whole file upload program right there.
REFERENCES
This really doesn't belong here, but unfortunately many people are
confused by references in Perl. Don't be - they're not that tricky.
When you take a reference, you're basically turning something into a
scalar value. Sort of. You have to do this if you want to pass arrays
intact into functions in Perl 5.
A reference is taken by preceding the variable with a backslash (\).
In our examples above, you saw something similar to this:
my @fields = ('name', 'email'); # same as = qw(name email)
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(fields => \@fields);
Here, "\@fields" is a reference. Specifically, it's an array reference,
or "arrayref" for short.
Similarly, we can do the same thing with hashes:
my %validate = (
name => 'NAME';
email => 'EMAIL',
);
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new( ... validate => \%validate);
Here, "\%validate" is a hash reference, or "hashref".
Basically, if you don't understand references and are having trouble
wrapping your brain around them, you can try this simple rule: Any time
you're passing an array or hash into a function, you must precede it
with a backslash. Usually that's true for CPAN modules.
Finally, there are two more types of references: anonymous arrayrefs
and anonymous hashrefs. These are created with "[]" and "{}",
respectively. So, for our purposes there is no real difference between
this code:
my @fields = qw(name email);
my %validate = (name => 'NAME', email => 'EMAIL');
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
fields => \@fields,
validate => \%validate
);
And this code:
my $form = CGI::FormBuilder->new(
fields => [ qw(name email) ],
validate => { name => 'NAME', email => 'EMAIL' }
);
Except that the latter doesn't require that we first create @fields and
%validate variables.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
FORMBUILDER_DEBUG
This toggles the debug flag, so that you can control FormBuilder
debugging globally. Helpful in mod_perl.
NOTES
Parameters beginning with a leading underscore are reserved for future
use by this module. Use at your own peril.
The "field()" method has the alias "param()" for compatibility with
other modules, allowing you to pass a $form around just like a $cgi
object.
The output of the HTML generated natively may change slightly from
release to release. If you need precise control, use a template.
Every attempt has been made to make this module taint-safe (-T).
However, due to the way tainting works, you may run into the message
"Insecure dependency" or "Insecure $ENV{PATH}". If so, make sure you
are setting $ENV{PATH} at the top of your script.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This module has really taken off, thanks to very useful input, bug
reports, and encouraging feedback from a number of people, including:
Norton Allen
Mark Belanger
Peter Billam
Brad Bowman
Jonathan Buhacoff
Godfrey Carnegie
Jakob Curdes
Laurent Dami
Bob Egert
Peter Eichman
Adam Foxson
Jorge Gonzalez
Florian Helmberger
Mark Hedges
Mark Houliston
Victor Igumnov
Robert James Kaes
Dimitry Kharitonov
Randy Kobes
William Large
Kevin Lubic
Robert Mathews
Mehryar
Klaas Naajikens
Koos Pol
Shawn Poulson
Dan Collis Puro
David Siegal
Stephan Springl
Ryan Tate
John Theus
Remi Turboult
Andy Wardley
Raphael Wegmann
Emanuele Zeppieri
Thanks!
SEE ALSO
CGI::FormBuilder::Template, CGI::FormBuilder::Messages,
CGI::FormBuilder::Multi, CGI::FormBuilder::Source::File,
CGI::FormBuilder::Field, CGI::FormBuilder::Util,
CGI::FormBuilder::Util, HTML::Template, Text::Template
CGI::FastTemplate
REVISION
$Id: FormBuilder.pm 65 2006-09-07 18:11:43Z nwiger $
AUTHOR
Copyright (c) 2000-2006 Nate Wiger <nate@wiger.org>. 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.
perl v5.14.1 2007-03-02 CGI::FormBuilder(3)
