phpMan > perldoc > CGI::FormBuilder::Field

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NAME
    CGI::FormBuilder::Field - Base class for FormBuilder fields

SYNOPSIS
        use CGI::FormBuilder::Field;

        # delegated straight from FormBuilder
        my $f = CGI::FormBuilder::Field->new($form, name => 'whatever');

        # attribute functions
        my $n = $f->name;         # name of field
        my $n = "$f";             # stringify to $f->name

        my $t = $f->type;         # auto-type
        my @v = $f->value;        # auto-stickiness
        my @o = $f->options;      # options, aligned and sorted

        my $l = $f->label;        # auto-label
        my $h = $f->tag;          # field XHTML tag (name/type/value)
        my $s = $f->script;       # per-field JS validation script

        my $m = $f->message;      # error message if invalid
        my $m = $f->jsmessage;    # JavaScript error message

        my $r = $f->required;     # required?
        my $k = $f->validate;     # run validation check

        my $v = $f->tag_value;    # value in tag (stickiness handling)
        my $v = $f->cgi_value;    # CGI value if any
        my $v = $f->def_value;    # manually-specified value

        $f->field(opt => 'val');  # FormBuilder field() call

DESCRIPTION
    This module is internally used by FormBuilder to create and maintain field information. Usually,
    you will not want to directly access this set of data structures. However, one big exception is
    if you are going to micro-control form rendering. In this case, you will need to access the
    field objects directly.

    To do so, you will want to loop through the fields in order:

        for my $field ($form->field) {

            # $field holds an object stringified to a field name
            if ($field =~ /_date$/) {
                $field->sticky(0);  # clear CGI value
                print "Enter $field here:", $field->tag;
            } else {
                print $field->label, ': ', $field->tag;
            }
        }

    As illustrated, each $field variable actually holds a stringifiable object. This means if you
    print them out, you will get the field name, allowing you to check for certain fields. However,
    since it is an object, you can then run accessor methods directly on that object.

    The most useful method is "tag()". It generates the HTML input tag for the field, including all
    option and type handling, and returns a string which you can then print out or manipulate
    appropriately.

    Second to this method is the "script" method, which returns the appropriate JavaScript
    validation routine for that field. This is useful at the top of your form rendering, when you
    are printing out the leading "<head>" section of your HTML document. It is called by the $form
    method of the same name.

    The following methods are provided for each $field object.

METHODS
  new($form, %args)
    This creates a new $field object. The first argument must be a reference to the top-level $form
    object, for callbacks. The remaining arguments should be hash, of which one "key/value" pair
    must specify the "name" of the field. Normally you should not touch this method. Ever.

  field(%args)
    This is a delegated field call. This is how FormBuilder tweaks its fields. Once you have a
    $field object, you call this method the exact same way that you would call the main "field()"
    method, minus the field name. Again you should use the top-level call instead.

  inflate($subref)
    This sets the inflate attribute: subroutine reference used to inflate values returned by value()
    into objects or whatever you want. If no parameter, returns the inflate subroutine reference
    that is set. For example:

     use DateTime::Format::Strptime;
     my $date_format = DateTime::Format::Strptime->new(
        pattern   => '%D',    # for MM/DD/YYYY american dates
        locale    => 'en_US',
        time_zone => 'America/Los_Angeles',
     );
     $field->inflate( sub { return $date_format->format_datetime(shift) } );

  invalid
    This returns the opposite value that "validate()" would return, with some extra magic that keeps
    state for form rendering purposes.

  jsfunc()
    Returns the appropriate JavaScript validation code (see above).

  label($str)
    This sets and returns the field's label. If unset, it will be generated from the name of the
    field.

  tag($type)
    Returns an XHTML form input tag (see above). By default it renders the tag based on the type set
    from the top-level field method:

        $form->field(name => 'poetry', type => 'textarea');

    However, if you are doing custom rendering you can override this temporarily by passing in the
    type explicitly. This is usually not useful unless you have a custom rendering module that
    forcibly overrides types for certain fields.

  type($type)
    This sets and returns the field's type. If unset, it will automatically generate the appropriate
    field type, depending on the number of options and whether multiple values are allowed:

        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)

    For an example, view the inside guts of this module.

  validate($pattern)
    This returns 1 if the field passes the validation pattern(s) and "required" status previously
    set via required() and (possibly) the top-level new() call in FormBuilder. Usually running
    per-field validate() calls is not what you want. Instead, you want to run the one on $form,
    which in turn calls each individual field's and saves some temp state.

  value($val)
    This sets the field's value. It also returns the appropriate value: CGI if set, otherwise the
    manual default value. Same as using "field()" to retrieve values.

  tag_value()
    This obeys the "sticky" flag to give a different interpretation of CGI values. Use this to get
    the value if generating your own tag. Otherwise, ignore it completely.

  cgi_value()
    This always returns the CGI value, regardless of "sticky".

  def_value()
    This always returns the default value, regardless of "sticky".

  tag_name()
    This returns the tag name of the current item. This was added so you could subclass, say,
    "CGI::FormBuilder::Field::select" and change the HTML tag to "<b:select>" instead. This is an
    experimental feature and subject to change wildly (suggestions welcome).

  accessors
    In addition to the above methods, accessors are provided for directly manipulating values as if
    from a "field()" call:

        Accessor                Same as...
        ----------------------- -----------------------------------
        $f->force(0|1)          $form->field(force => 0|1)
        $f->options(\@opt)      $form->field(options => \@opt)
        $f->multiple(0|1)       $form->field(multiple => 0|1)
        $f->message($mesg)      $form->field(message => $mesg)
        $f->jsmessage($mesg)    $form->field(jsmessage => $mesg)
        $f->jsclick($code)      $form->field(jsclick => $code)
        $f->sticky(0|1)         $form->field(sticky => 0|1);
        $f->force(0|1)          $form->field(force => 0|1);
        $f->growable(0|1)       $form->field(growable => 0|1);
        $f->other(0|1)          $form->field(other => 0|1);

SEE ALSO
    CGI::FormBuilder

REVISION
    $Id: Field.pm 100 2007-03-02 18:13:13Z nwiger $

AUTHOR
    Copyright (c) Nate Wiger <http://nateware.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.

CGI::FormBuilder::Field
NAME SYNOPSIS DESCRIPTION METHODS SEE ALSO REVISION AUTHOR

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