# phpman > perldoc > Template::Plugins

## NAME
    [Template::Plugins](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Template%3A%3APlugins/markdown) - Plugin provider module

## SYNOPSIS
        use [Template::Plugins](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Template%3A%3APlugins/markdown);

        $plugin_provider = [Template::Plugins](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Template%3A%3APlugins/markdown)->new(\%options);

        ($plugin, $error) = $plugin_provider->fetch($name, @args);

## DESCRIPTION
    The "[Template::Plugins](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Template%3A%3APlugins/markdown)" module defines a provider class which can be used to load and
    instantiate Template Toolkit plugin modules.

## METHODS
  new(\%params)
    Constructor method which instantiates and returns a reference to a "[Template::Plugins](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Template%3A%3APlugins/markdown)" object. A
    reference to a hash array of configuration items may be passed as a parameter. These are
    described below.

    Note that the Template front-end module creates a "[Template::Plugins](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Template%3A%3APlugins/markdown)" provider, passing all
    configuration items. Thus, the examples shown below in the form:

        $plugprov = [Template::Plugins](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Template%3A%3APlugins/markdown)->new({
            PLUGIN_BASE => '[MyTemplate::Plugin](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/MyTemplate%3A%3APlugin/markdown)',
            LOAD_PERL   => 1,
            ...
        });

    can also be used via the Template module as:

        $ttengine = Template->new({
            PLUGIN_BASE => '[MyTemplate::Plugin](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/MyTemplate%3A%3APlugin/markdown)',
            LOAD_PERL   => 1,
            ...
        });

    as well as the more explicit form of:

        $plugprov = [Template::Plugins](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Template%3A%3APlugins/markdown)->new({
            PLUGIN_BASE => '[MyTemplate::Plugin](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/MyTemplate%3A%3APlugin/markdown)',
            LOAD_PERL   => 1,
            ...
        });

        $ttengine = Template->new({
            LOAD_PLUGINS => [ $plugprov ],
        });

  fetch($name, @args)
    Called to request that a plugin of a given name be provided. The relevant module is first loaded
    (if necessary) and the load() class method called to return the factory class name (usually the
    same package name) or a factory object (a prototype). The new() method is then called as a class
    or object method against the factory, passing all remaining parameters.

    Returns a reference to a new plugin object or "($error, STATUS_ERROR)" on error. May also return
    "(undef, STATUS_DECLINED)" to decline to serve the request. If "TOLERANT" is set then all errors
    will be returned as declines.

## CONFIGURATION OPTIONS
    The following list summarises the configuration options that can be provided to the
    "[Template::Plugins](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Template%3A%3APlugins/markdown)" new() constructor. Please consult [Template::Manual::Config](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Template%3A%3AManual%3A%3AConfig/markdown) for further
    details and examples of each configuration option in use.

  PLUGINS
    The PLUGINS option can be used to provide a reference to a hash array that maps plugin names to
    Perl module names.

        my $plugins = [Template::Plugins](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Template%3A%3APlugins/markdown)->new({
            PLUGINS => {
                cgi => '[MyOrg::Template::Plugin::CGI](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/MyOrg%3A%3ATemplate%3A%3APlugin%3A%3ACGI/markdown)',
                foo => '[MyOrg::Template::Plugin::Foo](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/MyOrg%3A%3ATemplate%3A%3APlugin%3A%3AFoo/markdown)',
                bar => '[MyOrg::Template::Plugin::Bar](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/MyOrg%3A%3ATemplate%3A%3APlugin%3A%3ABar/markdown)',
            },
        });

  PLUGIN_BASE
    If a plugin is not defined in the PLUGINS hash then the PLUGIN_BASE is used to attempt to
    construct a correct Perl module name which can be successfully loaded.

        # single value PLUGIN_BASE
        my $plugins = [Template::Plugins](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Template%3A%3APlugins/markdown)->new({
            PLUGIN_BASE => '[MyOrg::Template::Plugin](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/MyOrg%3A%3ATemplate%3A%3APlugin/markdown)',
        });

        # multiple value PLUGIN_BASE
        my $plugins = [Template::Plugins](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Template%3A%3APlugins/markdown)->new({
            PLUGIN_BASE => [   '[MyOrg::Template::Plugin](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/MyOrg%3A%3ATemplate%3A%3APlugin/markdown)',
                               '[YourOrg::Template::Plugin](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/YourOrg%3A%3ATemplate%3A%3APlugin/markdown)'  ],
        });

  LOAD_PERL
    The LOAD_PERL option can be set to allow you to load regular Perl modules (i.e. those that don't
    reside in the "[Template::Plugin](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Template%3A%3APlugin/markdown)" or another user-defined namespace) as plugins.

    If a plugin cannot be loaded using the PLUGINS or PLUGIN_BASE approaches then, if the LOAD_PERL
    is set, the provider will make a final attempt to load the module without prepending any prefix
    to the module path.

    Unlike regular plugins, modules loaded using LOAD_PERL do not receive a [Template::Context](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Template%3A%3AContext/markdown)
    reference as the first argument to the "new()" constructor method.

  TOLERANT
    The TOLERANT flag can be set to indicate that the "[Template::Plugins](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Template%3A%3APlugins/markdown)" module should ignore any
    errors encountered while loading a plugin and instead return "STATUS_DECLINED".

  DEBUG
    The DEBUG option can be used to enable debugging messages for the "[Template::Plugins](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Template%3A%3APlugins/markdown)" module by
    setting it to include the "DEBUG_PLUGINS" value.

        use [Template::Constants](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Template%3A%3AConstants/markdown) qw( :debug );

        my $template = Template->new({
            DEBUG => DEBUG_FILTERS | DEBUG_PLUGINS,
        });

## TEMPLATE TOOLKIT PLUGINS
    Please see [Template::Manual::Plugins](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Template%3A%3AManual%3A%3APlugins/markdown) For a complete list of all the plugin modules distributed
    with the Template Toolkit.

## AUTHOR
    Andy Wardley <<abw@wardley.org>> <<http://wardley.org/>>

## COPYRIGHT
    Copyright (C) 1996-2007 Andy Wardley. All Rights Reserved.

    This module is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as
    Perl itself.

## SEE ALSO
    [Template::Manual::Plugins](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Template%3A%3AManual%3A%3APlugins/markdown), [Template::Plugin](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Template%3A%3APlugin/markdown), [Template::Context](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Template%3A%3AContext/markdown), Template.