SYNOPSIS

use CGI::FormBuilder::Util;
belch "Badness";
puke "Egads";
debug 2, "Debug message for level 2";

DESCRIPTION

This module exports some common utility functions for FormBuilder. These functions are intended for internal use, however I must admit that, from time to time, I just import this module and use some of the routines directly (like "htmltag()" to generate HTML).

USEFUL FUNCTIONS

These can be used directly and are somewhat useful. Don't tell anyone I said that, though.

debug($level, $string)

This prints out the given string only if $DEBUG is greater than the $level specified. For example:

    $CGI::FormBuilder::Util::DEBUG = 1;
    debug 1, "this is printed";
    debug 2, "but not this one";

A newline is automatically included, so don't provide one of your own.

belch($string)

A modified "warn" that prints out a better message with a newline added.

puke($string)

A modified "die" that prints out a useful message.

escapeurl($string)

Returns a properly escaped string suitable for including in URL params.

escapehtml($string)

Returns an HTML-escaped string suitable for embedding in HTML tags.

escapejs($string)

Returns a string suitable for including in JavaScript. Minimal processing.

htmltag($name, %attr)

This generates an XHTML-compliant tag for the name $name based on the %attr specified. For example:

    my $table = htmltag('table', cellpadding => 1, border => 0);

No routines are provided to close tags; you must manually print a closing "</table>" tag.

htmlattr($name, %attr)

This cleans any internal FormBuilder attributes from the specified tag. It is automatically called by "htmltag()".

toname($string)

This is responsible for the auto-naming functionality of FormBuilder. Since you know Perl, it's easiest to just show what it does:

    $name =~ s!\.\w+$!!;                # lose trailing ".suf"
    $name =~ s![^a-zA-Z0-9.-/]+! !g;    # strip non-alpha chars
    $name =~ s!\b(\w)!\u$1!g;           # convert _ to space/upper

This results in something like ``cgi_script.pl'' becoming ``Cgi Script''.

tovar($string)

Turns a string into a variable name. Basically just strips "\W", and prefixes ``fb_'' on the front of it.

ismember($el, @array)

Returns true if $el is in @array

USELESS FUNCTIONS

These are totally useless outside of FormBuilder internals.

autodata($ref)

This dereferences $ref and returns the underlying data. For example:

    %hash  = autodata($hashref);
    @array = autodata($arrayref);

arghash(@_)

This returns a hash of options passed into a sub:

    sub field {
        my $self = shift;
        my %opt  = arghash(@_);
    }

It will return a hashref in scalar context.

arglist(@_)

This returns a list of args passed into a sub:

    sub value {
        my $self = shift;
        $self->{value} = arglist(@_);

It will return an arrayref in scalar context.

indent($num)

A simple sub that returns 4 spaces x $num. Used to indent code.

optalign(\@opt)

This returns the options specified as an array of arrayrefs, which is what FormBuilder expects internally.

optsort($sortref, @opt)

This sorts and returns the options based on $sortref. It expects @opt to be in the format returned by "optalign()". The $sortref spec can be the string "NAME", "NUM", or a reference to a &sub which takes pairs of values to compare.

optval($opt)

This takes one of the elements of @opt and returns it split up. Useless outside of FormBuilder.

rearrange($ref, $name)

Rearranges arguments designed to be per-field from the global inheritor.

basename

Returns the script name or $0 hacked up to the first dir

REVISION

$Id: Util.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.