NAME

CatalystX::PathContext - use different context based on the request path

VERSION

This document describes CatalystX::PathContext version 0.0.1

SYNOPSIS

    package MyApp;
    use Moose;
    use namespace::autoclean;

    use Catalyst::Runtime;
    use Catalyst;
    extends 'Catalyst';

    # our Catalyst uses the CatalystX::PathContext Role
    with 'CatalystX::PathContext';

    our $VERSION = '0.01';
    $VERSION = eval $VERSION;

    __PACKAGE__->config(
        name => 'MyApp',

        # we configure our CatalystX::PathContext object
        # to convert uri's like
        #    http://localhost:3000/eng/hello
        # to a controller which would be normally accessed via
        #    http://localhost:3000/hello
        # if we found 3 lower case chars (eg. eng) as first part of our url
        #    $c->stash()->{path_context}->{language}->{'code'} eq 'eng'
        'CatalystX::PathContext' => [
            { name  => 'language',
              match => '(?<code>[a-z]{3})',
            },
        ],
    );

    __PACKAGE__->setup;

DESCRIPTION

This Role allows your Catalyst app to provide multiple path prefixes aka a context with none or multiple url path based arguments.

You can specify as much path prefixes as you like and give them a name and use a matchp for matching them. If the module finds a configured path prefix you could find all info in the catalyst stash and it could be used for whatever you like (eg. use a different view for different languages).

If you use this module your Catalyst controllers would be reachable via the default urls but also over urls which are prefixed with anything you would use as prefix.

INTERFACE

please see "CONFIGURATION AND ENVIRONMENT"

DIAGNOSTICS

None.

CONFIGURATION AND ENVIRONMENT

CatalystX::PathContext must be configured via the Catalyst configuration.

  $c->config(
      'CatalystX::PathContext' => [
          { name  => 'language',
            match => '(?<code>[a-z]{3})',
          },
      ],
  );

All configuration items will be stored in the your Catalyst App config. We use the Class Name of this Module CatalystX::PathContext as base config key.

This config Item is a array reference of Path Prefixes. Each item in this reference is an hash reference with the keys name and match.

The key name defines the name which identifies your context / prefix. If you set the name to "language" and our regex in "match" matched the request path you can find the following keys in your stash:

  $c->stash()->{path_context}->{langague};

You can use the named capture feature which is available since perl 5.10 to to fetch some url based param values from your request path into your stash without passing them directly to the catalyst dispatch engine / controllers.

You can use precompiled regexes like

  match => qr{\A $context_ref->{match} (?: / | \z )}xmso

or strings which would be upgraded (directly in the catalyst config) to matches like

  match => '(?<code>[a-z]{3})'

The string based match is always prefixed with an \A and suffixed with (?: / | \z )

If your request path matches this match your stash would contain for example for the Request URL look like http://localhost:3000/eng/hello the following:

  $c->stash()->{path_context}->{language}->{code} eq 'eng'

You can add multiple item like { name => ..., match => ... } to your config - but be warned that the position of this items matters.

Last but not least you could use a subroutine reference for matching path prefixes.

  match => sub {
      my ( $c, $request_path ) = @_;

      my ( $code )   = $request_path =~ m{\A (..) (?: / | \z ) }xms;
      my %country_of = qw(en Englang de Germany);

      if ( defined $code && exists $country_of{$code} ) {
          $c->stash()->{whateveryouwant}->{country} = $country_of{$code};
          return $code;
      }

      return;
  }

You have to take care about 2 things, which differs from the regex based matching.

1. return a list of removed path parts or an empty list

You have to return a list of all removed prefixes or a empty list and not undef eg. to dispatch http://localhost:3000/en/ to http://localhost:3000/ you have to return a list with the item "en". You can return more than one item of course.

2. store your context info manually

If you use subroutine references to match a path prefix the stash is not updated for this context/prefix. -> $c->stash()->{path_context}->{country} is not filled automatically.

DEPENDENCIES

This module only works under Perl 5.10 or later. It requires a "Catalyst" in Catalyst and isa "Moose::Role" in Moose::Role.

INCOMPATIBILITIES

None reported.

BUGS AND LIMITATIONS

No bugs have been reported.

Please report any bugs or feature requests to bug-catalystx-pathcontext@rt.cpan.org, or through the web interface at "/rt.cpan.org"/"http://rt.cpan.org/"" in "http:.

AUTHOR

Andreas 'ac0v' Specht <ac0v@sys-network.de>

LICENSE AND COPYRIGHT

Copyright (c) 2010, Andreas 'ac0v' Specht <ac0v@sys-network.de>. All rights reserved.

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

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY

BECAUSE THIS SOFTWARE IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE SOFTWARE, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE SOFTWARE "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE SOFTWARE PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR, OR CORRECTION.

IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE THE SOFTWARE AS PERMITTED BY THE ABOVE LICENCE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE SOFTWARE TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER SOFTWARE), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

cpanm CatalystX::PathContext

perl -MCPAN -e shell
install CatalystX::PathContext