/ 
Dancer-Plugin-FlashNote-1.0.4
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/ Dancer::Plugin::FlashNote

NAME

Dancer::Plugin::FlashNote - support notifications in your Dancer web application

VERSION

version 1.0.4

SYNOPSIS

# In the configuration you choose a "flash style", e.g.
# notifications stored in an array and automatically
# removed from the session when used
plugins:
   FlashNote:
      queue:   multiple
      dequeue: when_used


# In the application you generate flash notifications
package MyWebService;

use Dancer;
use Dancer::Plugin::FlashNote;

get '/hello/:id/:who' => sub {
   flash 'A first error message'
      unless params->{id} =~ /\A\d+\z/mxs;
   flash 'A second error message'
      unless params->{who} =~ /\A(?: you | me )\z/mxs;
   # ...
   template 'index';
};


# Then, in the layout you consume them and they are flushed
<% IF flash %>
   <ul class="error">
   <% FOR notice = flash %>
      <li><% notice | html %></li>
   <% END %>
   </ul>
<% END %>

DESCRIPTION

This plugin helps you display temporary messages, so called "flash messages". It provides a flash() method to define the message. The plugin then takes care of attaching the content to the session, propagating it to the templating system, and then removing it from the session. On the other hand, you still have to take care to find a suitable place to put the messages.

Dancer::Plugin::FlashMessage

This plugin originages from Dancer::Plugin::FlashMessage by Damien "dams" Krotkine. While I appreciated the idea and the implementation, I felt that the way of use did not fit my needs and after some discussion we decided to go for different modules: he would retain only the one single behaviour that he thought was the best, and I would implement the different variations. I learned a lot from the discussion, so beware: the Dancer people can teach you a lot!

This configuration should give you a behaviour equivalent to Dancer::Plugin::FlashMessage:

plugins:
  FlashNote:
    queue:     key_single
    arguments: single
    dequeue:   by_key

but if you need it you can probably stick to Dancer::Plugin::FlashMessage. Also note that with the configuration above the flash() function will not work in the same way as Dancer::Plugin::FlashMessage when called with only one parameter: in dams' module this kind of call deletes the value associated to the key, in this module this just pushes an undef message.

Styles

Dancer::Plugin::FlashNote lets you decide the style of how you want to handle your flash notifications. Different applications - in particular when the difference is in their size - might need different styles, e.g.:

  • a small application that you want to use in a restricted group of friends has little needs. In this case, all you probably need is some way to generate a notification message in your application and get it written somewhere in the page:

    flash 'hey mate, you made an error! Check your inputs'
   unless params_are_ok();

  • a big application with internationalisation needs a more sophisticated flash message approach. Generating feedback messages directly in the controller is not a good idea, especially if you are giving feedback about wrong values provided by the User and you want to display these values within your message. In other terms, if you put this in the controller:

    my $value = params->{id};
flash "The id value '$value' is not allowed"
   unless $value =~ /\A\d+\z/mxs;

    you'll have a hard time to translate the message. The best approach in this case is to set a message identifier that can possibly select a template or a string, and provide the parameters:

    # In the controller
my $value = params->{id};
flash value_not_allowed => id => $value;

# In the template, probably the layout
<%
   FOR note = flash;
      type = note.0;
      INCLUDE "flash/$lang/$type.tt", note = note;
   END;
%>

# flash/en/value_not_allowed.tt
The [% note.1 %] value '[% note.2 | html %]' is not allowed

# flash/it/value_not_allowed.tt
Il parametro [% note.1 %] non ammette il
valore '[% note.2 | html %]'

  • an application might want to keep separate "channels" for different kind of notifications (e.g. warnings, errors, simple info), while still keeping a list of messages for each channel;

and so forth.

The different needs addressed by this module deal with three areas:

  • how flash messages are queued for later usage from the template. This can be decided through the queue configuration, and changes the semantics of the flash() function and how its parameters are used;

  • how multiple parameters to any single call to the flash() function are handled;

  • how flash messages are flushed away. Messages are stored in a session in order to "survive" redirections and be still there when a template has the occasion to display them, but at that point you can decide that the module can get rid of them (automatically, of course).

By default, messages are kept as a plain list in the order they are queued by the controller, i.e. in the same order of each call to the flash() function. Multiple parameters are simply joined together using $, (i.e. like warn(), die() etc.) and all the messages are flushed away after they get the occasion to be displayed.

INTERFACE

flash

# sets the flash message for the warning key
flash warning => 'some warning message';

This method inserts a flash message in the cache. What it puts inside and in what manner depends on the queueing method, see below "Queueing Styles". By default, it accepts one or more parameters and they are queued inside an array as a scalar (in case of one parameter) or as an array reference.

The method always returns the provided message.

flash_flush

Flush the flash messages.

# flushes the whole flash cache, returning it
my $flash = flash_flush();

# if queuing method is a "key_*", flushes selected keys
my @values = flash_flush(qw( warning error ));

You should not need to use this function if you set a proper dequeue style and display the messages.

CONFIGURATION

Configurations are used only when the module is loaded, so take care to place them in a configuration file or before use-ing the module.

Configuration Default Values

The module works also without configurations, the following sample configuration includes all the default values:

plugins:
  FlashNote:
    token_name:       flash
    session_hash_key: _flash
    queue:            multiple
    arguments:        auto
    dequeue:          when_used

See the following section for an explanation of the keys.

Options

token_name

The name of the template token that will contain the hash of flash messages. Default: flash.

session_hash_key

You probably don't need that, but this setting allows you to change the name of the session key used to store the hash of flash messages. It may be useful in the unlikely case where you have key name conflicts in your session. Default: _flash.

queue

Sets the queueing style to one of the following allowed values:

-

single

-

multiple

-

key_single

-

key_multiple

See "Queueing Styles" below for the details. Default: multiple.

arguments

Sets how multiple values in a call to flash should be handled. The allowed values for this options are the following:

-

single

-

join

-

auto

-

array

See "Multiple Parameters" below for the details. Default: auto.

dequeue

Sets the dequeueing style to one of the following allowed values:

-

never

-

always

-

when_used

-

by_key

See "Dequeueing Styles" below for the details. Default: when_used.

Queueing Styles

There are various styles for setting flash messages, which are explained in the following list. The assumption in the documentation is that the token_name configuration is equal to the default flash, otherwise you have to substitute flash with what you actually set.

The queueing style can be set with the queue configuration, with the following allowed values:

single
flash $message;

this is the simplest style, one single message can be hold at any time. The following call:

flash 'hey you!';
# ... later on...
flash 'foo! bar!';

will replace any previously set message. In the template, you will be able to get the latest set value with the flash token:

flash => 'foo! bar!'
multiple
flash $message;
flash $other_message;

multiple messages are queued in the same order as they are put. The following call:

flash 'hey you!';
# ... later on...
flash 'foo! bar!';

will add $message to the queue, and what you get in the template is a reference to an array containing all the messages:

flash => [
   'hey you!',
   'foo! bar!',
]
key_single
flash key1 => $message;
flash key2 => $other_message;

you can have messages of different types by providing a key, but only one for each type. For example, you can set a warning and an error:

flash warning => 'beware!';
# ... later on...
flash error => 'you made an error...';
# ... and then...
flash warning => 'ouch!';

Any further call to flash with an already used key substitutes the previous message with the new one.

In this case, the flash token in the template returns an hash with the keys you set and the last message introduced for each key:

flash => {
   error   => 'you made an error...',
   warning => 'ouch!',
}
key_multiple
flash key1 => $message;
flash key2 => $other_message;
flash key1 => $yet_another_message; # note key1 again

you can have messages of different types by providing a key, and all of them are saved. In the following example:

flash warning => 'beware!';
# ... later on...
flash error => 'you made an error...';
# ... and then...
flash warning => 'ouch!';

In this case, the flash token in the template returns an hash of arrays, each containing the full queue for the particular key:

flash => {
   error   => [ 'you made an error...' ],
   warning => [
      'beware!',
      'ouch!'
   ],
}

In your template:

<% IF flash %>
   <ul class="messages">
   <% FOR message = flash.pairs %>
     <% FOR text = message.value %>
      <li class="[% message.key | html %]"><% text | html %></li>
     <% END %>
   <% END %>
   </ul>
<% END %>

Becomes:

<ul class="messages">
    <li class="error">you made an error...</li>
    <li class="warning">beware!</li>
    <li class="warning">ouch!</li>
</ul>

The default queueing style is multiple.

Multiple Parameters

The queueing style is not the entire story, anyway. If you provide more parameters after the $message, this and all the following parameters are put in an anonymous array and this is set as the new $message. Assuming the simple queueing style, the following call:

flash qw( whatever you want );

actually gives you this in the template token:

flash => [ 'whatever', 'you', 'want' ];

This is useful if you don't want to provide a message, but only parameters to be used in the template to build up a message, which can be handy if you plan to make translations of your templates. Consider the case that you have a parameter in a form that does not pass the validation, and you want to flash a message about it; the simplest case is to use this:

flash "error in the email parameter: '$input' is not valid"

but this ties you to English. On the other hand, you could call:

flash email => $input;

and then, in the template, put something like this:

error in the <% flash.0 %> parameter: '<% flash.1 %>' is not valid

which lets you handle translations easily, e.g.:

errore nel parametro <% flash.0 %>: '<% flash.1 %>' non valido

If you choose to use this, you might find the arguments configuration handy. Assuming the multiple queueing style and the following calls in the code:

# in the code
flash 'whatever';
flash hey => 'you!';

you can set arguments in the following ways:

single

this always ignores parameters after the first one. In the template, you get:

flash => [
   'whatever',
   'hey',       # 'you!' was ignored
]
join

this merges the parameters using $, before enqueueing the message. In the example, you get this in the template:

flash => [
   'whatever',
   'heyyou!',   # join with $,
]
auto

this auto-selects the best option, i.e. it puts the single argument as-is if there is only one, otherwise generates an anonymous array with all of them. In the template you get:

flash => [
   'whatever',
   [ 'hey', 'you!' ],
]
array

this always set the array mode, i.e. you get an array also when there is only one parameter. This is probably your best choice if you plan to use multiple parameters, because you always get the same structure in the template:

flash => [
   [ 'whatever' ],
   [ 'hey', 'you!' ],
]

The default handling style is auto.

Dequeueing Styles

When you put a message in the queue, it is kept in the User's session until it is eventually dequeued. You can control how the message is deleted from the session with the dequeue parameter, with the following possibilities:

never

items are never deleted automatically, but they will be flushed in the code by calling flash_flush();

always

items are always deleted from the session within the same call. Technically speaking, using the session in this case is a bit overkill, because the session is only used as a mean to pass data from the code to the template;

when_used

items are all deleted when any of them is used in some way from the template. The underlying semantics here is that if you get the chance to show a flash message in the template, you can show them all so they are removed from the session. If for some reason you don't get this chance (e.g. because you are returning a redirection, and the template rendering will happen in the next call) the messages are kept in the session so that you can display them at the next call that actually makes use of a template;

by_key

this style only applies if the queueing style is either key_single or key_multiple. It is an extension of the when_used case, but only used keys are deleted and the unused ones are kept in the session for usage at some later call.

The default dequeuing style is when_used.

DEPENDENCIES

Only Dancer and the bundled module Dancer::Plugin.

BUGS AND LIMITATIONS

Curious about active bugs or want to report one? The bug tracking system can be found at https://rt.cpan.org/Public/Dist/Display.html?Name=Dancer-Plugin-FlashNote.

SEE ALSO

If you want to contribute, check this module out in GitHub at https://github.com/polettix/Dancer-Plugin-FlashNote.

This module started from Dancer::Plugin::FlashMessage, which is an excellent module if its flash message style suits to your needs. You surely recognised that some small parts of this documentation come from there.

And Dancer, of course!

AUTHOR

Flavio Poletti <polettix@cpan.org>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

Copyright (C) 2011 by Flavio Poletti polettix@cpan.org.

This module is free software. You can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the Artistic License 2.0.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but without any warranty; without even the implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.