NAME CGI::Application::Plugin::Config::Perl - Pure Perl config file management for CGI::Application SYNOPSIS use CGI::Application::Plugin::Config::Perl 'cfg'; In your instance script: # In a persistent environment, a class method call keeps the config file # from being re-read on every request WebApp->cfg_file('config.pl'); WebApp->new( ... as usual ... ); # The older syntax of passing files in the call to new() still works. # Note that it results in the config file being re-read in a persistent # environment on later requests. my $app = WebApp->new(PARAMS => { cfg_file => 'config.pl' }); In your application module: sub my_run_mode { my $self = shift; # Access a config hash key directly $self->cfg('field'); # Return config as hash %CFG = $self->cfg; } DESCRIPTION CGI::Application::Plugin::Config::Perl adds easy access to a pure Perl config file to your CGI::Application projects. Lazy loading is used to prevent the config file from being parsed if no configuration variables are accessed during the request, so the config file is not parsed until it is actually needed. I have been using pure Perl config files for almost a decade and find they work very well. I originally wrote CGI::Application::Plugin::ConfigAuto to support all kinds of config files, but found that I only ever used Perl-based config files. This module has the same interface as the ConfigAuto plugin, without the option for other formats, and the extra dependency and resource use that comes with that flexibility. Why use Pure Perl config files A pure Perl config file could be a great choice if your config files created and maintained by Perl programmers. They have a number of benefits: * There is no new syntax to learn beyond Perl * They support all features that Perl does * There is no resource overhead to parse a format and translate into Perl * There are no additional module dependencies Support for multiple config files This plugin supports multiple config files for a single application, allowing config files to override each other in a particular order. This covers even complex cases, where you have a global config file, and second local config file which overrides a few variables. DECLARING CONFIG FILE LOCATIONS It is recommended that you to declare your config file locations in the instance scripts, where it will have minimum impact on your application. This technique is ideal when you intend to reuse your module to support multiple configuration files. If you have an application with multiple instance scripts which share a single config file, you may prefer to call the plugin from the setup() method. # In your instance script # value can also be an arrayref of config files my $app = WebApp->new(PARAMS => { cfg_file => 'config.pl' }) # OR ... # Pass in an array of config files, and they will be processed in order. $app->cfg_file('../../config/config.pl'); Your config files should be referenced using the syntax example above. Note that the key "config_files" can be used as alternative to cfg_file. METHODS cfg() # Access a config hash key directly $self->cfg('field'); # Return config as hash my %CFG = $self->cfg; # return as hashref my $cfg_href = $self->cfg; A method to access project configuration variables. The config file is parsed on the first call with a perl hash representation stored in memory. Subsequent calls will use this version, rather than re-reading the file. In list context, it returns the configuration data as a hash. In scalar context, it returns the configuration data as a hashref. config() "config()" in CGI::Application::Standard::Config is provided as an alias to cfg() for compliance with CGI::Application::Standard::Config. It always exported by default per the standard. std_config() "std_config()" in CGI::Application::Standard::Config is implemented to comply with CGI::Application::Standard::Config. It's for developers. Users can ignore it. cfg_file() $self->cfg_file('my_config_file.pl'); WebApp->cfg_file('my_config_file.pl'); Supply an array of config files, and they will be processed in order. Example Perl config file Here's a simple example Perl config file. Be sure that your last statement returns a hash reference. my %CFG = (); # directory path name $CFG{ROOT_DIR} = '/home/mark/www'; # website URL $CFG{ROOT_URL} = 'http://mark.stosberg.com/'; \%CFG; SEE ALSO CGI::Application CGI::Application::Plugin::ValidateRM CGI::Application::Plugin::DBH CGI::Application::Standard::Config. perl(1) AUTHOR Mark Stosberg LICENSE Copyright (C) 2010 Mark Stosberg This library is free software. You can modify and or distribute it under the same terms as Perl itself.