NAME

        HTML::Template::Associate - Associate relevant packages with HTML::Template

SYNOPSIS

        #Example usage with FormValidator as the target 
        
        use CGI qw/:standard/;
        use Data::FormValidator;
        use HTML::Template;
        use HTML::Template::Associate;
        
        my $cgi = CGI->new;
        #for testing purposes we can add some input to our cgi object
        $cgi->param( 'fullname', 'John Doe' );
        $cgi->param( 'phone', 6041112222 );
        $cgi->param( 'email', 'invalid@email' );
        
        my $input_profile = {
                optional => [ qw( company fax country ) ],
                required => [ qw( fullname phone email address city state zipcode ) ],
                constraints  => {
                        email => 'email',
                        fax => 'american_phone',
                        phone => 'american_phone',
                        zipcode => '/^\s*\d{5}(?:[-]\d{4})?\s*$/',
                        state => "state",
                },
                defaults => { country => "Canada" },
                msgs => {
                        prefix=> 'error_',
                        missing => 'Not Here!',
                        invalid => 'Problematic!',
                        invalid_seperator => ' <br /> ',
                        format => 'ERROR: %s',
                        any_errors => 'some_errors',
                }
        };
        
        my $validator = Data::FormValidator->new;
        my $results = $validator->check ( scalar $cgi->Vars, $input_profile ); 
        
        my $associate = HTML::Template::Associate->new( {
                target => 'FormValidator', 
                results => $results,
                extra_arguments => [ $validator ] #not needed but just illustrated
        } ); 
        
        my $template = HTML::Template->new(
                filename => 'test.tmpl', 
                associate => [ $cgi, $associate ] 
        );
        
        print $template->output;
        
        #and in our test.tmpl file we could have
        
        Valid Fields:<br>
        <TMPL_LOOP NAME=VALID_FIELDS>
        Field Name: <TMPL_VAR NAME=FIELD_NAME><br>
        Field Value: <TMPL_VAR NAME=FIELD_VALUE><br> 
        </TMPL_LOOP>
        
        Missing Fields:<br>
        <TMPL_LOOP NAME=MISSING_FIELDS>
        Field Name: <TMPL_VAR NAME=FIELD_NAME><br>
        Field Value: <TMPL_VAR NAME=FIELD_VALUE><br> 
        </TMPL_LOOP>
        
        <TMPL_IF NAME=INVALID_phone>
        Phone: <TMPL_VAR NAME="phone"> you supplied is invalid.         
        </TMPL_IF>
        
        <TMPL_IF NAME=MISSING_city> 
        City name is missing, please fix this.
        </TMPL_IF>
        
        <!-- We can also access our normal field names 
        since $cgi object was passed as associate as well -->
        
        I think <TMPL_VAR NAME=country> is very big country. 
        
        <!-- Optional use of Data::FormValidator::Results msgs interface -->
        
        Message Fields:
        
        <TMPL_LOOP NAME=MSGS_FIELDS>
        Field Name: <TMPL_VAR NAME=FIELD_NAME><br>
        Field Value: <TMPL_VAR NAME=FIELD_VALUE><br>
        </TMPL_LOOP>
        
        <TMPL_IF NAME=MSGS_error_city>
        Our default error message set in the profiling code is: 
                <TMPL_VAR NAME=MSGS_error_city> 
        </TMPL_IF>

        #Example usage with DBI as the target
        use DBI;
        use HTML::Template;
        use HTML::Template::Associate;
        
        #initiliaze your $dbh ...
        
        my $results_foo = $dbh->selectall_hashref (
                'SELECT foo FROM bar WHERE baz = ?',
                'foo_id',
                {},
                $baz
        );
        
        my $results_bar = $dbh->selectall_hashref (
                'SELECT foo, bar FROM bar WHERE baz = ?',
                [ 'foo_id', 'bar_id' ] ,
                {},
                $baz
        );
        
        my $results_moo = $dbh->selectrow_hashref ( 'SELECT x, y FROM z LIMIT 1' );
        
        my @results_array = $dbh->selectrow_array ( 'SELECT x FROM z' );
        
        my $associate = HTML::Template::Associate->new( {
                target => 'DBI',
                create => [ {
                                results => $results_foo,
                                name => 'my_loop',
                                type => 'selectall_hashref'
                        }, {
                                results => $results_bar,
                                name => 'my_other_loop',
                                type => 'selectall_hashref'
                        }, {
                                results => $results_moo,
                                type => 'selectrow_hashref',
                                name => 'my_params'
                        }, {
                                results => \@results_array,
                                type => 'selectrow_array',
                                name => 'my_array_params'
                        }
                ]
        } );
        
        my $template = HTML::Template->new (
                filename => 'test.tmpl',
                associate => [ $associate ],
                die_on_bad_params => 0
        );
        
        print $template->output();
        
        #sample.tmpl
        
        <!-- TMPL_LOOP NAME="my_loop" -->
                Foo is:<!-- TMPL_VAR NAME="foo" -->
        <!-- /TMPL_LOOP -->
        
        <!-- TMPL_LOOP NAME="my_other_loop" -->
                Foo is:<!-- TMPL_VAR NAME="foo" -->
                Bar is:<!-- TMPL_VAR NAME="bar" -->
        <!-- /TMPL_LOOP -->
        
        x is:<!-- TMPL_VAR NAME="my_params.x" -->
        y is:<!-- TMPL_VAR NAME="my_params.y" -->
        
        x via $dbh->selectrow_array is:<!-- TMPL_VAR NAME="my_array_params.0 -->

DESCRIPTION

        HTML::Template::Associate bridges gap between HTML::Template and 
        other modules that can be used in conjunction with it to do something 
        useful together, like for example Data::FormValidator that can verify 
        form inputs. 
        
        The idea is that every associate object can map required data structure 
        onto the one which corresponds to the one found in HTML::Template.
        The factory will then instantiate the target class and user can then make 
        it available to HTML::Template via associate argument during object 
        construction. The data structures then become automatically visible to 
        your templates.
        
        This module is abstract class it provides no mapping functionality
        whatsoever, but rather defines common interface to all associate
        objects underneath it and acts as a object production factory.
        You should however use this module whenever you wish to access a
        concrete associate class that provides functionality you desire.

USAGE

        #where $results = Data::FormValidator::Results; for example
        my $associate = HTML::Template::Associate->new( {
                target => 'FormValidator',
                results => $results 
        } );

        Target is always last portion of your full class name, so if
        you had HTML::Template::Associate::XYZ the target would be XYZ

BUGS

        Maybe. If you see any make sure you let me know.

SUPPORT

AUTHOR

        Alex Pavlovic
        alex.pavlovic@taskforce-1.com
        http://www.taskforce-1.com

COPYRIGHT

        This program is free software; you can redistribute
        it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.
        
        The full text of the license can be found in the
        LICENSE file included with this module.