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Yuki Kimoto authored on 2014-03-26
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=encoding utf8
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=head1 NAME
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Mojolicious::Guides::Rendering - Rendering
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=head1 OVERVIEW
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This document explains content generation with the L<Mojolicious> renderer.
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=head1 CONCEPTS
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Essentials every L<Mojolicious> developer should know.
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=head2 Renderer
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The renderer is a tiny black box turning stash data into actual responses
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utilizing multiple template systems and data encoding modules.
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  {text => 'Hello.'}                 -> 200 OK, text/html, 'Hello.'
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  {json => {x => 3}}                 -> 200 OK, application/json, '{"x":3}'
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  {text => 'Oops.', status => '410'} -> 410 Gone, text/html, 'Oops.'
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Templates can be automatically detected if enough information is provided by
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the developer or routes. Template names are expected to follow the
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C<name.format.handler> scheme, with C<name> defaulting to C<controller/action>
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or the route name, C<format> defaulting to C<html> and C<handler> to C<ep>.
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  {controller => 'users', action => 'list'} -> 'users/list.html.ep'
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  {name => 'foo', format => 'txt'}          -> 'foo.txt.ep'
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  {name => 'foo', handler => 'epl'}         -> 'foo.html.epl'
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All templates should be in the C<templates> directories of the application or
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the C<DATA> section of the class C<main>.
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  __DATA__
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  @@ time.html.ep
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  % use Time::Piece;
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  % my $now = localtime;
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  <!DOCTYPE html>
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  <html>
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    <head><title>Time</title></head>
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    <body>The time is <%= $now->hms %>.</body>
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  </html>
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  @@ hello.txt.ep
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  ...
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The renderer can be easily extended to support additional template systems
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with plugins, but more about that later.
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=head2 Embedded Perl
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L<Mojolicious> includes a minimalistic but very powerful template system out
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of the box called Embedded Perl or C<ep> for short. It allows the embedding of
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Perl code right into actual content using a small set of special tags and line
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start characters.
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  <% Perl code %>
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  <%= Perl expression, replaced with XML escaped result %>
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  <%== Perl expression, replaced with result %>
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  <%# Comment, useful for debugging %>
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  <%% Replaced with "<%", useful for generating templates %>
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  % Perl code line, treated as "<% line =%>"
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  %= Perl expression line, treated as "<%= line %>"
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  %== Perl expression line, treated as "<%== line %>"
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  %# Comment line, useful for debugging
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  %% Replaced with "%", useful for generating templates
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Tags and lines work pretty much the same, but depending on context one will
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usually look a bit better. Semicolons get automatically appended to all
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expressions.
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  <% my $i = 10; %>
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  <ul>
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    <% for my $j (1 .. $i) { %>
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      <li>
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        <%= $j %>
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      </li>
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    <% } %>
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  </ul>
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  % my $i = 10;
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  <ul>
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    % for my $j (1 .. $i) {
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      <li>
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        %= $j
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      </li>
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    % }
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  </ul>
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Aside from differences in whitespace handling, both examples generate similar
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Perl code, a naive translation could look like this.
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  my $output = '';
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  my $i = 10;
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  $output .= '<ul>';
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  for my $j (1 .. $i) {
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    $output .= '<li>';
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    $output .= xml_escape scalar $j;
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    $output .= '</li>';
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  }
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  $output .= '</ul>';
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  return $output;
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An additional equal sign can be used to disable escaping of the characters
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C<E<lt>>, C<E<gt>>, C<&>, C<'> and C<"> in results from Perl expressions,
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which is the default to prevent XSS attacks against your application.
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  <%= 'lalala' %>
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  <%== '<p>test</p>' %>
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Only L<Mojo::ByteStream> objects are excluded from automatic escaping.
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  % use Mojo::ByteStream 'b';
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  <%= b('<p>test</p>') %>
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Newline characters can be escaped with a backslash.
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  This is <%= 1 + 1 %> a\
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  single line
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And a backslash in front of a newline character can be escaped with another
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backslash.
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  This will <%= 1 + 1 %> result\\
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  in multiple\\
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  lines
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You can also add an additional equal sign to the end of a tag to have it
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automatically remove all surrounding whitespace, this allows free indenting
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without ruining the result.
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  <% for (1 .. 3) { %>
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    <%= $foo =%>
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  <% } %>
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Stash values that don't have invalid characters in their name get
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automatically initialized as normal variables in the template, and the
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controller object as C<$self>.
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  $self->stash(name => 'tester');
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  Hello <%= $name %> from <%= $self->tx->remote_address %>.
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There are also many helper functions available, but more about that later.
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  <%= dumper {foo => 'bar'} %>
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=head1 BASICS
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Most commonly used features every L<Mojolicious> developer should know about.
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=head2 Automatic rendering
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The renderer can be manually started by calling the method
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L<Mojolicious::Controller/"render">, but that's usually not necessary,
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because it will get automatically called if nothing has been rendered after
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the router finished its work. This also means you can have routes pointing
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only to templates without actual actions.
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  $self->render;
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There is one big difference though, by calling it manually you can make sure
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that templates use the current controller object, and not the default
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controller specified with the attribute L<Mojolicious/"controller_class">.
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  $self->render_later;
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You can also disable automatic rendering with the method
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L<Mojolicious::Controller/"render_later">, which can be very useful to delay
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rendering when a non-blocking operation has to be performed first.
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=head2 Rendering templates
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The renderer will always try to detect the right template, but you can also
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use the C<template> stash value to render a specific one. Everything before
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the last slash will be interpreted as the subdirectory path in which to find
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the template.
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  # foo/bar/baz.*.*
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  $self->render(template => 'foo/bar/baz');
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Choosing a specific C<format> and C<handler> is just as easy.
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  # foo/bar/baz.txt.epl
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  $self->render(template => 'foo/bar/baz', format => 'txt', handler => 'epl');
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Because rendering a specific template is the most common task it also has a
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shortcut.
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  $self->render('foo/bar/baz');
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If you're not sure in advance if a template actually exists, you can also use
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the method L<Mojolicious::Controller/"render_maybe"> to try multiple
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alternatives.
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  $self->render_maybe('localized/baz') or $self->render('foo/bar/baz');
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=head2 Rendering inline templates
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Some renderers such as C<ep> allow templates to be passed inline.
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  $self->render(inline => 'The result is <%= 1 + 1 %>.');
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Since auto detection depends on a path you might have to supply a C<handler>
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too.
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  $self->render(inline => "<%= shift->param('foo') %>", handler => 'epl');
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=head2 Rendering text
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Characters can be rendered to bytes with the C<text> stash value, the given
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content will be automatically encoded to bytes.
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  $self->render(text => 'I ♥ Mojolicious!');
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=head2 Rendering data
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Bytes can be rendered with the C<data> stash value, no encoding will be
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performed.
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  $self->render(data => $bytes);
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=head2 Rendering JSON
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The C<json> stash value allows you to pass Perl data structures to the
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renderer which get directly encoded to JSON.
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  $self->render(json => {foo => [1, 'test', 3]});
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=head2 Partial rendering
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Sometimes you might want to use the rendered result directly instead of
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generating a response, for example to send emails, this can be done using the
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C<partial> stash value.
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  my $html = $self->render('mail', partial => 1);
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No encoding will be performed, making it easy to reuse the result in other
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templates or to generate binary data.
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  my $pdf = $self->render('invoice', format => 'pdf', partial => 1);
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  $self->render(data => $pdf, format => 'pdf');
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=head2 Status code
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Response status codes can be changed with the C<status> stash value.
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  $self->render(text => 'Oops.', status => 500);
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=head2 Content type
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The C<Content-Type> header of the response is actually based on the MIME type
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mapping of the C<format> stash value.
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  # Content-Type: text/plain
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  $self->render(text => 'Hello.', format => 'txt');
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  # Content-Type: image/png
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  $self->render(data => $bytes, format => 'png');
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These mappings can be easily extended or changed with L<Mojolicious/"types">.
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  # Application
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  package MyApp;
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  use Mojo::Base 'Mojolicious';
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  sub startup {
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    my $self = shift;
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    # Add new MIME type
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    $self->types->type(txt => 'text/plain; charset=utf-8');
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  }
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  1;
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=head2 Stash data
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Any of the native Perl data types can be passed to templates through the
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L<Mojolicious::Controller/"stash">.
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  $self->stash(author     => 'Sebastian');
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  $self->stash(frameworks => [qw(Catalyst Mojolicious)]);
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  $self->stash(examples   => {tweetylicious => 'a microblogging app'});
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  %= $author
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  %= $frameworks->[1]
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  %= $examples->{tweetylicious}
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Since everything is just Perl normal control structures just work.
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  % for my $framework (@$frameworks) {
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    <%= $framework %> was written by <%= $author %>.
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  % }
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  % while (my ($app, $description) = each %$examples) {
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    <%= $app %> is a <%= $description %>.
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  % }
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=head2 Content negotiation
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For resources with different representations and that require truly
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C<RESTful> content negotiation you can also use
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L<Mojolicious::Controller/"respond_to"> instead of
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L<Mojolicious::Controller/"render">.
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  # /hello (Accept: application/json) -> "json"
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  # /hello (Accept: application/xml)  -> "xml"
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  # /hello.json                       -> "json"
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  # /hello.xml                        -> "xml"
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  # /hello?format=json                -> "json"
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  # /hello?format=xml                 -> "xml"
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  $self->respond_to(
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    json => {json => {hello => 'world'}},
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    xml  => {text => '<hello>world</hello>'}
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  );
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The best possible representation will be automatically selected from the
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C<Accept> request header, C<format> stash value or C<format> GET/POST
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parameter and stored in the C<format> stash value. To change MIME type
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mappings for the C<Accept> request header or the C<Content-Type> response
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header you can use L<Mojolicious/"types">.
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  $self->respond_to(
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    json => {json => {hello => 'world'}},
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    html => sub {
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      $self->content_for(head => '<meta name="author" content="sri">');
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      $self->render(template => 'hello', message => 'world')
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    }
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  );
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Callbacks can be used for representations that are too complex to fit into a
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single render call.
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  # /hello (Accept: application/json) -> "json"
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  # /hello (Accept: text/html)        -> "html"
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  # /hello (Accept: image/png)        -> "any"
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  # /hello.json                       -> "json"
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  # /hello.html                       -> "html"
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  # /hello.png                        -> "any"
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  # /hello?format=json                -> "json"
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  # /hello?format=html                -> "html"
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  # /hello?format=png                 -> "any"
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  $self->respond_to(
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    json => {json => {hello => 'world'}},
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    html => {template => 'hello', message => 'world'},
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    any  => {text => '', status => 204}
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  );
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And if no viable representation could be found, the C<any> fallback will be
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used or an empty C<204> response rendered automatically.
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=head2 Rendering C<exception> and C<not_found> pages
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By now you've probably already encountered the built-in 404 (Not Found) and
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500 (Server Error) pages, that get rendered automatically when you make a
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mistake. Especially during development they can be a great help, you can
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render them manually with the methods
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L<Mojolicious::Controller/"render_exception"> and
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L<Mojolicious::Controller/"render_not_found">.
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  use Mojolicious::Lite;
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  use Scalar::Util 'looks_like_number';
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  get '/divide/:dividend/by/:divisor' => sub {
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    my $self = shift;
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    my ($dividend, $divisor) = $self->param(['dividend', 'divisor']);
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    # 404
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    return $self->render_not_found
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      unless looks_like_number $dividend && looks_like_number $divisor;
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    # 500
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    return $self->render_exception('Division by zero!') if $divisor == 0;
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    # 200
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    $self->render(text => $dividend / $divisor);
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  };
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  app->start;
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You can also change the templates of those pages, since you most likely want
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to show your users something more closely related to your application in
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production. The renderer will always try to find C<exception.$mode.$format.*>
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or C<not_found.$mode.$format.*> before falling back to the built-in default
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templates.
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  @@ exception.production.html.ep
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  <!DOCTYPE html>
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  <html>
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    <head><title>Server error</title></head>
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    <body>
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      <h1>Exception</h1>
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      <p><%= $exception->message %></p>
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      <h1>Stash</h1>
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      <pre><%= dumper $snapshot %></pre>
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    </body>
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  </html>
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=head2 Helpers
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Helpers are little functions you can use in templates and controller code.
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  %= dumper [1, 2, 3]
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  my $serialized = $self->dumper([1, 2, 3]);
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The helper L<Mojolicious::Plugin::DefaultHelpers/"dumper"> for example will
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use L<Data::Dumper> to serialize whatever data structure you pass it, this can
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be very useful for debugging. We differentiate between C<default helpers>
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which are more general purpose like C<dumper> and C<tag helpers>, which are
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template specific and mostly used to generate C<HTML> tags.
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  %= javascript '/script.js'
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  %= javascript begin
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    var a = 'b';
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  % end
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A list of all built-in helpers can be found in
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L<Mojolicious::Plugin::DefaultHelpers> and L<Mojolicious::Plugin::TagHelpers>.
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=head2 Layouts
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Most of the time when using C<ep> templates you will want to wrap your
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generated content in a HTML skeleton, thanks to layouts that's absolutely
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trivial.
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  @@ foo/bar.html.ep
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  % layout 'mylayout';
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  Hello World!
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  @@ layouts/mylayout.html.ep
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  <!DOCTYPE html>
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  <html>
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    <head><title>MyApp</title></head>
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    <body><%= content %></body>
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  </html>
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You just select the right layout template with the helper
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L<Mojolicious::Plugin::DefaultHelpers/"layout"> and place the result of the
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current template with the helper
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L<Mojolicious::Plugin::DefaultHelpers/"content">. You can also pass along
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normal stash values to the C<layout> helper.
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  @@ foo/bar.html.ep
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  % layout 'mylayout', title => 'Hi there';
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  Hello World!
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  @@ layouts/mylayout.html.ep
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  <!DOCTYPE html>
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  <html>
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    <head><title><%= $title %></title></head>
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    <body><%= content %></body>
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  </html>
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Instead of the C<layout> helper you could also just use the C<layout> stash
461
value, or call L<Mojolicious::Controller/"render"> with the C<layout>
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argument.
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  $self->render(template => 'mytemplate', layout => 'mylayout');
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To set a C<layout> stash value application wide you can use
467
L<Mojolicious/"defaults">.
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  # Application
470
  package MyApp;
471
  use Mojo::Base 'Mojolicious';
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  sub startup {
474
    my $self = shift;
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    # Default layout
477
    $self->defaults(layout => 'mylayout');
478
  }
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  1;
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=head2 Including partial templates
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484
Like most helpers L<Mojolicious::Plugin::DefaultHelpers/"include"> is just a
485
shortcut to make your life a little easier.
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  @@ foo/bar.html.ep
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  <!DOCTYPE html>
489
  <html>
490
    %= include 'header'
491
    <body>Bar</body>
492
  </html>
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  @@ header.html.ep
495
  <head><title>Howdy</title></head>
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497
Instead of C<include> you could also just call
498
L<Mojolicious::Controller/"render"> with the C<partial> argument.
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500
  @@ foo/bar.html.ep
501
  <!DOCTYPE html>
502
  <html>
503
    %= $self->render('header', partial => 1)
504
    <body>Bar</body>
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  </html>
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  @@ header.html.ep
508
  <head><title>Howdy</title></head>
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510
But there is one small difference between the two, if you pass stash values to
511
C<include>, they will get localized automatically and are only available in
512
the partial template.
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514
  @@ foo/bar.html.ep
515
  <!DOCTYPE html>
516
  <html>
517
    %= include 'header', title => 'Hello'
518
    <body>Bar</body>
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  </html>
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  @@ header.html.ep
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  <head><title><%= $title %></title></head>
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524
=head2 Reusable template blocks
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526
It's never fun to repeat yourself, that's why you can build reusable template
527
blocks in C<ep> that work very similar to normal Perl functions.
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529
  @@ welcome.html.ep
530
  <% my $block = begin %>
531
    <% my $name = shift; %>
532
    Hello <%= $name %>.
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  <% end %>
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  <%= $block->('Sebastian') %>
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  <%= $block->('Sara') %>
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Blocks are always delimited by the C<begin> and C<end> keywords.
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  @@ welcome.html.ep
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  % my $block = begin
541
    % my $name = shift;
542
    Hello <%= $name %>.
543
  % end
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  % for (1 .. 10) {
545
    %== $block->('Sebastian')
546
  % }
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A naive translation to Perl code could look like this.
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550
  @@ welcome.html.pl
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  my $output = '';
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  my $block  = sub {
553
    my $name   = shift;
554
    my $output = '';
555
    $output .= 'Hello ';
556
    $output .= xml_escape scalar $name;
557
    $output .= '.';
558
    return Mojo::ByteStream->new($output);
559
  }
560
  for (1 .. 10) {
561
    $output .= scalar $block->('Sebastian');
562
  }
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  return $output;
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=head2 Content blocks
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567
Blocks and the helper L<Mojolicious::Plugin::DefaultHelpers/"content_for">
568
can also be used to pass whole sections of the template to the layout.
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  @@ foo/bar.html.ep
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  % layout 'mylayout';
572
  % content_for header => begin
573
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html">
574
  % end
575
  <div>Hello World!</div>
576
  % content_for header => begin
577
    <meta http-equiv="Pragma" content="no-cache">
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  % end
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  @@ layouts/mylayout.html.ep
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  <!DOCTYPE html>
582
  <html>
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    <head><%= content_for 'header' %></head>
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    <body><%= content %></body>
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  </html>
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=head2 Template inheritance
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589
Inheritance takes the layout concept above one step further, the helpers
590
L<Mojolicious::Plugin::DefaultHelpers/"content"> and
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L<Mojolicious::Plugin::DefaultHelpers/"extends"> allow you to build a skeleton
592
template with named blocks that child templates can override.
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  @@ first.html.ep
595
  <!DOCTYPE html>
596
  <html>
597
    <head><title>Hello</title></head>
598
    <body>
599
      %= content header => begin
600
        Default header
601
      % end
602
      <div>Hello World!</div>
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      %= content footer => begin
604
        Default footer
605
      % end
606
    </body>
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  </html>
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609
  @@ second.html.ep
610
  % extends 'first';
611
  % content header => begin
612
    New header
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  % end
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This chain could go on and on to allow a very high level of template reuse.
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=head2 Form validation
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619
You can use L<Mojolicious::Controller/"validation"> to validate GET/POST
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parameters submitted to your application. All unknown fields will be ignored
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by default, so you have to decide which should be required or optional before
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you can perform checks on their values. Every check is performed right away,
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so you can use the results immediately to build more advanced validation logic
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with methods like L<Mojolicious::Validator::Validation/"is_valid">.
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626
  use Mojolicious::Lite;
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628
  get '/' => sub {
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    my $self = shift;
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631
    # Check if parameters have been submitted
632
    my $validation = $self->validation;
633
    return $self->render unless $validation->has_data;
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635
    # Validate parameters ("pass_again" depends on "pass")
636
    $validation->required('user')->size(1, 20)->like(qr/^[e-t]+$/);
637
    $validation->required('pass_again')->equal_to('pass')
638
      if $validation->optional('pass')->size(7, 500)->is_valid;
639

            
640
    # Render confirmation if validation was successful
641
    $self->render('thanks') unless $validation->has_error;
642
  } => 'index';
643

            
644
  app->start;
645
  __DATA__
646

            
647
  @@ index.html.ep
648
  <!DOCTYPE html>
649
  <html>
650
    <head>
651
      %= stylesheet begin
652
        label.field-with-error { color: #dd7e5e }
653
        input.field-with-error { background-color: #fd9e7e }
654
      % end
655
    </head>
656
    <body>
657
      %= form_for index => begin
658
        %= label_for user => 'Username (required, 1-20 characters, only e-t)'
659
        <br>
660
        %= text_field 'user'
661
        %= submit_button
662
        <br>
663
        %= label_for pass => 'Password (optional, 7-500 characters)'
664
        <br>
665
        %= password_field 'pass'
666
        <br>
667
        %= label_for pass_again => 'Password again (equal to the value above)'
668
        <br>
669
        %= password_field 'pass_again'
670
      % end
671
    </body>
672
  </html>
673

            
674
  @@ thanks.html.ep
675
  <!DOCTYPE html>
676
  <html><body>Thank you <%= validation->param('user') %>.</body></html>
677

            
678
Form elements generated with tag helpers from
679
L<Mojolicious::Plugin::TagHelpers> will automatically remember their previous
680
values and add the class C<field-with-error> for fields that failed validation
681
to make styling with CSS easier.
682

            
683
  <label class="field-with-error" for="user">
684
    Username (required, only characters e-t)
685
  </label>
686
  <input class="field-with-error" type="text" name="user" value="sri" />
687

            
688
For a full list of available checks see also
689
L<Mojolicious::Validator/"CHECKS">.
690

            
691
=head2 Adding form validation checks
692

            
693
Validation checks can be registered with L<Mojolicious::Validator/"add_check">
694
and return a false value if they were successful. A true value may be used to
695
pass along additional information which can then be retrieved with
696
L<Mojolicious::Validator::Validation/"error">.
697

            
698
  use Mojolicious::Lite;
699

            
700
  # Add "range" check
701
  app->validator->add_check(range => sub {
702
    my ($validation, $name, $value, $min, $max) = @_;
703
    return $value < $min || $value > $max;
704
  });
705

            
706
  get '/' => 'form';
707

            
708
  post '/test' => sub {
709
    my $self = shift;
710

            
711
    # Validate parameters with custom check
712
    my $validation = $self->validation;
713
    $validation->required('number')->range(3, 23);
714

            
715
    # Render form again if validation failed
716
    return $self->render('form') if $validation->has_error;
717

            
718
    # Prevent double submit with redirect
719
    $self->flash(number => $validation->param('number'));
720
    $self->redirect_to('form');
721
  };
722

            
723
  app->start;
724
  __DATA__
725

            
726
  @@ form.html.ep
727
  <!DOCTYPE html>
728
  <html>
729
    <body>
730
      % if (my $number = flash 'number') {
731
        <p>Thanks, the number <%= $number %> was valid.</p>
732
      % }
733
      %= form_for test => begin
734
        % if (my $err = validation->error('number')) {
735
          <p>
736
            %= 'Value is required.' if $err->[0] eq 'required'
737
            %= 'Value needs to be between 3 and 23.' if $err->[0] eq 'range'
738
          </p>
739
        % }
740
        %= text_field 'number'
741
        %= submit_button
742
      % end
743
    </html>
744
  </html>
745

            
746
=head2 Adding helpers
747

            
748
Adding and redefining helpers is very easy, you can use them to do pretty much
749
everything.
750

            
751
  use Mojolicious::Lite;
752

            
753
  helper debug => sub {
754
    my ($self, $str) = @_;
755
    $self->app->log->debug($str);
756
  };
757

            
758
  get '/' => sub {
759
    my $self = shift;
760
    $self->debug('Hello from an action!');
761
  } => 'index';
762

            
763
  app->start;
764
  __DATA__
765

            
766
  @@ index.html.ep
767
  % debug 'Hello from a template!';
768

            
769
Helpers can also accept template blocks as last argument, this for example
770
allows very pleasant to use tag helpers and filters.
771

            
772
  use Mojolicious::Lite;
773
  use Mojo::ByteStream;
774

            
775
  helper trim_newline => sub {
776
    my ($self, $block) = @_;
777
    my $result = $block->();
778
    $result =~ s/\n//g;
779
    return Mojo::ByteStream->new($result);
780
  };
781

            
782
  get '/' => 'index';
783

            
784
  app->start;
785
  __DATA__
786

            
787
  @@ index.html.ep
788
  %= trim_newline begin
789
    Some text.
790
    %= 1 + 1
791
    More text.
792
  % end
793

            
794
Wrapping the helper result into a L<Mojo::ByteStream> object can prevent
795
accidental double escaping.
796

            
797
=head2 Helper plugins
798

            
799
Some helpers might be useful enough for you to share them between multiple
800
applications, plugins make that very simple.
801

            
802
  package Mojolicious::Plugin::DebugHelper;
803
  use Mojo::Base 'Mojolicious::Plugin';
804

            
805
  sub register {
806
    my ($self, $app) = @_;
807
    $app->helper(debug => sub {
808
      my ($self, $str) = @_;
809
      $self->app->log->debug($str);
810
    });
811
  }
812

            
813
  1;
814

            
815
The C<register> method will be called when you load the plugin and to add your
816
helper to the application you can use L<Mojolicious/"helper">.
817

            
818
  use Mojolicious::Lite;
819

            
820
  plugin 'DebugHelper';
821

            
822
  get '/' => sub {
823
    my $self = shift;
824
    $self->debug('It works.');
825
    $self->render(text => 'Hello.');
826
  };
827

            
828
  app->start;
829

            
830
A skeleton for a full CPAN compatible plugin distribution can be automatically
831
generated.
832

            
833
  $ mojo generate plugin DebugHelper
834

            
835
And if you have a C<PAUSE> account (which can be requested at
836
L<http://pause.perl.org>), you are only a few commands away from releasing it
837
to CPAN.
838

            
839
  $ perl Makefile.PL
840
  $ make test
841
  $ make manifest
842
  $ make dist
843
  $ mojo cpanify -u USER -p PASS Mojolicious-Plugin-DebugHelper-0.01.tar.gz
844

            
845
=head2 Bundling assets with plugins
846

            
847
Assets such as templates and static files can be easily bundled with your
848
plugins, even if you plan to release them to CPAN.
849

            
850
  $ mojo generate plugin AlertAssets
851
  $ mkdir AlertAssets/lib/Mojolicious/Plugin/AlertAssets
852
  $ cd AlertAssets/lib/Mojolicious/Plugin/AlertAssets
853
  $ mkdir public
854
  $ echo 'alert("Hello World!");' > public/alertassets.js
855
  $ mkdir templates
856
  $ echo '%= javascript "/alertassets.js"' > templates/alertassets.html.ep
857

            
858
Just append their respective directories to the list of search paths when
859
C<register> is called.
860

            
861
  package Mojolicious::Plugin::AlertAssets;
862
  use Mojo::Base 'Mojolicious::Plugin';
863

            
864
  use File::Basename 'dirname';
865
  use File::Spec::Functions 'catdir';
866

            
867
  sub register {
868
    my ($self, $app) = @_;
869

            
870
    # Append "templates" and "public" directories
871
    my $base = catdir(dirname(__FILE__), 'AlertAssets');
872
    push @{$app->renderer->paths}, catdir($base, 'templates');
873
    push @{$app->static->paths},   catdir($base, 'public');
874
  }
875

            
876
  1;
877

            
878
Both will work just like normal C<templates> and C<public> directories once
879
you've installed and loaded the plugin, with slightly lower precedence.
880

            
881
  use Mojolicious::Lite;
882

            
883
  plugin 'AlertAssets';
884

            
885
  get '/alert_me';
886

            
887
  app->start;
888
  __DATA__
889

            
890
  @@ alert_me.html.ep
891
  <!DOCTYPE html>
892
  <html>
893
    <head>
894
      <title>Alert me!</title>
895
      %= include 'alertassets'
896
    </head>
897
    <body>You've been alerted.</body>
898
  </html>
899

            
900
And it works just the same for assets bundled in the C<DATA> section of your
901
plugin.
902

            
903
  package Mojolicious::Plugin::AlertAssets;
904
  use Mojo::Base 'Mojolicious::Plugin';
905

            
906
  sub register {
907
    my ($self, $app) = @_;
908

            
909
    # Append class
910
    push @{$app->renderer->classes}, __PACKAGE__;
911
    push @{$app->static->classes},   __PACKAGE__;
912
  }
913

            
914
  1;
915
  __DATA__
916

            
917
  @@ alertassets.js
918
  alert("Hello World!");
919

            
920
  @@ alertassets.html.ep
921
  %= javascript "/alertassets.js"
922

            
923
=head1 ADVANCED
924

            
925
Less commonly used and more powerful features.
926

            
927
=head2 Rendering static files
928

            
929
If automatic rendering of static files is not enough, you can also render them
930
manually from your C<DATA> sections and C<public> directories with
931
L<Mojolicious::Controller/"render_static">.
932

            
933
  $self->res->headers->content_disposition('attachment; filename=bar.png;');
934
  $self->render_static('foo/bar.png');
935

            
936
=head2 Custom responses
937

            
938
For entirely custom responses to, for example, stream content directly from
939
files, you can use L<Mojolicious::Controller/"rendered"> to tell the renderer
940
that a response has been generated.
941

            
942
  $self->res->headers->content_type('text/plain');
943
  $self->res->content->asset(Mojo::Asset::File->new(path => '/etc/passwd'));
944
  $self->rendered(200);
945

            
946
=head2 Post-processing dynamic content
947

            
948
While post-processing tasks are generally very easy with the C<after_dispatch>
949
hook, for content generated by the renderer it is a lot more efficient to use
950
C<after_render>.
951

            
952
  use Mojolicious::Lite;
953
  use IO::Compress::Gzip 'gzip';
954

            
955
  hook after_render => sub {
956
    my ($c, $output, $format) = @_;
957

            
958
    # Check if "gzip => 1" has been set in the stash
959
    return unless $c->stash->{gzip};
960

            
961
    # Check if user agent accepts GZip compression
962
    return unless ($c->req->headers->accept_encoding // '') =~ /gzip/i;
963
    $c->res->headers->append(Vary => 'Accept-Encoding');
964

            
965
    # Compress content with GZip
966
    $c->res->headers->content_encoding('gzip');
967
    gzip $output, \my $compressed;
968
    $$output = $compressed;
969
  };
970

            
971
  get '/' => {template => 'hello', title => 'Hello', gzip => 1};
972

            
973
  app->start;
974
  __DATA__
975

            
976
  @@ hello.html.ep
977
  <!DOCTYPE html>
978
  <html>
979
    <head><title><%= title %></title></head>
980
    <body>Compressed content.</body>
981
  </html>
982

            
983
=head2 Chunked transfer encoding
984

            
985
For very dynamic content you might not know the response content length in
986
advance, that's where the C<chunked> transfer encoding and
987
L<Mojolicious::Controller/"write_chunk"> come in handy. A common use would be
988
to send the C<head> section of an HTML document to the browser in advance and
989
speed up preloading of referenced images and stylesheets.
990

            
991
  $self->write_chunk('<html><head><title>Example</title></head>' => sub {
992
    my $self = shift;
993
    $self->finish('<body>Example</body></html>');
994
  });
995

            
996
The optional drain callback ensures that all previous chunks have been
997
written before processing continues. An empty chunk or call to
998
L<Mojolicious::Controller/"finish"> marks the end of the stream.
999

            
1000
  29
1001
  <html><head><title>Example</title></head>
1002
  1b
1003
  <body>Example</body></html>
1004
  0
1005

            
1006
Especially in combination with long inactivity timeouts this can be very
1007
useful for Comet (long polling). Due to limitations in some web servers this
1008
might not work perfectly in all deployment environments.
1009

            
1010
=head2 Encoding
1011

            
1012
Templates stored in files are expected to be C<UTF-8> by default, but that can
1013
be easily changed with L<Mojolicious::Renderer/"encoding">.
1014

            
1015
  # Application
1016
  package MyApp;
1017
  use Mojo::Base 'Mojolicious';
1018

            
1019
  sub startup {
1020
    my $self = shift;
1021

            
1022
    # Different encoding
1023
    $self->renderer->encoding('koi8-r');
1024
  }
1025

            
1026
  1;
1027

            
1028
All templates from the C<DATA> section are bound to the encoding of the Perl
1029
script.
1030

            
1031
  use Mojolicious::Lite;
1032

            
1033
  get '/heart';
1034

            
1035
  app->start;
1036

            
1037
  __DATA__
1038
  @@ heart.html.ep
1039
  I ♥ Mojolicious!
1040

            
1041
=head2 Base64 encoded DATA files
1042

            
1043
Base64 encoded static files such as images can be easily stored in the C<DATA>
1044
section of your application, similar to templates.
1045

            
1046
  @@ favicon.ico (base64)
1047
  ...base64 encoded image...
1048

            
1049
=head2 Inflating DATA templates
1050

            
1051
Templates stored in files get preferred over files from the C<DATA> section,
1052
this allows you to include a default set of templates in your application that
1053
the user can later customize. The C<inflate> command will write all templates
1054
and static files from the C<DATA> section into actual files in the
1055
C<templates> and C<public> directories.
1056

            
1057
  $ ./myapp.pl inflate
1058

            
1059
=head2 Customizing the template syntax
1060

            
1061
You can easily change the whole template syntax by loading
1062
L<Mojolicious::Plugin::EPRenderer> with a custom configuration.
1063

            
1064
  use Mojolicious::Lite;
1065

            
1066
  plugin EPRenderer => {
1067
    name     => 'mustache',
1068
    template => {
1069
      tag_start => '{{',
1070
      tag_end   => '}}'
1071
    }
1072
  };
1073

            
1074
  get '/:name' => {name => 'Anonymous'} => 'index';
1075

            
1076
  app->start;
1077
  __DATA__
1078

            
1079
  @@ index.html.mustache
1080
  Hello {{= $name }}.
1081

            
1082
L<Mojo::Template> contains the whole list of available options.
1083

            
1084
=head2 Adding your favorite template system
1085

            
1086
Maybe you would prefer a different template system than C<ep>, and there is
1087
not already a plugin on CPAN for your favorite one, all you have to do is add
1088
a new C<handler> with L<Mojolicious::Renderer/"add_handler"> when C<register>
1089
is called.
1090

            
1091
  package Mojolicious::Plugin::MyRenderer;
1092
  use Mojo::Base 'Mojolicious::Plugin';
1093

            
1094
  sub register {
1095
    my ($self, $app) = @_;
1096

            
1097
    # Add "mine" handler
1098
    $app->renderer->add_handler(mine => sub {
1099
      my ($renderer, $c, $output, $options) = @_;
1100

            
1101
      # Check for one-time use inline template
1102
      my $inline = $options->{inline};
1103

            
1104
      # Check for absolute template path
1105
      my $path = $renderer->template_path($options);
1106

            
1107
      # Check for appropriate template in DATA section
1108
      my $data = $renderer->get_data_template($options);
1109

            
1110
      # This part is up to you and your template system :)
1111
      ...
1112

            
1113
      # Just die if an error occurs
1114
      die 'Something went wrong';
1115

            
1116
      # Or pass the rendered result back to the renderer
1117
      $$output = 'Hello World!';
1118

            
1119
      # And return true if something has been rendered or false otherwise
1120
      return 1;
1121
    });
1122
  }
1123

            
1124
  1;
1125

            
1126
Since most template systems don't support templates in the C<DATA> section,
1127
the renderer provides methods to help you with that.
1128

            
1129
  use Mojolicious::Lite;
1130

            
1131
  plugin 'MyRenderer';
1132

            
1133
  get '/' => 'index';
1134

            
1135
  app->start;
1136
  __DATA__
1137

            
1138
  @@ index.html.mine
1139
  ...
1140

            
1141
=head2 Adding a handler to generate binary data
1142

            
1143
By default the renderer assumes that every C<handler> generates characters
1144
that need to be automatically encoded, but this can be be easily disabled if
1145
you're generating bytes instead.
1146

            
1147
  use Mojolicious::Lite;
1148
  use Mango::BSON ':bson';
1149

            
1150
  # Add "bson" handler
1151
  app->renderer->add_handler(bson => sub {
1152
    my ($renderer, $c, $output, $options) = @_;
1153

            
1154
    # Disable automatic encoding
1155
    delete $options->{encoding};
1156

            
1157
    # Encode BSON data from stash value
1158
    $$output = bson_encode delete $c->stash->{bson};
1159

            
1160
    return 1;
1161
  });
1162

            
1163
  get '/' => {bson => {i => '♥ mojolicious'}, handler => 'bson'};
1164

            
1165
  app->start;
1166

            
1167
=head1 MORE
1168

            
1169
You can continue with L<Mojolicious::Guides> now or take a look at the
1170
L<Mojolicious wiki|http://github.com/kraih/mojo/wiki>, which contains a lot
1171
more documentation and examples by many different authors.
1172

            
1173
=head1 SUPPORT
1174

            
1175
If you have any questions the documentation might not yet answer, don't
1176
hesitate to ask on the
1177
L<mailing-list|http://groups.google.com/group/mojolicious> or the official IRC
1178
channel C<#mojo> on C<irc.perl.org>.
1179

            
1180
=cut