NAME Mojolicious::Plugin::FormFieldsFromJSON - create form fields based on a definition in a JSON file VERSION version 1.03 SYNOPSIS # Mojolicious $self->plugin('FormFieldsFromJSON'); # Mojolicious::Lite plugin 'FormFieldsFromJSON'; DESCRIPTION Mojolicious::Plugin::FormFieldsFromJSON is a Mojolicious plugin. NAME Mojolicious::Plugin::FormFieldsFromJSON - create form fields based on a definition in a JSON file VERSION version 0.32 CONFIGURATION You can configure some settings for the plugin: * dir The directory where the json files for form field configuration are located $self->plugin( 'FormFieldsFromJSON' => { dir => '/home/mojo/fields', }); You can also pass an arrayreference with directory names. This will help when you store the JSON files where your templates are... $self->plugin( 'FormFieldsFromJSON' => { dir => [ '/home/mojo/templates/admin/json', '/home/mojo/templates/author/json', '/home/mojo/templates/guest/json', ] }); * template With template you can define a template for the form fields. $self->plugin( 'FormFieldsFromJSON' => { template => '<label for="<%= $id %>"><%= $label %>:</label><div><%= $field %></div>', }); See Templates. * templates With template you can define type specific templates for the form fields. plugin 'FormFieldsFromJSON' => { templates => { text => '<%= $label %>: <%= $field %>', }, }; See Templates. * global_attributes With global_attributes, you can define attributes that should be set for every field (except hidden fields) plugin 'FormFieldsFromJSON' => { global_attributes => { class => 'important-field', }, }; So with this configuration [ { "label" : "Name", "type" : "text", "name" : "name" }, { "label" : "Background", "type" : "text", "name" : "background" } ] You get <input class="important-field" id="name" name="name" type="text" value="" /> <input class="important-field" id="background" name="background" type="text" value="" /> * alias Using aliases can help you a lot. Given you want to have several forms where the user can define a color (e.g. by using bootstrap-colorpicker), you don't want to define the special templates in each form. Instead you can define those fiels as type "color" and use an alias: plugin 'FormFieldsFromJSON' => { template => '<%= $label %>: <%= $field %>', templates => { color => '<%= $label %> (color): <%= $field %>', }, alias => { color => 'text', }, }; The alias defines that "color" fields are "text" fields. So with this configuration [ { "label" : "Name", "type" : "text", "name" : "name" }, { "label" : "Background", "type" : "color", "name" : "background" } ] You get <label for="name">Name:</label><div><input id="name" name="name" type="text" value="" /></div> <label for="background">Background (color):</label><div><input id="background" name="background" type="text" value="" /></div> * translate_labels If translate_labels is true, the labels for the templates are translated. You have to provide a translation_method, too. plugin 'FormFieldsFromJSON' => { template => '<%= $label %>: <%= $field %>', translate_labels => 1, translation_method => \&loc, }; For more details see Translation. * translation_method If translate_labels is true, the labels for the templates are translated. You have to provide a translation_method, too. plugin 'FormFieldsFromJSON' => { template => '<%= $label %>: <%= $field %>', translate_labels => 1, translation_method => \&loc, }; For more details see Translation|Mojolicious::Plugin::FormFieldsFromJSON/Translation. * types If you have written a plugin that implements a new "type" of input field, you can allow this type by passing types when you load the plugin. plugin 'FormFieldsFromJSON' => { types => { 'testfield' => 1, }, }; Now you can use [ { "label" : "Name", "type" : "testfield", "name" : "name" } ] For more details see Additional Types. HELPER form_fields form_fields returns a string with all configured fields "translated" to HTML. $controller->form_fields( 'formname' ); Given this configuration: [ { "label" : "Name", "type" : "text", "name" : "name" }, { "label" : "City", "type" : "text", "name" : "city" } ] You'll get <input id="name" name="name" type="text" value="" /> <input id="city" name="city" type="text" value="" /> dynamic config Instead of a formname, you can pass a config: $controller->form_fields( [ { "label" : "Name", "type" : "testfield", "name" : "name" } ] ); This way, you can build your forms dynamically (e.g. based on database entries). validate_form_fields This helper validates the input. It uses the Mojolicious::Validator::Validation and it validates all fields defined in the configuration file. For more details see Validation. forms This method returns a list of forms. That means the filenames of all .json files in the configured directory. my @forms = $controller->forms; The filenames are returned without the file suffix .json. fields fields() returns a list of fields (label or name). my @fieldnames = $controller->fields('formname'); If your configuration looks like [ { "label" : "Email", "name" : "email", "type" : "text" }, { "name" : "password", "type" : "password" } ] You get ( Email, password ) FIELD DEFINITIONS This plugin supports several form fields: * text * checkbox * radio * select * textarea * password * hidden Those fields have the following definition items in common: * name The name of the field. If you do not pass an id for the field in the attributes-field, the name is also taken for the field id. * label If a template is used, this value is passed for $label. If the translation feature is used, the label is translated. * type One of the above mentioned types. Please note, that you can add own types. * data For text, textarea, password and hidden this is the value for the field. This can be set in various ways: 1. Data passed in the code like $c->form_fields( 'form', fieldname => { data => 'test' } ); 2. Data passed via stash $c->stash( fieldname => 'test' ); 3. Data in the request 4. Data defined in the field configuration 5. Data passed via stash - part two $c->stash( any_name => { fieldname => 'test' } ); $c->form_fields( 'form', from_stash => 'any_name' ); For select, checkbox and radio fields, data contains the possible values. * attributes Attributes of the field like "class": attributes => { class => 'button' } If global_attributes are defined, then the values are added, so that plugin( 'FormFieldsFromJSON' => { global_attributes => { class => 'button-danger', } }); and the attributes field as shown, then the field has two classes: button and button-danger. In the field the classes mentioned in field config come first. <button class="button button-danger" ...> EXAMPLES The following sections should give you an idea what's possible with this plugin text With type text you get a simple text input field. A simple text field This is the configuration for a simple text field: [ { "label" : "Name", "type" : "text", "name" : "name" } ] And the generated form field looks like <input id="name" name="name" type="text" value="" /> Set CSS classes If you want to set a CSS class, you can use the attributes field: [ { "label" : "Name", "type" : "text", "name" : "name", "attributes" : { "class" : "W75px" } } ] And the generated form field looks like <input class="W75px" id="name" name="name" type="text" value="" /> Text field with predefined value Sometimes, you want to predefine a value shown in the text field. Then you can use the data field: [ { "label" : "Name", "type" : "text", "name" : "name", "data" : "default value" } ] This will generate this input field: <input id="name" name="name" type="text" value="default value" /> select Simple: Value = Label When you have a list of values for a select field, you can define an array reference: [ { "type" : "select", "name" : "language", "data" : [ "de", "en" ] } ] This creates the following select field: <select id="language" name="language"> <option value="de">de</option> <option value="en">en</option> </select> Preselect a value You can define [ { "type" : "select", "name" : "language", "data" : [ "de", "en" ], "selected" : "en" } ] This creates the following select field: <select id="language" name="language"> <option value="de">de</option> <option value="en" selected="selected">en</option> </select> If a key named as the select exists in the stash, those values are preselected (this overrides the value defined in the .json): $c->stash( language => 'en' ); and [ { "type" : "select", "name" : "language", "data" : [ "de", "en" ] } ] This creates the following select field: <select id="language" name="language"> <option value="de">de</option> <option value="en" selected="selected">en</option> </select> Multiselect [ { "type" : "select", "name" : "languages", "data" : [ "de", "en", "cn", "jp" ], "multiple" : 1, "size" : 3 } ] This creates the following select field: <select id="languages" name="languages" multiple="multiple" size="3"> <option value="cn">cn</option> <option value="de">de</option> <option value="en">en</option> <option value="jp">jp</option> </select> Preselect multiple values [ { "type" : "select", "name" : "languages", "data" : [ "de", "en", "cn", "jp" ], "multiple" : 1, "selected" : [ "en", "de" ] } ] This creates the following select field: <select id="language" name="language"> <option value="cn">cn</option> <option value="de" selected="selected">de</option> <option value="en" selected="selected">en</option> <option value="jp">jp</option> </select> Values != Label [ { "type" : "select", "name" : "language", "data" : { "de" : "German", "en" : "English" } } ] This creates the following select field: <select id="language" name="language"> <option value="en">English</option> <option value="de">German</option> </select> Option groups [ { "type" : "select", "name" : "language", "data" : { "EU" : { "de" : "German", "en" : "English" }, "Asia" : { "cn" : "Chinese", "jp" : "Japanese" } } } ] This creates the following select field: <select id="language" name="language"> <option value="en">English</option> <option value="de">German</option> </select> Disable values [ { "type" : "select", "name" : "languages", "data" : [ "de", "en", "cn", "jp" ], "multiple" : 1, "disabled" : [ "en", "de" ] } ] This creates the following select field: <select id="language" name="language"> <option value="cn">cn</option> <option value="de" disabled="disabled">de</option> <option value="en" disabled="disabled">en</option> <option value="jp">jp</option> </select> radio For radiobuttons, you can use two ways: You can either configure form fields for each value or you can define a list of values in the data field. With the first way, you can create radiobuttons where the template (if any defined) is applied to each radiobutton. With the second way, the radiobuttons are handled as one single field in the template. A single radiobutton Given the configuration [ { "label" : "Name", "type" : "radio", "name" : "type", "data" : "internal" } ] You get Two radiobuttons configured separately With the configuration [ { "label" : "Name", "type" : "radio", "name" : "type", "data" : "internal" }, { "label" : "Name", "type" : "radio", "name" : "type", "data" : "external" } ] You get Two radiobuttons as a group And with [ { "label" : "Name", "type" : "radio", "name" : "type", "data" : ["internal", "external" ] } ] You get Two radiobuttons configured separately - with template Define template: plugin 'FormFieldsFromJSON' => { dir => './conf', template => '<%= $label %>: <%= $form %>'; }; Config: [ { "label" : "Name", "type" : "radio", "name" : "type", "data" : "internal" }, { "label" : "Name", "type" : "radio", "name" : "type", "data" : "external" } ] Fields: Name: <input id="type" name="type" type="radio" value="internal" /> Name: <input id="type" name="type" type="radio" value="external" /> Two radiobuttons as a group - with template Same template definition as above, but given this field config: [ { "label" : "Name", "type" : "radio", "name" : "type", "data" : ["internal", "external" ] } ] You get this: Name: <input id="type" name="type" type="radio" value="internal" /> <input id="type" name="type" type="radio" value="external" /> Two radiobuttons - one checked Config: [ { "label" : "Name", "type" : "radio", "name" : "type", "data" : ["internal", "external" ], "selected" : ["internal"] } ] Field: <input checked="checked" id="type" name="type" type="radio" value="internal" /> <input id="type" name="type" type="radio" value="external" /> Radiobuttons with HTML after every element When you want to add some HTML code after every element - e.g. a <br /> - you can use after_element [ { "label" : "Name", "type" : "radio", "name" : "type", "after_element" : "<br />", "data" : ["internal", "external" ] } ] Fields: <input id="type" name="type" type="radio" value="internal" /> <br /><input id="type" name="type" type="radio" value="external" /> <br /> Radiobuttons with values shown as label When you want to show the value as a label, you can use show_value. [ { "label" : "Name", "type" : "radio", "name" : "type", "show_value" : 1, "data" : ["internal", "external" ] } ] Creates <input id="type" name="type" type="radio" value="internal" /> internal <input id="type" name="type" type="radio" value="external" /> external Radiobuttons with translated values for "sublabels" If you want to show the "sublabels" and want them to be translated, you can use translate_sublabels [ { "label" : "Name", "type" : "radio", "name" : "type", "show_value" : 1, "translate_sublabels" : 1, "data" : ["internal", "external" ] } ] Given this plugin is used this way: plugin 'FormFieldsFromJSON' => { dir => File::Spec->catdir( dirname( __FILE__ ) || '.', 'conf' ), translation_method => \&loc, }; sub loc { my ($c, $value) = @_; my %translation = ( internal => 'intern', external => 'extern' ); return $translation{$value} // $value; }; You'll get <input id="type" name="type" type="radio" value="internal" /> intern <input id="type" name="type" type="radio" value="external" /> extern checkbox For checkboxes, you can use two ways: You can either configure form fields for each value or you can define a list of values in the data field. With the first way, you can create checkboxes where the template (if any defined) is applied to each checkbox. With the second way, the checkboxes are handled as one single field in the template. A single checkbox Given the configuration [ { "label" : "Name", "type" : "checkbox", "name" : "type", "data" : "internal" } ] You get Two checkboxes configured separately With the configuration [ { "label" : "Name", "type" : "checkbox", "name" : "type", "data" : "internal" }, { "label" : "Name", "type" : "checkbox", "name" : "type", "data" : "external" } ] You get Two checkboxes as a group And with [ { "label" : "Name", "type" : "checkbox", "name" : "type", "data" : ["internal", "external" ] } ] You get Two checkboxes configured separately - with template Define template: plugin 'FormFieldsFromJSON' => { dir => './conf', template => '<%= $label %>: <%= $form %>'; }; Config: [ { "label" : "Name", "type" : "checkbox", "name" : "type", "data" : "internal" }, { "label" : "Name", "type" : "checkbox", "name" : "type", "data" : "external" } ] Fields: Name: <input id="type" name="type" type="checkbox" value="internal" /> Name: <input id="type" name="type" type="checkbox" value="external" /> Two checkboxes as a group - with template Same template definition as above, but given this field config: [ { "label" : "Name", "type" : "checkbox", "name" : "type", "data" : ["internal", "external" ] } ] You get this: Name: <input id="type" name="type" type="checkbox" value="internal" /> <input id="type" name="type" type="checkbox" value="external" /> Two checkboxes - one checked Config: [ { "label" : "Name", "type" : "checkbox", "name" : "type", "data" : ["internal", "external" ], "selected" : ["internal"] } ] Field: <input checked="checked" id="type" name="type" type="checkbox" value="internal" /> <input id="type" name="type" type="checkbox" value="external" /> Checkboxes with HTML after every element When you want to add some HTML code after every element - e.g. a <br /> - you can use after_element [ { "label" : "Name", "type" : "checkbox", "name" : "type", "after_element" : "<br />", "data" : ["internal", "external", "unknown" ] } ] Fields: <input id="type" name="type" type="checkbox" value="internal" /> <br /><input id="type" name="type" type="checkbox" value="external" /> <br /><input id="type" name="type" type="checkbox" value="unknown" /> <br /> Checkboxes with values shown as label When you want to show the value as a label, you can use show_value. [ { "label" : "Name", "type" : "checkbox", "name" : "type", "show_value" : 1, "data" : ["internal", "external" ] } ] Creates <input id="type" name="type" type="checkbox" value="internal" /> internal <input id="type" name="type" type="checkbox" value="external" /> external Checkboxes with translated values for "sublabels" If you want to show the "sublabels" and want them to be translated, you can use translate_sublabels [ { "label" : "Name", "type" : "checkbox", "name" : "type", "show_value" : 1, "translate_sublabels" : 1, "data" : ["internal", "external" ] } ] Given this plugin is used this way: plugin 'FormFieldsFromJSON' => { dir => File::Spec->catdir( dirname( __FILE__ ) || '.', 'conf' ), translation_method => \&loc, }; sub loc { my ($c, $value) = @_; my %translation = ( internal => 'intern', external => 'extern' ); return $translation{$value} // $value; }; You'll get <input id="type" name="type" type="checkbox" value="internal" /> intern <input id="type" name="type" type="checkbox" value="external" /> extern textarea This type is very similar to text. A simple textarea This is the configuration for a simple text field: [ { "type" : "textarea", "name" : "message", "data" : "Current message" } ] And the generated form field looks like <textarea id="message" name="message">Current message</textarea> A textarea with defined number of columns and rows This is the configuration for a simple text field: [ { "type" : "textarea", "name" : "message", "data" : "Current message", "attributes" : { "cols" : 80, "rows" : 10 } } ] And the generated textarea looks like <textarea cols="80" id="message" name="message" rows="10">Current message</textarea> password This type is very similar to text. You can use the very same settings as for text fields, so we show only a simple example here: A simple password field This is the configuration for a simple text field: [ { "type" : "password", "name" : "user_password" } ] And the generated form field looks like <input id="user_password" name="password" type="password" value="" /> Templates Especially when you work with frameworks like Bootstrap, you want to your form fields to look nice. For that the form fields are within divs or other HTML elements. To make your life easier, you can define templates. Either a "global" one, a type specific template or a template for one field. For hidden fields, no template is applied! A global template When you load the plugin this way $self->plugin( 'FormFieldsFromJSON' => { template => '<label for="<%= $id %>"><%= $label %>:</label><div><%= $field %></div>', }); and have a configuration that looks like You get <label for="name">Name:</label><div><input id="name" name="name" type="text" value="" /></div> <label for="password">Password:</label><div><input id="password" name="password" type="text" value="" /></div> A type specific template When you want to use a different template for select fields, you can use a different template for that kind of fields: plugin 'FormFieldsFromJSON' => { dir => File::Spec->catdir( dirname( __FILE__ ) || '.', 'conf' ), template => '<label for="<%= $id %>"><%= $label %>:</label><div><%= $field %></div>', templates => { select => '<%= $label %>: <%= $field %>', }, }; With a configuration file like [ { "label" : "Name", "type" : "text", "name" : "name" } { "label" : "Country", "type" : "select", "name" : "country", "data" : [ "au" ] } ] You get <label for="name">Name:</label><div><input id="name" name="name" type="text" value="" /></div> Country: <select id="country" name="country"><option value="au">au</option></select> A field specific template When you want to use a different template for a specific field, you can use the template field in the configuration file. plugin 'FormFieldsFromJSON' => { dir => File::Spec->catdir( dirname( __FILE__ ) || '.', 'conf' ), template => '<label for="<%= $id %>"><%= $label %>:</label><div><%= $field %></div>', }; With a configuration file like [ { "label" : "Name", "type" : "text", "name" : "name" } { "label" : "Country", "type" : "select", "name" : "country", "data" : [ "au" ], "template" : "<%= $label %>: <%= $field %>" } ] You get <label for="name">Name:</label><div><input id="name" name="name" type="text" value="" /></div> Country: <select id="country" name="country"><option value="au">au</option></select> Template variables You get three template variables for free: * $label If a label is defined in the field configuration * $field The form field (HTML) * $id The id for the field. If no id is defined, the name of the field is set. Validation You can define some validation rules in your config file. And when you call validate_form_fields, the fields defined in the configuration file are validated. Mojolicious::Validator::Validation is shipped with some basic validation checks: * in * size * like * equal_to There is Mojolicious::Plugin::AdditionalValidationChecks with some more basic checks. And you can also define your own checks. The validation field is a hashref where the name of the check is the key and the parameters for the check can be defined in the value: "validation" : { "size" : [ 2, 5 ] }, This will call ->size(2,5). If you want to pass a single parameter, you can set a scalar: "validation" : { "equal_to" : "foo" }, Validation checks are done in asciibetical order. You can also use the filters: "validation" : { "size" : [ 2, 5 ], "filters" : [ "trim" ] }, Check a string for its length This is a simple check for the length of a string [ { "label" : "Name", "type" : "text", "validation" : { "size" : [ 2, 5 ] }, "name" : "name" } ] Then you can call validate_form_fields: my %errors = $c->validate_form_fields( $config_name ); In the returned hash, you get the fieldnames as keys where a validation check fails. A mandatory string If you have mandatory fields, you can define them as required [ { "label" : "Name", "type" : "text", "validation" : { "required" : "name" }, "name" : "name" } ] Provide your own error message With the simple configuration seen above, the %error hash contains the value "1" for each invalid field. If you want to get a better error message, you can define a hash in the validation config [ { "label" : "Name", "type" : "text", "validation" : { "like" : { "args" : [ "es" ], "msg" : "text must contain 'es'" }, "size" : { "args" : [ 2, 5 ], "msg" : "length must be between 2 and 5 chars" } }, "name" : "name" } ] Examples: text | error -------+--------------------------------- test | t | text must contain 'es' tester | length must be between 2 and 5 chars Translation Most webapplications nowadays are internationalized, therefor this module provides some support for translations. If translate_labels is set to a true value, a template is used and translation_method is given, the labels are translated. translation_method translation_method has to be a reference to a subroutine. An example for translation Load and configure the plugin: plugin 'FormFieldsFromJSON' => { dir => File::Spec->catdir( dirname( __FILE__ ) || '.', 'conf' ), template => '<label for="<%= $id %>"><%= $label %>:</label><div><%= $field %></div>', translate_labels => 1, translation_method => \&loc, }; The translation method gets two parameters: * the controller object * the label sub loc { my ($c, $value) = @_; my %translation = ( Address => 'Adresse' ); return $translation{$value} // $value; }; This can be a more complex subroutine that makes use of any translation framework. Given this field configuration file: [ { "label" : "Address", "type" : "text", "name" : "name" } ] You'll get <label for="name">Adresse:</label><div><input id="name" name="name" type="text" value="" /></div> Internationalization There is more about internationalization (i18n) than just translation. There are dates, ranges, order of characters etc. But that can't be covered within this single module. There are more Mojolicious plugins that provide more features about i18n: * Mojolicious::Plugin::I18N * Mojolicious::Plugin::TagHelpersI18N * Mojolicious::Plugin::I18NUtils * Mojolicious::Plugin::CountryDropDown You can combine these plugins with this plugin. An example is available at the code repository <http://github.com/reneeb/Mojolicious-Plugin-FormFieldsFromJSON/tree/master/example>. New Types The field types supported by this plugin might not enough for you. Then you can create your own plugin and add new types. For example, dates in OTRS <http://otrs.org> are shown as three dropdowns: one for the day, one for the month and finally one for the year. Wouldn't it be nice to define only one field in your config and the rest is DWIM (Do what I mean)? It would. So you can write your own Mojolicious plugin where the register subroutine does nothing. And you define a subroutine called Mojolicious::Plugin::FormFieldsFromJSON::_date where those dropdowns are created. Then just do: plugin 'WhateverYouHaveChosen'; plugin 'FormFieldsFromJSON' => { types => { 'date' => 1, }, }; Now you can use [ { "label" : "Release date", "type" : "date", "name" : "release" } ] The subroutine gets these parameters: * The plugin object (Mojolicious::Plugin::FormFieldsFromJSON object) So you can use the methods defined in this plugin, for example to create dropdowns, textfields, ... * The controller object (Whatever controller called form_fields method) So you can use all the Mojolicious power! * The field config Whatever you defined in you .json config file for that field * A params hash Whatever is passed as parameters to the form_fields method. As an example, you can see Mojolicious::Plugin::FormFieldsFromJSON::Date. SEE ALSO Mojolicious, Mojolicious::Guides, http://mojolicio.us. AUTHOR Renee Baecker <reneeb@cpan.org> COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE This software is Copyright (c) 2016 by Renee Baecker. This is free software, licensed under: The Artistic License 2.0 (GPL Compatible) AUTHOR Renee Baecker <reneeb@cpan.org> COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE This software is Copyright (c) 2018 by Renee Baecker. This is free software, licensed under: The Artistic License 2.0 (GPL Compatible)