Ext.Direct Perl

[scottpenrose]

Hi Team

On Friday I built my first two Server Stack backends for Ext.Direct in Perl.

The first implementation (called simple) is there as a reference implementation. It is a useful source to help get you started porting Ext.Direct functionality to your own framework.

The second implementation (called modperl) is a more complete and functional implementation, and because all classes are loaded at Apache start time, it is quite fast.

I have not completed all functionality (e.g. file uploads).

• http://scott.dd.com.au/wiki/Ext.Direct - to see a description
• http://github.com/scottp/extjs-direct-perl/tree/master - for GitHub source
• http://github.com/scottp/extjs-direc...zipball/master - for a Zip version
• http://scott.dd.com.au/demo/extjs-di...st/simple.html - Live demo (including field validation)
• http://github.com/scottp/extjs-direc...er/README.TODO - TODO list

Enjoy

Scott
UPDATES

• 27/August/2009 - support for before/after hooks & form post data

[SamuraiJack1]

Cool. How about to CPAN it?

[scottpenrose]

CPAN is the plan... I like to put it up only once it is working though, so give me a day or two :-)

Scott

[SamuraiJack1]

Sounds good, will be glad to help if needed.

[scottpenrose]

Sounds good, will be glad to help if needed.

Thanks SamuraiJack. What I really need help with is firstly what features people would like? Within reason that is :-)

Here are some questions:

• Configuration - what format should the CPAN module accept?
• Class instantiation - do we need to bother? I have been calling the methods directly.
• What target - CGI, CGI via simple Module, Apache modperl?

Mostly I am concentrating on the ModPerl implementation, as that is the one I am currently using, but I can easily abstract it.

Thanks.

[SamuraiJack1]

• Configuration - what format should the CPAN module accept?

To start a CPAN module use 'module-starter' command-line utility, provided in the Module::Starter distribution.

• Class instantiation - do we need to bother? I have been calling the methods directly.

I'd recommend to use Moose - a modern class system implementation for perl. It will handle all the underlaying technical details, like providing constructors, etc.

• What target - CGI, CGI via simple Module, Apache modperl?

Mostly I am concentrating on the ModPerl implementation, as that is the one I am currently using, but I can easily abstract it.

I'd recommend to create an abstract standalone implementation first, and then a plugin for Catalyst.

[scottpenrose]

To start a CPAN module use 'module-starter' command-line utility, provided in the Module::Starter distribution.

:-) Not quite what I meant. I have been writing Perl for about 17 years, have lots of perl modules on CPAN - http://search.cpan.org/~scott/

What I mean is - configuration format. E.g. Config::Config, or Perl Data dump or JSON parsed. Because it is Apache we could use Apache format, but that tends to be a bit heavy weight.

I'd recommend to use Moose - a modern class system implementation for perl. It will handle all the underlaying technical details, like providing constructors, etc.

Thanks. I quite like Moose, I used to produce heaps of code using Class::Std.

I'd recommend to create an abstract standalone implementation first, and then a plugin for Catalyst.

Yes I think Catalyst is an important one to write for. I have done a few projects with Catalyst but I can't say I am an expert.

I think the best approach right now is to complete the missing bits in simple - such as file upload.

Thanks

Scott

[SamuraiJack1]

:-) Not quite what I meant. I have been writing Perl for about 17 years, have lots of perl modules on CPAN - http://search.cpan.org/~scott/

Sorry )

What I mean is - configuration format. E.g. Config::Config, or Perl Data dump or JSON parsed. Because it is Apache we could use Apache format, but that tends to be a bit heavy weight.

Perhaps, Config::Any?

[scottpenrose]

Perhaps, Config::Any?

Thanks, that is perfect. The really nice thing is that one supported input is JSON, which we need anyway.

[scottpenrose]

New version released:

• simple CGI now supports Form posts
• modperl now supports loading config via Config::Any (Perl, JSON, YAML - you pick).
• modperl now support CGI form posts and returns (example also updated to show error on email)
• modperl now supports 'before' and 'after' method calls on each action and method - allows you to implement your own security, logging etc.
• modperl now "use CGI;" for form data

Scott