NAME
    CGI::Application::Plugin::HTDot - Enable "magic dot" notation in
    CGI::Application-derived applications that use HTML::Template for their
    templating mechanism.

VERSION
    Version 0.05

SYNOPSIS
        # In your CGI::Application-derived base class. . .
        use base ("CGI::Application::Plugin::HTDot", "CGI::Application");

        # Later, in a run mode far, far away. . .
        sub view {
            my $self     = shift;
            my $username = $self->query->param( 'user' );
            my $user     = My::Users->retrieve( $username );

            my $tmpl_view = $self->load_tmpl( 'view_user.tmpl' );

            # The magic happens here!  Pass our Class::DBI object
            # to the template and display it
            $tmpl_view->param( user => $user );

            return $tmpl_view->output;
        }

DESCRIPTION
    Imagine this: you've written a lot of code based upon CGI::Application,
    and also with HTML::Template because the two have always had such a high
    level of integration. You reach a situation (many times, perhaps) where
    you could really use the power and convenience of being able to pass
    objects to your templates and call methods of those objects from within
    your template (ala Template Toolkit), but your development schedule
    doesn't give you the time to learn (much less migrate to!) Template
    Toolkit or AnyTemplate. Well, you need fret no more!
    `CGI::Application::Plugin::HTDot' helps you bring the power of the magic
    dot to your HTML::Template-based templates from within your
    CGI::Application-derived webapps.

    CGI::Application::Plugin::HTDot provides the glue between
    CGI::Application, HTML::Template::Pluggable and
    HTML::Template::Plugin::Dot. It overrides the `load_tmpl()' method
    provided with CGI::Application and replaces it with one that turns on
    the magic dot in HTML::Template. The `load_tmpl()' method provided here
    is 100% compatible with the one found in a stock CGI::Application app,
    so using this plugin does not require refactoring of any code. You can
    use the magic dot in your application and templates going forward, and
    refactor older code to use it as your schedule permits.

    When you have lots of apps and lots of templates, and no means to switch
    to Template Toolkit, this will make your life infinitely easier.

    For more information about the magic dot, see
    HTML::Template::Plugin::Dot.

METHODS
  load_tmpl()

    For the most part, this is the exact `load_tmpl()' method from
    CGI::Application, except it uses HTML::Template::Pluggable and
    HTML::Template::Plugin::Dot instead of HTML::Template.

    See the CGI::Application reference for more detailed information on what
    parameters can be passed to `load_tmpl()'.

  Extending load_tmpl()

    There are times when the basic `load_tmpl()' functionality just isn't
    enough. Many HTML::Template developers set `die_on_bad_params' to `0' on
    all of their templates. The easiest way to do this is by replacing or
    extending the functionality of CGI::Application's `load_tmpl()' method.
    This is still possible using the plugin.

    The following code snippet illustrates one possible way of achieving
    this:

      sub load_tmpl {
          my ($self, $tmpl_file, @extra_params) = @_;

          push @extra_params, "die_on_bad_params", "0";
          push @extra_params, "cache",             "1";

          return $self->SUPER::load_tmpl($tmpl_file, @extra_params);
      }

    This plugin honors the `load_tmpl()' callback. Any `load_tmpl()'-based
    callbacks you have created will be executed as intended:

    ....ABOVE EXAMPLE AS CALLBACK. TEST!!!

DEFAULT PARAMETERS
    By default, this plugin will automatically add a parameter 'c' to your
    template that will return your CGI::Application object. This will allow
    you to access any methods in your application from within your template.
    This allows for some powerful actions in your templates. For example,
    your templates can access query parameters, or if you use the excellent
    CGI::Application::Plugin::Session module, you can access session
    parameters:

            Hello <tmpl_var c.session.param('username')>!

            <a href="<tmpl_var c.query.self_url>">Reload this page</a>

    Another useful plugin that can use this feature is the
    CGI::Application::Plugin::HTMLPrototype plugin, which gives easy access
    to the prototype.js JavaScript library:

            <tmpl_var c.prototype.define_javascript_functions>
            <a href="#" onclick="javascript:<tmpl_var c.prototype.visual_effect( 'Appear', 'extra_info' )>; return false;">Extra Info</a>
            <div style="display: none" id="extra_info">Here is some more extra info</div>

    With this extra flexibility comes some responsibilty as well. It could
    lead down a dangerous path if you start making alterations to your
    object from within the template. For example you could call c.header_add
    to add new outgoing headers, but that is something that should be left
    in your code, not in your template. Try to limit yourself to pulling in
    information into your templates (like the session example above does).

    This plugin will respect your current `die_on_bad_params' setting. If
    `die_on_bad_params' is set to `1' and your template does not use 'c',
    the plugin will not attempt to pass the CGI::Application object to your
    template. In other words, it does not force your application to set
    `die_on_bad_params' to `0' to accomplish this action.

AUTHOR
    Jason A. Crome, `<cromedome@cpan.org>'

BUGS
    Please report any bugs or feature requests to
    `bug-cgi-application-plugin-htdot@rt.cpan.org', or through the web
    interface at
    http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=CGI-Application-Plugin-HT
    Dot. I will be notified, and then you'll automatically be notified of
    progress on your bug as I make changes.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    Thanks and credit needs to be given to Jesse Erlbaum and Mark Stosberg
    for the original `load_tmpl()' method that this is based on, to Rhesa
    Rozendaal and Mark Stosberg for their work on enabling the magic dot in
    HTML::Template, Cees Hek for his idea (and tutorial on how) to use
    multiple inheritance to make this plugin work, and to the usual crowd in
    #cgiapp on irc.perl.org for making this all worthwhile for me :)

    An extra special thanks to Cees Hek for the inspiration, code, and
    examples to implement the 'c' parameter in templates.

SEE ALSO
    CGI::Application, HTML::Template, HTML::Template::Pluggable,
    HTML::Template::Plugin::Dot, CGI::Application::Plugin::TT.

COPYRIGHT & LICENSE
    Copyright (C) 2005-2007, Jason A. Crome. All rights reserved.

    This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
    under the same terms as Perl itself.

