Apache::SessionX - An extented persistence framework for session data

You may distribute under the terms of either the GNU General Public License or the Artistic License, as specified in the Perl README file.

THIS PACKAGE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

$Id: README,v 1.2 2001/08/14 04:37:28 richter Exp $

OVERVIEW

Apache::SessionX extents Apache::Session. It was initialy written to use Apache::Session from inside of HTML::Embperl, but is seems to be usefull outside of Embperl as well, so here is it as standalone module.

Apache::Session is a persistence framework which is particularly useful for tracking session data between httpd requests. Apache::Session is designed to work with Apache and mod_perl, but it should work under CGI and other web servers, and it also works outside of a web server altogether.

Addtionaly to Apache::Session, Apache::SessionX provides the following possibilites:

Configuration: Makefile.PL checks which componemnts are installed on the system and interactivly builds a set of configuration, including a default one. This configurations are saved and can be used by name later on. The default configuration is used, if no parameters are given to Apache::SessionX. This simplifies the configuration and usage.
Lazy operation: Apache::SessionX supports lazy operation, that means that the actual data access only takes place if the session data is needed, so you are able to setup the session object, without worrying about performance in case you don't access the session data.
Specifing the ID: Apache::SessionX can use a given ID instead of creating it's own one. You can also give an string which is used to generate the ID
Genrate unique ID: Apache::SessionX is able to save the session with an new ID every time data is modified. This make it possible to keep an history.
Addtionaly methods are provided to get the ID, the inital ID, the modified status and to close a session, without destroying the session object itself.

DOCUMENTATION

After Installation the documentaion could be viewed via

perldoc Apache::SessionX

You should addtionaly read the

perldoc Apache::SessionX
perldoc Apache::SessionX::Generate::MD5 perldoc Apache::Session::Store::
perldoc Apache::Session::Lock::
perldoc Apache::Session::Serialize::*

INSTALLATION

perl Makefile.PL
make
make test
make install

Makefile.PL will ask you what configuration you want to use and saves them for later use with the config parameter. This configuration are tested when you run make test, so it's really a good idea to run make test, to make sure everything works as expected. Even better is to run make test as the user, that your webserver is running as, so you are able to detected permission problems early.

SUPPORT

You can get support for this module via the mod_perl or Embperl mailing list. Please use the lists for any questions and don't contact me directly. Details about the list can be found at

http://perl.apache.org/

AUTHOR

G. Richter (richter@dev.ecos.de)