NAME

CGI::Getopt - Configuration initializer

SYNOPSIS

use CGI::Getopt;

      my $cg = CGI::Getopt->new('ifn', 'my_init.cfg', 'opt', 'vhS:a:');
      my $ar = $cg->get_inputs; 

DESCRIPTION

This program enables CGI and command line inputs. It uses CGI and Getopt::Std modules.

new (ifn => 'file.cfg', opt => 'hvS:')

Input variables:

      $ifn  - input/initial file name. 
      $opt  - options for Getopt::Std

Variables used or routines called:

None

How to use:

       my $cg = new CGI::Getopt;      # or
       my $cg = CGI::Getopt->new;     # or
       my $cg = CGI::Getopt->new(ifn=>'file.cfg',opt=>'hvS:'); # or
       my $cg = CGI::Getopt->new('ifn', 'file.cfg','opt','hvS:'); 

Return: new empty or initialized CGI::Getopt object.

This method constructs a Perl object and capture any parameters if specified. It creates and defaults the following variables:

      $self->{ifn} = ""
      $self->{opt} = 'hvS:'; 

get_inputs($ifn, $opt)

Input variables:

      $ifn  - input/initial file name. 
      $opt  - options for Getopt::Std, for instance 'vhS:a:'

Variables used or routines called:

None

How to use:

my $ar = $self->get_inputs('/tmp/my_init.cfg','vhS:');

Return: ($q, $ar) where $q is the CGI object and $ar is a hash array reference containing parameters from web form, or command line and/or configuration file if specified.

This method performs the following tasks:

1. create a CGI object
2. get input from CGI web form or command line
3. read initial file if provided
4. merge the two inputs into one hash array

This method uses the following rules:

1. All parameters in the initial file can not be changed through command line or web form;
2. The "-S" option in command line can be used to set non-single char parameters in the format of -S k1=value1:k2=value2
3. Single char parameters are included only if they are listed in $opt input variable.

Some parameters are dfined automatically:

      script_name - $ENV{SCRIPT_NAME} 
      url_dn      - $ENV{HTTP_HOST}
      home_url    - http://$ENV{HTTP_HOST}
      HomeLoc     - http://$ENV{HTTP_HOST}/
      version     - $VERSION
      action      - https://$ENV{HTTP_HOST}$ENV{SCRIPT_NAME}
      encoding    - application/x-www-form-urlencoded
      method      - POST

read_init_file($fn)

Input variables:

$fn - full path to a file name

Variables used or routines called:

None

How to use:

my $ar = $self->read_init_file('crop.cfg');

Return: a hash array ref

This method reads a configuraton file containing parameters in the format of key=values. Multiple lines is allowed for values as long as the lines after the "key=" line are indented as least with two blanks. For instance:

      width = 80
      desc  = This is a long
              description about the value

This will create a hash array of

      ${$ar}{width} = 80
      ${$ar}{desc}  = "This is a long description about the value"

read_cfg_file($fn,$ot, $fs)

Input variables:

      $fn - full path to a file name
      $ot - output array type: A(array) or H(hash)
      $fs - field separator, default to vertical bar (|)

Variables used or routines called:

echoMSG - display message

How to use:

my $arf = $self->read_cfg_file('crop.cfg', 'H');

Return: an array or hash array ref containing (${$arf}[$i]{$itm}, ${$arf}[$i][$j];

This method reads a configuraton file containing delimited fields. It looks a line starting with '#CN:' for column names. If it finds the line, it uses to define the first row in the array or use the column names as keys in the hash array.

The default output type is A(array). It will read the field names into the first row ([0][0]~[0][n]). If output array type is hash, then it uses the columns name as keys such as ${$arf}[$i]{key}. If it does not find 'CN:' line, it will use 'FD001' ~ 'FD##' as keys.

      #Form: fm1
      #CN: Step|VarName|DispName|Action|Description                         
      0.0|t1|Title||CROP Worksheet                          

HISTORY

• Version 0.1 This version is to test the concept and routines.
• Version 0.11 04/29/2005 (htu) - fixed a few minor things such as module title.
• Version 0.12 Make sure Debug::EchoMessage installed as pre-required.
• Version 0.13 Added read_cfg_file routine.

SEE ALSO (some of docs that I check often)

        Data::Describe, Oracle::Loader, CGI::Getopt, File::Xcopy,
        perltoot(1), perlobj(1), perlbot(1), perlsub(1), perldata(1),
        perlsub(1), perlmod(1), perlmodlib(1), perlref(1), perlreftut(1).

AUTHOR

Copyright (c) 2005 Hanming Tu. All rights reserved.

        This package is free software and is provided "as is" without
        express or implied warranty. It may be used, redistributed and/or
        modified under the terms of the Perl Artistic License (see
        http://www.perl.com/perl/misc/Artistic.html)