[Catalyst-dev] RFC: Changing Tutorial From HTML::Widget to C::C::FormBuilder

[Carl Franks]

On 27/02/07, hkclark at gmail.com <hkclark at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Everyone,
>
> I have been thinking for a while that we need to get away from HTML::Widget
> with the tutorial.  The current version on CPAN does not install without a
> force and it sounds like maintenance has come to an end.
>
> In terms of which module should be used for form management, validation, and
> related stuff, I seem to be seeing 3 main options discussed on the list and
> in #catalyst (in no particular order):
> 1) HTML::FormFu
>  2) Catalyst::Controller::FormBuilder
> 3) Reaction
>
>  I haven't had a chance to experiment with Option 1 yet, but judging from
> email on the list, it sounds like Carl has done some great things with it.
> I saw posts where it sounds like Carl has positioned FormFu as a replacement
> for H::W, but I'm not sure if it's a backward compatible sort of "drop in"
> replacement or a totally different approach (IOW, if we put FormFu in the
> tutorial, I don't know if we could migrate the existing Advanced CRUD
> section to FormFu or if it would require a total re-write because they are
> too different).  Comments welcome on that.
>
> I have been working with C::C::FormBuilding lately and I like it.  I like
> how it let's you define your forms using YAML in .fb files... to me, that
> seems much cleaner that cluttering up my controller with the stuff I used to
> do with HTML::Widget.  FormBuilder seems to have a loyal following outside
> of Catalyst, so it should be sticking around for a while.  I believe
> Jonathan Rockway will be covering FormBuilding as the primary form
> maintenance and validation module in his upcoming book.
>
> I spent a little time working with Reaction, but I'm still a newbie for
> sure.  It certainly sounds like the "Holy Grail" option for not just form
> management, but better design of your views and models.  However, it sounds
> like it would still be a bit early to put that in the tutorial and have it
> be seen as a "best practice."  Also, even when Reaction is "finished," it
> still might be good to have something "less complex" or "more traditional"
> discussed first in the tutorial, with Reaction being a different section (or
> sections) that cover more than just forms (get into it's unique approach to
> views and models).
>
> So, I have been thinking this might make sense:
>
> 1) Replace the existing "Advanced CRUD" section 8 with a C::C::FormBuilder
> section
> 2) When we are ready, add another section (or more) that covers Reaction
> (IOW, first teach FormBuilder just for forms and then teach Reaction as the
> more "comprehensive" solution)
> 3) Re the existing Advanced CRUD section that discusses HTML::Widget, I see
> several options:
>   a) Delete it altogether
>   b) Put it at the end as a deprecated section in case some people are still
> interested
>   c) Migrate it to FormFu
>
> What do people think?

formfu isn't going to be released to cpan (even as a dev release)
until I'm happy it's stable (likely at least a couple of months). So
though it would be nice to see it in the tutorial, it's not very
practical for most people to use immediately.

Regarding problems installing html-widget, it's core rendering is
fundamentally broken because of a recent change to HTML::Element
(which the author won't revert).
Despite saying several times on irc and the h-w list that anyone can
get svn commits for h-w, no-one has come forward.
What I'll do in the meantime is make the failing tests be skipped,
make a short note in the docs of what's broken, and push it out to
cpan.

Cheers,
Carl