[Catalyst-dev] RFC: Catalyst::Action::Serialize::SimpleExcel

[J. Shirley]

On Tue, Nov 11, 2008 at 4:17 AM, Rafael Kitover <rkitover at io.com> wrote:
> svn:
> http://dev.catalyst.perl.org/repos/Catalyst/Catalyst-Action-Serialize-SimpleExcel/1.000/trunk/
>
> dev release on CPAN
> R/RK/RKITOVER/Catalyst-Action-Serialize-SimpleExcel-0.01_01.tar.gz
>
> NAME
>    Catalyst::Action::Serialize::SimpleExcel - Serialize tables to Excel
>    files
>
> VERSION
>    Version 0.01_01
>
> SYNOPSIS
>    Serializes tabular data to an Excel file. Not terribly configurable, but
>    should suffice for simple purposes.
>
>    In your REST Controller:
>
>        package MyApp::Controller::REST;
>
>        use parent 'Catalyst::Controller::REST';
>        use POSIX 'strftime';
>
>        __PACKAGE__->config->{map}{'application/vnd.ms-excel'} =
> 'SimpleExcel';
>
>        sub books : Local ActionClass('REST') {}
>
>        sub books_GET {
>            my ($self, $c) = @_;
>
>            my $rs = $c->model('MyDB::Book')->search({}, {
>                order_by => 'author,title'
>            });
>
>            my @t = map {
>                my $row = $_;
>                [ map $row->$_, qw/author title/ ]
>            } $rs->all;
>
>            my $entity = {
>                header => ['Author', 'Title'], # will be bold
>                column_widths => [30, 50], # in characters
>                rows => \@t,
>        # the part before .xls, which is automatically appended
>                filename => 'myapp-books-'.strftime('%m-%d-%Y', localtime)
>            };
>
>            $self->status_ok(
>                $c,
>                entity => $entity
>            );
>        }
>
>    In your javascript, to initiate a file download:
>
>        // this uses jQuery
>        function export_to_excel() {
>            $('<iframe '
>             +'src="/rest/books?content-type=application%2Fvnd.ms-excel">')
>            .hide().appendTo('body');
>        }
>
>    Note, the content-type query param is required if you're just linking to
>    the action. It tells C::C::REST what you're serializing the data as.
>
> DESCRIPTION
>    Your entity should be either an array of arrays, or the more embellished
>    format described in the "SYNOPSIS".
>
> AUTHOR
>    Rafael Kitover, "<rkitover at cpan.org>"
>
> BUGS
>    Please report any bugs or feature requests to
>    "bug-catalyst-action-serialize-simpleexcel at rt.cpan.org", or through
>    the web interface at
>    <http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=Catalyst-Action-Serializ
>    e-SimpleExcel>. I will be notified, and then you'll automatically be
>    notified of progress on your bug as I make changes.
>
> TODO
>    *   Split into mutliple overridable methods.
>
>    *   Multiple sheet support.
>
>    *   Autofit support (would require a macro.)
>
> SUPPORT
>    You can find documentation for this module with the perldoc command.
>
>        perldoc Catalyst::Action::Serialize::SimpleExcel
>
>    You can also look for information at:
>
>    *   RT: CPAN's request tracker
>
>        <http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/Bugs.html?Dist=Catalyst-Action-Serialize-
>        SimpleExcel>
>
>    *   AnnoCPAN: Annotated CPAN documentation
>
>        <http://annocpan.org/dist/Catalyst-Action-Serialize-SimpleExcel>
>
>    *   CPAN Ratings
>
>        <http://cpanratings.perl.org/d/Catalyst-Action-Serialize-SimpleExcel
>        >
>
>    *   Search CPAN
>
>        <http://search.cpan.org/dist/Catalyst-Action-Serialize-SimpleExcel/>
>
> COPYRIGHT & LICENSE
>    Copyright (c) 2008 Rafael Kitover
>
>    This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
>    under the same terms as Perl itself.
>
>


Hi Rafael,

Good work, this looks like a very useful module.  I look forward to
seeing it on CPAN.

One thing you may want to do in the examples is to use the
HashRefInflator instead of simply mapping (just for efficiency).

http://search.cpan.org/~ash/DBIx-Class-0.08010/lib/DBIx/Class/ResultClass/HashRefInflator.pm

Thanks,
-J