[Catalyst] Page layout w/Catalyst

[David K Storrs]

On Dec 13, 2005, at 10:02 PM, Kaare Rasmussen wrote:

> Hi
>
> As I'm new to Catalyst and TT I'd like to ask for advice about  
> which bit will
> control what part of my page layout.
>
> The layout I'm planning to use has
> - A top part that rarely will change (perhaps breadcrumbs or some  
> similar
>   though)
> - A left menu. I'm thinking to use Tree::Simple
> - A bottom part for status information. I'd like to put validation  
> info here
>   too.
> - And finally the work area (central) where record lists and update  
> pages will
>   go.
>
> My first idea is to have Catalyst control it all. Does anyone think  
> that TT
> does a better job? Or does anyone think this is a stupid way to do  
> things?

Hi Kaare,

Andyg already answered your question, but I thought I'd take a whack  
from a different perspective.

Catalyst is really just the overall framework, the collection of  
modules.  When you're working with actual code, there isn't really  
such a beast as "Catalyst".  There is your top-level application  
(usually called MyApp), there are controllers, views, models,  
plugins, etc.   I'm guessing that when you say "have Catalyst control  
it", you're thinking about a Controller object.  Generally you would  
want to use a View, and TT would be one example of a view.

So, if you have TT do the work, then you *are* having Catalyst  
"control it all."  Catalyst (the framework) will pre-populate various  
objects that are useful to your TT templates (the $c variable and the  
stash), and you can use the power of TT while readily accessing all  
the advantages of Catalyst.  You can have your cake and eat it too.

I hope this is useful, and that I didn't just rehash old news.

--Dks