[Catalyst] Form Module Dichotomy

[Alejandro Imass]

Thank you all for the valuable input to this thread.

>From the comments, my conclusion is that if you already developed with
HTML::Widget it would probably be better to stick with it and wait for
FormFu (or use FormFu from svn), because it's more backward compatible
with legacy HTML::Widget code. For new developments, both FormFu and
FormBuilder seem to be valid options, and if you have developed with
FormBuilder in the past it, would probably make sense to use
C::C::FormBuilder. Nevertheless, FormFu seems to be a fresh, KISS
powerful alternative to C::C::FormBuilder, and probably be more
effective for Catalyst developers because it has been thought to work
with Catalyst from the start. Just MHO and interpretation.

In my case, I will try both before deciding, and leave the back-end
apps with HTML::Widget at the moment. I confess to be inclined for
FormFu after Carl's comments because it seems that it would be easier
to homologue the back-end apps to one standard in the near future. On
the other hand, the little devil on left tells me that
CGI::FormBuilder is a very powerful and proven system that would
certainly have advantages over FormFu in certain scenarios. Again,
IMHO.

As to which one becomes the de-facto way, I will just say one thing:
Hail TIMTOWTDI !

Best,
Alejandro

On 3/23/07, Carl Franks <fireartist at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 22/03/07, Doran L. Barton <fozz at iodynamics.com> wrote:
> > I am currently developing my first app using C:C:FormBuilder too, having
> > done previous Catalyst projects with HTML::Widget. I think FormBuilder may
> > become the de facto way to develop Catalyst apps in the future, especially
> > seeing there is a DBIx::Class::FormBuilder module on the horizon that will
> > marry FormBuilder to DBIx::Class like DBIx::Class::HTMLWidget does for
> > HTML::Widget.
>
> Well, if mts has anything to say about it, it'll be Reaction that
> becomes the Cat de-facto ;)
>
> > Have I missed something? What's FormFu?
>
> Discussion of FormFu has generally been limited to the html-widget
> mailing list so far.
> FormFu is similar to html-widget, but tries to get everything right this time ;)
> It's main selling points are:
> * You can define your forms using external config files (using any
> format supported by Config::Any)
> * Instead of having a simple idea of 'constraint' - it has several
> stages that can process each form field.
> Filters -> Constraints -> Inflators -> Validators -> Transformers.
> Filters are intended to do basic cleanup of data input, such as
> removing trailing whitespace, or removing spaces in a creditcard
> number.
> Constraints are low-level data validation, such as, is this an
> integer, is this in bounds, etc.
> Inflators are similar to DBIC's - they expand the input into an object
> of some sort, so there's one which creates a DateTime object, and
> there's one which turns a file upload into an Imager object.
> Validators are for 'business logic' - more complex validation,
> possibly relating multiple fields, which will usually require a custom
> class created for each check. The only validator written as of yet is
> Imager::Size which checks a picture's pixel size is within bounds.
> And Transformers are to manipulate the (possible inflated) input data
> before using it. The ony transformer written so far is Imager, to edit
> Imager objects (scale, crop, etc).
> There are also Deflators, so you can pass $field->default($value) an
> object and make sure its value is printed properly.
> * Instead of using HTML::Element to generate the xhtml, it uses TT
> templates. Every project will have it's own copy of the template
> files, so you can customise them if you wish.
> * It's gotten rid of html-widget's seperate $result object -
> simplifying usage greatly.
> * Integration with Catalst and DBIx::Class
>
> See `svn log` for more - there's lot's there!
> The code is currently available from:
> http://html-formfu.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/HTML-FormFu/
> http://html-formfu.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/DBIx-Class-FormFu/
> http://html-formfu.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/Catalyst-Controller-HTML-FormFu/
> http://html-formfu.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/HTML-FormFu-Dojo/
> http://html-formfu.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/HTML-FormFu-Imager/
>
> I've started adding some TODO's to the issue tracker:
> http://code.google.com/p/html-formfu/issues/list
> What would be most helpful though for anyone wishing to help, would be
> documentation, as what's there is quite out-of-date.
>
> Cheers,
> Carl
>
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