[Catalyst] Paging thru a complex POSTed search -- HOWTO?

[will at serensoft.com]

Short version:

Using [% c.req.uri_with({ page =3D> pager.next_page }) %] is fine for a sim=
ple
single-field search (where the form uses GET instead of POST)... but how do
we PAGE through (and/or cache) a multi-field form search that uses POST?


Long version:

This is probably already a posted recipe somewhere, but I haven't had much
luck finding answers via googling combinations of 'perl catalyst post cache
pager' ... so pointers are welcome:


# Form has lots of fields, we'll just nab a sample handful from the POST:

my @terms =3D map{s/\s+//; $_} split /,/, $form->field('keywords');
# I know, but it's just an example, this isn't a robust search-field parser
:)

my %search =3D (
    asof =3D> {
        # date field "asof" must be within date range
        '>=3D' =3D> $form->field('start_date'),
        '<=3D' =3D> $form->field('end_date'),
    },
    terms =3D> [
        # field "terms" can contain any of the keywords
        map { +{ -like =3D> '%' . $_ . '%' } } @terms
    ],
);

my $page =3D $c->req->param('page');
$page =3D 1 if ! defined( $page ) || ! $page || $page =3D~ /\D/;
my $result =3D $c->model('Package')->search( \%search, {page=3D>$page} );

$c->stash->{results} =3D $result;
$c->stash->{pager} =3D $result->pager;


Then, in the template:


<a href=3D"[% c.req.uri_with({page =3D> pager.prev_page}) %]">Prev</a>
<a href=3D"[% c.req.uri_with({page =3D> pager.next_page}) %]">Next</a>


That works well for simple GET forms where the ?field=3Dval syntax is used =
in
the URI.

What's the approach for paging the (cached?) query results from a
complex-field POSTed search form?

I'm imagining a two-table DB solution where we cache the found row-id's in
table `cached_search_row` and link that to `cached_search`, then have the
cached_search.id mentioned in the URI. I'm hoping there's a better way
someone has already conjured up that doesn't have all the drawbacks of this
approach that we haven't even thought of...

Thanks in advance!


-- =

will trillich
"It's only by saying 'no' that you can concentrate on the things that are
really important." -- Steve Jobs

-- =

will trillich
"It's only by saying 'no' that you can concentrate on the things that are
really important." -- Steve Jobs
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