NAME
    Text::MicroMason - Simplified HTML::Mason Templating

DESCRIPTION
    Text::MicroMason interpolates blocks of Perl code embedded into text
    strings, using the simplest features of HTML::Mason.

    Here's an example of Mason-style templating, taken from the HTML::Mason
    manpage:

        % my $noun = 'World';
        Hello <% $noun %>!
        How are ya?

    Interpreting this template with Text::MicroMason produces the same
    output as it would in HTML::Mason:

        Hello World!
        How are ya?

    A complete discussion of the supported syntax and the way it is
    compiled is provided in the module's inline POD.

MOTIVATION
    The HTML::Mason module provides a useful syntax for dynamic template
    interpretation (sometimes called embedded scripting): plain text (or
    HTML) containing occasional chunks of Perl code whose results are
    interpolated into the text when the template is "executed."

    However, HTML::Mason also provides a full-featured web application
    framework with mod_perl integration, a caching engine, and numerous
    other functions, and there are times in which I'd like to use the
    templating capability without configuring a full Mason installation.

    Thus, the Text::MicroMason module was born: it supports the core aspects
    of the HTML::Mason syntax ("<%...%>" expressions, "%...\n" and
    "<%perl>...</%perl>" blocks, "<& file &>" includes, "%ARGS" and
    "$_out->()" ), and omits the features that are web specific (like
    autohandlers) or are less widely used (like "<%method>" blocks).

  Related Modules

    You may well be thinking "yet another dynamic templating module?
    Sheesh!" And you'd have a good point. There certainly are a variety of
    templating toolkits on CPAN already; even restricting ourselves to those
    which use Perl syntax for both interpolated expressions and flow control
    (as opposed to "little languages") there's a fairly crowded field,
    including Template::Toolkit, Template::Perl, Text::Template, and
    Text::ScriptTemplate, as well as those that are part of full-blown web
    application frameworks like Apache::ASP, ePerl, HTML::Embperl, and
    HTML::Mason.

    Nonetheless, I think this module occupies a useful niche: it provides a
    reasonable subset of HTML::Mason syntax in a very light-weight fashion.
    In comparison to the other modules listed, MicroMason aims to be fairly
    lightweight, using one eval per parse, converting the template to an
    cacheable unblessed subroutine ref, eschewing method calls, and
    containing just over a hundred lines of Perl code.

  Compatibility with HTML::Mason

    See the HTML::Mason manpage for a much more full-featured version of the
    capabilities provided by this module.

    If you've already got HTML::Mason installed, configured, and loaded into
    your process, you're probably better off using it rather than this
    package. HTML::Mason's "$interp->make_component()" method allows you to
    parse a text string without saving it to disk first.

    The following sets of HTML::Mason features are not supported by
    Text::MicroMason:

    *   No %attr, %shared, %method, or %def blocks.

    *   No |h or |u options to escape the result of interpolated
        expressions.

    *   No $m Mason interpreter context.

    *   No $r request object

    *   No shared files like autohandler and dhandler.

    *   No mod_perl integration or configuration capability.

DISTRIBUTION, INSTALLATION AND SUPPORT
  Version

    This is version 1.07 of Text::MicroMason.

  Prerequisites

    This module should work with any version of Perl 5, without platform
    dependencies or additional modules beyond the core distribution.

  Installation

    You should be able to install this module using the CPAN shell
    interface:

      perl -MCPAN -e 'install Text::MicroMason'

    Alternately, you may retrieve this package from CPAN or from the
    author's site:

    * http://search.cpan.org/~evo/

    * http://www.cpan.org/modules/by-authors/id/E/EV/EVO

    * http://www.evoscript.org/Text-MicroMason/dist/

    After downloading the distribution, follow the normal procedure to
    unpack and install it, using the commands shown below or their local
    equivalents on your system:

      tar xzf Text-MicroMason-*.tar.gz
      cd Text-MicroMason-*
      perl Makefile.PL
      make test && sudo make install

  Release Status

    This module's CPAN registration should read:

      Name            DSLIP  Description
      --------------  -----  ---------------------------------------------
      Text::
      ::MicroMason    Rdpfp  Simplified HTML::Mason Templating

    This module should be categorized under group 11, Text Processing
    (although there's also an lesser argument for placing it 15 Web/HTML,
    where HTML::Mason appears).

    This module has been available on CPAN for over two years, with a
    relatively stable interface and feature set. If you encounter any
    problems, please inform the author and I'll endeavor to patch them
    promptly.

  Tested Platforms

    This release has been tested succesfully on the following platforms:

      5.6.1 on darwin

    Earlier releases have also tested OK on a wide variety of platforms. You
    may review the current test results from CPAN-Testers:

    * http://testers.cpan.org/show/Text-MicroMason.html

  Support

    If you have questions or feedback about this module, please feel free to
    contact the author at the below address. Although there is no formal
    support program, I do attempt to answer email promptly.

    I would be particularly interested in any suggestions towards improving
    the documentation, correcting any Perl-version or platform dependencies,
    as well as general feedback and suggested additions.

    Bug reports that contain a failing test case are greatly appreciated,
    and suggested patches will be promptly considered for inclusion in
    future releases.

    To report bugs via the CPAN web tracking system, go to
    "http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/Bugs.html?Dist=Text-MicroMason" or send mail
    to "Dist=Text-MicroMason#rt.cpan.org", replacing "#" with "@".

CREDITS AND COPYRIGHT
  Author

    Developed by Matthew Simon Cavalletto at Evolution Softworks. More free
    Perl software is available at "www.evoscript.org".

    You may contact the author directly at "evo@cpan.org" or
    "simonm@cavalletto.org".

  The Shoulders of Giants

    Based on the superb HTML::Mason, originally developed by Jonathan
    Swartz.

  Feedback and Suggestions

    My sincere thanks to the following users who have provided feedback:

      Pascal Barbedor
      Mark Hampton
      Philip King
      Daniel J. Wright
      William Kern
      Tommi Maekitalo

  Copyright

    Copyright 2002, 2003 Matthew Simon Cavalletto.

    Portions copyright 2001 Evolution Online Systems, Inc.

  License

    You may use, modify, and distribute this software under the same terms
    as Perl.
