HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler

- NAME
- SYNOPSIS
- DESCRIPTION
- PARAMETERS TO THE `new()` CONSTRUCTOR
- ACCESSOR METHODS
- OTHER METHODS
- SEE ALSO

NAME

HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler - Mason/mod_perl interface

SYNOPSIS | NAME

        use HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler;

        my $ah = HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler->new (..name/value params..);
        ...
        sub handler {
            my $r = shift;
            $ah->handle_request($r);
        }

DESCRIPTION | SYNOPSIS

The ApacheHandler object links Mason to mod_perl, running components in response to HTTP requests. It is controlled primarily through parameters to the `new()` constructor.

`handle_request()` is not a user method, but rather is called from the HTML::Mason::handler() routine in handler.pl.

PARAMETERS TO THE `new()` CONSTRUCTOR | DESCRIPTION

apache_status_title
  Title that you want this ApacheHandler to appear as under Apache::Status. Default is ``HTML::Mason status''. This is useful if you create more than one ApacheHandler object and want them all visible via Apache::Status.

args_method
  Method to use for unpacking GET and POST arguments. The valid options are 'CGI' and 'mod_perl'; these indicate that a `CGI.pm` or `Apache::Request` object (respectively) will be created for the purposes of argument handling.

  'mod_perl' is the default and requires that you have installed the `Apache::Request` package.

  If args_method is 'mod_perl', the `$r` global is upgraded to an Apache::Request object. This object inherits all Apache methods and adds a few of its own, dealing with parameters and file uploads. See `Apache::Request` for more information.

  If the args_method is 'CGI', the Mason request object (`$m`) will have a method called `cgi_object` available. This method returns the CGI object used for argument processing.

  While Mason will load `Apache::Request` or `CGI` as needed at runtime, it is recommended that you preload the relevant module either in your httpd.conf or handler.pl file, as this will save some memory.

decline_dirs
  True or false, default is true. Indicates whether Mason should decline directory requests, leaving Apache to serve up a directory index or a `FORBIDDEN` error as appropriate. See the allowing directory requests section of the administrator's manual for more information about handling directories with Mason.

interp
  The interpreter object to associate with this compiler. By default a new object of the specified interp_class will be created.

interp_class
  The class to use when creating a interpreter. Defaults to HTML::Mason::Interp.

ACCESSOR METHODS | PARAMETERS TO THE `new()` CONSTRUCTOR

All of the above properties, except interp_class, have standard accessor methods of the same name: no arguments retrieves the value, and one argument sets it, except for args_method, which is not settable. For example:

        my $ah = HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler->new;
        my $decline_dirs = $ah->decline_dirs;
        $ah->decline_dirs(1);

OTHER METHODS | ACCESSOR METHODS

The ApacheHandler object has a few other publically accessible methods that may be of interest to end users.

handle_request ($r)
  This method takes an Apache object representing a request and translates that request into a form Mason can understand. It's return value is an Apache status code.

prepare_request ($r)
  This method takes an Apache object representing a request and returns a new Mason request object or an Apache status code. If it is a request object you can manipulate that object as you like, and then call the request object's `exec` method to have it generate output.

  If this method returns an Apache status code, that means that it could not create a Mason request object.

  This method is useful if you would like to have a chance to decline a request based on properties of the Mason request object or a component object. For example:

          my $req = $ah->prepare_request($r);
          # $req must be an Apache status code if it's not an object
          return $req unless ref($req);

          return DECLINED
              unless $req->request_comp->source_file =~ /\.html$/;

          $req->exec;

request_args ($r)
  Given an Apache request object, this method returns a three item list. The first item is a hash reference containing the arguments passed by the client's request.

  The second is an Apache request object. This is returned for backwards compatibility from when this method was responsible for turning a plain Apache object into an Apache::Request object.

  The third item may be a CGI.pm object or `undef`, depending on the value of the args_method parameter.

SEE ALSO | OTHER METHODS

HTML::Mason, HTML::Mason::Admin, HTML::Mason::Interp

HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler