NAME
    CGI::Capture - Meticulously thorough capture and replaying of CGI calls

SYNOPSIS
      # Capture the current CGI to a file, and replay it once created
      use CGI::Capture 'fileupload.dat';
  
      # Create an object and capture the state
      my $Capture = CGI::Capture->new->capture;
  
      # Store it in a file and load it back in
      $Capture->store('somefile.dat');
      my $second = CGI::Capture->apply('somefile.dat');
  
      # Apply the CGI call to the current environment
      $second->apply;

DESCRIPTION
    CGI does a terribly bad job of saving CGI calls. "CGI::Capture" tries to
    resolve this and save a CGI call in as much painstaking detail as it
    possibly can.

    Because of this, "CGI::Capture" should work with server logins, cookies,
    file uploads, strange execution environments, special environment
    variables, the works.

    It does this by capturing a large amount of the perl environment BEFORE
    CGI.pm itself gets a chance to look at it, and then restores it in the
    same way.

    So in essence, it grabs all of "STDIN", %ENV, @INC, and anything else it
    can think of. The things it can't replicate, it records anyway so that
    later in the debugger it can ensure that the execution environment is as
    close as possible to what it captured (and bitch at you about anything
    you are doing wrong).

    This is a huge help when resolving problems such as when a bug won't
    appear because you aren't debugging the script as the web user and in
    the same directory.

  Using CGI::Capture
    The brain-dead way is to use it as a pragma.

    Add the following to your web application BEFORE you load in CGI itself.

      use CGI::Capture 'cookiebug.dat';

    If the file "cookiebug.dat" does not exist, CGI::Capture will take a
    snapshot of all the bits of the environment that matter to a CGI call,
    and freeze it to the file.

    If the file DOES exist however, CGI::Capture will load in the file and
    replace the current CGI call with the stored one.

  Security
    The actual captured CGI files are Storable CGI::Capture objects. If you
    want to use CGI::Capture in an environment where you have CODE
    refereneces in your @INC path (such as with PAR files), you will need to
    disable security for Storable by setting $CGI::Capture::DEPARSE to true,
    which will enable B::Deparse and Eval support for stored objects.

METHODS
    In most cases, the above is all you probably need. However, if you want
    to get more fine-grained control, you can create and manipulate
    CGI::Capture object directly.

  new
    The "new" only creates a new, empty, capture object.

    Because capturing is destructive to some values (STDIN for example) the
    capture method will capture and then immediately reapply the object, so
    that the current call can continue.

    Returns a CGI::Capture object. Never dies or returns an error, and so
    can be safely method-chained.

  store $filename
    This method behaves slightly differently in object and static context.

    In object context ( $object->store($filename) ) it stores the captured
    data to a file via Storable.

    In static context ( CGI::Capture->store($filename) ) automatically
    creates a new capture object, captures the CGI call, and then stores it,
    all in one hit.

    Returns as for Storable::store or dies if there is a problem storing the
    file. Also dies if it finds a CODE reference in @INC and you have not
    enabled $CGI::Capture::Deparse.

retrieve
    The "retrieve" method is used identically to the Storable method of the
    same name, and wraps it.

    Loads in a stored CGI::Capture object from a file.

    If the stored object had a CODE ref in it's @INC, you will also need to
    enable $CGI::Capture::DEPARSE when loading the file.

    Returns a new CGI::Capture object, or dies on failure.

  capture
    Again, "capture" can be used either as an object or static methods

    When called as an object method ( $object->capture ) it captures the
    current CGI call environment into the object, replacing the existing one
    if needed.

    When called as a static method ( CGI::Capture->capture ) it acts as a
    constructor, creating an object and capturing the CGI call into it
    before returning it.

    In both cases, returns the CGI::Capture object. This method will not die
    or return an error and can be safely method-chained.

  apply [ $filename ]
    Again, "apply" works different when called as an object of static
    method.

    If called as an object method ( $object->apply ) it will take the CGI
    call the object contains, and apply it to the current environment.
    Because this works at the environment level, it needs to be done BEFORE
    CGI.pm attempts to create the CGI object.

    The "apply" method will also check certain values against the current
    environment. In short, if it can't alter the environment, it won't run
    unless YOU alter the environment and try again.

    These include the real and effective user and group, the OS name, the
    perl version, and whether Tainting is on or off.

    The effect is to really make sure you are replaying the call in your
    console debugger exactly as it was from the browser, and you arn't
    accidentally using a different user, a different perl, or are making
    some other overlooked and hard to debug mistake.

    In the future, by request, I may add some options to selectively disable
    some of the tests. But unless someone asks, I'm leaving all of them on.

    In the static context, ( CGI::Capture->apply($file) ) it takes a
    filename argument, immediately retrieves the CGI call from the object
    and immediately applies it to the current environment.

    In both context, returns true on success or dies on error, or it your
    testing environment does not match.

SUPPORT
    All bugs should be filed via the bug tracker at

    <http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=CGI-Capture>

    For other issues, or commercial enhancement or support, contact the
    author.

AUTHORS
    Adam Kennedy <cpan@ali.as>

    Thank you to Phase N (<http://phase-n.com/>) for permitting the open
    sourcing and release of this distribution.

SEE ALSO
    <http://ali.as/>, CGI

COPYRIGHT
    Copyright (c) 2004 - 2006 Adam Kennedy. All rights reserved. This
    program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
    the same terms as Perl itself.

    The full text of the license can be found in the LICENSE file included
    with this module.

