I'm rethinking the basic approach to a database managing script I have and
would need some advice about how to rewrite it into some modules, cgi
scripts that use them and smaller files which are "require"-d and whose
variables I need available in the modules/scripts.
The setup I have now is basically as follows:
There's a main script db.cgi which parses form input and contains subs for
adding, deleting, modifying records as well as search routines and sets
global variables like script path and so forth.
A secondary script html.pl contains all code needed to build html.
The script accesses several (flatfile) databases.
Each of these has a configuration file database.cfg which specifies
variables peculiar to that individual database, like its name, field names
or other customizable settings like whether search results should be bold,
and the name of a file databaseconfig.pl which builds html specific to that
database (search forms, display of search results).
So, conceptually speaking, I have a two-direction process:
- some script components access common subs stored in modules
- the modules, or commonly accessed scripts, need to parse configuration
files to get individual database information
My approach would be this:
- strip db.cgi down to that part which parses form input and calls subs for
adding, deleting, modifying as well as html display depending on form input
values.
- take all general subs out of db.cgi and store them in a module
DATABASEMANAGER.pm
- rewrite html.pl into a module DATABASEHTML.pm
I guess I'd have to declare all variables to be exported - i.e. global
variables like the script path that I want accessible in all script
components - in the modules with "use vars" first and then specify them in
@EXPORT, @EXPORT-OK or %EXPORT_TAGS. Then they would be imported into
wherever I need them with "use DATABASEMANAGER" etc. This much I
understood.
What I don't yet understand is the other direction: How do I make
individual configuration variables, taken from database.cfg, available in
the modules or db.cgi? I guess that would be a job for "require", but am
not sure.
Right now, the database name is passed through the query string as value of
"db" (/mypath/db.cgi?db=database).
Then database.cfg is "require"-d in db.cgi.
So to make values defined in database.cfg, like $db_file_name, available in
db.cgi would be the following:
#!usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use vars qw ($db_setup $db_file_name %in);
use CGI qw(:standard);
my $in = new CGI;
%in = &parse_form;
if ($in{'db'}) { $db_setup = $in{'db'};} #
eval {
...
require "$db_setup.cfg";
}
...
#now I can use $db_file_name
Or could/should I use "our" instead of "use vars" for (a) initializing
variables which will then be filled be requiring $db_setup.cfg and/or (b)
initializing variables which will then be exported from a module?
Any thoughts or words of advice would be greatly appreciated.
Birgit Kellner
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