11.5 Inline Perl Sections


There are several different ways to embed Perl code into the Mason pages: <% ... %> sections, " % " lines, and <%perl> ... </%perl> blocks. The next sections explore these.

11.5.1 The <% ... %> Tag

These tags are useful for generating the values of variables and complex expressions. This example code generates HTML using these tags:

 Name: <% $name %>  Age:  <% $age %>  Address: <% %address %>  Price : <% $price*(1+$tax)%> 

The HTML generated is the result of the evaluation of the variables within the tags, including the evaluation of the final arithmetic expression.

11.5.2 % Lines

This type of Perl code is most useful for creating global variables and for embedding conditional and looping constructs.

Put this example in /var/www/html/mason/percent.html :

 % my $client = $ENV{REMOTE_ADDR};  <html>  <head>  <title>Percent Lines with Mason</title>  </head>  <body bgcolor="#ffffff">  Hello <% $client %>!  <hr>  % if ($client =~ /127\.0\.0\.1/) {  We are called from localhost.  % } else {  We are called from elsewhere.  % }  <hr>  % my $i=0;  % while ($i < 10) {  <tt>$i == <% $i %></tt>  <br>  %    $i++;  % }  </body>  </html> 

The file begins by setting $client to the client IP address stored in %ENV (notice that Mason has access to the Apache environment variables stored in %ENV ). Within the body of the HTML is the code <% $client %> , which is replaced with the client IP address ”if this program is accessed by a client that is the localhost , this address will be 127.0.0.1 .

An if statement checks the client IP address. If it is 127.0.0.1 , the localhost , the program says so. Otherwise, it prints a statement saying the program was called from elsewhere.

The code then loops from 0 to 9, including the values of the integers (such as $i = 0 ) in the HTML. Again, $i must be declared as a my() variable. To view this file, load either of these URLs: http://localhost/mason/percent.html or www.opensourcewebbook.com/mason/percent.html. You should see something that resembles Figure 11.2.

Figure 11.2. Mason % lines

graphics/11fig02.gif

More on Perl Constructs

All of Perl's constructs can be embedded in a Mason HTML file. Next we demonstrate the syntax for each construct and then show a complete example illustrating each construct.

The if Statement This is the syntax for the if :

 % if (  condition  ){  % } elsif {  % } elsif {  % } else {  % } 

As usual, the elsif and the else are optional.

The unless Statement This is the syntax for the unless :

 % unless (  condition  ){  % } else {  % } 

The else is optional.

Put the following code in /var/www/html/mason/cond.html as an example of these two conditional constructs:

 <html>  <head>  <title>Mason Conditional Constructs</title>  </head>  <body bgcolor="#ffffff">  <h3><tt>if</tt> Statement</h3>  % if ($ENV{HTTP_USER_AGENT} =~ /mozilla/i) {  Hello Mozilla browser!  % } else {  You are not the Mozilla browser.  % }  <h3><tt>unless</tt> Statement</h3>  Today is <% scalar(localtime()) %>  % unless (localtime() =~ /  ^  (SatSun)/) {  and it is NOT a weekend.  % } else {  and it is a weekend!  % }  </table>  </body>  </html> 

To view the result of this block of code, load one of these URLs: http://localhost/mason/cond.html or www.opensourcewebbook.com/mason/cond.html. This should produce a page that resembles what is shown in Figure 11.3.

Figure 11.3. Mason conditional statements

graphics/11fig03.gif

The while Loop The syntax for the while loop is:

 % while (  condition  ) {  % } 

The for Loop This is the syntax for the for loop:

 % for (  init_expression; condition; step_expression  ) {  % } 

The foreach Loop The syntax for the foreach loop is:

 % foreach my  variable  (  list  ) {  % } 

We'll show examples of each these looping constructs. Put the following code into the file /var/www/html/mason/loop.html :

 <html>  <head>  <title>Mason Looping Constructs</title>  </head>  <body bgcolor="#ffffff">  <h3><tt>while</tt> Loop</h3>  <table border="1">    <tr><th>number</th><th>squared</td></tr>  % my $i = 1;  % while ($i <= 5) {      <tr><td><% $i %></td><td><% $i ** 2 %></td></tr>  %   $i++;  % }  </table>  <h3><tt>for</tt> Loop</h3>  % for (my $j = 10; $j > 5; $j--) {      $j = <% $j %><br>  % }  <h3><tt>foreach</tt> Loop</h3>  <table border="1">    <tr><th>Variable</th><th>Value</th></tr>  % foreach my $var (sort keys %ENV) {    <tr><td><% $var %></td><td><% $ENV{$var} %></td></tr>  % }  </table>  </body>  </html> 

To view the result, load either of these URLs: http://localhost/mason/loop.html or www.opensourcewebbook.com/mason/loop.html. This produces a page similar to Figure 11.4.

Figure 11.4. Mason looping statements

graphics/11fig04.gif

11.5.3 The <%perl> ... </%perl> Tag

The <%perl> ... </%perl> tags can be used to execute arbitrary amounts of Perl code. These tags can occur anywhere within the HTML file and can contain comments, functions, and variable assignments ” essentially anything Perl.

This example is in /var/www/html/mason/perl.html :

 <html>  <head>  <title>Mason &lt;%perl&gt; Block</title>  </head>  <body bgcolor="#ffffff">  <%perl>    # we can put arbitrary amounts of Perl    # code within these tags    # these tags can be embedded anywhere within the HTML    # remember that all variables must be my() variables    my $client = $ENV{REMOTE_ADDR};    my $agent  = $ENV{HTTP_USER_AGENT};    my $method = $ENV{REQUEST_METHOD};    my $time   = localtime();    # we can also include function definitions - this function    # is called in the HTML below    sub hello_world {        return "hello, world!"    }  </%perl>  Hello <b><% $client %></b>. <br>  You are using <b><% $agent %></b>. <br>  The local time is <b><% $time %></b>. <br>  Your request method is <b><% $method %></b>. <br>  A message: <b><% hello_world() %></b>.  </table>  </body>  </html> 

To see the result of this code, load one of the following URLs into your browser: http://localhost/mason/perl.html or www.opensourcewebbook.com/mason/perl.html. This page generates an output that resembles Figure 11.5.

Figure 11.5. Mason <%perl> ... </%perl> tag

graphics/11fig05.gif



Open Source Development with Lamp
Open Source Development with LAMP: Using Linux, Apache, MySQL, Perl, and PHP
ISBN: 020177061X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2002
Pages: 136

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