Hi Richard -- > Reading the thread on 'Good practices: how many run modes in > an app' it > is obvious my current application under development is going way over > the 'recommended' upper limit of rm's. I know I need to break it into > smaller units based around functionality, but how?
A better question to start with is: "Why?" Reading this thread, it appears that most suggestions are cosmetic fixes which will superficially move run mode methods out of your main module and into other modules. This is useful only if your main goal is to have fewer run modes in one physical file. Years ago, when CGI-App was first released, the question of "how many run modes should my module have?" was posed to me. My answer was to give the number of run-modes my applications typically have. That doesn't really answer the "Why separate?" question. And what is it you're supposed to be separating, anyway? I separate instance scripts -- not run-modes. (The "Instance Script" -- aka, the *.pl or *.cgi file.) I typically create separate instance scripts based on a few different "soft" criteria: 1. Are the functions provided to the user substantially different? 2. Do different types of users use these scripts? 3. Might I want these scripts to be called from different places? 4. Do these scripts have different "start modes"? If a preponderance of the answers to these questions are "yes", then I create a separate instance script, and a separate module (with separate run-mode methods). The "Why?" in this case was because I could use the file and directory orientation of the Apache web server to implement different security rules, and so that I could create logical, bookmark-able (email-able) URLs which provide entry points into the respective applications. As you can see, these questions are highly subjective (possibly with the exception of the last one). As a result, you get very different answers depending on your point of view. For example, consider the following admin functions: * Manage users * Manage groups * View logs * Manage Widgets * Manage Orders In my way of thinking, these are five separate applications. However, if you think of them as functions of one big "admin control panel" you might come to a very different conclusion. HTH, -Jesse- -- Jesse Erlbaum The Erlbaum Group [EMAIL PROTECTED] Phone: 212-684-6161 Fax: 212-684-6226 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Web Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/cgiapp@lists.erlbaum.net/ http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=cgiapp&r=1&w=2 To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
