David Scott wrote:
RA,
Please summarize your function so we can all benefit.
David,
With pleasure. The validation function is part of a much larger clinical
information system, and validates the UK National Health Service number,
which is a 10-digit unique patient identifier with a check-sum as the
10th digit. The whole application is delivered using CGI::Application
and Template via the CAP::AnyTemplate plugin, and I think some of the
problems I had involved header conflict issues between CGI::Ajax &
CGI::Application (and some stupidity!), so the code below might require
modification if used outside this particular environment.
Due to all the kind assistance I received I was working on two parallel
methods, one based on CGI::Ajax, and the other on jQuery. I use
CAP::AutoRunmode so I don't have to declare my rm's in setup(), but it
also works fine without.
1) CGI::Ajax method:
a) In the run-mode that sets up the web-page which contains the AJAX code:
sub my_runmode : Runmode {
my $self = shift;
my $cgi = $self->query();
# here we register the script & run-mode that will handle the AJAX
request:
my $pjx = new CGI::Ajax( validate_nhsno =>
'my_app.cgi?rm=validate_nhsno' ); # could also use an Apache handler
# this is CAP::AnyTemplate shorthand syntax (amend as necessary):
return $self->template->fill('my_template', { ajax_js =>
$pjx->show_javascript() });
}
b) The validation routine - accepts the AJAX request:
sub validate_nhsno : Runmode {
my ($self, $nhs_no) = @_;
# do validation on $nhs_no & return result (ie valid/invalid)
}
c) Runmode that handles 'normal' web-form input via Submit button:
sub process_form_input : Runmode {
# this is the usual CGI::App rm to process the web-form input
}
d) In the template:
[% ajax_js %]
<p>NHSNo: <input type="text" name="nhs_no" id="nhs_no"
onBlur="validate_nhsno(['nhs_no'], ['bad_nhsno']); return true;" />
<span id="bad_nhsno"></span></p>
The name of the function after the javascript onBlur (or onChange) event
handler should match the function originally registered to CGI::Ajax. Of
course you would define an appropriate style for #bad_nhsno (eg bold,
red, italic, etc). If you want to see the AJAX request output, set
$pjx->JSDEBUG(1) before returning the template, and place this somewhere
in your template: <div id='pjxdebugrequest'>
2) jQuery method (requires jquery library from jquery.com):
a)In the run-mode that sets up the web-page which contains the AJAX code:
Replicate my_runmode() above, but omit the AJAX stuff, just return the
template:
return $self->template->fill(); # assuming template name same as runmode
b) The validation routine - exactly as above.
c) Runmode that handles web-form input - exactly as above.
d) In the template:
In the <head> section:
<script type="text/javascript" src="/jquery.js"></script>
In the <body> section:
<script type="text/javascript"><!--
function validate_nhsno(myInput) {
$('#bad_nhsno').load(
'my_app.cgi', { # script containing validation function
rm : 'validate_nhsno',
"nhs_no" : myInput,
}
);
}
--></script>
<p>NHS No: <input type="text" name="nhs_no" id="nhs_no"
onBlur="validate_nhsno(this.value); return true;" />
<span id="bad_nhsno"></span></p>
That's it! Both methods work for me but as I said above, there might be
configuration-specific code in there. Certainly if you use another
template or no template system you will need modifications, but I think
it should be adaptable to most environments (also works as Apache
handler script under mod_perl). See earlier messages for relative merits
of CGI::Ajax & jQuery. I haven't tried prototype.js (yet), but no doubt
it would work equally well.
Hope this helps. Anyone else feel free to contribute amendments,
rebuttals, clarifications, etc.
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