package HTML::FormHandler::Manual::Fields;
# ABSTRACT: brief documentation of available fields


__END__
=pod

=head1 NAME

HTML::FormHandler::Manual::Fields - brief documentation of available fields

=head1 VERSION

version 0.40025

=head1 SYNOPSIS

L<Manual Index|HTML::FormHandler::Manual>

See also L<HTML::FormHandler::Field> for a description of the base
field attributes.

The inheritance hierarchy of HTML::FormHandler Fields

   Text
      Money
      Password
      Hidden
      Integer
         PosInteger
      Float
      Date
         DateMDY
      Email
      TextCSV
   TextArea
   Select
      Multiple
      SelectCSV
      BoolSelect
      IntRange
         Hour
         Minute
         MonthDay
         Month
         Second
         Year
      MonthName
      Weekday
   Checkbox
      Boolean
   Compound
      Repeatable
      Duration
      DateTime
   NoValue
      Submit
      Reset
      Button
      Display
      AddElement
      RmElement
      NonEditable
   PrimaryKey
   Upload
   File

=head1 DESCRIPTION

A form's fields are created from the 'has_field' and 'field_list' definitions.
FormHandler processes the field lists and creates an array of
L<HTML::FormHandler::Field> objects. The "type" of a field
determines which field class to use. The field class determines which
attributes are valid for a particular field. A number of field classes are
provided by FormHandler. You can customize the validation in your form on a
per field basis, but validation that will be used for more than one field
might be more easily handled in a custom field class.

Fields are accessed with C<< form->field('name') >>.
Field errors are in C<< $field->errors >>.

If the 'field_name_space' is not set, fields will be loaded from the
HTML::FormHandler::Field name space. If you provide a 'field_name_space'
it will be searched before FormHandler. If you want to explicitly list the
field's package, prefix it with a plus sign. The field_name_space plus the
default name spaces 'HTML::FormHandler::Field' and 'HTML::FormHandlerX::Field'
will be searched for fields.

    has '+field_name_space' => ( default => 'MyApp::Form::Field' );
    has_field 'name' => ( type => 'Text' ); # HTML::FormHandler::Field::Text
    has_field 'name' => ( type => '+My::FieldType' ); # My::Fieldtype
    has_field 'foo'  => ( type => '+Foo' );  # MyApp::Form::Field::Foo
      or
    has_field 'foo'  => ( type => 'Foo' );  # MyApp::Form::Field::Foo

The most basic type is "Text", which is usually a 'text' HTML element and
a string data type. (If the type of a field is not specified, it will be set to
'Text'.)  A "Select" field type is a HTML select element, and validates against
the list of values provided in the 'options'. A "Multiple" type is like "Select"
but it allows selecting more than one value at a time.

Many field classes contain only a list of constraints and transformations
to apply. Some use the 'validate' method, which is called after the actions
are applied. Some build a custom select list using 'build_options'.

There are two rough categories of Field classes: those that do extra processing
and those that are simple validators. The 'Compound', 'Repeatable', and
'Select' fields are fields that are functional.

=head1 Field names

The standard way to use FormHandler is with field names that match your
database accessors. If you want to prepend the HTML field names with a
name plus dot, you can set the form 'name' and use the 'html_prefix'
flag. "$name." will be stripped from the beginning of the HTML fields
before processing by HFH, and will be added back in 'fif'. The field's
'html_name' convenience attribute will return this name for use in templates.

If you want the FormHandler field name to be different than the
database accessor, set 'accessor' on your fields. (It defaults to the field
name.) You could then use any name that you want for your field.

There are a number of name-related field attributes. The 'name' is
the name used to identify this particular field in this fields array.
The 'full_name' includes the names of all parents of this field,
like 'address.street.streetname'. The 'html_name' is the same as the
'full_name' unless you have set the 'html_prefix' flag, in which case
it includes the form name: 'myform.address.street.streetname'.

To retrieve a field by name, you can use either the full_name or a
chain: C<< $form->field('address')->field('street')->field('streetname') >>
or: C<< $form->field('address.street.streetname') >>.

=head1 Creating custom fields

Subclass a custom field from L<HTML::FormHandler::Field>, or one of the
existing subclasses. Almost everything that is done in a custom field
class can also be done in a form. The advantage of a field class
is that it can simplify declaration of often-repeated sets of attributes.

The simplest subclasses contain only a 'validate' routine or an 'apply' attribute,
which is called by the base Field class from 'process'. Look at
L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Email>, for example.

If the field's value will be an object instead of a simple scalar, such
as a DateTime, and you want to use the transformed value to fill in the
form, then you will also need a deflation or field class 'deflate' method
to reformat the object into a form suitable for an HTML form field.
See L<HTML::FormHandler::Manual::InflationDeflation> for more info.

Some custom fields might only require setting certain attributes to
defaults, such as the L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Hour> field, which
set 'range_start' to 0 and 'range_end' to 23. A 'select' field might
override the 'build_options' builder for the 'options' array, like
L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::IntRange>. A field may add additional
attributes, such as 'label_format' in L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::IntRange>,
or set the 'required' message.

An alternative to new field classes for many field validations might
be roles with collections of validations.

=head1 Other field packages

Some custom fields are supplied as CPAN packages, in the HTML::FormHandlerX
name space.

L<reCAPTCHA|HTML::FormHandlerX::Field::reCAPTCHA>

L<DateTimeNatural|HTML::FormHandlerX::Field::DateTimeNatural>

L<URI::HTTP|HTML::FormHandlerX::Field::URI::HTTP>

=head1 Fields supplied by FormHandler

=head2 Basic Fields

Although there are a lot of fields provided (probably too many) a lot of them
are "convenience" fields or "name" fields, where the main benefit is
that the field type is a name that gives the main purpose of the field.
Most of these fields could be replaced by a basic field with a bit of validation
or some select options. A few of the fields are special purpose fields
that won't be used very often.

The fields in this section are the basic fields, the commonly used fields
that will be most often used in a form.

=head3 Text

A string data type that will be formatted as an HTML text field. Has 'minlength'
and 'maxlength' attributes.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Text>

=head3 Select

A field formatted as a select element.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Select>

=head3 Checkbox

A field formatted as a checkbox. If not in params, will be forced to
'false' value by 'input_without_param' attribute (0 by default).

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Checkbox>

=head3 Hidden

A hidden field.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Hidden>

=head3 Password

A password field. The value is not re-displayed.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Password>

=head3 TextArea

A textarea field.  Has 'cols' and 'rows' attributes.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::TextArea>

=head3 Upload

A file upload field that takes a filehandle or a Catalyst upload object (an
object with a 'size' method).

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Upload>

=head3 Submit

A submit field.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Submit>

=head3 Reset

A reset field.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Reset>

=head2 Complex Fields (Compound and Repeatable)

These fields are complex fields which contain a fair amount of
special code. They do not map to a single HTML element; they contain
multiple subfields.

=head3 Compound

A compound field is a field that has sub-fields. Compound fields can be
created in two ways: 1) using a field class, 2) by declaration.

To create a compound field class, you must extend
L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Compound> and use L<HTML::FormHandler::Moose> to
allow declaring fields:

  package MyApp::Field::Duration;

  use HTML::FormHandler::Moose;
  extends 'HTML::FormHandler::Field::Compound';

  has_field 'month' => (type => 'Integer');
  has_field 'day' => ( type => 'Integer' );
  has_field 'minutes' => ( type => 'Integer' );

Then in the form:

  has_field 'my_duration' => ( type => '+Duration' );

To create a compound field by declaration, declare the containing
compound field and subfields, prefixing the subfield names
with the name of the containing compound field plus a dot:

   package MyApp::Form;

   use HTML::FormHandler::Moose;
   extends 'HTML::FormHandler';

   has_field 'duration' => ( type => 'Compound' );
   has_field 'duration.month' => ( type => 'Integer' );
   has_field 'duration.day' => ( type => 'Integer' );
   has_field 'duration.year' => ( type => 'Integer' );

In an HTML form the name of the field must be the complete name
with dots. The 'html_name' field attribute can be used to get
this name, C<< $field->html_name >>.

A compound field can be used for a database relation that will have only
one row (belongs_to or has_one). If the relation has a compound primary
key, you may need to provide the primary key columns, either through
hidden fields or by setting them in the C<< $form->value >> hash before
'update_model' is called.

See also L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Compound>.

=head3 Repeatable

Repeatable fields are used for arrays of compound fields.

   has_field 'addresses' => ( type => 'Repeatable' );
   has_field 'addresses.address_id' => ( type => 'PrimaryKey' );
   has_field 'addresses.street';
   has_field 'addresses.city';
   has_field 'addresses.country' => ( type => 'Select' );

The arrays will be built from arrays passed in the params, or from
related ('has_many') rows in the database.

It is also used for arrays of single fields using the 'contains' keyword:

  has_field 'tags' => ( type => 'Repeatable' );
  has_field 'tags.contains' => ( type => '+Tag' );

See L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Repeatable> for more information.

=head2 Text Fields

Fields subclassed from the Text field.

=head3 Text

Text field.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Text>

=head3 Money

Positive or negative real value, formatted to two decimal places.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Money>

=head3 Date

Date field that can be used by jQuery datepicker plugin.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Date>

=head3 DateMDY

A subclass of 'Date' with the "%m/%d/%Y" format.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::DateMDY>

=head3 Email

Uses Email::Valid for validation.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Email>

=head3 Integer

Positive and negative integers. Can use range_start and range_end.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Integer>

=head3 PosInteger

A positive integer field.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::PosInteger>

=head3 Float

Float field that allows you to set size, precision, decimal_symbol, and
decimal_symbol_for_db.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Float>

=head3 TextCSV

A text field that takes multiple values from a database and converts
them to comma-separated values. This is intended for javascript fields
that require that, such as 'select2'. This is the only 'multiple' text
field. This text field would be a select-type field for the user.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::TextCSV>

=head2 Compound Fields

Fields subclassed from 'Compound'.

=head3 Compound

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Compound>

=head3 Repeatable

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Repeatable>

=head3 Duration

Compound field with possible subfields: years, months, weeks, days, hours,
minutes, seconds, nanoseconds.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Duration>

=head3 DateTime

A compound field that requires you to provide the subfields that
you want. (month/day/year/hour/minutes)

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::DateTime>

=head2 Checkbox Fields

Fields that inherit from 'Checkbox'.

=head3 Checkbox

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Checkbox>

=head3 Boolean

Checkbox that return 1 or 0.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Boolean>

=head2 Select Fields

Fields that inherit from 'Select'.

=head3 Select

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Select>

=head3 Multiple

Multiple select. Also sorts the selected options to the top of
the select list.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Multiple>

=head2 SelectCSV

A multiple select field for comma-separated values in the database.
It expects database values like: '1,5,7'. The string will be inflated
into an arrayref for validation and form filling, and will be deflated
into a comma-separated string in the output value.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::SelectCSV>

=head3 BoolSelect

A field with three possible values: empty/0/1.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::BoolSelect>

=head3 Hour

Integer select range field from 0-23.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Hour>

=head3 Second

Select field with range from 0-59.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Second>

=head3 IntRange

An integer select field. Can set label format with 'label_format'.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::IntRange>

=head3 Month

Select field with range from 1 - 12.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Month>

=head3 MonthDay

Select field with range from 1 - 31.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::MonthDay>

=head3 MonthName

Select field with month name labels, value 1-12.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::MonthName>

=head3 Minute

Select field with range from 0-59.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Minute>

=head3 Weekday

A select field where the labels are the names of the week, and the
values are 0-6.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Weekday>

=head3 Year

Select field providing year list 5 years back and 10 years forward.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Year>

=head2 NoValue fields

Fields that inherit from 'NoValue'. None of these fields will
provide a 'value' in the C<< $form->value >> hashref.

=head3 NoValue

Base class for fields that don't produce a 'value'.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::NoValue>

=head3 Submit

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Submit>

=head3 Reset

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Reset>

=head3 Button

Button field that is rendered by the Button widget.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Button>

=head3 Display

Non-data field used for inserting HTML into the form. Probably
now better handled by a Block or a rendering tag.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Display>

=head3 AddElement

Example field for adding a repeatable element.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::AddElement>

=head3 RmElement

Example field for removing a repeatable element

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::RmElement>

=head3 NonEditable

For Bootstrap-style non-editable fields.

=head2 TextArea fields

Fields that inherit from 'TextArea'.

=head3 TextArea

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::TextArea>

=head2 Password fields

=head3 Password

Password field. Sets 'noupdate' flag if empty and not required.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Password>

=head3 PasswordConf

Password confirmation field.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::PasswordConf>

=head2 Other fields

These fields inherit just from 'Field'.

=head3 File

A file field that does no processing. Most people probably want to
use 'Upload' instead.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::File>

=head3 PrimaryKey

Hidden field that provides the primary key for Repeatable fields.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::PrimaryKey>

=head3 Captcha

A Captcha field using GD::SecurityImage. Requires the use of the
L<HTML::FormHandler::TraitFor::Captcha> role, or similar code.

L<HTML::FormHandler::Field::Captcha>

=head1 AUTHOR

FormHandler Contributors - see HTML::FormHandler

=head1 COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

This software is copyright (c) 2013 by Gerda Shank.

This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.

=cut

