Table of Contents

Foreword Preface 1. Introduction A First Example The Main Features of Mason Alternatives to Mason Philosophy Getting Started with Mason 2. Components Mason from 10,000 Feet Core Concepts Basic Component Syntax Component Arguments Component Return Values Special Globals Sample Component 3. Special Components: Dhandlers and Autohandlers Dhandlers Autohandlers Using Autohandlers and Dhandlers Together 4. APIs Request Class and Object API Component Object API Buffers 5. Advanced Features Subcomponents Creating Components on the Fly Sharing Data Among Component Sections Methods and Attributes Calling Components with Content Blocks Advanced Inheritance Subrequests 6. The Lexer, Compiler, Resolver, and Interpreter Objects Passing Parameters to Mason Classes The Lexer The Compiler The Resolver The Interpreter 7. Using Mason with mod_perl Configuring Mason Document Root Versus the Component Root Not OK $r ApacheHandler Parameters To Autoflush or Not to Autoflush Generating Something Besides HTML Apache::Status and Mason 8. Building a Mason Site Functionality Directory Layout File Extensions Apache Configuration The Components Components with Access Controls All Done Further Directions 9. Mason and CGI CGI-Appropriate Situations CGI-Inappropriate Situations Creating a CGI-Based Site in Mason Using Mason Templates Inside Regular CGI Scripts Differences Between Mason Under CGI and od_perl 10. Scalable Design Modules Versus Components cOmponents as Independent Units Component Layout File Naming and Directory Layout Random Advice 11. Recipes Sessions Making Use of Autoflush User Authentication and Authorization Co-Branding Color Schemes Developer Environments Using Mason Outside of Dynamic Web Sites 12. Custom Mason Subclasses Class::Container as a Superclass Syntax: Your Very Own Lexer Output: Compiling to a Different Output Storage: Replacing the Resolver Request: A Request Object with a Built-in Session Argument Munging: ApacheHandler More Reader Exercises A. The Mason API B. Object Constructor Parameters C. Text Editors That Understand Mason D. Content Management with Bricolage Glossary Index

About the Author

Dave Rolsky is a programmer, author, and activist with a background in music composition and reading science fiction. He has been active in the development of Free (Perl) Software for several years. Dave is part of the core development team for Mason. Ken Williams is a researcher in Document Categorization at the University of Sydney in Australia. He has written many Perl modules of varying utility, and about 20 of which are available on CPAN. Like co-author Dave Rolsky, Ken is a member of the HTML:Mason core development team. His educational background is in mathematics and music.