NAME

       MasonX::Request::WithMultiSession - Multiple sub-sessions within one "parent" session

SYNOPSIS

         PerlSetVar  MasonRequestClass  MasonX::Request::WithMultiSession

DESCRIPTION

       This module subclasses "MasonX::Request::WithApacheSession" in order to allow multiple
       "sub-sessions" to exist within one parent session.

       This can be quite useful for a web app where you want to allow the user to open multiple
       windows, each with a different session, but session ids are stored in a cookie.

       Like "MasonX::Request::WithApacheSession", sub-sessions are shared between a request and
       any subrequests it creates.

METHODS

       This class has an interface quite similar to that of "MasonX::Request::WithApacheSession".

       •   session

           The primary interface to this class is through the "session()" method.  When this
           method is called without any parameters, the module looks for an existing sub-session
           specified by the sub-session id argument parameter (which can be in a query string or
           POST).  This value can be overridden by explicitly passing a "sub_session_id"
           parameter.

           If this parameter is found, an existing sub-session is returned.  If this parameter is
           not found, a new sub-session is created.

           If the "session()" method is called as "session( clone => 1 )" then a new sub-session
           will be created, and its contents will be the same as that of the current sub-session.
           This is a shallow copy of the old session hash, so objects and references are shared
           between them.

           If "session( new => 1 )" is called, then a new, empty, sub-session is created.

           You can specify the main session id to use via the "session_id" parameter.

       •   sub_session_id

           This method returns the currently active sub-session's id.  Use this method to put
           this id into URL parameters, forms, etc. as needed.

           If given a "sub_session_id" parameter, it will set the current sub-session id.

       •   delete_sub_session

           By default, this simply defaults the current sub-session.  You can pass a
           "sub_session_id" parameter to delete a specific session.

   Parameters
       This module takes two parameters besides those inherited from
       "MasonX::Request::WithApacheSession":

       •   multi_session_args_param / MultiSessionArgsParam

           This parameter can be used to specify which parameter contains the sub-session id.  By
           default, the module will look for a parameter called "sub_session_id".

       •   multi_session_expire / MultiSessionExpire

           This parameter specifies the number of seconds after a sub-session is accessed until
           it is purged.  If not specified, then sub-sessions are never purged.

           Sub-sessions expiration is checked when the request object goes out of scope.

USAGE

       You will need to manually set the sub-session id argument parameter for each request.  The
       easiest way to do this is to make sure that all URLs contain the sub-session id.  This can
       be done by using a "<%filter>" block in a top-level autohandler (although this won't catch
       redirects), or by making sure all URLs are generated by a single component/function.

SUPPORT

       Bug reports and requests for help should be sent to the mason-users list.  See
       http://www.masonhq.com/resources/mailing_lists.html for more details.

AUTHOR

       Dave Rolsky, <autarch@urth.org>

       Development funded by Marigold Technologies.

SEE ALSO

       HTML::Mason