Provided by: libhtml-mason-perl_1.58-1_all 
NAME
HTML::Mason::Params - Mason configuration parameters
DESCRIPTION
This document lists all of the Mason configuration parameters that are intended to be used
by end users.
PERL AND APACHE NAMES
Each parameter has two names: a Perl version and an Apache version. The Perl version uses
"lowercase_with_underscores", while the Apache version uses "StudlyCaps" with a "Mason"
prefix. The conversion from one version to the other is otherwise very predictable. For
example,
• "autohandler_name" "<-->" "MasonAutohandlerName"
• "comp_root" "<-->" "MasonCompRoot"
• "data_cache_defaults" "<-->" "MasonDataCacheDefaults"
Where Apache Names Are Used
The Apache parameter names are used in the Apache configuration file in an httpd-based
configuration.
Where Perl Names Are Used
The Perl parameter names are used from Perl code, i.e. anywhere other than the Apache
configuration file. For example,
• In an custom wrapper-based configuration, you can pass most of these parameters to the
ApacheHandler constructor.
• In a standalone Mason script, you can pass most of these parameters to the Interp
constructor.
• When launching a subrequest, you can pass any of the "HTML::Mason::Request" parameters
to make_subrequest.
PARAMETERS
allow_globals
• Perl name: allow_globals
• Apache name: MasonAllowGlobals
• Type in httpd.conf: list
• Default: []
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Compiler"
List of variable names, complete with prefix ("$@%"), that you intend to use as globals in
components. Normally global variables are forbidden by "strict", but any variable
mentioned in this list is granted a reprieve via a "use vars" statement. For example:
allow_globals => [qw($DBH %session)]
In a mod_perl environment, $r (the request object) is automatically added to this list.
apache_status_title
• Perl name: apache_status_title
• Apache name: MasonApacheStatusTitle
• Type in httpd.conf: string
• Default: HTML::Mason status
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler"
Title that you want this ApacheHandler to appear as under Apache::Status. Default is
"HTML::Mason status". This is useful if you create more than one ApacheHandler object and
want them all visible via Apache::Status.
args_method
• Perl name: args_method
• Apache name: MasonArgsMethod
• Type in httpd.conf: string
• Default: mod_perl
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler"
Method to use for unpacking GET and POST arguments. The valid options are 'CGI' and
'mod_perl'; these indicate that a "CGI.pm" or "Apache::Request" object (respectively) will
be created for the purposes of argument handling.
'mod_perl' is the default under mod_perl-1 and requires that you have installed the
"Apache::Request" package. Under mod_perl-2, the default is 'CGI' because
"Apache2::Request" is still in development.
If args_method is 'mod_perl', the $r global is upgraded to an Apache::Request object. This
object inherits all Apache methods and adds a few of its own, dealing with parameters and
file uploads. See "Apache::Request" for more information.
If the args_method is 'CGI', the Mason request object ($m) will have a method called
"cgi_object" available. This method returns the CGI object used for argument processing.
While Mason will load "Apache::Request" or "CGI" as needed at runtime, it is recommended
that you preload the relevant module either in your httpd.conf or handler.pl file, as this
will save some memory.
auto_send_headers
• Perl name: auto_send_headers
• Apache name: MasonAutoSendHeaders
• Type in httpd.conf: boolean
• Default: 1
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler"
True or false, default is true. Indicates whether Mason should automatically send HTTP
headers before sending content back to the client. If you set to false, you should call
"$r->send_http_header" manually.
See the sending HTTP headers section of the developer's manual for more details about the
automatic header feature.
NOTE: This parameter has no effect under mod_perl-2, since calling "$r->send_http_header"
is no longer needed.
autoflush
• Perl name: autoflush
• Apache name: MasonAutoflush
• Type in httpd.conf: boolean
• Default: 0
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Request"
True or false, default is false. Indicates whether to flush the output buffer
("$m->flush_buffer") after every string is output. Turn on autoflush if you need to send
partial output to the client, for example in a progress meter.
As of Mason 1.3, autoflush will only work if enable_autoflush has been set. Components
can be compiled more efficiently if they don't have to check for autoflush. Before using
autoflush you might consider whether a few manual "$m->flush_buffer" calls would work
nearly as well.
autohandler_name
• Perl name: autohandler_name
• Apache name: MasonAutohandlerName
• Type in httpd.conf: string
• Default: autohandler
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Interp"
File name used for autohandlers. Default is "autohandler". If this is set to an empty
string ("") then autohandlers are turned off entirely.
buffer_preallocate_size
• Perl name: buffer_preallocate_size
• Apache name: MasonBufferPreallocateSize
• Type in httpd.conf: string
• Default: 0
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Interp"
Number of bytes to preallocate in the output buffer for each request. Defaults to 0.
Setting this to, say, your maximum page size (or close to it) can reduce the number of
reallocations Perl performs as components add to the output buffer.
code_cache_max_size
• Perl name: code_cache_max_size
• Apache name: MasonCodeCacheMaxSize
• Type in httpd.conf: string
• Default: unlimited
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Interp"
Specifies the maximum number of components that should be held in the in-memory code
cache. The default is 'unlimited', meaning no components will ever be discarded; Mason can
perform certain optimizations in this mode. Setting this to zero disables the code cache
entirely. See the code cache section of the administrator's manual for further details.
comp_class
• Perl name: comp_class
• Apache name: MasonCompClass
• Type in httpd.conf: string
• Default: HTML::Mason::Component
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Compiler::ToObject"
The class into which component objects are blessed. This defaults to
HTML::Mason::Component.
comp_root
• Perl name: comp_root
• Apache name: MasonCompRoot
• Type in httpd.conf: list
• Default: Varies
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Interp"
The component root marks the top of your component hierarchy and defines how component
paths are translated into real file paths. For example, if your component root is
/usr/local/httpd/docs, a component path of /products/index.html translates to the file
/usr/local/httpd/docs/products/index.html.
Under Apache and CGI, comp_root defaults to the server's document root. In standalone mode
comp_root defaults to the current working directory.
This parameter may be either a scalar or an array reference. If it is a scalar, it should
be a filesystem path indicating the component root. If it is an array reference, it should
be of the following form:
[ [ foo => '/usr/local/foo' ],
[ bar => '/usr/local/bar' ] ]
This is an array of two-element array references, not a hash. The "keys" for each path
must be unique and their "values" must be filesystem paths. These paths will be searched
in the provided order whenever a component path is resolved. For example, given the above
component roots and a component path of /products/index.html, Mason would search first for
/usr/local/foo/products/index.html, then for /usr/local/bar/products/index.html.
The keys are used in several ways. They help to distinguish component caches and object
files between different component roots, and they appear in the "title()" of a component.
When you specify a single path for a component root, this is actually translated into
[ [ MAIN => path ] ]
If you have turned on dynamic_comp_root, you may modify the component root(s) of an
interpreter between requests by calling "$interp->comp_root" with a value. However, the
path associated with any given key may not change between requests. For example, if the
initial component root is
[ [ foo => '/usr/local/foo' ],
[ bar => '/usr/local/bar' ], ]
then it may not be changed to
[ [ foo => '/usr/local/bar' ],
[ bar => '/usr/local/baz' ],
but it may be changed to
[ [ foo => '/usr/local/foo' ],
[ blarg => '/usr/local/blarg' ] ]
In other words, you may add or remove key/path pairs but not modify an already-used
key/path pair. The reason for this restriction is that the interpreter maintains a
component cache per key that would become invalid if the associated paths were to change.
compiler_class
• Perl name: compiler_class
• Apache name: MasonCompilerClass
• Type in httpd.conf: string
• Default: HTML::Mason::Compiler::ToObject
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Interp"
The class to use when creating a compiler. Defaults to HTML::Mason::Compiler::ToObject.
component_error_handler
• Perl name: component_error_handler
• Apache name: MasonComponentErrorHandler
• Type in httpd.conf: code
• Default: sub { package HTML::Mason::Exceptions; use warnings; use strict
'refs'; my($err) = @_; return unless $err; if (UNIVERSAL::can($err, 'rethrow')) {
$err->rethrow; } elsif (ref $err) { die $err; }
'HTML::Mason::Exception'->throw('error', $err); }
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Request"
A code reference used to handle errors thrown during component compilation or runtime. By
default, this is a subroutine that turns non-exception object errors in components into
exceptions. If this parameter is set to a false value, these errors are simply rethrown
as-is.
Turning exceptions into objects can be expensive, since this will cause the generation of
a stack trace for each error. If you are using strings or unblessed references as
exceptions in your code, you may want to turn this off as a performance boost.
data_cache_api
• Perl name: data_cache_api
• Apache name: MasonDataCacheApi
• Type in httpd.conf: string
• Default: 1.1
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Request"
The "$m->cache" API to use:
• '1.1', the default, indicates a "Cache::Cache" based API.
• 'chi' indicates a "CHI" based API.
• '1.0' indicates the custom cache API used in Mason 1.0x and earlier. This
compatibility layer is provided as a convenience for users upgrading from older
versions of Mason, but will not be supported indefinitely.
data_cache_defaults
• Perl name: data_cache_defaults
• Apache name: MasonDataCacheDefaults
• Type in httpd.conf: hash_list
• Default: None
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Request"
A hash reference of default options to use for the "$m->cache" command. For example, to
use Cache::Cache's "MemoryCache" implementation by default:
data_cache_defaults => {cache_class => 'MemoryCache'}
To use the CHI "FastMmap" driver by default:
data_cache_api => 'CHI',
data_cache_defaults => {driver => 'FastMmap'},
These settings are overridden by options given to particular "$m->cache" calls.
data_dir
• Perl name: data_dir
• Apache name: MasonDataDir
• Type in httpd.conf: string
• Default: None
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Interp"
The data directory is a writable directory that Mason uses for various features and
optimizations: for example, component object files and data cache files. Mason will create
the directory on startup, if necessary, and set its permissions according to the web
server User/Group.
Under Apache, data_dir defaults to a directory called "mason" under the Apache server
root. You will need to change this on certain systems that assign a high-level server root
such as /usr!
In non-Apache environments, data_dir has no default. If it is left unspecified, Mason will
not use object files, and the default data cache class will be "MemoryCache" instead of
"FileCache".
decline_dirs
• Perl name: decline_dirs
• Apache name: MasonDeclineDirs
• Type in httpd.conf: boolean
• Default: 1
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler"
True or false, default is true. Indicates whether Mason should decline directory requests,
leaving Apache to serve up a directory index or a "FORBIDDEN" error as appropriate. See
the allowing directory requests section of the administrator's manual for more information
about handling directories with Mason.
default_escape_flags
• Perl name: default_escape_flags
• Apache name: MasonDefaultEscapeFlags
• Type in httpd.conf: string
• Default: []
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Compiler"
Escape flags to apply to all <% %> expressions by default. The current valid flags are
h - escape for HTML ('<' => '<', etc.)
u - escape for URL (':' => '%3A', etc.)
The developer can override default escape flags on a per-expression basis; see the
escaping expressions section of the developer's manual.
If you want to set multiple flags as the default, this should be given as a reference to
an array of flags.
define_args_hash
• Perl name: define_args_hash
• Apache name: MasonDefineArgsHash
• Type in httpd.conf: string
• Default: auto
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Compiler::ToObject"
One of "always", "auto", or "never". This determines whether or not an %ARGS hash is
created in components. If it is set to "always", one is always defined. If set to
"never", it is never defined.
The default, "auto", will cause the hash to be defined only if some part of the component
contains the string "ARGS". This is somewhat crude, and may result in some false
positives, but this is preferable to false negatives.
Not defining the args hash means that we can avoid copying component arguments, which can
save memory and slightly improve execution speed.
dhandler_name
• Perl name: dhandler_name
• Apache name: MasonDhandlerName
• Type in httpd.conf: string
• Default: dhandler
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Request"
File name used for dhandlers. Default is "dhandler". If this is set to an empty string
("") then dhandlers are turned off entirely.
dynamic_comp_root
• Perl name: dynamic_comp_root
• Apache name: MasonDynamicCompRoot
• Type in httpd.conf: boolean
• Default: 0
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Interp"
True or false, defaults to false. Indicates whether the comp_root can be modified on this
interpreter between requests. Mason can perform a few optimizations with a fixed component
root, so you should only set this to true if you actually need it.
enable_autoflush
• Perl name: enable_autoflush
• Apache name: MasonEnableAutoflush
• Type in httpd.conf: boolean
• Default: 1
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Compiler"
True or false, default is true. Indicates whether components are compiled with support for
autoflush. The component can be compiled to a more efficient form if it does not have to
check for autoflush mode, so you should set this to 0 if you can.
error_format
• Perl name: error_format
• Apache name: MasonErrorFormat
• Type in httpd.conf: string
• Default: Varies
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Request"
Indicates how errors are formatted. The built-in choices are
• brief - just the error message with no trace information
• text - a multi-line text format
• line - a single-line text format, with different pieces of information separated by
tabs (useful for log files)
• html - a fancy html format
The default format under Apache and CGI is either line or html depending on whether the
error mode is fatal or output, respectively. The default for standalone mode is text.
The formats correspond to "HTML::Mason::Exception" methods named as_format. You can define
your own format by creating an appropriately named method; for example, to define an "xml"
format, create a method "HTML::Mason::Exception::as_xml" patterned after one of the built-
in methods.
error_mode
• Perl name: error_mode
• Apache name: MasonErrorMode
• Type in httpd.conf: string
• Default: Varies
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Request"
Indicates how errors are returned to the caller. The choices are fatal, meaning die with
the error, and output, meaning output the error just like regular output.
The default under Apache and CGI is output, causing the error to be displayed in the
browser. The default for standalone mode is fatal.
escape_flags
• Perl name: escape_flags
• Apache name: MasonEscapeFlags
• Type in httpd.conf: hash_list
• Default: None
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Interp"
A hash reference of escape flags to set for this object. See the section on the
set_escape method for more details.
ignore_warnings_expr
• Perl name: ignore_warnings_expr
• Apache name: MasonIgnoreWarningsExpr
• Type in httpd.conf: regex
• Default: qr/Subroutine .* redefined/i
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Interp"
Regular expression indicating which warnings to ignore when loading components. Any
warning that is not ignored will prevent the component from being loaded and executed. For
example:
ignore_warnings_expr =>
'Global symbol.*requires explicit package'
If set to undef, all warnings are heeded. If set to '.', warnings are turned off
completely as a specially optimized case.
By default, this is set to 'Subroutine .* redefined'. This allows you to declare global
subroutines inside <%once> sections and not receive an error when the component is
reloaded.
in_package
• Perl name: in_package
• Apache name: MasonInPackage
• Type in httpd.conf: string
• Default: HTML::Mason::Commands
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Compiler::ToObject"
This is the package in which a component's code is executed. For historical reasons, this
defaults to "HTML::Mason::Commands".
interp_class
• Perl name: interp_class
• Apache name: MasonInterpClass
• Type in httpd.conf: string
• Default: HTML::Mason::Interp
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler"
The class to use when creating a interpreter. Defaults to HTML::Mason::Interp.
lexer_class
• Perl name: lexer_class
• Apache name: MasonLexerClass
• Type in httpd.conf: string
• Default: HTML::Mason::Lexer
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Compiler"
The class to use when creating a lexer. Defaults to HTML::Mason::Lexer.
max_recurse
• Perl name: max_recurse
• Apache name: MasonMaxRecurse
• Type in httpd.conf: string
• Default: 32
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Request"
The maximum recursion depth for the component stack, for the request stack, and for the
inheritance stack. An error is signalled if the maximum is exceeded. Default is 32.
named_component_subs
• Perl name: named_component_subs
• Apache name: MasonNamedComponentSubs
• Type in httpd.conf: boolean
• Default: 0
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Compiler::ToObject"
When compiling a component, use uniquely named subroutines for the a component's body,
subcomponents, and methods. Doing this allows you to effectively profile Mason components.
Without this, all components simply show up as __ANON__ or something similar in the
profiler.
object_file_extension
• Perl name: object_file_extension
• Apache name: MasonObjectFileExtension
• Type in httpd.conf: string
• Default: .obj
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Interp"
Extension to add to the end of object files. Default is ".obj".
out_method
• Perl name: out_method
• Apache name: MasonOutMethod
• Type in httpd.conf: code
• Default: Print to STDOUT
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Request"
Indicates where to send output. If out_method is a reference to a scalar, output is
appended to the scalar. If out_method is a reference to a subroutine, the subroutine is
called with each output string. For example, to send output to a file called "mason.out":
my $fh = new IO::File ">mason.out";
...
out_method => sub { $fh->print($_[0]) }
By default, out_method prints to standard output. Under Apache, standard output is
redirected to "$r->print".
plugins
• Perl name: plugins
• Apache name: MasonPlugins
• Type in httpd.conf: list
• Default: []
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Request"
An array of plugins that will be called at various stages of request processing. Please
see HTML::Mason::Plugin for details.
postamble
• Perl name: postamble
• Apache name: MasonPostamble
• Type in httpd.conf: string
• Default: None
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Compiler::ToObject"
Text given for this parameter is placed at the end of each component. See also preamble.
The request will be available as $m in postamble code.
postprocess_perl
• Perl name: postprocess_perl
• Apache name: MasonPostprocessPerl
• Type in httpd.conf: code
• Default: None
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Compiler"
Sub reference that is called to postprocess the Perl portion of a compiled component, just
before it is assembled into its final subroutine form. The sub is called with a single
parameter, a scalar reference to the Perl portion of the component. The sub is expected
to process the string in-place. See also preprocess and postprocess_text.
postprocess_text
• Perl name: postprocess_text
• Apache name: MasonPostprocessText
• Type in httpd.conf: code
• Default: None
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Compiler"
Sub reference that is called to postprocess the text portion of a compiled component, just
before it is assembled into its final subroutine form. The sub is called with a single
parameter, a scalar reference to the text portion of the component. The sub is expected
to process the string in-place. See also preprocess and postprocess_perl.
preamble
• Perl name: preamble
• Apache name: MasonPreamble
• Type in httpd.conf: string
• Default: None
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Compiler::ToObject"
Text given for this parameter is placed at the beginning of each component, but after the
execution of any "<%once>" block. See also postamble. The request will be available as $m
in preamble code.
preloads
• Perl name: preloads
• Apache name: MasonPreloads
• Type in httpd.conf: list
• Default: None
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Interp"
A list of component paths, optionally with glob wildcards, to load when the interpreter
initializes. e.g.
preloads => ['/foo/index.html','/bar/*.pl']
Default is the empty list. For maximum performance, this should only be used for
components that are frequently viewed and rarely updated. See the preloading components
section of the administrator's manual for further details.
As mentioned in the developer's manual, a component's "<%once>" section is executed when
it is loaded. For preloaded components, this means that this section will be executed
before a Mason or Apache request exist, so preloading a component that uses $m or $r in a
"<%once>" section will fail.
preprocess
• Perl name: preprocess
• Apache name: MasonPreprocess
• Type in httpd.conf: code
• Default: None
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Compiler"
Sub reference that is called to preprocess each component before the compiler does it's
magic. The sub is called with a single parameter, a scalar reference to the script. The
sub is expected to process the script in-place. This is one way to extend the
HTML::Mason syntax with new tags, etc., although a much more flexible way is to subclass
the Lexer or Compiler class. See also postprocess_text and postprocess_perl.
request_class
• Perl name: request_class
• Apache name: MasonRequestClass
• Type in httpd.conf: string
• Default: HTML::Mason::Request
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Interp"
The class to use when creating requests. Defaults to HTML::Mason::Request.
resolver_class
• Perl name: resolver_class
• Apache name: MasonResolverClass
• Type in httpd.conf: string
• Default: HTML::Mason::Resolver::File
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Interp"
The class to use when creating a resolver. Defaults to HTML::Mason::Resolver::File.
static_source
• Perl name: static_source
• Apache name: MasonStaticSource
• Type in httpd.conf: boolean
• Default: 0
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Interp"
True or false, default is false. When false, Mason checks the timestamp of the component
source file each time the component is used to see if it has changed. This provides the
instant feedback for source changes that is expected for development. However it does
entail a file stat for each component executed.
When true, Mason assumes that the component source tree is unchanging: it will not check
component source files to determine if the memory cache or object file has expired. This
can save many file stats per request. However, in order to get Mason to recognize a
component source change, you must flush the memory cache and remove object files. See
static_source_touch_file for one easy way to arrange this.
We recommend turning this mode on in your production sites if possible, if performance is
of any concern.
static_source_touch_file
• Perl name: static_source_touch_file
• Apache name: MasonStaticSourceTouchFile
• Type in httpd.conf: string
• Default: None
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Interp"
Specifies a filename that Mason will check once at the beginning of of every request. When
the file timestamp changes, Mason will (1) clear its in-memory component cache, and (2)
remove object files if they have not already been deleted by another process.
This provides a convenient way to implement static_source mode. All you need to do is
make sure that a single file gets touched whenever components change. For Mason's part,
checking a single file at the beginning of a request is much cheaper than checking every
component file when static_source=0.
subcomp_class
• Perl name: subcomp_class
• Apache name: MasonSubcompClass
• Type in httpd.conf: string
• Default: HTML::Mason::Component::Subcomponent
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Compiler::ToObject"
The class into which subcomponent objects are blessed. This defaults to
HTML::Mason::Component::Subcomponent.
use_object_files
• Perl name: use_object_files
• Apache name: MasonUseObjectFiles
• Type in httpd.conf: boolean
• Default: 1
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Interp"
True or false, default is true. Specifies whether Mason creates object files to save the
results of component parsing. You may want to turn off object files for disk space
reasons, but otherwise this should be left alone.
use_source_line_numbers
• Perl name: use_source_line_numbers
• Apache name: MasonUseSourceLineNumbers
• Type in httpd.conf: boolean
• Default: 1
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Compiler"
True or false, default is true. Indicates whether component line numbers that appear in
error messages, stack traces, etc. are in terms of the source file instead of the object
file. Mason does this by inserting '#line' directives into compiled components. While
source line numbers are more immediately helpful, object file line numbers may be more
appropriate for in-depth debugging sessions.
use_strict
• Perl name: use_strict
• Apache name: MasonUseStrict
• Type in httpd.conf: boolean
• Default: 1
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Compiler::ToObject"
True or false, default is true. Indicates whether or not a given component should "use
strict".
use_warnings
• Perl name: use_warnings
• Apache name: MasonUseWarnings
• Type in httpd.conf: boolean
• Default: 1
• Belongs to: "HTML::Mason::Compiler::ToObject"
True or false, default is false. Indicates whether or not a given component should "use
warnings".