NAME

       Class::DBI::AsForm - Produce HTML form elements for database columns

SYNOPSIS

           package Music::CD;
           use Class::DBI::AsForm;
           use base 'Class::DBI';
           use CGI;
           ...

           sub create_or_edit {
               my $class = shift;
               my %cgi_field = $class->to_cgi;
               return start_form,
                      (map { "<b>$_</b>: ". $cgi_field{$_}->as_HTML." <br>" }
                           $class->Columns),
                      end_form;
           }

           # <form method="post"...>
           # Title: <input type="text" name="Title" /> <br>
           # Artist: <select name="Artist">
           #           <option value=1>Grateful Dead</option>
           #           ...
           #         </select>
           # ...
           # </form>

DESCRIPTION

       This module helps to generate HTML forms for creating new database rows or editing
       existing rows. It maps column names in a database table to HTML form elements which fit
       the schema. Large text fields are turned into textareas, and fields with a has-a
       relationship to other "Class::DBI" tables are turned into select drop-downs populated with
       objects from the joined class.

METHODS

       The module is a mix-in which adds two additional methods to your "Class::DBI"-derived
       class.

   to_cgi
       This returns a hash mapping all the column names of the class to HTML::Element objects
       representing form widgets.

   to_field($field [, $how])
       This maps an individual column to a form element. The "how" argument can be used to force
       the field type into one of "textfield", "textarea" or "select"; you can use this is you
       want to avoid the automatic detection of has-a relationships.

CHANGES

       Version 1.x of this module returned raw HTML instead of "HTML::Element" objects, which
       made it harder to manipulate the HTML before sending it out. If you depend on the old
       behaviour, set $Class::DBI::AsForm::OLD_STYLE to a true value.

MAINTAINER

       Tony Bowden

ORIGINAL AUTHOR

       Simon Cozens

BUGS and QUERIES

       Please direct all correspondence regarding this module to:
         bug-Class-DBI-AsForm@rt.cpan.org

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

       Copyright 2003-2004 by Simon Cozens / Tony Bowden

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

SEE ALSO

       Class::DBI, Class::DBI::FromCGI, HTML::Element.