NAME

       Catalyst::Delta - Overview of changes between versions of Catalyst

DESCRIPTION

       This is an overview of the user-visible changes to Catalyst between major Catalyst
       releases.

   VERSION 5.90053
       We are now clarifying the behavior of log, plugins and configuration during the setup
       phase.  Since Plugins might require a log during setup, setup_log must run BEFORE
       setup_plugins.   This has the unfortunate side effect that anyone using the popular
       ConfigLoader plugin will not be able to supply configuration to custom logs since the
       configuration is not yet finalized when setup_log is run (when using ConfigLoader, which
       is a plugin and is not loaded until later.)

       As a workaround, you can supply custom log configuration directly into the configuration:

           package MyApp;
           use Catalyst;

           __PACKAGE__->config(
             my_custom_log_info => { %custom_args },
           );

           __PACKAGE__->setup;

       If you wish to configure the custom logger differently based on ENV, you can try:

           package MyApp;

           use Catalyst;
           use Catalyst::Utils;

           __PACKAGE__->config(
             Catalyst::Utils::merge_hashes(
               +{ my_custom_log_info => { %base_custom_args } },
               +{ do __PACKAGE__->path_to( $ENV{WHICH_CONF}."_conf.pl") },
             ),
           );

           __PACKAGE__->setup;

       Or create a standalone Configuration class that does the right thing.

       Basically if you want to configure a logger via Catalyst global configuration you can't
       use ConfigLoader because it will always be loaded too late to be of any use.  Patches and
       workaround options welcomed!

   VERSION 5.9XXXX 'cataplack'
       The Catalyst::Engine sub-classes have all been removed and deprecated, to be replaced with
       Plack handlers.

       Plack is an implementation of the PSGI specification, which is a standard interface
       between web servers and application frameworks.

       This should be no different for developers, and you should not have to migrate your
       applications unless you are using a custom engine already.

       This change benefits Catalyst significantly by reducing the amount of code inside the
       framework, and means that the framework gets upstream bug fixes in Plack, and
       automatically gains support for any web server which a PSGI compliant handler is written
       for.

       It also allows you more flexibility with your application, and allows the use of cross web
       framework 'middleware'.

       Developers are recommended to read Catalyst::Upgrading for notes about upgrading,
       especially if you are using an unusual deployment method.

       Documentation for how to take advantage of PSGI can be found in Catalyst::PSGI, and
       information about deploying your application has been moved to
       Catalyst::Manual::Deployment.

       Updated modules:

       A number of modules have been updated to pass their tests or not produce deprecation
       warnings with the latest version of Catalyst.  It is recommended that you upgrade any of
       these that you are using after installing this version of Catalyst.

       These extensions are:

       Catalyst::Engine::HTTP::Prefork
           This is now deprecated, see Catalyst::Upgrading.

       Test::WWW::Mechanize::Catalyst
           Has been updated to not produce deprecation warnings, upgrade recommended.

       Catalyst::ActionRole::ACL
           Has been updated to fix failing tests (although older versions still function
           perfectly with this version of Catalyst).

       Catalyst::Plugin::Session::Store::DBIC
           Has been updated to fix failing tests (although older versions still function
           perfectly with this version of Catalyst).

       Catalyst::Plugin::Authentication
           Has been updated to fix failing tests (although older versions still function
           perfectly with this version of Catalyst).

PREVIOUS VERSIONS

   VERSION 5.8XXXX 'catamoose'
       Deprecations

       Please see Catalyst::Upgrading for a full description of how changes in the framework may
       affect your application.

       Below is a brief list of features which have been deprecated in this release:

       ::[MVC]:: style naming scheme has been deprecated and will warn
       NEXT is deprecated for all applications and components, use MRO::Compat
       Dispatcher methods which are an implementation detail made private, public versions now
       warn.
       MyApp->plugin method is deprecated, use Catalyst::Model::Adaptor instead.
       __PACKAGE__->mk_accessors() is supported for backward compatibility only, use Moose
       attributes instead in new code.
       Use of Catalyst::Base now warns

       New features

       Dispatcher

       Fix forwarding to Catalyst::Action objects.
       Add the dispatch_type method

       Restarter

       The development server restarter has been improved to be compatible with immutable Moose
       classes, and also to optionally use B::Hooks::OP::Check::StashChange to handle more
       complex application layouts correctly.

       $c->uri_for_action method.

       Give a private path to the Catalyst action you want to create a URI for.

       Logging

       Log levels have been made additive.

       Catalyst::Test

       Change to use Sub::Exporter.
       Support mocking multiple virtual hosts
       New methods like action_ok and action_redirect to write more compact tests

       Catalyst::Response

       •   New print method which prints @data to the output stream, separated by $,.  This lets
           you pass the response object to functions that want to write to an IO::Handle.

       •   Added code method as an alias for "$res->status"

       Consequences of the Moose back end

       •   Components are fully compatible with Moose, and all Moose features, such as method
           modifiers, attributes, roles, BUILD and BUILDARGS methods are fully supported and may
           be used in components and applications.

       •   Many reusable extensions which would previously have been plugins or base classes are
           better implemented as Moose roles.

       •   MooseX::MethodAttributes::Role::AttrContainer::Inheritable is used to contain action
           attributes. This means that attributes are represented in the MOP, and decouples
           action creation from attributes.

       •   There is a reasonable API in Catalyst::Controller for working with and registering
           actions, allowing a controller sub-class to replace subroutine attributes for action
           declarations with an alternate syntax.

       •   Refactored capturing of $app from Catalyst::Controller into
           Catalyst::Component::ApplicationAttribute for easier reuse in other components.

       •   Your application class is forced to become immutable at the end of compilation.

       Bug fixes

       •   Don't ignore SIGCHLD while handling requests with the development server, so that
           system() and other ways of creating child processes work as expected.

       •   Fixes for FastCGI when used with IIS 6.0

       •   Fix a bug in uri_for which could cause it to generate paths with multiple slashes in
           them.

       •   Fix a bug in Catalyst::Stats, stopping garbage being inserted into the stats if a user
           calls begin => but no end