NAME
Template::Plugin::Cycle - Cyclically insert from a sequence of values
SYNOPSIS
use Template::Plugin::Cycle;
# Create a Cycle object and set some values
my $Cycle = Template::Plugin::Cycle->new;
$Cycle->init('normalrow', 'alternaterow');
# Bind the Cycle object into the Template
$Template->process( 'tablepage.html', class => $Cycle );
#######################################################
# Later that night in a Template
<table border="1">
<tr class="[% class %]">
<td>First row</td>
</tr>
<tr class="[% class %]">
<td>Second row</td>
</tr>
<tr class="[% class %]">
<td>Third row</td>
</tr>
</table>
[% class.reset %]
<table border="1">
<tr class="[% class %]">
<td>Another first row</td>
</tr>
</table>
#######################################################
# Which of course produces
<table border="1">
<tr class="normalrow">
<td>First row</td>
</tr>
<tr class="alternaterow">
<td>Second row</td>
</tr>
<tr class="normalrow">
<td>Third row</td>
</tr>
</table>
<table border="1">
<tr class="normalrow">
<td>Another first row</td>
</tr>
</table>DESCRIPTION
Sometime, admittedly mostly when doing alternating table row backgrounds, :) when you need to dump an alternating, cycling, set of values into a template.
Template::Plugin::Cycle is a small, simple, DWIM solution to these sorts of tasks. And it's pretty darn easy to use.
Simple create a new Cycle object as normal, passing it the values to cycle between, and then just use it in the appropriate places. Each time it is evaluated, a different value will be inserted into the template.
METHODS
new [ @list ]
The new constructor creates and returns a new Template::Plugin::Cycle object. It can be optionally passed an initial set of values to cycle through.
init @list
If you need to set the values for a new empty object, of change the values to cycle through for an existing object, they can be passed to the init method.
The method always returns the '' null string, to avoid inserting anything into the template.
elements
The elements method returns the number of items currently set for the Template::Plugin::Cycle object.
list
The list method returns the current list of values for the Template::Plugin::Cycle object.
This is also the prefered method for getting access to a value at a particular position within the list of items being cycled to.
[%# Access a variety of things from the list %]
The first item in the Cycle object is [% cycle.list.first %].
The second item in the Cycle object is [% cycle.list.[1] %].
The last item in the Cycle object is [% cycle.list.last %].next
The next method returns the next value from the Cycle. If the end of the list of valuese is reached, it will "cycle" back the first object again.
This method is also the one called when the object is stringified. That is, when it appears on it's own in a template. Thus, you can do something like the following.
<!-- An example of alternate row classes in a table-->
<table border="1">
<!-- Explicitly access the next class in the cycle -->
<tr class="[% rowclass.next %]">
<td>First row</td>
</tr>
<!-- This has the same effect -->
<tr class="[% rowclass %]">
<td>Second row</td>
</tr>
</table>value
The value method is an analogy for the next method.
reset
If a single Template::Plugin::Cycle object is to be used it multiple places within a template, and it is important that the same value be first every time, then the reset method can be used.
The reset method resets the Cycle, so that the next value returned will be the first value in the Cycle object.
SUPPORT
Bugs should be submitted via the CPAN bug tracker, located at
http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=Template%3A%3APlugin%3A%3ACycle
For other issues, contact the author.
AUTHOR
Adam Kennedy (Maintainer)
cpan@ali.as
http://ali.as/COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 2004 Adam Kennedy. All rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.
The full text of the license can be found in the LICENSE file included with this module.