1Workflow::Config(3) User Contributed Perl Documentation Workflow::Config(3)
2
6 Workflow::Config - Parse configuration files for the workflow compo‐
7 nents
8
10 # Reference multiple files
11 my $parser = Workflow::Config->new( 'xml' );
13 my @config = $parser->parse(
14 'action', 'workflow_action.xml', 'other_actions.xml'
15 );
16 # Read in one of the file contents from somewhere else
18 my $xml_contents = read_contents_from_db( 'other_actions.xml' );
19 my @config = $parser->parse(
20 'action', 'workflow_action.xml', \$xml_contents
21 );
22 _
23 # Reference multiple files of mixed types
24 my @action_config = Workflow::Config->parse_all_files(
26 'action', 'my_actions.xml', 'your_actions.perl'
27 );
28
30 Read in configurations for the various workflow components. Currently
31 the class understands XML (preferred) and serialized Perl data struc‐
32 tures as valid configuration file formats. (I tried to use INI files
33 but there was too much deeply nested information. Sorry.)
34
36 parse_all_files( $workflow_config_type, @files )
37 Runs through each file in @files and processes it according to the
39 valid
40
42 Creating Your Own Parser
43 If you want to store your configuration in a different format you can
45 create your own parser. All you need to do is:
46 1. subclass Workflow::Config
48 2. implement the required methods (listed below)
50 3. register your parser with Workflow::Config.
52 For instance, if you wanted to use YAML for configuration files you
54 would do something like:
55 # just a convention, you can use any namespace you want
57 package Workflow::Config::YAML;
58 use strict;
60 # Requirement 1: Subclass Workflow::Config
62 use base qw( Workflow::Config );
63 # Requirement 2: Implement required methods
65 sub parse { ... }
66 The third requirement is registration, which just tells Workflow::Con‐
68 fig which parser to use for a particular type. To do this you have two
69 options.
70 Registration option one
72 Register yourself in your own class, adding the following call anywhere
74 the end:
75 # Option 1: Register ourselves by name
77 Workflow::Config->register_factory_type( yaml => 'Workflow::Config::YAML' );
78 Now you just need to include the configuration class in your workflow
80 invocation script:
81 use strict;
83 use Workflow::Factory qw( FACTORY );
84 use Workflow::Config::YAML; # <-- brings in the registration
85 Registration option two
87 You can also just explicitly add the registration from your workflow
89 invocation script:
90 use strict;
92 use Workflow::Factory qw( FACTORY );
93 use Workflow::Config;
94 # Option 2: explicitly register your configuration parser
96 Workflow::Config->register_factory_type( yaml => 'Workflow::Config::YAML' );
97 Whichever one you choose you can now parse (in this example) YAML files
99 alongside the built-in parsers for XML and Perl files:
100 FACTORY->add_config_from_file(
102 workflow => 'workflow.yaml',
103 action => [ 'my_actions.yaml', 'other_actions.xml' ],
104 validator => 'validators.yaml',
105 condition => [ 'my_conditions.yaml', 'other_conditions.xml' ]
106 persister => 'persister.perl',
107 );
108 Inherited Methods
110 new( $parser_type )
112 Instantiates an object of the correct type -- see Class::Factory for
114 how this is implemented:
115 # Parser of type 'Workflow::Config::XML'
117 my $xml_parser = Workflow::Config->new( 'xml' );
118 # Parser of type 'Workflow::Config::Perl
120 my $perl_parser = Workflow::Config->new( 'perl' );
121 is_valid_config_type( $config_type )
123 Returns true if $config_type is a valid configuration type, false if
125 not. Valid configuration types are: 'action', 'condition', 'validator',
126 'workflow'.
127 get_valid_config_types()
129 Returns list of strings representing the valid configuration types.
131 Required Object Methods
133 parse( $workflow_config_type, @items )
135 Parse each item in @items to a hash reference based on the configura‐
137 tion type $config_type which must pass the "is_valid_config_type()"
138 test. An 'item' is either a filename or a scalar reference with the
139 contents of a file. (You can mix and match as seen in the SYNOPSIS.)
140 Should throw an exception if:
142 · You pass an invalid workflow configuration type. Valid workflow
144 configuration types are registered in Workflow::Config and are
145 available from "get_valid_config_types()"; you can check whether a
146 particular type is valid with "is_valid_config_type()". (See above
147 for descriptions.)
148 · You pass in a file that cannot be read or parsed because of permis‐
150 sions, malformed XML, incorrect Perl data structure, etc. It does
151 not do a validation check (e.g., to ensure that every 'action'
152 within a workflow state has a 'resulting_state' key).
153 Returns: one hash reference for each member of @items
155
157 This gives you an idea of the configuration information in the various
158 workflow pieces:
159 workflow
161 workflow
163 type $
164 description $
165 persister $
166 observer \@
167 sub $
168 class $
169 state \@
170 name $
171 description $
172 action \@
173 name $
174 resulting_state $
175 condition \@
176 name $
177 · the 'type' and 'description' keys are at the top level
179 · the 'extra_data' key holds an array of zero or more hashrefs with
181 'table', 'field', 'class' and 'context' keys
182 · 'state' key holds array of one or more 'state' declarations; one of
184 them must be 'INITIAL'
185 · each 'state' declaration holds 'description' and 'name' keys and
187 multiple 'action' declarations
188 · each 'action' declaration holds 'name' and 'resulting_state' keys
190 and may hold a 'condition' key with one or more named conditions
191 condition
193 conditions:
195 condition \@
197 name $
198 class $
199 param \@
200 name $
201 value $
202 · array of one or more hashrefs with 'name' and 'class' keys
204 validator
206 validators:
208 validator \@
210 name $
211 class $
212 param \@
213 name $
214 value $
215 · array of one or more hashrefs with 'name' and 'class' keys, plus
217 possibly one or more 'param' hashrefs each with 'name' and 'value'
218 keys
219 action
221 actions:
223 action \@
225 name $
226 field \@
227 name $
228 is_required yes⎪no
229 type $
230 source_list \@ of $
231 source_class $
232 param \@
233 name $
234 value $
235 validator \@
236 name $
237 arg \@
238 value $
239 · array of one or more action hashrefs with 'name', 'class' and
241 'description' keys
242 · each 'action' may have zero or more values used to fill it; each
244 value has a 'name', 'description' and 'necessity' ('required' or
245 'optional')
246 · each 'action' may have any number of 'param' hashrefs, each with
248 'name' and 'value'
249 · each 'action' may have any number of 'validator' hashrefs, each
251 with a 'name' key and array of 'arg' declarations
252 persister
254 persister:
256 extra_table $
258 extra_field $
259 extra_class $
260 extra_context $
261
263 Copyright (c) 2003-2004 Chris Winters. All rights reserved.
264 This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
266 under the same terms as Perl itself.
267
269 Chris Winters <chris@cwinters.com>
270perl v5.8.8 2007-04-25 Workflow::Config(3)