1Workflow::Config(3) User Contributed Perl Documentation Workflow::Config(3)
2
6 Workflow::Config - Parse configuration files for the workflow
7 components
8
10 This documentation describes version 1.12 of this package
11
13 # Reference multiple files
14 my $parser = Workflow::Config->new( 'xml' );
16 my @config = $parser->parse(
17 'action', 'workflow_action.xml', 'other_actions.xml'
18 );
19 # Read in one of the file contents from somewhere else
21 my $xml_contents = read_contents_from_db( 'other_actions.xml' );
22 my @config = $parser->parse(
23 'action', 'workflow_action.xml', \$xml_contents
24 );
25 _
26 # Reference multiple files of mixed types
27 my @action_config = Workflow::Config->parse_all_files(
29 'action', 'my_actions.xml', 'your_actions.perl'
30 );
31
33 Read in configurations for the various workflow components. Currently
34 the class understands XML (preferred) and serialized Perl data
35 structures as valid configuration file formats. (I tried to use INI
36 files but there was too much deeply nested information. Sorry.)
37
39 parse_all_files( $workflow_config_type, @files )
40 Runs through each file in @files and processes it according to the
42 valid
43
45 Creating Your Own Parser
46 If you want to store your configuration in a different format you can
47 create your own parser. All you need to do is:
48 1. subclass Workflow::Config
50 2. implement the required methods (listed below)
52 3. register your parser with Workflow::Config.
54 For instance, if you wanted to use YAML for configuration files you
56 would do something like:
57 # just a convention, you can use any namespace you want
59 package Workflow::Config::YAML;
60 use strict;
62 # Requirement 1: Subclass Workflow::Config
64 use base qw( Workflow::Config );
65 # Requirement 2: Implement required methods
67 sub parse { ... }
68 The third requirement is registration, which just tells
70 Workflow::Config which parser to use for a particular type. To do this
71 you have two options.
72 Registration option one
74 Register yourself in your own class, adding the following call anywhere
76 the end:
77 # Option 1: Register ourselves by name
79 Workflow::Config->register_factory_type( yaml => 'Workflow::Config::YAML' );
80 Now you just need to include the configuration class in your workflow
82 invocation script:
83 use strict;
85 use Workflow::Factory qw( FACTORY );
86 use Workflow::Config::YAML; # <-- brings in the registration
87 Registration option two
89 You can also just explicitly add the registration from your workflow
91 invocation script:
92 use strict;
94 use Workflow::Factory qw( FACTORY );
95 use Workflow::Config;
96 # Option 2: explicitly register your configuration parser
98 Workflow::Config->register_factory_type( yaml => 'Workflow::Config::YAML' );
99 Whichever one you choose you can now parse (in this example) YAML files
101 alongside the built-in parsers for XML and Perl files:
102 FACTORY->add_config_from_file(
104 workflow => 'workflow.yaml',
105 action => [ 'my_actions.yaml', 'other_actions.xml' ],
106 validator => 'validators.yaml',
107 condition => [ 'my_conditions.yaml', 'other_conditions.xml' ]
108 persister => 'persister.perl',
109 );
110 Inherited Methods
112 new( $parser_type )
113 Instantiates an object of the correct type -- see Class::Factory for
115 how this is implemented:
116 # Parser of type 'Workflow::Config::XML'
118 my $xml_parser = Workflow::Config->new( 'xml' );
119 # Parser of type 'Workflow::Config::Perl
121 my $perl_parser = Workflow::Config->new( 'perl' );
122 is_valid_config_type( $config_type )
124 Returns true if $config_type is a valid configuration type, false if
126 not. Valid configuration types are: 'action', 'condition', 'validator',
127 'workflow'.
128 get_valid_config_types()
130 Returns list of strings representing the valid configuration types.
132 get_config_type_tag( $class, $type )
134 Returns string representing a valid configuration type, looking up the
136 type parameter in a lookuptable defined in Workflow::Config class.
137 Required Object Methods
139 parse( $workflow_config_type, @items )
140 Parse each item in @items to a hash reference based on the
142 configuration type $config_type which must pass the
143 "is_valid_config_type()" test. An 'item' is either a filename or a
144 scalar reference with the contents of a file. (You can mix and match as
145 seen in the SYNOPSIS.)
146 Should throw an exception if:
148 · You pass an invalid workflow configuration type. Valid workflow
150 configuration types are registered in Workflow::Config and are
151 available from "get_valid_config_types()"; you can check whether a
152 particular type is valid with "is_valid_config_type()". (See above
153 for descriptions.)
154 · You pass in a file that cannot be read or parsed because of
156 permissions, malformed XML, incorrect Perl data structure, etc. It
157 does not do a validation check (e.g., to ensure that every 'action'
158 within a workflow state has a 'resulting_state' key).
159 Returns: one hash reference for each member of @items
161
163 This gives you an idea of the configuration information in the various
164 workflow pieces:
165 workflow
167 workflow
168 type $
169 description $
170 persister $
171 observer \@
172 sub $
173 class $
174 state \@
175 name $
176 description $
177 action \@
178 name $
179 resulting_state $
180 condition \@
181 name $
182 · the 'type' and 'description' keys are at the top level
184 · the 'extra_data' key holds an array of zero or more hashrefs with
186 'table', 'field', 'class' and 'context' keys
187 · 'state' key holds array of one or more 'state' declarations; one of
189 them must be 'INITIAL'
190 · each 'state' declaration holds 'description' and 'name' keys and
192 multiple 'action' declarations
193 · each 'action' declaration holds 'name' and 'resulting_state' keys
195 and may hold a 'condition' key with one or more named conditions
196 condition
198 conditions:
199 condition \@
201 name $
202 class $
203 param \@
204 name $
205 value $
206 · array of one or more hashrefs with 'name' and 'class' keys
208 validator
210 validators:
211 validator \@
213 name $
214 class $
215 param \@
216 name $
217 value $
218 · array of one or more hashrefs with 'name' and 'class' keys, plus
220 possibly one or more 'param' hashrefs each with 'name' and 'value'
221 keys
222 action
224 actions:
225 action \@
227 name $
228 field \@
229 name $
230 is_required yes|no
231 type $
232 source_list \@ of $
233 source_class $
234 param \@
235 name $
236 value $
237 validator \@
238 name $
239 arg \@
240 value $
241 · array of one or more action hashrefs with 'name', 'class' and
243 'description' keys
244 · each 'action' may have zero or more values used to fill it; each
246 value has a 'name', 'description' and 'necessity' ('required' or
247 'optional')
248 · each 'action' may have any number of 'param' hashrefs, each with
250 'name' and 'value'
251 · each 'action' may have any number of 'validator' hashrefs, each
253 with a 'name' key and array of 'arg' declarations
254 persister
256 persister:
257 extra_table $
259 extra_field $
260 extra_class $
261 extra_context $
262
264 Copyright (c) 2003-2004 Chris Winters. All rights reserved.
265 This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
267 under the same terms as Perl itself.
268
270 Chris Winters <chris@cwinters.com>
271perl v5.12.0 2010-05-07 Workflow::Config(3)