Ok, I found the solution which utilizes the Dancer2::Plugin::Ajax module and is much cleaner.

The route is now

I dropped the 2 javascript functions (partner_details and partner_tab) previously posted and am now using this function.

function partner_details(tab) {
    $.ajax({
        url: "/p_details/" + tab,
        success: function( data ) {
            $( "#folder" ).html( data );
        }
    });
};
[download]

That other js function was moved to the external js file to remove the clutter in the template file, which is now:

<script> init_folder_tabs(); </script>

<span id="top">
<h2>Partner Details</h2>
<h3>The partner details function is still in development and is not ye
+t ready to be used.</h3>
</span>

<ul id="tabs">
  <li><a href="" onclick="partner_details('general')">General</a></li>
  <li><a href="" onclick="partner_details('qualifier')">EDI Qualifier 
+/ ID</a></li>
  <li><a href="" onclick="partner_details('certificates')">Certificate
+s</a></li>
  <li><a href="" onclick="partner_details('contact')">Contact Informat
+ion</a></li>
  <li><a href="" onclick="partner_details('notes')">Notes</a></li>
</ul>

<div id="folder"></div>
[download]

So, now when I click on the "folder tab" link, it displays the tab name as the main content of the "folder". Now I just need to write the sub that queries the db and builds the table to be displayed.