Re^2: Using CGI::Ajax for multiple form buttons/divs simultaneously

I'm discovering that it's more complicated for me than perhaps for some others on account of UTF8 encoding issues. I need to decode text coming in from the form, but with the AJAX apparently connecting to just the specified function/subroutine from the perl script, even the initial "my/our" variable declarations seem to be bypassed on the callback, and the code ends up trying to decode the UTF8 characters twice--which either results in an error message, or (without decoding), text that is incorrectly displayed. I wish I understood exactly what the AJAX is doing and/or needing to do in terms of following the code.

I still seem to be no further along than I was at the start. However, I may have to run some experiments on text using pure English….so much for being a polyglot!

Blessings,

~Polyglot~

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Re^3: Using CGI::Ajax for multiple form buttons/divs simultaneously by dsheroh (Monsignor) on Mar 20, 2018 at 11:04 UTC
Yeah, that is the one major annoyance with CGI::Ajax, it kind of takes over completely. When you call `build_html`, it actually spits out a big mess of javascript into your page to make its magic work, and then, when you call one of its javascript helper functions, it intercepts that and takes over the back-end request handling, bypassing whatever your normal dispatch method might be. Towards the end of my time using CGI::Ajax, I delved into that and managed to at least partially unravel it and figure out how to bypass some of the magic, but I don't recall any of the details, only that I did it. These days, I'm using Dancer and Dancer::Plugin::Ajax, which requires me to manually write a little bit of javascript to invoke the ajax functionality, but it's much more transparent and fits into the rest of the application's framework, so I feel it ends up being a lot easier to work with overall. But that might not be an option for you if you're already dealing with legacy CGI scripts and aren't in a position to migrate to Dancer.	[reply] [d/l]
Re^4: Using CGI::Ajax for multiple form buttons/divs simultaneously by Polyglot (Chaplain) on Mar 21, 2018 at 03:31 UTC
To help me remember this myself in the future, should I seek to utilize CGI::Ajax again, I wish to make the following response to what you have mentioned above. Everything must be executed from within the &main subroutine. Anything else will fall outside of the purview of Ajax upon callback from the client. I had organized my code, as I usually do, by taking care of preliminaries before running the main subroutine--such as collecting my form inputs and setting up default values to certain variables. But instead of "compartmentalizing" things like this, and running them in their necessary A-B-C order, with Ajax, I have learned I must "nest" everything into the main subroutine. It seems someone could update the Ajax explanations, which I think I have read several times without realizing this fact, with a little more clarity. The TIMTOWTDI philosophy seems rather narrowed by the use of CGI::Ajax, for the code must be structured in just the right way to make it work. As for the "big mess of javascript," I have found CGI::Ajax far less unwieldy than jQuery and similar options which seem more popular. I'm happy with the small amount of JavaScript that the Ajax adds to the page. Blessings, ~Polyglot~	[reply]
Re^3: Using CGI::Ajax for multiple form buttons/divs simultaneously by marto (Cardinal) on Mar 20, 2018 at 11:13 UTC
Developing for the modern web with CGI/CGI::Ajax is way more painful than using something like Mojolicious, start with Mojolicious::Lite, mojo has great documentation.	[reply]