I find one of the biggest hassles of using CGI.pm is generating the actual HTML using the shortcuts. On complex forms it can get quite cumbersome.

I was thinking that "maybe" I might start as a side project a module that would parse (at least the majority of..) well formed HTML and output the perl code to replicate the html using CGI.pm's shortcuts.

This way you could do the form and table layouts really quick in an html editor and theoretically run it through a script using this and cut and paste (with a few little mods) the resulting CGI.pm code into your script.

What I'm wondering is how big of a hassle do other monks find this? Do most people just rough it out or resort to print <<HERE statements?

I know there are plenty of template systems but I prefer my multi-screen CGIs to be self contained. One script, one thing to break, one place to look. I find it makes maintenence and updates much easier.

Any thoughts or suggestions? I've started looking at HTML::Parser and subclasses. The docs are kind of lacking and certainly a bit to get my head around. If anyone here has experience with using HTML parsers and would like to make a suggestion as far as what the best one might be for this, it would be appreciated.

Thanks,

-Lee

"To be civilized is to deny one's nature."

In reply to CGI.pm HTML shortcuts, Better Way? by shotgunefx

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