intranet using xml and perl

derek3000 has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Fellow monks--

I'm looking for a little advice on a project I'm going to start undertaking.

My organization needs an intranet, and since I'm dying to use perl for just about anything I can, I would like to store the info in XML files and use XML:Parser (is that right?) to output the stuff in HTML (or XHTML). What I really need is a list of links where I can go to for info.

First thing: I really don't know too much about XML, and am only a newbie at Perl. Any good tutorials on either separately, and together, would be helpful.

Second thing: I noticed that this particular site runs like one big CGI script, and the links are really just parameters passed to it. That's pretty cool, and if there's an advantage, I'd like to do that. So what would be the advantage, and where could I learn about that?

Third: any pitfalls I should watch out for? I know to use -T, but that's about it.

Ok, I think that's it for now. Just to make it clear, you guys don't have to give me any code or anything. I'd actually prefer someone to point me in the right direction instead, but you guys usually do that anyway. Thanks again!

Comment on intranet using xml and perl

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Re: intranet using xml and perl by btrott (Parson) on Jun 15, 2001 at 21:40 UTC
You'll need more than just XML::Parser to output the data in X?HTML. XML::Parser, as its name implies, simply parses XML; in fact it's a rather low-level parser, and I think most users of XML use a system that's built upon XML::Parser (XML::Twig, XML::DOM, etc.). It sounds like what you want is a data-driven site, where the data is stored in XML, and where you can then transform that XML into X?HTML using stylesheets or templates. I think you should take a look at AxKit (on CPAN: AxKit). It's an "XML Application Server for Apache". And it's very cool. :)	[reply]
Re: intranet using xml and perl by Beatnik (Parson) on Jun 15, 2001 at 21:44 UTC
There is an XML::Parser Tutorial in the Tutorials section (written by OeufMayo), also check the Book Reviews node on what Perl books score well, also Outside Links has some general links you might want to check. (ab)use Super Search ! :) Best way to learn it, is by diving right into that big pile of code, books, tutorials, etc :) Good luck ! :) Greetz Beatnik ... Quidquid perl dictum sit, altum viditur.	[reply]
Re: intranet using xml and perl by Coyote (Deacon) on Jun 15, 2001 at 21:45 UTC
You might want to check out AxKit or Apache::PageKit. These are both application servers written in perl that do exactly what you describe. You can find more information about AxKit at http://www.axkit.org and http://www.axkit.com and a good usage example at http://www.take23.org. I'm not as familiar with PageKit, but from the description at http://www.pagekit.org, it is a framework that uses XML to store content and HTML::Template for presentation. One caveat here is that both systems run under mod_perl. ---- Coyote	[reply]
Re: intranet using xml and perl by sierrathedog04 (Hermit) on Jun 15, 2001 at 23:19 UTC
At work I have coded one project using XML and Perl. Here is what I have learned in doing so: Rather than using XML::Parser directly, I used the XML::Dom application from CPAN. The DOM is a standard way of interfacing with XML; if you solve an XML problem using DOM then you will be able to port the logic to other languages. The DOM is tedious to use, and code using the DOM is hard to maintain. Our own Mirod here at Perlmonks is rather an expert on Perl/XML. He recommends his own XML::Twig module instead. Some databases such as newer versions of Microsoft SQL Server have built-in XML support. They can return a query's results as XML. Use one of these if you can. Although I plan to use Perl for XML programming again, I now know that Java has more tools for programming XML than does Perl. In other words, Perl may not be the tool of choice for programming XML in every case.	[reply]