NAME
    CGI::Application::Plugin::ConfigAuto - Easy config file management for
    CGI::Application

SYNOPSIS
     use CGI::Application::Plugin::ConfigAuto (qw/cfg cfg_file/);

    In your instance script:

     my $app = WebApp->new();
     $app->cfg_file('../../config/config.pl');
     $app->run();

    In your application module:

     sub my_run_mode {
        my $self = shift;

        # Access a config hash key directly 
        $self->cfg('field');
       
        # Return config as hash
        %CFG = $self->cfg; 

     } 

DESCRIPTION
    CGI::Application::Plugin::ConfigAuto adds easy access to config file
    variables to your CGI::Application modules. Lazy loading is used to
    prevent the config file from being parsed if no configuration variables
    are accessed during the request. In other words, the config file is not
    parsed until it is actually needed. The Config::Auto package provides
    the framework for this plugin.

RATIONALE
    "CGI::Application" promotes re-usable applications by moving a maximal
    amount of code into modules. For an application to be fully re-usable
    without code changes, it is also necessary to store configuration
    variables in a separate file.

    This plugin supports multiple config files for a single application,
    allowing config files to override each other in a particular order. This
    covers even complex cases, where you have a global config file, and
    second local config file which overrides a few variables.

    This plugin can be called in either the instance script or the setup
    method. It is recommended that you to declare your config file locations
    in the instance scripts, where it will have minimum impact on your
    application. This technique is ideal when you intend to reuse your
    module to support multiple configuration files. If you have an
    application with multiple instance scripts which share a single config
    file, you may prefer to call the plugin from the setup() method.

DECLARING CONFIG FILE LOCATIONS
     # In your instance script
     my $app = WebApp->new();

     # Pass in an array of config files, and they will be processed in order.  
     $app->cfg_file('../../config/config.pl');

    Your config files should be referenced using the syntax example above.
    The format is detected automatically using Config::Auto. It it known to
    support the following formats: colon separated, space separated, equals
    separated, XML, Perl code, and Windows INI. See that modules
    documentation for complete details.

METHODS
  cfg()
     # Access a config hash key directly 
     $self->cfg('field');
    
     # Return config as hash
     my %CFG = $self->cfg; 

     # return as hashref
     my $cfg_href = $self->cfg;
    
    A method to access project configuration variables. The config file is
    parsed on the first call with a perl hash representation stored in
    memory. Subsequent calls will use this version, rather than re-reading
    the file.

    In list context, it returns the configuration data as a hash. In scalar
    context, it returns the configuration data as a hashref.

  cfg_file()
     # Usual
     $self->cfg_file('my_config_file.pl');
    
     # Supply the first format, guess the second
     $self->cfg_file('my_config_file.pl',{ format => 'perl' } );

    Supply an array of config files, and they will be processed in order. If
    a hash reference if found it, will be used to supply the format for the
    previous file in the array.

FILE FORMAT HINTS
  Perl
    Here's a simple example of my favorite config file format: Perl. Having
    the "shebang" line at the top helps "Config::Auto" to identify it as a
    Perl file. Also, be sure that your last statement returns a hash
    reference.

        #!/usr/bin/perl

        # directory path name
        $CFG{DIR} = '/home/mark/www';

        # website URL
        $CFG{URL} = 'http://mark.stosberg.com/';

        \%CFG;

SEE ALSO
    CGI::Application CGI::Application::Plugin::ValidateRM
    CGI::Application::Plugin::DBH perl(1)

AUTHOR
    Mark Stosberg <mark@summersault.com>

LICENSE
    Copyright (C) 2004 Mark Stosberg <mark@summersault.com>

    This library is free software. You can modify and or distribute it under
    the same terms as Perl itself.

