---
name: "HTML::Widget"
section: "3pm"
platform: "linux"
package: "libhtml-widget-perl"
version: "1.11-7"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/HTML::Widget"
---

# HTML::Widget(3pm)

HTML Widget And Validation Framework

## NAME

HTML::Widget - HTML Widget And Validation Framework

## NOTE

HTML::Widget is no longer under active development and the current  maintainers are instead pursuing an intended replacement (see the  mailing-list for details).

Volunteer maintainers / developers for HTML::Widget, please contact  the mailing-list.

## SYNOPSIS

```
    use HTML::Widget;
    # Create a widget
    my $w = HTML::Widget->new('widget')->method('get')->action('/');
    # Add a fieldset to contain the elements
    my $fs = $w->element( 'Fieldset', 'user' )->legend('User Details');
    # Add some elements
    $fs->element( 'Textfield', 'age' )->label('Age')->size(3);
    $fs->element( 'Textfield', 'name' )->label('Name')->size(60);
    $fs->element( 'Submit', 'ok' )->value('OK');
    # Add some constraints
    $w->constraint( 'Integer', 'age' )->message('No integer.');
    $w->constraint( 'Not_Integer', 'name' )->message('Integer.');
    $w->constraint( 'All', 'age', 'name' )->message('Missing value.');
    # Add some filters
    $w->filter('Whitespace');
    # Process
    my $result = $w->process;
    my $result = $w->process($query);
    # Check validation results
    my @valid_fields   = $result->valid;
    my $is_valid       = $result->valid('foo');
    my @invalid_fields = $result->have_errors;
    my $is_invalid     = $result->has_errors('foo');;
    # CGI.pm-compatible! (read-only)
    my $value  = $result->param('foo');
    my @params = $result->param;
    # Catalyst::Request-compatible
    my $value = $result->params->{foo};
    my @params = keys %{ $result->params };
    # Merge widgets (constraints and elements will be appended)
    $widget->merge($other_widget);
    # Embed widgets (as fieldset)
    $widget->embed($other_widget);
    # Get list of elements
    my @elements = $widget->get_elements;
    # Get list of constraints
    my @constraints = $widget->get_constraints;
    # Get list of filters
    my @filters = $widget->get_filters;
    # Complete xml result
    [% result %]
    [% result.as_xml %]
    # Iterate over elements
    <form action="/foo" method="get">
    [% FOREACH element = result.elements %]
        [% element.field_xml %]
        [% element.error_xml %]
    [% END %]
    </form>
    # Iterate over validation errors
    [% FOREACH element = result.have_errors %]
        <p>
        [% element %]:<br/>
        <ul>
        [% FOREACH error = result.errors(element) %]
            <li>
                [% error.name %]: [% error.message %] ([% error.type %])
            </li>
        [% END %]
        </ul>
        </p>
    [% END %]
    <p><ul>
    [% FOREACH element = result.have_errors %]
        [% IF result.error( element, 'Integer' ) %]
            <li>[% element %] has to be an integer.</li>
        [% END %]
    [% END %]
    </ul></p>
    [% FOREACH error = result.errors %]
        <li>[% error.name %]: [% error.message %] ([% error.type %])</li>
    [% END %]
    # XML output looks like this (easy to theme with css)
    <form action="/foo/bar" id="widget" method="post">
        <fieldset>
            <label for="widget_age" id="widget_age_label"
              class="labels_with_errors">
                Age
                <span class="label_comments" id="widget_age_comment">
                    (Required)
                </span>
                <span class="fields_with_errors">
                    <input id="widget_age" name="age" size="3" type="text"
                      value="24" class="Textfield" />
                </span>
            </label>
            <span class="error_messages" id="widget_age_errors">
                <span class="Regex_errors" id="widget_age_error_Regex">
                    Contains digit characters.
                </span>
            </span>
            <label for="widget_name" id="widget_name_label">
                Name
                <input id="widget_name" name="name" size="60" type="text"
                  value="sri" class="Textfield" />
                <span class="error_messages" id="widget_name_errors"></span>
            </label>
            <input id="widget_ok" name="ok" type="submit" value="OK" />
        </fieldset>
    </form>
```

## DESCRIPTION

Create easy to maintain HTML widgets!

Everything is optional, use validation only or just generate forms, you can embed and merge them later.

The API was designed similar to other popular modules like Data::FormValidator and FormValidator::Simple, HTML::FillInForm is also built in (and much faster).

This Module is very powerful, don't misuse it as a template system!

## METHODS

### new

Arguments: `$name`, \\%attributes

Return Value: `$widget`

Create a new HTML::Widget object. The name parameter will be used as the  id of the form created by the to\_xml method.

The `"attributes"` argument is equivalent to using the "attributes"  method.

### action

Arguments: `$uri`

Return Value: `$uri`

Get/Set the action associated with the form. The default is no action,  which causes most browsers to submit to the current URI.

### attributes

### attrs

Arguments: `%attributes`

Arguments: \\%attributes

Return Value: `$widget`

Arguments: none

Return Value: \\%attributes

Accepts either a list of key/value pairs, or a hash-ref.

```
    $w->attributes( $key => $value );
    $w->attributes( { $key => $value } );
```

Returns the `$widget` object, to allow method chaining.

As of v1.10, passing a hash-ref no longer deletes current  attributes, instead the attributes are added to the current attributes  hash.

This means the attributes hash-ref can no longer be emptied using  `"$w->attributes( { } );"`. Instead, you may use  `"%{ $w->attributes } = ();"`.

As a special case, if no arguments are passed, the return value is a  hash-ref of attributes instead of the object reference. This provides  backwards compatibility to support:

```
    $w->attributes->{key} = $value;
```

"attrs" is an alias for "attributes".

### container

Arguments: `$tag`

Return Value: `$tag`

Get/Set the tag used to contain the XML output when as\_xml is called on the HTML::Widget object. Defaults to `"form"`.

### element\_container\_class

Arguments: `$class_name`

Return Value: `$class_name`

Get/Set the container\_class override for all elements in this widget. If set to non-zero value, process will call `$element`-\>container\_class($class\_name) for each element. Defaults to not set.

See "container\_class" in HTML::Widget::Element.

### elem

### element

Arguments: `$type`, `$name`, \\%attributes

Return Value: `$element`

Add a new element to the Widget. Each element must be given at least a type.  The name is used to generate an id attribute on the tag created for the  element, and for form-specific elements is used as the name attribute. The  returned element object can be used to set further attributes, please see  the individual element classes for the methods specific to each one.

The `"attributes"` argument is equivalent to using the  attributes method.

If the element starts with a name other than `"HTML::Widget::Element::"`,  you can fully qualify the name by using a unary plus:

```
    $self->element( "+Fully::Qualified::Name", $name );
```

The type can be one of the following:

- HTML::Widget::Element::Block

  ```
      my $e = $widget->element('Block');
  ```

  Add a Block element, which by default will be rendered as a `"DIV"`.

  ```
      my $e = $widget->element('Block');
      $e->type('img');
  ```

- HTML::Widget::Element::Button

  ```
      my $e = $widget->element( 'Button', 'foo' );
      $e->value('bar');
  ```

  Add a button element.

  ```
      my $e = $widget->element( 'Button', 'foo' );
      $e->value('bar');
      $e->content('<b>arbitrary markup</b>');
      $e->type('submit');
  ```

  Add a button element which uses a `"button"` html tag rather than an  `"input"` tag. The value of `"content"` is not html-escaped, so may contain  html markup.

- HTML::Widget::Element::Checkbox

  ```
      my $e = $widget->element( 'Checkbox', 'foo' );
      $e->comment('(Required)');
      $e->label('Foo');
      $e->checked('checked');
      $e->value('bar');
  ```

  Add a standard checkbox element.

- HTML::Widget::Element::Fieldset

  ```
      my $e = $widget->element( 'Fieldset', 'foo' );
      $e->legend('Personal details');
      $e->element('Textfield', 'name');
      $e->element('Textarea', 'address');
  ```

  Adds a nested fieldset element, which can contain further elements.

- HTML::Widget::Element::Hidden

  ```
      my $e = $widget->element( 'Hidden', 'foo' );
      $e->value('bar');
  ```

  Add a hidden field. This field is mainly used for passing previously gathered data between multiple page forms.

- HTML::Widget::Element::Password

  ```
      my $e = $widget->element( 'Password', 'foo' );
      $e->comment('(Required)');
      $e->fill(1);
      $e->label('Foo');
      $e->size(23);
      $e->value('bar');
  ```

  Add a password field. This is a text field that will not show the user what they are typing, but show asterisks instead.

- HTML::Widget::Element::Radio

  ```
      my $e = $widget->element( 'Radio', 'foo' );
      $e->comment('(Required)');
      $e->label('Foo');
      $e->checked('checked');
      $e->value('bar');
  ```

  Add a radio button to a group. Radio buttons with the same name will work as a group. That is, only one item in the group will be "on" at a time.

- HTML::Widget::Element::RadioGroup

  ```
      my $e = $widget->element( 'RadioGroup', 'name' );
      $e->comment('(Required)');
      $e->label('Foo'); # Label for whole radio group
      $e->value('bar'); # Currently selected value
      $e->labels([qw/Fu Bur Garch/]); # default to ucfirst of values
  ```

  This is a shortcut to add multiple radio buttons with the same name at the same time. See above.

- HTML::Widget::Element::Reset

  ```
      $e = $widget->element( 'Reset', 'foo' );
      $e->value('bar');
  ```

  Create a reset button. The text on the button will default to "Reset", unless you call the **value()** method. This button resets the form to its original values.

- HTML::Widget::Element::Select

  ```
      my $e = $widget->element( 'Select', 'foo' );
      $e->comment('(Required)');
      $e->label('Foo');
      $e->size(23);
      $e->options( foo => 'Foo', bar => 'Bar' );
      $e->selected(qw/foo bar/);
  ```

  Create a dropdown  or multi-select list element with multiple options. Options  are supplied in a key =\> value list, in which the keys are the actual selected IDs, and the values are the strings displayed in the dropdown.

- HTML::Widget::Element::Span

  ```
      my $e = $widget->element( 'Span' );
      $e->content('bar');
  ```

  Create a simple span tag, containing the given content. Spans cannot be constrained as they are not entry fields.

  The content may be a string, an HTML::Element object,  or an array-ref of HTML::Element objects.

- HTML::Widget::Element::Submit

  ```
      $e = $widget->element( 'Submit', 'foo' );
      $e->value('bar');
  ```

  Create a submit button. The text on the button will default to "Submit", unless you call the **value()** method.

  ```
      $e = $widget->element( 'Submit', 'foo' );
      $e->value('bar');
      $e->src('image.png');
      $e->width(100);
      $e->height(35);
  ```

  Create an image submit button. The button will be displayed as an image,  using the file at url `"src"`.

- HTML::Widget::Element::Textarea

  ```
      my $e = $widget->element( 'Textarea', 'foo' );
      $e->comment('(Required)');
      $e->label('Foo');
      $e->cols(30);
      $e->rows(40);
      $e->value('bar');
      $e->wrap('wrap');
  ```

  Create a textarea field. This is a multi-line input field for text.

- HTML::Widget::Element::Textfield

  ```
      my $e = $widget->element( 'Textfield', 'foo' );
      $e->comment('(Required)');
      $e->label('Foo');
      $e->size(23);
      $e->maxlength(42);
      $e->value('bar');
  ```

  Create a single line text field.

- HTML::Widget::Element::Upload

  ```
      my $e = $widget->element( 'Upload', 'foo' );
      $e->comment('(Required)');
      $e->label('Foo');
      $e->accept('text/html');
      $e->maxlength(1000);
      $e->size(23);
  ```

  Create a field for uploading files. This will probably be rendered as a textfield, with a button for choosing a file.

  Adding an Upload element automatically calls `"$widget->enctype('multipart/form-data')"` for you.

### id

### name

Arguments: `$name`

Return Value: `$name`

Get or set the widget id.

"name" is an alias for "id".

### get\_elements

Arguments: `%options`

Return Value: `@elements`

```
    my @elements = $self->get_elements;

    my @elements = $self->get_elements( type => 'Textfield' );

    my @elements = $self->get_elements( name => 'username' );
```

Returns a list of all elements added to the widget.

If a 'type' argument is given, only returns the elements of that type.

If a 'name' argument is given, only returns the elements with that name.

### get\_elements\_ref

Arguments: `%options`

Return Value: \\@elements

Accepts the same arguments as "get\_elements", but returns an arrayref  of results instead of a list.

### get\_element

Arguments: `%options`

Return Value: `$element`

```
    my $element = $self->get_element;

    my $element = $self->get_element( type => 'Textfield' );

    my $element = $self->get_element( name => 'username' );
```

Similar to **get\_elements()**, but only returns the first element in the list.

Accepts the same arguments as **get\_elements()**.

### find\_elements

Arguments: `%options`

Return Value: `@elements`

Similar to "get\_elements", and accepts the same arguments, but performs a recursive search through block-level elements.

### const

### constraint

Arguments: `$type`, `@field_names`

Return Value: `$constraint`

Set up a constraint on one or more elements. When **process()** is called on the Widget object, with a `$query` object, the parameters of the query are checked  against the specified constraints. The HTML::Widget::Constraint object is  returned to allow setting of further attributes to be set. The string 'Not\_'  can be prepended to each type name to negate the effects. Thus checking for a  non-integer becomes 'Not\_Integer'.

If the constraint package name starts with something other than  `"HTML::Widget::Constraint::"`, you can fully qualify the name by using a  unary plus:

```
    $self->constraint( "+Fully::Qualified::Name", @names );
```

Constraint checking is done after all HTML::Widget::Filter have been  applied.

`@names` should contain a list of element names that the constraint applies to.  The type of constraint can be one of:

- HTML::Widget::Constraint::All

  ```
      my $c = $widget->constraint( 'All', 'foo', 'bar' );
  ```

  The fields passed to the "All" constraint are those which are required fields in the form.

- HTML::Widget::Constraint::AllOrNone

  ```
      my $c = $widget->constraint( 'AllOrNone', 'foo', 'bar' );
  ```

  If any of the fields passed to the "AllOrNone" constraint are filled in, then  they all must be filled in.

- HTML::Widget::Constraint::Any

  ```
      my $c = $widget->constraint( 'Any', 'foo', 'bar' );
  ```

  At least one or more of the fields passed to this constraint must be filled.

- HTML::Widget::Constraint::ASCII

  ```
      my $c = $widget->constraint( 'ASCII', 'foo' );
  ```

  The fields passed to this constraint will be checked to make sure their  contents contain ASCII characters.

- HTML::Widget::Constraint::Bool

  ```
      my $c = $widget->constraint( 'Bool', 'foo' );
  ```

  The fields passed to this constraint will be checked to make sure their  contents contain a `1` or `0`.

- HTML::Widget::Constraint::Callback

  ```
      my $c = $widget->constraint( 'Callback', 'foo' )->callback(sub {
          my $value=shift;
          return 1;
      });
  ```

  This constraint allows you to provide your own callback sub for validation.  The callback sub is called once for each submitted value of each named field.

- HTML::Widget::Constraint::CallbackOnce

  ```
      my $c = $widget->constraint( 'CallbackOnce', 'foo' )->callback(sub {
          my $value=shift;
          return 1;
      });
  ```

  This constraint allows you to provide your own callback sub for validation.  The callback sub is called once per call of "process".

- HTML::Widget::Constraint::Date

  ```
      my $c = $widget->constraint( 'Date', 'year', 'month', 'day' );
  ```

  This constraint ensures that the three fields passed in are a valid date.

- HTML::Widget::Constraint::DateTime

  ```
      my $c =
        $widget->constraint( 'DateTime', 'year', 'month', 'day', 'hour',
          'minute', 'second' );
  ```

  This constraint ensures that the six fields passed in are a valid date and  time.

- HTML::Widget::Constraint::DependOn

  ```
      my $c =
        $widget->constraint( 'DependOn', 'foo', 'bar' );
  ```

  If the first field listed is filled in, all of the others are required.

- HTML::Widget::Constraint::Email

  ```
      my $c = $widget->constraint( 'Email', 'foo' );
  ```

  Check that the field given contains a valid email address, according to RFC 2822, using the Email::Valid module.

- HTML::Widget::Constraint::Equal

  ```
      my $c = $widget->constraint( 'Equal', 'foo', 'bar' );
      $c->render_errors( 'foo' );
  ```

  The fields passed to this constraint must contain the same information, or be empty.

- HTML::Widget::Constraint::HTTP

  ```
      my $c = $widget->constraint( 'HTTP', 'foo' );
  ```

  This constraint checks that the field(s) passed in are valid URLs. The regex used to test this can be set manually using the -\>regex method.

- HTML::Widget::Constraint::In

  ```
      my $c = $widget->constraint( 'In', 'foo' );
      $c->in( 'possible', 'values' );
  ```

  Check that a value is one of a specified set.

- HTML::Widget::Constraint::Integer

  ```
      my $c = $widget->constraint( 'Integer', 'foo' );
  ```

  Check that the field contents are an integer.

- HTML::Widget::Constraint::Length

  ```
      my $c = $widget->constraint( 'Length', 'foo' );
      $c->min(23);
      $c->max(50);
  ```

  Ensure that the contents of the field are at least `$min` long, and no longer than `$max`.

- HTML::Widget::Constraint::Number

  ```
      my $c = $widget->constraint( 'Number', 'foo' );
  ```

  Ensure that the content of the field is a number.

- HTML::Widget::Constraint::Printable

  ```
      my $c = $widget->constraint( 'Printable', 'foo' );
  ```

  The contents of the given field must only be printable characters. The regex used to test this can be set manually using the -\>regex method.

- HTML::Widget::Constraint::Range

  ```
      my $c = $widget->constraint( 'Range', 'foo' );
      $c->min(23);
      $c->max(30);
  ```

  The contents of the field must be numerically within the given range.

- HTML::Widget::Constraint::Regex

  ```
      my $c = $widget->constraint( 'Regex', 'foo' );
      $c->regex(qr/^\w+$/);
  ```

  Tests the contents of the given field(s) against a user supplied regex.

- HTML::Widget::Constraint::String

  ```
      my $c = $widget->constraint( 'String', 'foo' );
  ```

  The field must only contain characters in \\w. i.e. \[a-zaZ0-9\_\]

- HTML::Widget::Constraint::Time

  ```
      my $c = $widget->constraint( 'Time', 'hour', 'minute', 'second' );
  ```

  The three fields passed to this constraint must constitute a valid time.

### constraint\_all

### constrain\_all

Arguments: `@constraint_types`

Return Value: `@constraints`

```
    $w->element( Textfield => 'name' );
    $w->element( Textfield => 'password' );
    $w->constraint_all( 'All' );
```

For each named type, add a constraint to all elements currently defined.

Does not add a constraint for elements which return false for  "allow\_constraint" in HTML::Widget::Element; this includes  HTML::Widget::Element::Span and any element that inherits from  HTML::Widget::Element::Block.

### get\_constraints

Arguments: `%options`

Return Value: `@constraints`

```
    my @constraints = $self->get_constraints;

    my @constraints = $self->get_constraints( type => 'Integer' );
```

Returns a list of all constraints added to the widget.

If a 'type' argument is given, only returns the constraints of that type.

### get\_constraints\_ref

Arguments: `%options`

Return Value: \\@constraints

Accepts the same arguments as "get\_constraints", but returns an arrayref  of results instead of a list.

### get\_constraint

Arguments: `%options`

Return Value: `$constraint`

```
    my $constraint = $self->get_constraint;

    my $constraint = $self->get_constraint( type => 'Integer' );
```

Similar to "get\_constraints", but only returns the first constraint in the  list.

Accepts the same arguments as "get\_constraints".

### embed

Arguments: `@widgets`

Arguments: `$element`, `@widgets`

Insert the contents of another widget object into this one. Each embedded object will be represented as another set of fields (surrounded by a fieldset tag), inside the created form. No copy is made of the widgets to embed, thus calling as\_xml on the resulting object will change data in the widget objects.

With an element argument, the widgets are embedded into the provided element. No checks are made on whether the provided element belongs to `$self`.

Note that without an element argument, embed embeds into the top level of the widget, and NOT into any subcontainer (whether created by you or implicitly created).  If this is not what you need, you can choose one of:

```
    # while building $self:
    $in_here = $self->element('Fieldset', 'my_fieldset');
    # later:
    $self->embed($in_here, @widgets);
    # these are equivalent:
    $self->embed(($self->find_elements)[0], @widgets);
    $self->embed_into_first(@widgets); # but this is faster!
```

If you are just building a widget and do not need to import constraints and filters from another widget, do not use embed at all, simply assemble using the methods provided by HTML::Widget::Element::Fieldset.

### embed\_into\_first

Arguments: `@widgets`

As for "embed", but embed into the first subcontainer (fieldset) rather than into the top level form.

### empty\_errors

Arguments: `$bool`

Return Value: `$bool`

After validation, if errors are found, a span tag is created with the id  "fields\_with\_errors". Set this value to cause the span tag to always be  generated.

### enctype

Arguments: `$enctype`

Return Value: `$enctype`

Set/Get the encoding type of the form. This can be either  "application/x-www-form-urlencoded" which is the default, or  "multipart/form-data". See \<http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/interact/forms.html#h-17.13.4\>.

If the widget contains an Upload element, the enctype is automatically set to 'multipart/form-data'.

### explicit\_ids

Argument: `$bool`

Return Value: `$bool`

When true; elements, fieldsets and blocks will not be given DOM id's, unless  explicitly set with attributes.

```
    $w->element( 'Textfield', 'foo', {id => 'my_id'} )
```

The form itself will always be given an "id", which is `"widget"` by default.

### filter

Arguments: `$type`, `@field_names`

Return Value: `$filter`

Add a filter. Like constraints, filters can be applied to one or more elements. These are applied to actually change the contents of the fields, supplied by the user before checking the constraints. It only makes sense to apply filters to fields that can contain text - Password, Textfield, Textarea, Upload.

If the filter starts with a name other than `"HTML::Widget::Filter::"`,  you can fully qualify the name by using a unary plus:

```
    $self->filter( "+Fully::Qualified::Name", @names );
```

There are currently two types of filter:

- HTML::Widget::Filter::Callback

  ```
      my $f = $widget->filter( 'Callback', 'foo' );
      $f->callback( \&my_callback );
  ```

  Filter given field(s) using a user-defined subroutine.

- HTML::Widget::Filter::HTMLEscape

  ```
      my $f = $widget->filter( 'HTMLEscape', 'foo' );
  ```

  Escapes HTML entities in the given field(s).

- HTML::Widget::Filter::HTMLStrip

  ```
      my $f = $widget->filter( 'HTMLStrip', 'foo' );
  ```

  Strips HTML tags from the given field(s).

  ```
      my $f = $widget->filter( 'HTMLStrip', 'foo' );
      $f->allow( 'p', 'br' );
  ```

  Specify a list of HTML tags which shouldn't be stripped.

- HTML::Widget::Filter::LowerCase

  ```
      my $f = $widget->filter( 'LowerCase', 'foo' );
  ```

  Make given field(s) all lowercase.

- HTML::Widget::Filter::TrimEdges

  ```
      my $f = $widget->filter( 'TrimEdges', 'foo' );
  ```

  Removes whitespace from the beginning and end of the given field(s).

- HTML::Widget::Filter::UpperCase

  ```
      my $f = $widget->filter( 'UpperCase', 'foo' );
  ```

  Make given field(s) all uppercase.

- HTML::Widget::Filter::Whitespace

  ```
      my $f = $widget->filter( 'Whitespace', 'foo' );
  ```

  Removes all whitespace from the given field(s).

### filter\_all

Arguments: `@filter_types`

Return Value: `@filters`

```
    $w->element( Textfield => 'name' );
    $w->element( Textfield => 'age' );
    $w->filter_all( 'Whitespace' );
```

For each named type, add a filter to all elements currently defined.

Does not add a filter for elements which return false for  `"HTML::Widget::Element/allow_filter"`; this includes  HTML::Widget::Element::Span and any element that inherits from  HTML::Widget::Element::Block.

### get\_filters

Arguments: `%options`

Return Value: `@filters`

```
    my @filters = $self->get_filters;

    my @filters = $self->get_filters( type => 'Integer' );
```

Returns a list of all filters added to the widget.

If a 'type' argument is given, only returns the filters of that type.

### get\_filters\_ref

Arguments: `%options`

Return Value: \\@filters

Accepts the same arguments as "get\_filters", but returns an arrayref  of results instead of a list.

### get\_filter

Arguments: `%options`

Return Value: `$filter`

```
    my @filters = $self->get_filter;

    my @filters = $self->get_filter( type => 'Integer' );
```

Similar to "get\_filters", but only returns the first filter in the  list.

Accepts the same arguments as "get\_filters".

### indi

### indicator

Arguments: `$field_name`

Return Value: `$field_name`

Set/Get a boolean field. This is a convenience method for the user, so they  can keep track of which of many Widget objects were submitted. It is also used by Catalyst::Plugin::HTML::Widget

### legend

Arguments: `$legend`

Return Value: `$legend`

Set/Get a legend for this widget. This tag is used to label the fieldset.

### merge

Arguments: `@widgets`

Arguments: `$element`, `@widgets`

Merge elements, constraints and filters from other widgets, into this one. The elements will be added to the end of the list of elements that have been set already.

Without an element argument, and with standard widgets, the contents of the first top-level element of each widget will be merged into the first top-level element of this widget. This emulates the previous behaviour.

With an element argument, the widgets are merged into the named element. No checks are made on whether the provided element belongs to `$self`.

### method

Arguments: `$method`

Return Value: `$method`

Set/Get the method used to submit the form. Can be set to either "post" or "get". The default is "post".

### result

### process

Arguments: `$query`, \\@uploads

Return Value: `$result`

After finishing setting up the widget and all its elements, call to create  an HTML::Widget::Result. If passed a `$query` it will run filters and  validation on the parameters. The Result object can  then be used to produce the HTML.

"result" is an alias for "process".

### query

Arguments: `$query`

Return Value: `$query`

Set/Get the query object to use for validation input. The query object can also be passed to the process method directly.

### strict

Arguments: `$bool`

Return Value: `$bool`

Only consider parameters that pass at least one constraint valid.

### subcontainer

Arguments: `$tag`

Return Value: `$tag`

Set/Get the subcontainer tag to use. Defaults to `"fieldset"`.

### uploads

Arguments: \\@uploads

Return Value: \\@uploads

Contains an arrayref of Apache2::Upload compatible objects.

### xhtml\_strict

Arguments: `$bool`

Return Value: `$bool`

When `"true"`, it is an error to have any element at the top-level of the  widget which is not derived from HTML::Widget::Element::Block.  Currently, the only valid element supplied is the   HTML::Widget::Element::Fieldset.

When `"true"`, the top-level widget may not have a L/legend\>.

## Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

### How do I add an onSubmit handler to my form?

```
    $widget->attributes( onsubmit => $javascript );
```

See "attributes" in HTML::Widget.

### How do I add an onChange handler to my form field?

```
    $element->attributes( onchange => $javascript );
```

See "attributes" in HTML::Widget::Element.

### Element X does not have an accessor for Y!

You can add any arbitrary attributes with  "attributes" in HTML::Widget::Element.

### How can I add a tag which isn't included?

You can either create your own element module files, and use them as you  would a standard element, or alternatively...

You can call type on a  HTML::Widget::Element::Block element to change the rendered tag.

```
    $w->element('Block')->type('br');
    # will render as
    <br />
```

### How can I render some elements in a HTML list?

```
    my $ul = $w->element('Block')->type('ul');
    $ul->element('Block')->type('li')
        ->element( Textfield => foo' );
    $ul->element('Block')->type('li')
        ->element( Textfield => 'bar' );

    # will render as
    <ul>
    <li>
    <input class="textfield" id="widget_foo" name="foo" type="text" />
    </li>
    <li>
    <input class="textfield" id="widget_bar" name="bar" type="text" />
    </li>
    </ul>
```

## SUPPORT

Mailing list:

\<http://lists.rawmode.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/html-widget\>

## SUBVERSION REPOSITORY

The publicly viewable subversion code repository is at  \<http://dev.catalyst.perl.org/repos/Catalyst/trunk/HTML-Widget/\>.

## SEE ALSO

Catalyst Catalyst::Plugin::HTML::Widget HTML::Element

## AUTHOR

Sebastian Riedel, `"sri@oook.de"`

## LICENSE

This library is free software, you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.
