NAME

NAME
HTML::Menu::DateTime - Easily create popup menus for use with templates.

SYNOPSIS
use HTML::Menu::DateTime;

my $menu = HTML::Menu::DateTime->new (
date => '2004-02-26',
no_select => 1,
empty_first => '');

$menu->start_year (2000);
$menu->end_year (2010);

$menu->less_years (1);
$menu->plus_years (5);

$menu->month_format ('short');
$menu->locale ('en_GB');
$menu->second_increment (15);
$menu->minute_increment (5);

$menu->html ('menu');

$menu->second_menu;
$menu->minute_menu;
$menu->hour_menu;
$menu->day_menu;
$menu->month_menu;
$menu->year_menu;

DESCRIPTION
Creates data structures suitable for populating HTML::Template, Template
Toolkit or Template::Magic templates with dropdown date and time menus.

Allows any number of dropdown menus to be displayed on a single page,
each independantly configurable.

Distribution includes ready-to-use template include files.

Can output valid HTML, allowing quick prototyping of pages, with the
freedom to easily switch to using templates later.

MOTIVATION
To keep the creation of HTML completely seperate from the program, to
easily allow a non-programmer to add css styles, javascript, etc. to
individual menus.

To make the creation of menus as simple as possible, with extra options
if needed. HTML Menus can be created as easily as:

my $template = HTML::Template->new (filename => $filename);

my $menu = HTML::Menu::DateTime->new;

$template->param (day => $menu->day_menu,
month => $menu->month_menu,
year => $menu->year_menu);

print $template->output;

INSTALLATION
To install this module, run the following commands:

perl Makefile.PL
make
make test
make install

Alternatively, to install with Module::Build, you can use the following
commands:

perl Build.PL
./Build
./Build test
./Build install

METHODS
new()
my $menu1 = HTML::Menu::DateTime->new
(date => $date,
start_year => $start,
end_year => $end,
no_select => 1,
empty_first => 1,
month_format => 'short',
locale => 'en_GB',
second_increment => 15,
minute_increment => 5,
html => 'menu');

my $menu2 = HTML::Menu::DateTime->new
(less_years => $less,
plus_years => $plus);

"new()" accepts the following arguments:

date
Can be in any of the formats 'YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss',
'YYYYMMDDhhmmss', 'YYYYMMDDhhmm', 'YYYYMMDDhh', 'YYYYMMDD',
'YYYYMM', 'YYYY', 'YYYY-MM--DD', 'hh:mm:ss'.

The date passed to "new()" is used to decide which item should be
selected in all of the menu methods.

start_year
Accepts the same values as the "start_year()" method.

end_year
Accepts the same values as the "end_year()" method.

less_years
Accepts the same values as the "less_years()" method.

plus_years
Accepts the same values as the "plus_years()" method.

no_select
If true, ensures no item in any menu will be selected. (Otherwise,
the current date and time will be used).

empty_first
If defined, will create an extra list item at the start of each
menu. The form value will be the empty string (''), the value passed
to "empty_first()" will be the visible label for the first item (the
empty string is allowed).

month_format
Accepts the same values as the "month_format()" method.

locale
Accepts the same values as the "locale()" method.

second_increment
Accepts the same values as the "second_increment()" method.

minute_increment
Accepts the same values as the "minute_increment()" method.

html
Accepts the same values as the "html()" method.

start_year()
$date->start_year (2004);

Sets the absolute year that the dropdown menu will start from.

end_year()
$date->end_year (2009);

Sets the absolute year that the dropdown menu will end on.

less_years()
$date->less_years (2);

Sets the year that the dropdown menu will start from, relative to the
selected year.

May not be used if multiple values for selection are passed to
"year_menu()".

plus_years()
$date->plus_years (7);

Sets the year that the dropdown menu will end on, relative to the
selected year.

May not be used if multiple values for selection are passed to
"year_menu()".

month_format()
Each item in the month menu has a label. By default this is the long
English month name, such as 'January', 'February', etc. The format of
the label can be changed as shown in the list below.

$date->month_format ('long'); # January, February, ...
$date->month_format ('short'); # Jan, Feb, ...
$date->month_format ('decimal'); # 01, 02, ...

The 'ornate' option, available only in developer release 0.90_01 has
been dropped, as it isn't supported by the DateTime::Locale module (see
"locale()").

locale()
If locale is used, the DateTime::Locale module must be installed.

Setting locale changes the names used for the 'long' and 'short' options
of "month_format()".

$date->locale ('de');
$date->month_format ('long');
# the labels in the month_menu would now have the values
# Januar, Februar, ...

The value passed to locale is used as the argument to
"DateTime::Locale->load()", see the DateTime::Locale documentation for a
full list of available locales.

second_increment()
The "second_menu()" normally lists the seconds from '00' up to '59'.
Setting "second_increment()" allows the menu to be shorter by skipping
some numbers.

For example:

$date->second_increment (5);
# the menu contains: '00', '05', '10', '15' up to '55'

$date->second_increment (15);
# the menu contains: '00', '15', '30', '45'

"second_increment()" can be set to any number from 1 to 59, though it
would normally make sense to only set it to a number that 60 can be
divided by, such as 5, 10, 15, 20 or 30.

minute_increment()
The "minute_menu()" normally lists the minutes from '00' up to '59'.
Setting "minute_increment()" allows the menu to be shorter by skipping
some numbers.

For example:

$date->minute_increment (5);
# the menu contains: '00', '05', '10', '15' up to '55'

$date->minute_increment (15);
# the menu contains: '00', '15', '30', '45'

"minute_increment()" can be set to any number from 1 to 59, though it
would normally make sense to only set it to a number that 60 can be
divided by, such as 5, 10, 15, 20 or 30.

html()
$date->html ('menu');
$date->html ('options');
$date->html (undef);

Causes the _menu methods to output HTML, rather than data for a
template.

Valid values are "menu" and "options", which will generate the HTML
using HTML::Menu::Select's *menu* and *options* routines, respectively.

When set to "menu", the HTML will contain a SELECT tag containing the
appropriate OPTION tags. This allows the entire SELECT tag to be
replaced within a template with a single, simple template tag.

When set to "options", the HTML will contain the appropriate OPTION
tags, without the surrounding SELECT tags. This allows the SELECT tags
to remain in the template file, so that the page visuals can still be
seen in WYSIWYG HTML editors.

<SELECT name="">
<TMPL_VAR name=select_menu>
</SELECT>

Values for *values*, *labels* and *default* are automatically passed to
the *menu* or *options* routines. If a hash-ref is passed to any of the
_menu methods, it will also be passed to the *menu* or *options*
routine, allowing any of HTML::Menu::Select's other options to be set,
such as specifiying JavaScript or CSS attributes. See the
HTML::Menu::Select documentation for more details.

"html()" can be given "undef" to switch off HTML generation.

Any value other than 'menu', 'options' or "undef" is an error.

second_menu()
$date->second_menu;
$date->second_menu (0);
$date->second_menu ('+1');
$date->second_menu ([0, 1]);

$date->second_menu ({html => 'options'});
$date->second_menu (0, {html => 'options'});

Accepts a value that will override the date (if any) in the "new()"
method.

Argument can be a number (0-59), a value such as '+1' or '-1' (relative
to either the date passed to "new()" or the current time) or an arrayref
of number values.

Passing an arrayref of values will cause more than one item in the menu
list to be selected. This will require the HTML in the template to be
changed so that the SELECT menu has a size higher than 1 and the
'multiple' attribute.

<SELECT name="second" size="2" multiple="multiple">

A hash-ref can be given, regardless of whether or not a date-effecting
value is given. If "menu()" is set, this hash-ref will be passed onto
the HTML::Menu::Select *menu()* or *options* routine.

If "html()" is not set, this method returns an array-reference suitable
for passing directly to a template (See "EXAMPLES" for details.

minute_menu()
Valid numeric arguments are 0-59.

See "second_menu()" for further details.

hour_menu()
Valid numeric arguments are 0-23.

See "second_menu()" for further details.

day_menu()
Valid numeric arguments are 1-31.

See "second_menu()" for further details.

month_menu()
Valid numeric arguments are 01-12.

See "second_menu()" for further details.

year_menu()
Valid numeric arguments are 0 or higher.

See "second_menu()" for further details.

EXAMPLES
HTML::Template
Templates
The 'examples/html-template' folder in this distribution contains the
files second.tmpl, minute.tmpl, hour.tmpl, day.tmpl, month.tmpl and
year.tmpl. Simply copy these files into the folder containing the rest
of your templates.

Displaying date dropdown menus
Contents of template file "date.tmpl":

<html>
<body>
<form method="POST" action="/cgi-bin/test.pl">
<TMPL_INCLUDE day.tmpl>
<TMPL_INCLUDE month.tmpl>
<TMPL_INCLUDE year.tmpl>
<input type="submit" name="Submit" value="Submit">
</form>
</body>
</html>

Contents of program file:

#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;
use CGI ':standard';
use HTML::Menu::DateTime;
use HTML::Template;

my $template = HTML::Template->new (filename => 'date.tmpl');

my $menu = HTML::Menu::DateTime->new;

$template->param (day => $menu->day_menu,
month => $menu->month_menu,
year => $menu->year_menu);

print header(),
print $template->output;

Multiple Menus in a Single Page
To create, for example, 2 'month' menus in a single page you could copy
the month.tmpl file to end_month.tmpl and then change the line "<select
name="month">" in end_month.tmpl to "<select name="end_month">".

Then include both files in your main template:

<html>
<body>
<form method="POST" action="/cgi-bin/test.pl">
<TMPL_INCLUDE month.tmpl>
<TMPL_INCLUDE end_month.tmpl>
<input type="submit" name="Submit" value="Submit">
</form>
</body>
</html>

When this form is submitted, it will send 2 different values, 'month'
and 'end_month'.

Template Toolkit
Templates
The 'examples/template-toolkit' folder in this distribution contains the
files second.html, minute.html, hour.html, day.html, month.html and
year.html. Simply copy these files into the folder containing the rest
of your templates.

Displaying date dropdown menus
Contents of template file "date.html":

<html>
<body>
<form method="POST" action="">
[% INCLUDE day.html %]
[% INCLUDE month.html %]
[% INCLUDE year.html %]
<input type="submit" name="Submit" value="Submit">
</form>
</body>
</html>

Contents of program file:

#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;
use CGI ':standard';
use HTML::Menu::DateTime;
use Template;

my $template = Template->new;

my $menu = HTML::Menu::DateTime->new;

my $vars = {day => $menu->day_menu,
month => $menu->month_menu,
year => $menu->year_menu};

$template->process ('date.html', $vars)
or die $template->error;

Multiple Menus in a Single Page
To create, for example, 2 'month' menus in a single page you could copy
the month.tmpl file to end_month.tmpl and then change the line "<select
name="month">" in end_month.tmpl to "<select name="end_month">".

Then include both files in your main template:

<html>
<body>
<form method="POST" action="">
[% INCLUDE month.html %]
[% INCLUDE end_month.html %]
<input type="submit" name="Submit" value="Submit">
</form>
</body>
</html>

When this form is submitted, it will send 2 different values, 'month'
and 'end_month'.

Template::Magic
Templates
The 'examples/template-magic' folder in this distribution contains the
files second.html, minute.html, hour.html, day.html, month.html and
year.html. Simply copy these files into the folder containing the rest
of your templates.

Displaying date dropdown menus
Contents of template file "date.html":

<html>
<body>
<form method="POST" action="">



<input type="submit" name="Submit" value="Submit">
</form>
</body>
</html>

Contents of program file (1st alternative):

#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;
use CGI ':standard';
use HTML::Menu::DateTime;
use Template::Magic::HTML;

my $template = Template::Magic::HTML;
my $menu = DateTime->new;

print header();
$template->nprint( template => 'date.html',
lookups => { day_menu => $menu->day_menu,
month_menu => $menu->month_menu,
year_menu => $menu->year_menu
}
);

Contents of program file (2nd alternative):

#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;
use CGI ':standard';
use HTML::Menu::DateTime;
use Template::Magic::HTML;

my $template = Template::Magic::HTML;
$HTML::Menu::DateTime::no_template_magic_zone = 1;

print header();
$template->nprint( template =>'date.html',
lookups => HTML::Menu::DateTime->new
);

Multiple Menus in a Single Page
To create, for example, 2 'month' menus in a single page you could copy
the month.html file to end_month.html and then change the line "<select
name="month">" in end_month.html to "<select name="end_month">".

Then include both files in your main template:

<html>
<body>
<form method="POST" action="">


<input type="submit" name="Submit" value="Submit">
</form>
</body>
</html>

When this form is submitted, it will send 2 different values, 'month'
and 'end_month'.

DEFAULT VALUES
If a date is not passed to the "new()" or menu methods, then
"localtime(time)" is called.

If neither 'start_year' or 'less_years' is set, the default used is
less_years(5).

If neither 'end_year' or 'plus_years' is set, the default used is
plus_years(5).

If 'locale' is not set, the "month_menu()" labels are English.

EXPORT
None.

TIPS
Years before 1000 AD passed to the "new()" method in the
'YYYYMMDDhhmmss' format should be passed as strings, as the leading
zeros are necessary. (e.g. '09990101000000'). (Years before 1000 AD may
be passed to the "year_menu()" method as literal numbers.)

Years before 1 AD are not allowed at all.

DO NOT set both 'start_year' and 'less_years' at the same time, it just
doesn't make sense.

DO NOT set both with 'end_year' and 'plus_years' at the same time, it
just doesn't make sense.

To start or end the range on the same year as selected, set less_years
or plus_years to zero, DO NOT set start_year or end_year to zero.

When settting either 'start_year' or 'end_year', ensure that the
selected year will fall within the range of years.

When passing relative values to methods, ensure they are sent as
strings. +1 numerically means 1 which is not the same as the string
'+1'.

If a date is set in "new()" and either "less_years" or "plus_years"' set
and then a value passed to the "year_menu()" method. The start / end
year of the menu will be relative to the value passed to "year_menu()",
not the date set in "new()".

'Relative' parameter values sent to menu methods, which result in
out-of-range selections are silently ignored and no item in the output
menu will be selected.

REQUIREMENTS
If 'html' is set in "new()", or "html()" is set, then the
HTML::Menu::Select module must be installed.

If 'locale' is set in "new()", or "locale()" is set, then the
DateTime::Locale module must be installed.

DEPRECATED
As of version 1.00, if "month_format()", "second_increment()" or
"minute_increment()" is called with no arguments, the value is no longer
reset to it's default. (The previous behaviour was not documented, other
than in the test suite.)

As of version 1.00, if "locale()", "start_year()", "end_year()",
"less_years()" or "plus_years()" is called with no arguments, the value
is no longer set to undef. (The previous behaviour was neither
documented or tested for.)

The 'ornate' option to "month_format()", available only in developer
release 0.90_01 has been dropped, as it isn't supported by the
DateTime::Locale module (see "locale()").

TO DO
May change "year_menu()" such that less_years / plus_years works with
multiple selections - it would probably have to start / end the list in
relation to the lowest / highest year.

SUPPORT / BUGS
Please log bugs, feature requests and patch submissions at
<http://sourceforge.net/projects/html-menu>.

Support mailing list: [email protected]

SEE ALSO
HTML::Menu::Select, HTML::Template, Template Toolkit,
Template::MagicTemplate::Magic, DateTime::Locale.

AUTHOR
Carl Franks

CREDITS
Pedro Santelmo (suggesting DateTime::Locale for multi-lingual)
Domizio Demichelis (template-magic examples and tutorial)
Mark Stosberg (naming style feedback)

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
Copyright 2004-2005, Carl Franks. All rights reserved.

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

Licenses are in the files "Artistic" and "Copying" in this distribution.