Just to give you a taste of what I am doing and why, here's a (heavily edited) version of the dispatch code.

    my %page_control = (
        edit   => {
            product    => {
                page     => 'ps-main-product-edit.tmpl',
                function => \&edit_product
            },
        },
        default => {
            page     => 'ps-main.tmpl',
            function => ''
        }
    );
    
    # not worried about auto-vivification because false entries will g
+o to defaults
    my ( $page, $function );
    if ( $action and $type ) {
        $page     = $page_control{ $action }{ $type }{ page };
        $function = $page_control{ $action }{ $type }{ function };
    }
    $page ||= $page_control{ default }{ page }
    my $permissions     = $sec->get_permissions( $section );
    
    if ( $action and $page =~ /^$secured/ ) {
        if ( exists $page_control{ $action } 
            and exists $page_control{ $action }{ $permType } 
            and ! $permissions->{ $type }{ $action } ) 
        {
            my $article = $type =~ /^[aeiouAEIOU]/ ? 'an' : 'a';
            $sec->force_logout( "$user tried to $action $article $type
+." );
        }
    }
    
    # call correct function
    my ( $template_data, $new_page ) = $function->( $query, $db, $mod,
+ $sec )
        if defined $function and $function;
    
    $page = $new_page if defined $new_page and $new_page;
    
    $template->process( $page, $template_data ) or dienice $template->
+error();
[download]

Basically, I use the hash to assign pages and functions for each action (permission) and type (section). We then call the function with all the data that it will need and it returns template data and, if necessary, a new page to send the user to. All functions have the same inputs and outputs.

The problem, as I see it, is how the permissions model is set up to prevent people from gaining access to something that they shouldn't. If I start building in a bunch of special cases into the dispatch code, I'm concerned that now, or in maintenance, we'll overlook something in the security portion. Since that's relatively stable, I really want all changes to occur after security has been nicely wrapped up.

Cheers,
Ovid

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