CGI applications often need to generate output depending on input/parameters. One way of achieving this is to use a dispatch table.
The following highly contrived example demonstrates how a dispatch table could be implemented (not using CGI or modules to keep it simple).
#!/usr/bin/perl
use warnings;
use strict;
use Data::Dumper;
my $params = {
param1 => 1,
param2 => 2,
};
my ($case, $args) = process_params($params);
my %dispatch_table = (
case1 => \&case1,
case2 => \&case2,
default => \&default,
);
my $page_header = page_header();
my $body = $dispatch_table{$case}->($args);
my $page_footer = page_footer();
print $page_header, $body, $page_footer;
sub process_params{
my $params = shift;
my $case = q{default};
my $args = {};
if ($params->{q{param1}} eq 1){
$case = q{case1};
}
elsif ($params->(q{param2}) eq 2){
$case = q{case2};
}
else{
$case = q{default};
}
return $case, $args;
}
sub case1 {
my $args = shift;
my $output = qq{case one\n};
return $output;
}
sub case2 {
my $args = shift;
my $output = qq{case two\n};
return $output;
}
sub default {
my $args = shift;
my $output = qq{default\n};
return $output;
}
sub page_header {
my $ph = qq{page header\n};
return $ph;
}
sub page_footer {
my $pf = q{page footer};
return $pf;
}
The "case" subs could call subs/methods in different (application) modules.
If this approach is suitable then something like CGI::Application would be worth looking at. It can help look after and simplify all this and much more.
Combined with, say, HTML::Template, CGI applications, imo, become a whole lot easier and reusable. A little extra effort up front but well worth it.
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