NAME
    CGI::Application::Plugin::Apache - Allow CGI::Application to use
    Apache::* modules without interference

SYNOPSIS
        use base 'CGI::Application';
        use CGI::Application::Plugin::Apache qw(:all);
    
        # then later we join our hero in a run mode...
        sub mode1 {
            my $self = shift;
            my $q = $self->query(); # $q is an Apache::Request obj not a CGI.pm obj

            # do some stuff
        
            # now we can bake a cookie using Apache::Cookie without interference  
            $cookie = Apache::Cookie->new(
                    $q,
                    -name       => 'foo',
                    -value      => 'bar',
                    -expires    => '+2h',
            );
            $cookie->bake;

            # now let's play with the content_type and other headers
            $q->content_type('text/plain');
            $q->header_out('MyHeader' => 'MyValue');

            # do other stuff
            return $content;
        }

        1;

DESCRIPTION
    This plugin helps to try and fix some of the annoyances of using
    CGI::Application in a pure mod_perl (1.0 or 2.0) environment (see
    INSTALLATION for specific issues regarding installation under mod_perl
    2.x). CGI::Application assumes that you use CGI.pm, but I wanted to
    avoid it's bloat and have access to the performance of the Apache::*
    modules so along came this plugin. At the current moment it only does
    two things:

    Use Apache::Request as the "$self->query" object thus avoiding the
    creation of the CGI.pm object.
    Override the way CGI::Application creates and prints it's HTTP headers.
    Since it was using CGI.pm's "header()" and "redirect()" method's we
    needed an alternative. So now we use the "Apache->send_http_header()"
    method. This has a few additional benefits other than just not using
    CGI.pm. It means that we can use other Apache::* modules that might also
    create outgoing headers (e.g. Apache::Cookie) without CGI::Application
    clobbering them.

EXPORTED METHODS
    This module uses Exporter to provide methods to your application module.
    Most of the time you will never actually use these methods since they
    are used by CGI::Application itself, but I figured you'd like to know
    what's going on.

    No methods are exported by default. It is up to you to pick and choose,
    but please choose wisely. You can import all of the methods by using:

        use CGI::Application::Plugin::Apache qw(:all);

    It is recommended that you import all of them since some methods will
    require others. but the choice is yours. For instance, if you want to
    override any method then you may not want to import it from here.

  handler()
    This method gives your application the ability to run as a straight
    mod_perl handler. It simply creates an instance of you application and
    then runs it (using "$app->new()" and "$app->run()"). It does not pass
    any arguments into either method. It then returns an
    "Apache::Constants::OK" value. If you need anything more than this,
    please feel free to not import this method and write your own. You could
    do it like this:

        package MyApp;
        use base 'CGI::Application';
        use CGI::Application::Plugin::Apache qw(:all !handler);

        sub handler {
            # do what every you want here
        }

  cgiapp_get_query()
    This overrides CGI:App's method for retrieving the query object. This is
    the standard way of using something other than CGI.pm so it's no
    surprise that we use it here. It simply creates and returns a new
    Apache::Request object from "Apache->request".

  _send_headers()
    I didn't like the idea of exporting this private method (I'd rather
    think it was a 'protected' not 'private) but right now it's the only way
    to have any say in how the HTTP headers are created. Please see "HTTP
    Headers" for more details.

HTTP Headers
    We encourage you to learn the mod_perl way of manipulating headers and
    cookies. It's really not that hard we promise. But incase you're easing
    your way into it, we try and provide as much backward compatibility as
    possible.

  Cookies
    HTTP cookies should now be created using Apache::Cookie and it's
    "bake()" method not with "header_add()" or "header_props()".

    You can still do the following to create a cookie

        my $cookie = CGI::Cookie->new(
            -name  => 'foo',
            -value => 'bar',
        );
        $self->header_add(-cookie => $cookie);

    But now we encourage you to do the following

        my $cookie = Apache::Cookie->new(
            $self->query,
            -name  => 'foo',
            -value => 'bar',
        );
        $cookie->bake();

  Redirects
    You can still do the following to perform an HTTP redirect

        $self->header_props( uri => $some_url);
        $self->header_type('redirect');
        return '';

    But now we encourage you to do the following

        $self->query->header_out(Location => $some_url);
        $self->query->status(REDIRECT);
        return '';

    But it's really up to you.

COMPATIBILITY
    Upon using this module you completely leave behind the world of CGI.pm.
    Don't look back or you might turn into a pillar of salt. You will have
    to look at and read the docs of the Apache::* modules. But don't worry,
    they are really easy to use and were designed to mimic the interface of
    CGI.pm and family.

    If you are trying to use this module but don't want to have to change
    your previous code that uses "header_props()" or "header_add()" then we
    try to help you out by being as CGI compatible as we can, but it is
    always better to use the mod_perl api. If you still want to use
    "header_props()" or "header_add()" remember that it will cause a
    performance hit because it will use helper routines that try and emulate
    CGI.pm.

    If you wish to write code that performs well in both environments, you
    can check the $ENV{MOD_PERL} environment setting and branch accordingly.
    For example, to set a cookie:

      if ($ENV{MOD_PERL}) {
        require Apache::Cookie;
        $cookie = Apache::Cookie->new(
          $q,
          -name       => 'favorite',
          -value      => 'chocolate chip',
          -expires    => '+2h',
        );
        $cookie->bake;
      }
      else {
        $cookie = $self->query->cookie(
          -name    => 'favorite',
          -value   => 'chocolate chip',
          -expires => '+2h',
        );
        $webapp->header_add(-cookie => [$cookie]);
      }

    If for some reason you are using this plugin in a non-mod_perl
    environment, it will try to do the right thing by simply doing nothing
    :)

  CGI::Application::Plugin::Apache::Request
    Sometimes the default compatability is not enough. For instance, if you
    are using plugins that use the cookies or upload features of CGI.pm then
    you might need some extra help.

    This is what CGI::Application::Plugin::Apache::Request is for. You can
    make this your "query" object by setting the "CAPA_CGI_Compat" var to
    "On" in your Apache config file:

        PerlSetVar CAPA_CGI_Compat On

    Please see that module for more documentation on what it does.

INSTALLATION
    This module is designed to function equally under mod_perl 1.x and
    mod_perl 2.x. The only real issue comes during the installation and
    testing phase. In order to track dependencies, etc we need to know which
    version you are trying to install this for. By default we assume
    mod_perl 1.x unless we find mod_perl 2 installed on your system.

    If you want to change this, you simple pass a "MP2" option to the
    "Build.PL" script.

      perl ./Build.PL MP2=1

    That's pretty easy, right?

AUTHOR
    Michael Peters <mpeters@plusthree.com>

    Thanks to Plus Three, LP (http://www.plusthree.com) for sponsoring my
    work on this module

CONTRIBUTORS
    The following people have contributed to this module either through
    docs, code, or ideas

    William McKee <william@knowmad.com>
    Cees Hek <ceeshek@gmail.com>
    Drew Taylor <drew@drewtaylor.com>
    Ron Savage <ron@savage.net.au>

SEE ALSO
    * CGI::Application
    * Apache
    * Apache::Request / Apache2::Request
    * Apache::Cookie / Apache2::Cookie

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