Re: [htmltmpl] Select/option How to set "selected"?

[Cees H. <ce...@si...>]

Sam Tregar wrote:
> On Mon, 3 May 2004, Mark Fuller wrote:

>>It just seems to me like "selected" and "checked" are fairly basic and
>>there's no easy (more built-in) way to accomodate them. It seems like you
>>recognize that they require a bit of ugliness. Why not provide for them
>>somehow?
> 
> 
> Because CGI.pm already has it nailed.  Why reinvent the wheel?  And
> you can't beat the simplicity:
> 
>   $template->param(year_select =>
>                    scalar $query->popup_menu(-name => 'year',
>                                              -values => [ 1970 .. 2020 ])
>                   );
> 
> And in the template:
> 
>   <tmpl_var year_select>
> 
> I've been doing it for years now and it's never done me wrong.

I have to agree with Sam on this one.  I don't think there is a need to 
add features to handle select lists in HTML::Template.  The issue of 
filling in HTML forms was solved ages ago, and doing it in 
HTML::Template is not (IMHO) the elegant way to do it.

Use CGI.pm as Sam suggests, or use HTML::FillInForm (my preferred 
method).  These days the only thing that needs to be customized in a 
form element that a designer may need access to is the class attribute. 
  If you define a standard naming convention, then having the class 
attribute in your code is not a big deal (the code already defines the 
name of the form element as well...).  If you need to change the style 
dynamically, then load a different stylesheet for the page.  Don't 
change the name of the class attribute...

The only thing that I can see where using CGI.pm to generate select 
boxes could hamper a designer is if they want to put a null option at 
the top of the list ( eg -- Choose a Year --).  That would have to be 
encoded in the code which means the designer can't change it.  That is 
one reason why I use HTML::FillInForm.  I provide the template with a 
list of options (which the designer can put into a select box, or as a 
bunch of radio buttons formatted in a table, I don't care).   Then 
HTML::FillInForm comes along afterwards and fills out the form 
regardless of how the designer decided to lay it out.

Both methods simplify your templates a great deal, and make life much 
easier for the template designer.  That having been said, nothing is 
stopping you from continuing on using HTML::Template to fill in forms. 
It is a valid method that works well for many people.

Cheers,

Cees