NAME
    Text::MicroMason - Simplified HTML::Mason Templating

DESCRIPTION
    Text::MicroMason interpolates blocks of Perl code embedded into text
    strings, using the simplest features of HTML::Mason.

    Here's an example of Mason-style templating, taken from the HTML::Mason
    manpage:

        % my $noun = 'World';
        Hello <% $noun %>!
        How are ya?

    Interpreting this template with Text::MicroMason produces the same
    output as it would in HTML::Mason:

        Hello World!
        How are ya?

MOTIVATION
    The HTML::Mason module provides a useful syntax for dynamic template
    interpretation (sometimes called embedded scripting): plain text (or
    HTML) containing occasional chunks of Perl code whose results are
    interpolated into the text when the template is "executed."

    However, HTML::Mason also provides a full-featured web application
    framework with mod_perl integration, a caching engine, and numerous
    other functions, and there are times in which I'd like to use the
    templating capability without configuring a full Mason installation.

    Thus, the Text::MicroMason module was born: it supports the core aspects
    of the HTML::Mason syntax ("<%...%>" expressions, "%...\n" and
    "<%perl>...</%perl>" blocks, "<& file &>" includes, "%ARGS" and
    "$_out->()" ), and omits the features that are web specific (like
    autohandlers) or are less widely used (like "<%method>" blocks).

    You may well be thinking "yet another dynamic templating module?
    Sheesh!" And you'd have a good point. There certainly are a variety of
    templating toolkits on CPAN already; even restricting ourselves to those
    which use Perl syntax for both interpolated expressions and flow control
    (as opposed to "little languages") leaves a fairly crowded field,
    including Template::Toolkit, Template::Perl, Text::Template, and
    Text::ScriptTemplate, as well as those that are part of full-blown web
    application frameworks like Apache::ASP, ePerl, HTML::Embperl, and
    HTML::Mason.

    Nonetheless, I think this module occupies a useful niche: it provides a
    reasonable subset of HTML::Mason syntax in a very light-weight fashion.
    In comparison to the other modules listed, MicroMason aims to be fairly
    lightweight, using one eval per parse, converting the template to an
    cacheable unblessed subroutine ref, eschewing method calls, and
    containing only 80 or so lines of Perl.

INSTALLATION
    This module should work with any version of Perl 5, without platform
    dependencies or additional modules beyond the core distribution.

    Retrieve the current distribution from CPAN, or from:

      http://www.evoscript.com/Text-MicroMason/

    Download and unpack the distribution, and execute the standard "perl
    Makefile.PL", "make test", "make install" sequence.

VERSION
    This is version 1.04 of Text::MicroMason.

  Distribution Summary

    The CPAN DSLI entry reads:

      Name            DSLIP  Description
      --------------  -----  ---------------------------------------------
      Text::
      ::MicroMason    bdpfp  Simplified HTML::Mason Templating

    This module should be categorized under group 11, Text Processing
    (although there's also an argument for placing it 15 Web/HTML, where
    HTML::Mason appears).

  Discussion and Support

    Bug reports or general feedback would be welcomed by the author at
    simonm@cavalletto.org.

CHANGES
    2002-06-23
        Adjusted regular expression based on parsing problems reported by
        Mark Hampton. Added file-include support with <& ... &> syntax.
        Documentation tweaks. Adjusted version number to simpler 0.00
        format. Released as Text-MicroMason-1.04.tar.gz.

    2002-01-14
        Documentation tweaks based on feedback from Pascal Barbedor. Updated
        author's contact information.

    2001-07-01
        Documentation tweaks. Renamed from HTML::MicroMason to
        Text::MicroMason. Released as Text-MicroMason-1.0.3.tar.gz.

    2001-04-10
        Munged interface for clarity. Added Safe support. Adjusted docs to
        reflect feedback from mason-users. Released as
        HTML-MicroMason-1.0.2.tar.gz.

    2001-03-28
        Parser tweakage; additional documentation. Added Exporter support.
        Released as HTML-MicroMason-1.0.1.tar.gz.

    2001-03-26
        Added try_interpret; documented error messages.

    2001-03-23
        Extended documentation; added makefile, test script. Renamed
        accumulator to $OUT to match Text::Template. Released as
        HTML-MicroMason-1.0.0.tar.gz.

    2001-03-22
        Created.

TO DO
    *   Test compatibility against older versions of Perl and odder OS
        platforms.

    *   Perhaps support <%init> ... </%init>, by treating it as a %perl
        block at the begining of the string.

    *   Perhaps support <%args> $foo => default </%args>.

        Perhaps warn if %args block exists but template called with odd
        number of arguments.

CREDITS AND COPYRIGHT
  Developed By

      M. Simon Cavalletto, simonm@cavalletto.org
      Evolution Softworks, www.evoscript.org

  The Shoulders of Giants

    Inspired by Jonathan Swartz's HTML::Mason.

  Feedback and Suggestions

    Thanks to:

      Pascal Barbedor
      Mark Hampton

  Copyright

    Copyright 2002 Matthew Simon Cavalletto.

    Portions copyright 2001 Evolution Online Systems, Inc.

  License

    You may use, modify, and distribute this software under the same terms
    as Perl.
