FAQ::OMatic::API(3) User Contributed Perl Documentation FAQ::OMatic::API(3)NAMEFAQ::OMatic::API - a Perl API to manipulate FAQ-O-Matics
SYNOPSIS
use FAQ::OMatic::API;
my $fom_api = new FAQ::OMatic::API();
DESCRIPTION
"FAQ::OMatic::API" is a class that makes HTTP requests to a FAQ-O-
Matic. It provides a way to manipulate a FAQ-O-Matic from Perl code.
Operations are performed by making HTTP requests on the FAQ-O-Matic
server; this ensures that any operation is performed in exactly the
same environment as it would be if it were requested by a human using a
web browser.
Setup
The following methods are used to set up an API object.
$fom_api = new FAQ::OMatic::API([$url, [$id, $pass]]);
Constructs a new "FAQ::OMatic::API" object that points at the FAQ
whose CGI is at $url. Requests will be authenticated on behalf of
FAQ user $id using password $pass.
$fom_api->setURL($url);
Sets the URL of the target FAQ's CGI. This is where requests will
be sent.
$fom_api->setAuth($id, $pass);
Sets the ID and password that will be used to authenticate
requests.
$fom_api->setAuth('query');
Passing in 'query' will cause the script to query the terminal for
the "id" and "password" at runtime.
Queries
The following methods retrieve information about a FAQ-O-Matic.
$fom_api->getCategories()
Returns a list of the categories (by file name) in the FAQ.
$item = $fom_api->getItem($filename)
Returns a local FAQ::OMatic::Item object created by retrieving
$filename from the FAQ. You can perform operations on the result
such as:
print $item->getTitle();
$parentItem = $item->getParent();
print $item->displayHTML({'render'=>'text'});
my ($rc, $result) = $fom_api->fuzzyMatch(['Parent Category','child
cat'])
my ($rc, $result) = $fom_api->fuzzyMatch(['Parent Category','child cat'])
die $result if (not $rc);
my $item = $fom_api->getItem($result->[0]);
"fuzzyMatch()" attempts to figure out which category the last
string in its array argument represents. The category name is
matched "fuzzily" against existing categories. If a unique match is
found, it is returned (as an array ref "[$filename, $parent,
$title]"). If the match is ambiguous, the previous array element is
matched against the parents of the set of fuzzy matches. This is
performed recursively until the child category is disambiguated.
Fuzzy matching means that
(a) You don't have to get the parent category names right if
they're not needed to disambiguate the child category.
(b) Category names are matched without respect to case, spacing, or
punctuation: only alphanumerics matter. Also, the name you
supply only has to appear somewhere inside the one you want to
match. (Exact matches are preferred; this allows you to match
categories whose names are prefixes of other category names.)
Operations
The following methods perform operations on a FAQ-O-Matic.
$fom_api->newAnswer($parent, $title, $text)
A new answer is created as a child of item $parent. The new answer
has title $title and a single text part containing $text.
REQUIRES
LWP and its hierarchy of helper classes.
perl v5.12.4 2002-02-11 FAQ::OMatic::API(3)
