=head1 NAME

Maypole::Manual - The Maypole Manual

=head1 DESCRIPTION

The Maypole documentation is arranged over several files; this is 
the right one to start with, as it provides an overview of the
entire set of Maypole manuals, with a brief description of each.
Some of these manuals are not yet finished, but they should still
be useful.

=over 4

=item L<Maypole::Manual::About> - Overview of the Project

This document is a general introduction to Maypole: what it is, what it
does and how it works.

Maypole is a framework for Web development. At the basic level, it
converts a URL like C<http://www.mysite.com/product/display/12> into a
method call such as "perform the C<display> method on item C<12> in the
C<product> table" and then shows the result: here, presumably, a
description of item C<12> in your product database,

It is based on Model-View-Controller (MVC), a design paradigm in
which each major aspect of an application's operation is
handled by a different and totally separate system).

Basic installation instructions are given. A sample Web
application--the Beer database--is introduced, set up, and
discussed. Finally, the path a Maypole request takes as it
moves through the system is described.

=item L<Maypole::Manual::Model> - Model Classes *

This document introduces the I<model class>, which controls
the interaction between Maypole and your database. The use of
"actions"--method calls that operate on your database--is
discussed. Maypole's default model class is L<Class::DBI>,
which basically creates a class for each table in your
database and provides a variety of convenient methods for
manipulating each table and its relations. It integrates very
smoothly with Maypole's default L<view class|Maypole::Manual::View>,
the L<Template|Template> Toolkit.

=item L<Maypole::Manual::View> - View Classes *

This document is an extensive discussion of Maypole's I<view class>,
which takes the data produced by the model (see
above) and sends it through a templating
system in order to produce output. It focusses chiefly on
the L<Template> Toolkit, which is Maypole's default templating
system, but discusses other possibilities.

=item L<Maypole::Manual::StandardTemplates> - Standard actions and templates *

This document discusses the standard actions and templates
that Maypole uses. The standard actions (method calls that
operate on your database) include C<list>, which generates a
paged list of a table suitable for browsing, and C<search>, which
handles a search query and generates search results.

The standard templates, which generate output for display on
the Web, also include C<list>, which displays the entries in a
table, and C<search>, which displays the result of a search.

You'll note that most actions are associated with templates.

This document also introduces the theory behind Maypole's
actions and templates, showing you how to write your own
so that you can have a highly customized application.

=item L<Maypole::Manual::Plugins> - writing Maypole plugins

Useful information for plugin authors. 

=item L<Maypole::Manual::Terminology> - pinning down usage

As well as defining common terms used in Maypole discussions, this document 
briefly discusses the MVC-ness of Maypole. 

=item L<Maypole::Manual::Workflow> - Description of the Request Workflow 

This is a technical document that describes the progress of a
request through the entire Maypole system. It should be of
interest chiefly to those people hacking on Maypole itself,
and not to most of those who are using it.

=item L<Maypole::Manual::Beer> - The Beer Database Revisited *

This document gives a close look at the Beer database that
was introduced in L<Maypole::Manual::About>.

=item L<Maypole::Manual::Cookbook> - The Maypole Cookbook 

This extensive document is Maypole's main "How do I do X?" FAQ.
It provides a wide variety of cookbook-like techniques that
are useful both for themselves, and as examples of what sort
of things can be done with Maypole processes.

=item L<Maypole::Manual::Flox> - Case Study: Flox social network *

This is an example of how to construct a large Web application
in Maypole: a "social network", similar to Friendster and
Orkut. It shows, specifically, the database structure and the
variety of customized techniques that make such a system
work.

=item L<Maypole::Manual::BuySpy> - Case Study: iBuySpy *

This is an example of the C<ASP.NET> sample portal application
ported to Maypole. L<http://www.ibuyspy.com> is a fictional
e-commerce site that is relatively sophisticated. It is much
better as a Maypole application.

=back

  * indicates incomplete chapters.

=head1 SEE ALSO

L<http://maypole.perl.org>

=head1 AUTHOR

The Maypole Manual was written by Simon Cozens. A generous grant from the Perl
Foundation in the first quarter of 2004 funded some of the chapters of this
manual.

This overview was rewritten by Jesse Sheidlower, C<jester#panix.com>,
based on Simon Cozens' original I<Overview> document.

In December 2004, Dave Howorth, C<dave.howorth#acm.org> kindly donated some
of his spare time to improve the structure of the manual and bring it up to
date.

=head1 AUTHOR EMERITUS

Simon Cozens, C<simon#cpan.org>

=cut