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How can I check dates in Perl CGI-script?

I am creating a small reporting script in Perl CGI. I want to have a start / end date to filter events in a report. So now I am wondering how to check entry into some simple Perl path.

The way to generate a form with these fields:

    print textfield({-name=>'start_date', -value=>$start_date});
    print textfield({-name=>'end_date', -value=>$end_date});

Then it goes to query the database.

Is there an easy Perl-ish way to check these dates? Not only as the correct number of characters, as it is easy enough with a regex, but I would like to report some error if the user enters 02/29/1999 or so.

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5 answers


I'll just go and be crazy, but I like to use Time :: Local and flip the time back to the time of the epoch, and then when it's a pure pure integer, you can overlay any kind of sanity check you like on it.



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For general form validation, you should use a good structure like D ata :: FormValidator which has a Data :: FormValidator :: Constraints :: DateTime module for date validation



Disclosure: I am the author of Data :: FormValidator :: Constraints :: DateTime

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FormFu seems to be a popular library for processing forms in Perl these days. I believe it replaces the CGI code generation code, but it is powerful enough.

It includes a bunch of code for checking common data types, including dates .

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You can calculate dates in Perl with Time :: Local , which can be set to accept invalid times and still calculate the correct date (like the 32nd day of the month), or check dates and reject invalid dates.

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I almost always prefer to convert something like this to a DateTime object . And I use something like DateTimeX :: Easy to make the process easier:

use DateTimeX::Easy;

my $start_date = DateTimeX::Easy->new( '30th Oct 2009' );
my $from_date  = DateTimeX::Easy->new( 'today' );

say $start_date->dmy;
say $from_date->dmy;

# => 30-10-2009
# => 01-10-2009

The only caveat is that DateTime , and its associated modules, are a little useful in memory, which you might want to keep when using in CGI.

/ I3az /

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