CGI::Sessions fails when I use Data::Dumper

[nodebunny]

Hi monks. I'm a noob to perl and I've only begun learning it this past month. I've run into all kinds of problems using CGI::Session, in particular trying to use Dumper to see whats going on as things change, and outputting html. In your wisdom what is a quick and easy method for managing a Session object in perl? (or alternatively what is wrong with my code?)

I've read and done the tutorials got CGI::Session -- but when I print html to stdout or use Data::Dumper to show whats in my session object, Perl gets mad at me!
Updated with code

**My::Role::PersistantData**

    package My::Role::PersistsData;
    
    use Moose::Role;
    use namespace::autoclean;
      has '_cgi' => (
               is        => 'rw', 
               isa       => 'Maybe[CGI]', 
               builder   => '_build_cgi'
      );
    
      has '_sss' => (
               is        => 'rw', 
               isa       => 'Maybe[CGI::Session]',
               builder   => '_build_sss'
      );

**My::Session**

        package My::Session;
        
        use Moose;
        use namespace::autoclean;
        with 'My::Role::PersistsData';  
    
        use CGI;
        use CGI::Session ('-ip_match');
        use CGI::Carp qw/fatalsToBrowser warningsToBrowser/;

        sub start{
          my($self) = @_;
          my $cgi = $self->cgi();
          $self->log("Session Started!");        
        }
      
      
        sub cgi{
          my($self) = @_;
          $self->_cgi = $self->_build_cgi() unless $self->_cgi;
          return ($self->_cgi); 
        }
      
      
        sub _build_cgi{
          my($self) = @_; 
          my $cgi = CGI->new();
    
          if(!$cgi){
            #print "mising cgi";          
          }
        
          return ( $cgi );
        }
      
    
        sub _build_sss{
              my($self) = @_;
              my $cgi = $self->cgi(); 
     
              my $sid = $cgi->cookie("CGISESSID") || $cgi->param('CGIS
+ESSID') || undef;

              $self->log("Session ID Initial is: ".($sid?$sid:"undef")
+);
    
              my $sss =  CGI::Session->new(undef, $cgi, {Directory=>'t
+mp'})  or die CGI::Session->errstr;
    
    

              my $cookie = $cgi->cookie(CGISESSID => $sss->id() );
    
    
              $self->log("Resulting Session ID is: ".$sid." cookie is:
+ ".$cookie);    
    
              print $cgi->header( -cookie=>$cookie );
    
              return ( $sss );
        }

**main.pl**

    use Data::Dumper; 
    $Data::Dumper::Sortkeys = 1;
    
    use CGI;
    use CGI::Carp qw(fatalsToBrowser);
    use My::Session;
    
    $| = 1;
    $, = " ";
    $\ = "\n <br />";

      my $sss = My::Session->new();      
      $sss->start();
      print "<title>Test Sessions</title>";
      print "TEST";
  
      print "<pre>",Dumper($sss),"</pre>";

It's pretty weird because the first time I run this I get an actual CGISESSION ID and I am able to carry it over on a page refresh...
however if I load the page again, suddenly the $sss (session) comes back as undefined, when it should return a new Session object:

     $sss = new CGI::Session("driver:File", $sid, {Directory=>'/tmp'})

A few tweaks to my code revealed this error:

    new(): failed: load(): couldn't thaw() data using CGI::Session::Se
+rialize::default:thaw(): couldn't thaw. syntax error at (eval 253) li
+ne 2, near "/>"

Looks like something relating to an html tag!

I also snooped around in CGI::Session.pm and found where this error was being thrown at, I guess it's not able to parse _DATA ...because of these html entities... "/>" **CGI::Session.pm**

    ....
        $self->{_DATA} = $self->{_OBJECTS}->{serializer}->thaw($raw_da
+ta);
        unless ( defined $self->{_DATA} ) {
            #die $raw_data . "\n";
            return $self->set_error( "load(): couldn't thaw() data usi
+ng $self->{_OBJECTS}->{serializer} :" .
                                    $self->{_OBJECTS}->{serializer}->e
+rrstr );
        }

Low and behold removing Data::Dumper and all my html output fixed this -- I think -- but that doesnt necessarily solve my problem or help me understand why this is breaking

[moritz]

The first step is reading and understanding CGI::Session::Tutorial.

As for generating HTML (which has nothing to do with sessions), it's best to use a template system. I like HTML::Template::Compiled, others prefer Template::Toolkit.

Update: Please mark updates to your question, so that people can retrace the original flow of conversation.

[nodebunny]

Thanks I promise to do better next time

[Anonymous Monk]

CGI::Sessions fails when I use Data::Dumper

Oh really?

1) Upgrade

2) Prove it :) How do I post a question effectively?

Re^3: Form Data inaccessible after establishing session

[nodebunny]

Thank you that last link solved my problem exactly --

$cgi->escapeHTML( Dumper( $cgi, $sss) );

[Anonymous Monk]

escapeHTML oddly only takes 1 argument, and ignores the rest, so that only works if you have

sub Dumper { scalar Data::Dumper->new( \@_ )->Indent(1)->Useqq(1)->Dum
+p; }