Help with my Coding Style - another chance to critique

[rattusillegitimus]

My fellow monks:

In my former life, I used Perl quite frequently as part of my job, but I've gotten very rusty in my new position in a Microsoft-only environment. Looking for a way to revive my skills, I decided to transform an old website I used to maintain from a proprietary content-management system to a Perl CGI driven dynamic site. Thanks in large part to this Monestary, I think I've come to an understanding of how modules like CGI::Application and DBI work.

Now that I've written much of the basic framework for my module, I would like for your input into where I'm going. It's not by any means complete, but I would like to correct any major errors in the code or my coding practice as soon as I can. I've only included three of the seven run mode subs, as the rest aren't written yet.

Any suggestions on optimization, best/worst practices, security, etc. would be greatly appreciated. This is my first attempt to use either CGI::Application or DBI, so I'm sure I'm making some bone-headed mistakes there. Feel free to rip anything I've done to shreds, that I may rebiuld it to be better than it was before... stronger ... faster ... more fun at parties...

Many thanks in advance,
-rattus, inspired by emilford's Meditation

Here's my package:

package AuthorWeb;
use strict;
use base 'CGI::Application';
use Date::Calc qw(Date_to_Text_Long);
use DBI();
use XML::LibXSLT;
use XML::LibXML;

sub setup {
  my $self = shift;
  $self->tmpl_path('/path/to/my/include/files/');
  $self->start_mode('index');
  $self->mode_param('rm');
  $self->run_modes(
           'index' => 'do_index',
           'authors' => 'do_authorlist',
           'author' => 'do_author',
           'bibliography' => 'do_biblio',
           'book' => 'do_book',
           'searchform' => 'do_search_form',
           'search' => 'do_search',
           'about' => 'do_about'
          );
  $self->param('dbh' => DBI->connect("DBI:mysql:database=authorweb;hos
+t=localhost",
            "USERNAME", "PASSWORD",
             {'RaiseError' => 1}));
  $self->param('dom' => XML::LibXML::Document->createDocument('1.0'));
  $self->param('xslt' => XML::LibXSLT->new());
}

sub teardown {
  my $self = shift;
  $self->param('dbh')->disconnect();
}

sub do_index {
  my $self = shift;
  my $template = $self->load_tmpl('main.html');
  my $cgi = $self->query();
  $template->param(PAGETITLE => 'Corwin\'s AuthorWeb');
  $template->param(PAGEBODYTITLE => 'Corwin\'s AuthorWeb');
  $template->param(PAGEBODY => $cgi->p('Pardon the Mess, We are Reinca
+rnating'));
  $template->param(LASTMOD => lastmod());
  return $template->output;
}

sub do_authorlist {
  my $self = shift;
  my $template = $self->load_tmpl('main.html');
  my $cgi = $self->query();
  if ($cgi->param('alpha') =~ /^([A-Za-z]){1}$/)
  {
   $self->param('xsl_file' => $self->tmpl_path().'author-list.xsl');
     $template->param(PAGETITLE => "Corwin\'s AuthorWeb - $1");
     $template->param(PAGEBODYTITLE => "Corwin\'s AuthorWeb - $1");
   $cgi->param('alpha' => $1);
   $self->param('dom' => authorList($self));
     $template->param(PAGEBODY => xsl_transform($self));
  }
  else
  {
     $template->param(PAGETITLE => 'Corwin\'s AuthorWeb - Error');
     $template->param(PAGEBODYTITLE => 'Corwin\'s AuthorWeb - Error');
    $template->param(PAGEBODY => $cgi->p('Invalid letter'));
  }
  $template->param(LASTMOD => lastmod());
  return $template->output;
}

sub do_author {
  my $self = shift;
  my $template = $self->load_tmpl('main.html');
  my $cgi = $self->query();
  if ($cgi->param('authid') =~ /^(\d{10})$/)
  {
   $cgi->param('authid' => $1);
   $self->param('xsl_file' => $self->tmpl_path().'author.xsl');   
     $template->param(PAGETITLE => 'Corwin\'s AuthorWeb - Author');
     #$template->param(PAGEBODY => authorPage($self));
   $self->param('dom' => authorPage($self));
     $template->param(PAGEBODY => xsl_transform($self));
  }
  else
  {
     $template->param(PAGETITLE => 'Corwin\'s AuthorWeb - Error');
     $template->param(PAGEBODYTITLE => 'Corwin\'s AuthorWeb - Error');
    $template->param(PAGEBODY => $cgi->p('Invalid Authod ID'));
  }
  $template->param(LASTMOD => lastmod());
  return $template->output;
}

sub lastmod
{
   # placeholder sub until I figure out what I want to to for last mod
+ified
  # timestamp
   my ($sec,$min,$hour,$mday,$mon,$year,$wday,$yday,$isdst) = localtim
+e();
  my $lastmod = Date_to_Text_Long($year+1900,$mon+1,$mday);
  return $lastmod;
}

sub authorList
{
   my $self = shift;
  my $alpha = $self->query()->param('alpha');
  my $dbh = $self->param('dbh');
  my $dom = $self->param('dom');
  my $xslt = $self->param('xslt');

  my $root = $dom->createElement('AUTHORS');
  my $output;
  # Query Database
  my $sql = 'SELECT authid,sub_date,lastname,firstname,middlename,titl
+e,suffix FROM authors WHERE lastname like ?;';
  my $sth = $dbh->prepare($sql);
  $sth->execute($alpha.'%');
  # Generate XML
  while (my $ref = $sth->fetchrow_hashref())
  {
    $root->appendChild(make_author_node($dom,$ref));
  }
  $sth->finish;
  
  $dom->setDocumentElement($root);
  
  return $dom;
}

sub authorPage {
   my $self = shift;
  my $authid = $self->query()->param('authid');
  my $dbh = $self->param('dbh');
  my $dom = $self->param('dom');
  my $parser = $self->param('parser');
  my $xslt = $self->param('xslt');

  my $root;
  my $output;
  # Query Database
  my $sql = 'SELECT * FROM authors WHERE authid = ?;';
  my $sth = $dbh->prepare($sql);
  $sth->execute($authid);
  # Generate XML
  if ($sth->rows > 0)
  {
      my $ref = $sth->fetchrow_hashref();
    $root = make_author_node($dom,$ref);
  }
  $sth->finish;
  # Get Images
  $sql = 'SELECT imageid, url, height, width, attribution FROM images 
+where imagetype=? and authid=?;';
  $sth = $dbh->prepare($sql);
  $sth->execute('author',$authid);
  while (my $ref = $sth->fetchrow_hashref())
  {
       $root->appendChild(make_image_node($dom,$ref));
  }
  $sth->finish;
  $dom->setDocumentElement($root);
  return $dom;
}

sub xsl_transform {  
   my $self = shift;
  my $dom = $self->param('dom');
  my $xslt = $self->param('xslt');
  # Apply XSL Template
  my $stylesheet = $xslt->parse_stylesheet_file($self->param('xsl_file
+'));
  my $results = $stylesheet->transform($dom);
  
  return $stylesheet->output_string($results);
}

sub make_node {
  my $dom = shift;
  my $nname = shift;
  my $ntext = shift;
  my $type = shift || 'TEXT';
  my $node = $dom->createElement($nname);
  if ($ntext && $type eq 'TEXT') 
     { $node->appendChild($dom->createTextNode($ntext)); }
  elsif ($ntext)
     { $node->appendChild($dom->createCDATASection($ntext)); }
  return $node;

}

sub make_author_node {
  my $dom = shift;
  my $ref = shift;
  my $root = $dom->createElement('AUTHOR');
  $root->setAttribute('authid',sprintf("%010u",$ref->{'authid'}));
  $root->setAttribute('created',$ref->{'sub_date'});
  if ($ref->{'updated_date'})
  {
    $root->setAttribute('modified',$ref->{'updated_date'});
  }
  my $name = $dom->createElement('NAME');
  if ($ref->{'title'})
  {
     $name->appendChild(make_node($dom,'TITLE',$ref->{'title'}));
  }
  if ($ref->{'firstname'})
  {
     $name->appendChild(make_node($dom,'FIRST',$ref->{'firstname'}));
  }
  if ($ref->{'middlename'})
  {
     $name->appendChild(make_node($dom,'MIDDLE',$ref->{'middlename'}))
+;
  }
  if ($ref->{'lastname'})
  {
     $name->appendChild(make_node($dom,'LAST',$ref->{'lastname'}));
  }
  if ($ref->{'suffix'})
  {
     $name->appendChild(make_node($dom,'SUFFIX',$ref->{'suffix'}));
  }
  $root->appendChild($name);
  $root->appendChild(make_node($dom,'ABOUT',$ref->{'about'},'CDATA'));
  $root->appendChild(make_node($dom,'CONTACT',$ref->{'contact'}));
  my $dates = $dom->createElement('DATES');
  if ($ref->{'dob'})
  {
    $dates->appendChild(make_node($dom,'BIRTH',$ref->{'dob'}));
  }
  if ($ref->{'dod'})
  {
    $dates->appendChild(make_node($dom,'DEATH',$ref->{'dod'}));
  }
  $root->appendChild($dates);
  return $root;
}

sub make_image_node {
  my $dom = shift;
  my $ref = shift;
  my $root = $dom->createElement('IMAGE');
  $root->setAttribute('image',sprintf("%010u",$ref->{'imageid'}));
  $root->setAttribute('created',$ref->{'sub_date'});
  $root->setAttribute('src',$ref->{'url'});
  $root->setAttribute('height',$ref->{'height'});
  $root->setAttribute('width',$ref->{'width'});
  if ($ref->{'attribution'})
  {
     $root->appendChild(make_node($dom,'ATTRIBUTION',$ref->{'attributi
+on'}));
  }
  return $root;
}

1;

For the sake of completeness, here's my actual CGI script:

#!/usr/bin/perl -wT
use strict;
use lib qw ( /path/to/my/modules );
use AuthorWeb;
my $webapp = AuthorWeb->new();
$webapp->run();