NAME

Jemplate - Javascript Templating with Template Toolkit

SYNOPSIS

var data = fetchSomeJsonResult();
var elem = document.getElementById('some-div');
elem.innerHTML = Jemplate.process('my-template.html', data);

or

Jemplate.process('my-template.html', fetchSomeJsonResult(), '#some-div');

or, with Prototype.js:

new Ajax.Request("/json", {
    onComplete: function(req) {
        var data = eval(req.responseText);
        Jemplate.process('my-template.html', data, '#some-div');
    }
);

DESCRIPTION

Jemplate is a templating framework for Javascript that is built over Perl's Template Toolkit (TT2).

Jemplate parses TT2 templates using the TT2 Perl framework, but with a twist. Instead of compiling the templates into Perl code, it compiles them into Javascript.

Jemplate then provides a Javascript runtime module for processing the template code. Presto, we have full featured Javascript templating language!

Combined with JSON and xmlHttpRequest, Jemplate provides a really simple and powerful way to do Ajax stuff.

HOWTO

Jemplate comes with a command line tool call jemplate that you use to precompile your templates into javscript. For example if you have a template directory called templates that contains:

> ls templates/
body.html
footer.html
header.html

You might run this command:

> jemplate --compile template/* > js/jemplate01.js

This will compile all the templates into one Javascript file.

You also need to get the Jemplate runtime.

> cp ~/Jemplate-x.xx/share/Jemplate.js js/Jemplate.js

Now all you need to do is include these two files in the HEAD of your html:

<script src="js/Jemplate.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="js/jemplate01.js" type="text/javascript"></script>

Now you have Jemplate support for these templates in your html document.

PUBLIC API

The Jemplate.pm module has the following public class methods:

Jemplate->compile_templates(@template_file_paths);

Take a list of template file paths and compile them into a module of functions. Returns the text of the module.

Jemplate->compile_module($module_path, \@template_file_paths);

Similar to `compile_templates`, but prints to result to the $module_path. Returns 1 if successful, undef if error.

Jemplate->compile_module_cached($module_path, \@template_file_paths);

Similar to `compile_module`, but only compiles if one of the templates is newer than the module. Returns 1 if sucessful compile, 0 if no compile due to cache, undef if error.

BUGS

This early release of Jemplate only supports the following template features:

* Plain text
* [% [GET] variable %]
* [% [SET] variable = value %]
* IF/ELSIF/ELSE
* [% PROCESS [arguments] %]
* [% FOR x = y %]

The remaining features will be added very soon. See the DESIGN document in the distro for a list of all features and their progress.

DEVELOPMENT

The bleeding edge code is available via Subversion at http://svn.kwiki.org/ingy/Jemplate/

Jemplate development is being discussed at irc://irc.freenode.net/#jemplate

If you want a committer bit, just ask ingy on the irc channel.

CREDIT

This module is only possible because of Andy Wardley's mighty Template Toolkit. Thanks Andy. I will gladly give you half of any beers I receive for this work. (As long as you are in the same room when I'm drinking them ;)

AUTHOR

Ingy döt Net <ingy@cpan.org>

COPYRIGHT

Copyright (c) 2006. Ingy döt Net. All rights reserved.

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

See http://www.perl.com/perl/misc/Artistic.html

cpanm Jemplate

perl -MCPAN -e shell
install Jemplate