Template - Front-end module to the Template Toolkit

  use Template;

  # some useful options (see below for full list)
  my $config = {
      INCLUDE_PATH => '/search/path',  # or list ref
      INTERPOLATE  => 1,               # expand "$var" in plain text
      POST_CHOMP   => 1,               # cleanup whitespace 
      PRE_PROCESS  => 'header',        # prefix each template
      EVAL_PERL    => 1,               # evaluate Perl code blocks
  };

  # create Template object
  my $template = Template->new($config);

  # define template variables for replacement
  my $vars = {
      var1  => $value,
      var2  => \%hash,
      var3  => \@list,
      var4  => \&code,
      var5  => $object,
  };

  # specify input filename, or file handle, text reference, etc.
  my $input = 'myfile.html';

  # process input template, substituting variables
  $template->process($input, $vars)
      || die $template->error();

This documentation describes the Template module which is the direct Perl interface into the Template Toolkit. It covers the use of the module and gives a brief summary of configuration options and template directives. Please see Template::Manual for the complete reference manual which goes into much greater depth about the features and use of the Template Toolkit. The Template::Tutorial is also available as an introductory guide to using the Template Toolkit.

The new() constructor method (implemented by the Template::Base base class) instantiates a new Template object. A reference to a hash array of configuration items may be passed as a parameter.

    my $tt = Template->new({
        INCLUDE_PATH => '/usr/local/templates',
            EVAL_PERL    => 1,
    }) || die $Template::ERROR, "\n";

A reference to a new Template object is returned, or undef on error. In the latter case, the error message can be retrieved by calling error() as a class method (e.g. CWTemplate->error()) or by examining the CW$ERROR package variable directly (e.g. CW$Template::ERROR).

    my $tt = Template->new(\%config)
        || die Template->error(), "\n";

    my $tt = Template->new(\%config)
        || die $Template::ERROR, "\n";

For convenience, configuration items may also be specified as a list of items instead of a hash array reference. These are automatically folded into a hash array by the constructor.

    my $tt = Template->new(INCLUDE_PATH => '/tmp', POST_CHOMP => 1)
        || die $Template::ERROR, "\n";

    $text = "[% INCLUDE header %]\nHello world!\n[% INCLUDE footer %]";

    # filename
    $tt->process('welcome.tt2')
        || die $tt->error(), "\n";

    # text reference
    $tt->process(\$text)
        || die $tt->error(), "\n";

    # GLOB
    $tt->process(\*DATA)
        || die $tt->error(), "\n";

    __END__
    [% INCLUDE header %]
    This is a template defined in the __END__ section which is 
    accessible via the DATA "file handle".
    [% INCLUDE footer %]

By default, the processed template output is printed to STDOUT. The process() method then returns 1 to indicate success. A third parameter may be passed to the process() method to specify a different output location. This value may be one of: a plain string indicating a filename which will be opened (relative to OUTPUT_PATH, if defined) and the output written to; a file GLOB opened ready for output; a reference to a scalar (e.g. a text string) to which output/error is appended; a reference to a subroutine which is called, passing the output as a parameter; or any object reference which implements a 'print' method (e.g. IO::Handle, Apache::Request, etc.) which will be called, passing the generated output as a parameter.

Examples:

    # output filename
    $tt->process('welcome.tt2', $vars, 'welcome.html')
        || die $tt->error(), "\n";

    # reference to output subroutine
    sub myout {
        my $output = shift;
            ...
    }
    $tt->process('welcome.tt2', $vars, \&myout)
        || die $tt->error(), "\n";

    # reference to output text string
    my $output = '';
    $tt->process('welcome.tt2', $vars, \$output)
        || die $tt->error(), "\n";

    print "output: $output\n";

In an Apache/mod_perl handler:

    sub handler {
        my $req = shift;

        ...

        # direct output to Apache::Request via $req->print($output)
        $tt->process($file, $vars, $req) || do {
            $req->log_reason($tt->error());
            return SERVER_ERROR;
        };

        return OK;
    }

After the optional third output argument can come an optional reference to a hash or a list of (name, value) pairs providing further options for the output. The only option currently supported is binmode which, when set to any true value will ensure that files created (but not any existing file handles passed) will be set to binary mode.

    # either: hash reference of options
    $tt->process($infile, $vars, $outfile, { binmode => 1 })
        || die $tt->error(), "\n";

    # or: list of name, value pairs
    $tt->process($infile, $vars, $outfile, binmode => 1)
        || die $tt->error(), "\n";

Alternately, the binmode argument can specify a particular IO layer such as :utf8.

    $tt->process($infile, $vars, $outfile, binmode => ':utf8')
        || die $tt->error(), "\n";

The OUTPUT configuration item can be used to specify a default output location other than \*STDOUT. The OUTPUT_PATH specifies a directory which should be prefixed to all output locations specified as filenames.

    my $tt = Template->new({
        OUTPUT      => sub { ... },       # default
            OUTPUT_PATH => '/tmp',
        ...
    }) || die Template->error(), "\n";

    # use default OUTPUT (sub is called)
    $tt->process('welcome.tt2', $vars)
        || die $tt->error(), "\n";

    # write file to '/tmp/welcome.html'
    $tt->process('welcome.tt2', $vars, 'welcome.html')
        || die $tt->error(), "\n";

The process() method returns 1 on success or undef on error. The error message generated in the latter case can be retrieved by calling the error() method. See also CONFIGURATION SUMMARY which describes how error handling may be further customised.

When called as a class method, it returns the value of the CW$ERROR package variable. Thus, the following are equivalent.

    my $tt = Template->new()
        || die Template->error(), "\n";

    my $tt = Template->new()
        || die $Template::ERROR, "\n";

When called as an object method, it returns the value of the internal _ERROR variable, as set by an error condition in a previous call to process().

    $tt->process('welcome.tt2')
        || die $tt->error(), "\n";

Errors are represented in the Template Toolkit by objects of the Template::Exception class. If the process() method returns a false value then the error() method can be called to return an object of this class. The type() and info() methods can called on the object to retrieve the error type and information string, respectively. The as_string() method can be called to return a string of the form $type - CW$info. This method is also overloaded onto the stringification operator allowing the object reference itself to be printed to return the formatted error string.

    $tt->process('somefile') || do {
        my $error = $tt->error();
            print "error type: ", $error->type(), "\n";
        print "error info: ", $error->info(), "\n";
            print $error, "\n";
    };

The Template module delegates most of the effort of processing templates to an underlying Template::Service object. This method returns a reference to that object.

The Template::Service module uses a core Template::Context object for runtime processing of templates. This method returns a reference to that object and is equivalent to CW$template->service->context();

The following list gives a short summary of each Template Toolkit configuration option. See Template::Manual::Config for full details.

START_TAG, END_TAG

Define tokens that indicate start and end of directives (default: '[%' and '%]').

TAG_STYLE

Set START_TAG and END_TAG according to a pre-defined style (default: 'template', as above).

PRE_CHOMP, POST_CHOMP

Remove whitespace before/after directives (default: 0/0).

TRIM

Remove leading and trailing whitespace from template output (default: 0).

INTERPOLATE

Interpolate variables embedded like CW$this or ${this} (default: 0).

ANYCASE

Allow directive keywords in lower case (default: 0 - UPPER only).

INCLUDE_PATH

One or more directories to search for templates.

DELIMITER

Delimiter for separating paths in INCLUDE_PATH (default: ':').

ABSOLUTE

Allow absolute file names, e.g. /foo/bar.html (default: 0).

RELATIVE

Allow relative filenames, e.g. ../foo/bar.html (default: 0).

DEFAULT

Default template to use when another not found.

BLOCKS

Hash array pre-defining template blocks.

AUTO_RESET

Enabled by default causing BLOCK definitions to be reset each time a template is processed. Disable to allow BLOCK definitions to persist.

RECURSION

Flag to permit recursion into templates (default: 0).

VARIABLES, PRE_DEFINE

Hash array of variables and values to pre-define in the stash.

EVAL_PERL

Flag to indicate if PERL/RAWPERL blocks should be processed (default: 0).

PRE_PROCESS, POST_PROCESS

Name of template(s) to process before/after main template.

PROCESS

Name of template(s) to process instead of main template.

ERROR

Name of error template or reference to hash array mapping error types to templates.

OUTPUT

Default output location or handler.

OUTPUT_PATH

Directory into which output files can be written.

DEBUG

Enable debugging messages.

CACHE_SIZE

Maximum number of compiled templates to cache in memory (default: undef - cache all)

COMPILE_EXT

Filename extension for compiled template files (default: undef - don't compile).

COMPILE_DIR

Root of directory in which compiled template files should be written (default: undef - don't compile).

PLUGINS

Reference to a hash array mapping plugin names to Perl packages.

PLUGIN_BASE

One or more base classes under which plugins may be found.

LOAD_PERL

Flag to indicate regular Perl modules should be loaded if a named plugin can't be found (default: 0).

FILTERS

Hash array mapping filter names to filter subroutines or factories.

V1DOLLAR

Backwards compatibility flag enabling version 1.* handling (i.e. ignore it) of leading '$' on variables (default: 0 - '$' indicates interpolation).

LOAD_TEMPLATES

List of template providers.

LOAD_PLUGINS

List of plugin providers.

LOAD_FILTERS

List of filter providers.

TOLERANT

Set providers to tolerate errors as declinations (default: 0).

SERVICE

Reference to a custom service object (default: Template::Service).

CONTEXT

Reference to a custom context object (default: Template::Context).

STASH

Reference to a custom stash object (default: Template::Stash).

PARSER

Reference to a custom parser object (default: Template::Parser).

GRAMMAR

Reference to a custom grammar object (default: Template::Grammar).

The following list gives a short summary of each Template Toolkit directive. See Template::Manual::Directives for full details.

GET

Evaluate and print a variable or value.

    [%   GET variable %]    # 'GET' keyword is optional

    [%       variable %]
    [%       hash.key %]
    [%         list.n %]
    [%     code(args) %]
    [% obj.meth(args) %]
    [%  "value: $var" %]

CALL

As per GET but without printing result (e.g. call code)

    [%  CALL variable %]

SET

Assign a values to variables.

    [% SET variable = value %]    # 'SET' also optional

    [%     variable = other_variable
           variable = 'literal text @ $100'
           variable = "interpolated text: $var"
           list     = [ val, val, val, val, ... ]
           list     = [ val..val ]
           hash     = { var => val, var => val, ... }
    %]

DEFAULT

Like SET above, but variables are only set if currently unset (i.e. have no true value).

    [% DEFAULT variable = value %]

INSERT

Insert a file without any processing performed on the contents.

    [% INSERT legalese.txt %]

INCLUDE

Process another template file or block and include the output. Variables are localised.

    [% INCLUDE template %]
    [% INCLUDE template  var = val, ... %]

PROCESS

As INCLUDE above, but without localising variables.

    [% PROCESS template %]
    [% PROCESS template  var = val, ... %]

WRAPPER

Process the enclosed block WRAPPER ... END block then INCLUDE the named template, passing the block output in the 'content' variable.

    [% WRAPPER template %]
       content...
    [% END %]

BLOCK

Define a named template block for subsequent INCLUDE, PROCESS, etc.,

    [% BLOCK template %]
       content
    [% END %]

FOREACH

Repeat the enclosed FOREACH ... END block for each value in the list.

    [% FOREACH variable = [ val, val, val ] %]    # either
    [% FOREACH variable = list %]                 # or
    [% FOREACH list %]                            # or 
       content...
       [% variable %]
    [% END %]

WHILE

Enclosed WHILE ... END block is processed while condition is true.

    [% WHILE condition %]
       content
    [% END %]

IF / UNLESS / ELSIF / ELSE

Enclosed block is processed if the condition is true / false.

    [% IF condition %]
       content
    [% ELSIF condition %]
         content
    [% ELSE %]
         content
    [% END %]

    [% UNLESS condition %]
       content
    [% # ELSIF/ELSE as per IF, above %]
       content
    [% END %]

SWITCH / CASE

Multi-way switch/case statement.

    [% SWITCH variable %]
    [% CASE val1 %]
       content
    [% CASE [ val2, val3 ] %]
       content
    [% CASE %]         # or [% CASE DEFAULT %]
       content
    [% END %]

MACRO

Define a named macro.

    [% MACRO name <directive> %]
    [% MACRO name(arg1, arg2) <directive> %]
    ...
    [% name %]
    [% name(val1, val2) %]

FILTER

Process enclosed FILTER ... END block then pipe through a filter.

    [% FILTER name %]                       # either
    [% FILTER name( params ) %]             # or
    [% FILTER alias = name( params ) %]     # or
       content
    [% END %]

USE

Load a plugin module, or any regular Perl module if LOAD_PERL option is set.

    [% USE name %]                          # either
    [% USE name( params ) %]                # or
    [% USE var = name( params ) %]          # or
    ...
    [% name.method %]
    [% var.method %]

PERL / RAWPERL

Evaluate enclosed blocks as Perl code (requires EVAL_PERL option to be set).

    [% PERL %]
         # perl code goes here
         $stash->set('foo', 10);
         print "set 'foo' to ", $stash->get('foo'), "\n";
         print $context->include('footer', { var => $val });
    [% END %]

    [% RAWPERL %]
       # raw perl code goes here, no magic but fast.
       $output .= 'some output';
    [% END %]

TRY / THROW / CATCH / FINAL

Exception handling.

    [% TRY %]
         content
       [% THROW type info %]
    [% CATCH type %]
         catch content
       [% error.type %] [% error.info %]
    [% CATCH %] # or [% CATCH DEFAULT %]
         content
    [% FINAL %]
       this block is always processed
    [% END %]

NEXT

Jump straight to the next item in a FOREACH/WHILE loop.

    [% NEXT %]

LAST

Break out of FOREACH/WHILE loop.

    [% LAST %]

RETURN

Stop processing current template and return to including templates.

    [% RETURN %]

STOP

Stop processing all templates and return to caller.

    [% STOP %]

TAGS

Define new tag style or characters (default: [% %]).

    [% TAGS html %]
    [% TAGS <!-- --> %]

COMMENTS

Ignored and deleted.

    [% # this is a comment to the end of line
       foo = 'bar'
    %]

    [%# placing the '#' immediately inside the directive
        tag comments out the entire directive
    %]

Andy Wardley <abw@andywardley.com>

<http://www.andywardley.com/|http://www.andywardley.com/>

Template Toolkit version 2.14, released on 04 October 2004.

  Copyright (C) 1996-2004 Andy Wardley.  All Rights Reserved.
  Copyright (C) 1998-2002 Canon Research Centre Europe Ltd.

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