1Template(3) User Contributed Perl Documentation Template(3)
2
6 Template - Front-end module to the Template Toolkit
7
9 use Template;
10 # some useful options (see below for full list)
12 my $config = {
13 INCLUDE_PATH => '/search/path', # or list ref
14 INTERPOLATE => 1, # expand "$var" in plain text
15 POST_CHOMP => 1, # cleanup whitespace
16 PRE_PROCESS => 'header', # prefix each template
17 EVAL_PERL => 1, # evaluate Perl code blocks
18 };
19 # create Template object
21 my $template = Template->new($config);
22 # define template variables for replacement
24 my $vars = {
25 var1 => $value,
26 var2 => \%hash,
27 var3 => \@list,
28 var4 => \&code,
29 var5 => $object,
30 };
31 # specify input filename, or file handle, text reference, etc.
33 my $input = 'myfile.html';
34 # process input template, substituting variables
36 $template->process($input, $vars)
37 || die $template->error();
38
40 This documentation describes the Template module which is the direct
41 Perl interface into the Template Toolkit. It covers the use of the
42 module and gives a brief summary of configuration options and template
43 directives. Please see Template::Manual for the complete reference
44 manual which goes into much greater depth about the features and use of
45 the Template Toolkit. The Template::Tutorial is also available as an
46 introductory guide to using the Template Toolkit.
47
49 new(\%config)
50 The new() constructor method (implemented by the Template::Base base
51 class) instantiates a new "Template" object. A reference to a hash
52 array of configuration items may be passed as a parameter.
53 my $tt = Template->new({
55 INCLUDE_PATH => '/usr/local/templates',
56 EVAL_PERL => 1,
57 }) || die $Template::ERROR, "\n";
58 A reference to a new "Template" object is returned, or undef on error.
60 In the latter case, the error message can be retrieved by calling
61 error() as a class method or by examining the $Template::ERROR package
62 variable directly.
63 my $tt = Template->new(\%config)
65 || die Template->error(), "\n";
66 my $tt = Template->new(\%config)
68 || die $Template::ERROR, "\n";
69 For convenience, configuration items may also be specified as a list of
71 items instead of a hash array reference. These are automatically
72 folded into a hash array by the constructor.
73 my $tt = Template->new(INCLUDE_PATH => '/tmp', POST_CHOMP => 1)
75 || die $Template::ERROR, "\n";
76 process($template, \%vars, $output, %options)
78 The process() method is called to process a template. The first
79 parameter indicates the input template as one of:
80 • a filename relative to "INCLUDE_PATH", if defined
82 • a reference to a text string containing the template text
84 • a file handle reference (e.g. "IO::Handle" or sub-class) or "GLOB"
86 (e.g. "\*STDIN"), from which the template can be read.
87 A reference to a hash array may be passed as the second parameter,
89 containing definitions of template variables.
90 # filename
92 $tt->process('welcome.tt2')
93 || die $tt->error(), "\n";
94 # text reference
96 $text = "[% INCLUDE header %]\nHello world!\n[% INCLUDE footer %]";
97 $tt->process(\$text)
98 || die $tt->error(), "\n";
99 # file handle (GLOB)
101 $tt->process(\*DATA)
102 || die $tt->error(), "\n";
103 __END__
105 [% INCLUDE header %]
106 This is a template defined in the __END__ section which is
107 accessible via the DATA "file handle".
108 [% INCLUDE footer %]
109 By default, the processed template output is printed to "STDOUT". The
111 process() method then returns 1 to indicate success. A third parameter
112 may be passed to the process() method to specify a different output
113 location. This value may be one of:
114 • a plain string indicating a filename which will be opened (relative
116 to "OUTPUT_PATH", if defined) and the output written to
117 • a file GLOB opened ready for output
119 • a reference to a scalar (e.g. a text string) to which output/error
121 is appended
122 • a reference to a subroutine which is called, passing the output as
124 a parameter
125 • any object reference which implements a print() method (e.g.
127 "IO::Handle", "Apache::Request", etc.) which will be called,
128 passing the generated output as a parameter.
129 Examples:
131 # output filename
133 $tt->process('welcome.tt2', $vars, 'welcome.html')
134 || die $tt->error(), "\n";
135 # reference to output subroutine
137 sub myout {
138 my $output = shift;
139 ...
140 }
141 $tt->process('welcome.tt2', $vars, \&myout)
142 || die $tt->error(), "\n";
143 # reference to output text string
145 my $output = '';
146 $tt->process('welcome.tt2', $vars, \$output)
147 || die $tt->error(), "\n";
148 print "output: $output\n";
150 In an Apache/mod_perl handler:
152 sub handler {
154 my $req = shift;
155 # ...your code here...
157 # direct output to Apache::Request via $req->print($output)
159 $tt->process($file, $vars, $req) || do {
160 $req->log_reason($tt->error());
161 return SERVER_ERROR;
162 };
163 return OK;
164 }
165 After the optional third output argument can come an optional reference
167 to a hash or a list of "(name, value)" pairs providing further options
168 for the output. The only option currently supported is "binmode"
169 which, when set to any true value will ensure that files created (but
170 not any existing file handles passed) will be set to binary mode.
171 # either: hash reference of options
173 $tt->process($infile, $vars, $outfile, { binmode => 1 })
174 || die $tt->error(), "\n";
175 # or: list of name, value pairs
177 $tt->process($infile, $vars, $outfile, binmode => 1)
178 || die $tt->error(), "\n";
179 Alternately, the "binmode" argument can specify a particular IO layer
181 such as ":utf8".
182 $tt->process($infile, $vars, $outfile, binmode => ':utf8')
184 || die $tt->error(), "\n";
185 The "OUTPUT" configuration item can be used to specify a default output
187 location other than "\*STDOUT". The "OUTPUT_PATH" specifies a
188 directory which should be prefixed to all output locations specified as
189 filenames.
190 my $tt = Template->new({
192 OUTPUT => sub { ... }, # default
193 OUTPUT_PATH => '/tmp',
194 ...
195 }) || die Template->error(), "\n";
196 # use default OUTPUT (sub is called)
198 $tt->process('welcome.tt2', $vars)
199 || die $tt->error(), "\n";
200 # write file to '/tmp/welcome.html'
202 $tt->process('welcome.tt2', $vars, 'welcome.html')
203 || die $tt->error(), "\n";
204 The process() method returns 1 on success or "undef" on error. The
206 error message generated in the latter case can be retrieved by calling
207 the error() method. See also "CONFIGURATION SUMMARY" which describes
208 how error handling may be further customised.
209 error()
211 When called as a class method, it returns the value of the $ERROR
212 package variable. Thus, the following are equivalent.
213 my $tt = Template->new()
215 || die Template->error(), "\n";
216 my $tt = Template->new()
218 || die $Template::ERROR, "\n";
219 When called as an object method, it returns the value of the internal
221 "_ERROR" variable, as set by an error condition in a previous call to
222 process().
223 $tt->process('welcome.tt2')
225 || die $tt->error(), "\n";
226 Errors are represented in the Template Toolkit by objects of the
228 Template::Exception class. If the process() method returns a false
229 value then the error() method can be called to return an object of this
230 class. The type() and info() methods can called on the object to
231 retrieve the error type and information string, respectively. The
232 as_string() method can be called to return a string of the form "$type
233 - $info". This method is also overloaded onto the stringification
234 operator allowing the object reference itself to be printed to return
235 the formatted error string.
236 $tt->process('somefile') || do {
238 my $error = $tt->error();
239 print "error type: ", $error->type(), "\n";
240 print "error info: ", $error->info(), "\n";
241 print $error, "\n";
242 };
243 service()
245 The "Template" module delegates most of the effort of processing
246 templates to an underlying Template::Service object. This method
247 returns a reference to that object.
248 context()
250 The Template::Service module uses a core Template::Context object for
251 runtime processing of templates. This method returns a reference to
252 that object and is equivalent to "$template->service->context()".
253 template($name)
255 This method is a simple wrapper around the Template::Context method of
256 the same name. It returns a compiled template for the source provided
257 as an argument.
258
260 The following list gives a short summary of each Template Toolkit
261 configuration option. See Template::Manual::Config for full details.
262 Template Style and Parsing Options
264 ENCODING
265 Specifies the character encoding.
267 START_TAG, END_TAG
269 Define tokens that indicate start and end of directives (default:
271 '"[%"' and '"%]"').
272 TAG_STYLE
274 Set "START_TAG" and "END_TAG" according to a pre-defined style
276 (default: '"template"', as above).
277 PRE_CHOMP, POST_CHOMP
279 Removes whitespace before/after directives (default: 0/0).
281 TRIM
283 Remove leading and trailing whitespace from template output (default:
285 0).
286 INTERPOLATE
288 Interpolate variables embedded like $this or "${this}" (default: 0).
290 ANYCASE
292 Allow directive keywords in lower case (default: 0 - UPPER only).
294 Template Files and Blocks
296 INCLUDE_PATH
297 One or more directories to search for templates.
299 DELIMITER
301 Delimiter for separating paths in "INCLUDE_PATH" (default: '":"').
303 ABSOLUTE
305 Allow absolute file names, e.g. "/foo/bar.html" (default: 0).
307 RELATIVE
309 Allow relative filenames, e.g. "../foo/bar.html" (default: 0).
311 DEFAULT
313 Default template to use when another not found.
315 BLOCKS
317 Hash array pre-defining template blocks.
319 AUTO_RESET
321 Enabled by default causing "BLOCK" definitions to be reset each time a
323 template is processed. Disable to allow "BLOCK" definitions to
324 persist.
325 RECURSION
327 Flag to permit recursion into templates (default: 0).
329 Template Variables
331 VARIABLES
332 Hash array of variables and values to pre-define in the stash.
334 Runtime Processing Options
336 EVAL_PERL
337 Flag to indicate if "PERL"/"RAWPERL" blocks should be processed
339 (default: 0).
340 PRE_PROCESS, POST_PROCESS
342 Name of template(s) to process before/after main template.
344 PROCESS
346 Name of template(s) to process instead of main template.
348 ERROR
350 Name of error template or reference to hash array mapping error types
352 to templates.
353 OUTPUT
355 Default output location or handler.
357 OUTPUT_PATH
359 Directory into which output files can be written.
361 DEBUG
363 Enable debugging messages.
365 Caching and Compiling Options
367 CACHE_SIZE
368 Maximum number of compiled templates to cache in memory (default: undef
370 - cache all)
371 COMPILE_EXT
373 Filename extension for compiled template files (default: undef - don't
375 compile).
376 COMPILE_DIR
378 Root of directory in which compiled template files should be written
380 (default: undef - don't compile).
381 Plugins and Filters
383 PLUGINS
384 Reference to a hash array mapping plugin names to Perl packages.
386 PLUGIN_BASE
388 One or more base classes under which plugins may be found.
390 LOAD_PERL
392 Flag to indicate regular Perl modules should be loaded if a named
394 plugin can't be found (default: 0).
395 FILTERS
397 Hash array mapping filter names to filter subroutines or factories.
399 Customisation and Extension
401 LOAD_TEMPLATES
402 List of template providers.
404 LOAD_PLUGINS
406 List of plugin providers.
408 LOAD_FILTERS
410 List of filter providers.
412 TOLERANT
414 Set providers to tolerate errors as declinations (default: 0).
416 SERVICE
418 Reference to a custom service object (default: Template::Service).
420 CONTEXT
422 Reference to a custom context object (default: Template::Context).
424 STASH
426 Reference to a custom stash object (default: Template::Stash).
428 PARSER
430 Reference to a custom parser object (default: Template::Parser).
432 GRAMMAR
434 Reference to a custom grammar object (default: Template::Grammar).
436
438 The following list gives a short summary of each Template Toolkit
439 directive. See Template::Manual::Directives for full details.
440 GET
442 Evaluate and print a variable or value.
443 [% GET variable %] # 'GET' keyword is optional
445 [% variable %]
446 [% hash.key %]
447 [% list.n %]
448 [% code(args) %]
449 [% obj.meth(args) %]
450 [% "value: $var" %]
451 CALL
453 As per GET but without printing result (e.g. call code)
454 [% CALL variable %]
456 SET
458 Assign a values to variables.
459 [% SET variable = value %] # 'SET' also optional
461 [% variable = other_variable
462 variable = 'literal text @ $100'
463 variable = "interpolated text: $var"
464 list = [ val, val, val, val, ... ]
465 list = [ val..val ]
466 hash = { var => val, var => val, ... }
467 %]
468 DEFAULT
470 Like SET, but variables are only set if currently unset (i.e. have no
471 true value).
472 [% DEFAULT variable = value %]
474 INSERT
476 Insert a file without any processing performed on the contents.
477 [% INSERT legalese.txt %]
479 PROCESS
481 Process another template file or block and insert the generated output.
482 Any template BLOCKs or variables defined or updated in the "PROCESS"ed
483 template will thereafter be defined in the calling template.
484 [% PROCESS template %]
486 [% PROCESS template var = val, ... %]
487 INCLUDE
489 Similar to "PROCESS", but using a local copy of the current variables.
490 Any template "BLOCK"s or variables defined in the "INCLUDE"d template
491 remain local to it.
492 [% INCLUDE template %]
494 [% INCLUDE template var = val, ... %]
495 WRAPPER
497 The content between the "WRAPPER" and corresponding "END" directives is
498 first evaluated, with the output generated being stored in the
499 "content" variable. The named template is then process as per
500 "INCLUDE".
501 [% WRAPPER layout %]
503 Some template markup [% blah %]...
504 [% END %]
505 A simple layout template might look something like this:
507 Your header here...
509 [% content %]
510 Your footer here...
511 BLOCK
513 Define a named template block for INCLUDE, PROCESS and WRAPPER to use.
514 [% BLOCK hello %]
516 Hello World
517 [% END %]
518 [% INCLUDE hello %]
520 FOREACH
522 Repeat the enclosed "FOREACH" ... "END" block for each value in the
523 list.
524 [% FOREACH variable IN [ val, val, val ] %] # either
526 [% FOREACH variable IN list %] # or
527 The variable is set to [% variable %]
528 [% END %]
529 WHILE
531 The block enclosed between "WHILE" and "END" block is processed while
532 the specified condition is true.
533 [% WHILE condition %]
535 content
536 [% END %]
537 IF / UNLESS / ELSIF / ELSE
539 The enclosed block is processed if the condition is true / false.
540 [% IF condition %]
542 content
543 [% ELSIF condition %]
544 content
545 [% ELSE %]
546 content
547 [% END %]
548 [% UNLESS condition %]
550 content
551 [% # ELSIF/ELSE as per IF, above %]
552 content
553 [% END %]
554 SWITCH / CASE
556 Multi-way switch/case statement.
557 [% SWITCH variable %]
559 [% CASE val1 %]
560 content
561 [% CASE [ val2, val3 ] %]
562 content
563 [% CASE %] # or [% CASE DEFAULT %]
564 content
565 [% END %]
566 MACRO
568 Define a named macro.
569 [% MACRO name <directive> %]
571 [% MACRO name(arg1, arg2) <directive> %]
572 ...
573 [% name %]
574 [% name(val1, val2) %]
575 FILTER
577 Process enclosed "FILTER" ... "END" block then pipe through a filter.
578 [% FILTER name %] # either
580 [% FILTER name( params ) %] # or
581 [% FILTER alias = name( params ) %] # or
582 content
583 [% END %]
584 USE
586 Load a plugin module (see "Template::<Manual::Plugins"), or any regular
587 Perl module when the "LOAD_PERL" option is set.
588 [% USE name %] # either
590 [% USE name( params ) %] # or
591 [% USE var = name( params ) %] # or
592 ...
593 [% name.method %]
594 [% var.method %]
595 PERL / RAWPERL
597 Evaluate enclosed blocks as Perl code (requires the "EVAL_PERL" option
598 to be set).
599 [% PERL %]
601 # perl code goes here
602 $stash->set('foo', 10);
603 print "set 'foo' to ", $stash->get('foo'), "\n";
604 print $context->include('footer', { var => $val });
605 [% END %]
606 [% RAWPERL %]
608 # raw perl code goes here, no magic but fast.
609 $output .= 'some output';
610 [% END %]
611 TRY / THROW / CATCH / FINAL
613 Exception handling.
614 [% TRY %]
616 content
617 [% THROW type info %]
618 [% CATCH type %]
619 catch content
620 [% error.type %] [% error.info %]
621 [% CATCH %] # or [% CATCH DEFAULT %]
622 content
623 [% FINAL %]
624 this block is always processed
625 [% END %]
626 NEXT
628 Jump straight to the next item in a "FOREACH" or "WHILE" loop.
629 [% NEXT %]
631 LAST
633 Break out of "FOREACH" or "WHILE" loop.
634 [% LAST %]
636 RETURN
638 Stop processing current template and return to including templates.
639 [% RETURN %]
641 STOP
643 Stop processing all templates and return to caller.
644 [% STOP %]
646 TAGS
648 Define new tag style or characters (default: "[%" "%]").
649 [% TAGS html %]
651 [% TAGS <!-- --> %]
652 COMMENTS
654 Ignored and deleted.
655 [% # this is a comment to the end of line
657 foo = 'bar'
658 %]
659 [%# placing the '#' immediately inside the directive
661 tag comments out the entire directive
662 %]
663
665 The source code for the Template Toolkit is held in a public git
666 repository on Github: <https://github.com/abw/Template2>
667
669 Andy Wardley <abw@wardley.org> <http://wardley.org/>
670
672 Template Toolkit version 3.100, released on July 13 2020.
673
675 The Template Toolkit mailing list provides a forum for discussing
676 issues relating to the use and abuse of the Template Toolkit. There
677 are a number of knowledgeable and helpful individuals who frequent the
678 list (including the author) who can often offer help or suggestions.
679 Please respect their time and patience by checking the documentation
680 and/or mailing list archives before asking questions that may already
681 have been answered.
682 To subscribe to the mailing list, send an email to:
684 template-toolkit+subscribe@groups.io
686 You can also use the web interface:
688 https://groups.io/g/template-toolkit
690 For information about commercial support and consultancy for the
692 Template Toolkit, please contact the author.
693
695 Copyright (C) 1996-2022 Andy Wardley. All Rights Reserved.
696 This module is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
698 under the same terms as Perl itself.
699perl v5.38.0 2023-07-21 Template(3)