Re: [Webware-discuss] Templates (Again)

[Tavis R. <ta...@ca...>]

Sasa, 
I've been working on something very similar to what Mike 
just posted.  It's only a few hours off now...
The two modules it uses are attached.

In the meantime, can you refresh me on how PHPLib does it?

In brief, what I'm working on:
- uses templates with variable names inserted like this:
  """ a template with a %[varName]"""
  """ a template that calls a %[function] """
  """ a template that calls a %[object.method] """
  """ a template that calls a %[function('with args')"""
  """ a template that calls a method of an obj in a dict
       %[dict.object.method(argA=anotherVarName)] """
  """ a template that is linked to an object and can call 
       its methods directly %[methodA(arg=1234)]
  """ a template that is linked to an object and can access
       its attributes directly %[myAttribute.subItem1]


- can search for the variable names in a template in a      
   cascade of objects, dictionaries, classes, BTrees,    
   etc.   So if you want to override only a few values and 
   use the defaults for everything else, it's very easy
   (see the example below)

- caching, nesting of templates and all conditional logic 
   are left to standard python or python/psp.  This gives  
   the user max. flexibilty to use TemplateFiller how they 
   see fit.

It allows you to do something like this:
----------------------------------
from Templates.Report import template, defaults
from TemplateFiller import BoundTemplate

from Styles import formalStyle
from Reports.Quarterly import reportData

myValues = {
	'bgColor': '#FFFFFF',
	'tableWidth': 750,
	'reportStyle': formalStyle(), 
	'reportData': reportData()
}

output = BoundTemplate(template, myValues, defaults).fill()
response.write(output)
-----------------------------------
BoundTemplate fills the template with the values from 
myValues first, and it the variables in the template can't 
be found in myValues it gets them from defaults.  It will 
continue searching through however many dictionaries you 
provide it with.

BTW, you can leave the () off formalStyle and any other 
callable objects in myValues (functions, etc.).   
BoundTemplate will recognize them as callable.

Of course all this would be daunting to a non-programming 
so it could all be abstracted into a single function to 
hide all the plumming.  They would then type this instead:

writeReport(type='Quaterly', style='formalStyle', 
                    tableWidth=750)

Tavis