Re: [htmltmpl] FORMAT= enhancement to <TMPL_VAR> construct

[Mathew R. <mat...@re...>]

I'd generally agree (mostly) -> the formatting of data is up to the GUI =
designer, eg if I want the number 1000000 to contain comma's, I =
shouldn't need to get the Perl programmer to generate the a stringified =
value caontaining them.

Although, there would need to be alimit on this functionality, as you =
might end up making a scripting language just to implement this extra =
functionality, in a way which is extensible.  In which case, you might =
as well just write a Perl module to do the formatting for you.

regards,
Mathew

  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Bob Diss=20
  To: htm...@li...=20
  Sent: Wednesday, October 06, 2004 10:47 PM
  Subject: [htmltmpl] FORMAT=3D enhancement to <TMPL_VAR> construct


  Greetings!  In using HTML::Template I found somewhat limited by the =
lack of formatting ability in the template language itself.  While I =
recognize the need for a separation between coding and layout, I often =
found myself making duplicate copies of a value in different formats so =
that the layout people would have the version they need.  For example: =
sometimes they would want the value in all uppercase (for a section =
heading), and then again they want it in all lowercase, or sometimes =
they want just the first few words (to layout an article teaser).

  To do this I implemented an idea I had seen done by a PHP translation =
of HTML::Template found at =
http://vlib.activefish.com/docs/vlibTemplate.html.  The =
"FORMAT=3Dsome-value" attribute to the <TMPL_VAR> construct allows the =
designer to alter the format of the variable.  I implemented several =
built-in formatters, including:

  FORMAT=3Dlc  --  lowercase the value
  FORMAT=3Duc  --  uppercase the value
  FORMAT=3Ducfirst  --  ucfirst each word in the value
  FORMAT=3Dlcucfirst  --  first lowercase the value, then ucfirst each =
word
  FORMAT=3Dreverse  --  reverse the value
  FORMAT=3Dlength  --  output the length of the value
  FORMAT=3D#c  -- output the first # characters of the value
  FORMAT=3D#w  --  output the first # words of the value
  FORMAT=3D#l  --  output the first # lines of the value
  FORMAT=3Dxxxxx  --  call the custom formatter 'xxxxx' which was =
declared in the 'formatters' hash when the template object was new'ed

  Note that FORMAT does not replace ESCAPE.  Instead, they happen in =
sequence.  First, the value is formatted, then it is escaped.

  Comments?  Thoughts?  Suggestions?

  - Bob Diss

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