Hi,
I'm curious about what method folks use to combine several templates
into a single web page. The <tmpl_include> syntax obviously addresses
this. But it seems tempting in some cases to create a new
HTML::Template object for each template and include its output into a
single "master" template as a parameter, rather than via <tmpl_include>.
I imagine this is somewhat more expensive than includes.
Significantly so? Particularly in a CGI environment? Other downsides?
In a nutshell, it seems like this approach makes template maintenance
easier by reducing duplication and, probably, the overall amount of
template markup:
1) Encapsulation of parameters for reuse of templates.
For example, I'd like to create a single template that handles form
generation. But if I want to include several forms in a page (and
they don't stack up nicely enough to fit a <tmpl_loop> pattern), then
I can't use the same form template via <tmpl_include> because, of
course, the template would use the same parameters for all three
instances. But if I generate the html beforehand via several
different $tmpl->output calls and pass that result to a template in
parameters, then I can reuse the same template.
2) Nesting templates to reduce duplication within templates
Generating included values via separate template objects lets me do
something like this:
a) Create html for two forms with a single form template.
b) Include the forms as parameters to a screen/runmode template.
c) Include the html of the runmode template into a master "wrapper"
template.
Some simple templates to illustrate that last example example...
** Master template:
<html>
<head>
<title>
<tmpl_var name="page_title">
</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>
<tmpl_var name="page_title">
</h1>
<tmpl_var name="page_content">
</body>
</html>
----------
** The "page_content" parameter gets generated by the appropriate
screen/runmode template:
<div id="column1">
<tmpl_var name="intro_text">
<tmpl_var name="form1">
</div>
<div id="column2">
<tmpl_var name="form2">
</div>
----------
** The "form1" and "form2" parameters get generated by the same form
template:
<form action="<tmpl_var name="action_url">" method="post">
<tmpl_var name="form_title">
<tmpl_loop name="fieldset">
<div class="fieldset">
<h2><tmpl_var name="category_name"></h2>
<tmpl_var name="category_description">
<tmpl_loop name="fields">
... generate input fields ...
</tmpl_loop>
</div>
</tmpl_loop>
</form>
Thanks for your thoughts and advice!
Josh
-------------------------------------------------------
This SF.Net email is sponsored by:
Power Architecture Resource Center: Free content, downloads, discussions,
and more. http://solutions.newsforge.com/ibmarch.tmpl
_______________________________________________
Html-template-users mailing list
Html-template-users@lists.sourceforge.net
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/html-template-users
