Creating a web templating engine

[BÁRTHÁZI András]

Hi,

I'm busy with creating a widget based web templating engine, but I have 
some problems, please help me. The engine would allow you to define 
widgets, and use those in your templates. I would like it to be an OO 
module.

In the template, you can write this:

 <server:input id="name" width="100px" maxlength="64" important="yes" />

When the template engine read it, it will call a subroutine:

 call_a_sub_for_input(id=>'name', width=>'100px', maxlength=>'64',
                      important=>'yes');

What this sub gives back, will be put into the output. I hope, you got the 
idea.

I have the code, that can parse the template, and the code, that would 
call the widget, so no problems with it. I don't know, how to put it 
together. I don't know, how should the programmer define a new widget, 
how it would be the most nicer way? How it can be detected by the template 
engine? I don't want a register function, like this:

$wte = new WTE;
$wte.register('input', &my_input_widget);

I don't prefer it, to be 20-30 register line in my programs, that does 
nothing, just register.

It would be OK, to just define a global subroutine, and allow the template 
engine to call widget_$name if it reads a widget, but...

sub widget_input(*%params) {
        ...
}

It's not nice. Maybe something like this?

new_widget :input => {
        return "<input />";
}

It's almost a register function, but it's more compact, and I like it. But 
if I would like to get parameters from the widget caller, how can I manage 
it? Is it possible to call this new noname sub with parameters, and get it 
easily inside the sub, for example like this:?

new_widget :input => {
        my $name = _something_{'id'};
        return '<input name="' ~ $name ~ '" />';
}

And I have more questions, but that's enough for this mail. Did you got my 
problem?

Bye,
  Andras