Re: templating engine options

On 5/25/09 10:04 AM, "Stuart" <stuttle@gmail.com> wrote: > Quick question, how would you implement the following using your > XML-based template syntax... > > <div class="option <?php if (!empty($option_class)) { echo > $option_class; } ?>"> ... </div> > > It's worth noting that I'm simply suggesting a different way of > looking at the world. If you have a templating system you're happy > with then feel free to continue using it, but I'd encourage you to > take the time to consider whether it actually gives you any tangible > benefits. I've used Smarty as well as a number of proprietary > templating systems and I'm yet to come across one that can justify its > existence over simply using PHP. > > It's also worth noting that when I refer to a "templating system" I > mean something that introduces an extra step when running a template. > I consider the template classes I use to be a templating system but > they do nothing but formalise the process of passing data to other PHP > scripts and providing utility functions for them to use. revisiting the template question is interesting. i'm grateful for this discussion. as far as your question goes, with phplib-template, i'd do: <div class="option {option_class}"> ... </div> and in the php it is: $t->setVar('option_class', empty($option_class) ? '' : $option_class); or some equivalent code. $t is the template object. the interesting part is trying to explain why i like this better than your method. perhaps it's because it reduces the page assembly task to a sequence of regexp replacements and i'm more comfortable with that than i am with passing variable state to an included php file. why would i be? maybe i'm more comfortable looking at the world as nothing but strings and in this world, manipulating them is my job. there's certainly something i like about not having any php in my html templates but i can't say exactly what. i don't think i could come up with better justifications for my current methods without trying our the alternatives for a decent period.