cmlenz@226: .. -*- mode: rst; encoding: utf-8 -*- cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: ============================ cmlenz@230: Genshi XML Template Language cmlenz@226: ============================ cmlenz@226: cmlenz@241: Genshi provides a XML-based template language that is heavily inspired by Kid_, cmlenz@241: which in turn was inspired by a number of existing template languages, namely cmlenz@241: XSLT_, TAL_, and PHP_. cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: .. _kid: http://kid-templating.org/ cmlenz@226: .. _python: http://www.python.org/ cmlenz@226: .. _xslt: http://www.w3.org/TR/xslt cmlenz@226: .. _tal: http://www.zope.org/Wikis/DevSite/Projects/ZPT/TAL cmlenz@226: .. _php: http://www.php.net/ cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: This document describes the template language and will be most useful as cmlenz@241: reference to those developing Genshi XML templates. Templates are XML files of cmlenz@241: some kind (such as XHTML) that include processing directives_ (elements or cmlenz@226: attributes identified by a separate namespace) that affect how the template is cmlenz@226: rendered, and template expressions_ that are dynamically substituted by cmlenz@226: variable data. cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: .. contents:: Contents cmlenz@226: :depth: 3 cmlenz@226: .. sectnum:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: ---------- cmlenz@226: Python API cmlenz@226: ---------- cmlenz@226: cmlenz@230: The Python code required for templating with Genshi is generally based on the cmlenz@226: following pattern: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@241: * Attain a ``MarkupTemplate`` object from a string or file object containing cmlenz@241: the template XML source. This can either be done directly, or through a cmlenz@226: ``TemplateLoader`` instance. cmlenz@226: * Call the ``generate()`` method of the template, passing any data that should cmlenz@226: be made available to the template as keyword arguments. cmlenz@226: * Serialize the resulting stream using its ``render()`` method. cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: For example:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@241: from genshi.template import MarkupTemplate cmlenz@226: cmlenz@241: tmpl = MarkupTemplate('

$title

') cmlenz@226: stream = tmpl.generate(title='Hello, world!') cmlenz@226: print stream.render('xhtml') cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: That code would produce the following output:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226:

Hello, world!

cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: However, if you want includes_ to work, you should attain the template instance cmlenz@226: through a ``TemplateLoader``, and load the template from a file:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@230: from genshi.template import TemplateLoader cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: loader = TemplateLoader([templates_dir]) cmlenz@226: tmpl = loader.load('test.html') cmlenz@226: stream = tmpl.generate(title='Hello, world!') cmlenz@226: print stream.render('xhtml') cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: .. _`expressions`: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@429: ------------------------------------ cmlenz@429: Template Expressions and Code Blocks cmlenz@429: ------------------------------------ cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: Python_ expressions can be used in text and attribute values. An expression is cmlenz@226: substituted with the result of its evaluation against the template data. cmlenz@226: Expressions need to prefixed with a dollar sign (``$``) and usually enclosed in cmlenz@226: curly braces (``{…}``). cmlenz@226: cmlenz@394: If the expression starts with a letter and contains only letters, digits, dots, cmlenz@394: and underscores, the curly braces may be omitted. In all other cases, the cmlenz@394: braces are required so that the template processor knows where the expression cmlenz@394: ends:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@241: >>> from genshi.template import MarkupTemplate cmlenz@241: >>> tmpl = MarkupTemplate('${items[0].capitalize()} item') cmlenz@241: >>> print tmpl.generate(items=['first', 'second']) cmlenz@226: First item cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: Expressions support the full power of Python. In addition, it is possible to cmlenz@226: access items in a dictionary using “dotted notation” (i.e. as if they were cmlenz@226: attributes), and vice-versa (i.e. access attributes as if they were items in a cmlenz@226: dictionary):: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@241: >>> from genshi.template import MarkupTemplate cmlenz@241: >>> tmpl = MarkupTemplate('${dict.foo}') cmlenz@241: >>> print tmpl.generate(dict={'foo': 'bar'}) cmlenz@226: bar cmlenz@226: cmlenz@429: Because there are two ways to access either attributes or items, expressions cmlenz@429: do not raise the standard ``AttributeError`` or ``IndexError`` exceptions, but cmlenz@429: rather an exception of the type ``UndefinedError``. The same kind of error is cmlenz@429: raised when you try to access a top-level variable that is not in the context cmlenz@429: data. cmlenz@244: cmlenz@244: cmlenz@429: .. _`code blocks`: cmlenz@429: cmlenz@429: Code Blocks cmlenz@429: =========== cmlenz@429: cmlenz@429: XML templates also support full Python code blocks using the ```` cmlenz@429: processing instruction:: cmlenz@429: cmlenz@429:
cmlenz@429: cmlenz@429: ${greeting('world')} cmlenz@429:
cmlenz@429: cmlenz@429: This will produce the following output:: cmlenz@429: cmlenz@429:
cmlenz@429: Hello, world! cmlenz@429:
cmlenz@429: cmlenz@429: Code blocks can import modules, define classes and functions, and basically do cmlenz@429: anything you can do in normal Python code. What code blocks can *not* do is to cmlenz@429: produce content that is included directly in the generated page. cmlenz@429: cmlenz@429: .. note:: Using the ``print`` statement will print to the standard output cmlenz@429: stream, just as it does for other Python code in your application. cmlenz@429: cmlenz@429: This feature is not supposed to encourage mixing application code into cmlenz@429: templates, which is generally considered bad design. If you're using many code cmlenz@429: blocks, that me be a sign that you should move such code into separate Python cmlenz@429: modules. cmlenz@429: cmlenz@429: cmlenz@429: Built-in Functions & Types cmlenz@429: ========================== cmlenz@429: cmlenz@429: The following functions and types are available by default in template code, in cmlenz@429: addition to the standard built-ins that are available to all Python code. cmlenz@429: cmlenz@429: ``defined(name)`` cmlenz@429: ----------------- cmlenz@429: cmlenz@429: This function determines whether a variable of the specified name exists in cmlenz@429: the context data, and returns ``True`` if it does. cmlenz@429: cmlenz@429: ``value_of(name, default=None)`` cmlenz@429: -------------------------------- cmlenz@429: cmlenz@429: This function returns the value of the variable with the specified name if cmlenz@429: such a variable is defined, and returns the value of the ``default`` cmlenz@429: parameter if no such variable is defined. cmlenz@429: cmlenz@429: ``Markup(text)`` cmlenz@429: ---------------- cmlenz@429: cmlenz@429: The ``Markup`` type marks a given string as being safe for inclusion in markup, cmlenz@429: meaning it will *not* be escaped in the serialization stage. Use this with care, cmlenz@429: as not escaping a user-provided string may allow malicious users to open your cmlenz@429: web site to cross-site scripting attacks. cmlenz@244: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: .. _`directives`: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: ------------------- cmlenz@226: Template Directives cmlenz@226: ------------------- cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: Directives are elements and/or attributes in the template that are identified cmlenz@230: by the namespace ``http://genshi.edgewall.org/``. They can affect how the cmlenz@230: template is rendered in a number of ways: Genshi provides directives for cmlenz@226: conditionals and looping, among others. cmlenz@226: cmlenz@394: To use directives in a template, the namespace must be declared, which is cmlenz@226: usually done on the root element:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: ... cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: In this example, the default namespace is set to the XHTML namespace, and the cmlenz@230: namespace for Genshi directives is bound to the prefix “py”. cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: All directives can be applied as attributes, and some can also be used as cmlenz@226: elements. The ``if`` directives for conditionals, for example, can be used in cmlenz@226: both ways:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: ... cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226:

Bar

cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226: ... cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: This is basically equivalent to the following:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: ... cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226:

Bar

cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226: ... cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: The rationale behind the second form is that directives do not always map cmlenz@226: naturally to elements in the template. In such cases, the ``py:strip`` cmlenz@226: directive can be used to strip off the unwanted element, or the directive can cmlenz@226: simply be used as an element. cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@237: Conditional Sections cmlenz@226: ==================== cmlenz@226: cmlenz@235: .. _`py:if`: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@235: ``py:if`` cmlenz@237: --------- cmlenz@226: cmlenz@235: The element is only rendered if the expression evaluates to a truth value:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@235:
cmlenz@235: ${bar} cmlenz@235:
cmlenz@226: cmlenz@235: Given the data ``foo=True`` and ``bar='Hello'`` in the template context, this cmlenz@235: would produce:: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235:
cmlenz@235: Hello cmlenz@235:
cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: This directive can also be used as an element:: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235:
cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: ${bar} cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235:
cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: .. _`py:choose`: cmlenz@226: .. _`py:when`: cmlenz@226: .. _`py:otherwise`: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@237: ``py:choose`` cmlenz@237: ------------- cmlenz@226: cmlenz@237: The ``py:choose`` directive, in combination with the directives ``py:when`` cmlenz@404: and ``py:otherwise`` provides advanced conditional processing for rendering one cmlenz@226: of several alternatives. The first matching ``py:when`` branch is rendered, or, cmlenz@404: if no ``py:when`` branch matches, the ``py:otherwise`` branch is rendered. cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: If the ``py:choose`` directive is empty the nested ``py:when`` directives will cmlenz@226: be tested for truth:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226: 0 cmlenz@226: 1 cmlenz@226: 2 cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: This would produce the following output:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226: 1 cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: If the ``py:choose`` directive contains an expression the nested ``py:when`` cmlenz@226: directives will be tested for equality to the parent ``py:choose`` value:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226: 0 cmlenz@226: 1 cmlenz@226: 2 cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: This would produce the following output:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226: 1 cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@235: Looping cmlenz@237: ======= cmlenz@226: cmlenz@235: .. _`py:for`: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@235: ``py:for`` cmlenz@237: ---------- cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: The element is repeated for every item in an iterable:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@235: Given ``items=[1, 2, 3]`` in the context data, this would produce:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@235: This directive can also be used as an element:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: Snippet Reuse cmlenz@237: ============= cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: .. _`py:def`: cmlenz@226: .. _`macros`: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: ``py:def`` cmlenz@237: ---------- cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: The ``py:def`` directive can be used to create macros, i.e. snippets of cmlenz@226: template code that have a name and optionally some parameters, and that can be cmlenz@226: inserted in other places:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226:

cmlenz@226: Hello, ${name}! cmlenz@226:

cmlenz@226: ${greeting('world')} cmlenz@226: ${greeting('everyone else')} cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: The above would be rendered to:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226:

cmlenz@226: Hello, world! cmlenz@226:

cmlenz@226:

cmlenz@226: Hello, everyone else! cmlenz@226:

cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226: cmlenz@394: If a macro doesn't require parameters, it can be defined without the cmlenz@394: parenthesis. For example:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226:

cmlenz@226: Hello, world! cmlenz@226:

cmlenz@394: ${greeting()} cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: The above would be rendered to:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226:

cmlenz@226: Hello, world! cmlenz@226:

cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: This directive can also be used as an element:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226:

Hello, ${name}!

cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@235: .. _Match Templates: cmlenz@226: .. _`py:match`: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: ``py:match`` cmlenz@237: ------------ cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: This directive defines a *match template*: given an XPath expression, it cmlenz@226: replaces any element in the template that matches the expression with its own cmlenz@226: content. cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: For example, the match template defined in the following template matches any cmlenz@226: element with the tag name “greeting”:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: Hello ${select('@name')} cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: This would result in the following output:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: Hello Dude cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: Inside the body of a ``py:match`` directive, the ``select(path)`` function is cmlenz@226: made available so that parts or all of the original element can be incorporated cmlenz@230: in the output of the match template. See [wiki:GenshiStream#UsingXPath] for cmlenz@226: more information about this function. cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: This directive can also be used as an element:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: Hello ${select('@name')} cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@235: Variable Binding cmlenz@237: ================ cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: .. _`with`: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: ``py:with`` cmlenz@237: ----------- cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: The ``py:with`` directive lets you assign expressions to variables, which can cmlenz@226: be used to make expressions inside the directive less verbose and more cmlenz@226: efficient. For example, if you need use the expression ``author.posts`` more cmlenz@226: than once, and that actually results in a database query, assigning the results cmlenz@226: to a variable using this directive would probably help. cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: For example:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226: $x $y $z cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: Given ``x=42`` in the context data, this would produce:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226: 42 7 52 cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: This directive can also be used as an element:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226: $x $y $z cmlenz@226:
cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: Note that if a variable of the same name already existed outside of the scope cmlenz@226: of the ``py:with`` directive, it will **not** be overwritten. Instead, it cmlenz@226: will have the same value it had prior to the ``py:with`` assignment. cmlenz@230: Effectively, this means that variables are immutable in Genshi. cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@235: Structure Manipulation cmlenz@237: ====================== cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: .. _`py:attrs`: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: ``py:attrs`` cmlenz@237: ------------ cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: This directive adds, modifies or removes attributes from the element:: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: Given ``foo={'class': 'collapse'}`` in the template context, this would cmlenz@235: produce:: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: Attributes with the value ``None`` are omitted, so given ``foo={'class': None}`` cmlenz@235: in the context for the same template this would produce:: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: This directive can only be used as an attribute. cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: .. _`py:content`: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: ``py:content`` cmlenz@237: -------------- cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: This directive replaces any nested content with the result of evaluating the cmlenz@235: expression:: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: Given ``bar='Bye'`` in the context data, this would produce:: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: This directive can only be used as an attribute. cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: .. _`py:replace`: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: ``py:replace`` cmlenz@237: -------------- cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: This directive replaces the element itself with the result of evaluating the cmlenz@235: expression:: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235:
cmlenz@235: Hello cmlenz@235:
cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: Given ``bar='Bye'`` in the context data, this would produce:: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235:
cmlenz@235: Bye cmlenz@235:
cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: This directive can only be used as an attribute. cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: .. _`py:strip`: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: ``py:strip`` cmlenz@237: ------------ cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: This directive conditionally strips the top-level element from the output. When cmlenz@235: the value of the ``py:strip`` attribute evaluates to ``True``, the element is cmlenz@235: stripped from the output:: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235:
cmlenz@235:
foo
cmlenz@235:
cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: This would be rendered as:: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235:
cmlenz@235: foo cmlenz@235:
cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: As a shorthand, if the value of the ``py:strip`` attribute is empty, that has cmlenz@235: the same effect as using a truth value (i.e. the element is stripped). cmlenz@235: cmlenz@235: cmlenz@226: .. _order: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: Processing Order cmlenz@226: ================ cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: It is possible to attach multiple directives to a single element, although not cmlenz@226: all combinations make sense. When multiple directives are encountered, they are cmlenz@226: processed in the following order: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: #. `py:def`_ cmlenz@226: #. `py:match`_ cmlenz@226: #. `py:when`_ cmlenz@226: #. `py:otherwise`_ cmlenz@226: #. `py:for`_ cmlenz@226: #. `py:if`_ cmlenz@226: #. `py:choose`_ cmlenz@226: #. `py:with`_ cmlenz@226: #. `py:replace`_ cmlenz@226: #. `py:content`_ cmlenz@226: #. `py:attrs`_ cmlenz@226: #. `py:strip`_ cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: .. _includes: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: -------- cmlenz@226: Includes cmlenz@226: -------- cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: To reuse common snippets of template code, you can include other files using cmlenz@226: XInclude_. cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: .. _xinclude: http://www.w3.org/TR/xinclude/ cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: For this, you need to declare the XInclude namespace (commonly bound to the cmlenz@226: prefix “xi”) and use the ```` element where you want the external cmlenz@226: file to be pulled in:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: ... cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: Include paths are relative to the filename of the template currently being cmlenz@226: processed. So if the example above was in the file "``myapp/index.html``" cmlenz@226: (relative to the template search path), the XInclude processor would look for cmlenz@226: the included file at "``myapp/base.html``". You can also use Unix-style cmlenz@226: relative paths, for example "``../base.html``" to look in the parent directory. cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: Any content included this way is inserted into the generated output instead of cmlenz@226: the ```` element. The included template sees the same context data. cmlenz@226: `Match templates`_ and `macros`_ in the included template are also available to cmlenz@226: the including template after the point it was included. cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: By default, an error will be raised if an included file is not found. If that's cmlenz@226: not what you want, you can specify fallback content that should be used if the cmlenz@226: include fails. For example, to to make the include above fail silently, you'd cmlenz@273: write:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@273: See the `XInclude specification`_ for more about fallback content. Note though cmlenz@273: that Genshi currently only supports a small subset of XInclude. cmlenz@273: cmlenz@273: .. _`xinclude specification`: http://www.w3.org/TR/xinclude/ cmlenz@226: cmlenz@230: Incudes in Genshi are fully dynamic: Just like normal attributes, the `href` cmlenz@226: attribute accepts expressions_, and directives_ can be used on the cmlenz@226: ```` element just as on any other element, meaning you can do cmlenz@226: things like conditional includes:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: .. _comments: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: -------- cmlenz@226: Comments cmlenz@226: -------- cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: Normal XML/HTML comment syntax can be used in templates:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: However, such comments get passed through the processing pipeline and are by cmlenz@226: default included in the final output. If that's not desired, prefix the comment cmlenz@226: text with an exclamation mark:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: Note that it does not matter whether there's whitespace before or after the cmlenz@226: exclamation mark, so the above could also be written as follows:: cmlenz@226: cmlenz@226: