1 Smarty 3.x

     2 

     3 Author: Monte Ohrt <monte at ohrt dot com >

     4 Author: Uwe Tews

     5 

     6 AN INTRODUCTION TO SMARTY 3

     7 

     8 NOTICE FOR 3.1 release:

     9 

    10 Please see the SMARTY_3.1_NOTES.txt file that comes with the distribution.

    11 

    12 NOTICE for 3.0.5 release:

    13 

    14 Smarty now follows the PHP error_reporting level by default. If PHP does not mask E_NOTICE and you try to access an unset template variable, you will now get an E_NOTICE warning. To revert to the old behavior:

    15 

    16 $smarty->error_reporting = E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE;

    17 

    18 NOTICE for 3.0 release:

    19 

    20 IMPORTANT: Some API adjustments have been made between the RC4 and 3.0 release.

    21 We felt it is better to make these now instead of after a 3.0 release, then have to

    22 immediately deprecate APIs in 3.1. Online documentation has been updated

    23 to reflect these changes. Specifically:

    24 

    25 ---- API CHANGES RC4 -> 3.0 ----

    26 

    27 $smarty->register->*

    28 $smarty->unregister->*

    29 $smarty->utility->*

    30 $samrty->cache->*

    31 

    32 Have all been changed to local method calls such as:

    33 

    34 $smarty->clearAllCache()

    35 $smarty->registerFoo()

    36 $smarty->unregisterFoo()

    37 $smarty->testInstall()

    38 etc.

    39 

    40 Registration of function, block, compiler, and modifier plugins have been

    41 consolidated under two API calls:

    42 

    43 $smarty->registerPlugin(...)

    44 $smarty->unregisterPlugin(...)

    45 

    46 Registration of pre, post, output and variable filters have been

    47 consolidated under two API calls:

    48 

    49 $smarty->registerFilter(...)

    50 $smarty->unregisterFilter(...)

    51 

    52 Please refer to the online documentation for all specific changes:

    53 

    54 http://www.smarty.net/documentation

    55 

    56 ----

    57 

    58 The Smarty 3 API has been refactored to a syntax geared

    59 for consistency and modularity. The Smarty 2 API syntax is still supported, but

    60 will throw a deprecation notice. You can disable the notices, but it is highly

    61 recommended to adjust your syntax to Smarty 3, as the Smarty 2 syntax must run

    62 through an extra rerouting wrapper.

    63 

    64 Basically, all Smarty methods now follow the "fooBarBaz" camel case syntax. Also,

    65 all Smarty properties now have getters and setters. So for example, the property

    66 $smarty->cache_dir can be set with $smarty->setCacheDir('foo/') and can be

    67 retrieved with $smarty->getCacheDir().

    68 

    69 Some of the Smarty 3 APIs have been revoked such as the "is*" methods that were

    70 just duplicate functions of the now available "get*" methods.

    71 

    72 Here is a rundown of the Smarty 3 API:

    73 

    74 $smarty->fetch($template, $cache_id = null, $compile_id = null, $parent = null)

    75 $smarty->display($template, $cache_id = null, $compile_id = null, $parent = null)

    76 $smarty->isCached($template, $cache_id = null, $compile_id = null)

    77 $smarty->createData($parent = null)

    78 $smarty->createTemplate($template, $cache_id = null, $compile_id = null, $parent = null)

    79 $smarty->enableSecurity()

    80 $smarty->disableSecurity()

    81 $smarty->setTemplateDir($template_dir)

    82 $smarty->addTemplateDir($template_dir)

    83 $smarty->templateExists($resource_name)

    84 $smarty->loadPlugin($plugin_name, $check = true)

    85 $smarty->loadFilter($type, $name)

    86 $smarty->setExceptionHandler($handler)

    87 $smarty->addPluginsDir($plugins_dir)

    88 $smarty->getGlobal($varname = null)

    89 $smarty->getRegisteredObject($name)

    90 $smarty->getDebugTemplate()

    91 $smarty->setDebugTemplate($tpl_name)

    92 $smarty->assign($tpl_var, $value = null, $nocache = false)

    93 $smarty->assignGlobal($varname, $value = null, $nocache = false)

    94 $smarty->assignByRef($tpl_var, &$value, $nocache = false)

    95 $smarty->append($tpl_var, $value = null, $merge = false, $nocache = false)

    96 $smarty->appendByRef($tpl_var, &$value, $merge = false)

    97 $smarty->clearAssign($tpl_var)

    98 $smarty->clearAllAssign()

    99 $smarty->configLoad($config_file, $sections = null)

   100 $smarty->getVariable($variable, $_ptr = null, $search_parents = true, $error_enable = true)

   101 $smarty->getConfigVariable($variable)

   102 $smarty->getStreamVariable($variable)

   103 $smarty->getConfigVars($varname = null)

   104 $smarty->clearConfig($varname = null)

   105 $smarty->getTemplateVars($varname = null, $_ptr = null, $search_parents = true)

   106 $smarty->clearAllCache($exp_time = null, $type = null)

   107 $smarty->clearCache($template_name, $cache_id = null, $compile_id = null, $exp_time = null, $type = null)

   108 

   109 $smarty->registerPlugin($type, $tag, $callback, $cacheable = true, $cache_attr = array())

   110 

   111 $smarty->registerObject($object_name, $object_impl, $allowed = array(), $smarty_args = true, $block_methods = array())

   112 

   113 $smarty->registerFilter($type, $function_name)

   114 $smarty->registerResource($resource_type, $function_names)

   115 $smarty->registerDefaultPluginHandler($function_name)

   116 $smarty->registerDefaultTemplateHandler($function_name)

   117 

   118 $smarty->unregisterPlugin($type, $tag)

   119 $smarty->unregisterObject($object_name)

   120 $smarty->unregisterFilter($type, $function_name)

   121 $smarty->unregisterResource($resource_type)

   122 

   123 $smarty->compileAllTemplates($extension = '.tpl', $force_compile = false, $time_limit = 0, $max_errors = null)

   124 $smarty->clearCompiledTemplate($resource_name = null, $compile_id = null, $exp_time = null)

   125 $smarty->testInstall()

   126 

   127 // then all the getters/setters, available for all properties. Here are a few:

   128 

   129 $caching = $smarty->getCaching();      // get $smarty->caching

   130 $smarty->setCaching(true);             // set $smarty->caching

   131 $smarty->setDeprecationNotices(false); // set $smarty->deprecation_notices

   132 $smarty->setCacheId($id);              // set $smarty->cache_id

   133 $debugging = $smarty->getDebugging();  // get $smarty->debugging

   134 

   135 

   136 FILE STRUCTURE

   137 

   138 The Smarty 3 file structure is similar to Smarty 2:

   139 

   140 /libs/

   141   Smarty.class.php

   142 /libs/sysplugins/

   143   internal.*

   144 /libs/plugins/

   145   function.mailto.php

   146   modifier.escape.php

   147   ...

   148 

   149 A lot of Smarty 3 core functionality lies in the sysplugins directory; you do

   150 not need to change any files here. The /libs/plugins/ folder is where Smarty

   151 plugins are located. You can add your own here, or create a separate plugin

   152 directory, just the same as Smarty 2. You will still need to create your own

   153 /cache/, /templates/, /templates_c/, /configs/ folders. Be sure /cache/ and

   154 /templates_c/ are writable.

   155 

   156 The typical way to use Smarty 3 should also look familiar:

   157 

   158 require('Smarty.class.php');

   159 $smarty = new Smarty;

   160 $smarty->assign('foo','bar');

   161 $smarty->display('index.tpl');

   162 

   163 

   164 However, Smarty 3 works completely different on the inside. Smarty 3 is mostly

   165 backward compatible with Smarty 2, except for the following items:

   166 

   167 *) Smarty 3 is PHP 5 only. It will not work with PHP 4.

   168 *) The {php} tag is disabled by default. Enable with $smarty->allow_php_tag=true.

   169 *) Delimiters surrounded by whitespace are no longer treated as Smarty tags.

   170    Therefore, { foo } will not compile as a tag, you must use {foo}. This change

   171    Makes Javascript/CSS easier to work with, eliminating the need for {literal}.

   172    This can be disabled by setting $smarty->auto_literal = false;

   173 *) The Smarty 3 API is a bit different. Many Smarty 2 API calls are deprecated

   174    but still work. You will want to update your calls to Smarty 3 for maximum

   175    efficiency.

   176 

   177 

   178 There are many things that are new to Smarty 3. Here are the notable items:

   179    

   180 LEXER/PARSER

   181 ============

   182 

   183 Smarty 3 now uses a lexing tokenizer for its parser/compiler. Basically, this

   184 means Smarty has some syntax additions that make life easier such as in-template

   185 math, shorter/intuitive function parameter options, infinite function recursion,

   186 more accurate error handling, etc.

   187 

   188 

   189 WHAT IS NEW IN SMARTY TEMPLATE SYNTAX

   190 =====================================

   191 

   192 Smarty 3 allows expressions almost anywhere. Expressions can include PHP

   193 functions as long as they are not disabled by the security policy, object

   194 methods and properties, etc. The {math} plugin is no longer necessary but

   195 is still supported for BC.

   196 

   197 Examples:

   198 {$x+$y}                           will output the sum of x and y.

   199 {$foo = strlen($bar)}             function in assignment

   200 {assign var=foo value= $x+$y}     in attributes 

   201 {$foo = myfunct( ($x+$y)*3 )}     as function parameter 

   202 {$foo[$x+3]}                      as array index

   203 

   204 Smarty tags can be used as values within other tags.

   205 Example:  {$foo={counter}+3}

   206 

   207 Smarty tags can also be used inside double quoted strings.

   208 Example:  {$foo="this is message {counter}"}

   209 

   210 You can define arrays within templates.

   211 Examples:

   212 {assign var=foo value=[1,2,3]}

   213 {assign var=foo value=['y'=>'yellow','b'=>'blue']}

   214 Arrays can be nested.

   215 {assign var=foo value=[1,[9,8],3]}

   216 

   217 There is a new short syntax supported for assigning variables.

   218 Example: {$foo=$bar+2}

   219 

   220 You can assign a value to a specific array element. If the variable exists but

   221 is not an array, it is converted to an array before the new values are assigned.

   222 Examples:

   223 {$foo['bar']=1}

   224 {$foo['bar']['blar']=1}

   225 

   226 You can append values to an array. If the variable exists but is not an array,

   227 it is converted to an array before the new values are assigned.

   228 Example: {$foo[]=1}

   229 

   230 You can use a PHP-like syntax for accessing array elements, as well as the

   231 original "dot" notation.

   232 Examples:

   233 {$foo[1]}             normal access

   234 {$foo['bar']}

   235 {$foo['bar'][1]}

   236 {$foo[$x+$x]}         index may contain any expression

   237 {$foo[$bar[1]]}       nested index

   238 {$foo[section_name]}  smarty section access, not array access!

   239 

   240 The original "dot" notation stays, and with improvements.

   241 Examples:

   242 {$foo.a.b.c}        =>  $foo['a']['b']['c'] 

   243 {$foo.a.$b.c}       =>  $foo['a'][$b]['c']        with variable index

   244 {$foo.a.{$b+4}.c}   =>  $foo['a'][$b+4]['c']       with expression as index

   245 {$foo.a.{$b.c}}     =>  $foo['a'][$b['c']]         with nested index

   246 

   247 note that { and } are used to address ambiguties when nesting the dot syntax. 

   248 

   249 Variable names themselves can be variable and contain expressions.

   250 Examples:

   251 $foo         normal variable

   252 $foo_{$bar}  variable name containing other variable 

   253 $foo_{$x+$y} variable name containing expressions 

   254 $foo_{$bar}_buh_{$blar}  variable name with multiple segments

   255 {$foo_{$x}}  will output the variable $foo_1 if $x has a value of 1.

   256 

   257 Object method chaining is implemented.

   258 Example: {$object->method1($x)->method2($y)}

   259 

   260 {for} tag added for looping (replacement for {section} tag):

   261 {for $x=0, $y=count($foo); $x<$y; $x++}  ....  {/for}

   262 Any number of statements can be used separated by comma as the first

   263 inital expression at {for}.

   264 

   265 {for $x = $start to $end step $step} ... {/for}is in the SVN now .

   266 You can use also

   267 {for $x = $start to $end} ... {/for}

   268 In this case the step value will be automaticall 1 or -1 depending on the start and end values.

   269 Instead of $start and $end you can use any valid expression.

   270 Inside the loop the following special vars can be accessed:

   271 $x@iteration = number of iteration

   272 $x@total = total number of iterations

   273 $x@first = true on first iteration

   274 $x@last = true on last iteration

   275 

   276 

   277 The Smarty 2 {section} syntax is still supported.

   278 

   279 New shorter {foreach} syntax to loop over an array.

   280 Example: {foreach $myarray as $var}...{/foreach}

   281 

   282 Within the foreach loop, properties are access via:

   283 

   284 $var@key            foreach $var array key

   285 $var@iteration      foreach current iteration count (1,2,3...)

   286 $var@index          foreach current index count (0,1,2...)

   287 $var@total          foreach $var array total

   288 $var@first          true on first iteration

   289 $var@last           true on last iteration

   290 

   291 The Smarty 2 {foreach} tag syntax is still supported.

   292 

   293 NOTE: {$bar[foo]} still indicates a variable inside of a {section} named foo. 

   294 If you want to access an array element with index foo, you must use quotes

   295 such as {$bar['foo']}, or use the dot syntax {$bar.foo}.

   296 

   297 while block tag is now implemented:

   298 {while $foo}...{/while}

   299 {while $x lt 10}...{/while}

   300 

   301 Direct access to PHP functions:

   302 Just as you can use PHP functions as modifiers directly, you can now access

   303 PHP functions directly, provided they are permitted by security settings:

   304 {time()}

   305 

   306 There is a new {function}...{/function} block tag to implement a template function.

   307 This enables reuse of code sequences like a plugin function. It can call itself recursively.

   308 Template function must be called with the new {call name=foo...} tag.

   309 

   310 Example:

   311 

   312 Template file:

   313 {function name=menu level=0}

   314   <ul class="level{$level}">

   315   {foreach $data as $entry}

   316     {if is_array($entry)}

   317       <li>{$entry@key}</li>

   318        {call name=menu data=$entry level=$level+1}

   319     {else}

   320       <li>{$entry}</li>

   321     {/if}

   322   {/foreach}

   323   </ul>

   324 {/function}

   325 

   326 {$menu = ['item1','item2','item3' => ['item3-1','item3-2','item3-3' =>

   327   ['item3-3-1','item3-3-2']],'item4']}

   328 

   329 {call name=menu data=$menu}

   330 

   331 

   332 Generated output:

   333     * item1

   334     * item2

   335     * item3

   336           o item3-1

   337           o item3-2

   338           o item3-3

   339                 + item3-3-1

   340                 + item3-3-2

   341     * item4

   342 

   343 The function tag itself must have the "name" attribute. This name is the tag

   344 name when calling the function. The function tag may have any number of

   345 additional attributes. These will be default settings for local variables.

   346 

   347 New {nocache} block function:

   348 {nocache}...{/nocache} will declare a section of the template to be non-cached

   349 when template caching is enabled.

   350 

   351 New nocache attribute:

   352 You can declare variable/function output as non-cached with the nocache attribute.

   353 Examples:

   354 

   355 {$foo nocache=true}

   356 {$foo nocache} /* same */

   357 

   358 {foo bar="baz" nocache=true}

   359 {foo bar="baz" nocache} /* same */

   360 

   361 {time() nocache=true}

   362 {time() nocache} /* same */

   363 

   364 Or you can also assign the variable in your script as nocache:

   365 $smarty->assign('foo',$something,true); // third param is nocache setting

   366 {$foo} /* non-cached */

   367 

   368 $smarty.current_dir returns the directory name of the current template.

   369 

   370 You can use strings directly as templates with the "string" resource type.

   371 Examples:

   372 $smarty->display('string:This is my template, {$foo}!'); // php

   373 {include file="string:This is my template, {$foo}!"} // template

   374 

   375 

   376 

   377 VARIABLE SCOPE / VARIABLE STORAGE

   378 =================================

   379 

   380 In Smarty 2, all assigned variables were stored within the Smarty object. 

   381 Therefore, all variables assigned in PHP were accessible by all subsequent 

   382 fetch and display template calls.

   383 

   384 In Smarty 3, we have the choice to assign variables to the main Smarty object, 

   385 to user-created data objects, and to user-created template objects. 

   386 These objects can be chained. The object at the end of a chain can access all

   387 variables belonging to that template and all variables within the parent objects.

   388 The Smarty object can only be the root of a chain, but a chain can be isolated

   389 from the Smarty object.

   390 

   391 All known Smarty assignment interfaces will work on the data and template objects.

   392 

   393 Besides the above mentioned objects, there is also a special storage area for

   394 global variables.

   395 

   396 A Smarty data object can be created as follows:

   397 $data = $smarty->createData();    // create root data object

   398 $data->assign('foo','bar');       // assign variables as usual

   399 $data->config_load('my.conf');									 // load config file    

   400 

   401 $data= $smarty->createData($smarty);  // create data object having a parent link to

   402 the Smarty object

   403 

   404 $data2= $smarty->createData($data);   // create data object having a parent link to

   405 the $data data object

   406 

   407 A template object can be created by using the createTemplate method. It has the

   408 same parameter assignments as the fetch() or display() method.

   409 Function definition:

   410 function createTemplate($template, $cache_id = null, $compile_id = null, $parent = null)

   411 

   412 The first parameter can be a template name, a smarty object or a data object.

   413 

   414 Examples:

   415 $tpl = $smarty->createTemplate('mytpl.tpl'); // create template object not linked to any parent

   416 $tpl->assign('foo','bar');                   // directly assign variables

   417 $tpl->config_load('my.conf');									 // load config file    

   418 

   419 $tpl = $smarty->createTemplate('mytpl.tpl',$smarty);  // create template having a parent link to the Smarty object

   420 $tpl = $smarty->createTemplate('mytpl.tpl',$data);    // create template having a parent link to the $data object

   421 

   422 The standard fetch() and display() methods will implicitly create a template object.

   423 If the $parent parameter is not specified in these method calls, the template object

   424 is will link back to the Smarty object as it's parent.

   425 

   426 If a template is called by an {include...} tag from another template, the

   427 subtemplate links back to the calling template as it's parent. 

   428 

   429 All variables assigned locally or from a parent template are accessible. If the

   430 template creates or modifies a variable by using the {assign var=foo...} or

   431 {$foo=...} tags, these new values are only known locally (local scope). When the

   432 template exits, none of the new variables or modifications can be seen in the

   433 parent template(s). This is same behavior as in Smarty 2. 

   434 

   435 With Smarty 3, we can assign variables with a scope attribute which allows the

   436 availablility of these new variables or modifications globally (ie in the parent

   437 templates.)

   438 

   439 Possible scopes are local, parent, root and global. 

   440 Examples:

   441 {assign var=foo value='bar'}       // no scope is specified, the default 'local'

   442 {$foo='bar'}                       // same, local scope

   443 {assign var=foo value='bar' scope='local'} // same, local scope

   444 

   445 {assign var=foo value='bar' scope='parent'} // Values will be available to the parent object 

   446 {$foo='bar' scope='parent'}                 // (normally the calling template)

   447 

   448 {assign var=foo value='bar' scope='root'}   // Values will be exported up to the root object, so they can 

   449 {$foo='bar' scope='root'}                   // be seen from all templates using the same root.

   450 

   451 {assign var=foo value='bar' scope='global'} // Values will be exported to global variable storage, 

   452 {$foo='bar' scope='global'}                 // they are available to any and all templates.

   453 

   454 

   455 The scope attribute can also be attached to the {include...} tag. In this case,

   456 the specified scope will be the default scope for all assignments within the

   457 included template.

   458 

   459 

   460 PLUGINS

   461 =======

   462 

   463 Smarty3 are following the same coding rules as in Smarty2. 

   464 The only difference is that the template object is passed as additional third parameter.

   465 

   466 smarty_plugintype_name (array $params, object $smarty, object $template)

   467 

   468 The Smarty 2 plugins are still compatible as long as they do not make use of specific Smarty2 internals.

   469 

   470 

   471 TEMPLATE INHERITANCE:

   472 =====================

   473 

   474 With template inheritance you can define blocks, which are areas that can be

   475 overriden by child templates, so your templates could look like this: 

   476 

   477 parent.tpl:

   478 <html>

   479   <head>

   480     <title>{block name='title'}My site name{/block}</title>

   481   </head>

   482   <body>

   483     <h1>{block name='page-title'}Default page title{/block}</h1>

   484     <div id="content">

   485       {block name='content'}

   486         Default content

   487       {/block}

   488     </div>

   489   </body>

   490 </html>

   491 

   492 child.tpl:

   493 {extends file='parent.tpl'} 

   494 {block name='title'}

   495 Child title

   496 {/block}

   497 

   498 grandchild.tpl:

   499 {extends file='child.tpl'} 

   500 {block name='title'}Home - {$smarty.block.parent}{/block} 

   501 {block name='page-title'}My home{/block}

   502 {block name='content'}

   503   {foreach $images as $img}

   504     <img src="{$img.url}" alt="{$img.description}" />

   505   {/foreach}

   506 {/block}

   507 

   508 We redefined all the blocks here, however in the title block we used {$smarty.block.parent},

   509 which tells Smarty to insert the default content from the parent template in its place.

   510 The content block was overriden to display the image files, and page-title has also be 

   511 overriden to display a completely different title. 

   512 

   513 If we render grandchild.tpl we will get this: 

   514 <html>

   515   <head>

   516     <title>Home - Child title</title>

   517   </head>

   518   <body>

   519     <h1>My home</h1>

   520     <div id="content">

   521       <img src="/example.jpg" alt="image" />

   522       <img src="/example2.jpg" alt="image" />

   523       <img src="/example3.jpg" alt="image" />

   524     </div>

   525   </body>

   526 </html>

   527 

   528 NOTE: In the child templates everything outside the {extends} or {block} tag sections

   529 is ignored.

   530 

   531 The inheritance tree can be as big as you want (meaning you can extend a file that 

   532 extends another one that extends another one and so on..), but be aware that all files 

   533 have to be checked for modifications at runtime so the more inheritance the more overhead you add.

   534 

   535 Instead of defining the parent/child relationships with the {extends} tag in the child template you

   536 can use the resource as follow:

   537 

   538 $smarty->display('extends:parent.tpl|child.tpl|grandchild.tpl');

   539 

   540 Child {block} tags may optionally have a append or prepend attribute. In this case the parent block content 

   541 is appended or prepended to the child block content.

   542 

   543 {block name='title' append} My title {/block}

   544 

   545 

   546 PHP STREAMS:

   547 ============

   548 

   549 (see online documentation)

   550 

   551 VARIBLE FILTERS:

   552 ================

   553 

   554 (see online documentation)

   555 

   556 

   557 STATIC CLASS ACCESS AND NAMESPACE SUPPORT

   558 =========================================

   559 

   560 You can register a class with optional namespace for the use in the template like:

   561 

   562 $smarty->register->templateClass('foo','name\name2\myclass');

   563 

   564 In the template you can use it like this:

   565 {foo::method()}  etc.

   566 

   567 

   568 =======================

   569 

   570 Please look through it and send any questions/suggestions/etc to the forums.

   571 

   572 http://www.phpinsider.com/smarty-forum/viewtopic.php?t=14168

   573 

   574 Monte and Uwe