Learning the template language #

Exponential renders every page, mail and PDF with its own template language, known as eZ TPL: brace tags like Smarty's, with operators and functions for content objects, a fetch API to read data, an override system to choose templates, and a compiler that turns templates into PHP (The template language). Designers and developers both need it. This page gives you a study plan.

Contents #

1. The five constructs to learn first
2. Your first template
3. A reading order
4. Drills
5. Mistakes learners make
6. If you know Smarty

The five constructs to learn first #

Source: Templates and design, part 6. Comments are written {* ... *}. Links use ezurl, written without quotes in an attribute: <a href={$child.url_alias|ezurl}>.

Your first template #

The templates guide gives a small template to try in an override (it lists the children of the current item's parent, ten at most):

<h1>{$node.name|wash}</h1>
{def $siblings = fetch( 'content', 'list', hash( 'parent_node_id', $node.parent_node_id, 'limit', 10 ) )}
<ul>
{foreach $siblings as $sibling}
    <li><a href={$sibling.url_alias|ezurl}>{$sibling.name|wash}</a></li>
{/foreach}
</ul>
{undef $siblings}

Expected: the heading followed by a list of links. Put it in the override of project 3, then explain each line in your study journal.

A reading order #

Start task-oriented, then go deep:

1. Templates overview and TPL syntax basics, the gentle introduction.
2. Templates and design, parts 1 to 6: how a template is found, overrides, syntax checks.
3. What the template language is.
4. Values and literals and Variables in depth.
5. Control structures reference.
6. The object model in templates and Data map and content.
7. Errors and debugging.
8. Template resources and overrides and Template caches.
9. The operator reference as you need it: Template operators.

The trainers' Developers course has a whole module on the language, module 2, with exercises and quizzes.

Drills #

Short exercises, each on your study site, in an override you can remove afterwards:

1. Print the name and the node number of the current item.
2. List the first five children of the item with links. Then show "No items" when there are none.
3. Show the title attribute with attribute_view_gui, then print $node.data_map.title.content and compare.
4. Use {delimiter} to put commas between names in a loop.
5. Put a deliberate error in a template (an unknown operator), check it with php bin/php/eztemplatecheck.php, then read what the engine logs (Errors and debugging).

Mistakes learners make #

If you know Smarty #

Read Smarty and the template language side by side and the differences in depth: no infix arithmetic or comparison, no PHP in templates, no automatic escaping, and overrides instead of inheritance.

Related pages #

• Project 3: a template override
• Learning path: designer
• Learning path: developer
• Free documentation: this page is free to copy, translate and improve under the GNU FDL 1.3.