kex docs Standard Library

Template

module Template

An ERB-shaped template scanner: template text in, a template AST out.

Opt-in: nothing here is in scope until using Template.

This is the scanning stage only (see the Template proposal for the fuller design): it turns template source into a flat list of +Node+s: plain text, and the four kinds of <% %> region, plus whatever frontmatter tags sit ahead of the body. It does not evaluate anything and does not know Kex syntax; the text inside a hole is kept as-is, for a later stage to parse and lower into real Kex.

using Template

let source = "---\nlayout: page\nparams: [name, library: Bool]\n---\nHi <%= name %>!"
let parsed = Template.scan(source).try
parsed.frontmatter.get("layout")   # => Just(Scalar("page"))
parsed.parameters                  # => [TemplateParam { name: "name", type: "" },
                                    #     TemplateParam { name: "library", type: "Bool" }]
parsed.nodes                       # => [Text("Hi "), Interpolate("name"), Text("!")]

A template file carries its host's extension ahead of .ket, so an editor can highlight it as what it is — README.md.ket, profile.html.ket:

---
params: [name, library: Bool, dependencies: [Dependency]]
---
# <%= name %>

<% if library %>
A Kex library.
<% else %>
A Kex application.
<% end %>

<% dependencies.map do |dep| %>
- `<%= dep.name %>` ~> <%= dep.version %>
<% end %>

## Syntax

<%= expr %>     interpolate (escaping is a later stage's job)
<%== expr %>    interpolate raw, no escaping
<% ... %>       a Kex control region: `if`/`match` arms, block bodies, `let`
<%# ... %>      comment, emits nothing
<%- ... -%>     whitespace control: trims the line's leading indent before
                the tag, and the newline right after it. A `<% %>` or
                `<%# %>` tag standing alone on its line does this on its
                own, so the markers are for a tag sharing its line with
                real content
<%%             a literal `<%`, for a template that generates ERB-shaped
                output itself

## Whitespace

A tag that emits nothing — <% %> and <%# %> — and stands alone on its line takes that line with it. Only whitespace may share the line with it: the indent before it and the newline after it are scaffolding, never content, so a template reads the way its output does:

<% if dependencies.count > 0 %>
## Dependencies
<% end %>

# => "## Dependencies\n"   — no blank line where the tags were

The <%- -%> markers are for the case this does not cover: a tag sharing its line with real content, where what to trim is a judgement call rather than obvious.

Total: <%= total %> <%- if pending > 0 %>(<%= pending %> pending)<% end %>

An interpolation is never trimmed, on its own line or not. It stands in for content, so the whitespace around it is content too:

<%= greeting %>
<%= name %>

# => "Hi\nAda\n"          — both newlines survive

## Frontmatter

A template file may open with a --- line, generic key: value tags up to a closing --- line, and then the body. This is metadata for whatever reads the template (a title, a layout name, a list of tags) and there is nothing template-specific about it: it is scanned the same generic way whatever key is used.

---
title: Release notes
tags: [changelog, public]
---
# <%= title %>

A template's parameters, when a later stage needs them declared rather than inferred, are just another frontmatter key: conventionally params, a list of names each with an optional : Type:

---
params: [name, library: Bool, dependencies: [Dependency]]
---
# <%= name %>

Nothing in the scanner treats params specially while scanning: it is metadata like any other key, a [a, b, c] list same as tags above. Parsed#parameters is a convenience reader for it: it splits each entry on its first colon into a TemplateParam { name, type } (type is "" for a bare name), so a caller does not need to know the key name, match on Tag itself, or split each entry by hand. type is raw text, same as everywhere else in this module: turning [Dependency] into a real, resolved Kex type is later work, not this module's.

scan

scan(source: String) -> Result<Parsed, TemplateError>

Scans template source into a Parsed template, or says where it broke.

Parameters
source
the template file's full text

Returns the scanned template, or why not

Examples
Template.scan("Hi <%= name %>!").map(~nodes)
# => Ok([Text("Hi "), Interpolate("name"), Text("!")])

A control tag on a line of its own leaves no blank line behind

Template.scan("<% if admin %>\nWelcome back.\n<% end %>\n").try.nodes
# => [Control("if admin"), Text("Welcome back.\n"), Control("end")]

Where the template broke, as a position in the source

Template.scan("Hi <%= name")
# => Error(UnterminatedTag(6))

escapeHtml

escapeHtml(text: String) -> String

Escapes &, <, >, double quotes and single quotes for HTML text and quoted attribute values. Template.html escapes <%= %> holes this way; <%== %> inserts text without escaping. This does not validate URLs or escape JavaScript or CSS.

Parameters
text
the text to escape

Returns the same text, HTML-safe

Examples
Template.escapeHtml("<b>Tom & Jerry</b>")
# => "&lt;b&gt;Tom &amp; Jerry&lt;/b&gt;"

renderParsed

renderParsed(parsed: Parsed, context: {String: String}) -> Result<String, TemplateError>

Fills an already-scanned template from a runtime context map.

<%= %> inserts HTML-escaped text and <%== %> inserts raw text. Runtime rendering supports substitutions only: a <% ... %> control region returns UnsupportedControl. Use Template.html or Template.text for templates with Kex control flow that are known at compile time.

Hole names are trimmed and looked up as complete keys. A hole written <%= dep.name %> reads the "dep.name" key, rather than a field of a value stored under "dep".

Parameters
parsed
a template already scanned by Template.scan
context
a value for every <%= %>/<%== %> hole the template uses, keyed by the hole's exact (trimmed) text

Returns the rendered text, or why not

Examples
let parsed = Template.scan("Hi <%= name %>!").try
Template.renderParsed(parsed, { "name": "<Ada>" })
# => Ok("Hi &lt;Ada&gt;!")

A hole context does not cover

Template.renderParsed(Template.scan("<%= missing %>").try, {})
# => Error(UndefinedVariable("missing"))

Control flow is refused, not silently skipped

Template.renderParsed(Template.scan("<% if x %>y<% end %>").try, {})
# => Error(UnsupportedControl("if x"))

render

render(source: String, context: {String: String}) -> Result<String, TemplateError>

Template.scan(source).try then renderParsed — see its doc comment for what this does and, as importantly, what it refuses to do.

Parameters
source
the template's full text, scanned fresh
context
see renderParsed

Returns the rendered text, or why not

Examples
Template.render("Hi <%= name %>!", { "name": "Ada" })
# => Ok("Hi Ada!")

type Node

One piece of a scanned template.

Hole and control content is carried as raw text: the Kex source that was between the delimiters, trimmed of surrounding whitespace. Turning that text into real, type-checked Kex expressions is later work; a Node only records what KIND of region it is and what text it held.

Variants

  • Text(String)
  • Interpolate(String)
  • InterpolateRaw(String)
  • Control(String)
  • Comment(String)

type Tag

A frontmatter value: a plain scalar, or a [a, b, c] list.

Variants

  • Scalar(String)
  • Tags([String])

type TemplateError

Why a template's text could not be scanned or rendered, and where (or, for render/renderParsed, what stopped it).

Variants

  • UnterminatedTag(Integer)
  • UnterminatedFrontmatter
  • MalformedFrontmatterLine(String)
  • UndefinedVariable(String)
  • UnsupportedControl(String)

record TemplateParam

One entry from a params: [...] frontmatter list: a name, and its optional : Type annotation. type is raw text: "" for a bare name, never a resolved Kex type: the same way a frontmatter Tag is text and not a parsed value.

Fields

name
String
type
String

record TagScan

One scanned <% ... %> region: its node, and the whitespace trims its delimiters asked for. It is internal to scanning, not part of the public API, but declared at module scope rather than inside private do. Nested there, this record's fields lose their names under BEAM codegen and the value round-trips as an untagged tuple (Undefined method: leftTrim for Tuple), even though the same code is fine on the tree-walking interpreter.

Fields

node
Node
leftTrim
Bool
rightTrim
Bool

record Parsed

A scanned template: its frontmatter tags, and its body as a node list.

Fields

frontmatter
{String: Tag}
nodes
[Node]

Functions

parameters

parameters : [TemplateParam]

The template's declared parameters, out of a params: [...] frontmatter key: [] when the template declares none, or when params holds a bare scalar rather than a list.

Returns the declared parameters, in the order written

Examples
parsed.parameters
# => [TemplateParam { name: "name", type: "" }, TemplateParam { name: "library", type: "Bool" }]