Question

$_smarty_tpl->tpl_vars['Variable']->value

I wonder how smarty accesses objects. smarty_tpl is the object, but what is the property in the code example of a compiled tpl? Is it the array tpl_vars or value or a mixture of both?

In php, I create a smarty object and use it with methods (e.g. assign and display).
In the template itself (file .tpl) i do not use OOP, but a procedural style like in html.

Answer 1

I have tried to make a small example, that will hopefully make this syntax clear to you:

//A class that represents a fruit basket, a collection of fruits. Similar to $smarty, which is a collection of variables (among other things)
class FruitBasket
{
    public $basket = array();

    public function foo() {

    }
}
//A class that represents a fruit. It has some properties, like 'name' and 'color' 
class Fruit
{
    public $name = null;
    public $color = null;

    public function __construct($fruit_name) {
        $this->name = $fruit_name;
    }
}

$fruits = array();  //Make an array that will hold various fruits

$fruit = new Fruit('banana');   //Create a fruit
$fruit->color = 'yellow';       //Assign a value to its 'color' property 
$fruits['banana'] = $fruit;     //Assign the fruit to the 'fruits' array

//Make the same steps for 2 more fruits
$fruit = new Fruit('apple');
$fruit->color = 'red';
$fruits['apple'] = $fruit;

$fruit = new Fruit('pear');
$fruit->color = 'green';
$fruits['pear'] = $fruit;

$fruit_basket = new FruitBasket(); //Create a new fruit basket
$fruit_basket->basket = $fruits; //Assign the $fruits array to its 'basket' property

echo $fruit_basket->basket['banana']->color;    //prints 'yellow'