Question

I’m writing a simple templating layer in PHP but I’ve got myself a little stuck. Here’s how it works at the moment:

Firstly I use fetch_template to load the template contents from the database – this works (and I collect all the templates at startup if you’re interested).

I use PHP variables in my template code and in the logic – e.g.:

// PHP: $name = 'Ross';  // Tpl: <p>Hello, my name is $name.</p> 

I then use output_template (below) to parse through the variables in the template and replace them. Previously I was using template tags with a glorified str_replace template class but it was too inefficient.

/**  * Returns a template after evaluating it  * @param   string  $template   Template contents  * @return  string  Template output  */ function output_template($template) {     eval('return '' . $template . '';'); } 

My problem, if you haven’t already guessed, is that the variables are not declared inside the function – therefore the function can’t parse them in $template unless I put them in the global scope – which I’m not sure I want to do. That or have an array of variables as a parameter in the function (which sounds even more tedious but possible).

Does anyone have any solutions other than using the code from the function (it is only a one-liner) in my code, rather than using the function?

Thanks, Ross

P.s. I know about Smarty and the vast range of templating engines out there – I’m not looking to use them so please don’t suggest them. Thanks!

Answer 1

Rather than run through your loop you can use include($template_name).

Or, if you want the content of the output from the template, you can do something like this:

$template_name = 'template.php';  // import the contents into this template ob_start(); include($template_name); $content = ob_get_clean();  // do something with $content now ... 

And remember, in your template, you can use the often overlooked PHP syntax:

<?php if ($a == 5): ?> A is equal to 5 <?php endif; ?> 

Alternative syntax is available for if, while, for, foreach and switch … perfect for manipulating the data in your template. See ‘Alternative syntax for control structures‘ for more details.