handlebars-helper-import

A helper for nodejs/Handlebars projects to import template files directly form inside another template. Its like partials that need not be registered.

Use case

I was trying to re-build my portfolio website - sreenaths.com. Nothing complex, just a set of static pages. Intention was to build the HTMLs out of a set of handlebars template files, and host the static file somewhere.

Was looking into partials, and other build tools for the same. But then I started wondering why not have a simple helper to directly import a template inside another. That would remove the registration bit and keep stuffs simple by not using any build tools. I could get my complete page build from a simple js file!

... hence this helper.

Install with npm

npm i handlebars-helper-import --save

Require & Register

// Pass a reference to the handlebars used by you and get the helper function
var handlebars = require('handlebars');
var importHelper = require('handlebars-helper-import')(handlebars);
 
// Register the helper with Handlebars. You can use 'import' or any other name that you are comfortable with.
handlebars.registerHelper('import', importHelper);

Usage

You can register and use handlebars-helper-import from node.js just like other handlebars helpers.

// Assuming CWD to be /tmp
{{import 'templates_dir/file'}} // Will import /tmp/templates_dir/file.(hbs OR handlebars)
{{import 'templates_dir/directory_path'}} // Will import /tmp/templates_dir/directory_path/index.(hbs OR handlebars)
 
// Now inside /tmp/templates_dir/file.hbs you can do the following
    {{import 'sibling_file'}} // To import /tmp/templates_dir/sibling_file.(hbs OR handlebars)
    {{import 'sibling_dir/relative_file'}} // To import /tmp/templates_dir/sibling_dir/relative_file.(hbs OR handlebars)
    {{import 'directory_path'}} // To import /tmp/templates_dir/directory_path/index.(hbs OR handlebars)

• You can nest imports:
  • i.e. you can import templates from inside templates that were imported using import!
  • Take care to not create cyclic imports.
  • Thus your template files can form an acyclic graph or a tree relation, with each file as a node.
• File Paths:
  • For the first (the top most / non-nested) imports the paths must be relative to CWD (Current Working Directory).
  • In nested imports you can use paths relative to its parent template.
  • If you give a directory name as path, the helper would expect an index template file in it.
  • You can always use absolute paths (/ starts from CWD).
• Template file could be of .hbs or .handlebars extension and the helper would automatically detect it without specifying.
• Helper would throw Errors in the following conditions:
  • If path passed is not of type string.
  • If file is not found.
  • If file extension is passed in path and it's not .hsb or .handlebars.
• Please refer the test code for more insight.

Block support

You can use import (Or the name you have registered the helper with) as a block helper.

{{#import 'templates_dir/block'}}DEF{{/import}}

Now in templates_dir/block.hbs use {{import}} without any argument to get the value that's inside the block. In this case 'DEF'. So if templates_dir/block.hbs is as follows. The above above templates will give ABCDEFGHI as output.

ABC{{import}}GHI

{{import}} would work in templates nested (to any level) inside templates_dir/block.

Simple JavaScript code to convert a foo.hbs with all its nested imports into HTML:

// Assuming your script is in /tmp/index.js and foo.hbs in /tmp/templates_dir/ - (CWD = /tmp).
var template = handlebars.compile('{{import "templates_dir/foo"}}'); // Will imports /tmp/templates_dir/foo.(hbs OR handlebars) file
var context = {
  // Key-Values to be used in foo.hbs or inner/nested templates
};
template(context) // Returns you the HTML made from your template foo

Running tests

Install dependencies.

npm test

Contributing

Pull requests and stars are always welcome. For bugs and feature requests, please create an issue.

License

Copyright (c) 2017 Sreenath Somarajapuram

Released under the MIT license