vmplate

Simple templates for node programs.

vmplate templates depend on the vm module to create a reusable template context. They're great for command-line programs or templating files, but they don't do any escaping and they won't work in the browser, so they're a bad choice for HTML.

Install

$ npm install vmplate

Usage

var vmplate = require('vmplate');
 
var render = vmplate('hello <%= name %>!')
 
console.log(render({ name: 'world' })); // hello world!

vmplate(string[, locals[, filename]])

Compiles a new vmplate function for string.

If you pass in a locals hash, this will be used as the render function's locals hash. Otherwise, it's an empty hash that you can modify after the fact.

var render = vmplate('hello <%= name %>!', { name: 'world' });
 
console.log(render()); // hello world!
console.log(render({ name: 'beer' })); // hello beer!
 
render.locals.name = 'nasty';
 
console.log(render()); // hello nasty!

If you provide a filename, it will be used as the filename of the vm script and only really shows up in error messages.

templating

vmplate uses ejs-style delimiters, but there are only two supported operations.

<%= foo %> (note the =) will add the value of foo to the buffer. The program will throw if foo is not defined.

<% var foo = "bar"; %> will evaluate the expression but will not add it to the buffer. This makes any expression that's also valid javascript usable in your template.

For example, here's how to iterate over an array:

var render = subject('<% for(var i = 0; i < arr.length; i++){ %><%= arr[i] %><% } %>');
 
console.log(render({ arr: [1, 2, 3] })); // 123

The program will throw if there is a syntax error in your javascript.

vmplate.locals → render.locals → locals

There are four ways to provide locals to your vmplate:

The locals hash on vmplate itself:

var vmplate = require('vmplate');
var render = vmplate('<%= foo %>');
 
vmplate.locals.foo = 'yay';
 
console.log(render()); // yay

The locals hash on the vmplate instance:

var render = vmplate('<%= foo %>');
 
render.locals.foo = 'yay';
 
console.log(render()); // yay

The locals hash passed to the vmplate factory:

var render = vmplate('<%= foo %>', { foo: 'yay' });
 
console.log(render()); // yay

Or the locals hash passed to the render function:

var render = vmplate('<%= foo %>');
 
console.log(render({ foo: 'yay' })); // yay

Render locals inherit from instance locals, which in turn inherit from the vmplate factory locals.

License

ISC License