This gist was updated based on the discussion here : https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/yui-contrib/cUpVvtoUBa8
With the ability to precompile templates into javascript and the abtraction layer provided by Y.Template to normalize the api to render those templates, we got one step closer to create applications that can be template language agnostic.
The premise here is to create a YUI Application that references templates by name and call for render when needed without having to know what engine to use, or what file generated the compiled template, or what api should be used for a particular template.
In order to facilitate this, we should have a centralized registration mechanism used by the application to register any template that is provisioned, in which case we can decouple the provisioning process from the actual rendering process.
The initial proposal is to utilize Y.Template
as the central hub for all those templates, and doing so by introducing three new static methods, register
, unregister
and render
.
To register
a compiled template:
var revivedTemplate = Y.Template.register('templateName', template);
note: the revivedTemplate
is probably the same as argument template
, but just a guarantee that the function complies with the revive
API in Y.Template
.
note: the register method override any existing template with the same name. this will help with live updates in development mode.
To unregister
a template by name:
var wasRegisteredBool = Y.Template.unregister('templateName');
which returns a boolean in case you want to know if the template was previously registered.
To render
a registered template:
var html = Y.Template.render('templateName', data);
var revivedTemplate = Y.Template.register('name', function (data) {
return 'some string';
});
var someString = revivedTemplate({foo: 'foo'});
The means the function passed to register()
should be a function which conforms to the above contract. It is up to the thing which precompiles it to encapsulate or close-over any underly template engine specifics.
var someString = Y.Template.render('name', {foo: 'foo'});
var wasRegisteredBool = Y.Template.unregister('name');
A good example of this will be a nodejs application that uses YUI on the server side to precompile templates generating YUI Modules that can be use
on-demand or required
by our business logic, where those modules can do the provision of templates into the internal register, which guarantees that our business logic can render them. Some code:
Pre-compiled template into a module:
YUI.add('foo', function (Y, NAME) {
var compiled = function (data) {
/* compiled template */
return '<html fragment>';
};
Y.Template.register('foo', compiled);
}, '', {requires: ['template-base']});
Where the business logic can require foo
to guarantee the provision:
YUI.add('bar', function (Y, NAME) {
var html = Y.Template.render('foo', {
tagline: 'bar is now template language agnostic'
});
}, '', {requires: ['foo']});
- The internal cache mechanism should not be expensive
Y.Template._cache = {};
as the cache mechanism should be just fine.- Throwing when unregistered template is invoked
Y.Template.render
vsY.Template.prototype.render
might be confused, we need to clearly state this in the docs.- The nature of the
render
method is syncrounous, hence any register template should be syncronous.
In my mind,
Y.Template
is not different fromView
constructor in express (akaapp.set('view')
), this thing defines a simple API for view engines to follow, but doesn't enforce too many things, it just have two rules:name
andoptions
will be provided as constructor arguments.path
member andrender()
method that receivedata
and acallback
function.that's about it, nothing fancy, but the trick here is what @tivac just mentioned, if you have an engine that is too crazy to fit into that, just create a function that takes care of that normalization. In the context of
Y.Template
that's precisely what the revive process should do. E.g:and that is probably more efficient that brining the cavalry to normalize that compiled template, which is another option:
These are equivalent, since you will do:
It doesn't matter much how the template was provisioned, but obviously having the ability to rely on the build process to produce a YUI module that does not require you to load any particular
engine
when in the runtime, is going to be a big plus for many, while therevive
workflow, just like therender
workflow is still on the table for those who don't mind to load those engines.