EndSkin Template Engine for NodeJS and Javascript

NPM Install

npm install endskin

Quick Start

//require the module
var EndSkin = require('endskin');
 
//set the root folder of your view files
EndSkin.setRoot(__dirname+'/test/');
 
//create an endskin instance
var t = EndSkin.create('index.html');
 
//prepare the data to be passed to the view files
var items = [{type:1,name:"aaa"},{name:"bbb"},{name:"ccc"}];
 
//use any of these three methods to pass data
t.assign('items',items);
t.data.items = items;
t.assign({ items: items });
 
//call html() method to get the output
console.log(t.html());
 
//re-use the instance,  re-set data
t.data = {};
 
//re-call html() method to get the output
console.log(t.html());

Express 3.x,4.x Support

var express = require('express');
var app = express();
 
//set the root folder of view files
app.set('views',__dirname+'/view/');
 
//set whether to cache templates, when developing, I suggest do not cache it
//app.enable('view cache');
 
//set endskin the engine for .html files
app.engine('html',require('endskin').__express);
 
app.get('/',function(req,res)
{
    //now use endskin to parse index.html!  the second parameter is the data object
    res.render('index.html',{a:"b"});
});
 
//start express server
app.listen(3000);

Methods

module.setRoot(<String> Root folder path);

module.create(<String> view file name in Root folder);

the create() method returns an endskin instance. You can use this instance many times.

endskin Instance

Properties

<Object> endskin.data
This is the data object used when you call html() method.
You can set this property to any value.

Methods

endskin.assign(<Object>);

	The keys in the object passed to assign() will be copied to endskin.data

	endskin.assign(<String> key, value);

	This method will add a key to the endskin.data

	To pass data to an endskin instance. You can use any of the three ways:

		endskin.data.key = value;
		endskin.assign(key,value);
		endskin.assign({ key: value });

	To clear data and reuse the instance. You can set endskin.data to an empty object.

		endskin.data = {};

endskin.html();

	This method will generate output of the endskin instance.

Syntax in view file

Variables

{$varname}
this will show the data you set to `endskin.data.varname`

{$obj.keyname}  will show  `endskin.data.obj.keyname`

<%=this.data.varname%> will show `endskin.data.varname`

<%=global.varname%> will show `global.varname` ( the nodejs runtime global )

<%=new Date().toString()%> will show the current datetime string

if/else

{if($varname)}
...
{/if}

{if($varname == 1 || $varname <= -1)} ... {/if}

{if($items.length > 0)} ... {else} ... {/if}

{if($price > 100)} ... {elseif($price > 10)} ... {else} ... {/if}

Loops

when: endskin.data.items = [{type:1,name:"aaa"},{name:"bbb"},{name:"ccc"}];

{foreach($items as $item)}
	{$item.name}
{/foreach}

{foreach($items as $i=>$item)}
	{$i}. {$item.name}
{/foreacn}

templates including

{include sub-template.html}
or
<!-- include sub-template.html -->

the file name after "include" is based on the Root folder you set with `EndSkin.setRoot()`

You can include any amount of templates. You can also use include in sub-template.html.

Insert Native Javascript Code Snippets

<%
	var a=1;
	a++;
	var b = this.data.b;
	output.push(a+','+b);
%>

everything in <% %> will be parsed as native code snippets.

to access the data you set in endskin.data, just use this.data

to write output back, just push the string to output array.

for convenience, <%=abc%> will be parsed as <% output.push(abc); %> 

Browser Support

<script src="browser/endskin.js"></script>
<script type="text/template" id="template-name">
    template goes here  {include sub-template-name}
</script> 
<script type="text/template" id="sub-template-name">
    sub
</script> 
<script>
var t = new EndSkin('template-name');
t.assign({a:1,b:2});
document.body.innerHTML = t.html();
</script> 

Tested in IE6+, Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari

Technical Support

Chunlong longbill.cn@gmail.com, http://jszen.com