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[HOW TO - vB4] Rendering templates and registering variables - a short guide
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cellarius
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cellarius cellarius is offline 11-15-2009, 10:00 PM
Introduction

Starting with vB4, templates no longer get output using eval:
PHP Code:
eval('$mytemplate = "' . fetch_template('mytemplate') . '";'); 
is outdated.
What's more: Variables and arrays from plugins that are executed on a page no longer can automatically be accessed in the templates of that page. They need to be registered first.
.
 Basic functionality to render templates and register all variables/arrays you want to use inside

PHP Code:
/* Some Code, setting variables, (multidimensional) array */
$my_var = "abc";
$my_array = array(
        'key1' => 'value1',
        'key2' => array(' 
                'key21' => 'value21',
                'key22' => 'value22'
        ')
    );

/* render template and register variables */
$templater = vB_Template::create('mytemplate');
    $templater->register('my_var', $my_var);
    $templater->register('my_array', $my_array);
$templater->render(); 
  • The first line provides the template that is to be rendered, using the new vB_Template class (vB_Template::create). The method gets passed the name of the template as an argument.
  • The following two lines register a variable and an array that we want to use in our template. Arguments passed are 1. the name you want to use to access the variable, and 2. the variable from the code you want to register. You can register as many variables/arrays as you want. Just remember you have to register every variable and array that you want to use in your custom template in this way. If you don't register them, they will not be available.
  • The fourth line renders the template ($templater->render()).
In the template you know will be able to use the registered variables/arrays in this way:
HTML Code:
{vb:raw my_var}
{vb:raw my_array.key1}
{vb:raw my_array.key2.key21}
Note the last one: multidimensional arrays are perfectly possible.
.
.
.
Now, with the result of the rendering we can do several things:
.
Output template directly - custom pages

PHP Code:
$templater = vB_Template::create('mytemplate');
    $templater->register_page_templates(); 
    $templater->register('my_var', $my_var);
    $templater->register('my_array', $my_array);
print_output($templater->render()); 
This immediatly outputs the template. Use this if you have created your own page, for example.
Note the second line, which is special for this type of use:
PHP Code:
$templater->register_page_templates(); 
This auto-registers the page level templates header, footer and headinclude that you will use in the template of your custom page.
.
Use a template hook

PHP Code:
$templater = vB_Template::create('mytemplate');
    $templater->register('my_var', $my_var);
    $templater->register('my_array', $my_array);
$template_hook[forumhome_wgo_pos2] .= $templater->render(); 
The template will be shown using the choosen template hook (for example: $template_hook[forumhome_wgo_pos2]). See the dot before the = in the last line? The hook may be used by other modifications, too, so we don't want to overwrite it, but rather append our code to it, conserving everything that might already be there.
.
Save into a variable for later use in custom template
PHP Code:
$templater = vB_Template::create('mytemplate');
    $templater->register('my_var', $my_var);
    $templater->register('my_array', $my_array);
$mytemplate_rendered = $templater->render(); 
Now we have saved the rendered template into a variable. This variable in turn we can later on register in another template, if we want:
PHP Code:
$templater = vB_Template::create('my_other_template');
     $templater->register('my_template_rendered', $my_template_rendered);
 print_output($templater->render()); 
Again, inside my_other_template we now could call
HTML Code:
{vb:raw my_template_rendered}
If you're running the first template call inside a loop, you may want to use .= instead of = in the last line, so that the results of every loop get added instead of overwriting the existing. But that depends, of course.
.
Save into an array and preregister to use in an existing/stock template
PHP Code:
$templater = vB_Template::create('mytemplate');
    $templater->register('my_var', $my_var);
    $templater->register('my_array', $my_array);
$templatevalues['my_insertvar'] = $templater->render();
vB_Template::preRegister('FORUMHOME', $templatevalues); 
  • This is another, more flexible method to save the rendered template into a variable for future use in an already existing template. In this example, we want to show our own rendered template on forumhome.
  • Problem is: We have no direct way to register variables for already existing templates like FORUMHOME. It's created and rendered in the files, and we don't want to mess there.
  • To help with this, a new method was created for vB_Template class, called preRegister. Using this, we can pass our data to FORUMHOME before it is rendered. Note that the data needs to be saved into an array ($templatevalues['my_insertvar']), a simple variable will throw an error. In the last line the array is preregistered; you need to pass as arguments 1. the name of the existing template and 2. the array that contains the data. Again, this can be done for as many arrays as needed.
  • Of course, the preRegister functionality can be used for any kind of variables or arrays, no matter whether you have saved a rendered template (like in our example) into it or it contains just a simple boolean true/false statement.
To access the data inside the template it was preregistered for use:
HTML Code:
{vb:raw my_insertvar}
Note: it is not {vb:raw templatevalues.my_insertvar}!

Essentially the same as what I put for preRegister would be the following two lines. They could replace the last two lines in the above php codebox:
PHP Code:
$my_insertvar = $templater->render();
vB_Template::preRegister('FORUMHOME',array('my_insertvar ' => $my_insertvar)); 
Of course you could add further pairs to that array if you need to preregister more than one variable.
.
.
Bonus track: ...whatever you do, cache your templates!

Now you know how to get your templates on screen - once you succeeded in doing that, make sure to do it in a fast and ressource saving manner: make use of vB's template cache. To see whether your templates are cached or not, activate debug mode by adding $config['Misc']['debug'] = true;to your config.php (don't ever use that on your live site!). Among the debug info is a list of all templates called, and non-cached templates will show up in red.

To cache your templates, add a plugin at hook cache_templates with the following code:
PHP Code:
// for a single template
$cache[] = 'mytemplate'; 

// for more than one templates in one step
$cache = array_merge((array)$cache,array(
    'mytemplate',
    'myothertemplate',
    'mythirdtemplate'
)); 
.
.
Hope this helps!
-cel

----
Addendum - There are now two blog posts on vb.com related to this topic:
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/entry...in-4-templates
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/entry...-4-based-files
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  #52  
Old 12-28-2009, 05:46 PM
CypherSTL CypherSTL is offline
 
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I still cannot figure out how in the heck to work this new template system.

Code:
eval('$awarduserslist .= ", ' . fetch_template('awards_awardusers_bit') . '";');
Works flawlessly. No errors.

However
Code:
$displayTemplate = vB_Template::create('awards_awardusers_bit');
$awarduserslist .= $displayTemplate->render();
Displays absolutely NOTHING.
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  #53  
Old 12-29-2009, 10:46 AM
scarex scarex is offline
 
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Thanks for this guide, at the beginning I was totally confused about this new system.

On the other hand, is there a system to preregister a var in all templates with a single call?
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  #54  
Old 12-29-2009, 11:51 PM
IR15H IR15H is offline
 
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Thanks for the guide
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  #55  
Old 12-31-2009, 12:52 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cellarius View Post
Introduction
~snip~
@ cellarius

Absolutly a great introduction how things now working on VB4.
It answere`s many questions to me now.

I just wanne thank you cellarius for this.

btw. many thanks to Lynne who also allways help out.

i`m absolutly new to stuff like "vb" or "php" but with your "helping
hand`s" alot of work is possible to do for me too.

Sorry about my englisch, its not "my one"

Thanks again an enjoy the hollydays ...... if there some ........
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  #56  
Old 01-06-2010, 12:32 AM
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NLP-er NLP-er is offline
 
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I have question:
How to change content of existing template inside of plugin?

I'm remaking my mod for vB4. I'm adding there flags to header of footer. In vB3 version I simply change insides of template using templatecache. I.e.:
PHP Code:
$vbulletin->templatecache['footer'] .= 'ADDITIONAL TEXT IN FOOTER'; 
I was using it in global_start hook, but it doesn't work anymore - $vbulletin->templatecache['footer'] is empty and have no impact on footer.

How to change this line of code to make it working in vB4?

EDIT:
Ok - I already found it here Now check if its working :P

--------------- Added [DATE]1262746169[/DATE] at [TIME]1262746169[/TIME] ---------------

Other question:
In vB3 my mod have possibility to put additional data in custom place - so user just manually adds variable into required template and he has flags where he put it. How to do this in vB4 where variables have to be preregistered????...

--------------- Added [DATE]1262746545[/DATE] at [TIME]1262746545[/TIME] ---------------

Quote:
Originally Posted by testebr View Post
I figure out how to solve it:

hook: process_templates_complete

code: $footer .= 'text added to footer';

No idea if was the best solution, but that worked very well.
This will work only for few templates. The question is how to make it work for any template like with $vbulletin->templatecache solution in vB3.

Also this solution is working on already parsed template - I need fresh one, not parsed yet. Anyone have idea how to do that?

EDIT
Ok I have it need to use hook parse_templates
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  #57  
Old 01-07-2010, 05:22 PM
Sarcoth Sarcoth is offline
 
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Awesome guide. It has helped me move forward a bit, but I still don't have it all down yet. If anyone has this down pat, I'd be interested in some more tutorials that show old 3.x code and then below shows the 4.x code. This way I can test myself and see how well I have it down.

In the meantime though, is the new rendering needed for redirects? For example:
Code:
$vbulletin->url = "misc.php?do=editform&fid=$fid";
eval(print_standard_redirect('redirect_insertform', true));
I tried the following:
Code:
$templater = vB_Template::create('redirect_insertform');
	$templater->register_page_templates();
	$templater->register('redirect', $vbulletin->url);
print_standard_redirect($templater->render());
That didn't work though, it seems to be cutting off everything after misc.php. Maybe I need to register the $fid?
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  #58  
Old 01-07-2010, 07:28 PM
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cellarius cellarius is offline
 
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No, standard redirects and errors still work the old way. If you want to know something like that, just look one up in the original vB4 php files.
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  #59  
Old 01-12-2010, 06:26 AM
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Abe Babe Abe Babe is offline
 
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I have a template that I need to insert into multiple pre-existing templates (I add some additional graphics/formatting to the header and footer of most tables ... and my CSS skills aren't good enough to achieve what I'm trying to do through CSS alone, so I need to add old HTML table coding). I do it this way so that if I want to make changes, I don't have to change lots of different templates. After a bit of struggling, I have managed to get the following code running.

Code:
$templater = vB_Template::create('layout_start');
    $templater->register('my_var', $my_var);
$templatevalues['start_insertvar'] = $templater->render();
vB_Template::preRegister('FORUMHOME', $templatevalues);

I have two questions. Is there any way to preRegister for more than one pre-existing template (or a global registration), or do I have to create Plugins for every page I want to add this to (*groan*)? And what is the best hook to have this on. I am currently using 'parse_templates'.

The other unusual thing I'm finding happening is if I include my template in postbit_legacy, it will show on the first post, but not on the posts after that.

Thanks in advance...
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  #60  
Old 01-13-2010, 01:16 AM
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cellarius cellarius is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Abe Babe View Post
Code:
$templater = vB_Template::create('layout_start');
    $templater->register('my_var', $my_var);
$templatevalues['start_insertvar'] = $templater->render();
vB_Template::preRegister('FORUMHOME', $templatevalues);
I have two questions. Is there any way to preRegister for more than one pre-existing template (or a global registration), or do I have to create Plugins for every page I want to add this to (*groan*)?
Just calling the preregister method as often as you need it might not work in this case, since the method clears the variable. So trying to simply preregister it again might not be feasible. Anyway, try this:
Code:
$templater = vB_Template::create('layout_start');
    $templater->register('my_var', $my_var);
$templatevalues['start_insertvar'] = $templater->render();
vB_Template::preRegister('FORUMHOME', $templatevalues);
vB_Template::preRegister('SHOWTHREAD', $templatevalues);
vB_Template::preRegister('FORUMDISPLAY', $templatevalues);
If this does not work, try something like this:
Code:
$templater = vB_Template::create('layout_start');
    $templater->register('my_var', $my_var);
$start_insertvar = $templater->render();
$templatevalues['start_insertvar'] = $start_insertvar;
vB_Template::preRegister('FORUMHOME', $templatevalues);
$templatevalues['start_insertvar'] = $start_insertvar;
vB_Template::preRegister('SHOWTHREAD', $templatevalues);
$templatevalues['start_insertvar'] = $start_insertvar;
vB_Template::preRegister('FORUMDISPLAY', $templatevalues);
Of course, if you have really many templates, it might be more elegant to solve this with an array an a nice loop.
Quote:
And what is the best hook to have this on. I am currently using 'parse_templates'.
Seems fine to me.
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  #61  
Old 01-16-2010, 05:19 PM
Ted S Ted S is offline
 
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