
=head1 NAME

Text::Xslate::Manual::FAQ - Frequently asked questions and answers

=head1 DESCRIPTION

This manual page lists FAQs, which we've heard for now.

=head1 QUESTIONS

=head2 General

=head3 How do you pronounce 'Xslate'?

We read it C</eks-leit/>.

=head3 What 'Xslate' stands for?

It stands for I<XS template>, a template engine written in XS, although
pure Perl implementations are also provided.

=head3 What are 'Kolon', 'Metakolon', and 'TTerse' ?

Xslate supports multiple template syntaxes. Kolon is the default syntax,
Metakolon is suitable to output Kolon templates, and TTerse is compatible
with Template-Toolkit 2. You can specify the template syntax by passing
C<syntax> option to the Text::Xslate constructor.

    my $tx = Text::Xslate->new(
        syntax => 'TTerse', # by moniker
    );

    my $tx = Text::Xslate->new(
        syntax => 'Text::Xslate::Syntax::TTerse', # by fully qualified name
    );

=head3 What version of perl does Xslate require?

Xslate is tested on perl v5.8.1. No special settings should be required.

=head3 How can I install the pure-Perl version of Xslate?

Pass C<< PUREPERL_ONLY=1 >> to F<Makefile.PL>, which requests
the Xslate build system not to make XS parts.

Note that C<< cpanm 1.7 >> supports C<--pp> option to install pure-Perl
alternatives, so you can type C<< cpanm --pp Text::Xslate >>.

=head3 What optimizations does Xslate employs?

Here are some optimizations worth noting that makes Text::Xslate run so fast,
in no particular order:

=over

=item Pre-compiled templates

Text::Xslate is among the template engines that pre-compile the templates.
This is similar to, say, Template::Toolkit, but Text::Xslate compiles the
templates to C structures and stores them as binary data.

=item Built on top of a virtual machine

Text::Xslate is built on top of virtual machine that executes bytecode, and
this virtual machine is fine-tuned I<specifically> for template processing.

The virtual machine also employs optimizations such as direct-threading
style coding to shave off any extra milliseconds that the engine might take
otherwise

=item Custom byte codes for oft-used operations

Some operations which are used very often are optimized into its own
byte code. For example (as described elsewhere) Text::Xslate automatically
escapes HTML unless you tell it not to. Text::Xslate implements this process
which involves escaping the string I<while> appending the result to the
output buffer in C, as a custom byte code. This lets you avoid the penalties
usually involved in such operations.

=item Pre-allocation of output buffers

One of the main things to consider to reduce performance degradation
while processing a template is to avoid the number of calls to C<malloc()>.
One of the tricks that Text::Xslate employs to reduce the number of calls to
C<malloc()> is to pre-allocate the output buffer in an intelligent manner:
For example, Text::Xslate assumes that most templates will be rendered to be
about the same as the previous run, so when a template is rendered it uses
the size allocated for the previous rendering as an approximation of how much
space the current rendering will require. This allows to greatly reduce the
number of C<malloc()> calls required to render a template.

=back

=head2 Configuration

=head3 When I create the Xslate instance?

Xslate instances are reusable and creating the instance costs somewhat
so you're recommended to reuse them as much as possible.
That is, you should make the instance global.

Consider a PSGI application:

    # create Xslate here, not in psgi_app();
    my $xslate = Text::Xslate->new(...);

    sub psgi_app {
        my($env) = @_;
        # use $xslate and create $response
        return $response;
    }
    return \&psgi_app; # as a PSGI app

Don't create the instance in each request. It's less efficient.

=head3 How can I change instance attributes dynamically?

Instance attributes, e.g. C<include_path>, C<function>, or C<syntax>,
are immutable, so you cannot change them dynamically.

Instead, you can create multiple instances by different options.
instance in order to avoid conflicts with cache directories.

For example:

    my %common_config = ( cache_dir => $dir, module => \@module );
    my %xslate = (
        ja => Text::Xslate->new( path => [ $template_ja ], %common_config ),
        en => Text::Xslate->new( path => [ $template_en ], %common_config ),
        ro => Text::Xslate->new( path => [ $template_ro ], %common_config ),
    );
    $xslate{$lang}->render(...);

=head2 Templates

=head3 How can I changes template tags?

Use C<start_tag>, C<end_tag>, and C<line_start> options to C<new> method,
which can be joined together with C<syntax> option:

    my $tx = Text::Xslate->new(
        syntax     => 'TTerse',
        tag_start  => '{{',
        tag_end    => '}}',
        line_start => undef,
    );
    print $tx->render_string('Hello, {{lang}} world!', { lang => 'Xslate' });

Note that you'd better to avoid symbols which can be used for operators.

=head3 How can I iterate over HASH references?

Convert HASH references into ARRAY references because C<for> methods can
deal with just ARRAY references.

    : # in Kolon
    : # iterate $hash by keys
    : for $hash.keys() -> $key {
        <: $key :>
    : }
    : # by values
    : for $hash.values() -> $value {
        <: $value :>
    : }
    : # by key-value pairs
    : for $hash.kv() -> $pair {
        <: $pair.key :>=<: $pair.value :>
    : }

Note that the above methods return ARRAY references sorted by the keys.

=head3 How can I use Template-Toolkit virtual methods and filters?

Xslate itself does not support these methods and filters, but there
are modules on CPAN that implement them.

L<Text::Xslate::Bridge::TT2> provides almost all the TT methods and filters,
but it requires Template-Toolkit installed.

L<Text::Xslate::Bridge::TT2Like> provides the same features as
C<T::X::Bridge::TT2>, and it does not require the Template-Toolkit runtime.

These bridge modules are useful not only for TTerse users, but
also for Kolon users.

=head3 How can I (write|get) plugins?

It is unlikely to need to write plugins for Xslate, because Xslate allows
you to export any functions to templates. Any function-based modules
are available by the C<module> option.

Xslate also allows to call methods for object instances, so you can
use any object-oriented modules, except for classes which only provide
class methods (they need wrappers).

If you want to add methods to builtin data types (nil, scalars, arrays and
hashes), you can write bridge modules. See L<Text::Xslate::Bridge> for details.

=head3 How to limit while-loop like Template-Toolkit?

While Template-Toolkit has a loop counter to prevent runaway C<WHILE> loop,
Xslate has no arbitrary limitation.

Instead, you can use C<alarm()> to limit B<any> runaway code:

    eval {
        local $SIG{ALRM} = sub { die @_ };
        alarm(1); # set timeout
        $tx->render('<: while true { } :>', \%vars);
    };
    if($@ =~ /\b ALRM \b/xms) {
        # timeout!
    }

=head3 Does Xslate process text strings, or binary strings?
X<utf8> X<UTF-8> X<utf8 flagged string> X<unicode>

(The meaning of I<text string> and I<binary string> is that of Perl,
see L<perlunifaq>.)

Xslate assumes template files to be encoded in C<UTF-8> by default, so the
output is a text string and template parameters, including values which
registered functions return, B<must> be text strings.

However, if you want to process binary strings, you can do so by passing
C<:bytes> to C<input_layer>, although it's not recommended.

=head3 Why doesn't I cannot access $object.attr like TT2?

Template-Toolkit allows objects (i.e. blessed references) to access its element if the object has no accessor methods, i.e. C<< [% object.attr %] >> might mean C<< $object->{attr} >>. This behavior breaks encapsulation and hides typos, so Xslate doesn't allow such fallbacks.

If you want to access object attributes, define the accessors of them,
or prepare values as a non-object before calling C<render()>.

=head3 Can I load macros in other template files?

Not yet. Currently Xslate doesn't support external macros.

=head2 Functions, filters and macros

=head3 Where are the list of builtin functions?

See L<Text::Xslate::Manual::Builtin>.

=head3 How can I use macros as a callback to high-level functions?

Macros are objects that overload C<&{}>, the CODE dereference operator, so
all you have to do is to call them simply, but don't check their types because
they are not a I<real> CODE reference.

    my $tx = Text::Xslate->new(
        function => {
            count => sub {
                my($a, $cb) = @_;
                # Don't check the type of $cb!
                return scalar grep { $cb->($_) } @{$a};
            },
        },
    );

    print $tx->render_string('<: count($a, -> $x { $x >= 50 }) :>',
        { a => [ 0 .. 100 ] },
    ); # => 50


=head2 Web Application Frameworks

=head3 How can I use Xslate in $my_favorite_WAF?

There are bridges that integrate Xslate into WAFs:

=over

=item *

L<Catalyst::View::Xslate> for L<Catalyst>

=item *

L<MojoX::Renderer::Xslate> for L<Mojolicious>

=item *

L<Tiffany> for general usage

=back

There are WAFs which adopt Xslate as the default template engine:

=over

=item *

L<Amon2>

=item *

L<Pickles>

=back

=head3 Where are examples which use Xslate in Catalyst?

There is a real-world project that uses Xslate with Catalyst.

L<https://github.com/duckduckgo/community-platform>

Initializing Xslate: L<https://github.com/duckduckgo/community-platform/blob/master/lib/DDGC.pm#L268>

Working on: L<https://dukgo.com/>

Enjoy!

=head2 Development and support

=head3 How can I colorize Xslate templates?

For C<vim> user, there is F<xslate.vim> for Kolon:

L<https://github.com/motemen/xslate-vim>

For C<emacs> user, there are plugins:

L<https://github.com/samvtran/kolon-mode>

L<https://github.com/yoshiki/tx-mode>

=head3 Where can I ask questions?

The mailing list is recommended to ask questions.

L<http://groups.google.com/group/xslate>

If you find a bug or have a request, creating github issues is better
because those tickets are less likely to disappear than the ports in the
mailing list.

L<https://github.com/xslate/p5-Text-Xslate/issues>

=head3 I found a bug! What can I do for you?

Please make a minimal test case to show the problem clearly.
The code is the common language both I and you speak fluently ;)

=head1 SEE ALSO

L<Text::Xslate>

L<Text::Xslate::Manual>

L<Text::Xslate::Manual::Cookbook>

=cut
