A NOTE ABOUT ENCODING

When Tenjin opens template files, it will automatically decode their contents according to the selected encoding (UTF-8 by default), so make sure your template files are properly encoded. Tenjin also writes cache files of compiled template structure. These will be automatically encoded according to the selected encoding.

When it comes to UTF-8, it might interest you to know how Tenjin behaves:

1. "UTF-8" is the default encoding used. If for some reason, either before running "Tenjin->new()" or during, you provide an alternate spelling (such as "utf8" or "UTF8"), Tenjin will convert it to UTF-8.

2. When reading files, Tenjin uses "<:encoding(UTF-8)", while when writing files, Tenjin uses ">:utf8", as recommended by this article <https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikibooks/en/w/index.php?title=Perl_Programming/Unicode_UTF-8&oldid=2020796>.

new( \%options )

This creates a new instant of Tenjin. "\%options" is a hash-ref containing Tenjin's configuration options:

• path - Array-ref of filesystem paths where templates will be searched
• prefix - A string that will be automatically prepended to template names when searching for them in the path. Empty by default.
• postfix - The default extension to be automtically appended to template names when searching for them in the path. Don't forget to include the dot, such as '.html'. Empty by default.
• cache - If set to 1 (the default), compiled templates will be cached on the filesystem (this means the template's code will be cached, not the completed rendered output).
• preprocess - Enable template preprocessing (turned off by default). Only use if you're actually using any preprocessed Perl code in your templates.
• layout - Name of a layout template that can be optionally used. If set, templates will be automatically inserted into the layout template, in the location where you use "[== $_content ==]".
• strict - Another way to make Tenjin use strict on embedded Perl code (turned off by default).
• encoding - Another way to set the encoding of your template files (set to "UTF-8" by default).

render( $tmpl_name, [\%_context, $use_layout] )

Renders a template whose name is identified by $tmpl_name. Remember that a prefix and a postfix might be added if they where set when creating the Tenjin instance.

$_context is a hash-ref containing the variables that will be available for usage inside the templates. So, for example, if your "\%_context" is "{ message => 'Hi there' }", then you can use $message inside your templates.

$use_layout is a flag denoting whether or not to render this template into a layout template (when doing so, the template will be rendered, then the rendered output will be added to the context hash-ref as '_content', and finally the layout template will be rendered with the revised context and returned.

If $use_layout is 1 (which is the default in case it is undefined), then Tenjin will use the layout template that was set when creating the Tenjin instance (via the 'layout' configuration option). If you want to use a different layout template (or if you haven't defined a layout template when creating the Tenjin instance), then you must add the layout template's name to the context as '_layout'. You can also just pass the layout template's name as $use_layout, but "$_context->{_layout}" has precedence.

If $use_layout is 0, then a layout template will not be used, even if "$_context->{_layout}" is defined.

Note that you can nest layout templates as much as you like, but the only way to do so is by setting the layout template for each template in the nesting chain with "$_context->{_layout}".

Please note that by default file templates are cached on disk (with a '.cache') extension. Tenjin automatically deprecates these cache files every 10 seconds. If you find this value is too low, you can override the $Tenjin::TIMESTAMP_INTERVAL variable with your preferred value.

register_template( $template_name, $template )

Receives the name of a template and its Tenjin::Template object and stores it in memory for usage by the engine. This is useful if you need to use templates that are not stored on the file system, for example from a database.

Note, however, that you need to pass a template object who's already been converted and compiled into Perl code, so if you have a template with a certain name and certain text, these are the steps you will need to perform:

        # create a Tenjin instance
        my $tenjin = Tenjin->new(\%options);
        # create an empty template object
        my $template = Tenjin::Template->new();
        # compile template content into Perl code
        $template->convert($tmpl_content);
        $template->compile();
        # register the template with the Tenjin instance
        $tenjin->register_template($tmpl_name, $template);

get_template( $template_name, $_context )

Receives the name of a template and the context object and tries to find that template in the engine's memory. If it's not there, it will try to find it in the file system (the cache file might be loaded, if present). Returns the template's Tenjin::Template object.

to_filename( $template_name )

Receives a template name and returns the proper file name to be searched in the file system, which will only be different than $template_name if it begins with ':', in which case the prefix and postfix configuration options will be appended and prepended to the template name (minus the ':'), respectively.

find_template_file( $filename )

Receives a template filename and searches for it in the path defined in the configuration options (or, if a path was not set, in the current working directory). Returns the absolute path to the file.

read_template_file( $template, $filename, $_context )

Receives a template object and its absolute file path and reads that file. If preprocessing is on, preprocessing will take place using the provided context object.

cachename( $filename )

Receives a template filename and returns its standard cache filename (which will simply be $filename with '.cache' appended to it.

store_cachefile( $cachename, $template )

Receives the name of a template cache file and the corresponding template object, and creates the cache file on disk.

load_cachefile( $cachename, $template )

Receives the name of a template cache file and the corresponding template object, reads the cache file and stores it in the template object (as 'script').

create_template( $filename, $_context )

Receives an absolute path to a template file and the context object, reads the file, processes it (which may involve loading the template's cache file or creating the template's cache file), compiles it and returns the template object.