htmlizer

Htmlizer

Generate HTML (fragments) with Templates that are valid HTML (fragments).

Dependencies:

• jQuery
• https://github.com/mbest/js-object-literal-parse
• On NodeJS, jsdom will also be required.

Why?

Most templating languages doesn't ensure that the templates are valid HTML. Templates needs to be parsable for build tools like assetgraph-builder to able to 1. find assets and relations 2. Translate text with their data-i18n syntax.

For example consider this Mustache template: <div {{attributes}}></div>. This looks sane, but is unfortunately not parsable by most HTML parsers.

Here is another example: <div style="{{style}}"></div>. Even though this is parsable, the text inside the style attribute is not valid CSS syntax and some parsers (I think jsdom) may throw an error.

Usage

Render template as HTML string:

(new Htmlizer('<template string>')).toString(dataObject);

Render template as DocumentFragment:

(new Htmlizer('<template string>')).toDocumentFragment(dataObject);

Template syntax

Syntax is similar to KnockoutJS (in fact supports a subset of Knockout templates).

text binding:

Template: <span data-bind="text: mytext"></span>

Data: {mytext: 'test'}

Output: <span>test</span>

attr binding:

Template: <span data-bind="text: mytext, attr: {class: cls}"></span>

Data: {mytext: 'test', cls: 'btn btn-default'}

Output: <span class="btn btn-default">test</span>

if binding:

Template:
<div data-bind="if: show">
  This message won't be shown.
</div>

Data: {show: false}

Output: <div></div>

Containerless if binding:

Template:
<div>
  <!-- ko if: count -->
    <div id="results"></div>
  <!-- /ko -->
  <!-- hz if: !count -->
    No results to display.
  <!-- /hz -->
</div>

Data: {count: 0}

Output: <div>No results to display.</div>

Note: You can use either "ko if:" or "hz if:" to begin an if statement. And you may either use "/ko" or "/hz" to end an if statement.

Containerless text binding:

Template:
<div>
  <!-- ko text: msg --><!-- /ko -->
</div>

Data: {msg: 'Hello'}

Output: <div>Hello</div>

foreach binding:

Template:
<div data-bind="foreach: items">
    <div data-bind="text: $data"></div>
</div>

Data:
{
  items: ['item 1', 'item 2', 'item 3']
}

Output:
<div>
  <div>item 1</div>
  <div>item 2</div>
  <div>item 3</div>
</div>

Containerless foreach binding:

Template:
<div>
  <!-- ko foreach: items -->
    <div data-bind="text: name"></div>
  <!-- /ko -->
</div>

Data:
{
    items: [{name: 'item 1'}, {name: 'item 2'}, {name: 'item 3'}]
}

Output:
<div>
  <div>item 1</div>
  <div>item 2</div>
  <div>item 3</div>
</div>

html binding:

Template:
<div data-bind="html: message"></div>

Data: {message: '<b>This</b> is a <b>serious message</b>'}

Output: <div><b>This</b> is a <b>serious message</b></div>

css binding:

Template:
<div data-bind="css: {warning: isWarning}"></div>

Data: {isWarning: true}

Output: <div class="warning"></div>

style binding:

Template:
<div data-bind="style: {fontWeight: bold ? 'bold' : 'normal'}"></div>

Data: {bold: false}

Output: <div style="font-weight: normal;"></div>

with binding:

Template:
<div data-bind="with: obj">
    <span data-bind="text: val"></span>
</div>

Data: {obj: {val: 10}}

Output:
<div>
    <span>10</span>
</div>

Containerless with binding:

Template:
<!-- ko with: obj -->
    <span data-bind="text: val"></span>
<!-- /ko -->

Data: {obj: {val: 10}}

Output: <span>10</span>

Binding Contexts

Supports all the binding contexts documented for KO 3.0 here.

Template:
<div data-bind="foreach: {data: items, as: 'obj'}">
    <!-- ko foreach: subItems -->
        <span data-bind="text: $element.nodeName"></span>
        <span data-bind="text: obj.name"></span>
        <span data-bind="text: $parent.name"></span>
        <span data-bind="text: $index"></span>
        <span data-bind="text: $data.name"></span>
        <span data-bind="text: name"></span>
        <span data-bind="text: $root === $parents[$parents.length - 1]"></span>
    <!-- /ko -->
</div>

Data:
{
    items: [{
        name: 'item1',
        subItems: [{
            name: 'subitem1'
        }]
    }]
}

Output:
<div>

        <span>SPAN</span>
        <span>item1</span>
        <span>item1</span>
        <span>0</span>
        <span>subitem1</span>
        <span>subitem1</span>
        <span>true</span>

</div>

Avoiding conflict with KO

To avoid conflict with KnockoutJS, set noConflict config to true:

var template = new Htmlizer('<template string>', {noConflict: true});

By default noConflict is assumed false. With noConflict = true, there are two main differences:

• Bindings must be placed within data-htmlizer attribute.
• Containerless statements with "ko" prefix will be ignored. Use "hz" prefix if you want Htmlizer to process it.