All Smarty template tags are enclosed within delimiters. By
default, these delimiters are { and
}, but they can be changed.
For these examples, we will assume that you are using the default
delimiters. In Smarty, all content outside of delimiters is displayed as
static content, or unchanged. When Smarty encounters template tags, it
attempts to interpret them, and displays the appropriate output in their
place.
Comments
Template comments are surrounded by asterisks, and that is surrounded
by the
delimiter
tags like so: {* this is a comment *}
Smarty comments are NOT displayed in the final output of the template,
unlike <!-- HTML comments -->
these are useful for making internal notes in the templates which no one will see ;-)
Example 3-1. Comments within a template
{* I am a Smarty comment, I don't exist in the compiled output *}
<html>
<head>
<title>{$title}</title>
</head>
<body>
{* another single line smarty comment *}
<!-- HTML comment that is sent to the browser -->
{* this multiline smarty
comment is
not sent to browser
*}
{*********************************************************
Multi line comment block with credits block
@ author: bg@example.com
@ maintainer: support@example.com
@ para: var that sets block style
@ css: the style output
**********************************************************}
{* The header file with the main logo and stuff *}
{include file='header.tpl'}
{* Dev note: the $includeFile var is assigned in foo.php script *}
<!-- Displays main content block -->
{include file=$includeFile}
{* this <select> block is redundant *}
{*
<select name="company">
{html_options options=$vals selected=$selected_id}
</select>
*}
{* cvs tag for a template, below the 36 SHOULD be an american currency
. however its converted in cvs.. *}
{* $Id: Exp $ *}
{* $Id: *}
</body>
</html>
Variables
Template variables start with the $dollar sign. They can contain numbers,
letters and underscores, much like a
PHP variable.
You can reference arrays
by index numerically or non-numerically. Also reference
object properties and methods.
Config file variables
are an exception to the $dollar syntax
and are instead referenced with surrounding #hashmarks#, or
via the
$smarty.config variable.
Example 3-2. Variables
{$foo} <-- displaying a simple variable (non array/object)
{$foo[4]} <-- display the 5th element of a zero-indexed array
{$foo.bar} <-- display the "bar" key value of an array, similar to PHP $foo['bar']
{$foo.$bar} <-- display variable key value of an array, similar to PHP $foo[$bar]
{$foo->bar} <-- display the object property "bar"
{$foo->bar()} <-- display the return value of object method "bar"
{#foo#} <-- display the config file variable "foo"
{$smarty.config.foo} <-- synonym for {#foo#}
{$foo[bar]} <-- syntax only valid in a section loop, see {section}
{assign var=foo value='baa'}{$foo} <-- displays "baa", see {assign}
Many other combinations are allowed
{$foo.bar.baz}
{$foo.$bar.$baz}
{$foo[4].baz}
{$foo[4].$baz}
{$foo.bar.baz[4]}
{$foo->bar($baz,2,$bar)} <-- passing parameters
{"foo"} <-- static values are allowed
{* display the server variable "SERVER_NAME" ($_SERVER['SERVER_NAME'])*}
{$smarty.server.SERVER_NAME}Request variables such as $_GET,
$_SESSION, etc are available via the
reserved
$smarty variable.
Functions
Every Smarty tag either prints a
variable or invokes some sort
of function. These are processed and displayed by enclosing the
function and its
attributes
within delimiters like so:
{funcname attr1='val1' attr2='val2'}.
Example 3-3. function syntax
{config_load file='colors.conf'}
{include file='header.tpl'}
{insert file='banner_ads.tpl' title='Smarty is cool'}
{if $logged_in}
Welcome, <font color="{#fontColor#}">{$name}!</font>
{else}
hi, {$name}
{/if}
{include file='footer.tpl' ad=$random_id}
Both built-in functions
and custom functions
have the same syntax within templates.
Built-in functions are the
inner workings of Smarty, such as
{if},
{section} and
{strip}.
There should be no need to change or modify them.
Custom functions are
additional
functions implemented via plugins.
They can be modified to your liking, or you can create new ones.
{html_options} and
{popup}
are examples of custom functions.
Attributes
Most of the functions
take attributes that specify or modify
their behavior. Attributes to Smarty functions are much like HTML
attributes. Static values don't have to be enclosed in quotes, but it
is recommended for literal strings. Variables may also be used, and
should not be in quotes.
Some attributes require boolean values (true or false). These
can be specified
as either unquoted true,
on, and yes, or
false, off, and
no.
Example 3-4. function attribute syntax
{include file='header.tpl'}
{include file='header.tpl' attrib_name='attrib value'}
{include file=$includeFile}
{include file=#includeFile# title='Smarty is cool'}
{html_select_date display_days=yes}
{mailto address='smarty@example.com'}
<select name='company_id'>
{html_options options=$companies selected=$company_id}
</select>