Re: html macro library

I like this approach too. I did something that looks similar but uses a 
bunch of classes I wrote instead of an XML library.

In my version $utils refers to my tool loader class. Each tool has a 
hashmap of properties and implements a toString method so you do it 
similarly like this:

#set($checkfield = $tools.getElement('checkbox'))
$checkfield.setProperty('choices', '...')
$checkfield.setProperty('checked', '...')
$checkfield

You only need to put '$checkfield' at the end because all my tools have a 
toString method and Velocity calls this method for every $reference 
anyway.

Using a tool like this you can also put some smarts in it if you like.

I agree that this kind of thing is easier despite requiring more lines. I 
think it makes more sense (easier to read and write) when you're writing 
templates to see what you are setting.

Cheers,
Andrew Tetlaw

Bligh Voller Nield
http://www.bvn.com.au
p: (07) 3251 5778
f: (07) 3852 2544

"Rodrigo Reyes" <rodrigo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote on 31/05/2003 03:49:47 AM:

> Hi
>     I have been using Velocity on a pretty complex website. One of the
> things I learned from this project is that maybe the easiest and most
> maintainable way to handle the creation of tags inside a template is 
using
> an XML library. For my specific needs, I use JDOM. So when I need to 
have a
> link created I do something like this:
> 
>     #set($a = $utils.getElement('a'))
>     $a.setAttributeValue('href', '...')
>     $a.setAttributeValue(target, '...')
>     $a.setAttributeValue('onClick', '...')
>     ....
>     $a.setText('This text is linked to ...')
>     $utils.toString($a)
> 
>     I know that those are many lines of code for a simple link, but from 
my
> experience, it's a lot easier to read and maintain. And an Element in 
JDOM
> could also contain other Elements, so I can have that as recursive as I
> need.
>     My 2 c...
> 
> Rodrigo
 


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