Twig templates in Clojure, provided by Jtwig. clj-jtwig is a simple Clojure wrapper around Jtwig to make using it in Clojure applications simple. It also provides some extra functions on top of what Jtwig provides already. As well, it adds a simple template caching layer that works out-of-the-box when rendering templates from files.
For more information on Twig templates, you can refer to the Twig documentation and the Jtwig documentation. Please note that Jtwig is not yet a full implementation of Twig, so some things you see on the Twig documentation might not yet be available in Jtwig, and as a result, not available in clj-jtwig.
WARNING: This library is still in early development. May not be ready for production use!
See Clojars for the up to date project.clj dependency line
Jtwig targets Java 7 so you can't use it on Java 6. If you are deploying applications into a Java 6 environment and want to still use clj-jtwig, you can use the version maintained in this branch. It makes use of an otherwise vanilla Jtwig library that has been very slightly modified so that it compiles for Java 6. No other changes have been made and this fork is only being maintained by me purely for use with clj-jtwig. It is not supported by the Jtwig developers.
See Clojars for the up to date project.clj dependency line
Getting up and running with clj-jtwig is easy:
(ns yourapp.core
(:require [clj-jtwig.core :refer [render]]))
(defn say-hello [name]
(render "Hello {{name}}!" {:name name})
(say-hello "Gered") ; returns "Hello Gered!"You can also render from files by providing a full path and filename to clj-jtwig.core/render-file. Most of the time
you'll want to render from a resource file that is bundled along with your app, in which case you can provide a path
and filename relative to the classpath to clj-jtwig.core/render-resource.
(render-file "/Users/gered/say-hello.twig" {:name "Gered"})
; 'say-hello.twig' in this case would be located at '[your-app]/resources/say-hello.twig'
(render-resource "say-hello.twig" {:name "Gered"})From these examples we can see that the second argument to render, render-file and render-resource is a map of
variables that can be referred to in the template (basically it is the template 'model'). You can nest data and refer
to it using 'dot' syntax like in Java.
City of residence: {{address.city}}If a variable's name has any special characters (such as a - character), you can access it using 'subscript' syntax
instead.
Customer name: {{customer['full-name']}}If a "root" variable has special characters in it's name, you can also access it using the same syntax, but you will
need to access it off of the model variable which all variables set in the template are bound to.
Order number: {{model['customer-order'].orderNumber}}Otherwise, you normally don't need to include model, it is implicit.
For web apps built on Ring and Compojure, you can do something like:
(ns yourwebapp.views
(:require [clj-jtwig.core :refer [render-resource]]
[ring.util.response :refer [content-type response]]
[compojure.response :refer [Renderable]]))
(deftype JtwigRenderable [template-filename params]
Renderable
(render [this request]
(-> (render-resource template-filename params)
(response)
(content-type "text/html; charset=utf-8"))))
; params is an optional map that will get passed to clj-jtwig.core/render-resource. this is will
; need to contain any variables you want to use in 'template-filename'
(defn render [template-filename & [params]]
(JtwigRenderable. template-filename params))And then in your routes:
(ns yourwebapp.routes
(:use compojure.core)
(:require [yourwebapp.views :refer [render]]))
(defn home-page []
; in this case, 'home.html' would be located at '[yourwebapp]/resources/views/home.html'
(render "views/home.html" {:name "Gered"}))
(defroutes yourwebapp-routes
(GET "/" [] (home-page)))You will also probably want to add clj-jtwig.web.middleware/wrap-servlet-context-path to your Ring middleware so that template functions such as path, javascript and stylesheet can automatically prepend the servlet context path to urls you provide to your web app's resources.
If you need to output the servlet context path in one of your templates (e.g. for use with Javascript code that performs AJAX requests), then you can either update the render function example provided above to assoc the value of clj-jtwig.web.middleware/*servlet-context-path* to the params map. Then you can refer to this value in your templates the same way as any other value you pass in. Or you can do something like this in one of your templates:
<script type="text/javascript">
var context = "{{ path('') }}";
</script>Which will make a global variable context available to your Javascript code which will have the value of the servlet context path.
Adding custom functions is easy:
(ns yourapp.core
(:require [clj-jtwig.core :refer [render]]
[clj-jtwig.functions :refer [deftwigfn]]))
(deftwigfn "sayHello" [name]
(str "Hello " name "!"))Then your functions can be used in your templates:
(render "{{ sayHello(name) }}" {:name "Gered"}) ; "Hello Gered!"
; or you can call it using the 'pipe' (filter) syntax
(render "{{ name|sayHello }}" {:name "Gered"}) ; "Hello Gered!"
; you can also nest functions and/or chain filters together
(render "{{ name|upper|sayHello }}" {:name "Gered"}) ; "Hello GERED!"
(render "{{ sayHello(upper(name)) }}" {:name "Gered"}) ; "Hello GERED!"For convenience, you can also define one or more aliases for functions:
(ns yourapp.core
(:require [clj-jtwig.core :refer [render]]
[clj-jtwig.functions :refer [defaliasedtwigfn]]))
(defaliasedtwigfn "sayHello" [name]
["sayHi"]
(str "Hello " name "!"))
; elsewhere in your app's code ...
(render "{{ sayHello(name) }}" {:name "Gered"}) ; "Hello Gered!"
(render "{{ sayHi(name) }}" {:name "Gered"}) ; "Hello Gered!"The deftwigfn and defaliasedtwigfn are macros that call clj-jtwig.functions/add-function! under the hood. If you
prefer, that function can be used directly. Those macros are simply a convenience so you can write template functions
in a 'defn'-style syntax.
A number of functions are provided out of the box by Jtwig. A few more are provided to fill in some gaps by clj-jtwig. The following is a list of all the functions available with clj-jtwig.
| Function | Description |
|---|---|
| abs | abs(number)Returns the absolute value of a number. |
| batch | batch(items, batch_size)batch(items, batch_size, filler_item)"Batches" items by returning a list of lists with the given number of items. If you provide a second parameter, it is used to fill missing items. |
| blank_if_null | blank_if_null(value)If the value given is null, returns a blank string instead of "null". |
| butlast | butlast(collection)butlast(string)butlast(values, ...)Returns all items except for the last one from a collection, series of values, or a string. If a string is passed, it will be treated as a collection of chars. |
| capitalize | capitalize(string)Capitalizes a value. The first character will be uppercase, all others lowercase. |
| center | center(string, max_width)center(string, max_width, padding_string)Pads a string with whitespace on the left and right as necessary to 'center' the given value. If the padding_string argument is provided, that string will be used to pad instead of whitespace. |
| concat | concat(values, ...)Concatenates any number of values together as strings. |
| convert_encoding | convert_encoding(string, output_charset, input_charset)Converts a string from one encoding to another. The first argument is the expected output charset and the second one is the input charset. |
| date_format | date_format(date)date_format(date, format)Formats a date to a given format. The format specifier is the same as supported by SimpleDateFormat. If the format argument is not specified, the format used will be yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss. The date argument should be an instance of java.util.Date. |
| date_modify | date_modify(date, modifier)Modifies a date with a given modifier string. The modifier string can be things like "+1 day" or "+30 minutes". Recognized modifiers are 'seconds', 'minutes', 'hours', 'days', 'months' or 'years'. The date argument should be an instance of java.util.Date. A new instance of java.util.Date is returned. |
| default | default(value, default_value)Returns the passed default value if the value is undefined or empty, otherwise the value of the variable. |
| dump | dump(value)Uses clojure.pprint/pprint to dump the entire value of a variable to a string and returns that string. |
| escape | escape(string)escape(string, strategy)Escapes a string for safe insertion into the final output. The optional strategy parameter specifies the escape strategy: 'html' (default), 'js' or 'xml'. |
| first | first(collection)first(string)first(values, ...)Returns the first "element" of a collection, series of values, or a string (in which case the first character is returned). |
| format | format(format_string, values, ...)Formats a given string by replacing the placeholders (placeholders follow the String.format notation). The values provided will be used in order for each placeholder in the string. |
| javascript | javascript(url)Returns a <script> tag for a Javascript source file. The Javascript source file's modification timestamp will be appended to the URL if the url given is a relative one to help avoid browser caching issues. |
| join | join(sequence)join(sequence, separator)Returns a string which is the concatenation of the items of a sequence. The separator argument specifies a string to use to place in between each joined item. If not specified, a blank string is used as the separator. |
| json_encode | json_encode(string)Returns the JSON representation of the given value. |
| keys | keys(map)Returns the keys of a map as a collection. It is useful when you want to iterate over the keys of a map. |
| last | last(collection)last(string)last(values, ...)Returns the last "element" of a collection, series of values, or a string (in which case, the last character is returned). |
| length | length(collection)length(string)length(values, ...)Returns the number of items in a collection, series of values, or the length of a string. |
| lower | lower(string)Converts a string to lowercase. |
| max | max(collection)max(values, ...)Returns the biggest value in a collection or a set of values. |
| merge | merge(first_collection, second_collection)Merges a collection with another collection. |
| min | min(collection)min(values, ...)Returns the lowest value in a collection or a set of values. |
| nl2br | nl2br(string)Inserts HTML line breaks before all newlines in a string |
| normalize_space | normalize_space(string)Trims leading and trailing whitespace and replaces all remaining whitespace with a single space. |
| nth | nth(collection, index)nth(collection, index, value_if_not_found)Returns a value from a list corresponding with the index specified. If the value_if_not_found argument is not specified and the index provided is out of bounds, an exception will be thrown. |
| number_format | number_format(number)number_format(number, num_decimals)number_format(number, num_decimals, decimal_point_char)number_format(number, num_decimals, decimal_point_char, thousand_sep_char)Formats numbers. You can control the number of decimal places, decimal point, and thousands separator using the arguments. The default values for the second, third and fourth values are '0', '.' and ',', respectively. |
| path | path(url)Returns a path with the current servlet context prepended. Requires the use of the clj-jtwig.web.middleware/wrap-servlet-context-path Ring middleware to work properly. |
| pad_left | pad_left(string, max_width)pad_left(string, max_width, padding_string)Pads a string with leading whitespace as necessary until the string and whitespace combined are max_width characters in length. If the padding_string argument is specified, it will be used to pad the string instead of whitespace. |
| pad_right | pad_right(string, max_width)pad_right(string, max_width, padding_string)Pads a string with trailing whitespace as necessary until the string and whitespace combined are max_width characters in length. If the padding_string argument is specified, it will be used to pad the string instead of whitespace. |
| random | random(collection)random(string)random(values, ...)random(number)Returns a random item from a collection or set of values. If an single number argument is provided, returns a random number from 0 to the number specified. If a string is specified, a random character from that string is returned. |
| range | range(low, high)range(low, high, step)Returns a list containing an arithmetic progression of integers. The step argument specifies how to count from low to high, which by default is 1. |
| repeat | repeat(string, count)Returns a string with the given string repeated count times. |
| replace | replace(string, placeholder_and_replacements_map)Formats a given string by replacing the placeholders (placeholders are free-form). |
| rest | rest(collection)rest(string)rest(values, ...)Returns all the items except for the first one from a collection, series of values, or a string. If a string is passed, it will be treated as a collection of chars. |
| reverse | reverse(collection)reverse(string)reverse(values, ...)Reverses the items in a collection, series of values, or a string. |
| round | round(number)round(number, rounding_method)Rounds a number to using the rounding method specified. Allowed rounding methods are 'common', 'ceil' and 'floor' with the default being 'common'. |
| second | second(collection)second(string)second(values, ...)Returns the second item of a collection, series of values, or a string. |
| slice | slice(collection, start, length)slice(string, start, length)Extracts a slice of a collection, or a string where the 2 last arguments specify the start and end indices respectively. |
| sort | sort(collection)sort(values, ...)Sorts a collection or a set of values in ascending order. Note that this differs in behaviour from Jtwig 2.2.0 in that the sorted collection returned from this is a new collection. The input collection is not modified at all by this function. |
| sort_descending | sort_descending(collection)sort_descending(values, ...)Sorts a collection or a set of values in descending order. |
| sort_by | sort_by(collection_of_maps, sort_key)Sorts a collection of maps in ascending order. The second argument specifies the key who's value in each map is to be used for sorting comparisons. |
| sort_descending_by | sort_descending_by(collection_of_maps, sort_key)Sorts a collection of maps in descending order. The second argument specifies the key who's value in each map is to be used for sorting comparisons. |
| split | split(string, delimiter)Splits a string by the given delimiter and returns a list of strings. |
| striptags | striptags(string)Strips HTML/XML tags and replaces adjacent whitespace with one space. |
| stylesheet | stylesheet(url)stylesheet(url, media)Returns a <link> tag for a CSS stylesheet with an optional 'media' attribute value. The CSS file's modification timestamp will be appended to the URL if the url given is a relative one to help avoid browser caching issues. |
| title | title(string)Returns a titlecased version of the value. Words will start with uppercase letters, all remaining characters are lowercase. |
| trim | trim(string)Strips whitespace (or other characters) from the beginning and end of a string. |
| upper | upper(string)Converts a value to uppercase. |
| url_encode | url_encode(string)url_encode(map)Percent encodes a given string as a URL segment or a map of key/values as a query string (e.g. in a key=value&key=value ... format). |
| wrap | wrap(string, max_width)wrap(string, max_width, wrap_long_words)wrap(string, max_width, wrap_long_words, new_line_string)Wraps the given text to the maximum width specified. If wrap_long_words is true, then long words/text such as URLs will also be cut and wrapped as necessary. new_line_string can be specified to use a different character/string as the new line separator (by default it will be the system new line character(s)). |
Jtwig provides support for compiling templates so that subsequent renders can be performed faster. clj-jtwig builds on this support by providing a very simple caching mechanism when rendering templates from files. Template files are compiled the first time they are rendered and then the compiled result cached. From then on, each time that same template file is rendered, the source file on disk is checked to see if it has been modified since it was last cached. If it has been we re-load, compile and cache it before rendering it again. As long as the file has not been modified the previously compiled result is re-used.
Caching is turned on by default, but can be turned off if necessary via
clj-jtwig.core/toggle-compiled-template-caching!.
An important thing to be aware of when using templates that extend others, or include others is that only the template who's filename is passed to one of the render functions is checked to see if it has been updated. If your templates include other template files but those included files are never directly rendered themselves, then they will not get recompiled and cached unless the parent template is updated as well. This can be a problem during development of an application, so you may want to turn caching off during development.
Jtwig is written in Java. This has important implications for the way that you pass model maps from Clojure to your Jtwig templates.
Jtwig uses a HashMap<String, Object> object to hold template model data as can be seen here. This is fine for Jtwig as that's pretty idiomatic for Java apps. Idiomatic Clojure code using maps will typically use keywords as the keys of a map. This doesn't translate so nicely when you pass in a Clojure map with all keywords as the keys to a template and the template attempts to reference values inside the map.
Ideally, you would expect to be able to do this in Clojure:
(deftwigfn "get_bar" [m]
(:bar m))
(render "{{ get_bar(foo) }}" {:foo {:bar "hello"}}) ; should output "hello", right? wrong!Instead, "null" will get output. This is because Jtwig is trying to resolve values in the model map assuming the keys are strings and Java doesn't have Clojure's keywords natively of course. To try to help you out with this, when you call render, render-file or render-resource in clj-jtwig, by default it will call clojure.walk/stringify-keys on the map you pass in.
If the get_bar function had been written like this instead:
(deftwigfn "get_bar" [m]
(get m "bar"))Then you would get the expected output of "hello".
To help avoid such confusion, you could make sure that the maps you pass in to clj-jtwig are already using strings for keys and not rely on the stringify-keys call. If you would like to write your code like this, you can optionally pass {:skip-model-map-stringify? true} as the third argument to any of the render functions in clj-jtwig and it will not call stringify-keys, which will cause exceptions to be thrown if you pass a map using keyword keys (because it will try to cast from a keyword to a string).
TL;DR, even if you pass Clojure maps using keywords for all your keys, clj-jtwig converts all of them to strings to play nice with Jtwig. Your custom template functions written in Clojure should assume any maps it receives as arguments have all their keys as strings instead of keywords.
One other helpful use of model is for debugging when working with a lot of data being passed to a template. You can
dump the entire set of variables passed to the template using the dump function.
{{model|dump}}Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.