NAME
tagz.rb
SYNOPSIS
require Tagz
include Tagz.globally
a_(:href => "/foo"){ "bar" } #=> <a href="/foo">bar</a>
DESCRIPTION
tagz.rb is generates html, xml, or any sgml variant like a small ninja
running across the backs of a herd of giraffes swatting of heads like a
mark-up weedwacker. weighing in at less than 300 lines of code tagz.rb adds
an html/xml/sgml syntax to ruby that is both unobtrusive, safe, and available
globally to objects without the need for any builder or superfluous objects.
tagz.rb is designed for applications that generate html to be able to do so
easily in any context without heavyweight syntax or scoping issues, like a
ninja sword through butter.
FEATURES
- use as a library or mixin
- simple, clean and consistent mark-up that is easy to visually
distinguish from other ruby methods
- auto-compatibility with rails/actionview
- ability to independently open and close tagz in markup
- intelligent auto-escaping of both attributes and content for both html
and xml
- validate your html/xml with 'ruby -c' syntax check
- generally bitchin
- no lame method_missing approach that prevents tagz like 'type' from being
generated
RAILS
in config/environment.rb
require 'tagz'
in a helper
def list_of_users
ul_(:class => 'users'){
@users.each{|user| li_{ user }}
}
end
in a view
<%=
table_{
rows.each do |row|
tr_{
row.each do |cell|
td_{ cell }
end
}
end
}
%>
in a controller
def ajax_responder
text =
tagz{
table_{
rows.each do |row|
tr_{
row.each do |cell|
td_{ cell }
end
}
end
}
}
render :text => text
end
INSTALL
gem install tagz
HISTORY
5.0.0
- introduce better escaping for attributes using xchar.rb approach
- indroduce smart escaping for content
- make Tagz.globally kick ass more hard
- note that this version is not backward compatibile if you were relying
on tagz never escaping any content should be an ok upgrade for most
applications
4.6.0
- fix a bug with self closing tagz that had crept in 1.0.0 -> 4.2.0. thx
jeremy hinegardner
- added tests from 1.0.0 back into svn
4.4.0
- remove dependancy on cgi lib, tagz is now completely standalone
4.3.0
- detect rails and auto-include into ActionController::Base and include
globally into ActionView::Base
4.2.0
- general lib cleanup
- introduction of dual-mixin technique (Tagz.globally)
- few small bug fixes
- ninja tales
SAMPLES
<========< samples/a.rb >========>
~ > cat samples/a.rb
···
#
# in the simplest case tagz generates html using a syntax which safely mixes
# in to any object
#
require 'tagz'
include Tagz.globally
class GiraffeModel
def link
a_(:href => "/giraffe/neck/42"){ "whack!" }
end
end
puts GiraffeModel.new.link
~ > ruby samples/a.rb
<a href="/giraffe/neck/42">whack!</a>
<========< samples/b.rb >========>
~ > cat samples/b.rb
#
# tagz.rb mixes quite easily with your favourite templating engine, avoiding
# the need for '<% rows.each do |row| %> ... <% row.each do |cell> %> '
# madness and other types of logic to be coded in the templating language,
# leaving templating to template engines and logic and looping to ruby -
# unencumbered by extra funky syntax. in rails tagz will automatically be
# available in your erb templates.
#
require 'tagz'
include Tagz.globally
require 'erb'
rows = %w( a b c ), %w( 1 2 3 )
template = ERB.new <<-ERB
<html>
<body>
<%=
table_{
rows.each do |row|
tr_{
row.each do |cell|
td_{ cell }
end
}
end
}
%>
</body>
</html>
ERB
puts template.result(binding)
~ > ruby samples/b.rb
<html>
<body>
<table><tr><td>a</td><td>b</td><td>c</td></tr><tr><td>1</
<td>2</td><td>3</td></tr></table>
</body>
</html>
<========< samples/c.rb >========>
~ > cat samples/c.rb
#
# once you've learned to generate html using tagz you're primed to generate
# xml too
#
require 'tagz'
include Tagz.globally
doc =
xml_{
giraffe_{ 'large' }
ninja_{ 'small' }
}
puts doc
~ > ruby samples/c.rb
<xml><giraffe>large</giraffe><ninja>small</ninja></xml>
<========< samples/d.rb >========>
~ > cat samples/d.rb
#
# tagz.rb doesn't cramp your style, allowing even invalid html to be
# generated. note the use of the 'tagz' method, which can be used both to
# capture output and to append content to the top of the stack.
#
require 'tagz'
include Tagz.globally
def header
tagz{
html_
body_(:class => 'ninja-like', :id => 'giraffe-slayer')
___ "<!-- this is the header -->"
}
end
def footer
tagz{
___ "<!-- this is the footer -->"
body_
html_
}
end
puts header, footer
~ > ruby samples/d.rb
<html><body class="ninja-like" id="giraffe-slayer">
<!-- this is the header -->
<!-- this is the footer -->
<body><html>
<========< samples/e.rb >========>
~ > cat samples/e.rb
#
# tagz.rb allows a safer method of mixin which requires any tagz methods to be
# insider a tagz block - tagz generating methods outside a tagz block with
# raise an error if tagz is included this way. also notice that the error is
# reported from where it was raised - not from the bowels of the the tagz.rb
# lib.
#
require 'tagz'
include Tagz
puts tagz{
html_{ 'works only in here' }
}
begin
html_{ 'not out here' }
rescue Object => e
p :backtrace => e.backtrace
end
~ > ruby samples/e.rb
<html>works only in here</html>
{:backtrace=>["samples/e.rb:17"]}
<========< samples/f.rb >========>
~ > cat samples/f.rb
#
# tagz.rb can generate really compact html. this is great to save bandwidth
# but can sometimes make reading the generated html a bit rough. of course
# using tidy or the dom inspector in firebug obviates the issue; nevertheless
# it's sometime nice to break things up a little. you can use 'tagz << "\n"'
# or the special shorthand '__' or '___' to accomplish this
#
require 'tagz'
include Tagz.globally
html =
div_{
span_{ true }
__
span_{ false } # hey ryan, i fixed this
___
___ 'foo & escaped bar'
}
puts html
~ > ruby samples/f.rb
<div><span>true</span>
<span>false</span>
foo & escaped bar
</div>
<========< samples/g.rb >========>
~ > cat samples/g.rb
# tagz gives you low-level control of the output and makes even dashersized
# xml tagz easy enough to work with
#
require 'tagz'
include Tagz.globally
xml =
root_{
tagz__('foo-bar', :key => 'foo&bar'){ 'content' }
tagz__('bar-foo')
tagz.concat 'content'
tagz.concat tagz.escape('foo&bar')
__tagz('bar-foo')
}
puts xml
~ > ruby samples/g.rb
<root><foo-bar key="foo&bar">content</foo-bar><bar-
contentfoo&bar</bar-foo></root>
a @ http://codeforpeople.com/
--
we can deny everything, except that we have the possibility of being better. simply reflect on that.
h.h. the 14th dalai lama