handlebars-rust
===============
Rust templating with [Handlebars templating language](https://handlebarsjs.com).
[](https://travis-ci.org/sunng87/handlebars-rust)
[](https://crates.io/crates/handlebars)
[](https://crates.io/crates/handlebars)
[](./LICENSE)
[](https://gitter.im/sunng87/handlebars-rust)
This library works on stable Rust 1.4.0 and above. In most time, it
also works on beta and nightly channel.
## Getting Started
Check examples in the source. The example shows you how to:
* Create a `Handlebars` and register the template from files
* Create a custom Helper with closure or struct implementing
`HelperDef`, and register it
* Render something
Run `cargo run --example render` to see results.
(or `RUST_LOG=handlebars=info cargo run --example render` for logging
output).
Checkout `examples/` for more concrete demos of current API.
From 0.13, you can use either `rustc_serialize` or `serde` for your
data type. By default we use `ToJson` from `rustc_serialize` to
convert your data into handlebars internal types. If you use `serde`
framework in your project, you can enable `serde_type` feature of this
crate and we will use `Serialize` from `serde` to convert.
## Documents
[Rust
doc](http://sunng87.github.io/handlebars-rust/handlebars/index.html).
## Changelog
Change log is available in the source tree named as `CHANGELOG.md`.
## Why (this) Handlebars?
Handlebars is a real-world templating system that you can use to build
your application without pain.
### Features
#### Isolation of Rust and HTML
This library doesn't attempt to use some macro magic to allow you to
write your template within your rust code. I admit that it's fun to do
that but it doesn't fit real-world use case.
#### Limited but essential control structure built-in
Only essential control directive `if` and `each` were built-in. This
prevents you to put too much application logic into your template.
#### Extensible helper system
You can write your own helper with Rust! It can be a block helper or
inline helper. Put you logic into the helper and don't repeat
yourself.
A helper can be as a simple as a Rust function like:
```rust
fn hex_helper (_: &Context, h: &Helper, _: &Handlebars, rc: &mut RenderContext) -> Result<(), RenderError> {
// just for example, add error check for unwrap
let param = h.param(0).unwrap().value();
let rendered = format!("0x{:x}", param.as_u64().unwrap());
try!(rc.writer.write(rendered.into_bytes().as_ref()));
Ok(())
}
/// register the helper
handlebars.register_helper("hex", Box::new(hex_helper));
```
And using it in your template:
```handlebars
{{hex my_value}}
```
#### Template inheritance
Every time I look into a templating system, I will investigate its
support for [template
inheritance](https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.9/ref/templates/language/#template-inheritance).
Template include is not sufficient for template reuse. In most case
you will need a skeleton of page as parent (header, footer, etc.), and
embed you page into this parent.
You can find a real example for template inheritance in
`examples/partials.rs`, and templates used by this file.
### Limitations
* This implementation is **not fully compatible** with the original
javascript version. Specifically, mustache list iteration and null
check doesn't work. But you can use `#each` and `#if` for same
behavior.
* You will need to make your data `ToJson`-able, so we can render
it. If you were on nightly channel, we have [a syntax
extension](https://github.com/sunng87/tojson_macros) to generate
default `ToJson` implementation for you. If you use
[serde](https://github.com/serde-rs/serde), you can enable
`serde_type` feature of handlebars-rust and add `#derive[Serialize]`
for your types.
### Handlebars-js features supported in Handlebars-rust
* Expression / Block Helpers
* Built-in helpers
* each
* if
* with
* lookup
* partial
* block
* include `>`
* log
* Custom helper
* Parameter and hashes for helper
* Partials, include
* Omitting whitespace with `~`
* Subexpression `{{(foo bar)}}`
* Json expression `a.b.[0]` and `a.b.[c]`
* RawHelper syntax `{{{{raw-helper}}}}...{{{{/raw-helper}}}}`
### JavaScript implementation features we don't have
* Mustache block (use `if`/`each` instead)
* Block params (Perhaps using `this`)
* Chained else
* ...
Feel free to report an issue if you find something broken. We aren't
going to implement all features of handlebars-js, but we should have a
workaround for cases we don't support.
## Handlebars for Iron
I have started another project
[handlebars-iron](https://github.com/sunng87/handlebars-iron) for
the Iron web framework.
## License
This library (handlebars-rust) is open sourced under MIT License.
## Contact
[Ning Sun](https://github.com/sunng87) (sunng@about.me)