websun

name	websun
description	Websun HTML template parser syntax reference. Use when editing or creating .tpl template files, or when working with websun.php. Covers variables, conditions, cycles, nested templates, and function calls.

Websun HTML template parser

Condensed syntax reference (skill) for AI assistants.

Templates use the .tpl extension (also allowed: .html, .css, .js, .xml).

Quick syntax reference

Variables

Syntax	Meaning
{*var*}	Variable value
{*a.b.c*}	Nested access via dot (outside cycles)
{*a:b*}	Nested access via colon (inside cycles, a is the iterated array)
{*$_GET.foo*}	Global / superglobal variable ($ prefix)
{*=CONST_NAME*}	PHP constant
{*"text"*}	String literal
{*123*}	Numeric literal
{*TRUE*} / {*FALSE*}	Boolean
{*var^COUNT*}	count($var)
{*var1|var2|"default"*}	First non-empty alternative
{**}	Root variable passed to template

Missing variables silently resolve to empty string — no errors or warnings.

Comments

/* C-style block comments */

Conditions (if)

Syntax	Meaning
{?*var*}...{?}	If var is truthy
{?!*var*}...{?}	If var is falsy (negated)
{?*var*}yes{?!}no{?}	If/else
{?*a = b*}...{?}	Equal (loose)
{?*a == b*}...{?}	Equal (strict)
{?*a != b*}...{?}	Not equal (loose)
{?*a !== b*}...{?}	Not equal (strict)
{?*a > b*}...{?}	Greater than
{?*a >= b*}...{?}	Greater or equal
{?*a < b*}...{?}	Less than
{?*a <= b*}...{?}	Less or equal
{?*c1|c2*}...{?}	OR conditions
{?*c1&c2*}...{?}	AND conditions

Right side of comparison: variable name by default; "quoted string" for string; digits for number.

Functions in conditions: {?* @in_array(10, *a*) *}...{?}

Conditions can be nested.

Cycles (loops)

Syntax	Meaning
{%*array*}...{%}	Iterate over array
{%*array*}body{%!}empty{%}	With negative part (shown if array empty)
{%**}...{%}	Iterate over root array

Inside a cycle, access current element's keys with colon notation:

{%*menu*}
    <a href="{*menu:url*}">{*menu:title*}</a>
{%}

Special iteration variables (suffix after array:):

Syntax	Meaning
{*array:^KEY*}	Current key (string or numeric)
{*array:^i*}	Zero-based index (0, 1, 2, ...)
{*array:^N*}	One-based number (1, 2, 3, ...)

Cycles can be nested to any depth.

Nested templates (includes)

Syntax	Meaning
{* + tpl.tpl *}	Include template with all current data
{* + *var* | tpl.tpl *}	Include template with var as root data
{* + *%var* | tpl.tpl *}	Iterate over var, include template per element
{* + *?var* | tpl.tpl *}	Include only if var is truthy
{* + *tpl_var* *}	Template path from variable
{* + *var* | >*code_var* *}	Inline template from variable
{* + ^T *}	Recursive call to current template

Inside an included template that received a partial data slice, use {*:key*} or just {*key*} to access the passed element's fields.

Template path prefixes

Prefix	Resolves relative to
(none) tpl.tpl	Current template's directory
^/tpl.tpl	Templates root dir (passed as 3rd arg to websun_parse_template_path)
$/path/tpl.tpl	$_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT']
/abs/path/tpl.tpl	Filesystem absolute path

Function calls

Syntax	Meaning
{* @func(args) *}	Call function, insert result
{* @func(args) | tpl.tpl *}	Call function, pass result as data to template
{* @func( @other() ) *}	Nested function calls
{* @*obj*->method(args) *}	Object method (obj from variable)
{* Class::method(args) *}	Static method
{* @*func_var*(args) *}	Function name from variable

Function arguments accept: variables *var*, strings "text", numbers 123, JSON arrays [1,2,3], JSON objects {"a":"b"}.

Allowed callbacks (default): array_key_exists, date, DateTime::format, htmlspecialchars, implode, in_array, is_array, is_null, json_encode, mb_lcfirst, mb_ucfirst, rand, round, strftime, urldecode, var_dump.

Register more via global $WEBSUN_ALLOWED_CALLBACKS array.

PHP entry points

// From file path
$html = websun_parse_template_path($DATA, $tpl_path, $templates_root_dir);

// From template string
$html = websun_parse_template($DATA, $template_code, $templates_root_dir);

Set ini_set('pcre.backtrack_limit', 1024*1024) for large templates.