README

ModeliXe v2 is a light-weight PHP template library that was originally used in 2001 for a guestbook. The template engine and guestbook application originated in France. This new version 2 works in PHP 8 and can be used for experimenting, personal small projects, or further upgrading. I wanted to resurrect my old guestbook. Thus, I put some time into repairing this ModeliXe template engine.

ModeliXe v1 was the templating engine featured in a vintage web-based guestbook named @lexGuestbook. Their website is still up and running. You can download the original code from their website located at this link: @lexGuestbook Original Code Download.

Directories and Files Not Included in Packagist Package

CSS/
Templates/
.gitattributes
Quad-Template-Test-1.php
Table-Template-Test-1.php

Test Files

Quad-Template-Test-1.php
Table-Template-Test-1.php
These test files demonstrate how the library works.

Library Features

HTML Template Variable syntax:

<title>{text id="Title"}</title>

HTML Bloc Template Variable syntax:

<div>
    {start id="BlocTop"}

    {end id="BlocTop"}
</div>

Using the Bloc feature, you can append, delete, replace, loop, and modify blocks of HTML.
The modify option allows you to load another template reference into the HTML document.
The Bloc feature also allows you to loop a template reference.
For example, you can read dynamic data from a database, and render it using this library (for experimental purposes).
See the Table Template Test 1 sample file for an illustration.

Installation - Composer

run this command in your project root:

composer require hotelmah/modelixe

There is no need to manually create/update a composer.json file in your project root since this command does it automatically.
The package is listed on Packagist, but is hosted on GitHub where the source is pulled from.

Installation - Manual

Copy the src directory contents to an appropriately named directory like includes/ in your LAMP web hosting provider.
Refer to the 2x test files above.

Notes

There is no further documentation for this library.
The samples are not included in the Packagist package.
The samples serve as the tool to learn how to use the library.
Included in the samples are how to create a form select drop-down control.
There are additional features of the library to be discovered by browsing the code.
For example, the template engine can also create links, images links, radio buttons, etc.
If you like to see me upload more samples, post a discussion or issue entry. Thanks!
What's great about a template engine is separating server code from structure and styling languages.

Purpose

Revisit the past.
Experiment with an old template engine.
Use it as a light weight engine for testing or small purposes.
Upgrade the project.

Future Upgrades

The caching feature is not working.
The Error Manager could use improvement.
Additional minor code improvements and refactoring.

Feedback

Forks and Pull Requests are welcomed.
Suggestions and comments for improvement are requested.
Thank you for reading!

License

GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE, Version 3.

hotelmah / modelixe

Maintainers

Details