# ductape

Static template generator for C

## Installation

```
git clone git@soophie.de:/srv/git/ductape
cd ductape
sudo make install
```

## Quick Start

Create a `macro.h` file which needs to define `DUC_OUT` for storing the handle the content is later written to and `DUC_WRITE` which handles consuming and writing onto the handle.

The file can be extended with custom macros (like `STRING`, `NUMBER`, `MARKDOWN`, etc.), to simplify writing more complex templates.

```c
#define DUC_OUT ((str_t *) out) // cast custom handle
#define DUC_WRITE($str) { str_append(DUC_OUT, $str); } // define custom write function

#define STRING DUC_WRITE
```

The template `example.html` is defined (could be any kind of language), which includes the previously defined macro header file, followed by the start of the template definition `TEMPLDEF` with the first parameter being the UID and succeeding with varies parameters which allow for injecting dynamic data. The end of the template is marked with `ENDTEMPL`. Inside the template definition. the content is rendered, while content outside will be ignored.

The symbol `%` marks the delimiter between template and C code. In order to use the delimiter in the template it needs to be repeated twice to escape the character. All parameters passed into the template are bound to the `ctx` variable.

```html
% #include "macro.h" %

% TEMPLDEF(
  example,
  char *message;
) %

<p>% STRING(ctx->message) %</p>

% ENDTEMPL %
```

The template can be compiled with the the installed CLI command `ductape`. Simply pass a list of files to the command and it will generate the corresponding `.h` (header) and `.so` (shared library) files based on the specified UID of the template.

```
ductape example.html
```

Finally, a main function can be defined which imports the compiled `example.h` header file, which contains everything needed to dynamically render the template, such as the `example_t` context structure passed into the template, as well as the `example_render` function which renders the template into the specified `out` handle.

```c
#include "example.h"

int main(void) {
  str_t out = STR_NULL;
  example_t ctx = {
    .message = "It works!",
  };
  int ret = example_render(&out, &ctx);
  if (ret == 0) {
    printf("%s", (char *) str_get(&out))
    str_free(&out);
  }
  return ret;
}
```

## License

This project is licensed under the **GNU General Public License v3.0 (GPLv3)**.

**What this means:** You are free to use, study, and modify this framework. However, if you distribute a program that uses this framework (including selling it), you **must** provide the full source code of your program under the same GPLv3 license.

See the [LICENSE](?license) file for the full legal text.