Chapter 5 Customizing Generation with GTL

GTL Macro Reference

Macros can be used to express template logic, and to loop on object collections. Each macro keyword must be preceded by a . (dot) character and has to be the first non blank character of a line. Make sure you also respect the macro syntax in terms of line breaks.

You define a macro inside a template, or a command entry.

There are three types of macros:

• Simple macros are single line macros.
  
  
• Block macros consist of a begin and an end keyword delimiting a block to which the macro is applied. They have the following structure:

.macro-name [(parameters)]
	block-input
.endmacro-name [(tail)]

• Loop macros are used for iteration. At each iteration, a new scope is created. The template specified inside the block is translated successively with respect to the iteration scope.

.foreach_macro-name [(parameters[,head[,tail]])]
	complex-template
.next[(separator)]

The following macros are available:

• Conditional and loop / iterative macros:
  
  
  • .if macro
  • .foreach_item macro – iterates on object collections
  • .foreach_line macro – iterates on lines
  • .foreach_part macro – iterates on parts
  • .break macro – breaks the loop
• Assignment macros - define a local variable of object or value type as well as volatile attributes:
  
  
  • .set_object and .set_value macros
  • .unset macro
• Output and error reporting macros:
  
  
  • .log macro
  • .error and .warning macros
• Command macros - only available in the context of the execution of a generic command:
  
  
  • .vbscript macro - embed VB script code inside a template
  • .execute_vbscript macro - launch vbscripts
  • .execute_command macro - launch executables
  • .abort_command macro - stop command execution
  • .change_dir macro - changing a directory
  • .create_path macro - creating a specified path
• Formatting macros:
  
  
  • .lowercase and .uppercase macros
  • .convert_code and .convert_code macros – converts codes into names
• String manipulation macros:
  
  
  • .replace macro
  • .delete macro
  • .unique macro
  • .block macro - adds a header and a footer to a text block
• Miscellaneous macros:
  
  
  • .comment and .// macro - inserts a comment in a template
  • .collection macro - returns a collection of objects based on the specified scope and condition
  • .object macro - returns an object based on the specified scope and condition
  • .bool macro - evaluates a condition
  • .set_interactive_mode macro – defines whether the GTL execution must interact with the user

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