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====== Template system ======

This document explains the language syntax of the Arkadia template system. Arkadia’s template language is 
designed to strike a balance between power and ease. It’s designed to feel comfortable to those used 
to working with HTML. If you have any exposure to other text-based template languages, such as Smarty 
or CheetahTemplate, you should feel right at home with ArKadia’s templates

===== Philosophy =====
 
If you have a background in programming, or if you’re used to languages like PHP which mix programming 
code directly into HTML, you’ll want to bear in mind that the ArKadia template system is not simply PHP 
embedded into HTML. This is by design: the template system is meant to express presentation, not program logic.
 
The Arkadia template system provides tags which function similarly to some programming constructs – an if 
tag for boolean tests, a for tag for looping, etc. – but these are not simply executed as the corresponding 
PHP code, and the template system will not execute arbitrary PHP expressions. Only the tags, filters and 
syntax listed below are supported by default (although you can add your own extensions to the template 
language as needed).

===== Templates =====

Template is simply a text file. It can generate any text-based format (HTML, XML, CSV, etc.).
A template contains variables, which get replaced with values when the template is evaluated, 
and tags, which control the logic of the template. Below is a minimal template that illustrates a 
few basics. Each element will be explained later in this document.:

<code html>
<#doctype>
<html>
  <head>
    <#meta_title>
    <#meta_description>
  </head>
  <body>
    <#frame name="topframe">
  </body>
</html>
</code>

Why use a text-based template instead of an XML-based one (like Zope's TAL)? We wanted ArKadia's template 
language to be usable for more than just XML/HTML templates. We use it for emails, JavaScript and CSV. 
You can use the template language for any text-based format.

===== Variables =====

Variables look like this: <#variable>. When the template engine encounters a variable, it 
evaluates that variable and replaces it with the result. Variable names consist of any 
combination of alphanumeric characters and the underscore ("_"). The dot (".") also appears 
in variable sections, although that has a special meaning, as indicated below. Importantly, 
you cannot have spaces or punctuation characters in variable names.
 
Use a dot (.) to access attributes of a variable. <#section.title> will be replaced with the 
title attribute of the section object. If you use a variable that doesn't exist, the template 
system will insert '' (the empty string) by default.
 
===== Filters =====

You can modify variables for display by using filters. Filters look like this: <#name lowercase="1"> 
This displays the value of the <#name> variable after being filtered through the lower filter, 
which converts text to lowercase. To give you a taste of what's available, here are some of the more 
commonly used template filters:

=== default ===

If a variable is false or empty, use given default. Otherwise, use the value of the variable

For example:
 
<code html>
<#value default="nothing">
</code>

=== lowercase ===

=== uppercase === 

=== xmlencode === 

=== htmlencode === 

=== httpencode === 

=== JavascriptEncode === 

=== rtfencode ===
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