Partials

Partials are normal Handlebars templates that may be called directly by other templates. This topic explains how to work with Handlebars partials in OL Connect.
Information about Handlebars templates (snippets) in OL Connect can be found in the topics Handlebars templates.

Note: The information in this Online Help focuses on the implementation of Handlebars in OL Connect. For general information about Handlebars and how to use it, see the following web sites: https://handlebarsjs.com/ and https://devdocs.io/handlebars.

Creating a partial

Any Handlebars template, including remote Handlebars templates, can be used as a partial in a Handlebars template (snippet) in OL Connect.

To create a partial in an OL Connect template, simply create a new Handlebars template; see Creating a Handlebars template.

Tip: To keep an overview you could group the partials in a sub folder of the Snippets folder on the Resources pane.

How to register a partial

It is not mandatory to register a partial, but it can be useful, for example if you want to work with dynamic partials. Registered partials can be referred to in Handlebars expressions and functions by the specified name; see Using a registered partial in a template.

To register a partial, use the following function in a script: Handlebars.registerPartial('partialName', 'template') (for details see: Handlebars API).

For example, this line of code registers a template (clauses.hbs) as a partial with the name 'clauses':
Handlebars.registerPartial('clauses', 'snippets/partials/clauses.hbs');

Tip: Partials registered in a Control Script will be available in all standard scripts. Control Scripts are executed first. (See Control Scripts.)

Note: Registering multiple partials with a single call is not supported in OL Connect.

Using partials in Handlebars templates

To include a partial in a Handlebars template, insert an expression that refers to it, for example:
{{> partialname.hbs}}.
Relative paths (starting with snippets/) and arbitrary URLs (starting with file:// or http:// or https://) are supported.
The file name can be:

  • the name of an .hbs snippet in the template (for example:{{> snippets/Snippet 1.hbs}}

  • the name of an .hbs snippet on disk (starting with file:///)

  • the name of a remote .hbs snippet (starting with http:// or https://)

With a snippet on disk, the complete syntax is: file://<host>/<path>. If the host is "localhost", it can be omitted, resulting in file:///<path> - note the three forward slashes after file:.
In the remainder of the path you can either use escaped backward slashes:
"file:///C:\\Users\\Administrator\\Desktop\\Handlebars_LoadFile.hbs"
or forward slashes:
"file:///C:/Users/Administrator/Desktop/Handlebars_LoadFile.hbs"

Note: A partial is compiled automatically when the template in which it is inserted is rendered.

Using a registered partial in a template

Registered partials (see How to register a partial) can be referred to by name instead of file name, using the following syntax:
{{> partialName}}.

For example, a partial that is registered as follows:
Handlebars.registerPartial('clauses', 'snippets/partials/clauses.hbs');
can be included in a Handlebars template with the following expression: {{> clauses}}.

When a partial is missing

If there is no partial with the specified name, Handlebars can generate some other content, called failover content. Failover content can be specified using block syntax. The expression that calls the partial is the start of a block. An expression with a closing tag and the name of the partial signals the end of the block. The content between these expressions will be used if the called partial is missing.

For example: {{#> myPartial }} Failover content {{/myPartial}} will render "Failover content" if the "myPartial" partial is not registered.

Dynamic partials

To load partials dynamically, based on data, you could use a block helper (see Using functions in expressions: Helpers and Using Handlebars templates: examples).

It is also possible to dynamically select a partial by using a sub expression between parentheses. The sub expression should evaluate to the name of a partial.

For example, if whichPartial is a function that returns the name of a partial, {{> (whichPartial) }} in a Handlebars template calls whichPartial and then renders the partial whose name is returned by this function.

Note that to use a function in this way, it must be registered as a Helper. See Creating custom Helpers.

Inline partials

Inline partials are supported as well. See the two examples at https://docs.w3cub.com/handlebars/partials#inline-partials.

Unsupported features

The following Handlebars partials features are not supported in OL Connect.