Syntax

{if [!][?|=]NAME/}
TRUE_TEMPLATE_TEXT
{elseif [!][?|=]NAME2/}
ELSE_TRUE_TEMPLATE_TEXT
{else/}
FALSE_TEMPLATE_TEXT
{endif/}

Where:

• The NAME is an item, column name, or template component attribute.
• If the value is true then the text that follows is output.
• The value is false if it is an empty string or ‘F’, ‘N’, or ‘0’.
• Any value that is not false is true.
• If the NAME is proceeded by an exclamation mark (!) then the logic is negated and the following template text is processed if the value is false.
• A value is false if after trimming leading and trailing spaces it is an empty string.

The if condition directive handles both empty (or not empty) tests and Boolean true/false tests (using the convention of character true/false values such as 'Y'/'N') at the same time. This results in confusion for rare case where the intention is to test for not empty but the actual value is 'N', which is not empty but still considered false. The optional '?' prefix operator can be used to explicitly test if the value is empty. The optional '=' prefix operator can be used to explicitly test if the value is true or false.

The following table summarizes the available condition directives.

There can be zero or more elseif directives. The elseif and else directive are optional. The directives must go in the order shown.

Example

A cards report contains a column named DESCRIPTION. The following HTML Expression attribute will display the description if it is not null (empty string) and “No description.” otherwise.

{if DESCRIPTION/}&DESCRIPTION.{else/}No description.{endif/}

Syntax

{case NAME/}
{when STRING1/}
TEMPLATE_TEXT1
{when STRING2/}
TEMPLATE_TEXT2
{otherwise/}
TEMPLATE_TEXT
{endcase/}

The NAME is an item, column name, or template component attribute. The value is compared with the strings after each when directive and if they are equal then the following text is output. If no when directive matches then the text after the otherwise directive, if there is one, is output. The value and each string is trimmed of leading and trailing spaces before comparison. The comparison is case sensitive.

Example

This example using the sample EMP table displays the compensation differently depending on the JOB. For sales people it shows both the salary and commission. For the president it shows “--” rather than salary and for all other jobs it shows just the salary.

{case JOB/}
{when SALESMAN/}
&SAL. (&COMM.)
{when PRESIDENT/}
--
{otherwise/}
&SAL.
{endcase/}

Syntax

{loop ["SEP"] NAME/}
TEMPLATE_TEXT
{endloop/}

The NAME is an item or column name that has multiple values separated by the character given by SEP. The default separator is ":". If SEP is more than one character it is treated as a regular expression.

The template text within the loop can use these substitutions:

• APEX$ITEM - This is the value of the current item in the list.

• APEX$I - This is 1 based index of the current item in the list.

Example

The following example takes a column called TAGS that contains a comma (,) separated list of tags such as "apples,cherries,pears" and turns it into an HTML list that can be nicely styled with CSS.

<ul class="tags">{loop "," TAGS/}
  <li class="tag-item">&APEX$ITEM.</li>
{endloop/}</ul>

Syntax

{with/}
PLACEHOLDER1:=EXPRESSION1
PLACEHOLDER2:=EXPRESSION2
{apply TEMPLATE_INTERNAL_NAME/}

Requirements when using this directive include:

• Use the with directive to assign values to placeholders for the Template Component plug-in that is specified in the apply directive.
• Template Component plug-ins use Server-side rendering.
• The use of Template Directives within value expressions is supported.

Example

{with/}
TYPE:=IMAGE
IMAGE:=&IMAGE_URL.
ALT:={if DESCRIPTION/}&DESCRIPTION.{else/}No description.{endif/}
{apply THEME$AVATAR/}

In this example, THEME$AVATAR is the internal name of a Template Component plug-in installed in the application. This template has three placeholders, TYPE, IMAGE and ALT to which values are assigned.