[Templates] Version 2.00 beta 3 is released.

[Andy Wardley]

Come and get it!  Template Toolkit Version 2.00 beta 3 is now 
available from:

  http://www.template-toolkit.org/download/Template-Toolkit-2.00-beta3.tar.gz

This one will be making its way to CPAN at some point, but probably not 
for a day or so.

Attached below is the extract from the Changes file showing changes
since beta 2.

Enjoy
A

#------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Version 2.00 beta 3  10th August 2000
#------------------------------------------------------------------------

* Added the WRAPPER directive to include another template, passing the 
  enclosing block as the 'content' variable.  e.g.

  somefile:                    mytable:
    [% WRAPPER mytable %]        <table>
       blah blah blah            [% content %]
    [% END %]                    </table>

  This is equivalent to:

    [% content = BLOCK %]
       blah blah blah
    [% END %]
    [% INCLUDE mytable %]

* Added the [% INSERT file %] directive to insert the contents of a disk
  file without processing any of the content.  Looks for the file in the
  INCLUDE_PATH and honours the ABSOLUTE and RELATIVE flags.  Added the
  insert($file) method to Template::Context which calls the new 
  load($file) method in Template::Provider which loads the file text
  without compiling it.

* Added the DEFAULT configuration option which allows you to specify a 
  default template which should be used whenever a named template 
  cannot be found.  This is ignored for templates specified with absolute
  or relative filenames, or as references to an input filehandle or text.

* Added a FORNEXT directive to step on to the next iteration of a
  FOREACH loop, as suggested/requested by Jo Ellen Wisnosky.  I chose
  FORNEXT rather than simply NEXT because 'next' is a very common
  variable name but I'm open to better suggestions.  Perhaps CASE
  should be set by default to prevent variable conflict?  This might
  change.

* Reorganised the Template::Filters modules and changed the calling 
  convention for requesting filters via the fetch() method.  This now
  expects a reference to the calling Template::Context object as the
  third parameter (after filter name and reference to a list of arguments).
  Static filter sub-routines are returned as before and the context has
  no effect.  Dynamic filter factories (denoted by a $is_dynamic flag
  in the FILTER_FACTORY table) are called to create a filter sub-routine
  (closure) for each request.  The context is now passed as the first
  parameter, followed by the expansion of any arguments.  Filter 
  factories should return a sub-routine or (undef, $error) on error.

* Added several new filters:
  - 'stderr' prints the output to STDERR (i.e. for generating output 
    in the Apache logfile, for example).  e.g. [% message | stderr %]

  - 'file' is the equivalent of the version 1 redirect() filter which 
    writes the output to a new file, relative to OUTPUT_PATH.  Throws
    a 'file' exception if OUTPUT_PATH is not set.  There should perhaps 
    be some other way to disable this without relying on OUTPUT_PATH.

  - 'eval' evaluates the input as a template and processes it.  Proposed
    by Simon Matthews for times when you might be returning templates 
    fragments from a database, for example.  e.g. [% dirtext | eval %]

  - 'evalperl' evaluate the input as Perl code, as suggested by Jonas
    Liligren. Requires the EVAL_PERL option to be set and will throw a 
    'perl' error if not (see later item).  e.g. [% perlcode | evalperl %]

* Fixed a bug in Template::Provider which was mangling the metadata items
  for the template name and modification time.  The [% template.name %] 
  and [% template.modtime %] variables now work as expected.

* Added 'component' variable, similar to 'template', but which references 
  the current template component file or block, rather than the top-level 
  template.  Of course, these may be one and the same if you're not nesting
  any templates.

* Template::Provider now reports errors raised when re-compiling 
  modified templates rather than ignoring them, thanks to a patch from
  Perrin Harkins.

* Fixed Template::Context to recognise the RECURSION option once more,
  thanks to a patch from Rafael Kitover.

* Overloaded "" stringification of Template::Exception to call as_string(),
  again thanks to Rafael.  In a catch block you can now simply say 
  [% error %] as well as the more explicit  [% error.type %] and/or 
  [% error.info %].

* Changed Template module (via Template::Service) to return the
  exception raised rather than a pre-stringified form.  This allows
  you to test the type() and/or info() if you want, or just print it
  and rely on the automatic stringification mentioned above to format
  it as expected.  Note that the top-level process($file) method
  returns a string rather than an exception if $file can't be found.
  This is a bug, or a possible "gotcha" at the very least, and should
  get fixed some time soon.  For now, test that the error is a
  reference before attempting to call info() or type().

* Fixed a bug preventing literal newlines from being used in strings.
  Thanks to Simon Matthews for bringing it to my attention by calling 
  my hotel room at the Perl Conference and saying "Hello?  Is that the 
  Template Toolkit Helpdesk?  I have a bug to report..."  :-) 
  (I fixed it on his laptop a few minutes later - good service, eh?)

* Changed Template::Parser to not compile PERL or RAWPERL blocks if
  EVAL_PERL is not set.  Previously they were compiled but switched out
  at runtime.  This was erroneous as rogue BEGIN { } blocks could still
  be executed, as noted by Randal Schwartz.  Any PERL or RAWPERL blocks
  encountered when EVAL_PERL is disabled will now cause a 'perl' exception
  to be thrown. 

* Added a define_block($name, $block) option to Template::Context to 
  add a definition to the local BLOCKS cache.  $block can be a reference
  to a template sub-routine or Template::Document object or template 
  text which is first compiled.

* Any other errors thrown in a PERL blocks (assuming EVAL_PERL set)
  are now left unchanged.  Previously, these were converted to 'perl'
  exceptions which prevented exceptions of other kinds being throw
  from within Perl code.

* Applied a patch from Chris Dean to fix a bug in the list 'sort' 
  method which was converting a single element list into a hash.  The
  sort now does nothing unless there's > 1 elements in the list.

* Changed Template::Stash set() method to append the assigned value to
  the end of any arguments specified, rather than prepending it to the 
  front.  e.g. The foo() method called by [% myobj.foo(x, y) = z %] now
  receives arguments as foo(x, y, z) instead of foo(z, x, y).

* Changed Template::Base::error() to accept a reference (e.g. exception)
  as the first parameter.  In this case, no attempt is made to 
  concatenate (and thereby stringify) the arguments.

* Added a direct stash() accessor method to Template::Context rather 
  than relying on the slower AUTOLOAD method.

* Added an iterator() method to Template::Config to require
  Template::Iterator and instantiate an iterator, and changed
  generated code for FOREACH to call this factory method.  This fixes
  a bug with pre-compiled (i.e persistant) templates which were
  failing if Template::Iterator wasn't already loaded.  Thanks to Doug
  Steinwand, Rafael Kitover and Jonas Lilegren who all identified the
  problem and hounded me until I fixed it.  :-)
 
* Fixed a problem with persistant templates not being reloaded due to 
  the %INC hash.  This caused 1 to be returned from require() instead 
  of the compiled template.

* Added ABSOLUTE and RELATIVE options to tpage by default.

* Applied various documentation and test patches from Leon Brocard.
  Fixed docs to quote dotted exception types to prevent string
  concatenation, as noted by Randal Schwartz.  Generally added a 
  whole lot more documentation.