Using ERB for massive static pages compilation

vaskas — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 10:44:34 +0000

For Inshaker, we needed a templating mechanism for pages sharing the same design. We also wanted the pages to be static (for performance reasons). We did not need them to be generated on-the-fly.
ERB was an ideal option for such a purpose. It allows us to generate all (75+) static pages when we need to make an update.
It is also very simple in terms of use:

1. You create a template for your page (template.rhtml)




	<%= @title %>


	This page was generated by <%= @name %> on <%= Time.now.to_s %>.
	
	<% @tags.each do |tag| %>
	<%= tag %>
	<% end %>

2. You create a ruby class which is bound to the template and run erb (erb_test.rb)


require 'rubygems'
require 'erb'

class MyPage
  def initialize(hash)
    @title = hash[:title] + " - that's what I mean"
    @name = hash[:name]
    @tags = hash[:tags]
  end

  def get_binding
    binding
  end
end

# Instantiate ERB with the instance of that class and flush the output
template = File.open("template.rhtml").read
renderer = ERB.new(template)
page     = MyPage.new({:title => "ERB rules",
                       :name => "Ninja",
                       :tags => ["ruby", "erb", "html", "example"]})

File.open("mypage.html", "w+") { |html|
    html.write renderer.result(page.get_binding)
}

Of course, this is just a basic usage example. ERB shows its power when there are A LOT of pages to be generated, not a single one
I should have a closer look at SproutCore since they seem to be using the same principle for views compilation.

Underneath the already known » erb

Using ERB for massive static pages compilation