dynamic templates
Product Information
The DynamicTemplate engine and Copernicus Modified MMUI provide a robust and highly configurable screen template control system, never before available for MMUI based compiled Miva Merchant 4 stores.
Using Templates to make New Screens
Template files are HTML files that describe a “layout” for a screen such as a product screen. Tokens are used within the HTML layout to represent variable values that will change depending on what item is currently being viewed. These tokens are “replaced” with the actual contents of a database record when a page is viewed.
For example, a product screen template defines the layout of some (or all) of the product pages in the store; however the “contents” of a particular product is used to replace the tokens within the product page template. Therefore all product screens within the store have the same layout (look and feel), while the contents of that page is different depending on which product is being viewed. Because these templates are backed by the DynamicTemplates Engine, all tokens are properly interpreted.
DynamicTemplates allows you to create new screens for every page in your Miva Merchant store. You can use the templates supplied with the module ditribution, make your own templates or turn to professional resources to design them for you.
Using the DynamicTemplates Engine and Token Engine
The DynamicTemplate Engine is a robust template-processing engine designed by Copernicus specifically for Miva Merchant stores. Originally designed for OpenUI based stores, the DynamicTemplate engine has been an embedded feature of the OpenUI SuperMod and has been available to OpenUI based stores for some time. The DynamicTemplate Engine allows one to fully re-design any screen in a Miva Merchant store using full screen templates, as well as create new screens for the store using full screen templates.
The DynamicTemplate engine provides a set of simple flow control programming constructs such as loop and conditional execution blocks that allows one to “program” an HTML file to be dynamic.
Tokens are “smart” strings of text (or short-hand text) that are used to represent an action, variable or module-based HTML output. When the DynamicTemplate engine encounters a token within an HTML (template) file, the token is handed off to a token engine for “replacement”. The token engine replaces the token with an HTML string for display to the customer via a web browser. A token can be used for many purposes, including calling a module to display a certain portion of a screen.
When used with OpenUI (embedded in the OpenUI SuperMod), the DynamicTemplate engine allows one to use the OpenUI token engine to place variable and module display tokens throughout a template file. When used with MMUI, the DynamicTemplate engine allows one to use the Copernicus Token Engine to place variable and module display tokens throughout a template file. The Copernicus Token Engine provides a subset of OpenUI-compatible tokens; including an OpenUI-compatible module token interface for calling OpenUI-based tokenized modules for use in a MMUI based store. Any OpenUI-token compatible module should be able to be used within the MMUI store using full screen templates and tokens.
Using OpenToken Modules
One of the major benefits of the DynamicTemplate Engine is that it can provide MMUI compatibility with your OpenUI-token based modules. The DynamicTemplate Engine can be configured to call your OpenUI module tokens; these tokens will need to be manually registered with the DynamicTemplate Engine in the DynamicTemplate Engine configuration screen. (Please review the product manual for information.)
OpenUI-Token Compatibility for MMUI: The DynamicTemplate Engine will call your module tokens using the standard OpenUI token calling parameters; in other words, the tokens provided by your modules will be called in the same manner that OpenUI calls these modules. Therefore no vendor changes will be required to your modules in order to use the module tokens in your DynamicTemplates.
MMUI and OpenUI Dispatch: Many OpenUI based modules perform actions at specific hook points within the modules; generally these modules all perform their actions in the OpenUI Dispatch function. For most modules, actions are performed at OpenUI Hook number 39:1, 39:2, or 39:34. The DynamicTemplate Engine can be configured to call these modules during MMUI Dispatch, simulating their use in an OpenUI based store. When configuring the token registration of the module, you can choose which dispatch hook is called (if any).
In order to determine your module compatibility, please contact the vendor of your OpenUI-based module to set the proper dispatch configuration. Copernicus cannot guarantee any particular OpenUI-token based module compatibility or provide support for 3rd party modules.
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