This feature exists since FreeMarker 2.3.4.
FreeMarker supports an alternative syntax, where
[
and ]
is used instead of
<
and >
in FreeMarker
directives and comments, for example:
-
Calling predefined directive:
[#list animals as animal]...[/#list]
-
Calling user-defined directive:
[@myMacro /]
-
Comment:
[#-- the comment --]
To use the alternative syntax instead of the default one, start
the template with the ftl
directive
using the alternative syntax. If you don't know what is the
ftl
directive, just start the template with
[#ftl]
, and remember that it should be the very
first thing in the file (except that white-space can precede it). For
example, this is how the last example of the Getting Started looks with
the alternative syntax (assuming it's a complete template, not just a
fragment):
[#ftl] <p>We have these animals: <table border=1> <tr><th>Name<th>Price [#list animals as animal] <tr> <td> [#if animal.size == "large"]<b>[/#if] ${animal.name} [#if animal.size == "large"]</b>[/#if] <td>${animal.price} Euros [/#list] </table>
The alternative (square bracket) and the default (angle bracket)
syntax are mutually exclusive within a template. That is, either the
whole template uses alternative syntax, or the whole template uses the
default syntax. If the template uses alternative syntax, things like
<#if ...>
are
count as static text, not as FTL tags. Similarly, if the template uses
the default syntax, things like [#if
...]
count as static text, not as
FTL tags.
If you start the file with [#ftl
...]
(where the
...
stands for the
optional parameters; of course [#ftl]
works too)
the file will surely use the alternative (square bracket) syntax. If
you start the file with <#ftl
...>
the file will surely use
the normal (angle bracket) syntax. If there is no
ftl
directive in the file, then the programmer
decides what the syntax will be by configuring FreeMarker (programmers see
Configuration.setTagSyntax(int)
in the API
javadocs). Most probably the programmers use the factory
default however. The factory default in 2.3.x is using the normal
syntax. The factory default in 2.4.x will be auto-detection, which
means that the first FreeMarker tag determines the syntax (it can be
anything, not just ftl
).