EJS

• a template engine for nodejs.
• it use javascript language.
• it allow me to create dynamic webpages.
• it basically allow me to do following :
  • inject variables to html page.
  • allow me to render array of objects.
  • it give me ability to make a conditional render.
  • it allow me to create a layout.
  • it allow me to create partials.

Using EJS

1. inside terminal npm install ejs.
2. then navitage to project folder and set view engine to use ejs.
   • app.set('view engine', 'ejs') // tell it i am using ejs
   • app.set('views', __dirname+ 'views') // tell app that views inside views folder in the first parameter, and it's living inside the path inside the second parameter.
3. create a file in views folder with extention .ejs : index.ejs.
4. write html inside it.
5. create a route and send that file on matched url, the reason it will work because i configured my application to use it earlier.

a.get('/home',(req,res)=>{
    res.render('index')
})

INJECT VARIABLES.

• the .render() method take 3 parameters: fileName, object and callback function.
• the object recieve data: render('index', {name: 'yazan'})
• inside index.ejs: ` <h1> I am <%= name %></h1>`.

control flow:

• i can write either for loops over list of items or create if statement.
• inside object again : {arr: [‘yazan’,’Anna’,’Halo’]}.
• inside index.ejs :

    <% for(let i =0; i<arr.length; i++){ %>
           <li> <%= arr[i]%> </li>
            
    <% } %>
  

• if statement is the same structure:
• wrap <%%> around flow.
• wrap <%=%> around injected variable.

Layout.

• it help me to create the main layout of the website, for example i have header file inside every page in the website, nav as well as footer.
• the body is the only changeable part of the webpage.
• using layout will help me add this layout and only change the body.
• it’s not native model inside my ejs, express or node.js which means i have to download that paackage.
• to download it npm install express-ejs-layouts
• to use it require it const expressLayouts = require('express-ejs-layouts')
• app.use(expressLayouts).
• create a route for home page and a route for about page.
• inside views folder, create layout.ejs.
• write header, nav, footer.
• add body like so : ` <%- body %>` and automatically all routes will be handles inside the layout file.
• run app and see the different.

Partials.

• partials works similar to layout but the different is we create resuable code instead of writing it over and over (it has nothing to do with the layout).
• for example i create code and want it to run in more than one page inside the body.
• in this case partials will come in handy.
• unlike partials they are inside the ejs native module.
• to use them just create a folder name it partials.
• create file want to resue and write html inside of it.
• go back to file want to resue the file.
• add this line : <%- include(‘partials/partialFile.ejs’)%>