HTMX - static document generator, with Javascript preprocessing

Use Javascript where you would ordinarily use PHP or some templating language.

STATUS: v0.0.2 so alpha it hurts

This has just been hacked together, so expect a bumpy ride.

Overview

$ echo "1::b::3" | htmx --context "{b:'2'}"
→ 123

Default script delimiters are the same for left and right side. Double colon :: was chosen for it's scarse use in websites source-code.

You can set it up with ['<\\?', '\\?>'] delimiters for PHP-like short tags.

If your Javascript returns an object structure instead of a text response, (say some vDOM) you can use the preprocess() function to layout the final output.

Download

npm install -g htmx

Node.js Quickstart

var
fs= require('fs'),
htmx= require('htmx')()

fs.writeFileSync(
  'test.html',                                // → "123"
  htmx(
    fs.readFileSync('test.htmx').toString(),  // → "1::b::3"
    fs.readFileSync('test.js').toString()     // → "{b:2}"
))

Shell Quickstart

$ cat index.html
→ "1::b::3"
$ cat index.js
→ {b:'2'}
$ htmx --context index.js  --template index.html
→ 123
// -c can be a JSON string
// if -t is missing, STDIN is used instead
$ htmx --root .  --build ../build  // see TODO.md
// builds current dir, using index.js for context, if exists

F. A. Q. (advanced usage)

All shell options can be shortened, as long as they are distinguishable.
So the --root option can become -r and the --context option can become -c

Use the --delimiter option like so: htmx -d \\\{\\\{ \\\}\\\}. Yes, I know.
RegExp escape, shell escape, no quotes, weird space in the middle. PRs welcome.

The preprocess() function lives in the preprocess.js module, which you will have to hack on. PRs welcome.

Rationale

PHP is way too clunky still. Things like Jinja's filter pipes in Javascript naturally become chains, the script return value naturally becomes the response, I mean, I didn't do much to make all this work, not at all.

Javascript is a fine templating language, when used like this.