{"id":1355,"date":"2008-09-12T03:45:23","date_gmt":"2008-09-12T08:45:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/docs\/?page_id=1355"},"modified":"2025-07-28T11:35:36","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T16:35:36","slug":"freemarker-overview","status":"publish","type":"ht_kb","link":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/docs\/knowledge-base\/freemarker-overview","title":{"rendered":"Freemarker Overview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Brief Explanation<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In all templates, m-Power uses the Freemarker template engine to create your Java Servlet Applications. While Freemarker itself is not a “complete” coding language, it is quite powerful and rich with many customizable options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you generate any m-Power application, you will see code similar to this in the source of your HTML:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<!-- <#list table_rows as row> --><\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<tr> <td nowrap class=\"${rowClass(row_index)}\" align=\"right\"><\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

${row.CUSNO?html}<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/td><td nowrap class=\"${rowClass(row_index)}\" align=\"right\"><\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

${row.CMPNO?html}<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/td><td nowrap class=\"${rowClass(row_index)}\" align=\"left\"><\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

${row.CNAME?html}<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/td> <\/tr><\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<!-- <\/#list> --><\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first and last lines of the code #list and \/#list dictate to your Java Servlet to repeat this section of code for as many records as are requested to be displayed on the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within m-Power, fields are noted: ${row.CMPNO?html} where CMPNO is the name of your Field. The $ denotes that a Substitution is about to occur. {row. Indicates the location the field is to come from. Alternatives to the {row. Syntax would be row0.FIELDNAME for Single Record Templates, and ${grandTotal, ${subTotal1, ${subTotal2 for Reports. The CMPNO indicates the name of the Field from your Database. Lastly, the ?html indicates the field’s encoding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any code outside of the <#list> and <\/#list> tags will only be preformed once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Basic Coding with Freemarker within Presentation (HTML) Layer<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Creating New Variables<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Freemarker structure is fully customizable to include some coding placed directly within the presentation (HTML) layer. To assign a variable, use the following syntax:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<!--<#assign variablename=value>--><\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For computability reasons within m-Painter, you must wrap all #assign tags within HTML comment tags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Examples of the #assign tag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<!--<#assign counter=0>--><\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<!--<#assign counter=counter+1>--><\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<!--<#assign sometext=\"Sample Text\">--><\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To use these variables, simply use the following text: ${counter} where counter is your newly created variable name. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Variables created on the page should not <\/strong>include “row.” in the syntax as these values are not coming from the database.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you wish to create a variable and assign a value from your database, please use the following syntax:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<!--<#assign sometext= row.FIELDNAME>--><\/code> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Including the “$”, curly brackets, and “row.” within a freemarker function will cause a runtime error. Instead of using ${row.FIELDNAME}, just use row.FIELDNAME<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If & If\/Else Looping<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

You can also utilize looping within the HTML layer as well. The syntax is as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<!--<#if variable RELATIONSHIP value>--><\/code> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For computability reasons within m-Painter, you must wrap all #if tags within HTML comment tags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Code inside If statement<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<!--<\/#if>--><\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Valid relationships include all standard relationships, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

== — Equals<\/p>\n\n\n\n

> — Greater than<\/p>\n\n\n\n

>= — Greater than or Equal to<\/p>\n\n\n\n

< — Less than<\/p>\n\n\n\n

< — Less than or Equal to<\/p>\n\n\n\n

!= — Not equal to<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also use Else logic as well:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<!--<#if variable == 0>--><\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<!--<#assign variable=7>--><\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Variable is equal to 7<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<!--<#else>--><\/code> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Variable is equal to 0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<!--<\/#if>--><\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you wish to use a Database value within your IF statement, please use the following syntax:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<!--#if sometext== row.FIELDNAME>--><\/code> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Common Variables<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

${visitor.user} — Only available when mrc Security has been activated. Will display the User’s Sign on name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

${visitor.library} — Will return the name of the Current Data Dictionary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

${page.app} — Will return the Application name. For instance, Report 10 would return R00010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

${visitor.sessionID} — Will return the 32 character Session ID. This ID is unique by Browser Session, thus no two browsers can have the same session ID.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

${visitor.remoteIp} — This variable will return the IP address of the Client’s browser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

${visitor.loginDate} — This variable will return the Date of the Initial login. It is in the format YYYY-MM-DD. In the absence of mrc Security, it will display the time the application was first accessed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

${visitor.loginTime} — This variable will return the Time of the Initial login. It is in the format HH:MM:SS. In the absence of mrc Security, it will display the time the application was first accessed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

${visitor.userAgent} — This variable will return the full User Agent string from the client’s browser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Common Date Variables<\/em>
All values are returned in the YYYY-MM-DD format. Variables that return a range are separated by a space. Fiscal dates are determined from the ‘fiscal_month’ setting in the mrcjava\/WEB-INF\/classes\/mrc_runtime.properties file (i.e. fiscal_month=5).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assuming the current date is 2018-01-10, the date variables would return the following values:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

${visitor.today} — Current date (2018-01-10)
${visitor.tomorrow} — Tomorrow’s date (2018-01-10)
${visitor.yesterday} — Yesterday’s date (2018-01-09)
${visitor.thisweek} — Sunday to Saturday of the current week (2018-01-07 2018-01-13)
${visitor.thisweektodate} — Sunday of the current week to the current date (2018-01-07 2018-01-10)
${visitor.lastweektodate} — Sunday of the previous week to the current week day of the previous week (2017-12-31 2018-01-03)
${visitor.lastweek} — Sunday and Saturday of the previous week (2017-12-31 2018-01-06)
${visitor.nextweek} — Sunday to Saturday of the following week (2018-01-14 2018-01-20)
${visitor.thismonth} — First day of the current month to the last day of the current month (2018-01-01 2018-01-31)
${visitor.thismonthtodate} — First day of the current month to the current day of the current month (2018-01-01 2018-01-10)
${visitor.nextmonth} — First day of the following month to the last day of the following month (2018-02-01 2018-02-28)
${visitor.lastmonth} — First day of the previous month to the last day of the previous month (2017-12-01 2017-12-31)
${visitor.lastmonthtodate} — First day of the previous month to the current day of the previous month (2017-12-01 2017-12-10)
${visitor.thisquarter} — First day of the current quarter to the last day of the current quarter (2018-01-01 2018-03-31)
${visitor.lastquarter} — First day of the previous quarter to the last day of the previous quarter (2017-10-01 2017-12-31)
${visitor.thisyear} — First day of the current year to the last day of the current year (2018-01-01 2018-12-31)
${visitor.nextyear} — First day of the following year to the last day of the following year (2019-01-01 2019-12-31)
${visitor.lastyear} — First day of the previous year to the last day of the previous year (2017-01-01 2017-12-31)
${visitor.thisyeartodate} — First day of the current year to the current date (2018-01-01 2018-01-10)
${visitor.lastyeartodate} — First day of the previous year to the current day of the previous year (2017-01-01 2017-01-10)
${visitor.thisquarterfiscal} — First day of the current fiscal quarter to the last day of the current fiscal quarter (2017-11-01 2018-01-31)
${visitor.lastquarterfiscal} — First day of the previous fiscal quarter to the last day of the previous fiscal quarter (2017-08-01 2017-10-31)
${visitor.thisyearfiscal} — First day of the current fiscal year to the last day of the current fiscal year (2017-05-01 2018-04-30)
${visitor.lastyearfiscal} — First day of the previous fiscal year to the last day of the previous fiscal year (2016-05-01 2017-04-30)
${visitor.thisyearfiscaltodate} — First day of the current fiscal year to the current date (2017-05-01 2018-01-10)
${visitor.lastyearfiscaltodate} — First day of the previous fiscal year to the current day of the previous fiscal year (2016-05-01 2017-01-10)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Implement your own Freemarker Custom Changes<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To make Freemarker changes, compile your application and enter m-Painter. Click the “Source” button and find your <#list><\/code> section using m-Painter’s Binoculars. It is at this location within the code that you can make all necessary changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Links to Useful Freemarker Resources<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

— Useful Freemarker String Functions<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

— Useful Freemarker Numeric Functions<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

— Useful Freemarker Date Functions<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

— Controlling Page Layout using If Logic<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

— Freemarker Site<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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