# Templating
## Contents
- [The Basics](#the-basics)
- [Sections](#sections)
- [Blade Template Engine](#blade-template-engine)
- [Blade Layouts](#blade-layouts)
<a name="the-basics"></a>
## The Basics
Your application probably uses a common layout across most of its pages. Manually creating this layout within every controller action can be a pain. Specifying a controller layout will make your develompent much more enjoyable. Here's how to get started:
#### Specify a "layout" property on your controller:
class Base_Controller extends Controller {
public $layout = 'layouts.common';
}
#### Access the layout from the controllers' action:
public function action_profile()
{
$this->layout->nest('content', 'user.profile');
}
> **Note:** When using layouts, actions do not need to return anything.
<a name="sections"></a>
## Sections
View sections provide a simple way to inject content into layouts from nested views. For example, perhaps you want to inject a nested view's needed JavaScript into the header of your layout. Let's dig in:
#### Creating a section within a view:
<?php Section::start('scripts'); ?>
<script src="jquery.js"></script>
<?php Section::stop(); ?>
#### Rendering the contents of a section:
<head>
<?php echo Section::yield('scripts'); ?>
</head>
#### Using Blade short-cuts to work with sections:
@section('scripts')
<script src="jquery.js"></script>
@endsection
<head>
@yield('scripts')
</head>
<a name="blade-template-engine"></a>
## Blade Template Engine
Blade makes writing your views pure bliss. To create a blade view, simply name your view file with a ".blade.php" extension. Blade allows you to use beautiful, unobtrusive syntax for writing PHP control structures and echoing data. Here's an example:
#### Echoing a variable using Blade:
Hello, {{$name}}.
#### Echoing function results using Blade:
{{ Asset::styles() }}
#### Rendering a view:
<h1>Profile</hi>
@include('user.profile')
> **Note:** When using the **@include** Blade expression, the view will automatically inherit all of the current view data.
#### Creating loops using Blade:
<h1>Comments</h1>
@foreach ($comments as $comment)
The comment body is {{$comment->body}}.
@endforeach
#### Other Blade control structures:
@if (count($comments) > 0)
I have comments!
@else
I have no comments!
@endif
@for ($i =0; $i < count($comments) - 1; $i++)
The comment body is {{$comments[$i]}}
@endfor
@while ($something)
I am still looping!
@endwhile
#### The "for-else" control structure:
@forelse ($posts as $post)
{{ $post->body }}
@empty
There are not posts in the array!
@endforelse
<a name="blade-unless"></a>
#### The "unless" control structure:
@unless(Auth::check())
{{ HTML::link_to_route('login', 'Login'); }}
@endunless
// Equivalent...
<?php if ( ! Auth::check()): ?>
...
<?php endif; ?>
<a name="blade-comments"></a>
#### Blade comments:
@if ($check)
{{-- This is a comment --}}
...
@endif
> **Note:** Blade comments, unlike HTML comments, are not visible in the HTML source.
<a name="blade-layouts"></a>
## Blade Layouts
Not only does Blade provide clean, elegant syntax for common PHP control structures, it also gives you a beautiful method of using layouts for your views. For example, perhaps your application uses a "master" view to provide a common look and feel for your application. It may look something like this:
<html>
<ul class="navigation">
@section('navigation')
<li>Nav Item 1</li>
<li>Nav Item 2</li>
@yield_section
</ul>
<div class="content">
@yield('content')
</div>
</html>
Notice the "content" section being yielded. We need to fill this section with some text, so let's make another view that uses this layout:
@layout('master')
@section('content')
Welcome to the profile page!
@endsection
Great! Now, we can simply return the "profile" view from our route:
return View::make('profile');
The profile view will automatically use the "master" template thanks to Blade's **@layout** expression.
Sometimes you may want to only append to a section of a layout rather than overwrite it. For example, consider the navigation list in our "master" layout. Let's assume we just want to append a new list item. Here's how to do it:
@layout('master')
@section('navigation')
@parent
<li>Nav Item 3</li>
@endsection
@section('content')
Welcome to the profile page!
@endsection
Notice the **@parent** Blade construct? It will be replaced with the contents of the layout's navigation section, providing you with a beautiful and powerful method of performing layout extension and inheritance.