The jQuery.tmpl() method is designed for chaining with .appendTo, .prependTo, .insertAfter or .insertBefore as in the following example.

Example:

$.tmpl( "<li>${Name}</li>", { "Name" : "John Doe" }).appendTo( "#target" );

The template parameter can be any of the following:

• A string containing markup.
• An HTML element (or jQuery object that wraps an element) whose content is to be used as the template.
• A string corresponding to the name of a named template (see jQuery.template() and .template()).
• A compiled-template function (see jQuery.template() and .template()).

If data is an array, the template is rendered once for each data item in the array. If data is an object, or if the data parameter is missing or null, a single template item is rendered.

The return value is a jQuery collection of elements made up of the rendered template items (one for each data item in the array). If the template contains only one top-level element, then there will be one element for each data item in the array.

To insert the rendered template items into the HTML DOM, the returned jQuery collection should not be inserted directly into the DOM, but should be chained with .appendTo, .prependTo, .insertAfter or .insertBefore, as in following example:

$.tmpl( myTemplate, myData ).appendTo( "#target" );

See also .tmpl().

Example

The following example shows how to use jQuery.tmpl() to render local data, using a template provided as a string:

<ul id="movieList"></ul>

<script type="text/javascript">
  var movies = [
      { Name: "The Red Violin", ReleaseYear: "1998" },
      { Name: "Eyes Wide Shut", ReleaseYear: "1999" },
      { Name: "The Inheritance", ReleaseYear: "1976" }
  ];

  var markup = "<li><b>${Name}</b> (${ReleaseYear})</li>";

  // Compile the markup as a named template
  $.template( "movieTemplate", markup );

  // Render the template with the movies data and insert
  // the rendered HTML under the "movieList" element
  $.tmpl( "movieTemplate", movies )
      .appendTo( "#movieList" );
</script>

Using Remote Data

Typically the data is not local and is instead obtained using an Ajax request to a remote service or page, as in the following example:

var markup = "<li><b>${Name}</b> (${ReleaseYear})</li>";

// Compile the markup as a named template
$.template( "movieTemplate", markup );

$.ajax({
  dataType: "jsonp",
  url: moviesServiceUrl,
  jsonp: "$callback",
  success: showMovies
});

// Within the callback, use .tmpl() to render the data.
function showMovies( data ) {
  // Render the template with the "movies" data and insert
  // the rendered HTML under the 'movieList' element
  $.tmpl( "movieTemplate", data )
    .appendTo( "#movieList" );
}

The Markup for the Template

You can get the markup for the template from inline markup in the page, or from a string (possibly computed, or obtained remotely). For an example of how to use inline markup, see .tmpl().

Caching the Template

When a template is rendered, the markup is first converted into a compiled-template function. Every time $.tmpl( markup , myData ).appendTo( "#target" ) is called, the template is recompiled. If the same template is to be used more than once for rendering data, you should ensure that the compiled template is cached. To cache the template when using markup that is obtained from a string (rather than from inline markup in the page), use $.template( name, markup ) to create a named template for reuse. See jQuery.template().

Template Tags, Expressions, and Template Variables

Template tags such as the ${} tag can used within jQuery templates in addition to text and HTML markup to enable a number of scenarios such as composition of templates, iteration over hierarchical data, parameterization of template rendering, etc. Template tags can render content based on the values of data item fields or template variables such as $item (corresponding to the template item), as well as expressions and function calls. See the documentation topics for each template tag: ${}, {{each}}, {{if}}, {{else}}, {{html}}, {{tmpl}} and {{wrap}}.

The options Parameter, and Template Items

Each template item (the result of rendering a data item with the template) is associated with a tmplItem data structure, which can be accessed using jQuery.tmplItem() and .tmplItem(), or the $item template variable. Any fields or anonomyous methods passed in with the options parameter of jQuery.tmpl() will extend the tmplItem data structure, and so be available to the template as in the following example:

var markup = "<li>Some content: ${$item.myMethod()}.<br/>" 
           + " More content: ${$item.myValue}.</li>";

// Compile the markup as a named template
$.template( "movieTemplate", markup );

// Render the template with the movies data
$.tmpl( "movieTemplate", movies,
  { 
      myValue: "somevalue", 
      myMethod: function() { 
          return "something";
      } 
  } 
).appendTo( "#movieList" );

• Netflix recently changed the API that we use in the remote service example below. We are aware that this change breaks the demo and will work on an update as soon as we can.