Templates: {{ }}, p-if, p-for and forms

The <template> block is HTML plus four tools: {{ $expr }} for escaped output, p-if="cond" to render an element conditionally, p-for="$item in $list" to repeat an element, and raw <?php ?> / <?= ?> for anything else. All of it runs once, on the server, per request. There is no p-else, p-show or p-model.

{{ }}: escaped output

{{ $expr }} compiles to <?= htmlspecialchars($expr ?? "") ?>. An expression that starts with a function or static call compiles to <?= htmlspecialchars((string) (expr)) ?>.

• Raw, unescaped HTML (trusted content only): <?= $html ?>.
• A whole attribute cannot come from {{ }} because quotes are escaped: {{ $on ? 'aria-current="page"' : '' }} prints aria-current="page". Output the value instead: aria-current="{{ $on ? 'page' : 'false' }}", or use <?= ... ?>.
• Alpine-looking {{ total() }} is compiled as a PHP call. Use x-text="total()" for Alpine output.

p-if: conditional element

<div p-if="$bShowDetails" class="card">
    <h2>Details</h2>
    <p>{{ $name }}</p>
</div>
<div p-if="!$bShowDetails" class="card">Nothing yet.</div>

<p p-if="count($errors) > 0" class="error">Please fix {{ count($errors) }} fields.</p>
<span p-if="$isNew" class="badge {{ $tone }}">New</span>
<input p-if="$editable" name="title" value="{{ $title }}">

Compiles to <?php if(cond): ?> + the element without the attribute + <?php endif; ?>.

• Works on one line or many, with nested same-tag children, with {{ }}, > or => in other attributes, and on void elements.
• The element must be closed (or be void/self-closing). Otherwise only the opening tag is wrapped and the content always renders (the compiler logs has no closing </tag>).
• The condition is any PHP expression. Use single quotes inside a double-quoted attribute (p-if="$user['role'] === 'admin'").
• p-if inside <?php ?>, HTML comments, {{ }} and <script>/<style> bodies is not converted.
• There is no p-else. Use a negated p-if, or raw PHP for if/elseif/else:

<?php if ($user === null): ?>
    <a href="/login">Sign in</a>
<?php elseif ($user['admin']): ?>
    <AdminMenu/>
<?php else: ?>
    <p>Welcome back, {{ $user['name'] }}</p>
<?php endif; ?>

p-for: repeated element

<li p-for="$fruit in $fruits">{{ $fruit }}</li>

<a p-for="$route in $routes" href="{{ $route['url'] }}">{{ $route['title'] }}</a>

<tr p-for="$id => $product in $products">
    <td>{{ $id }}</td>
    <td>{{ $product['name'] }}</td>
</tr>

<option p-for="$n in range(1, 10)" value="{{ $n }}">{{ $n }}</option>

<li p-for="$n in $numbers" p-if="$n % 2 === 0">{{ $n }} is even</li>

Compiles to <?php foreach (phpue_iterable((expr) ?? null) as $item): ?>…<?php endforeach; ?>.

• Syntax: $item in <expr> or $key => $value in <expr>. <expr> can be a variable, an array index, a function call, a PDOStatement, an ArrayIterator or a generator.
• null, unset variables and scalars render nothing (no warning).
• Nested same-tag children are fine: <div p-for="$r in $rows"><div>{{ $r['v'] }}</div></div>.
• p-for + p-if on one element: loop first, then filter each item.
• A component tag can loop: <ProductCard p-for="$product in $products" /> renders the component once per item, and the component reads $product.
• Invalid syntax (p-for="item of $items") is not converted; the attribute becomes data-phpue-invalid-p-for.
• The loop variable stays defined after the loop (plain PHP foreach), so use specific names.

Forms: no p-model, by design

PHPue is privacy-first: no two-way binding, no keystroke tracking. A p-model regex still exists in conversion.php only as an abandoned placeholder; never use it. Write the attributes yourself and submit on purpose:

<form method="post">
    <input name="email" type="email" value="{{ $email }}" required>
    <textarea name="message">{{ $message }}</textarea>
    <select name="topic">
        <option p-for="$t in $topics" value="{{ $t }}">{{ $t }}</option>
    </select>
    <button type="submit" name="send" value="1">Send</button>
</form>

Handle it in the same view's <script> (if (($_POST['send'] ?? '') === '1') { ... }), or post JSON to an @AJAX function without a reload (@AJAX). Live client-side state, if you need it, is the browser's job (plain JS or Alpine x-model), not a PHPue directive.

Raw PHP in templates

<?php ... ?> and <?= ... ?> pass straight through. Use them for if/elseif/else, loops over complex data, setting variables that a following component will read, and trusted raw HTML.

<?php foreach ($techStack as $tech => $data): ?>
    <div class="card {{ $data['color'] }}">
        <h4>{{ $tech }}</h4>
    </div>
<?php endforeach; ?>

Inline <style> and <script>

• <style> inside a template is fine (component-local CSS, printed wherever the component renders).
• <script src>, <script type="module"> and bare <script> tags inside a template are fine in 0.0.3. Prefer <cscript> for page JS. Do not put the text <template> inside a JS string in an inline script (it counts toward template nesting).

Showing PHPue code as text (docs, tutorials)

The compiler would run code samples, so escape them:

• {{ ... }} as {{ $title }}.
• Tags as <template>, <script>, <li p-for="$item in $items"> (escaped tags are never converted in 0.0.3).
• In PHP strings, split closing script tags: '</scr' . 'ipt>'.
• Or keep samples in a data file (markdown, JSON) and print them escaped with <?= htmlspecialchars($code) ?>, which is how this site shows its examples.