pad

PAD Tags Reference

This document provides a complete reference for all PAD tags, grouped by functionality.

Control Flow Tags

if

Conditional execution based on expression evaluation.

{if $condition}
  Content shown if condition is true
{elseif $other_condition}
  Content shown if other condition is true
{else}
  Content shown if all conditions are false
{/if}

Parameters:

Supports: {elseif} and {else} clauses

case

Switch-case style conditional based on value matching.

{case $value}
  {when 'option1'}Content for option1
  {when 'option2'}Content for option2
  {when 'default'}Default content
{/case}

Parameters:

Supports: Multiple {when} clauses

switch

Rotating switch that cycles through options on each call.

{switch 'name', 'odd', 'even'}

Parameters:

Returns: Next value in rotation sequence

while

Loop while condition is true.

{while $condition}
  Loop content
{/while}

Parameters:

Behavior: Continues iterating while condition evaluates to true

until

Loop until condition becomes true.

{until $condition}
  Loop content
{/until}

Parameters:

Behavior: Continues iterating while condition is false (opposite of while)

Variable and Data Tags

set

Set one or more global variables.

{set name='value', count=5, active=TRUE}

Parameters:

Note: Cannot be used as open/close tag pair

get

Retrieve content from the content store or include files.

{get 'content_name'}

Parameters:

Returns: Retrieved content

data

Store data to the data store for iteration.

{data 'store_name'}
  Content to iterate
{/data}

Parameters:

Behavior: Stores data and iterates over it

content

Store content to the content store.

{content 'store_name'}
  Content to store
{/content}

Parameters:

bool

Store boolean value to store.

{bool 'store_name'}

Parameters:

field / array / record

Database record access tags.

{field 'tablename fieldname'}
{array 'tablename'}
{record 'SQL query'}

Parameters:

Returns: Database query results

Counter Tags

count

Check if array/data has elements.

{count $arrayName}
  Has elements
{/count}

Parameters:

Returns: TRUE if has elements, FALSE if empty

increment

Increment a variable by 1.

{increment $counter}

Parameters:

Behavior: Creates variable with value 1 if doesn’t exist

decrement

Decrement a variable by 1.

{decrement $counter}

Parameters:

Behavior: Creates variable with value -1 if doesn’t exist

Execution Tags

page

Include and execute a PAD page.

{page 'pagename'}

Parameters:

Behavior: Executes the page’s PHP and PAD files

code

Execute PHP code.

{code 'phpfile'}

Parameters:

Note: Content is cleared before execution

sandbox

Execute code in isolated sandbox.

{sandbox 'phpfile'}

Parameters:

Behavior: Same as code but in sandbox mode

action

Execute a sequence action.

{action 'action_name'}

Parameters:

ajax

Handle AJAX request.

{ajax 'handler'}

Parameters:

pad

Generic PAD include tag.

{pad data='source'}
  Template content
{/pad}

Behavior: Processes PAD template with data

redirect

Redirect to another URL.

{redirect 'url'}

Parameters:

Behavior: Performs HTTP redirect

restart

Restart PAD processing with new page.

{restart 'pagename', param1='value1'}

Parameters:

File Operation Tags

files

List files in a directory with filtering options.

{files 'directory', mask='*.txt', recursive=TRUE}
  {$path} - {$file}
{/files}

Parameters:

Returns: Array with path, file, ext, item, dir for each entry

dir

Simple directory listing.

{dir '/path/to/directory'}

Parameters:

Returns: Array of filenames (via scandir)

file

Write content to file.

{file dir='path', name='filename', ext='txt'}
  File content
{/file}

Parameters:

exists

Check if file exists.

{exists '/path/to/file'}

Parameters:

Returns: TRUE if file exists, FALSE otherwise

open

Return opening brace character.

{open}

Returns: &open; (entity for {)

close

Return closing brace character.

{close}

Returns: &close; (entity for })

HTTP and Network Tags

curl

Make HTTP request.

{curl 'http://example.com', method='POST', data='payload'}

Parameters:

Behavior: Makes HTTP request, throws error if result is not 200

Returns: Response data

Output Tags

echo

Evaluate and output expression.

{echo $variable}
{echo '5 + 3'}

Parameters:

Returns: Evaluated result

output

Set output type.

{output 'download'}

Parameters:

tidy

Format/beautify HTML content.

{tidy}
  <html>content</html>
{/tidy}

Behavior: Applies HTML tidying to content

ignore

Escape PAD syntax in content.

{ignore}
  {this is not processed}
{/ignore}

Behavior: Escapes content so PAD tags are not processed

Debugging Tags

dump

Dump debug information.

{dump}

Behavior: Calls padDump() with message

trace

Enable detailed tracing.

{trace}
  Code to trace
{/trace}

Behavior: Enables trace mode for enclosed content

Error Handling Tags

error

Trigger a PAD error.

{error 'Error message'}

Parameters:

Behavior: Calls padError() with message

exception

Throw PHP exception.

{exception 'Exception message'}

Parameters:

Behavior: Throws PHP Exception

exit

Exit PAD processing.

{exit}

Behavior: Calls padExit() to terminate processing

Boolean/Value Tags

true

Return TRUE value.

{true}

Returns: TRUE

false

Return FALSE value.

{false}

Returns: FALSE

null

Return NULL value.

{null}

Returns: NULL

Sequence Tags

sequence

Generate mathematical sequences.

{sequence prime, rows=10}
{sequence fibonacci, from=1, to=100}
{sequence '1..10'}

Parameters: See sequence subsystem documentation for full parameter list.

Returns: Generated sequence array

continue

Skip to next iteration of a loop.

{continue 'tagname'}

Parameters:

Behavior: Skips to next iteration (like PHP’s continue)

cease

Soft stop - graceful end of loop.

{cease 'tagname'}

Parameters:

Behavior: Gracefully ends loop processing

break

Hard stop - immediate exit from loop.

{break 'tagname'}

Parameters:

Behavior: Immediately exits loop (like PHP’s break)

pull

Pull stored sequence data.

{pull 'stored_name'}

Parameters:

flag

Set sequence flag.

{flag}

Behavior: Used within sequence processing

keep

Keep sequence values matching criteria.

{keep}

Behavior: Filter to keep matching values

remove

Remove sequence values matching criteria.

{remove}

Behavior: Filter to remove matching values

make

Transform sequence values.

{make}

Behavior: Transform values during sequence generation

Summary Table

Tag Category Description
if Control Flow Conditional execution
case Control Flow Switch-case matching
switch Control Flow Rotating value switch
while Control Flow Loop while true
until Control Flow Loop until true
set Variables Set global variables
get Variables Get stored content
data Variables Store/iterate data
content Variables Store content
bool Variables Store boolean
field Database Query field
array Database Query array
record Database Execute SQL
count Counters Check element count
increment Counters Increment variable
decrement Counters Decrement variable
page Execution Include PAD page
code Execution Execute PHP
sandbox Execution Sandboxed PHP
action Execution Execute action
ajax Execution AJAX handler
pad Execution PAD include
redirect Navigation HTTP redirect
restart Navigation Restart processing
files Files List files
dir Files Directory listing
file Files Write file
exists Files Check file exists
open Files Opening brace
close Files Closing brace
curl Network HTTP request
echo Output Evaluate/output
output Output Set output type
tidy Output Format HTML
ignore Output Escape content
dump Debug Dump info
trace Debug Enable tracing
error Errors Trigger error
exception Errors Throw exception
exit Errors Exit processing
true Values Return TRUE
false Values Return FALSE
null Values Return NULL
sequence Sequences Generate sequence
continue Loop Control Skip to next iteration
cease Loop Control Soft stop (graceful end)
break Loop Control Hard stop (immediate exit)
pull Sequences Pull stored data
flag Sequences Set flag
keep Sequences Keep matching
remove Sequences Remove matching
make Sequences Transform values

Type Prefixes

Resolve naming conflicts with explicit prefixes:

Prefix Purpose Example
app: App tag from _tags/ {app:mytag}
pad: Built-in PAD tag {pad:if}
php: Call PHP function {php:strlen(@)}
function: Custom PAD function {$x \| function:myfunc}
data: Defined data block {data:items}
content: Content block {content:header}
pull: Stored sequence {pull:mySeq}
field: Database field {field:"name from users"}
table: Database table {table:users}
local: Files from _data/ {local:menu.json}
constant: PHP constant {constant:PHP_VERSION}
bool: Boolean store {bool:isAdmin}
array: Access array as loop {array:items}
action: Sequence action {action:reverse}

Options Reference

Options modify tag behavior. Add them to any tag.

Data Flow Options

Option Direction Description
data Input Get data from source
content Input Get content from store
toData Output Store data to variable
toContent Output Store content to variable
toBool Output Store boolean flag

Conditional Options

Option Description
bool Check/create boolean flag
optional Suppress not-found errors
demand Mark as required
null Alternative for NULL
else Alternative for empty/false
notOk / error Alternative for error

Formatting Options

Option Description Example
quote Wrap in quotes quote="'"
open Prefix on first open="["
close Suffix on last close="]"
glue Separator glue=", "
tidy Clean whitespace  

Control Options

Option Description
sort Sort data
rows Limit rows
first First N items
last Last N items
page Pagination
cache Cache output
callback Run callback
ignore Skip PAD processing
noError Suppress errors
dump Debug output

Combined Formatting Example

{list quote="'" glue=", " open="[" close="]"}

Result: ['item1', 'item2', 'item3']

Properties Reference

Access iteration state and metadata using property@tag syntax.

Iteration State Properties

Property Description
first@tag Is first iteration
last@tag Is last iteration
notFirst@tag Is NOT first
notLast@tag Is NOT last
border@tag Is first OR last
middle@tag Is neither first nor last
even@tag Is even occurrence
odd@tag Is odd occurrence

Counter Properties

Property Description
current@tag Current occurrence (1-based)
count@tag Total items
remaining@tag Items remaining
done@tag Items completed

Data Access Properties

Property Description
key@tag Current array key
keys@tag All keys with values
fields@tag Field name/value pairs
data@tag Full data array
firstFieldName@tag First field’s name
firstFieldValue@tag First field’s value

Tag Metadata Properties

Property Description
name@tag Tag name
parameter:x@tag Named parameter
parameters@tag All parameters
option:n@tag Positional option
options@tag All options
variable:x@tag Level variable
variables@tag All variables

Properties Example

{items}
  {if first@items}<ul>{/if}
  <li class="{even@items ? even : odd}">{$name}</li>
  {if last@items}</ul>{/if}
  Index: {current@items} of {count@items}
{/items}
This site is open source. Improve this page.