Basic Syntax

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# Chapter 3. Basic Syntax

All Smarty template tags are enclosed within delimiters. By default these are `{` and `}`, but they can be changed.

For the examples in this manual, we will assume that you are using the default delimiters. In Smarty, all content outside of delimiters is displayed as static content, or unchanged. When Smarty encounters template tags, it attempts to interpret them, and displays the appropriate output in their place.

# Comments

Template comments are surrounded by asterisks, and that is surrounded by the delimiter tags like so:

    {* this is a comment *}

Smarty comments are NOT displayed in the final output of the template, unlike `<!-- HTML comments -->`. These are useful for making internal notes in the templates which no one will see ;-)

Example 3-1. Comments within a template
    {* I am a Smarty comment, I don't exist in the compiled output  *}
    <html>
    <head>
    <title>{$title}</title>
    </head>
    <body>

    {* another single line smarty comment  *}
    <!-- HTML comment that is sent to the browser -->

    {* this multiline smarty
       comment is
       not sent to browser
    *}

    {*********************************************************
    Multi line comment block with credits block
      @ author:         bg@example.com
      @ maintainer:     support@example.com
      @ para:           var that sets block style
      @ css:            the style output
    **********************************************************}

    {* The header file with the main logo and stuff  *}
    {include file='header.tpl'}

    {* Dev note:  the $includeFile var is assigned in foo.php script  *}
    <!-- Displays main content block -->
    {include file=$includeFile}

    {* this <select> block is redundant *}
    {*
    <select name="company">
      {html_options options=$vals selected=$selected_id}
    </select>
    *}

    <!-- Show header from affiliate is disabled -->
    {* $affiliate|upper *}

    {* you cannot nest comments *}
    {*
    <select name="company">
      {* <option value="0">-- none -- </option> *}
      {html_options options=$vals selected=$selected_id}
    </select>
    *}

    {* cvs tag for a template, below the 36 SHOULD be an american currency
    . however its converted in cvs.. *}
    {* &#36;Id: Exp &#36; *}
    {* $Id: *}
    </body>
    </html>

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