asteroid/docs/CLIP-TEMPLATE-REFACTORING.org

CLIP Template Refactoring - Complete

• Overview
• What Was Completed
  • Centralized Template Utilities
  • Template Refactoring
  • Files Modified
• Technical Implementation
  • Template Caching
  • Rendering Function
  • CLIP Attribute Processors
• Benefits
• Documentation
• Status: ✅ COMPLETE

Overview

Complete refactoring of template rendering system to use CLIP (Common Lisp HTML Processor) machinery properly, eliminating code duplication and establishing a centralized template management system.

What Was Completed

Centralized Template Utilities

• Created template-utils.lisp with core rendering functions
• Implemented render-template-with-plist for consistent template rendering
• Added template caching for improved performance
• Defined CLIP attribute processors (data-text) in centralized location

Template Refactoring

All pages now use the centralized rendering system:

• Front page (/)
• Admin dashboard (/admin)
• User management (/admin/users)
• Web player (/player)

Files Modified

• asteroid.asd - Added template-utils.lisp to system definition
• asteroid.lisp - Refactored all define-page forms to use new system
• template-utils.lisp - New file with centralized utilities
• All .chtml template files - Updated to use CLIP processors

Technical Implementation

Template Caching

(defvar *template-cache* (make-hash-table :test 'equal)
  "Cache for compiled templates")

(defun get-cached-template (template-name)
  "Get template from cache or load and cache it"
  (or (gethash template-name *template-cache*)
      (setf (gethash template-name *template-cache*)
            (load-template template-name))))

Rendering Function

(defun render-template-with-plist (template-name &rest plist)
  "Render a template with a property list of values"
  (let ((template (get-cached-template template-name)))
    (clip:process-to-string template plist)))

CLIP Attribute Processors

(clip:define-attribute-processor data-text (node value)
  "Process data-text attributes for dynamic content"
  (plump:clear node)
  (plump:make-text-node node (clip:clipboard value)))

Benefits

1. Code Reduction - Eliminated duplicate template loading code across all routes
2. Performance - Template caching reduces file I/O
3. Maintainability - Single source of truth for template rendering
4. Consistency - All pages use the same rendering mechanism
5. Type Safety - Centralized error handling for template operations

Documentation

Complete documentation available in:

• docs/CLIP-REFACTORING.org - Detailed technical documentation
• template-utils.lisp - Inline code documentation

Status: ✅ COMPLETE

All template refactoring tasks completed successfully. System is production-ready.