The Deck Template Generator Main Function

Introduction     Implementing    Other Uses    Background

The Deck Template Generator function generates the WML Deck Template used by its Deck Generator function.  This automatic generation of the Deck Template is an important part of the Websydian Enterprise WAP product as it helps getting the syntax of the WML Deck Templates right.

In Websydian, Deck Templates are used by the Deck Generator functions to determine the contents of the WML Decks sent to WAP users.  The Deck Templates themselves are represented in a valid WML format.

WML Deck Generators work (analogous to HTML Page Generators) by producing WML Decks based on a Deck Template.  The contents of the Deck Template is copied as-is to the produced WML Deck, except when a replacement marker is met in the template.   Then, the replacement marker is substituted with the corresponding field in the WsyDetails or WsyGrid region of the Deck or Card Generator function performing the substitution.

Each Deck Generator function in a Websydian application has a Deck Template Generator function scoped under it.  This Deck Template Generator is generated and built at development-time and when the function is run, it will produce a first-cut WML Deck Template that can be used by the Deck Generator function.  The contents of the generated Deck Template is determined by the triple-definitions in the scoping Deck Generator function and the associated Card Generator functions, WAP Event Handlers and Jump functions.

More Information

See the Background page for more information on the structure of WML Deck Templates and how the Template Generation process is divided between the Deck Template Generator and one or more Card Template Generators.  See also the documentation of the HTML Document Template Generator main function in order to read more about generation of Document Templates in general.

Refer to the WML reference documentation for exact information on the WML syntax (download from http://www.wapforum.org/what/technical.htm).