Handlebars in OL Connect

Handlebars is the name of a JavaScript library that implements a templating language (see https://handlebarsjs.com/). It uses a template and an input object to generate output.

Handlebars templates look like regular text with embedded Handlebars expressions. A handlebars expression is a {{, some contents, followed by a }}. For example:
<p>Hello {{firstname}} {{lastname}}!</p>

When the template is rendered, these expressions are replaced with values from an input object.

The Handlebars library is integrated in OL Connect Designer. This means that you can use Handlebars expressions in a special type of snippets: Handlebars templates.

The big advantage of using Handlebars templates in OL Connect is that only one or two very simple Designer scripts are needed to replace the expressions with values and insert the content in a section. This is especially beneficial for OL Connect templates with many snippets and many different placeholders that would otherwise require a large number of scripts.

More about expressions and the functions that you can use in Handlebars templates can be found in the topics Handlebars expressions and Using logic in a Handlebars template: helpers.

Handlebars templates can in turn use other Handlebars templates as snippets. They are called partials. How this works is explained in the topic: Partials.