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The lsWrite Macro

The lsWrite macro specifies text for the list section of a list (the portion between the <pdm_list> and the </pdm_list> tags). Text specified for the text argument of this macro is deferred, and not written to the output HTML until the lsEnd macro.

lsWrite [both=no|yes]

text=”xxx”

both

Specifies that the text operand is to be written both immediately to the output HTML and to the deferred text buffer. This can be useful to output JavaScript to conditionally bypass both the setup and the list information output by a subsequent lsCol macro. Optional; defaults to no.

text

Specifies the text generated by this macro. Text specified is deferred until the lsEnd macro.

It is often desirable to include pdm tags and references to form variables in the text output by an lsWrite macro. To prevent these from being interpreted by the web engine during parsing of the lsWrite macro itself, follow these syntax rules:

• If the lsWrite macro generates a pdm_tag, omit the surrounding “<” and “>” delimiters of the tag. For example, to insert a <pdm_else> statement into the list section of the list, code:

  <PDM_MACRO NAME=lsWrite text=”pdm_else”>
  

  The web engine automatically inserts the “<” and “>” before producing the text when it detects that the first four characters are “pdm_” (or “PDM_”).

• If the lsWrite macro generates a reference to a form variable, code an @ character in place of the $ character that designates the variable. For example, to generate a reference to the list variable $list.persistent_id, code:

  <PDM_MACRO NAME=lsWrite text=”@list.persistent_id”>
  

  The web engine automatically converts the “@” to “$” before producing the text. To produce a literal @ sign, precede it with a backslash.