Perl Logic in Template Toolkit - perl

Question

I have a currency value that I would like to format using Locale::Currency::Format however I have no idea how to format it.
Here is my output in Template Toolkit
[% amount %]
I would like this to be outputted using the following method:
currency_format('USD', amount, FMT_SYMBOL)
New to template toolkit so any help is appreciated.

Answer 1

I like Dave Cross' answer, and I agree with both he and codnodder about EVAL_PERL, which I've yet to find necessary as a solution in 7 or 8 years of almost daily TT use.
Personally, I would use:
[%- USE fmt = Class('Locale::Currency::Format'); -%]
<td>[% fmt.currency_format(var1, var2, var3) %]</td>
But if I was using this all the time, I'd be tempted to write a TT plugin wrapper around it.

Answer 2

I can't find Local::Currency::Format on CPAN, so I can't show you exactly how it works with this module. I can, however, show you the general direction you need to go in.
You have several options:
1/ Use currency_format to format the data before it is passed into the template.
my $amount = currency_format('USD', $amount, FMT_SYMBOL);
$tt->process($template_name, { amount => $amount, ... }) or die;
Then in the template you can just use [% amount %].
2/ Pass currency_format as a dynamic variable to the template.
$tt->process($template_name, {
amount => $amount,
currency_format = > \&currency_format,
...
}) or die;
Then in the template, you can use currency_format as a function:
[% currency_format('USD', amount, FMT_SYMBOL) %]
3/ Write a real TT plugin for Local::Currency::Format.

Answer 3

If you have EVAL_PERL enabled in your "controller", you can use
embedded perl to include the module and add a vmethod for example.
E.g.,
use strict;
use Template;
my $tt = Template->new(EVAL_PERL=>1);
my $out;
$tt->process(\*DATA, { amount => 50.34 }, \$out) or die $tt->error, "\n";
print $out;
__DATA__
[% PERL -%]
sub dollars { sprintf('$%0.02f', $_[0]); }
# or:
# use Local::Currency::Format;
# sub dollars { currency_format('USD', $_[0], FMT_SYMBOL); }
$stash->define_vmethod('scalar', 'dollars', \&dollars);
[% END -%]
The amount is [% amount.dollars %].
If you have some access to the "controller", you can add a FILTER.
use strict;
use Template;
#use Local::Currency::Format;
my $tt = Template->new({
#FILTERS => { 'dollars' => sub { currency_format('USD', $_[0], FMT_SYMBOL); } },
FILTERS => { 'dollars' => sub { sprintf('$%0.02f', $_[0]); } },
});
my $out;
$tt->process(\*DATA, { amount => 50.34 }, \$out) or die $tt->error, "\n";
print $out;
__DATA__
The amount is [% amount | dollars %].
EDIT: Note that my use of sprintf to format the currency is just a placeholder. You would replace that with whatever module or method you choose.