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Filters & Tags

TemplateTo extends Liquid with custom filters and tags for document generation. These work alongside standard Liquid filters.

Filters

Filters transform values. Apply them with the pipe (|) character:

{{ value | filter_name }}
{{ value | filter_name: argument }}

parse_date

Converts a string to a date object, which you can then format with the date filter.

Syntax: 

{{ string | parse_date }}
{{ string | parse_date: true }}  <!-- US date format (MM/DD/YY) -->

Parameters:

Parameter Type Default Description
isUS boolean false Set to true for US date format (MM/DD/YY)

Examples:

<!-- European format (DD/MM/YY) - default -->
{{ "15/11/23" | parse_date | date: "%e %B %Y" }}
<!-- Result: 15 November 2023 -->

<!-- US format (MM/DD/YY) -->
{{ "11/15/23" | parse_date: true | date: "%e %B %Y" }}
<!-- Result: 15 November 2023 -->

<!-- Different output formats -->
{{ "15/11/23" | parse_date | date: "%Y-%m-%d" }}
<!-- Result: 2023-11-15 -->

{{ "15/11/23" | parse_date | date: "%d/%m/%Y" }}
<!-- Result: 15/11/2023 -->

Date Format Reference

Use strftime.net to build date format strings interactively.

Common date format codes:

Code Description Example
%Y 4-digit year 2023
%y 2-digit year 23
%m Month (01-12) 11
%B Full month name November
%b Short month name Nov
%d Day (01-31) 15
%e Day (1-31, space-padded) 15
%H Hour (00-23) 14
%I Hour (01-12) 02
%M Minute (00-59) 30
%p AM/PM PM

format_number

Formats numbers using .NET standard numeric format strings.

Syntax: 

{{ number | format_number: "format_string" }}

Examples:

<!-- Currency -->
{{ 1234.5 | format_number: "C" }}
<!-- Result: $1,234.50 (depends on culture) -->

<!-- Fixed decimal places -->
{{ 123 | format_number: "N" }}
<!-- Result: 123.00 -->

{{ 123.456 | format_number: "N2" }}
<!-- Result: 123.46 -->

<!-- Percentage -->
{{ 0.25 | format_number: "P" }}
<!-- Result: 25.00% -->

<!-- Custom format -->
{{ 1234567.89 | format_number: "#,##0.00" }}
<!-- Result: 1,234,567.89 -->

Common format specifiers:

Format Description Example Input Example Output
N Number with thousand separators 1234.5 1,234.50
N0 Number, no decimals 1234.5 1,235
N2 Number, 2 decimals 1234.5 1,234.50
C Currency 1234.5 $1,234.50
C0 Currency, no decimals 1234.5 $1,235
P Percentage 0.25 25.00%
P0 Percentage, no decimals 0.256 26%
F2 Fixed-point, 2 decimals 1234.5 1234.50

Culture-Aware Formatting

Currency symbols and separators depend on the template's culture settings. For example, C displays $ for en-US but £ for en-GB.

to_number

Converts a string to a number. Useful when your JSON contains numbers as strings.

Syntax: 

{{ string | to_number }}

Examples:

<!-- Convert string to number for calculations -->
{% assign price = "99.99" | to_number %}
{% assign quantity = "3" | to_number %}
{% assign total = price | times: quantity %}
{{ total }}
<!-- Result: 299.97 -->

<!-- Use with format_number -->
{{ "1234.5" | to_number | format_number: "C" }}
<!-- Result: $1,234.50 -->

Tags

Tags provide logic and control flow. They use {% %} syntax.

secUp

Increments and displays a section counter. The counter only increments when the tag is actually rendered (useful with conditional content).

Syntax: 

{% secUp counterName %}

Example:

<h2>{% secUp mainSection %}. Introduction</h2>
<!-- Output: 1. Introduction -->

{% if showMethods %}
<h2>{% secUp mainSection %}. Methods</h2>
<!-- Output: 2. Methods (only if showMethods is true) -->
{% endif %}

<h2>{% secUp mainSection %}. Conclusion</h2>
<!-- Output: 2. Conclusion (if Methods was skipped) -->
<!-- Output: 3. Conclusion (if Methods was shown) -->

Counter Names

You can use any name for your counter. Use different names for different numbering sequences (e.g., mainSection, subSection, figure).

secCt

Returns the current value of a section counter without incrementing it.

Syntax: 

{% secCt counterName %}

Example:

<h2>{% secUp mainSection %}. Introduction</h2>
<!-- Output: 1. Introduction -->

<h3>{% secCt mainSection %}.1 Background</h3>
<!-- Output: 1.1 Background -->

<h3>{% secCt mainSection %}.2 Objectives</h3>
<!-- Output: 1.2 Objectives -->

<h2>{% secUp mainSection %}. Methods</h2>
<!-- Output: 2. Methods -->

Combining Filters

Chain multiple filters together:

<!-- Parse date, then format it -->
{{ order.date | parse_date | date: "%B %d, %Y" }}

<!-- Convert to number, multiply, then format as currency -->
{{ item.price | to_number | times: item.quantity | format_number: "C" }}

See Also