Practical PostgreSQL

Content Inclusion

The heart of LXP’s content management is its content inclusion workhorse: the <include> tag. The <include> tag can operate in one of many ways, depending either on the explicit value of the method attribute with which it is initiated, or the implicit context determined by its attributes.

The <include> tag can be used, in its simplest form, to simply include a flat HTML file, such as a standard header, sidebar, and footer. In its more advanced incarnations, the <include> tag can be used to parse token-delimited files by using arbitrary tokens, parse basic XML documents, embed PHP output inline within the LXP document, make direct SQL queries, and, of course, include other LXP documents.

Table 13-1 lists each of the LXP inclusion methods available to the <include> tag. The method in the first column is value that you supply to the <include> tag’s method attribute. The alias in the second column describes any alternative names that you can use to invoke the same method. The “Implied by” column shows any attribute values which would imply a method (bypassing the need for an explicit method attribute), and the “Description” column gives a brief description of the method itself.

Table 13-1. LXP inclusion methods

Method	Aliases	Implied by	Description
LXP	Â	.lxp extension ending src attribute	Processes the source file through mod_lxp
flat	Â	Unrecognized extension in src attribute, and no sql or query attribute	Displays a file’s literal contents