DML commands are used for defining tags that will be used, output files, and directing a file to load defined tags from another file. The basic format for a DML command begins at the beginning of a line (tags may occur inside a line, but commands must be located at the beginning of a line). The command begins with @DML followed by a short code that tells DML what command to execute.
Defining a Tag is very simple and consists of a line that has @DMLdef, a space, then the name of the tag. If you want the tag to receive a tag parameter, you must follow the name with a slash (with no space between the name and the slash). Everything on the following lines is considered part of the tag (which may consist of HTML, plain text, DML elements, etc.) until a line that contains only @DMLend is encountered. An example should explain all of this:
@DMLdef aDMLTag/
This tag will receive a tag parameter because of the slash after the tag name. If you do not want this, just don't put a slash after the function name.
The actual parameter will go here: <(@_tag)>
@DMLend
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Now everywhere that the DML parser finds <(aDMLTag)> the code written above will be inserted. Note that DML tags may be included in the text that defines a tag, so tags may contain other tags may contain other tags and so on.
Defining output files is also easy enough: inside of a ".dml" file, just add a line beginning with @DMLout followed by the desired output file's filename in quotation marks (this name may contain a path of directories to the desired file, if the directory does not exist, DML will create it for you automatically). Everything starting on the next line until a line that contains only @DMLendout will be output into the file (after DML elements have been parsed, of course). Here's an example:
@DMLout "files/index.html"
The text in here will be output to a file called "index.html" in the directory "files"
And <(bold)>yes<(/bold)>, DML elements will be parsed!
@DMLendout
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If you plan on outputting the file to a different directory, it is important that you realize that you do not need to adjust relative references for links, images, etc. since DML automatically corrects for this (a very handy feature!)
If you have used DML prior to v1.8, you might have heard of a different way to define an output file using the set command. This is still supported, but is not recommended.
If you have defined tags in an external file, but wish to access them in the current file, simply type @DMLinc followed by a space and then the name of the file in quotation marks. If the specified file contains output file definitions, they will not be written.
It is important to note that a file called "template.dml" (or "default.dmlt" for historical purposes) will automatically be scanned for definitions when DML begins parsing. Also, the second (optional) parameter to the "DMLbuild" program can specify a "template.dml"-like file to load.
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