macro

Macros are comparable with functions in regular programming languages. They are useful to put often used HTML idioms into reusable elements to not repeat yourself.

Here is a small example of a macro that renders a form element:

{% macro input(name, value, type, size) %}
    <input type="{{ type|default('text') }}" name="{{ name }}" value="{{ value|e }}" size="{{ size|default(20) }}" />
{% endmacro %}

Macros differ from native PHP functions in a few ways:

• Default argument values are defined by using the default filter in the macro body;
• Arguments of a macro are always optional.
• If extra positional arguments are passed to a macro, they end up in the special varargs variable as a list of values.

But as with PHP functions, macros don't have access to the current template variables.

Import

Macros can be defined in any template, and need to be "imported" before being used (see the documentation for the import tag for more information):

{% import "forms.html" as forms %}

The above import call imports the "forms.html" file (which can contain only macros, or a template and some macros), and import the functions as items of the forms variable.

The macro can then be called at will:

<p>{{ forms.input('username') }}</p>
<p>{{ forms.input('password', null, 'password') }}</p>

If macros are defined and used in the same template, you can use the special _self variable to import them:

{% import _self as forms %}

<p>{{ forms.input('username') }}</p>

When you want to use a macro in another macro from the same file, you need to import it locally:

{% macro input(name, value, type, size) %}
    <input type="{{ type|default('text') }}" name="{{ name }}" value="{{ value|e }}" size="{{ size|default(20) }}" />
{% endmacro %}

{% macro wrapped_input(name, value, type, size) %}
    {% import _self as forms %}

    <div class="field">
        {{ forms.input(name, value, type, size) }}
    </div>
{% endmacro %}

Named Macro End-Tags

Twig allows you to put the name of the macro after the end tag for better readability:

{% macro input() %}
    ...
{% endmacro input %}

Of course, the name after the endmacro word must match the macro name.