Get name of default algorithm for performing checks.

Set name of default algorithms to perform checks, e.g., :compare. See the render :check option for list of check algorithms.

Render a template.

You may specify the source and target as arguments or options. For example, render(:file => "input", :to => "output") is the same as render("input", "output").

Options:

• :file — Read the template from this file.
• :text — Read the template from this string.
• :to — Render to a file, otherwise returns the rendered string.
• :locals — Hash of variables passed to template as local variables.
• :dependencies — Array of filenames to check timestamps on, only used when :check is :timestamp.
• :backup — Make a backup? Default is true.
• :force — Render without making a check. Default is false.
• :check — Determines when to render, otherwise uses value of default_check, possible values:
  • :compare — Only render if rendered template is different than the target‘s contents or if the target doesn‘t exist.
  • :timestamp — Only render if the target is older than the template and dependencies.
  • :exists — Only render if the target doesn‘t exist.

For example, if the file my_template_file contains:

  Hello <%=entity%>!

You could then execute:

  render("my_template_file", "/tmp/out", :check => :compare,
         :locals => {:entity => "world"})

And this will create a /tmp/out file with:

  Hello world!