Server Print Templates

• Templates whose syntax depends on the UI framework creates inconsistency and is not sustainable.
• Angular templates must be pre-compiled.
  • Template modification requires local install and use of 'ng build'.
• Current template editing could be more secure (scrubbing scripts, etc.)

• Templates are configured and stored in the database, similar to Action/Trigger templates, using Template Toolkit.
• Modifying templates requires permissions.
• Print templates can be saved per-org (and potentially per workstation if needed).
• Print templates are managed via admin UI.
• Support per-locale templates.
• Templates can produce different content types
• Templates are compiled for printing on the server
  • At print time, the caller passes template data, template name, etc. to the server and receives a compiled (text, html, etc.) response.
• Template content can be scrubbed on the server for added security.
  • We could use something like https://metacpan.org/pod/HTML::Restrict to remove all but an anointed set of HTML tags and attributes (for text/html templates)
• Note we are already using server-managed templates for self-checkout receipts, some ACQ interfaces, and various others, so the general concept is not new.

https://git.evergreen-ils.org/?p=working/Evergreen.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/user/berick/server-print-templates

This creates a purpose-built template processor instead of using Action/Trigger for several reasons:

• A/T has a lot of moving parts which are not needed
  • Printing needs to be as streamlined as possible to avoid slowing staff work flow.
  • There is no environment building, etc.
• Provides an opportunity to add locale, content type, etc. support.
• Uses a mod_perl front-end so template content can be returned as-is (i.e. a text/html page) avoiding the unnecessary opensrf packaging.

The staff client offline interface will still require a small set of pre-compiled templates that live within the application, since it will not be able to call out for template compilation.