$main variable... where is it, and how can I use it?
 

I am trying to find a way to tell xCart to open home.tpl with one header or another, based on which page I'm linking in to. I described my problem here: http://forum.x-cart.com/showthread.php?t=25821

I'm not getting any replies on that thread, so striking out on my own, one of my ideas is to use $main to determine what kind of page I linked to, and then use that in an {if} statement to select which header, column format, etc, to use.

Can someone tell me how to use $main ? Where is it, how do I read it, and where does it get its value? Can I define other values that it can take?

Thanks.

Re: $main variable... where is it, and how can I use it?
 

$main is a smarty variable that is assigned in a PHP file. For example...your product.php page has a variable of 'product'. Look for this in the PHP file


or


You can then use an {if} {else} statement to load different templates.

For example:

Re: $main variable... where is it, and how can I use it?
 

The $main variable is set in various places depending on which file/page is being called. $main is aptly named because it determines what content is displayed in the main content area.

In it's basic form, a php file assigns a $main variable to smarty in the form:


This main variable is then read in skin1/customer/home_main.tpl in the form:


somefolder/something.tpl is then a file that displays the content in the main area.

You can use the $main variable in your skin1/customer/home.tpl (or elsewhere) to use distinguishing headers in the form:


Hope this helps.

Re: $main variable... where is it, and how can I use it?
 

Thanks, gentlemen. This is exactly what I needed.

Not only that, but I get to see it in two different "translations", which makes it crystal clear for me, a rank newb!