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 <div class="col-right"><div class="page-content"><div class="page-title"><div class="pagers top"><a class="paging-arrow previous" href="dgui_quickstart_basics.html"><span>Previous</span></a><a class="paging-arrow next" href="dgui_quickstart_template.html"><span>Next</span></a></div><div class="title-wrapper">
 <h1 class="content-header header-section1" id="dgui_quickstart_datamodel" itemprop="headline">The data-model at a glance</h1>
 </div></div><p>As you have seen, the data-model is basically a tree. This tree
         can be arbitrarily complicated and deep, for example:</p>

     <div class="code-block role-data-model">
 <div class="code-block-label">Data Model</div><pre class="code-block-body"><a name="example.qStart.dataModelWithHashes"></a>(root)
   |
   +- animals
   |   |
   |   +- mouse
   |   |   |
   |   |   +- size = &quot;small&quot;
   |   |   |
   |   |   +- price = 50
   |   |
   |   +- elephant
   |   |   |
   |   |   +- size = &quot;large&quot;
   |   |   |
   |   |   +- price = 5000
   |   |
   |   +- python
   |       |
   |       +- size = &quot;medium&quot;
   |       |
   |       +- price = 4999
   |
   +- message = &quot;It is a test&quot;
   |
   +- misc
       |
       +- foo = &quot;Something&quot;</pre>    </div>
 <p>The variables that act like directories (the root,
         <code class="inline-code">animals</code>, <code class="inline-code">mouse</code>,
         <code class="inline-code">elephant</code>, <code class="inline-code">python</code>,
         <code class="inline-code">misc</code>) are called <strong>hashes</strong>. Hashes store other variables (the so
         called <a name="topic.dataModel.subVar"></a><em>sub
         variables</em>) by a lookup name (e.g., "animals",
         "mouse" or "price").</p><p>The variables that store a single value
         (<code class="inline-code">size</code>, <code class="inline-code">price</code>,
         <code class="inline-code">message</code> and <code class="inline-code">foo</code>) are called
         <strong>scalars</strong>.</p><p><a name="topic.qStart.accessVariables"></a>When you want to
         use a subvariable in a template, you specify its path from the root,
         and separate the steps with dots. To access the
         <code class="inline-code">price</code> of a <code class="inline-code">mouse</code>, you start from
         the root and go into <code class="inline-code">animals</code>, and then go into
         <code class="inline-code">mouse</code> then go into <code class="inline-code">price</code>. So you
         write <code class="inline-code">animals.mouse.price</code>.</p><p>Another important kind of variables are <strong>sequences</strong>. They store subvariables like hashes,
         but here subvariables doesn&#39;t have a name, they are just items in a
         list. For example, in this data-model, <code class="inline-code">animals</code> and
         <code class="inline-code">misc.fruits</code> are sequences:</p>

     <div class="code-block role-data-model">
 <div class="code-block-label">Data Model</div><pre class="code-block-body"><a name="example.qStart.dataModelWithSequences"></a>(root)
   |
   +- animals
   |   |
   |   +- (1st)
   |   |   |
   |   |   +- name = &quot;mouse&quot;
   |   |   |
   |   |   +- size = &quot;small&quot;
   |   |   |
   |   |   +- price = 50
   |   |
   |   +- (2nd)
   |   |   |
   |   |   +- name = &quot;elephant&quot;
   |   |   |
   |   |   +- size = &quot;large&quot;
   |   |   |
   |   |   +- price = 5000
   |   |
   |   +- (3rd)
   |       |
   |       +- name = &quot;python&quot;
   |       |
   |       +- size = &quot;medium&quot;
   |       |
   |       +- price = 4999
   |
   +- misc
       |
       +- fruits
           |
           +- (1st) = &quot;orange&quot;
           |
           +- (2nd) = &quot;banana&quot;</pre>    </div>
 <p>To access a subvariable of a sequence you use a numerical index
         in square brackets. Indexes start from 0 (it&#39;s a programmer tradition
         to start with 0), thus the index of the 1st item is 0, the index of
         the 2nd item is 1, and so on. So to get the name of the first animal
         you write <code class="inline-code">animals[0].name</code>. To get the second item
         in <code class="inline-code">misc.fruits</code> (the string
         <code class="inline-code">&quot;banana&quot;</code>) you write
         <code class="inline-code">misc.fruits[1]</code>. (In practice, you usually just walk
         through sequences in order, not caring about the index, but that will
         be <a href="dgui_quickstart_template.html#topic.tutorial.list">shown later</a>.)</p><p>Scalars can be further divided into these categories:</p><ul>
           <li>
             <p>String: Text, that is, an arbitrary sequence of characters
             such as &#39;&#39;m&#39;&#39;, &#39;&#39;o&#39;&#39;, &#39;&#39;u&#39;&#39;, &#39;&#39;s&#39;&#39;, &#39;&#39;e&#39;&#39; above. For example the
             <code class="inline-code">name</code>-s and <code class="inline-code">size</code>-s are
             strings above.</p>
           </li>

           <li>
             <p>Number: It&#39;s a numerical value, like the
             <code class="inline-code">price</code>-s above. The string
             <code class="inline-code">&quot;50&quot;</code> and the number <code class="inline-code">50</code> are
             two totally different things in FreeMarker. The former is just a
             sequence of two characters (which happens to be readable as a
             number for humans), while the latter is a numerical value that you
             can use in arithmetical calculations.</p>
           </li>

           <li>
             <p>Date-like: Either a date-time (stores a date with time of
             the day), or a date (no time of day), or a time (time of day, no
             date).</p>
           </li>

           <li>
             <p>Boolean: A true/false (yes/no, on/off, etc.) thing. Like
             animals could have a <code class="inline-code">protected</code> subvariable,
             which store if the animal is protected or not.</p>
           </li>
         </ul><p>Summary:</p><ul>
           <li>
             <p>The data-model can be visualized as a tree.</p>
           </li>

           <li>
             <p>Scalars store a single value. The value can be a string or a
             number or a date-time/date/time or a boolean.</p>
           </li>

           <li>
             <p>Hashes are containers that store other variables and
             associate them with a unique lookup name.</p>
           </li>

           <li>
             <p>Sequences are containers that store other variables in an
             ordered sequence. The stored variables can be retrieved via their
             numerical index, starting from 0.</p>
           </li>
         </ul>  <div class="callout note">
     <strong class="callout-label">Note:</strong>

           <p>There are other, more advanced value types that we don&#39;t cover
           here, such as methods and directives.</p>
           </div>
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	<h1 class="content-header header-section1" id="dgui_quickstart_datamodel" itemprop="headline">The data-model at a glance</h1>
	</div></div><p>As you have seen, the data-model is basically a tree. This tree
	can be arbitrarily complicated and deep, for example:</p>

	<div class="code-block role-data-model">
	<div class="code-block-label">Data Model</div><pre class="code-block-body"><a name="example.qStart.dataModelWithHashes"></a>(root)
	\|
	+- animals
	\| \|
	\| +- mouse
	\| \| \|
	\| \| +- size = "small"
	\| \| \|
	\| \| +- price = 50
	\| \|
	\| +- elephant
	\| \| \|
	\| \| +- size = "large"
	\| \| \|
	\| \| +- price = 5000
	\| \|
	\| +- python
	\| \|
	\| +- size = "medium"
	\| \|
	\| +- price = 4999
	\|
	+- message = "It is a test"
	\|
	+- misc
	\|
	+- foo = "Something"</pre> </div>
	<p>The variables that act like directories (the root,
	<code class="inline-code">animals</code>, <code class="inline-code">mouse</code>,
	<code class="inline-code">elephant</code>, <code class="inline-code">python</code>,
	<code class="inline-code">misc</code>) are called <strong>hashes</strong>. Hashes store other variables (the so
	called <a name="topic.dataModel.subVar"></a><em>sub
	variables</em>) by a lookup name (e.g., "animals",
	"mouse" or "price").</p><p>The variables that store a single value
	(<code class="inline-code">size</code>, <code class="inline-code">price</code>,
	<code class="inline-code">message</code> and <code class="inline-code">foo</code>) are called
	<strong>scalars</strong>.</p><p><a name="topic.qStart.accessVariables"></a>When you want to
	use a subvariable in a template, you specify its path from the root,
	and separate the steps with dots. To access the
	<code class="inline-code">price</code> of a <code class="inline-code">mouse</code>, you start from
	the root and go into <code class="inline-code">animals</code>, and then go into
	<code class="inline-code">mouse</code> then go into <code class="inline-code">price</code>. So you
	write <code class="inline-code">animals.mouse.price</code>.</p><p>Another important kind of variables are <strong>sequences</strong>. They store subvariables like hashes,
	but here subvariables doesn't have a name, they are just items in a
	list. For example, in this data-model, <code class="inline-code">animals</code> and
	<code class="inline-code">misc.fruits</code> are sequences:</p>

	<div class="code-block role-data-model">
	<div class="code-block-label">Data Model</div><pre class="code-block-body"><a name="example.qStart.dataModelWithSequences"></a>(root)
	\|
	+- animals
	\| \|
	\| +- (1st)
	\| \| \|
	\| \| +- name = "mouse"
	\| \| \|
	\| \| +- size = "small"
	\| \| \|
	\| \| +- price = 50
	\| \|
	\| +- (2nd)
	\| \| \|
	\| \| +- name = "elephant"
	\| \| \|
	\| \| +- size = "large"
	\| \| \|
	\| \| +- price = 5000
	\| \|
	\| +- (3rd)
	\| \|
	\| +- name = "python"
	\| \|
	\| +- size = "medium"
	\| \|
	\| +- price = 4999
	\|
	+- misc
	\|
	+- fruits
	\|
	+- (1st) = "orange"
	\|
	+- (2nd) = "banana"</pre> </div>
	<p>To access a subvariable of a sequence you use a numerical index
	in square brackets. Indexes start from 0 (it's a programmer tradition
	to start with 0), thus the index of the 1st item is 0, the index of
	the 2nd item is 1, and so on. So to get the name of the first animal
	you write <code class="inline-code">animals[0].name</code>. To get the second item
	in <code class="inline-code">misc.fruits</code> (the string
	<code class="inline-code">"banana"</code>) you write
	<code class="inline-code">misc.fruits[1]</code>. (In practice, you usually just walk
	through sequences in order, not caring about the index, but that will
	be <a href="dgui_quickstart_template.html#topic.tutorial.list">shown later</a>.)</p><p>Scalars can be further divided into these categories:</p><ul>
	<li>
	<p>String: Text, that is, an arbitrary sequence of characters
	such as ''m'', ''o'', ''u'', ''s'', ''e'' above. For example the
	<code class="inline-code">name</code>-s and <code class="inline-code">size</code>-s are
	strings above.</p>
	</li>

	<li>
	<p>Number: It's a numerical value, like the
	<code class="inline-code">price</code>-s above. The string
	<code class="inline-code">"50"</code> and the number <code class="inline-code">50</code> are
	two totally different things in FreeMarker. The former is just a
	sequence of two characters (which happens to be readable as a
	number for humans), while the latter is a numerical value that you
	can use in arithmetical calculations.</p>
	</li>

	<li>
	<p>Date-like: Either a date-time (stores a date with time of
	the day), or a date (no time of day), or a time (time of day, no
	date).</p>
	</li>

	<li>
	<p>Boolean: A true/false (yes/no, on/off, etc.) thing. Like
	animals could have a <code class="inline-code">protected</code> subvariable,
	which store if the animal is protected or not.</p>
	</li>
	</ul><p>Summary:</p><ul>
	<li>
	<p>The data-model can be visualized as a tree.</p>
	</li>

	<li>
	<p>Scalars store a single value. The value can be a string or a
	number or a date-time/date/time or a boolean.</p>
	</li>

	<li>
	<p>Hashes are containers that store other variables and
	associate them with a unique lookup name.</p>
	</li>

	<li>
	<p>Sequences are containers that store other variables in an
	ordered sequence. The stored variables can be retrieved via their
	numerical index, starting from 0.</p>
	</li>
	</ul> <div class="callout note">
	<strong class="callout-label">Note:</strong>

	<p>There are other, more advanced value types that we don't cover
	here, such as methods and directives.</p>
	</div>
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