TCDL
TCDL is a technology-neutral language you can use in your templating code. Depending on the Output Format of your Component Template, TCDL tags get transformed into your Web site's language at publish time or at request time.
When a user publishes content that contains any kind of dynamic functionality, such as Dynamic Link Resolving or Dynamic Content Retrieval, SDL Tridion includes this functionality in the form of TCDL tags (XML elements that have a tcdl: prefix). TCDL is a technology-neutral language for SDL Tridion dynamic functionality.
You can decide when you want Content Delivery to transform these TCDL tags into technology-specific code. The moment of transformation depends on who is consuming your published output, and on which Web site technology you use.
- Transform TCDL tags during publishing
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If you have an ASP.NET or JSP Web site, and your published content is to be retrieved by Web site visitors, transform TCDL during publishing. This creates ASP.NET or JSP code on your published Web page, which runs at request time.
To make Content Delivery transform TCDL tags during publishing, do the following:
- In your Component Template, set the Output format property to JSP Scripting (for JSP) or to ASCX Web Control (for ASP.NET).
- In your Publication Target, set the Target Language property to either JSP or ASP.NET.
- Transform TCDL tags a request time
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If your published content is intended for consumption by the Content Delivery Web service, or if you have a Web site that uses a different technology than ASP.NET or JSP, transform TCDL at request time. This creates TCDL code on your published Web page, which is transformed and then executed by a Java class at request time.
To make Content Delivery transform TCDL tags at request time, do the following:
- In your Component Template, set the Output format property to REL (which stands for Render Engine Language), and set the Component Presentations based on this Component Template will be to the value Published as a Dynamic Component.
- In your Publication Target, set the Target Language property to REL.