8. Templates

Built-in types — each a bundle over a primitive base, named because the pattern is common. Every rectangular template is a bundle over |block|; the non-rect primitives (SPEC 7) stand on their own. A template’s defaults are the low tier of the cascade (SPEC 4) — every value here is overridable.

The bare |block| is the base everything rectangular builds on — frameless, yet a real box (id, class, children, wirable, positionable): what you reach for to wrap text that needs box behaviour.

Captions. Both caption templates are out-of-flow overlays — they never push the content, their place fixed by the template, not by where they sit among the children, so a row-laid group carries its title just the same. A group’s label is its caption (SPEC 3), so |group#panel| "Settings" [ … ] and |group#panel| [ |caption| "Settings" … ] are equal; |caption| { font-size: 16 } styles every caption without touching body text.

Notes. A |note| is the callout card — a filled block with a folded top-right corner. It is one type in every layout: in a sequence it binds to lifelines with place: (SPEC 13); in a drawing it places at the datum, usually wired by a leader (SPEC 15.7); in flow / grid it is an ordinary padded card. Built-in scoped rules — |sequence| |note| and |drawing| |note|, each { padding: 6 10; font-size: 13 } — keep it compact where convention expects; override them like any rule.

Topics & mindmaps. A |topic| is the tree’s structural node (SPEC 12), a compact card whose label is its centred text. |mindmap| is the visible root topic owning the scene — layout: tree; direction: bilateral; routing: natural — plus three deterministic garnishes, each lowered at desugar as ordinary generated rules (visible in lini desugar, overridable like any rule): the palette walk — each first-level branch takes the next hue (SPEC 10.2) in declaration order, red and grey skipped, and tints its subtree at the tiers (wash fill, deep stroke and branch wires, ink text; the root stays neutral, explicit paint wins, cross-links stay neutral, dark mode free); the depth ramp — .lini-level-N rules size the tiers (root largest, level 1 medium, deeper small); and topic wrap — max-width: 160, so a long label wraps into a card instead of stretching an arm. A plain layout: tree carries none of these — org charts read monochrome.

Tables. A |table| is pure sugar over the bundle above — its 1px gap-fill gutters paint as hairline rules (SPEC 11). Each body cell wraps in a |cell|; |header| / |footer| build on it, so every cell — but not the caption, a plain |block| — carries the inset. Style all cells with |cell| { … }, or per table with |table| |cell| { … }. The table’s align: stretch; justify: stretch makes every cell fill its track — backgrounds fill and text has room. A table’s label is its caption.

Column alignment. align (↔) / justify (↕) on the table read per column (SPEC 12) and align the cells’ text: since the cells already fill, the table’s own align/justify are carried onto each cell — a start/end column’s cells wear a .lini-align-* / .lini-justify-* class — and a filled cell places its text at that edge (center is the default). So align: start, center, end reads three columns left / centre / right, header band and body alike.

A table’s first row becomes its header — each cell wrapped as a |header|, a filled semibold band; |table| |header| { font-weight: normal; fill: none } reverts it. A footer is opt-in: wrap a last-row cell in |footer|. Every cell is a box now — header/footer carry a fill; a body cell is a frameless |block| wrapping its text, so the padding rule and the column’s alignment reach it (SPEC 18).

|table#basket| {
  columns: 80, 140, 80;
} [
  "Fruit" "Quantity" "Notes"   // the header row — filled + bold
  "Apple" "12"       "fresh"
  "Mango" "3"        "ripe"
]

fmt knows the column count and pads the cells into aligned columns, so the flat form reads like the table it is. A cell that must be placed or linked is a box child (|cell| "X" for a padded cell, or |box| { cell: 2 1; … }); a cell that just needs a colour or weight can take its own style block ("Apple" { color: --red-ink }).

Entities. An |entity| is sugar over |table| (two auto columns) for an ER / database card: its label is its title — a |header| spanning every column, centred over left-aligned "field" "type" rows (an entity’s field rows read left by default; the title keeps its centred, full-span band). Add a column for a key gutter — { columns: auto, auto, auto } gives "PK"/"FK" "field" "type". In an entity (not a plain table) a |header| / |footer| cell spans the full width.

|entity#users| "Users" [ "id" "int"  "name" "varchar" ]

Relationships are ordinary links with the ER cardinality operators (SPEC 9): users -< orders is one-to-many, a >-< b many-to-many, landing on the entity edge. To anchor a wire to one field, give that cell an id (|cell#user_id| "user_id") and link the path (orders.user_id -< users.id): the card’s cells tile, so the wire leaves the card at that field’s row rather than crossing the cells (ROUTING). Keys are plain content ("id" { font-weight: bold }); an entity adds no grammar.

Extend any template: |panel::group| { stroke: --accent }. Common nodes need no template: