A complete example

This example renders an invoice in Markdown. It uses most of what the previous chapters describe: data in a first tag, a library, a partial, repetition and a condition.

The files

invoice/
├── invoice.texl
├── lib/
│   └── money.texl
└── partials/
    └── letterhead.texl

invoice.texl

The main document. Its first tag binds the data; in a real application the host would pass it as globals. The next two tags import the library and the letterhead.

<%
# The data of the invoice. A real application would pass it as globals.
number = "2026-042",
date = time.from_string "2026-10-16",
customer = {name: "Ada Lovelace", city: "London"},
items = [
    {what: "Analytical Engine manual", qty: 1, price: 120},
    {what: "Punched cards (box)", qty: 3, price: 15.5},
    {what: "Bernoulli tables", qty: 2, price: 40}
],
nl = "
"
%><% texl.import("lib/money.texl") ~> (lib -> bind "money" lib.data)
%><% texl.import("partials/letterhead.texl") ~> (doc -> doc.rendering) %>
# Invoice <% number %>

Date: <% text.head 10 (time.to_string date) %>
Bill to: <% customer.name %>, <% customer.city %>

<%
amount = item -> item.qty * item.price,
row = item -> "| " + item.what + " | " + text.from item.qty + " | "
    + money.format item.price + " | " + money.format (amount item) + " |"
%>| Item | Qty | Price | Amount |
|------|----:|------:|-------:|
<% text.join nl (list.enum items => row) %>

**Total: <% money.format (money.sum [list.enum items => amount]) %>**

<% list.size items > 2 ? "Thank you for being a loyal customer!" ; "Thank you!" %>

lib/money.texl

A library: it binds two functions and renders nothing. sum is recursive.

<%
# Formats an amount with two decimals: 15.5 -> "$15.50"
format = n -> (
    cents = math.round (n * 100),
    rest = cents % 100,
    "$" + text.from ((cents - rest) / 100) + "." + (rest < 10 ? "0" ; "") + text.from rest
),

# Adds up the numbers in a list
sum = numbers -> list.size numbers == 0 ? 0 ; numbers 0 + sum (list.tail 1 numbers)
%>

partials/letterhead.texl

A partial: plain text to insert at the top.

**Babbage & Co.** · 12 Dorset Street, London

Rendering it

With the command-line tool:

texl invoice/invoice.texl -o invoice.md

invoice.md contains:

**Babbage & Co.** · 12 Dorset Street, London

# Invoice 2026-042

Date: 2026-10-16
Bill to: Ada Lovelace, London

| Item | Qty | Price | Amount |
|------|----:|------:|-------:|
| Analytical Engine manual | 1 | $120.00 | $120.00 |
| Punched cards (box) | 3 | $15.50 | $46.50 |
| Bernoulli tables | 2 | $40.00 | $80.00 |

**Total: $246.50**

Thank you for being a loyal customer!

How it works

The data tag binds number, date, customer, items and nl, a line break used to join the rows. Each %> is placed right before the next text, so that the tags leave no empty lines (see Line breaks around tags).
The library is imported with texl.import, and its data is bound to the global name money with bind. Rendering waits for the import, so the later tags can call money.format and money.sum.
The letterhead is inserted with its rendering. It ends with a line break, which separates it from the title.
The table rows are produced by mapping row over the items and joining the results with line breaks. See Repeating text for each item.
The total maps amount over the items, puts the results in a list, and adds them up with money.sum.
The closing line depends on a condition.

The imports use paths relative to invoice.texl, so the command works from any folder.

Keyboard shortcuts