Smarty can catch many errors such as missing tag attributes or malformed variable names. If this happens, you will see an error similar to the following:
Example 239. Smarty errors
Warning: Smarty: [in index.tpl line 4]: syntax error: unknown tag - '%blah'
in /path/to/smarty/Smarty.class.php on line 1041
Fatal error: Smarty: [in index.tpl line 28]: syntax error: missing section name
in /path/to/smarty/Smarty.class.php on line 1041
Smarty shows you the template name, the line number and the error. After that, the error consists of the actual line number in the Smarty class that the error occured.
There are certain errors that Smarty cannot catch, such as missing close tags. These types of errors usually end up in PHP compile-time parsing errors.
Example 240. PHP parsing errors
Parse error: parse error in /path/to/smarty/templates_c/index.tpl.php on line 75
When you encounter a PHP parsing error, the error line number will
correspond to the compiled PHP script, NOT the template itself. Usually
you can look at the template and spot the syntax error. Here are some
common things to look for: missing close tags for
{if}{/if} or
{section}{/section}
, or syntax of logic within an {if} tag. If you
can't find the error, you might have to open the compiled PHP file and
go to the line number to figure out where the corresponding error is in
the template.
Example 241. Other common errors
Warning: Smarty error: unable to read resource: "index.tpl" in... or Warning: Smarty error: unable to read resource: "site.conf" in...
The
$template_diris incorrect, doesn't exist or the fileindex.tplis not in thetemplates/directoryA
{config_load}function is within a template (orconfig_load()has been called) and either$config_diris incorrect, does not exist orsite.confis not in the directory.
Fatal error: Smarty error: the $compile_dir 'templates_c' does not exist,
or is not a directory...
Either the
$compile_diris incorrectly set, the directory does not exist, ortemplates_cis a file and not a directory.
Fatal error: Smarty error: unable to write to $compile_dir '....
The
$compile_diris not writable by the web server. See the bottom of the installing smarty page for more about permissions.
Fatal error: Smarty error: the $cache_dir 'cache' does not exist,
or is not a directory. in /..
This means that
$cachingis enabled and either; the$cache_diris incorrectly set, the directory does not exist, orcache/is a file and not a directory.
Fatal error: Smarty error: unable to write to $cache_dir '/...
This means that
$cachingis enabled and the$cache_diris not writable by the web server. See the bottom of the installing smarty page for permissions.
See also debugging.