Convert a string to a template string

Question

Is it possible to create a template string as a usual string

let a=\"b:${b}\";

an then convert it into a template string

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Answer 1

No, there is not a way to do this without dynamic code generation.

However, I have created a function which will turn a regular string into a function which can be provided with a map of values, using template strings internally.

Generate Template String Gist

/**
 * Produces a function which uses template strings to do simple interpolation from objects.
 * 
 * Usage:
 *    var makeMeKing = generateTemplateString('${name} is now the king of ${country}!');
 * 
 *    console.log(makeMeKing({ name: 'Bryan', country: 'Scotland'}));
 *    // Logs 'Bryan is now the king of Scotland!'
 */
var generateTemplateString = (function(){
    var cache = {};

    function generateTemplate(template){
        var fn = cache[template];

        if (!fn){
            // Replace ${expressions} (etc) with ${map.expressions}.

            var sanitized = template
                .replace(/\$\{([\s]*[^;\s\{]+[\s]*)\}/g, function(_, match){
                    return `\$\{map.${match.trim()}\}`;
                    })
                // Afterwards, replace anything that's not ${map.expressions}' (etc) with a blank string.
                .replace(/(\$\{(?!map\.)[^}]+\})/g, '');

            fn = Function('map', `return \`${sanitized}\``);
        }

        return fn;
    }

    return generateTemplate;
})();

Usage:

var kingMaker = generateTemplateString('${name} is king!');

console.log(kingMaker({name: 'Bryan'}));
// Logs 'Bryan is king!' to the console.

Hope this helps somebody. If you find a problem with the code, please be so kind as to update the Gist.