Overview of Data - Pattern Lab

The primary default global source of data used when rendering Pattern Lab patterns can be found in ./source/_data/.

Supported Data Formatspermalink

The Node version of Pattern Lab only supports JSON.

Locations for Datapermalink

There are three places to store data in Pattern Lab:

in ./source/_data.
in pattern-specific files in ./source/_patterns.
in pseudo-pattern files in ./source/_patterns.

A Special Note About Pattern Parameterspermalink

Pattern parameters are a simple find and replace of variables in the included pattern. As such they do not affect the context stack of Mustache and we don't consider them true data. They have no impact on overall data inheritance and they cannot be used any deeper than the included pattern. They are a hack.

Data Inheritancepermalink

Data inheritance in Pattern Lab follows this flow:

Pattern-specific data for the pattern being rendered > Global data in _data

The only data that is loaded to render a pattern is its own data and global data. It will not include the data for any included patterns. For example, the pages template, article, might include the molecule, block-hero. block-hero may have its own pattern-specific data file, block-hero.json. The Node version of Pattern Lab will not use the block-hero data when rendering article. It will only use article.json (if available) and data found in ./source/_data.