Repeating Content

The <repeat> directive lets you generate elements from data arrays, iterate over flow groups, or repeat pages until a flow is consumed. It's how Press turns a single template into a multi-page, data-driven document.

Repeating Over Data

The most common use: iterate over an array and render elements for each item.

<repeat data="data.team" item="person">
  <frame direction="row" space-after-desired="8pt">
    <frame width="fill">
      <frame font-style="bold">{{ person.name }}</frame>
      <frame font-size="9pt" font-color="#6b7280">{{ person.role }}</frame>
    </frame>
    <frame>{{ person.email }}</frame>
  </frame>
</repeat>

Attributes

Attribute	Required	Description
data	Yes	Path to the array to iterate over
item	No	Variable name for each element (defaults to item)

If you omit item, the current element is accessible as item:

<repeat data="data.tags">
  <span>{{ item }}</span>
</repeat>

Generating Table Rows

A common pattern -- generate table rows from data:

<table>
  <tr>
    <th>Product</th>
    <th text-align="center">Quantity</th>
    <th text-align="right">Price</th>
  </tr>
  <repeat data="data.products" item="product">
    <tr>
      <td>{{ product.name }}</td>
      <td text-align="center">{{ product.qty }}</td>
      <td text-align="right">£{{ product.price }}</td>
    </tr>
  </repeat>
</table>

Nested Repeats

Use different item names to nest repeats:

<repeat data="data.departments" item="dept">
  <h2>{{ dept.name }}</h2>
  <repeat data="dept.members" item="person">
    <p>{{ person.name }} - {{ person.title }}</p>
  </repeat>
</repeat>

Combining Repeat with show-if

Use show-if inside a repeat to conditionally render items:

<repeat data="data.contacts" item="contact">
  <frame direction="row" space-after-desired="4pt">
    <frame width="fill" font-style="bold">{{ contact.name }}</frame>
    <frame show-if="contact.phone">{{ contact.phone }}</frame>
  </frame>
</repeat>

Repeating Over Flow Groups

When flows are organized into groups, use <repeat group="..."> to iterate over them:

<flows>
  <group name="chapters">
    <introduction type="markdown">
      <data type="json">{ "title": "Introduction" }</data>
      Our research focused on three key areas...
    </introduction>
    <analysis type="markdown">
      <data type="json">{ "title": "Analysis" }</data>
      The data reveals clear patterns...
    </analysis>
  </group>
</flows>

<document format="A4" page-margin="2cm">
  <repeat group="chapters" item="chapter">
    <page>
      <h1>{{ chapter.data.title }}</h1>
      <flow name="chapter" />
    </page>
  </repeat>
</document>

Each group member's <data> is accessible through the item variable's .data property.

Repeating Pages for a Flow

Use <repeat flow="..."> to generate as many pages as needed to consume a flow. This is only usable in the <document> tag:

<document format="A4" page-margin="2cm">
  <repeat flow="body">
    <page>
      <flow name="body" />
    </page>
  </repeat>
</document>

Press generates pages until all content in the body flow has been rendered.

Alternating Page Types

Put multiple pages inside a flow repeat for alternating layouts:

<repeat flow="body">
  <odd-page />
  <even-page />
</repeat>

Generating Pages from Data

Combine <repeat data="..."> at the document level to create one page per data item:

<document format="A4" page-margin="1.5cm">
  <repeat data="data.employees" item="employee">
    <page>
      <h1>{{ employee.name }}</h1>
      <frame direction="row">
        <frame width="50%">
          <p>Department: {{ employee.department }}</p>
          <p>Start date: {{ employee.start_date }}</p>
        </frame>
        <frame width="50%">
          <img show-if="employee.photo" src="{{ employee.photo }}" max-height="150pt" />
        </frame>
      </frame>
    </page>
  </repeat>
</document>

This generates one page per employee -- useful for directories, ID cards, certificates, or property listings.

Repeating with Outline Tracking

When building a table of contents, use <repeat outline="..."> to iterate over collected outline entries:

<repeat outline="sections" item="entry">
  <tr>
    <td>{{ entry.page-number }}</td>
    <td>{{ entry.text-content }}</td>
  </tr>
</repeat>

Repeating over the outline requires being in a deferred page or a deferred flow. See the Table of Contents guide for full details.