How to pass variables to templates?

[thesba_rewilliams]

I have a module from which I'm trying to define variables for use in the admin page templates. It looks like the 'AdminAreaPage' would be perfect for this, except that it doesn't work. My hook method gets called, and it returns an array as documented (e.g., return array('foo' => 'bar'), but I simply don't see the variables in the clientsummary template.

 

I've checked the Smarty variables by using {debug}, I've dumped all the PHP vars from within the scope of the template by using PHP's get_defined_vars() function, and I've even stepped into it with Xdebug: no sign of my variables, neither as top-level variables nor as elements buried inside a higher-order variable.

 

How do I access variables in a template defined by a hook function?

 

Related, is this even the best way to pass data into a template? I don't like the fact that this will break the simple turn on/off functionality that my module provides, but I do need to display data on the page. Has the module community established any sort of common convention or best practice in this area?

 

Thanks.

[thesba_rewilliams]

<bump>

 

By the lack of response, I can almost believe that folks out there are preoccupied with... I dunno, *other* stuff happening in the world right now. But is any of that more important than this? (For the humor-impaired, that was sarcasm.)