support configurable shadowroot attribute for <template> tags

[thescientist13]

Type of Change

• New Feature Request

Summary

Coming out of #63 (comment), just wanted to track the discussion around how to actually support the shadowroot attribute for <template> tags as I'm not super clear on is how instances of <template> tags (HTMLTemplateElement) and ShadowRoot work together, specifically around the shadowroot="open" attribute and mode.

Specifically, as per that PR, when creating a template, a template returns its contents inside <template> tags, eg.

<wcc-footer>
  <template shadowroot="open">
    <footer class="footer">
      <h4>My Blog &copy; 2022</h4>
    </footer>
  </template>
</wcc-footer>

And when instantiating a Shadow Root in a custom element, we can set the mode that way, e.g.

class Footer extends HTMLElement {
  connectedCallback() {
    if (!this.shadowRoot) {
      this.attachShadow({ mode: 'open' });
      this.shadowRoot.appendChild(template.content.cloneNode(true));
    }
  }
}

So how does a template get access to the mode, which we would want so as to properly set the shadowroot attribute? Presumably some users may want the option of open / closed, and this may also impact how we implement #16. Also, these two are the same things, right?

Details

My understanding is shadowRoot and HTMLTemplateElement are different class hierarchies (sub classes) from what I understand, so not sure what option to pursue here? I can think of a couple options at least just to get the ball rolling

1. User sets the attribute manually on a <template>

   const template = document.createElement('template');
   
   template.innerHTML = `    
     <footer class="footer">
       <h4>My Blog &copy; ${new Date().getFullYear()}</h4>
     </footer>
   `;
   
   template.setAttribute('shadowroot', 'open');

2. Have the compiler check for mode when serializing and update it that way

   async function renderComponentRoots(tree) {
     for (const node of tree.childNodes) {
       if (node.tagName && node.tagName.indexOf('-') > 0) {
         ...
         
         const elementHtml = elementInstance.shadowRoot
           ? elementInstance.getInnerHTML({ includeShadowRoots: true })
           : elementInstance.innerHTML;
         const elementTree = parseFragment(elementHtml);
   
         // if we have a shadowRoot, set the `<template>` shadowroot attribute according to shadowRoot.mode
         if(elementInstance.shadowRoot) {
           const mode = elementInstance.shadowRoot.mode;
           //  do something with the tree and set the attribute on the `<template>` accordingly
         }
   
         ...
       }
   
       ...
     }
   
     return tree;
   }

---

I'm thinking option #2 seems pretty feasible. Also, not sure if this means we need a get innerHTML for HTMLTemplateElement too?