Blocklayout/xarpages & dynamic data

Hello list,

After lurking on the list for a couple of years, I'm finally trying to
build a Xaraya site. At the moment, I'm trying to add an id attribute
into the rendering of xarpages' default menu block. The id attribute
will come from a dynamic data field I added to one of xarpages page
types. The problem is that in the menu block I'm having trouble
accessing the value of the dynamic data field, but I can't tell if
it's a) a problem with my understanding of blocklayout, b) a problem
with my understanding of xarpages, or c) [unlikely I think...] a bug.

For example, I can use the following snippet in the template:

<ul>
  <xar:loop name="$page.dd">
    <li>#$loop:key# =&gt; #$loop:item#</li>
  </xar:loop>
</ul>

I assume it's not a problem with variable scope or similar because
this works, and yields output something like this (as expected):

<ul>
  <li>page_title =&gt; Lorem Ipsum</li>
  <li>page_id =&gt; fubar</li>
  <li>page_content =&gt; Dolor sit amet consectetuer. Lipsum.</li>
</ul>

The problem arises when I try to access just /one/ of the dd fields like this:

<ul>
  <xar:loop name="$page.dd">
    <li>#$loop:item['page_id']#</li>
  </xar:loop>
</ul>

...or like this:

<ul>
  <xar:loop name="$page.dd">
    <li>#$loop:item.page_id#</li>
  </xar:loop>
</ul>

If I read the blocklayout RFC document correctly, either snippet
should work, but what happens instead is that instead of the contents
of ONE field, I get the FIRST CHARACTER of EACH field, something like
this (assuming the same set of fields as shown in the output above):

<ul>
  <li>L</li>
  <li>f</li>
  <li>D</li>
</ul>

I have no idea what backasswards thing I may have done or what
blocklayout/xarpages subtlety I've overlooked, but it sure /looks/
like I've set things up correctly. If anyone has any comments advice,
suggestions or even educational personal abuse, I'd be happy to listen
to it...


Thanks,

-- CT