TopicVarsPlugin TWiki Plugin

This plugin will allow you to create variables in arbitrary topic pages, and not just WebPreferences. You can then refer to those variables from any topic within the same Web or Wiki, and pass in parameters to those vars to make them appear in URLPARAM. This allows you to build TWiki:Codev.TWikiApplication by bundling sets of directives on a page and then using them from elsewhere.

(Perhaps a future iteration will support Interwiki references, but that's probably not likely, unless we use XML-RPC or something to cut down the overhead of getting those values from afar.)

Syntax Rules

• Set a variable:
  * Set VARIABLE_NAME = "some value"
  

• Use a variable in the same Web:
  %TopicName.VARIABLE_NAME%

• Use a variable from a different Web:
  %Webname.TopicName.VARIABLE_NAME%

(setting values is done just like in WebPreferences; with six preceding spaces, an asterisk, and so on).

TopicVarsPlugin Settings

• One line description, is shown in the TextFormattingRules topic
  • Set SHORTDESCRIPTION = Set variables in arbitrary topics and refer to them from other topics within the same web; these can be parameterised thus facilitating the packaging of TWiki applications

• Debug TopicVarsPlugin (see output in data/debug.txt)
  • Set DEBUG = 0

Plugin Installation Instructions

• Download the ZIP file from the Plugin web (see below)
• Unzip TopicVarsPlugin.zip in your twiki installation directory. Content:

  File:	Description:
  data/TWiki/TopicVarsPlugin.txt	Plugin topic
  lib/TWiki/Plugins/TopicVarsPlugin.pm	Plugin Perl module

• Check this topic here if the installation was successful
• Test if the plugin is correctly installed:
  • Set THE_ANSWER = 42
  • You should see the answer here: [42] (%THE_ANSWER%)
  • and here: [%TopicVarsPlugin.THE_ANSWER%] (%TopicVarsPlugin.THE_ANSWER%)
  • and here: [%TWiki.TopicVarsPlugin.THE_ANSWER%] (%TWiki.TopicVarsPlugin.THE_ANSWER%)

Plugin Info

Related Topics: InterwikiPlugin

-- TrippLilley - 15 Nov 2001

• TopicVarsPlugin-0.0.16417b.tar.bz2: Slightly tweaked 20030806-1559. Works with 4.2.