Difference: TWikiDocumentation (11 vs. 12)

Revision 122000-04-22 - PeterThoeny

 

Documentation of the TWiki Implementation (version TWiki-6.1.0, Mon, 16 Jul 2018, build 30610)

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  • (1) Login Username vs. Wiki Username
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  • (1) Wiki Username vs. Login Username
 
  • (2) Wiki Variables
  • (3) Notification of Changes by Email
  • (4) TWiki Category Table
  • (5) Implementation Notes
  • (6) Installation Notes
Added:
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  • (7) Upgrading Earlier Versions to TWiki 01 Mai 2000
 
Changed:
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<		Related Topics: TWikiHistory, TWikiPlannedFeatures, TWikiEnhancementRequests.
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>		Related Topics: TWikiWeb, TWikiHistory, TWikiPlannedFeatures, TWikiEnhancementRequests.
 
Changed:
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<		(1) Login Username vs. Wiki Username
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>		(1) Wiki Username vs. Login Username
 
Changed:
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<		TWiki manages internally two usernames: Login username and Wiki username.
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>		 Warning: Can't find topic TWiki.TWikiUsernameVsLoginUsername
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  • Login username: When you login to the Intranet you use your login username, e.g. thoeny. TWiki uses this name internally to log who changed topics.
  • Wiki username: Is your name in WikiNotation, e.g. PeterThoeny. When you create your own home page topic, you should use your WikiName for the topic name. Like that, your name will be linked automatically where ever it is used. Please create your home page in TWiki.Main, not any other TWiki web.
 
Deleted:
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<		Note: When you write a WikiName of a user (your own or somebody else's) be sure to specify the Main web in front of the Wiki user name, e.g. write it as Main.wikiUsername. This assures that the name will be linked automatically to the TWiki.Main web, even if the text is written in a different Wiki web.
 
Deleted:
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<		TWiki can map the Intranet username to the Wiki username automatically, provided that the Login username and Wiki username pair has been entered in the TWikiUsers topic.
 
(2) Wiki Variables

TWiki Variables

Special text strings expand on the fly to display dynamic content, such as user data or system info

TWikiVariables are text strings - %VARIABLE% or %VARIABLE{ parameter="value" }% - that expand into content whenever a topic is rendered for viewing. There are two types of variables:

  1. Preferences variables: Can be defined and changed by the user.
    Example: %T% renders as TIP
  2. Predefined variables: Defined by the TWiki system or by extensions.
    Example: %CALCULATE{}% is handled by the SpreadSheetPlugin

See list of all TWiki Variables currently defined in this TWiki installation.

TWiki Variables Wizard — to Find and Compose Variables

Categories:
Arrow right
Variables:
Arrow down
Select a category and a variable
Arrow down
Build Your Variable:
Pre-load image: processing-bar-wide.gif 
<--
-->



<--
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Using Variables

To use a variable type its name. For example,

  • type %T% to get TIP (a preferences variable)
  • type %TOPIC% to get TWikiVariables (a predefined variable)
  • type %CALCULATE{ "$UPPER(Text)" }% to get TEXT (a variable defined by a plugin)

Note:

  • To leave a variable unexpanded, precede it with an exclamation point, e.g. type !%TOPIC% to get %TOPIC%
  • Variables are expanded relative to the topic they are used in, not the topic they are defined in
  • Type %ALLVARIABLES% to get a full listing of all variables defined for a particular topic

Variable Names

Variable names must start with a letter, optionally followed by letters, numbers and underscore '_' characters. Both upper-case and lower-case characters can be used, %MYVAR%, %MyVar%, %My2ndVar%, and %My_Var% are valid names. Variables are case sensitive, e.g. %MyVAR% and %MYVAR% are not the same.

By convention all settings, predefined variables and variables handled by extensions are always UPPER-CASE.

Preferences Variables

Unlike predefined variables, preferences variables can be defined by the user in various places.

Setting Preferences Variables

You can set variables in all the following places:

  1. system level in TWiki.TWikiPreferences
  2. plugin topics (see TWikiPlugins)
  3. local site level in Main.TWikiPreferences
  4. user level in individual user topics in Main web
    • If UserSubwebs is in effect, the topic specified by %USERPREFSTOPIC% in the user's subweb is read instead
    • If $TWiki::cfg{DemoteUserPreferences} is true, this step is deferred to a later step. On this TWiki installation, $TWiki::cfg{DemoteUserPreferences} is false
  5. web level in WebPreferences of each web
  6. If EXTRAPREFERENCES is defined at this point, it's regarded as having comma separated list of topics. Those topics are read in the listed order as if they were WebPreferences
  7. topic level in topics in webs
  8. session variables (if sessions are enabled)
  9. user level preferences are set at this point if $TWiki::cfg{DemoteUserPreferences} is true as mentioned at the step 4

Settings at higher-numbered levels override settings of the same variable at lower numbered levels, unless the variable was included in the setting of FINALPREFERENCES at a lower-numbered level, in which case it is locked at the value it has at that level.

If you are setting a variable and using it in the same topic, note that TWiki reads all the variable settings from the saved version of the topic before it displays anything. This means you can use a variable anywhere in the topic, even if you set it somewhere inconspicuous near the end. But beware: it also means that if you change the setting of a variable you are using in the same topic, preview will show the wrong thing, and you must save the topic to see it correctly.

The syntax for setting variables is the same anywhere in TWiki (on its own TWiki bullet line, including nested bullets):
[multiple of 3 spaces] * [space] Set [space] VARIABLENAME [space] = [space] value

Examples: 

   * Set VARIABLENAME1 = value
      * Set VARIABLENAME2 = value

Spaces between the = sign and the value will be ignored. You can split a value over several lines by indenting following lines with spaces - as long as you don't try to use * as the first character on the following line.

Example: 

   * Set VARIABLENAME = value starts here
     and continues here

Whatever you include in your variable will be expanded on display, exactly as if it had been entered directly.

Example: Create a custom logo variable

  • To place a logo anywhere in a web by typing %MYLOGO%, define the Variable on the web's WebPreferences topic, and upload a logo file, ex: mylogo.gif. You can upload by attaching the file to WebPreferences, or, to avoid clutter, to any other topic in the same web, e.g. LogoTopic. Sample variable setting in WebPreferences: 
      * Set MYLOGO = %PUBURL%/%WEB%/LogoTopic/mylogo.gif

You can also set preferences variables on a topic by clicking the link Edit topic preference settings under More topic actions. Use the same * Set VARIABLENAME = value syntax. Preferences set in this manner are not visible in the topic text, but take effect nevertheless.

Controlling User Level Preferences Override

By default, user level variables are set at the step 4 as stated in the previous section. That means a user can finalise some preferences variables so that web level or topic level setting cannot override it. This may result in a situation the web or page owner doesn't expect. $TWiki::cfg{DemoteUserPreferences} has been introduced to avoid it. If it's set to true, user level variables are set at the last step instead of the step 4.

But this is not enough. To guarantee a certain result, you need to finalise critical preferences variables set at the web or topic level, which is cumbersome. So preferences variables DENYUSERPREFEENCES and ALLOWUSERPREFERENCES have been introduced.

  • DENYUSERPREFEENCES and ALLOWUSERPREFERENCES may have comma separated list of variable names
  • If a preferences variable is listed in DENYUSERPREFEENCES, the variable cannot be overridden at the user level. There is a special value "all", which means no preferences variables can be overridden at the user level
  • If ALLOWUSERPREFERENCES is set and not empty, only the listed preferences variables can be overridden. There is a special value "all", which means any preferences variable can be overridden at the user level. But actually, "all" is not necessary since a blank value or not setting ALLOWUSERPREFERENCES has the same effect
  • DENYUSERPREFEENCES takes precedence over ALLOWUSERPREFERENCES. If a variable is listed on both, it cannot be overridden. If DENYUSERPREFEENCES is "all", the value of ALLOWUSERPREFERENCES doesn't matter.
For example, if you don't allow overriding at the user level at all: 
   * Set DENYUSERPREFERENCES = all
If you allow INYMCEPLUGIN_DISABLE and SKIN to be set at the user level: 
   * Set ALLOWUSERPREFERENCES = TINYMCEPLUGIN_DISABLE, SKIN
If you allow user preferences to set anything other than TINYMCEPLUGIN_DISABLE or SKIN: 
   * Set DENYUSERPREFERENCES = TINYMCEPLUGIN_DISABLE, SKIN
Please note DENYUSERPREFEENCES and ALLOWUSERPREFERENCES affect user preferences regardless of $TWiki::cfg{DemoteUserPreferences}. You can set those variables at the site level while $TWiki::cfg{DemoteUserPreferences} setting to false. If you do so, you should finalise DENYUSERPREFEENCES and ALLOWUSERPREFERENCES. Otherwise, they might be overridden by user preferences.

You will get the most benefit of DENYUSERPREFEENCES and ALLOWUSERPREFERENCES by setting $TWiki::cfg{DemoteUserPreferences} to true. That way, each web can specify how much user level preferences overriding is allowed.

Parameterized Variables (Macros)

It is possible to pass parameters to TWiki variables. This is called a macro in a programming language.

To define a parameterized variable, set a variable that contains other variables, such as: 

   * Set EXAMPLE = Example variable using %DEFAULT%, %PARAM1% and %PARAM2%
   * Set DEMO = Demo using %DEFAULT{ default="(undefined)" }%,
                %PARAM1{ default="(undefined)" }% and %PARAM2{ default="(undefined)" }%

A special %DEFAULT% variable denotes the default (nameless) parameter of the calling variable. Variables optionally may list a default="..." parameter that gets used in case the calling variable does not specify that parameter.

To use a parameterized variable (or call a macro), add parameters within the curly brackets, such as: 

   * %EXAMPLE{ "foo" PARAM1="bar" PARAM2="baz" }%
   * %DEMO{ "demo" PARAM2="parameter 2" }% -- note that PARAM1 is missing
which resolves to:
  • %EXAMPLE{ "foo" PARAM1="bar" PARAM2="baz" }%
  • %DEMO{ "demo" PARAM2="parameter 2" }% -- note that PARAM1 is missing

Parameters in the variable definition are expanded using the following sequence:

  1. Parameter from variable call. In above example, %PARAM1% gets expanded to bar.
  2. Session variable and preferences settings

Example

Define variables: 

   * Set DRINK = red wine
   * Set FAVORITE = My %DEFAULT{default="favorite"}% dish is %DISH{default="steak"}%,
                    my %DEFAULT{default="favorite"}% drink is %DRINK%.
TIP The default can be defined with a default parameter (%DISH{default="steak"}%), or as a preferences setting (Set DRINK = ...).

Use Variables: 

%FAVORITE{ DISH="Sushi" DRINK="Sake" }%
Returns:
%FAVORITE{ DISH="Sushi" DRINK="Sake" }% 

%FAVORITE{}%
Returns:
%FAVORITE{}% 

%FAVORITE{ "preferred" }%
Returns:
%FAVORITE{ "preferred" }% 

<--
Redefine what is defined in INCLUDE: 
    

  •  Set EXAMPLE = Example variable using favorite, (undefined) and (undefined)

    •  
  •  Set DEMO = Demo using favorite,                (undefined) and (undefined)

    •  
  •  Set DRINK = red wine

    •  
  •  Set FAVORITE = My favorite dish is steak,                    my favorite drink is %DRINK%.

 
-->

Access Control Variables

These are special types of preferences variables to control access to content. TWikiAccessControl explains these security settings in detail.

Local values for variables

Certain topics (a users home topic, web site and default preferences topics) have a problem; variables defined in those topics can have two meanings. For example, consider a user topic. A user may want to use a double-height edit box when they are editing their home topic - but only when editing their home topic. The rest of the time, they want to have a normal edit box. This separation is achieved using Local in place of Set in the variable definition. For example, if the user sets the following in their home topic: 

   * Set EDITBOXHEIGHT = 10
   * Local EDITBOXHEIGHT = 20
Then when they are editing any other topic, they will get a 10 high edit box. However when they are editing their home topic, they will get a 20 high edit box. Local can be used wherever a preference needs to take a different value depending on where the current operation is being performed.

Use this powerful feature with great care! %ALLVARIABLES% can be used to get a listing of the values of all variables in their evaluation order, so you can see variable scope if you get confused.

Frequently Used Preferences Variables

The following preferences variables are frequently used. They are defined in TWikiPreferences#Miscellaneous_Settings:

  • %BB% - line break and bullet combined
  • %BB2% - level 2 bullet with line break
  • %BB3% - level 3 bullet with line break
  • %BB4% - level 4 bullet with line break
  • %BR% - line break
  • %BULLET% - bullet sign
  • %CARET% - caret symbol
  • %VBAR% - vertical bar
  • %H% - HELP Help icon
  • %I% - IDEA! Idea icon
  • %M% - MOVED TO... Moved to icon
  • %N% - NEW New icon
  • %P% - REFACTOR Refactor icon
  • %Q% - QUESTION? Question icon
  • %S% - PICK Pick icon
  • %T% - TIP Tip icon
  • %U% - UPDATED Updated icon
  • %X% - ALERT! Alert icon
  • %Y% - DONE Done icon
  • %RED% text %ENDCOLOR% - colored text (also %YELLOW%, %ORANGE%, %PINK%, %PURPLE%, %TEAL%, %NAVY%, %BLUE%, %AQUA%, %LIME%, %GREEN%, %OLIVE%, %MAROON%, %BROWN%, %BLACK%, %GRAY%, %SILVER%, %WHITE%)
  • %REDBG% text %ENDBG% - colored background (also %YELLOWBG%, %ORANGEBG%, %PINKBG%, %PURPLEBG%, %TEALBG%, %NAVYBG%, %BLUEBG%, %AQUABG%, %LIMEBG%, %GREENBG%, %OLIVEBG%, %MAROONBG%, %BROWNBG%, %BLACKBG%, %GRAYBG%, %SILVERBG%, %WHITEBG%)

There are additional useful preferences variables defined in TWikiPreferences, in Main.TWikiPreferences, and in WebPreferences of every web.

Predefined Variables

Most predefined variables return values that were either set in the configuration when TWiki was installed, or taken from server info (such as current username, or date and time). Some, like %SEARCH%, are powerful and general tools.

  • Show all TWiki Variables
  • Predefined variables can be overridden by preferences variables (except a few such as TOPIC and WEB)
    • This has long been the case but may not be desirable since even something as fundamental as %IF{...}%, %SCRIPT{...}%, and %INCLUDE{...}% can be overridden
    • So TWiki-6.0.1 has introduced a way to protect predefined variables from being overridden by preferences variables
    • The preferences variable OVERRIDABLEPREDEFINEDVARIABLES having a comma separated list of predefined variables specifies which predefined variables are overridable
    • By default, it's set to "all" (set at TWiki.TWikiPreferences), which means any predefined variable can be overridden, which is for compatibility with prior releases. You can set it to a different value in Main.TWikiPreferences and you may finalise it
    • If it's set as below, all predefined variables are protected
         * Set OVERRIDABLEPREDEFINEDVARIABLES =
    • If it's set as below, DATE and LANGUAGE predefined variables can be overridden but all the other predefined variables cannot
         * Set OVERRIDABLEPREDEFINEDVARIABLES = DATE, LANGUAGE
  • Extensions may extend the set of predefined variables (see individual extension topics for details)
  • Take the time to thoroughly read through ALL preference variables. If you actively configure your site, review variables periodically. They cover a wide range of functions, and it can be easy to miss the one perfect variable for something you have in mind. For example, see %INCLUDINGTOPIC%, %INCLUDE%, and the mighty %SEARCH%.

Search or List Variables by Category

   Clear    Show all
Category

All TWiki Variables: ACTIVATEDPLUGINS, ADDTOHEAD, ALLVARIABLES, AQUA, ATTACHURL, ATTACHURLPATH, AUTHREALM, BASETOPIC, BASEWEB, BB, BB2, BB3, BB4, BLACK, BLUE, BR, BROWN, BUBBLESIG, BULLET, CALC, CALCULATE, CARET, CHILDREN, COLORPICKER, COMMENT, CONTENTMODE, COPY, DASHBOARD, DATE, DATEPICKER, DISPLAYTIME, DISPLAYTIME2, EDITACTION, EDITFORM, EDITFORMFIELD, EDITTABLE, ENCODE, ENDBG, ENDCOLOR, ENDCOLUMNS, ENDSECTION, ENTITY, ENV, EXAMPLEVAR, FAILEDPLUGINS, FORM, FORMFIELD, FOURCOLUMNS, GET, GMTIME, GMTIME2, GRAY, GREEN, GROUPS, H, HEADLINES, HIDE, HIDEINPRINT, HOMETOPIC, HTTP, HTTPHOST, HTTPS, I, ICON, ICONURL, ICONURLPATH, IF, INCLUDE, INCLUDINGTOPIC, INCLUDINGWEB, JQENDTAB, JQENDTABPANE, JQTAB, JQTABPANE, LANGUAGE, LANGUAGES, LAQUO, LIME, LOCALSITEPREFS, LOGIN, LOGINURL, LOGOUT, LOGOUTURL, M, MAINWEB, MAKETEXT, MAROON, MDREPO, META, METASEARCH, N, NAVY, NBSP, NOP, NOTIFYTOPIC, OLIVE, ORANGE, P, PARENTBC, PARENTTOPIC, PINK, PLUGINDESCRIPTIONS, PLUGINVERSION, PUBURL, PUBURLPATH, PURPLE, Q, QUERYPARAMS, QUERYSTRING, RAQUO, RED, REDBG, REG, REMOTEADDR, REMOTEPORT, REMOTEUSER, RENDERLIST, REVINFO, REVINFO2, S, SCRIPTNAME, SCRIPTSUFFIX, SCRIPTURL, SCRIPTURL2, SCRIPTURLPATH, SCRIPTURLPATH2, SEARCH, SERVERTIME, SERVERTIME2, SESSIONID, SESSIONVAR, SESSIONVARIABLE, SET, SETGETDUMP, SILVER, SITENAME, SITESTATISTICSTOPIC, SLIDESHOWEND, SLIDESHOWSTART, SPACEDTOPIC, SPACEOUT, STARTINCLUDE, STARTSECTION, STATISTICSTOPIC, STOPINCLUDE, SYSTEMWEB, T, TABLE, TEAL, THREECOLUMNS, TM, TOC, TOC2, TOPIC, TOPICLIST, TOPICTITLE, TOPICURL, TWIKISHEET, TWIKIWEB, TWISTY, TWOCOLUMNS, U, URLPARAM, USERINFO, USERNAME, USERREPORT, USERSIG, USERSWEB, VAR, VBAR, WEB, WEBLIST, WEBPREFSTOPIC, WHITE, WIKIHOMEURL, WIKILOGOALT, WIKILOGOIMG, WIKILOGOURL, WIKINAME, WIKIPREFSTOPIC, WIKITOOLNAME, WIKIUSERNAME, WIKIUSERSTOPIC, WIKIVERSION, WIKIWEBMASTER, WIKIWEBMASTERNAME, WIP, X, Y, YELLOW, total 190 variables

Documenting TWiki Variables

This section is for people documenting TWiki variables of the TWiki core and TWiki extensions.

Each variable is documented in a topic named Var<name> in the TWiki web. For example, a %LIGHTSABER% variable has a documentation topic called VarLIGHTSABER. The topic is expected to have a specific format so that reports in this TWikiVariables topic, in TWikiVariablesSearch and in category topics work as expected.

Basic structure of a variable documentation topic:

  • Parent set to TWikiVariables
  • An anchor named the same like the topic, such as #VarLIGHTSABER
  • A ---+++ (level 3) heading with variable name, --, short description
  • A bullet with description of the variable (optional)
  • A Syntax: bullet with example syntax
  • A Parameters: bullet with a table explaining the parameters (optional)
  • An Example: bullet or two with examples
  • An Expands to: bullet with expanded variable (optional)
  • A Note: bullet with notes (optional)
  • A Category: bullet with one or more of the TWiki variables categories:
    AdministrationVariables, ApplicationsAndComponentsVariables, AttachmentsAndFilesVariables, ChartingAndDrawingVariables, DatabaseAndFormsVariables, DateAndTimeVariables, DevelopmentVariables, EditingAndContentUpdateVariables, EmailAndNotificationVariables, ExportAndPublishingVariables, FormattingAndRenderingVariables, ImportVariables, LinkingAndNavigationVariables, SearchingAndListingVariables, SecurityAndAccessControlVariables, SkinsAndTemplatesVariables, SystemInformationVariables, TablesAndSpreadsheetsVariables, UIAndVisualizationVariables, UsersAndAuthenticationVariables, WorkflowAndAutomationVariables
  • A Related: bullet with related links. Links have conditional IF so that links work properly locally in variable documentation topics and in the TWikiVariables topic

Example content of a VarLIGHTSABER topic: 

#VarLIGHTSABER
---+++ LIGHTSABER -- laser sword to fend of unethical competition
   * The =%<nop>LIGHTSABER{}%= variable is handled by the LightsaberPlugin.
   * Syntax: =%<nop>LIGHTSABER{ _parameters_ }%=
   * Parameters:
     | *Parameter* | *Description* | *Default* |
     | =color="..."= | Color: =red=, =glue=, =green= | =white= |
     | =sound="..."= | Sound: =none=, =standard=, =loud= | =none= |
   * Example: =%<nop>LIGHTSABER{ color="red" }%= shows a red Lightsaber
   * Expands to: =%LIGHTSABER{ color="red" }%=
   * Note: The Lightsaber is a fictional weapon in the Star Wars universe, a "laser sword."
   * Category: FormattingAndRenderingVariables, UIAndVisualizationVariables
   * Related: [[%IF{"'%INCLUDINGTOPIC%'='TWikiVariables'" then="#"}%VarPLASMA][PLASMA]], LightsaberPlugin

(3) Notification of Changes by Email
Changed:
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<		Each TWiki web does an automatic email notification of recent changes. Users can subscribe / unsubscribe themselves in WebNotify of each TWiki web. The Perl script mailnotify is called by a deamon once every 60 minutes. For each Twiki web mailnotify is sending an automated email to subscribed users in case some topics changed within these 60 minutes.
>
>		 Warning: Can't find topic TWiki.TWikiNotificationOfChanges
 
Deleted:
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<		Implementation note: Edit the cron table so that mailnotify is called every 60 minutes. Please consult man crontab of how to modify the table that schedules program execution at certain intervals. Example: 
% crontab -e
15,45 * * * * (cd ~twiki/public_html/bin; ./mailnotify)
The above line will call mailnotify at 15 minutes and 45 minutes passed every hour.
 
(4) TWiki Category Table
Changed:
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<		It is possible to add a category table to a TWiki web. This permits storing and searching for more structured information. Editing a topic shows a HTML form with the usual text area and a table with selectors, checkboxes, radio buttons and text fields. The category table is shown at the end of a topic. The format of the category table can be defined per TWiki web.
>
>		 Warning: Can't find topic TWiki.TWikiCategoryTable
 
Deleted:
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<		If you want to use a Category Table in a TWiki web you need to have the following three files in the twiki/templates/{Yourweb} directory:
  • twikicatitems.tmpl : Defines the items in the table
  • twikicatedit.tmpl : Defines the look of the table when editing a topic
  • twikicatview.tmpl : Defines the look of the table when viewing a topic
 
Deleted:
<
<		_Format of category definition template twikicatitems.tmpl_

Valid lines: 

select|{name}|{selSize}|{val1}|{val2}|{val3}...
checkbox|{name}|{checkFlag}|{itemsPerLine}|{val1}|{val2}|{val3}...
radio|{name}|{itemsPerLine}|{val1}|{val2}|{val3}...
text|{name}|{charSize}
# comments start with a # character

Explanation: 

  {name}				 name of tag
  {selSize}			 vertical size of SELECT tag
  {val1}|{val2}...	values
  {checkFlag}		  set to true for [Set] [Clear] buttons, else set to false
  {itemsPerLine}	  input items per line before wrap around, 0 if no wrap around
  {charSize}			number of characters for text fields

_Remark:_ Line radio|UseCategory|0|Yes|No has a special meaning. If present, it is possible to choose in "edit" if the category table is included in the topic or not

Example file: 

radio|UseCategory|0|Yes|No, delete this category table
select|TopicClassification|1|Select one...|NoDisclosure|PublicSupported|PublicFAQ
checkbox|OperatingSystem|true|5|OsSolaris|OsSunOS|OsHPUX|OsWin
text|OsVersion|16

_Format of twikicatedit.tmpl and twikicatview.tmpl_

Use the example below and customize if needed. twikicatedit.tmpl and twikicatview.tmpl can be identical, but they do not have to be.

_Attention:_ <!--TWikiCat--> is needed at the beginning and end as markers. Do not delete them!

Example: 

<!--TWikiCat--> <h4> TWikiCategory </h4>
<table border="2" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1">
%REPEAT%<tr>
<td valign="top" align="right"> %CATNAME%:  <br>%CATMODIFIER%</td><td>  %CATVALUE% </td>
</tr>%REPEAT%
</table><!--TWikiCat-->

Above template files will result in the following category table when _viewing_ a topic:

TWikiCategory

TopicClassification:
PublicFAQ
OperatingSystem:
OsSolaris
OsVersion: 
<---->
2.5
<---->
 

Above template files will result in the following table when _editing_ a topic:

TWikiCategory

UseCategory :
Yes    No, delete this category table   
TopicClassification :
OperatingSystem :
   
OsSolaris    OsSunOS    OsHPUX    OsWin   
OsVersion :

Note: It is possible to force the values of a category table when creating a new topic. This is useful to create new topics using a form for the topic name. The default values of the category table can be specified as hidden fields if needed, i.e. <input type="hidden" name="someCategory" value="someValue">

Example (edit this page to see the source) :

 
(5) Implementation Notes
Changed:
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<		_Platform_
>
>		 Warning: Can't find topic TWiki.TWikiImplementationNotes
 
Deleted:
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<		TWiki is written in PERL 5, but it uses also many shell command. The current implementation runs only on a Unix machine. RCS for revision control must be installed on the system.
 
Deleted:
<
<		_Directories_

Directory: Used for:
twiki/bin TWiki PERL scripts
twiki/pub Public files (FileAttachments, images)
twiki/data source text
twiki/templates HTML templates, used by TWiki scripts

_Files in twiki/bin_

File: Used for:
.htaccess.txt Authentication. Rename to .htaccess and customize if used
attach Script that shows the attach file page (FileAttachment)
changes Script that shows recent changes
delete (not used yet)
edit Script to edit a topic
geturl Script to fetch URL data
mailnotify Script called by cron job to notify users of changes
oops Script that shows a OK or oops dialog
preview Script to preview topic after edit
rdiff Script to see differences of topics
register Script to register new users
save Script that saves a topic, called by preview
search Script that displays search results
statistics Script to create statistics topic
testenv Script to test CGI environment variables
upload Script that does file upload (FileAttachment)
view Script to view a topic ( the script )
viewfile Script to view an file attachment
wiki.pm main TWiki library
wikicfg.pm for initialization and configuration, used by wiki.pm
wikisearch.pm search engine, used by wiki.pm
 
(6) Installation Notes
Changed:
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<		These installation steps use Apache web server on Linux as an example. TWiki should run on other web servers and Unix systems as well.
>
>		 Warning: Can't find topic TWiki.TWikiInstallationNotes
 
Deleted:
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<		Note: These installation notes assume user nobody for all files manupulated by the cgi scripts (executed by the web server), and user twiki for all other files. You need to replace user nobody with an other user in case the web server executes the script with a different user ( default for Debian is www-data ). Also, you can substitute user twiki with your own user name.
 
Changed:
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<
  • Request the TWiki distribution (in Unix ZIP format) from http://TWiki.SourceForge.net/download.html .
  • Create directory /home/httpd/twiki and unzip the TWiki distribution to this directory.
  • The twiki/bin directory of TWiki must be set as a cgi-bin directory. Add /home/httpd/twiki/bin to /etc/httpd/conf/access.conf with only ExecCGI option.
>
>
(7) Upgrading Earlier Versions to TWiki 01 Mai 2000
Deleted:
<
<
  • The twiki/pub directory of TWiki must be set so that it is visible as a URL. Add /home/httpd/twiki/pub to /etc/httpd/conf/access.conf with normal access options (copy from /home/httpd/html).
  • Now add Alias for /twiki/pub and ScriptAlias for /twiki/bin to /etc/httpd/conf/srm-conf .
  • Restart Apache by /etc/rc.d/rc5.d/S85httpd restart .
  • Test if the twiki/bin directory is cgi-enabled:
    • Enter the URL of that directory into your browser ( http://your.domain.com/twiki/bin ). It is not set correctly as cgi-bin in case you get something like "Index of /twiki/bin" . It is OK if you get a message like "Forbidden. You don't have permission to access /twiki/bin/ on this server."
    • Execute the testenv script from your browser ( http://your.domain.com/twiki/bin/testenv ). It should show a table of all CGI environment variables.
  • Make sure PERL and the PERL CGI library is installed on your system. Default location of PERL executable is /usr/bin/perl . In case PERL is installed in a different location, the first line of all perl scripts in the twiki/bin directory need to be changed (alternatively you can create a symbolic link from /usr/bin/perl ).
  • To be able to edit the perl scripts and .tmpl files it is necessary to chown and chgrp -R twiki so all the files have the owner you want.
  • The scripts execute as nobody . Set the file permission of all Perl scripts in the twiki/bin directory as executable to -rw-r-xr-x .
  • Set the file permission of all files below twiki/data to 666 ( -rw-rw-rw- ).
  • Set the file permission of the twiki/data directory and all its subdirectories to 777 ( drwxrwxrwx ).
  • Set the file permission of the twiki/pub directory to 777 ( drwxrwxrwx ).
  • Edit the file twiki/bin/wikicfg.pm and set the variables at the beginning of the file to your needs.
  • Make sure RCS is installed. In case RCS is not in the path environment variable, add it to path . Alternatively, add the full path name to the rcs, ci, co, rlog, rcsdiff commands in the variables of twiki/bin/wikicfg.pm .
  • Point your browser at http://your.domain.com/twiki/bin/view and start wiki-ing away!
  • Note in case cgi user is not nobody : The *,v RCS repository files delivered with the installation package are locked by user nobody . In case the user is different (e.g. www-data ), it is not possible to check in files, this has the effect that the topic version number does not increase when saving a topic. In this case you need to unlock all repository files and lock them as user www-data (check the rcs man pages), or simply delete all the repository files.
  • Security issue: Directories twiki/data , twiki/templates and all its subdirectories should be set so that they are not visible as a URL. (Alternatively, move the directries to a place where they are not visible, and change the variables in twiki/bin/wikicfg.pm accordingly)
  • Enable email notification of topic changes, (3) has more.
 
Changed:
<
<
  • Optional: You can add new rendering rules or new %variables%. To insure an easy upgrade of TWiki it is recommended to do this customization in twiki/bin/wikicfg.pm , not twiki/bin/wiki.pm .
>
>		 Warning: Can't find topic TWiki.TWikiUpgradeTo01May2000
Deleted:
<
<
  • Optional: If you are on a public server and you would like to authenticate users you need to rename file .htaccess.txt in the twiki/bin directory to .htaccess and change it to your needs. For details consult the HTTP server documentation (for Apache server: [1], [2], [3]). Note: In case .htaccess does not have any effect you need to enable it: Add "AllowOverride All" to the Directory section of access.conf for your twiki/bin directory.

  • Optional: You can automatically generate usage statistics for all webs. To enable this:
    • Make sure variable $doLogTopicView, $doLogTopicSave and $doLogTopicUpload in wikicfg.pm are set. This will generate log entries in file twiki/data/log<date>.txt .
    • Topic WebStatistics must be present in all webs where you want to have statistics. You can use the topic in the Main web as a template.
    • Call the twiki/bin/statistics script from a cron job, once a day is recommended. This will update the WebStatistics topics in all webs.
    • Attention: The script must run as the same user as the CGI scripts are running, which is user nobody on most systems. Example crontab entry:
      0 0 * * * (cd /path/to/TWiki/bin; ./statistics >/dev/null 2>&1)
    • There is a workaround in case you can't run the script as user nobody : Run the utility twiki/bin/geturl in your cron job and specify the URL of the twiki/bin/statistics script as a parameter. Example:
      0 0 * * * (cd /path/to/TWiki/bin; ./geturl mydomain.com /urlpath/to/TWiki/bin/statistics >/dev/null 2>&1)
    • The twiki/bin/statistics script can also be executed as a CGI script, just enter the URL in your browser. Examples:
      • Update current month for all webs:
        http://mydomain.com/twiki/bin/statistics
      • Update current month for Main web only:
        http://mydomain.com/twiki/bin/statistics/Main
      • Update January 2000 for Main web:
        http://mydomain.com/twiki/bin/statistics/Main?logdate=200001

  • To create a new web:
    • Use a name for the web consisting of characters A..Z , a..z but not in WikiNotation.
    • Create a new template directory under twiki/templates .
    • Create a new data directory under twiki/data and check the file permission of the directory.
    • Copy the files WebHome.txt , WebPreferences.txt , WebNotify.txt , WebSearch.txt and WebStatistics.txt from the twiki/data/Main directory to the new data directory, preserving the original files' owner, group and permissions ( on Unix use cp -p ). The data files must be writable by the owner the CGI scripts are running on ( usually nobody ). Hint: You can set permissions of .txt and .txt,v files to -rw-rw-rw- and then edit the topic using your browser, RCS will restore the file permission correctly when saving the topic.
    • Add the new web to the web list (on top of each topic) by editing the site-level preferences TWikiPreferences:
      • Add the new web to the WIKIWEBLIST variable.
    • Add the new web to the web table (at the bottom of each WebHome topic) by editing the TWikiWebsTable topic.
    • Change the web preferences by editing the WebPreferences topic of the new web:
      • Set the WEBBGCOLOR variable to a color of your taste. The number represents the unique color for the web (consult an HTML book for colors.)
      • Customize the WEBTOPICLIST variable to contain the web specific links you prefer.
      • Optional: Set the WEBCOPYRIGHT variable to have a web-specific copyright text (at the bottom of each topic).
    • If needed, create customized templates in the new templates directory. (Non existing templates are inherited from twiki/templates )
    • If you want to use a category table, copy the three files twikicatitems.tmpl , twikicatedit.tmpl and twikicatview.tmpl from the twiki/templates/Know directory to the new templates directory, and customize it. The TWiki Category Table section has more.
    • In case you want usage statistics for this web: Copy file WebStatistics.txt from the twiki/data/Main directory to the new data directory. Edit topic WebStatistics in the new web and delete old usage entries.

Here are contents of directories with file permissions. Please note that this is for debugging reasons only and does not exactly reflect the distribution:

directory twiki/bin : 

drwxr-xr-x	2 twiki	twiki		 1024 Feb 18 18:31 .
drwxr-xr-x	8 twiki	twiki		 1024 Feb 26 04:20 ..
-rw-rw-r--	1 twiki	twiki		  770 Feb 10 12:10 .htaccess
-rw-r-xr-x	1 twiki	twiki		 3968 Feb 18 00:26 attach
-rwxr-xr-x	1 twiki	twiki		 3033 Feb 17 23:57 changes
-rw-r-xr-x	1 twiki	twiki		 1377 Feb  8 18:18 delete
-rw-r-xr-x	1 twiki	twiki		 8785 Feb 17 23:58 edit
-rwxr--r--	1 twiki	twiki		 1811 Feb  4 14:31 geturl
-rwxr-xr-x	1 twiki	twiki		 5047 Feb  8 20:33 mailnotify
-rw-r-xr-x	1 twiki	twiki		 1825 Feb  8 18:29 oops
-rw-r-xr-x	1 twiki	twiki		 6932 Feb 11 02:06 preview
-rw-r-xr-x	1 twiki	twiki		 7804 Feb 17 23:59 rdiff
-rw-r-xr-x	1 twiki	twiki		 7010 Feb 18 00:03 register
-rw-r-xr-x	1 twiki	twiki		 2501 Jan 25 19:39 save
-rwxr-xr-x	1 twiki	twiki		 1778 Feb 18 00:04 search
-rw-r-xr-x	1 twiki	twiki		 9810 Feb  8 18:43 statistics
-rwxr-xr-x	1 twiki	twiki		  509 Feb  7 18:55 testenv
-rw-r-xr-x	1 twiki	twiki		 6856 Feb 18 00:11 upload
-rw-r-xr-x	1 twiki	twiki		 4922 Feb 17 23:54 view
-rw-r-xr-x	1 twiki	twiki		 1606 May 21  1999 viewfile
-rw-r-xr-x	1 twiki	twiki		27794 Feb 26 06:03 wiki.pm
-rw-r-xr-x	1 twiki	twiki		10143 Feb 27 04:03 wikicfg.pm
-rw-r-xr-x	1 twiki	twiki		 5440 Feb  7 04:36 wikisearch.pm

directory twiki/templates/ : 

drwxr-xr-x	7 twiki	twiki		 1024 Jan 16 19:39 .
drwxr-xr-x	8 twiki	twiki		 1024 Feb 26 04:20 ..
drwxr-xr-x	2 twiki	twiki		 1024 Jun  8  1999 Know
drwxr-xr-x	2 twiki	twiki		 1024 Dec  9  1998 Main
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		 2286 Feb 24 21:50 attach.tmpl
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		 1272 Feb  8 16:07 attachtable.tmpl
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		 1884 Feb 24 21:54 changes.tmpl
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		 2242 Feb 24 21:33 edit.tmpl
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  965 Feb  8 16:07 mailnotify.tmpl
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki			30 Jan 14  1999 notedited.tmpl
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  934 Feb  8 16:07 notext.tmpl
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  899 Feb  8 16:07 notwiki.tmpl
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  299 Feb 24 21:58 noweb.tmpl
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  957 Feb 24 22:17 oops.tmpl
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  871 Feb 24 22:17 oopsdel.tmpl
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		 1330 Feb 24 22:17 oopslocked.tmpl
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		 1024 Feb 24 22:17 oopsregexist.tmpl
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  912 Feb 24 22:17 oopsregpasswd.tmpl
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  923 Feb 24 22:17 oopsregrequ.tmpl
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		 1125 Feb 24 22:17 oopsregthanks.tmpl
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  942 Feb 24 22:17 oopsregwiki.tmpl
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		 1564 Feb 24 22:17 oopsrev.tmpl
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  906 Feb 24 22:17 oopsupload.tmpl
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		 1535 Feb 24 22:02 preview.tmpl
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		 1661 Feb 24 22:04 rdiff.tmpl
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  263 Aug  3  1999 register.tmpl
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  936 Feb  8 16:08 registernotify.tmpl
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		 1779 Feb 24 22:06 search.tmpl
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		 1533 Feb 24 21:43 view.tmpl

directory twiki/templates/Main : 

drwxr-xr-x	2 twiki	twiki		 1024 Dec  9  1998 .
drwxr-xr-x	7 twiki	twiki		 1024 Jan 16 19:39 ..
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		 2732 Feb 24 21:34 edit.tmpl

directory twiki/templates/Know (has a TWiki Category Table) : 

drwxr-xr-x	2 twiki	twiki		 1024 Jun  8  1999 .
drwxr-xr-x	7 twiki	twiki		 1024 Jan 16 19:39 ..
-rw-rw-r--	1 twiki	twiki		  446 Jun  8  1999 notedited.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--	1 twiki	twiki		  206 Jun  8  1999 twikicatedit.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--	1 twiki	twiki		 1060 Jul 16  1999 twikicatitems.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--	1 twiki	twiki		  231 Jun  8  1999 twikicatview.tmpl

directory twiki/data/ : 

drwxrwxrwx	8 twiki	twiki		 1024 Feb 26 04:17 .
drwxr-xr-x	8 twiki	twiki		 1024 Feb 26 04:20 ..
-rw-r--r--	1 nobody  nobody		2241 Feb 25 20:18 .htpasswd
drwxrwxrwx	2 twiki	twiki		 3072 Feb 27 01:15 Know
drwxrwxrwx	2 twiki	twiki		 9216 Feb 27 18:16 Main
-rw-rw-rw-	1 twiki	twiki			 1 Feb 26 06:01 debug.txt
-rw-r--r--	1 nobody  nobody	1263064 Jan 31 23:13 log200001.txt
-rw-r--r--	1 nobody  nobody	1063398 Feb 27 18:33 log200002.txt

part of directory twiki/data/Main : 

drwxrwxrwx	2 twiki	twiki		 9216 Feb 27 18:16 .
drwxrwxrwx	8 twiki	twiki		 1024 Feb 26 04:17 ..
-rw-rw-rw-	1 twiki	twiki		 5722 Feb 27 18:13 .changes
-rw-rw-rw-	1 twiki	twiki			 9 Feb 27 18:15 .mailnotify
-rw-r--r--	1 nobody  nobody	  26163 Feb 24 12:22 TWikiDocumentation.txt
-r--r--r--	1 nobody  nobody	  44133 Feb 24 12:22 TWikiDocumentation.txt,v
-rw-r--r--	1 nobody  nobody	  11661 Feb 27 18:13 TWikiHistory.txt
-r--r--r--	1 nobody  nobody	  18877 Feb 27 18:13 TWikiHistory.txt,v
-rw-r--r--	1 nobody  nobody		3029 Feb 26 04:46 TWikiPreferences.txt
-r--r--r--	1 nobody  nobody		3219 Feb 26 04:46 TWikiPreferences.txt,v
-rw-r--r--	1 nobody  nobody		7188 Feb 11 21:39 TWikiRegistration.txt
-r--r--r--	1 nobody  nobody		7375 Feb 11 21:39 TWikiRegistration.txt,v
-rw-r--r--	1 nobody  nobody		3180 Feb 25 20:19 TWikiUsers.txt
-r--r--r--	1 nobody  nobody	  16537 Feb 25 20:19 TWikiUsers.txt,v
-rw-r--r--	1 nobody  nobody		2613 Feb  7 04:47 TWikiVariables.txt
-r--r--r--	1 nobody  nobody		3125 Feb  7 04:47 TWikiVariables.txt,v
-rw-r--r--	1 nobody  nobody		2068 Feb 10 11:34 TWikiWeb.txt
-r--r--r--	1 nobody  nobody		3610 Feb 10 11:34 TWikiWeb.txt,v
-rw-r--r--	1 nobody  nobody		1677 Feb 26 05:11 TWikiWebsTable.txt
-r--r--r--	1 nobody  nobody		1866 Feb 26 05:11 TWikiWebsTable.txt,v
-rw-r--r--	1 nobody  nobody		2294 Feb 27 17:54 WebHome.txt
-r--r--r--	1 nobody  nobody		5282 Feb 27 17:54 WebHome.txt,v
-rw-r--r--	1 nobody  nobody		 586 Jan 17 01:05 WebNotify.txt
-r--r--r--	1 nobody  nobody		1629 Jan 17 01:05 WebNotify.txt,v
-rw-r--r--	1 nobody  nobody		1834 Feb 25 14:13 WebPreferences.txt
-r--r--r--	1 nobody  nobody		2023 Feb 25 14:13 WebPreferences.txt,v
-rw-r--r--	1 nobody  nobody		4407 Feb 11 21:08 WebSearch.txt
-r--r--r--	1 nobody  nobody	  10822 Feb 11 21:08 WebSearch.txt,v
-rw-r--r--	1 nobody  nobody		4416 Feb 27 00:00 WebStatistics.txt
-r--r--r--	1 nobody  nobody	  27759 Feb 27 00:00 WebStatistics.txt,v

directory twiki/pub/ : 

drwxrwxrwx  11 twiki	twiki		 1024 Feb  8 18:10 .
drwxr-xr-x	8 twiki	twiki		 1024 Feb 26 04:20 ..
drwxrwxrwx	4 nobody  nobody		1024 Aug 28  1999 Know
drwxrwxrwx  19 nobody  nobody		1024 Feb 27 09:56 Main
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		 1078 Jan 14 20:24 favicon.ico
drwxr-xr-x	2 twiki	twiki		 1024 Mar 27  1999 icn
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		 3016 Sep 10 04:27 twikilogo.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		 5320 Sep 10 04:27 twikilogo1.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		 6125 Sep 10 04:27 twikilogo2.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		 7218 Sep 10 04:27 twikilogo3.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		 6710 Sep 11 02:21 twikilogo4.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		 2877 Jun 15  1999 wikiHome.gif

directory twiki/pub/icn/ : 

drwxr-xr-x	2 twiki	twiki		 1024 Mar 27  1999 .
drwxrwxrwx  11 twiki	twiki		 1024 Feb  8 18:10 ..
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  801 Mar 27  1999 _filetypes.txt
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  143 Mar 27  1999 bat.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  926 Mar 27  1999 bmp.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  141 Mar 27  1999 c.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  144 Mar 27  1999 dll.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  152 Mar 27  1999 doc.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  130 Mar 27  1999 else.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  876 Mar 27  1999 exe.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  147 Mar 27  1999 fon.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  142 Mar 27  1999 h.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  156 Mar 27  1999 hlp.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  186 Mar 27  1999 html.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  144 Mar 27  1999 java.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  148 Mar 27  1999 mov.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  150 Mar 27  1999 pdf.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  146 Mar 27  1999 pl.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  150 Mar 27  1999 ppt.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  148 Mar 27  1999 ps.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  148 Mar 27  1999 py.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  130 Mar 27  1999 ram.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  154 Mar 27  1999 reg.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  147 Mar 27  1999 sh.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  155 Mar 27  1999 sniff.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  149 Mar 27  1999 ttf.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  134 Mar 27  1999 txt.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  154 Mar 27  1999 wav.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  152 Mar 27  1999 wri.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  152 Mar 27  1999 xls.gif
-rw-r--r--	1 twiki	twiki		  144 Mar 27  1999 zip.gif

-- PeterThoeny - 05 Apr 2000

 
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