Difference: TWikiVariables (45 vs. 46)

Revision 462001-12-02 - MikeMannix

META TOPICPARENT	name="WebHome"

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TWiki Variables

Text strings expanded on the fly to display data or system info

Overview

TWikiVariables are text strings - %VARIABLE% - that expand into content whenever a page is opened. Variables are replaced by their actual values: stored data, or system info (like the date, or the current user). There are predefined variables, and Preference variables that you set. You can also define custom variables, with new names and values.

Predefined Variables

Most predefined variables return values that were either defined when TWiki was installed, or taken from server info (like current username, or date and time). Many of the variables let you control how the formatted results appear.

TWiki expands the following variables (enclosed in % percent signs):

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%WIKIHOMEURL% The base script URL of TWiki, is the link of the Home icon in the upper left corner, is /twiki/bin/view/Main/WebHome

%SCRIPTURL% The script URL of TWiki, is http://twiki.oats.inaf.it/twiki/bin

%SCRIPTURLPATH% The path of the script URL of TWiki, is /twiki/bin

%SCRIPTSUFFIX% The script suffix, ex: .pl, .cgi is

%PUBURL% The public URL of TWiki, is http://twiki.oats.inaf.it/twiki/pub

%PUBURLPATH% The path of the public URL of TWiki, is /twiki/pub

%ATTACHURL% The attachment URL of the current topic, is http://twiki.oats.inaf.it/twiki/pub/TWiki/TWikiVariables
Example: If you attach a file you can refer to it as %ATTACHURL%/image.gif

%ATTACHURLPATH% The path of the attachment URL of the current topic, is /twiki/pub/TWiki/TWikiVariables

%URLPARAM{"name"}% Returns the value of a URL parameter. Ex: %URLPARAM{"skin"}% returns print for a .../view/TWiki/TWikiVariables?skin=print URL. Is

%WIKITOOLNAME% Name of wiki tool, is TWiki

%WIKIVERSION% Wiki tool version is TWiki-6.1.0, Mon, 16 Jul 2018, build 30610

%USERNAME% Your login username is guest

%WIKINAME% Your Wiki username. Same as %USERNAME% if not defined in the TWikiUsers topic. Is TWikiGuest

%WIKIUSERNAME% Your %WIKINAME% including the Main web name. Usefull for signatures. Is Main.TWikiGuest

%MAINWEB% The Main web containing TWikiUsers, OfficeLocations and TWikiGroups. Is Main

%TWIKIWEB% The web containing all documentation and configuration of TWiki is TWiki

%WEB% The current web is TWiki

%BASEWEB% The web name where the includes started, e.g. the web of the first topic of nested includes. Same as %WEB% in case there is no include.

%INCLUDINGWEB% The web name of the topic that includes the current topic. Same as %WEB% in case there is no include.

%HOMETOPIC% The home topic in each web. Is WebHome

%NOTIFYTOPIC% The notify topic in each web. Is WebNotify

%WIKIUSERSTOPIC% The index topic of all registered users. Is TWikiUsers

%WIKIPREFSTOPIC% The web preferences topic. Is TWikiPreferences

%WEBPREFSTOPIC% The web preferences topic. Is WebPreferences

%STATISTICSTOPIC% The web statistics topic. Is WebStatistics

%TOPIC% The current topic name, is TWikiVariables

%BASETOPIC% The name of the topic where the includes started, e.g. the first topic of nested includes. Same as %TOPIC% in case there is no include.

%INCLUDINGTOPIC% The name of the topic that includes the current topic. Same as %TOPIC% in case there is no include.

%SPACEDTOPIC% The current topic name with added spaces, for regular expression search of Ref-By, is TWiki%20*Variables

%TOPICLIST{"format"}%

Topic index of a web. The "format" defines the format of one topic item. It may include variables: The $name variable gets expanded to the topic name; the $web variable gets expanded to the name of the web. Parameters are format, separator and web:

Parameter:	Description:	Default:
`"format"`	Format of one line, may include `$name` and `$web` variables	`"$name"`
`format="format"`	(Alternative to above)	`"$name"`
`separator=", "`	line separator	`"\n"` (new line)
`web="Name"`	Name of web	Current web

Examples:
%TOPICLIST{" * $web.$name"}% creates a bullet list of all topics.
%TOPICLIST{separator=", "}% creates a comma separated list of all topics.
%TOPICLIST{" <option>$name</option>"}% creates an option list (for drop down menus).

%WEBLIST{"format"}%

Web index, e.g. list of all webs. Hidden webs are excluded, e.g. webs with a NOSEARCHALL=on preference variable. The "format" defines the format of one web item. The $name variable gets expanded to the name of the web, $qname gets expanded to double quoted name, $marker to marker where web matches selection. Parameters are format, separator and web:

Parameter:	Description:	Default:
`"format"`	Format of one line, may include `$name` variable	`"$name"`
`format="format"`	(Alternative to above)	`"$name"`
`separator=", "`	line separator	`"\n"` (new line)
`webs="public"`	comma sep list of Web, public expands to all non-hidden	`"public"`
`marker="selected"`	Text for `$marker` where item matches `selection`, otherwise equals `""`	`"selected"`
`selection="%WEB%"`	Current value to be selected in list	`section="%WEB%"`

Examples:
%WEBLIST{" * [[$name.WebHome]]"}% creates a bullet list of all webs.
%WEBLIST{"" webs="Trash,public" selection="TWiki" separator=" "}% Dropdown of all public Webs + Trash Web, current Web highlighted.

%GMTIME% GM time, is 2025-07-14 - 00:33

%GMTIME{"format"}%

Formatted GM time based on time variables.

Variable:	Unit:	Example
$seconds	seconds	59
$minutes	minutes	59
$hours	hours	23
$day	day of month	31
$month	month in ISO format	Dec
$mo	2 digit month	12
$year	4 digit year	1999
$ye	2 digit year	99

Variables can be shortened to 3 characters. Example:
%GMTIME{"$day $month, $year - $hour:$min:$sec"}% is
14 Jul, 2025 - 00:33:08

%SERVERTIME% Server time, is 2025-07-14 - 02:33

%SERVERTIME{"format"}% Formatted server time.
Example: %SERVERTIME{"$hou:$min"}% is 02:33

%HTTP_HOST% HTTP_HOST environment variable, is twiki.oats.inaf.it

%REMOTE_ADDR% REMOTE_ADDR environment variable, is 216.73.216.200

%REMOTE_PORT% REMOTE_PORT environment variable, is

%REMOTE_USER% REMOTE_USER environment variable, is

%INCLUDE{"page" ...}%

Server side include to IncludeTopicsAndWebPages. Parameters are page name, and an optional pattern="(reg-exp)". The page name is:

`"SomeTopic"`	The name of a topic located in the current web, i.e. `%INCLUDE{"WebNotify"}%`
`"Web.Topic"`	A topic in another web, i.e. `%INCLUDE{"TWiki.TWikiWebsTable"}%`
`"http://..."`	A full qualified URL, i.e. `%INCLUDE{"http://twiki.org/"}%`

%STARTINCLUDE% If present in included topic, start to include text from this location up to the end, or up to the location of the %STOPINCLUDE% variable. A normal view of the topic shows everyting exept the %STARTINCLUDE% variable itself.

%STOPINCLUDE% If present in included topic, stop to include text at this location and ignore the remaining text. A normal view of the topic shows everyting exept the %STOPINCLUDE% variable itself.

%TOC% Table of Contents of current topic.

%TOC{"SomeTopic" ...}%

Table of Contents. Shows a TOC that is generated automatically based on headings of a topic. Headings in WikiSyntax ("---++ text") and HTML ("<h2>text<h2>") are taken into account. (But not "<H2>text</H2>", which can be used to exclude a heading from the TOC.) Parameters are topic name, web and depth:

Parameter:	Description:	Default:
`"TopicName"`	topic name	Current topic
`web="Name"`	Name of web	Current web
`depth="2"`	Limit depth of headings shown in TOC	6

Examples: %TOC{depth="2"}%, %TOC{"TWikiDocumentation" web="TWiki"}%

%SEARCH{"text" ...}%

Inline search, shows a search result embedded in a topic. Parameters are the search term, web, scope, order and many more: [1]

Parameter:	Description:	Default:
`"text"`	Search term. (Is a regular expression or literal, depending on the `regex` parameter)	required
`search="text"`	(Alternative to above)	N/A
`web="Name"` `web="Main Know"` `web="all"`	Wiki web to search: A web, a list of webs separated by whitespace, or `all` webs. [2]	Current web
`scope="topic"` `scope="text"`	Search topic name (title) or in the text (body) of the topic	Topic text (body)
`order="topic"` `order="modified"` `order="editby"`	Sort the results of search by the topic names, last modified time, or last editor	Sort by topic name
`limit="all"` `limit="16"`	Limit the number of results returned	All results
`regex="on"`	RegularExpression search	Literal search
`reverse="on"`	Reverse the direction of the search	Ascending search
`casesensitive="on"`	Case sensitive search	Ignore case
`nosummary="on"`	Show topic title only	Show topic summary
`bookview="on"`	BookView search, e.g. show complete topic text	Show topic summary
`nosearch="on"`	Suppress search string	Show search string
`noheader="on"`	Suppress search header Topics: Changed: By:	Show search header
`nototal="on"`	Do not show number of topics found	Show number

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format="..." Flexible custom result formatting: see FormattedSearch for usage Results in table

Example: %SEARCH{"wiki" web="Main" scope="topic"}%

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%SEARCH{... format="..."}%

Control the formatting of an embedded search. By default, the search result display format is fixed: a table with rows of topic name and topic summary. Use the format="..." parameter to specify a custom format, typically, a bullet list or table row containing variables
Ex: %SEARCH{ "food" format="| $topic | $summary |" }%)
Two paramters can be used to specify a customized search result:
1. header="..." parameter
Use the header paramter to specify the header of a search result. It should correspond to the format of the format parameter. This parameter is optional. Ex: header="| *Topic:* | *Summary:* |"
2. format="..." parameter
Use the format paramter to specify the format of one search hit.
Ex: format="| $topic | $summary |"
Variables that can be used in the format string:

Name:	Expands To:
`$web`	Name of the web
`$topic`	Topic name
`$locked`	LOCKED flag (if any)
`$date`	Time stamp of last topic update
`$rev`	Number of last topic revision, i.e. `1.4`
`$wikiusername`	Wiki user name of last topic update, i.e. `Main.JohnSmith`
`$summary`	Topic summary
`$formfield(name)`	The field value of a form field, i.e. `$formfield(TopicClassification)` would get expanded to `PublicFAQ`. This applies only to topics that have a TWikiForm
`$pattern(reg-exp)`	A regular expression pattern to extract some text from a topic, i.e. `$pattern(.?\.?Email\:\s([^\n\r]+).)` extracts the email address from a bullet of format ` Email: ...`.

Note: For $pattern(reg-exp), specify a RegularExpression that scans from start to end and contains the text you want to keep in parenthesis, ex: $pattern(.*?(from here.*?to here).*). You need to make sure that the integrity of a web page is not compromised, i.e. if you include a table make sure to include everything including the table end tag.
NOTE: Sorting is nicely covered by the TablePlugin.
For how-to tips and tricks, see: TWikiVariablesExamples

%METASEARCH{...}%

Special search of meta data

Parameter:	Description:	Default:
`type="topicmoved"`	What sort of search is required? `"topicmoved"` if search for a topic that may have been moved `"parent"` if searcing for topics that have a specific parent i.e. its children	required
`web="%WEB%"`	Wiki web to search: A web, a list of webs separated by whitespace, or `all` webs.	required
`topic="%TOPIC%"`	The topic the search relates to	required
`title="Title"`	Text the is pre-pended to any search results	required

Example: %METASEARCH{type="topicmoved" web="%WEB%" topic="%TOPIC%" title="This topic used to exist and was moved to: "}%, you may want to use this in WebTopicViewTemplate and WebTopicNonWikiTemplate
%METASEARCH{type="parent" web="%WEB%" topic="%TOPIC%" title="Children: "}%

%VAR{"NAME" web="Web"}% Get a preference value from a web other then the current one. Example: To get %WEBBGCOLOR% of the Main web write %VAR{"WEBBGCOLOR" web="Main"}%, is #FFEFA6

[1] Note: The search form uses identical names for input fields.
[2] Note: A web can be excluded from a web="all" search if you define a NOSEARCHALL=on variable in its WebPreferences.

Preferences Variables

Additional variables are defined in the preferences ( site-level ( SL ) in TWikiPreferences, web-level ( WL ) in WebPreferences of each web, and user level ( UL ) preferences in individual user topics):

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Variable:	Level:	What:
`%WIKIWEBMASTER%`	SL	Webmaster email address (sender of email notifications) , is andrea.bignamini@inaf.it
`%WIKIWEBLIST%`	SL	List of TWiki webs (in upper right corner of topics)
`%WEBTOPICLIST%`	WL	Common links of web (second line of topics)
`%WEBCOPYRIGHT%`	SL , WL	Copyright notice (bottom right corner of topics)
`%WEBBGCOLOR%`	WL	Background color of web
`%NOSEARCHALL%`	WL	Exclude web from a `web="all"` search (set variable to `on` for hidden webs)
`%NEWTOPICBGCOLOR%`	SL , UL	Background color of non existing topic. ( UL needs authentication for topic views )
`%NEWTOPICFONTCOLOR%`	SL , UL	Font color of non existing topic. ( UL needs authentication for topic views )
`%EDITBOXWIDTH%`	SL , UL	Horizontal size of edit box, is `70`
`%EDITBOXHEIGHT%`	SL , UL	Vertical size of edit box, is `20`
`%RELEASEEDITLOCKCHECKBOX%`	SL , UL	Default state of the "Release edit lock" (UnlockTopic) check box in preview. Checkbox is initially checked if `Set RELEASEEDITLOCKCHECKBOX = checked="checked"`, or unchecked if empty. If checked, make sure to click on Edit to do more changes; do not go back in your browser to the edit page, or you risk that someone else will edit the topic at the same time! Value is: `%RELEASEEDITLOCKCHECKBOX%`
`%DONTNOTIFYCHECKBOX%`	SL , UL	Default state of the "Minor Changes, Don't Notify" (DontNotify) check box in preview. Check box is initially checked if `Set DONTNOTIFYCHECKBOX = checked="checked"`, or unchecked if empty. Value is:
`%ATTACHLINKBOX%`	SL , UL	Default state of the link check box in the attach file page. Check box is initially checked if value is set to `CHECKED` , unchecked if empty. If checked, a link is created to the attached file at the end of the topic. Value is:
`%HTTP_EQUIV_ON_VIEW%`	SL	http-equiv meta tags for view, rdiff, attach, search* scripts.
`%HTTP_EQUIV_ON_EDIT%`	SL , UL	http-equiv meta tags for edit script.
`%HTTP_EQUIV_ON_PREVIEW%`	SL , UL	http-equiv meta tags for preview script.
`%DENYWEBCHANGE%`	WL	List of users and groups who are not allowed to change topics in the TWiki web. (More in TWikiAccessControl)
`%ALLOWWEBCHANGE%`	WL	List of users and groups who are allowed to change topics in the TWiki web. (More in TWikiAccessControl)
`%DENYTOPICCHANGE%`	*(any topic)*	List of users and groups who are not allowed to change the current topic. (More in TWikiAccessControl)
`%ALLOWTOPICCHANGE%`	*(any topic)*	List of users and groups who are allowed to change the current topic. (More in TWikiAccessControl)
`%DENYWEBRENAME%`	WL	List of users and groups who are not allowed to rename topics in the TWiki web. (More in TWikiAccessControl)
`%ALLOWWEBRENAME%`	WL	List of users and groups who are allowed to rename topics in the TWiki web. (More in TWikiAccessControl)
`%DENYTOPICRENAME%`	*(any topic)*	List of users and groups who are not allowed to rename the current topic. (More in TWikiAccessControl)
`%ALLOWTOPICRENAME%`	*(any topic)*	List of users and groups who are allowed to rename the current topic. (More in TWikiAccessControl)
`%FINALPREFERENCES%`	SL , WL	List of preferences that are not allowed to be overridden by next level preferences

Setting Preferences

The syntax for Preferences variables is the same anywhere in TWiki. In Edit mode, from the start of a new line:
[6 spaces] * [space] Set [space] VARIABLENAME [space] = [value]
Example:
- Set VARIABLENAME = value

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Customizing Variables

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Creating Custom Variables

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You can add your own preference variables for an entire site, a single web, or a single topic, using the standard syntax. Whatever you include in your variable will be expanded on display, and treated exactly as if it had been written out. So you can place formatted text, page links, image paths.

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Example: Create a custom logo variable

To place a logo anywhere in a web by typing %MYLOGO%, simply define the variable on the web's WebPreferences page. You also have to upload logo.gif - this can be done by attaching a file to LogoTopic (any topic name you choose):

Set MYLOGO = %PUBURL%/%MAINWEB%/LogoTopic/logo.gif

-- PeterThoeny - 13 Sep 2001
-- MikeMannix - 30 Nov 2001

View topic | History: r91 < r90 < r89 < r88 | More topic actions...

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