mediawiki-extensions-TemplateData/Specification.md

TemplateData Specification

Living Standard

This version

https://git.wikimedia.org/blob/mediawiki%2Fextensions%2FTemplateData/master/Specification.md

Editors

Timo Tijhof, Trevor Parscal, James D. Forrester

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1 Introduction

This document specifies the structure that TemplateData blobs must follow.

The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119.

2 Terminology

2.1 Template

A page on a MediaWiki website that can be transcluded into other pages. Refer to mediawiki.org for documentation about what templates are capable of and how to create or use them.

2.2 Parameter

A key–value pair associated with the transclusion of a template in order to alter the behaviour of a template (and by extend, the content it will return as part of the transclusion).

2.3 Author

A program that creates and modifies TemplateData blobs, and distributes them to TemplateData consumer programs.

2.4 Consumer

A program interpreting TemplateData blobs (supplied by a TemplateData author).

2.5 User

A person using a TemplateData consumer program.

3 Structures

Authors MUST ensure TemplateData blobs have exactly one top-most structure of key–value pairs (hereafter referred to as "objects" having "properties") that follow the specification for the "Root" structure, as specified in section 3.1 below.

All objects share the following requirements:

1. Authors MUST ensure they only have properties described in this specification. Properties not specified here MUST not be present. Authors MUST ensure that properties and structures marked as "Required" are present. Other properties MAY be omitted.

2. Authors MUST ensure objects do not have multiple properties with the same key.

Requirements for non-Required ("optional") properties only apply if the property is present.

3.1 Root

3.1.1 description

• Value: null or InterfaceText

3.1.2 params

• Required
• Value: Object

Describes each of the template's parameters to a User.

Authors MUST ensure that the params object maps parameter names to Param objects.

3.1.3 paramOrder

• Value: Array

The logical order of the parameters.

Authors MUST ensure the paramOrder array contains all parameter names exactly once.

Consumers SHOULD display the parameters in this order.

3.1.4 sets

• Required
• Value: Array

List of groups of parameters that can be used together.

Authors MUST ensure that the sets object contains only Set objects. Authors MAY include a parameter in multiple Set objects. Authors are NOT REQUIRED to reference each parameter in at least one Set object.

A Consumer MAY encourage users to interact with parameters in a Set together (e.g. add, edit, or remove those parameters at once).

3.2 Param

• Value: Object

3.2.1 label

• Value: null or InterfaceText
• Default: Key of this Param object as referenced from Root.params.

Label of this parameter.

Authors are RECOMMENDED to provide unique labels for each parameter.

Consumers SHOULD use this when referring to a parameter in the interface for users.

3.2.2 description

• Value: null or InterfaceText

Explanatory text describing the purpose of this parameter to a User.

Authors are RECOMMENDED to give each parameter a description. Authors MAY use include hints as to how to the format the parameter value.

For example, a template parameter called name might have as its description "The name of the author of the book, to positively identify and attribute the claim. The name should be given as it would appear in the author's native language, script and culture.".

Consumers SHOULD provide this description to a the User when selecting and altering parameter values.

3.2.3 required

• Value: boolean
• Default: false

Whether the template being described requires this parameter to be present in order to function properly. For example, a template used to render a hyperlink to a book viewer might mark its "ISBN" parameter as required, whereas it might consider a parameter "publication date" to be optional.

Authors SHOULD only set this flag if the template will not function correctly without this parameter being set.

Consumers SHOULD encourage the User to fill in these parameters, and MAY prevent users from transcluding a template when a required parameter has not been set.

3.2.4 suggested

• Value: boolean
• Default: false

Whether the parameter is recommended to be set to an explicit value for the template transclusion to be useful. This status is less strong an indicator than required. For example, in a book template the author's name might be suggested, whereas the title might be required.

Authors MUST NOT use suggested for parameters without which the template will not function correctly.

Consumers MAY encourage users to fill in a suggested parameter, but SHOULD NOT prevent users from transcluding a template when a suggested parameter is not set.

3.2.5 deprecated

• Value: boolean or string
• Default: false

Whether this parameter is discouraged from usage. Seting to false indicates the parameter is not deprecated.

Authors are RECOMMENDED to, when marking a parameter as deprecated, provide a string of explanatory text describing why the parameter is deprecated (and what parameter or parameters the user should use instead). Alternatively, Authors MAY use the value true in absence of explanatory text.

3.2.6 aliases

• Value: Array

An array of alternative names for the parameter.

Authors MUST NOT provide a Param object in Root.params for any alias. To describe a discouraged parameter with additional information, authors SHOULD describe the parameter as deprecated instead of alias.

Consumers SHOULD display aliases where entered as secondary to the primary name.

3.2.7 type

• Value: Type

The kind of value the template expects to be associated with this parameter.

Consumers MAY provide user interfaces that restrict or simplify entering values based on the parameter type.

3.2.8 inherits

• Value: string

The key of another parameter from which this parameter will inherit properites. Local properties will override the inherited properties.

Authors MUST ensure that the value matches the key of a Param object in Root.params.

3.2.9 autovalue

• Value: string

A dynamically-generated default value in wikitext, such as today's date or the editing user's name; this will often involve wikitext substitution, such as {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}.

Consumers MUST insert a parameter's autovalue by default if this parameter is used in a transclusion, and SHOULD indicate this value to the user and give them the opportunity to change the value.

3.2.10 default

• Value: string

The default value in wikitext (or description thereof) of a parameter as assumed by the template when the parameter is not present in a transclusion.

Consumers SHOULD indicate this default value to the user when inserting or editing a template.

3.3 Set

• Value: Object

3.3.1 label

• Required
• Value: InterfaceText

A label for this set.

Authors are RECOMMENDED to ensure these are unique and distinguishable from other labels.

3.3.2 params

• Required
• Value: Array

A list of one or more Root.params keys.

3.4 Type

• Value: string
• Default: "unknown"

One of the following:

• unknown
  When no type is specified.
• string
  Any textual value.
• number
  Any numerical value (without decimal points or thousand separators).
• boolean
  A boolean value ('1' for true, '0' for false, '' for unknown).
• date
  A date in ISO 8601 format, e.g. "2014-05-09" or "2014-05-09T16:01:12Z".
• wiki-page-name
  A valid MediaWiki page name for the current wiki. Doesn't have to exist, but if not, should be a valid page name to create.
• wiki-user-name
  A valid MediaWiki user name for the current wiki. Doesn't have to exist, but if not, should be a valid user name to create. Should not include any localised or standard namespace prefix ("Foo" not "User:Foo").
• wiki-file-name
  A valid MediaWiki file name for the current wiki. Doesn't have to exist, but if not, should be a valid file name to upload. Should not include any localised or standard namespace prefix ("Foo" not "File:Foo").
• content
  Page content (such as text style, links and images etc.).
• unbalanced-wikitext
  Raw wikitext that should not be treated as standalone content because it is unbalanced (eg. templates concatenating incomplete wikitext as a bigger whole such as {{echo|before=<u>|after=</u>}})
• line
  Short text field - use for names, labels, and other short-form fields.

3.5 InterfaceText

• Value: string or Object

A free-form string (no wikitext) in the content-language of the wiki, or, an object containing those strings keyed by language code.

4 Examples

4.1 The "Unsigned" template

{
	"description": "Label unsigned comments in a conversation.",
	"params": {
		"user": {
			"label": "User's name",
			"type": "wiki-user-name",
			"required": true,
			"description": "User name of person who forgot to sign their comment.",
			"aliases": ["1"]
		},
		"date": {
			"label": "Date",
			"suggested": true,
			"description": {
				"en": "Timestamp of when the comment was posted, in YYYY-MM-DD format."
			},
			"aliases": ["2"],
			"autovalue": "{{subst:#time:Y-m-d}}"
		},
		"year": {
			"label": "Year",
			"type": "number"
		},
		"month": {
			"label": "Month",
			"inherits": "year"
		},
		"day": {
			"label": "Day",
			"inherits": "year"
		},
		"comment": {
			"required": false
		}
	},
	"sets": [
		{
			"label": "Date",
			"params": ["year", "month", "day"]
		}
	]
}

Example transclusions

{{unsigned|JohnDoe|2012-10-18}}

{{unsigned|user=JohnDoe|year=2012|month=10|day=18|comment=blabla}}