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TWiki Documentation

TWiki

TWiki Reference Manual (04 Sep 2004 $Rev: 1742 $)

This page contains all documentation topics as one long, complete reference sheet.
Doubleclick anywhere to return to the top of the page.

Note - if you are reading this at twiki.org, then you are reading about the most recent code under development.
If you want to read about the features on your local TWiki, then you should read the documentation there!

Note: Read the most up to date version of this document at http://TWiki.org/cgi-bin/view/TWiki/TWikiDocumentation

Related Topics: TWikiSite, TWikiHistory, TWikiPlannedFeatures, TWikiEnhancementRequests


TWiki System Requirements

Server and client requirements for TWiki 01-Sep-2004

Low client and server requirements are core features that keep TWiki widely deployable, particularly across a range of browser platforms and versions.

Server Requirements

TWiki is written in Perl 5, uses a number of shell commands, and requires RCS (Revision Control System), a GNU Free Software package. TWiki is developed in a basic Linux/Apache environment. It also works with Microsoft Windows, and should have no problem on any other platform that meets the requirements.

Resource Required Server Environment *
Perl 5.005_03 or higher (5.6.1 recommended, 5.8.x does work in most cases, but see TWiki:Codev.IssuesWithPerl5dot8)
Non-standard Perl modules • Unix: Net::SMTP (or sendmail)
• Windows: Net::SMTP, MIME::Base64, Digest::SHA1
• Internationalisation: Unicode::MapUTF8   (only for non-ISO-8859-1 sites using TWiki:Codev.EncodeURLsWithUTF8 with Perl 5.6 or lower)
RCS 5.7 or higher (including GNU diff)
Optional, but the all-Perl RCS replacement is not currently recommended for live sites - see TWiki:Codev.RcsLite
GNU diff GNU diff 2.7 or higher is required when not using the all-Perl RcsLite.
Install on PATH if not included with RCS (check version with diff -v)
Must be the version used by RCS, to avoid problems with binary attachments - RCS may have hard-coded path to diff
Other external programs fgrep, egrep
Cron/scheduler • Unix: cron
• Windows: cron equivalents
Web server Apache 1.3 is well supported; Apache 2.0 is not recommended yet (see TWiki:Codev.IssuesWithApache2dot0).
For other servers, CGI support, authentication, extended path info required; also, the register script is likely to need significant changes

ALERT! * Current documentation mainly covers Linux and Apache installations. See WindowsInstallCookbook for a Windows installation guide. See TWiki:Codev.TWikiOn for help with installation on various platforms including Unix, MacOS X, Apache mod_perl, web hosts, etc.

Client Requirements

The TWiki standard installation has extremely low browser requirements:

  • HTML 3.2 compliant
  • generates XHTML 1.0 pages that are compatible with HTML 3.2
  • minimal use of JavaScript in the user interface (degrades gracefully)
  • no cookies
  • no CSS (if the ClassicSkin is used)

You can easily add functionality, by customizing TWikiTemplates, for one, while tailoring the browser requirements to your situation.

Known Issues

  • The TWikiPlugins feature currently does not have compatibility guidelines for developers. Plugins can require just about anything - browser-specific functions, stylesheets (CSS), Java applets, cookies, specific Perl modules,... - check the individual Plugin specs.
    • HELP Plugins included in the TWiki distribution do not add requirements.

-- TWiki:Main.MikeMannix - 12 Jan 2002
-- TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny - 15 Aug 2004


TWiki Installation Guide

Installation instructions for the TWiki 01-Sep-2004 production release.

If you are reading this on your own TWiki installation, please get the latest installation guide (TWiki:TWiki.TWikiInstallationGuide), as this often has important updates to resolve installation issues.

These installation steps are based on the Apache web server on Linux. TWiki runs on other web servers and Unix systems, and should be fine with any web server and OS that meet the system requirements. Official documentation for platforms other than Linux is somewhat limited, so please check the topics listed below, they include some important tips for HP-UX, Solaris, OS/390, and many other platforms.

Standard Installation

Download the TWiki 01-Sep-2004 distribution in Unix ZIP format from http://TWiki.org/download.html. Please review the AdminSkillsAssumptions before you install TWiki.

Step 1: Create & Configure the Directories

ALERT! NOTE: If you don't have access to your Web server configuration files - for example, if you're installing on an ISP-hosted account, or you don't have administrator privileges on your intranet server - use the alternative Step 1 instead.

  • Create directory /home/httpd/twiki and unzip the TWiki distribution into this directory.
  • The twiki/bin directory of TWiki must be set as a cgi-bin directory. Add /home/httpd/twiki/bin to file httpd.conf (typcially located in /etc/httpd/) with only ExecCGI option.
  • The twiki/pub directory of TWiki must be set so that it is visible as a URL. Add /home/httpd/twiki to file httpd.conf with normal access options (copy from /home/httpd/html ).
  • Now add ScriptAlias for /twiki/bin and Alias for /twiki to file httpd.conf .
    ALERT! NOTE: The ScriptAlias must come before the Alias, otherwise, Apache will fail to correctly set up /twiki/bin/, by treating it as just another subdirectory of the /twiki/ alias.
  • The twiki/data and twiki/templates directories should be set so that they are not visible as URLs. Add them to httpd.conf with deny from all.

Example httpd.conf entries:
 ScriptAlias /twiki/bin/ "/home/httpd/twiki/bin/"
 Alias /twiki/ "/home/httpd/twiki/"
 <Directory "/home/httpd/twiki/bin">
    Options +ExecCGI
    SetHandler cgi-script
    Allow from all
 </Directory>
 <Directory "/home/httpd/twiki/pub">
    Options FollowSymLinks +Includes
    AllowOverride None
    Allow from all
 </Directory>
 <Directory "/home/httpd/twiki/data">
    deny from all
 </Directory>
 <Directory "/home/httpd/twiki/templates">
    deny from all
 </Directory>

  • Restart Apache by service httpd restart (or as appropriate to your flavor of UNIX or Linux).
  • Test that the twiki/bin directory is CGI-enabled by trying visiting it in your browser:
    • Enter the URL for the bin directory, http://yourdomain.com/twiki/bin/
    • Your settings are OK if you get a message like "Forbidden. You don't have permission to access /twiki/bin/ on this server".
    • Settings are NOT correct if you get something like "Index of /twiki/bin" - recheck your httpd.conf file.

Aletrnative Step 1: Create & Configure the Directories for Non-Root Accounts

To install TWiki on a system where you don't have Unix/Linux root (administrator) privileges, for example, on a hosted Web account or an intranet server administered by someone else:

  • Download and unzip TWiki on your local PC
  • Using the table below, create a directory structure on your host server
  • Upload the TWiki files by FTP (transfer as text except for the image files in pub)
TWiki dir: What it is: Where to copy: Example:
twiki start-up pages root TWiki dir /home/smith/twiki/
twiki/bin CGI bin CGI-enabled dir /home/smith/twiki/bin
twiki/lib library files same level as twiki/bin /home/smith/twiki/lib
twiki/pub public files htdoc enabled dir /home/smith/twiki/pub
twiki/data topic data dir secure from public access /home/smith/twiki/data
twiki/templates web templates dir secure from public access /home/smith/twiki/templates

Note: Don't worry if you are not able to put the twiki/lib directory at the same level as the twiki/bin directory (e.g. because CGI bin directories can't be under your home directory and you don't have root access). You can create this directory elsewhere and configure the /twiki/bin/setlib.cfg file (done in Step 3)

Step 2: Set File Permissions

  • Make sure Perl 5 and the Perl CGI library are installed on your system. The default location of Perl is /usr/bin/perl. If it's elsewhere, change the path to Perl in the first line of each script in the twiki/bin directory, or create a symbolic link from /usr/bin/perl.
    • IMPORTANT:
      • On ISP-hosted accounts (and some intranet servers), Perl CGI scripts may require a .cgi extension to run. Some systems need .pl, the regular Perl extension. Rename all twiki/bin scripts if necessary.
      • Alternatively, you might try creating a file twiki/bin/.htaccess that contains the single line SetHandler cgi-script, which tells Apache to treat all files in this directory as CGI scripts.
  • Set the file permission of all Perl scripts in the twiki/bin directory as executable to -rwxr-xr-x (755).
  • 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.
  • HELP This Guide assumes user nobody ownership for all files manipulated by the CGI scripts (executed by the Web server), and user twiki for all other files. You can:
    • replace nobody with another user if your server executes scripts under a different name (ex: default for Debian is www-data).
      • TIP HINT: Run the testenv script from your browser: http://yourdomain.com/twiki/bin/testenv. It will show you the user name of the CGI scripts, a table listing all CGI environment variables, and a test of your twiki/lib/TWiki.cfg configuration file (you'll configure that in a minute).
    • replace user twiki with your own username
  • Set permissions manually.
    • Set the permission of all files below twiki/data so that they are writable by user nobody. A simple way is to chmod them to -rw-rw-r-- (664) and to chown them to nobody.
    • Set the permission of the twiki/data directory and its subdirectories so that files in there are writable by user nobody. A simple way is to chmod them to drwxrwxr-x (775) and to chown them to nobody.
    • Set the permission of the twiki/pub directory and all its subdirectories so that files in there are writable by user nobody. A simple way is to chmod them to drwxrwxr-x (775) and to chown them to nobody.
    • HELP The twiki/data/*/*.txt,v RCS repository files in the installation package are locked by user nobody. If your CGI scripts are not running as user nobody, it's not possible to check in files (you'll see that the revision number won't increase after saving a topic). In this case, you need to unlock all repository files (check the RCS man pages) and lock them with a different user, such as www-data, or delete them all - new files will be automatically created the first time each topic is edited. You have two options to change ownership of the RCS lock user:
      • Run the testenv script from your browser; in the Fix line you can relock all the rcs files (recommended)
      • Alternatively, run this in your shell:
        cd twiki/data
        find . -name *,v -exec perl -pi~ -e '$. <= 10 && s/nobody:/www-data:/ ' {} \;
        This will create *,v~ backup files which you should remove after verification:
        find . -name *,v~ -exec rm -f {} \;

Step 3: Edit the Configuration Files

  • Edit the file /twiki/bin/setlib.cfg
    • Set $twikiLibPath to the absolute file path of your /twiki/lib as seen by the web server.
    • ALERT! Attention: Do not leave it as a relative "../lib" path or Plugins might fail to initialize properly
    • You can also edit $localPerlLibPath if you are not root and need to install additional CPAN modules, but can't update the main Perl installation files on the server. Just set this variable to the full pathname to your local lib directory, typically under your home directory.
    • ALERT! Attention: If you are running TWiki on Apache 2.0 on Unix you might experience cgi scripts to hang forever. This is a known Apache 2.0 bug. See details and woraround in the setlib.cfg file.
  • Edit the file twiki/lib/TWiki.cfg, setting the variables to your needs.
    • Set the file extension in the $scriptSuffix variable to cgi or pl if required.
    • RCS - revision control system to store revision of topics and attachments. You can use RCS executables or a version of RCS written in Perl, note that as the time of writing (Apr 2002) the Perl version has not been widely tested, so if you want to put up a live site the RCS executables are recommended.
      • Set $storeTopicImpl = "RcsWrap"; for the RCS executables and make sure RCS is installed. Set $rcsDir in twiki/lib/TWiki.cfg to match the location of your RCS binaries. You can check this by issuing the command rcs at the prompt, it should result in something like "rcs: no input file".
        • Check that you have GNU diff, by typing diff -v - an error indicates you have a non-GNU diff, so install the GNU diffutils package and make sure that diff is on the PATH used by TWiki (see $safeEnvPath in the TWiki.cfg file).
      • Set $storeTopicImpl = "RcsLite"; for the Perl based RCS
  • Security issue: Directories twiki/data , twiki/templates and all their subdirectories should be set so that they are not visible through URLs. (Alternatively, move the directories to a place where they are not visible, and change the variables in twiki/lib/TWiki.cfg accordingly)
  • Test your settings by running the testenv script from your browser: http://yourdomain.com/twiki/bin/testenv. Check if your twiki/lib/TWiki.cfg configuration file settings are correct.

Step 4: Internationalisation Setup (Optional)

By default, TWiki is configured to support US ASCII letters (no accents) in WikiWords, and ISO-8859-1 (Western European) characters in page contents. If that's OK for you, skip this step.

If your Wiki will be used by non-English speakers, TWiki can be configured for Internationalisation ('I' followed by 18 letters, then 'N', or I18N). Specifically, TWiki will support suitable accented characters in WikiWords (as well as languages such as Japanese or Chinese in which WikiWords do not apply), and will support virtually any character set in the contents of pages. NOTE: TWiki does not currently support UTF-8, so you are advised not to use this - however, improved UTF-8 support is under development, see TWiki:Codev/ProposedUTF8SupportForI18N.

To configure internationalisation suppport:

  1. Edit the TWiki.cfg file's Internationalisation section to set the $useLocale parameter to 1. TWiki will now use the I18N parameters set in the rest of this section.
  2. Type the Unix/Linux command locale -a to find a suitable 'locale' for your use of TWiki. A locale that includes a dot followed by a character set is recommended, e.g. pl_PL.ISO-8859-2 for Poland. Consult your system administrator if you are not sure which locale to use.
  3. In TWiki.cfg, set the $siteLocale parameter to your chosen locale, e.g. pl_PL.ISO-8859-2 for Poland.
  4. Check your setup using testenv (download the latest testenv from TWiki:Support/SupportGuidelines if possible) - this provides some diagnostics for I18N setup, and in particular checks that your locale can be used successfully.
  5. (For upgrade of TWiki I18N sites only:) If you were using TWiki:Codev.TWikiRelease01Feb2003 support for I18N, and are using Internet Explorer or Opera, you should re-configure your browser so that it sends URLs encoded with UTF-8 (supported since TWiki:Codev.TWikiRelease01Sep2004). If you are doing a new installation of TWiki, you can ignore this step - no browser reconfiguration is needed for TWiki Release 01-Sep-2004).
    • Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher: in Tools | Options | Advanced, check 'always send URLs as UTF-8', then close all IE windows and restart IE.
    • Opera 6.x or higher: in Preferences | Network | International Web Addresses, check 'encode all addresses with UTF-8'.
    • NOTE: This does not mean that TWiki supports UTF-8 as a site character set.
  6. Try out your TWiki by creating pages in the Sandbox web that use international characters in WikiWords and checking that searching, WebIndex, Ref-By and other features are working OK.

Trouble with I18N?

If international characters in WikiWords do not seem to work, and you are on Perl 5.6 or higher, you may need to set the TWiki.cfg parameter $localeRegexes to 0 - this disables some features but enables TWiki to work even if your system has locales that do not work. Then, set the $upperNational and $lowerNational parameters to the valid upper and lower case accented letters for your locale.

  • NOTE: You will need to do the above workaround for Windows based servers (whether using Cygwin or ActiveState Perl), since Perl locales are not working on Windows as of Feb 2004.

If international characters in WikiWords aren't working, and you are on Perl 5.005 with working locales, keep $useLocale set to 1 and set $localeRegexes to 0, then set $upperNational and $lowerNational - if testenv generates the lists of characters for you, your locales are working so there is no need to set $localeRegexes to 0 in this case. See the comments in TWiki.cfg for more information.

Step 5: Configure Site-Wide Email Preferences

  • Edit the TWikiPreferences topic in the TWiki web (by pointing your browser to http://yourdomain.com/twiki/bin/view/TWiki/TWikiPreferences) to set the WIKIWEBMASTER email address, and other email settings required for registration and WebChangesAlert to work:
    • WIKIWEBMASTER should be set to the email address of the TWiki administrator
    • SMTPMAILHOST is typically set on Windows or other non-Unix/Linux systems, where sendmail or similar is not available. When this is set and the Perl module Net::SMTP is installed, TWiki will connect to this SMTP server (e.g. mail.yourdomain.com) to send email for user registration and WebChangesAlerts. If you do have a sendmail-type program, leave SMTPMAILHOST unset so that the external sendmail program is used instead (defined by $mailProgram in TWiki.cfg).
    • SMTPSENDERHOST is optional, and set to the domain name sending the email (e.g. twiki.yourdomain.com). For use where the SMTP server requires that you identify the TWiki server sending mail. If not set, Net::SMTP will guess it for you.
  • You may want to set up other TWikiPreferences later on.
  • To enable the WebChangesAlerts (email notifications) you need to read about cron in the topic TWikiSiteTools.

Step 6: Finish Up from Your Browser

  • Point your Web browser at http://yourdomain.com/twiki/bin/view and start TWiki-ing away!
    • TIP Or, point to http://yourdomain.com/twiki/ to get the pre-TWiki index.html page, with a link to the view script. Customize this page if you want a public intro screen with a login link, instead of immediately calling up the .htaccess login dialog by going directly to view.
  • Edit the WebPreferences topic in each web, if necessary: set individual WEBCOPYRIGHT messages, and other preferences.
  • Enable email notification of topic changes - TWikiSiteTools has more.
  • Edit the WebNotify topic in all webs and add the users you want to notify.
  • Add the TWiki:Main/PoweredByTWikiLogo to your Main.WebHome topic.
  • You can add new %VARIABLES%. Define site-level variables in the TWikiPreferences topic. See also: TWikiVariables.

That's it for the standard installation of TWiki. Read on for server-level customization options.

Additional Server-Level Options

With your new TWiki installation up and running, you can manage most aspects of your site from the browser interface. Only a few functions require access to the server file system, via Telnet or FTP. You can make these server-level changes during installation, and at any time afterwards.

Enabling Authentication of Users

  • If TWiki is installed on a non-authenticated server - not using SSL - and you'd like to authenticate users:
    1. Rename file .htaccess.txt in the twiki/bin directory to .htaccess and change it to your needs. The comment at the top of the file explains what need to be done, basically replace !FILE_path_to_TWiki! and !URL_path_to_TWiki! with paths specific to your installation. For the details of how this file works, consult the HTTP server documentation (for Apache server: [1], [2]).
      • ALERT! NOTE: If you had to add a .cgi or .pl file extension to the bin scripts, make sure to do the same for edit, view, preview, and all the other script names in .htaccess.
      • HELP The browser should ask for login name and password when you click on the Edit link. In case .htaccess does not have the desired effect, you need to enable it: Add "AllowOverride All" to the Directory [3] section of access.conf for your twiki/bin directory.
        • This applies only if you have root access: on hosted accounts, you shouldn't have this problem - otherwise, email tech support.
      • ALERT! NOTE: In the TWiki distribution package, the twiki/data/.htpasswd.txt file contains several TWiki core team user accounts and a guest user account. You probably want to remove those accounts by deleting the entries in .htpasswd. Do not remove the guest user if you want to allow guest logins.
    2. TWiki now supports several Password file format/encoding methods for Apache. Once you know what method is used by your Appache server, you can configure TWiki to create compatible .htpasswd entries by editing the $htpasswdFormatFamily, $htpasswdEncoding and $htpasswdFilename in the TWiki.cfg file. The supported options are htpasswd:plain, htpasswd:crypt, htpasswd:sha1, htdigest:md5
    3. Copy the TWikiRegistrationPub? topic to TWikiRegistration, overwriting old version of TWikiRegistration. Do that by either editing the topics in theTWiki web, or by renaming the .txt and .txt,v files in the twiki/data/TWiki directory.
  • Customization:
    • You can customize the registration form by deleting or adding input tags. The name="" parameter of the input tags must start with: "Twk0..." (if this is an optional entry), or "Twk1..." (if this is a required entry). This ensures that the fields are carried over into the user home page correctly.
    • You can customize the default user home page in NewUserTemplate. The same variables get expanded as in the template topics
  • Register yourself in the TWikiRegistration topic.
    • ALERT! NOTE: When a user registers, a new line with the username and encrypted password is added to the data/.htpasswd file. The .htpasswd file that comes with the TWiki installation includes user accounts for TWiki core team members that are used for testing on TWiki.org. You can edit the file and delete those lines.
  • Create a new topic to check if authentication works.
  • Edit the TWikiAdminGroup topic in the TWiki:Main web to include users with system administrator status.
  • Edit the TWikiPreferences topic in the TWiki:TWiki web to set access privileges.
  • Edit the WebPreferences topic in each web, if necessary: set access priviliges.

WYSIWYG Editor

At this time, TWiki does not ship with an "what you see is what you get" editor. TWiki:Codev/IntegrateHtmlAreaEditor describes how to integrate an HTML editor.

ALERT! NOTE: User home topics are located in the TWiki.Main web - don't try to move them or create them in other webs. From any other web, user signatures have to point to TWiki.Main web, using a Main.UserName or %MAINWEB%.UserName format. (The %MAINWEB% variable is an advantage if you ever change the Main web name, but the standard Main.UserName is easier for users to enter, which is the bottom line!)

TWiki File System Info

See Appendix A: TWiki File System for an installed system snapshot and descriptions of all files in the TWiki 01-Sep-2004 distribution.

-- TWiki:Main/PeterThoeny - 29 Aug 2004
-- TWiki:Main/MikeMannix - 16 May 2002


Windows Install Cookbook

Introduction

This cookbook is intended to get you up and running with TWiki on Windows quickly, with as few problems as possible. The 'cookbook' approach is simply to restrict the many choices that someone installing TWiki must make, so that a reasonably well-defined procedure can be followed - new users can simply follow the steps, while experts can use this as more of a guideline.

  • NOTE: This cookbook is not 100% complete (e.g. it doesn't cover authentication setup described by existing documentation), but it has been used successfully for over a year now - it is quite accurate and should get you started if you follow the instructions. Please provide feedback in TWiki:Codev.WindowsInstallCookbookComments.
  • NOTE: You will get the best results from following this cookbook exactly, using the same directories, etc - however, if you really do need to vary things, it should be fairly obvious what to do.

-- RichardDonkin? - 24 Feb 2002

Summary

NEW - See WindowsInstallSummary for a concise summary of the whole cookbook.

Recent updates

  • 28 Jun 2004 - updated to reflect experiences installing beta20040507 on Windows NT
  • 2 Jun 2003 - updated to include setting HOME since this is not always picked up by Cygwin
  • 30 Apr 2003 - New issue with Perl 5.8 found, added warning not to use Perl 5.8
  • 02 Mar 2003 - updated to restrict register script edits to Dec 2001 release
  • 30 Nov 2002 - added binutils to list of Cygwin packages, and added warning not to use Apache 2.0
  • 20 Nov 2002 - update to avoid TWiki:Support.InstallDigestSHA1Fails when installing Digest::SHA1 on Windows 2000
  • 12 Nov 2002 - setting SMTPMAILHOST for user registration and notification
  • Older changes are in TWiki:TWiki.WindowsInstallCookbookHistory

Scope

This document covers installation of the TWiki 01-Sep-2004 production release (TWiki:Codev/TWikiRelease01Sep2004) in the following environment - if you want to use a different environment, feel free to use this as a guideline only.

Component Name, version Comment
Operating System Windows 2000 Should also work for Windows NT
Web Server Apache 1.3.27 Windows-specific security holes fixed in this build
(check latest version at http://httpd.apache.org, but don't use Apache 2.0 yet)
Unix tools Cygwin 1.3.9 Simplest way to get a whole set of required tools
Perl Cygwin perl-5.6.1-2 Comes with Cygwin, don't use Perl 5.8.0 yet
RCS Cygwin rcs-5.7-2 Comes with Cygwin, includes a file corruption bugfix

Why this choice of packages? Because I've tried them, and they work well, without requiring a complicated setup... In particular, Apache is the commonest choice for TWiki on Unix/Linux, Cygwin Perl is very close to Unix Perl, and the Cygwin RCS is regularly updated, with a recent TWiki-relevant bug fix in Feb 2002. Cygwin also lets you install the Unix tools, Perl and RCS in a single step, saving quite a lot of time.

More recent minor versions should be OK, but they can introduce bugs.

NEW Major version upgrades, such as Apache 2.0 and Perl 5.8, are very likely to cause problems - for example, Apache 2.0 is unable to authenticate users created by the current TWiki user registration script (due to a feature being removed in 2.0, see TWiki:Support.FailedAuthenticationWithApache2OnWinNT). Similarly, Perl 5.8 may introduce issues due to its Unicode features and has caused problems due to a bug in CGI.pm. Even though the Apache group says that Apache 2.0 is the best version, that's not true for TWiki at present. For more information, see TWiki:Codev.IssuesWithApache2dot0 and TWiki:Codev.IssuesWithPerl5dot8.

Alternatives

The following Windows operating systems have been tested following the instructions given here:

There are doubtless other combinations of components that may work - in particular:

  • TWiki:Codev.ActiveState Perl involves only minor changes to TWiki.cfg, and is probably a simpler choice if you need an easy way to install mod_perl (see TWiki:Codev.ModPerl). TWiki:Codev.ActiveState Perl can be substituted without too much hassle, and in fact the same TWiki.cfg can be used for both TWiki:Codev.ActiveState and Cygwin Perl.
  • Using a different web server is certainly possible, but the setup required for each webserver varies greatly (see TWiki:Codev.TWikiOnWindows for pages about specific web servers). You may find it easiest to get a working system with Apache and then switch over to another web server.

Covering the whole range of additional possibilities, particularly web servers, would make this cookbook too complex, and is best handled as a separate activity.

For improved performance on Windows through using mod_perl, you may want to try TWiki:Codev.WindowsModPerlInstallCookbook.

Checking versions

If you already have some of these add-ons installed, here's how to check the versions - this assumes you have TWiki:Codev.CygWin already installed:

   $ : Cygwin DLL version is the number in 1.3.x format
   $ uname -r
   $ less c:/your-apache-dir/Announcement
   $ perl -v
   $ rcs -V

If you have an older version of any component, do yourself a favour and upgrade it as part of the install process.

Pre-requisites and upgrades

You will need to have local administrator rights and be comfortable with Windows administration.

This cookbook is intended for a clean install, i.e. none of these components are already installed. However, since Cygwin and Apache's installation process is fairly upgrade-friendly, upgrades should work as well - take backups of all your data and config files first, though!

Text editing

Editing Cygwin files should be done with an editor that can handle Unix file format (see the Cygwin binary mode section below). The installation process suggests:
  • nano, a very simple text editor, installed optionally during Cygwin installation. Always launch nano with the -w command-line option to turn off wrapping of long lines.
  • vi, a more sophisticated editor that should be familiar to most UNIX users
These both non-GUI editors, but if you prefer to use a GUI editor you should install PFE, a freeware editor that supports Unix format files. PFE is available on download.com and Simtel.

Another good TWiki:Codev.OpenSource editor is SciTE (aka WSciTE), available at http://www.scintilla.org/SciTE.html.

The Unix/Windows Environment

It's a little known fact that you can use pathnames such as c:/apache almost everywhere in Windows - try it in a File Open dialogue box. The main exception is the Windows "DOS" command line shell - here, you must use double quotes around forward slashes, e.g. dir "c:/apache" will work fine.

The reason this matters is that '\' is a special character to Perl and other tools, so it's much easier to use '/' everywhere.

The Cygwin environment

TWiki:Codev.CygWin is a Unix-like environment for Windows - many of its tools support the c:/apache format, but it also provides a more Unixlike syntax, e.g. /usr/bin/rcs.exe, because some Unix tools ported onto Cygwin only support the Unix format.

When you launch a Cygwin shell, your existing PATH variable is translated from the Windows format to the Unix format, and the ';' separators in the Windows PATH are changed into ':' separators as required by Unix. A Cygwin tool (e.g. Cygwin Perl or Cygwin RCS) will always use the Unix PATH format, and will accept Unix format pathnames.

The Apache environment

Apache runs as a native Windows process and has nothing to do with Cygwin (at least the version used in this cookbook doesn't). Hence it supports c:/ pathnames in its config files and the first line of Perl CGI scripts.

If you need to use spaces in file names (not recommended), put double quotes around the file name in the httpd.conf file. There have been some security-related bugs in Apache with long pathnames, which are a bit more likely if you use spaces, so it's best to just avoid long names and using spaces.

The Perl environment

Once Perl has been launched by Apache, it is in Cygwin mode, and so is everything it launches, including ls, egrep, and the RCS tools that it (typically) launches with the bash shell.

If you need to use spaces in file names (not recommended), you may be able to put double quotes around the file name in the TWiki.cfg file - however, it's not clear whether all the TWiki code would work with this.

Installing Components

Enough background, let's get on with the installation.

TWiki (part 1)

Head to http://twiki.org, click the download link, and fill in the form to request a URL for download. You'll get an automated email, which should arrive by the time you need it.

Apache

Steps 1 and 2 can be shortcut by opening the self-installing executable on the Apache website that installs Apache 1.3.x. The painful details below are mainly helpful when detecting where things are going wrong.....

1. Download Apache

  • Check at http://httpd.apache.org/ for any security announcements
  • Check the latest 1.3.x version number on this page
  • Find a local mirror using http://www.apache.org/dyn/closer.cgi - choose httpd, then binaries, then win32
  • The file to download is apache_1.3.X-win32-x86-no_src.msi where 'X' is 20 or higher
    • Note that this is a Microsoft Installer format file (.MSI)

  • NOTE: If you are using Windows NT, download the .MSI installer (instmsi.exe) from the Apache Win32 download page - this enables you to install .MSI files. You may need to update the .MSI Installer if you have an old version under NT.
  • NOTE: The Apache package itself requires a download of around 2 MB, and up to 10 MB of free disk space once installed

2. Install Apache

  • Double-click the .MSI file to run the installer
  • Specify c:\ as the installation directory - this actually installs Apache into c:\apache (if you specify c:\apache, it installs into c:\apache\Apache). Putting Apache into c:\Program Files is not recommended for easy editing of Apache config files from Cygwin.
  • On Windows NT/2000 you can choose to run Apache as a service or as a normal program - see the Apache docs for details.

3. Test Apache

  • If necessary, start apache, by selecting 'Start' from the 'Start->Programs->Apache...->Control Apache Server' menu.
  • Point your browser at http://yourdomain.com/ to see the Apache intro page.

Congratulations, you now have a working web server!

To restart Apache after changing its config, type:

  • apache -k restart for standalone Apache process running in another window
  • apache -k restart -n apache for Apache running as a Win2000 service (-n gives name of service)

Another useful command is apache -k stop.

Cygwin, Unix tools, Perl and RCS

4. Install Cygwin

Head to http://cygwin.com, and click the cygwin-icon.gif Install or update now! link. Save the setup.exe in a directory, e.g. c:\download\cygwin-dist.

Now run the Cygwin setup.exe file - this will also install Perl and RCS in one fell swoop.

  • Choose Internet install
  • On first page, accept the defaults (be sure that the default text file type is Unix to avoid problems with attachment uploads, and specify 'install for all users')
  • Select c:\download\cygwin-dist as the local package directory, and suitable proxy settings, then pick a local mirror site
  • In the package list screen, hit the View button until you get an alphabetical list that says Full to the right of the button.
  • Leave the radio button on Curr (Current)
    • The Current column shows what's installed on your system (if anything)
  • For each package, make sure the New column in the installer has a version number under it. If it says 'Skip' or 'Keep' (meaning it's already installed), single-click that word until a version number is shown. Make sure you select the following packages - in recent Cygwin setups you will have to select Perl 5.6.1 explicitly:
    • bash
    • binutils
    • diffutils
    • gcc
    • grep
    • gzip
    • make
    • nano (or vim if you prefer the vi editor)
    • ncftp
    • pcre
    • perl (5.6.1-2 or higher, but not 5.8.0)
    • rcs (5.7-2 or higher)
    • tar
    • textutils
    • unzip
    • w32api
    • wget (optional, useful for Perl install and TWiki:Codev.ReadWriteOfflineWiki)
    • NOTE: Do not include lynx if you are upgrading from an older Cygwin installation (to avoid annoying DLL messages) - if you want Lynx, read the Cygwin FAQ entry and upgrade libncurses5.
  • Hit Next to do the installation.
    • NOTE: The mandatory packages require a download of about 12 MB - about half of this is Perl, which would be necessary even without Cygwin, and most of the rest is gcc, which is required for simple installation of Perl modules that use the C language. Something like 20 to 30 MB of free disk space should be enough for Cygwin, but I didn't test this (try a du -k / after a new install and let me know the last figure).
    • NOTE: The installer keeps a local copy of downloaded files, so it's easy to re-install without re-downloading.
  • Let the installer create the shortcuts suggested
  • You can always come back and re-run the installer again later if you missed anything.

Environment setup:

  • Set the HOME environment variable to c:\cygwin\home\YOURUSER, where YOURUSER is your userid, e.g. jsmith or administrator.
    • Windows NT, XP and 2000: Go into Control Panel, double-click the System icon, and select Advanced, then click Environment Variables. Under User Variables, click New.... Now type HOME (must be upper case) as the variable name, and c:\cygwin\home\YOURUSER as the value, and hit OK.
    • Windows 98 and ME - add to AUTOEXEC.BAT and reboot
  • You can also set TEMP to c:\temp at this point, if you prefer this to editing the Cygwin ~/.profile file. (HOME can't be set in the ~/.profile file.)
  • Create the c:\cygwin\home\YOURUSER directory

5. Test Cygwin

  • Launch the desktop icon - this runs the bash shell, which has command line editing features
    • Use the cursor up key to recall previous commands - normal PC editing keys can then be used to edit a command
    • TIP: When typing a directory or file name, hit the TAB key after the first few letters of the name - bash will 'complete' the name. If bash beeps at you, hit TAB again to see the files/directories that match the name so far, and type a bit more before hitting TAB. This saves a lot of time!
  • Type rcs -V - you should see the RCS version, 5.7
  • Type perl -v - you should see cygwin mentioned in the first line, and the Perl version, 5.6.1
  • Type grep home /etc/passwd - you should see some output.

The Cygwin User Guide is well worth reading for some background on how Cygwin works.

6. Configure Cygwin for binary mode

  • This is very important - omitting this step leads to a partially working system that corrupts RCS files - without this, Cygwin tools (including Perl and RCS) will add unwanted carriage returns (Ctrl/M, '\r') to files in an attempt to translate between the Windows and Unix text file formats (Unix text files only use line feeds ('\n').
  • Stay in the Cygwin (bash) shell, and type the following (use only forward slashes, i.e. '/'):
   $ mkdir /twiki /c c:/twiki
   $ mount -b -s c:/twiki /twiki
   $ mount -b -s c:/ /c
   $ mount -b -c /cygdrive
   $ mount
   Device              Directory           Type         Flags
   C:\cygwin\bin       /usr/bin            system       binmode
   C:\cygwin\lib       /usr/lib            system       binmode
   C:\cygwin           /                   system       binmode
   c:\twiki            /twiki              system       binmode
   c:                  /c                  system       binmode
  • This configures /twiki (known as a 'mount point') to map onto c:/twiki and for that directory tree to always be in binary mode, and does the same for /c, mapping it onto c:/. The last-but-one command sets binary as the default for any unmounted drives (e.g. z:/, aka /cygdrive/z).
  • It is very important that all lines in the output of mount say 'binmode' under Flags
    • If the lines for C:\cygwin directories do not, you should uninstall and then re-install Cygwin to ensure that binary attachment uploads will work.
  • You can now refer to files using Unix paths, e.g. /twiki/bin/view or /c/apache/Announcement - see the Cygwin documentation for more details on this.
  • Now test this, still using the Cygwin shell:
    • Type cd /twiki
    • Type echo hi >t
    • Type cat -v t - you should see hi as the output
    • If you see filename errors, your mounts did not work for some reason - check your typing
    • If you see hi^M as output, your /twiki directory is not in binary mode
    • Clean up by doing rm t

This setup is written to the Windows registry, so there's no need to put these commands into a .profile file. For more information on binary vs text mode, see this User Guide section and this FAQ entry.

TWiki (part 2)

7. Download TWiki

Download the latest TWiki release from http://twiki.org/ and save it in the c:/twiki directory.

8. Install TWiki

Unzip the ZIP file under c:/twiki using WinZip, or by going into Cygwin and doing the following - you can hit the TAB key to complete filenames after you've typed the first part:

   $ cd /twiki
   $ unzip TWiki20011201.zip

Configuring components

Now that all the components are installed, you need to configure them.

Configuring Apache

The setup given here is fairly simple, in that it allows only TWiki to be served by the web server. For more complex setups, you can investigate the Alias and ScriptAlias commands that are left commented out in this configuration.

  • NOTE: This needs reviewing for security holes and to ensure nothing is missed, though this config does work.

1. Configure Apache (part 1)

Using a suitable text editor (see #TextEditing, above) edit c:/apache/conf/httpd.conf as follows - this tells Apache where TWiki lives, and removes the need to tinker with the Windows environment settings.

  • Note the trailing '/' characters in various places - they are important!

  • Create the c:\temp directory, by typing mkdir c:\temp in a DOS command line window
  • Edit the following lines, some of which already exist in the file:

# Change this to point to the Apache administrator (e.g. you)
ServerAdmin you@yourdomain.com

# Replaces DocumentRoot "C:/apache/htdocs"
DocumentRoot "C:/twiki"

# Replaces <Directory "C:/apache/htdocs">
<Directory "C:/twiki">

  • Add the following lines - the Alias and ScriptAlias lines can be omitted in this setup

# Alias /twiki/ "C:/twiki/"
# ScriptAlias /twiki/bin/ "C:/twiki/bin/"
<Directory  "C:/twiki/bin/">
    # RD: Changed None to All in next line, to enable .htaccess
    AllowOverride All
    Allow From All
    Options  ExecCGI
    SetHandler cgi-script
</Directory>

# Environment setup required to run Apache as service or as a
# standalone process.
<IfModule mod_env.c>
   # Adjust TZ for your server timezone, e.g. EST5EDT - put the non-daylight-savings
   # timezone code first (e.g. EST or GMT), followed by the number of hours that it's behind GMT 
   # during non-daylight-savings time (use '-5' for timezones in advance of GMT).
   SetEnv TZ GMT0BST
   SetEnv RCSINIT -x,v/
   # Adjust TEMP and TMP for your server and create directories if necessary
   SetEnv TEMP c:/temp
   SetEnv TMP c:/temp
   SetEnv LOGNAME system
   SetEnv HOME c:/twiki
</IfModule>

2. Configure Apache (part 2)

Add an AddHandler line to the <IfModule mod_mime.c> section of httpd.conf - this removes the need to rename all the TWiki CGI scripts later in the installation.

  • Note the trailing '.' on the AddHandler line.
#
# Document types
#
<IfModule mod_mime.c>
    # TWiki setup - avoid renaming scripts
    AddHandler cgi-script .
...

Configuring TWiki

3. Configure TWiki

Edit the TWiki config file, c:/twiki/lib/TWiki.cfg (or in Cygwin terms, /twiki/lib/TWiki.cfg) as follows:

  • NOTE: It should be possible to use c:/twiki format pathnames for Cygwin, given the above binmode setup, but I have not tested this fully - a Cygwin Perl test script does generate binary mode files in this configuration, so it should work with RCS as well (really need a small RCS file corruption test case). Watch out for RCS file corruption carefully if you do try c:/twiki pathnames with Cygwin, and do report your experiences...
  • NOTE: Some recent versions of Cygwin (e.g. 1.3.10) seem to create 'symbolic links' from fgrep and egrep to grep, requiring the settings for these commands to point directly to grep (with suitable flags to provide fgrep and egrep behaviour).

# variables that need to be changed when installing on a new server:
# ==================================================================
#                   http://your.domain.com/twiki : link of TWiki icon in upper left corner :
$wikiHomeUrl      = "http://yourdomain.com/bin/view";
#                   Host of TWiki URL :    (Example "http://myhost.com:123")
$defaultUrlHost   = "http://yourdomain.com";
#                    : cgi-bin path of TWiki URL:
$scriptUrlPath    = "/bin";
#                   /pub : Public data path of TWiki URL (root of attachments) :
$pubUrlPath       = "/pub";

# NOTE: Next three settings should be valid absolute pathnames using Cygwin; if using
# TWiki:Codev.ActiveState Perl, use z:/twiki format pathnames if your TWiki directory is not on C:.

#                   Public data directory, must match $pubUrlPath :
$pubDir           = "/twiki/pub";
#                   Template directory :
$templateDir      = "/twiki/templates";
#                   Data (topic files) root directory :
$dataDir          = "/twiki/data";

....

#                   Set ENV{'PATH'} explicitly for taint checks ( #!perl -T option ) :
#                   (Note: PATH environment variable is not changed if set to "")

# On Windows, $safeEnvPath needs only one component, the directory where RCS is installed
# - used by 'rcsdiff' to run 'co' program, so PATH must be correct.

# Unix/Linux setting:
# $safeEnvPath      = "/bin:/usr/bin";

# Using Cygwin perl, so can use Unix-like paths, with ':' as separator.
# Note that /usr/bin and /bin are identical due to default /usr/bin mount
# in Cygwin.  Must NOT use 'c:/foo' type paths, as ':' is taken as separator
# meaning that 'c' is interpreted as a pathname, giving Perl taint error.
$safeEnvPath      = "/bin";

# If using ActiveState perl, use Windows paths instead
# $safeEnvPath      = "c:/cygwin/bin";

...

#                   RCS directory (find out by 'which rcs') :
$rcsDir           = "c:/cygwin/bin";

...

#                   Unix egrep command :
$egrepCmd         = "/bin/grep -E";
#                   Unix fgrep command :
$fgrepCmd         = "/bin/grep -F";

For the cookbook install using Cygwin Perl, there's no more TWiki.cfg editing to be done, so you can get onto the next section.

#                   NOTE: When using ActiveState Perl, you must specify
#                   a full Windows-style pathname, using '\\' for backslashes,
#                   for the ls, egrep and fgrep commands, because Cygwin's shell
#                   is not used - forward slashes are OK in Windows everywhere
#                   except in the cmd.exe shell. Drive letters are OK - e.g.
#                   'c:\\foo\\ls' will work.  When using Cygwin perl, just
#                   use the default '/bin/ls' type settings.
#
#                   Unix ls command :
$lsCmd            = "c:\\cygwin\\bin\\ls";
#                   Unix egrep command :
$egrepCmd         = "c:\\cygwin\\bin\\grep";
#                   Unix fgrep command :
$fgrepCmd         = "c:\\cygwin\\bin\\grep";

Editing the CGI scripts

4. Editing the Shebang lines

Now to edit the curiously named 'shebang lines' at the top of the TWiki CGI scripts. This is required so the Apache server knows what interpreter (perl) to use with the scripts.

  • You must use the Cygwin shell to do this (unless you are a Perl expert) - don't use the Windows command shell, cmd.exe (aka DOS Prompt)
  • Then do the following, which quickly edits the 19 or so files, using Perl - the important lines are in bold.
  • Type the Perl line very carefully
    • If you do mis-type the perl line, you can restore from the .backup directory and re-run the command, as it will only edit the original files, not the backups with '~' suffixes.

$ cd /twiki/bin

$ ls
attach   geturl         oops     rdiff     save        testenv  viewfile
changes  installpasswd  passwd   register  search      upload
edit     mailnotify     preview  rename    statistics  view

$ mkdir .backup 
$ cp * .backup

$ head -1 view
#!/usr/bin/perl -wT

$ perl -pi~ -e 's;#!/usr/bin/perl;#!c:/cygwin/bin/perl;' *[a-z]

$ head -1 view
#!c:/cygwin/bin/perl -wT

$ ls
attach    geturl          oops      rdiff      save         testenv   viewfile~
attach~   geturl~         oops~     rdiff~     save~        testenv~  view~
changes   installpasswd   passwd    register   search       upload
changes~  installpasswd~  passwd~   register~  search~      upload~
edit      mailnotify      preview   rename     statistics   view
edit~     mailnotify~     preview~  rename~    statistics~  viewfile

If for some reason the edit goes wrong, just type cp .backup/* . (while within the bin directory) to restore the original distribution files. Use ls -a to see the .backup directory, and ls -a .backup to view its contents.

Optional step: you can do 'rm *~' to clean out the backups made by Perl, but that's not essential as all the original files cannot be executed. If you do this, type the command very carefully, as a space after the '*' will wipe out all files in this directory!

5. Minor changes to TWiki scripts

TWiki Dec 2001 release only - fixed in Feb 2003 release

If using the Dec 2001 release, you now need to make some minor edits to files in the c:/twiki/bin directory, using a suitable editor (remember to use nano -w filename if you prefer nano to vi - or just use the Windows PFE editor).

  • Edit the register script in /twiki/bin - change line 200 to read as follows (insert the MIME::Base64:: part):

         return $user . ':{SHA}' . MIME::Base64::encode_base64(Digest::SHA1::sha1($passwd));

Perl module installation

6. Installing required Perl modules

Some additional Perl modules are needed, above and beyond the standard modules installed with Cygwin. Fortunately, there is an automated tool that makes it easy to do this - it's called cpan, and goes to the Perl module archive site, http://www.cpan.org/, to download all required modules, and then build and install them.

Note: if you are unable to get cpan working in your environment, don't panic; you can still install the modules manually. In this case, follow the instructions in CPAN: The Hard Way.

First of all, you need to get the cpan tool configured and working - this is only necessary once. From the Cygwin shell, type the following (putting the export command in ~/.profile is recommended to make this setting persistent). Without the TEMP variable, some modules may fail to install on Windows 2000 and higher.

$ export TEMP=/c/temp
$ cpan
Lots of questions about configuration and preferences - just hit Enter until you get to the questions about mirror sites, but answer the questions about FTP proxies etc if you are behind a proxy-based firewall. The CPAN tool will fetch a series of files, some quite large, as part of this setup process, so be patient...

NOTE: If you are behind a non-proxy-based firewall that requires the use of passive FTP, the initial downloads of files using Net::FTP may appear to hang - just wait 5 or more minutes, however, and the CPAN tool should eventually hit on ncftpget, which is part of Cygwin and does work OK. If this doesn't work and you are behind a typical NAT-based firewall, try doing the following at the Cygwin shell before running cpan - this forces Net::FTP to use passive FTP, letting it get through such firewalls:

$ export FTP_PASSIVE=1
If this works, add this line to your ~/.profile file for future use.

Once some initial files are downloaded, you are asked to select your continent and country, and then mirror sites - just type the number of the mirror sites you want to use (pick a few in case one is down):

...
(28) Turkey
(29) Ukraine
(30) United Kingdom

Select your country (or several nearby countries) [] 30

(1) ftp://cpan.teleglobe.net/pub/CPAN
(2) ftp://ftp.clockerz.net/pub/CPAN/
(3) ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/CPAN/
(4) ftp://ftp.flirble.org/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/
(5) ftp://ftp.mirror.ac.uk/sites/ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/
(6) ftp://ftp.plig.org/pub/CPAN/
(7) ftp://mirror.uklinux.net/pub/CPAN/
(8) ftp://sunsite.doc.ic.ac.uk/packages/CPAN/
(9) ftp://usit.shef.ac.uk/pub/packages/CPAN/
Select as many URLs as you like,
put them on one line, separated by blanks [] 4 7 8

Enter another URL or RETURN to quit: []
New set of picks:
  ftp://ftp.flirble.org/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/
  ftp://mirror.uklinux.net/pub/CPAN/
  ftp://sunsite.doc.ic.ac.uk/packages/CPAN/

Eventually, you'll get to the cpan installer's shell prompt, where you need to install a few modules - the tool will do all the work for you.

  • NOTE: You will need to have previously installed the Cygwin make and gcc packages, which are required by the CPAN installer (gcc is required for modules that include C language code) - you can install them now by launching Cygwin's setup.exe from c:/download/cygwin-dist (no need to exit the CPAN installer).

cpan shell -- CPAN exploration and modules installation (v1.59_54)
cpan> install Net::SMTP
May already be installed - if it is, try 'force install', since it's useful to be able to set
firewall and passive FTP configuration when using Net::FTP.  Make sure you answer 'Y' to the question 
about whether you want to configure this package.
cpan> install Digest::SHA1
Lots of output about how CPAN finds, builds and installs the module - watch for 
any errors, though it should work fine if you have installed the Cygwin packages listed above (particularly 'gcc' and 'make').
cpan> install MIME::Base64
May already be installed.

CPAN: The Hard Way

If you find that cpan doesn't work for you, perhaps because you are behind an uncooperative corporate firewall, you may have to fall back on installing modules manually. In this case, you need to read the CPAN INSTALL page and visit the CPAN search site to search for each module you require. Usually installation simply involves downloading the module distribution into a temporary directory and unpacking it (a .tar.gz or .tgz file is unpacked using tar zxvf file). Then do the following:
$ perl Makefile.PL
$ make
$ make test
$ make install
The make test step should not be skipped - for example, one known problem is with the Digest::SHA1 module on Windows NT, which does not pass its tests and does not work. This causes problems with password encoding. In this event you can use another encoding scheme or switch to unencoded passwords. There may be other problems on the various Windows configurations, and you can save yourself a lot of time.

Re-locking RCS files

7. Re-locking files

First, some testing: in your browser, go to http://yourdomain.com/bin/testenv - this provides a lot of detail, including warnings. Write down the Apache server's userid that is given by this script - typically either 'system' or 'administrator' - I'll assume 'system' from now on.

  • If the testenv script doesn't work, go back and check the configuration of the Apache httpd.conf file, and TWiki.cfg. Have a look at the Apache error log, c:/apache/logs/error_log, and the TWiki error log, /twiki/data/log*.txt.

This 'system' user must own the locks on the RCS files, which are shipped with the lock held by 'nobody'. The reason this matters is that no revisions will be tracked by RCS unless the Apache userid matches that of the RCS file locks.

You can re-lock files using rcs -u and rcs -l, but it's a painfully manual process. Instead, just use Perl again to mass-edit all the RCS files, as follows:

  • NOTE: The 'NR <= 10' part of the Perl command ensures that it only operates on the first 10 lines, to avoid editing the body of RCS files for topics that happen to include the text 'nobody:' (like this one...)

$ cd /twiki/data

$ : Make a backup of all files
$ tar czvf all-files.tar.gz */*

$ : Test edit a single file to check your typing
$ perl -pi~~~ -e 'NR <= 10 && s/nobody:/system:/ ' Main/WebIndex.txt,v

$ diff Main/WebIndex.txt,v Main/WebIndex.txt,v~~~
5c5
<       system:1.2; strict;
---
>       nobody:1.2; strict;

$ : Now edit all the RCS files at once - use cursor-up to recall previous command
$ perl -pi~~~ -e 'NR <= 10 && s/nobody:/system:/ ' */*,v

$ : Check for any remaining files not edited
$ grep 'strict;$' */*,v | grep -v system

$ : Clean up - type this very carefully 
$ rm */*~~~

  • If something goes wrong: to restore your existing files from the backup, just type tar xzvf all-files.tar.gz and all your files, both .txt and .txt,v, will be back as they were before the edits.

You have now re-locked all the RCS files and are almost ready to start using TWiki!

Email setup

8. Email setup for notification and registration

You need to set the SMTPMAILHOST in TWikiPreferences to an SMTP email host that is reachable and currently working. Otherwise you may get a confusing message from TWiki (fixed in TWiki:Codev.TWikiRelease01Feb2003) when registering new users or running mailnotify (for WebNotify), along the lines of:

   Software Error: Can't call method "mail" on an undefined value at ../lib/TWiki/Net.pm line 187.

There are other settings to be made in TWikiPreferences, e.g. the WIKIWEBMASTER and (probably) the SMTPSENDERHOST (normally your mail server or TWiki server). See the TWikiInstallationGuide for more details, what's listed here is just enough to let you run the basic tests.

Testing your TWiki installation

It is important to test your TWiki installation before you release it to other users or put any significant data into it.

Here are the main things to test:

  • testenv - use http://yourdomain.com/bin/testenv and check for warnings
    • If you are having installation trouble, download the latest testenv from TWiki:Codev/TWikiAlphaRelease and install it in c:/twiki/bin. (From TWiki.org, just click CVSget:bin/testenv to get this script)
  • Page viewing (view script) - click around a few pages and make sure the links are OK
  • RCS diffs (rdiff script) - click on the Diffs link and on the '>' links at bottom of page
  • Edit a page, and register as a new user - tests page creation, use of register script to create a new user entry in /twiki/data/.htpasswd (the Apache password file), ability to send email via Net::SMTP, and whether SMTPMAILHOST was set correctly in TWikiPreferences (if it is unset it will not use Net::SMTP and will almost inevitably fail silently).
    • If you get a failure to register or send email, check the Apache error log, and that all CPAN modules were installed correctly in Step 6, Installing required Perl modules.
    • Try typing tail -30 /c/apache/logs/error_log to see last 30 errors from Apache
  • Edit a page - check revision increased and set to current date/time
  • Edit the same page using another browser or PC, logging in as a different user - check there's a lock message (which you can override) and no double lines
  • Check the Apache error_log file to see if there are any RCS errors so far
  • Index - tests whether ls and grep are working
  • Search - more tests for whether ls and grep are working
  • Attachments - tests access to /twiki/pub directory.
    • Try a binary attachment upload and check the number of bytes in the file has not changed - if it has, see the Install Cygwin section's note on the default text file type.
  • Check the Apache error_log file again

Troubleshooting

If anything doesn't work, go back and check the configuration of the Apache httpd.conf file, and TWiki.cfg. Have a look at the Apache error log, c:/apache/logs/error_log, and the TWiki error log, /twiki/data/log*.txt, and if necessary enable debugging on selected scripts (the commands are right at the top of each script) - the results go into /twiki/data/debug.txt. There is also a /twiki/data/warning.txt file that contains less serious messages.

See TWiki:Codev.TWikiPatches in case there are patches (i.e. specific code changes) for particular problems that may affect you (e.g. TWiki:Codev.ChangePasswordOnWin2K).

If you find that the Index feature doesn't work, or topic name searches fail, you should check you have set $egrepCmd and $fgrepCmd correctly, as mentioned above.

Permissions

TWiki:Codev.CygWin has several models for how it does security:

  • By default, it only implements the Unix 'write' and 'execute' permissions bits - the former is controlled by the Windows Read-Only attribute, while the latter is automatically assigned to files named *.exe or *.com, and to files whose first line is a shebang (i.e. #!/bin/something). This is what has been used for this cookbook.
  • You can enable the 'ntea' or 'ntsec' models, which will increase security but are also likely to introduce permission problems.

I have not had any problems with TWiki permissions on Windows, unlike Linux/Unix, which is probably because I'm using the default security model for Cygwin. If you use the other models, you may still be OK if you have local admin rights, and Apache is running as the SYSTEM user (which it uses if started as a service). If you do have trouble in this area, see the TWikiInstallationGuide's advice, some of which will apply to TWiki:Codev.CygWin, and log any issues in TWiki:Codev.WindowsInstallCookbookComments.

Next Steps

See the TWikiInstallationGuide for other setup. In particular, you'll probably want to refer to the section on basic authentication - remember to use c:/twiki type filenames (i.e. Windows format) since you are using Apache for Windows.

Improved authentication

You may want to investigate TWiki:Codev.WindowsInstallModNTLM, which describes how to add an Apache module so that TWiki:Codev.InternetExplorer users are automatically authenticated based on their Windows domain login - this avoids TWiki:Codev.GettingTheUsernameWrong and TWiki:Codev.ForgettingPasswords, which are usually very common among TWiki users.

As of the TWiki:Codev.TWikiRelease01Sep2004, there is built in support for several apache based authentication modes. The TWikiInstallationGuide has step-by-step instructions.

Improved performance

See TWiki:Codev.WindowsModPerlInstallCookbook and TWiki:Codev.ModPerl for information on installing TWiki under Apache's mod_perl - this is somewhat more complex and follows a different model, so it's best to get some experience with TWiki, Apache and Perl first.

Format of filenames

In your TWiki on Windows installation, it's worth remembering that:

  • Apache configuration files (e.g. the .htaccess file and c:/apache/conf/httpd.conf) always use Windows format paths, with forward slashes, e.g. c:/twiki
  • The same is true for the first line of the TWiki Perl scripts (since this line is interpreted by Apache), e.g. c:/cygwin/bin/perl
  • All other lines in the Perl scripts use Unix format paths, e.g. /twiki (using Cygwin Perl as per this cookbook)
  • Depending on the Perl version used (Cygwin or TWiki:Codev.ActivePerl), the TWiki.cfg file uses a mixture of Unix and Cygwin format paths - stick to the format used in the installation step for TWiki.cfg
  • RCS always uses Unix format paths, e.g. /twiki

Credits

Material in this cookbook is heavily based on the enormous number of contributions in TWiki:Codev.TWikiOnWindowsArchive and related topics - too many people to thank, but have a look at the contributor list to TWiki:Codev.TWikiOnWindowsArchive to get an idea!

People who've tested or reviewed this document and provided valuable feedback include:

-- TWiki:Main.BernardFarrell
-- TWiki:Main.BerndSchiffer
-- TWiki:Main.ChrisKeith
-- TWiki:Main.CrawfordCurrie
-- TWiki:Main.DavideBaroncelli
-- TWiki:Main.DavidLeBlanc
-- TWiki:Main.JerryWard
-- TWiki:Main.MartinWittmann
-- TWiki:Main.MaryDeMarco
-- TWiki:Main.MattWilkie
-- TWiki:Main.MikeBytnar
-- TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
-- TWiki:Main.RossC
-- TWiki:Main.TorbenGB
-- TWiki:Main.VictorGoh
-- TWiki:Main.WolframJahn


ALERT! Comments welcome at TWiki:Codev.WindowsInstallCookbookComments


TWiki Upgrade Guide

Upgrade from the previous TWiki 01-Feb-2003 production release to TWiki 01-Sep-2004

Overview

This guide describes how to upgrade from TWiki 01-Feb-2003 to TWiki 01-Sep-2004. This is a major new release. You can chose between an automated upgrade using a script or a manual update.

Upgrade Requirements

  • Please review the AdminSkillsAssumptions before you upgrade TWiki
  • To upgrade from a 01-Feb-2003 standard installation to the latest 01-Sep-2004 TWiki Production Release, follow the instructions below
  • NOTE: To upgrade from a pre-01-Feb-2003 TWiki, start with TWikiUpgradeTo01Feb2003
  • To upgrade from a Beta of the new release, or if you made custom modifications to the application, read through all new reference documentation, then use the procedure below as a guideline

Major Changes Compared to TWiki 01-Feb-2003

  • Automatic upgrade script, and easier first-time installation
  • Attractive new skins, using a standard set of CSS classes, and a TWikiSkinBrowser to help you choose
  • New easier-to-use save options
  • Many improvements to SEARCH
  • Improved support for internationalisation
  • Better topic management screens
  • More pre-installed Plugins: CommentPlugin, EditTablePlugin, RenderListPlugin, SlideShowPlugin, SmiliesPlugin, SpreadSheetPlugin, TablePlugin
  • Improved Plugins API and more Plugin callbacks
  • Better support for different authentication methods
  • Many user interface and usability improvements
  • And many more enhancements, see the complete change log at TWikiHistory

Automated Upgrade Procedure from 01-Feb-2003 to 01-Sep-2004 Release

With the 01-Sep-2004 Release, for the first time, comes a helper script for upgrading from a previous version. This feature is currently at beta stage, it has only been sanity tested under Unix. It should be worth giving it a try, it won't mess up your existing TWiki installation because it leaves that untouched.

If you would prefer to do things manually than trust a beta script, skip to the manual upgrade procedure below.

The upgrade script is called "UpgradeTwiki", and is found in the root of the distribution.

It will:

  • Create a new TWiki installation, placing the files from the distribution there as appropriate
  • Where possible, merge the changes you've made in your existing topics into the new twiki
  • Where not possible, it will tell you, and you can inspect those differences manually
  • Create new configuration files for the new TWiki based on your existing configuation information
  • Set the permissions in the new TWiki so that it should work straight away
  • Attempt to setup authentication for your new TWiki, if you are using .htaccess in the old one
  • Tell you what else you need to do

To perform the upgrade, you need to:

  • Check first if there is a newer UpgradeTwiki script available, see TWiki:Codev.UpgradeTwiki
  • Create a new directory for your new installation: Let's call this distro/
  • Put the distribution zip file in distro/
  • Unzip it
  • Choose a directory for the new installation. I will call this new_twiki. This directory must not already exist.
  • Change directory to distro/ and run:
    ./UpgradeTwiki <full path to new_twiki>

Assuming all goes well, UpgradeTwiki will give you the final instructions.

There are a few points worth noting:

  • UpgradeTwiki may not be able to merge all the changes you made in your existing TWiki into the new installation, but it will tell you which ones it couldn't deal with
  • UpgradeTwiki creates the new installation in a new directory tree. It makes a complete copy of all your existing data, so:
    • Clearly you need to point it to a location where there is enough space
    • If you have symlinks under your data/ directory in your existing installation, these are reproduced as actual directories in the new structure. It is up to you to pull these sub-directories out again and re-symlink as needed
  • UpgradeTwiki doesn't deal with custom templates or Plugins, you will have to reinstall these in the new installation
  • If you have done tricky stuff with $OS in your existing TWiki.cfg file, then you will need to manually examine the new TWiki.cfg file and possibly put your tricky changes in there manually

If you use it, and would be kind enough to add your experiences to TWiki:Codev.UpgradeTwiki, it would be much appreciated. The report of your experience will help to make UpgradeTwiki more robust.

Manual Upgrade Procedure from 01-Feb-2003 to 01-Sep-2004 Release

The following steps describe the upgrade assuming that $TWIKIROOT is the root of your current 01-Feb-2003 release. As written this will require some downtime. A process for switching over without downtime is described at the end of this section.

  1. Back up and prepare:
    • Back up all existing TWiki directories $TWIKIROOT/bin, $TWIKIROOT/pub, $TWIKIROOT/data, $TWIKIROOT/templates, $TWIKIROOT/lib
    • Create a temporary directory and unpack the ZIP file there
  2. Update files in TWiki root:
    • Overwrite all *.html and *.txt files in $TWIKIROOT with the new ones
  3. Update template files:
    • Overwrite all template files in $TWIKIROOT/templates with the new ones
      • If you have customized your templates, make sure to merge those changes back to the new files
    • If you have customized skins or loaded new skins, make sure to merge or apply those changes to the new files
    • Change to view templates and skins:
      • Add %BROADCASTMESSAGE% somewhere on the top of the rendered HTML page (see the new view.tmpl for reference)
    • Changes to edit templates and skins:
      • Change the form action from preview to save:
        <form name="main" action="%SCRIPTURLPATH%/save%SCRIPTSUFFIX%/%WEB%/%TOPIC%" method="post">
      • Change the topic action to the following:
        %TMPL:DEF{"topicaction"}%
        <input type="submit" class="twikiSubmit" name="action" value="Cancel" id="cancel" />
        <input type="submit" class="twikiSubmit" name="action" value="Preview" id="preview" />
        <input type="submit" class="twikiSubmit" name="action" value="Checkpoint" id="checkpoint" />
        <input type="submit" class="twikiSubmit" name="action" value="QuietSave" id="quietsave" />
        <input type="submit" class="twikiSubmit" name="action" value="Save" id="save" />%TMPL:END%
  4. Update script files:
    • Overwrite all script files in $TWIKIROOT/bin with the new ones.
      • If necessary, rename the scrips to include the required extension, e.g. .cgi
    • Edit $TWIKIROOT/bin/setlib.cfg and point $twikiLibPath to the absolute file path of $TWIKIROOT/lib
    • Edit your existing $TWIKIROOT/bin/.htaccess file to include a directive for the new rdiffauth script:
      <Files "rdiffauth">
          require valid-user
      </Files>
    • Pay attention to the file and directory permissions, the scripts need to be executable, e.g. chmod 775 $TWIKIROOT/bin/*
      • Certain hosted environments require a 755 (do so if you get a "Premature end of script headers" messages in the Apache error log)
    • For Windows hosts, make sure the correct path to the perl interpreter is changed in the first line of every script file. See also WindowsInstallCookbook
  5. Update library files:
    • Overwrite the TWiki.cfg configuration file in $TWIKIROOT/lib with the new one
    • Restore the configuration values from the backup. You typically need to configure just the ones in the section "variables that need to be changed when installing on a new server"
    • Overwrite the TWiki.pm library in $TWIKIROOT/lib with the new one
    • Copy and overwrite all subdirectories below $TWIKIROOT/lib with the new ones. Make sure to preserve any extra Plugins you might have in $TWIKIROOT/lib/TWiki/Plugins
    • Pay attention to the file and directory permissions, the library files should not be executable but the directory files should be, e.g. chmod 664 `find -type f $TWIKIROOT/lib` (for files) and chmod 775 `find -type d $TWIKIROOT/lib` (for directories)
  6. Update data files:
    • Run the bin/testenv script from the browser (e.g. http://localhost/bin/testenv) to verify if the cgi-scripts are running as user nobody. In case not:
      • The *,v RCS repository files delivered with the installation package are locked by user nobody and need to be changed to the user of your cgi-scripts, for example www-data
      • Run the testenv script from your browser; in the Fix line you can relock all the rcs files (recommended)
      • Alternatively, execute the shell script commands described in TWikiInstallationGuide#StepTwo
    • In the temporary twiki/data/TWiki directory where you unzipped the installation package:
      • Remove the files you do not want to upgrade: InterWikis.*, TWikiRegistration.*, TWikiRegistrationPub.*, WebPreferences.*, WebStatistics.* and all WebTopic* files
    • Rename in the temporary directory the file $TWIKIROOT/data/TWiki/TWikiPreferences.* to TWikiPreferencesSave.*.
    • Move all remaining *.txt and *.txt,v files from the temporary data/TWiki directory to your $TWIKIROOT/data/TWiki directory, overwriting the existing ones
    • Merge your original TWikiPreferencesSave.txt settings into $TWIKIROOT/data/TWiki/TWikiPreferences.txt. Notable changes are:
      • New WIKIWEBMASTERNAME setting to avoid notifications being trapped by spam filters
      • New ATTACHFILESIZELIMIT setting for maximum size of FileAttachments in KB, 0 for no limit
      • New READTOPICPREFS and TOPICOVERRIDESUSER settings to allow override Preference settings in topics
      • Changed FINALPREFERENCES:
        • Set FINALPREFERENCES = PREVIEWBGIMAGE, WIKITOOLNAME, WIKIWEBMASTER, SMTPMAILHOST, SMTPSENDERHOST, ALLOWWEBMANAGE, READTOPICPREFS, TOPICOVERRIDESUSER
    • Move the data/_default directory from the temporary location to your $TWIKIROOT/data directory
    • Make sure that the directories and files below $TWIKIROOT/data are writable by your cgi-script user
  7. Adapt the other webs (all other than TWiki and _default):
    • Add WebLeftBar topic. See WebLeftBarExample for a clean example, and WebLeftBarCookbook for more information. (WebLeftBar is used by the PatternSkin skin)
    • Add WebSearchAdvanced topic, which has this one line:
      %INCLUDE{"%TWIKIWEB%.WebSearchAdvanced"}%
    • Consider changing WebPreferences settings:
      • New NOAUTOLINK setting to prevent automatic linking of WikiWords and acronyms
      • Changed FINALPREFERENCES:
        • Set FINALPREFERENCES = NOSEARCHALL, ATTACHFILESIZELIMIT, WIKIWEBMASTER, WEBCOPYRIGHT, WEBTOPICLIST, DENYWEBVIEW, ALLOWWEBVIEW, DENYWEBCHANGE, ALLOWWEBCHANGE, DENYWEBRENAME, ALLOWWEBRENAME
  8. Update pub files:
    • Move all subdirectories below pub/TWiki from your temporary directory into your $TWIKIROOT/pub/TWiki directory
    • Make sure that the directories and files below $TWIKIROOT/pub/TWiki are writable by your cgi-script user
    • Move all files in pub/icn directory from the temporary location to your $TWIKIROOT/pub/icn directory
  9. Verify installation:
    • Execute the $TWIKIROOT/bin/testenv script from your browser (e.g. http://localhost/bin/testenv) to see if it reports any issues; address any potential problems
    • Test your updated TWiki installation to see if you can view, create, edit and rename topics; upload and move attachments; register users
    • Test if the installed Plugins work as expected. You should see the list of installed Plugins in TWiki.WebHome

Note: These steps assume a downtime during the time of upgrade. You could install the new version in parallel to the existing one and switch over in an instant without affecting the users. As a guideline, install the new version into $TWIKIROOT/bin1, $TWIKIROOT/lib1, $TWIKIROOT/templates1, $TWIKIROOT/data/TWiki1 (from data/TWiki), $TWIKIROOT/pub/TWiki1 (from pub/TWiki), and configure TWiki.cfg to point to the same data and pub directory like the existing installation. Once tested and ready to go, reconfigure $TWIKIROOT/bin1/setlib.cfg and $TWIKIROOT/lib1/TWiki.cfg, then rename $TWIKIROOT/bin to $TWIKIROOT/bin2, $TWIKIROOT/bin1 to $TWIKIROOT/bin. Do the same with the lib, templates and data/TWiki directories.

Known Issues

-- TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny - 29 Aug 2004


TWiki User Authentication

TWiki site access control and user activity tracking options

TWiki does not authenticate users internally, it depends on the REMOTE_USER environment variable. This variable is set when you enable Basic Authentication (.htaccess) or SSL "secure server" authentication (https protocol).

TWiki uses visitor identification to keep track of who made changes to topics at what time and to manage a wide range of personal site settings. This gives a complete audit trail of changes and activity.

Authentication Options

No special installation steps are required if the server is already authenticated. If it isn't, you have these options for controlling user access:

  1. No login at all: Forget about authentication to make your site completely public - anyone can browse and edit freely, in classic Wiki mode. All visitors are assigned the TWikiGuest default identity, so you can't track individual user activity.
    • How: Default, no web server configuration necessary
  2. No login to view; require login to edit: Keeping track of who changed what and when, while keeping view access unrestricted is desirable in most TWiki deployments. This option is not suitable if you need TWikiAccessControl for view restricted content since TWiki does not know who a user is when looking at content.
    • How: Use Basic Authentication to control access by protecting key scripts: attach, edit, installpasswd, manage, preview, rename, save, upload. The TWikiInstallationGuide has step-by-step instructions.
  3. No login to view unless necessary; require login to edit: You prefer not to bother the user with login for unrestricted content, but you need TWikiAccessControl for view restricted content. There are two ways to accomplish this:
    • How 1: Use Basic Authentication with Partial Authentication (described below)
    • How 2: Use one of the Session TWiki:Plugins where you give the user the option to login and logout.
  4. Require login to view and edit: Most restrictive, but TWiki knows who the user is at all times. There are two ways to accomplish this:
    • How 1: Use Basic Authentication to authenticate the whole twiki/bin directory. Consult your web server documentation.
    • How 1: Use SSL (Secure Sockets Layer; HTTPS) to authenticate and secure the whole server. Consult your web server documentation.

Partial Authentication

Tracking by IP address is an experimental feature, enabled in lib/TWiki.cfg. It lets you combine open access to some functions, with authentication on others, with full user activity tracking:

  • Normally, the REMOTE_USER environment variable is set for the scripts that are under authentication. If, for example, the edit, save and preview scripts are authenticated, but not view, you would get your WikiName in preview for the %WIKIUSERNAME% variable, but view will show TWikiGuest instead of your WikiName.
  • TWiki can be configured to remember the IP address/username pair whenever an authentication happens (edit topic, attach file). Once remembered, the non-authenticated scripts, like view, will show the correct username instead of TWikiGuest.
  • Enable this feature by setting the $doRememberRemoteUser flag in TWiki.cfg. TWiki then persistently stores the IP address/username pairs in the file, $remoteUserFilename, which is "$dataDir/remoteusers.txt" by default.
  • Copy the view script to viewauth (or better, create a symbolic link)
  • Add viewauth to the list of authenticated scripts in the twiki/bin/.htaccess file. The view script should not be listed in the .htaccess file.
  • ALERT! This approach can fail if the IP address changes due to dynamically assigned IP addresses or proxy servers.

Quick Authentication Test - Use the %WIKIUSERNAME% variable to return your current identity:

TWiki Username vs. Login Username

This section applies only if your TWiki site is installed on a server that is both authenticated and on an intranet.

TWiki internally manages two usernames: Login Username and TWiki Username.

  • Login Username: When you login to the intranet, you use your existing login username, ex: pthoeny. This name is normally passed to TWiki by the REMOTE_USER environment variable, and used internally. Login Usernames are maintained by your system administrator.

  • TWiki Username: Your name in WikiNotation, ex: PeterThoeny, is recorded when you register using TWikiRegistration; doing so also generates a personal home page in the Main web.

TWiki can automatically map an Intranet (Login) Username to a TWiki Username, provided that the username pair exists in the TWikiUsers topic. This is also handled automatically when you register.

  • ALERT! In the original TWiki distribution, in twiki/data, there are two registration form topics, TWikiRegistration and TWikiRegistrationPub?. The original form includes an intranet Login Username field. For Basic Authentication, the original form is replaced by the Pub version. If you started using TWiki on Basic Authentication and want to change, you have to switch back forms for future use, and manually correct the existing entries, by editing TWikiUsers, adding the Login Username for each member - PeterThoeny - pthoeny - 01 Jan 1999 - and also in the .htpasswd file, where you can either replace the WikiNames or duplicate the entries and have both, so both usernames will work.

NOTE: To correctly enter a WikiName - your own or someone else's - be sure to include the Main web name in front of the Wiki username, followed by a period, and no spaces. Ex:
Main.WikiUsername or %MAINWEB%.WikiUsername
This points WikiUser to the TWiki.Main web, where user registration pages are stored, no matter which web it's entered in. Without the web prefix, the name appears as a NewTopic? everywhere but in the Main web.

Changing Passwords

Change and reset passwords using forms on regular pages. Use TWikiAccessControl to restrict use as required.

Forgot your old password? Then use ResetPassword instead. Please only use ResetPassword in case you really forgot your password. Thank you.

Your WikiName: **
Old password: **
New password: **
Retype new password: **
     (Fields marked ** are required)

After submitting this form your password will be changed.

If you have questions please contact the TWiki webmaster webmaster@strategoxt.org.

Please only use this ResetPassword form in case you really forgot your password. Otherwise just change it using ChangePassword. Thank you.

Your WikiName: **
New password: **
Retype new password: **
     (Fields marked ** are required)

After submitting this form you will see a page with your new password appearing encrypted.

You will have to e-mail this information to the Wiki webmaster, webmaster@strategoxt.org, who will set your account to use the new password.

-- TWiki:Main.MikeMannix - 19 May 2002
-- TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny - 25 Apr 2004


TWiki Access Control

Restricting read and write access to topics and webs, by Users and groups

TWikiAccessControl allows you restrict access to single topics and entire webs, by individual user and by user Groups, in three areas: view; edit & attach; and rename/move/delete. Access control, combined with TWikiUserAuthentication, lets you easily create and manage an extremely flexible, fine-grained privilege system.

An Important Control Consideration

Open, freeform editing is the essence of WikiCulture - what makes TWiki different and often more effective than other collaboration tools. For that reason, it is strongly recommended that decisions to restrict read or write access to a web or a topic are made with care - the more restrictions, the less Wiki in the mix. Experience shows that unrestricted write access works very well because:

  • Peer influence is enough to ensure that only relevant content is posted.

  • Peer editing - the ability for anyone to rearrange all content on a page - keeps topics focussed.

  • In TWiki, content is transparently preserved under revision control:
    • Edits can be undone by the TWikiAdminGroup (the default administrators group; see #ManagingGroups).
    • Users are encouraged to edit and refactor (condense a long topic), since there's a safety net.

As a collaboration guideline:

  • Create broad-based Groups (for more and varied input), and...
  • Avoid creating view-only Users (if you can read it, you should be able to contribute to it).

Authentication vs. Access Control

Authentication: Identifies who a user is based on a login procedure. See TWikiUserAuthentication.

Access control: Restrict access to content based on users and groups once a user is identified.

Users and Groups

Access control is based on the familiar concept of Users and Groups. Users are defined by their WikiNames. They can then be organized in unlimited combinations by inclusion in one or more user Groups. For convenience, Groups can also be included in other Groups.

Managing Users

A user can create an account in TWikiRegistration. The following actions are performed:

  • WikiName and encrypted password are recorded in .htpasswd if authentication is enabled.
  • A confirmation e-mail is sent to the user.
  • A user home page with the WikiName of the user is created in the Main web.
  • The user is added to the TWikiUsers topic.

Users can be authenticated using Basic Authentication (htaccess) or SSL (secure server). In either case, TWikiUserAuthentication is required in order to track user identities, and use User and Group access control.

The default visitor name is TWikiGuest. This is the non-authenticated user.

Managing Groups

Groups are defined by group topics created in the Main web, like the TWikiAdminGroup. To create a new group:

  1. Edit TWikiGroups by entering a new topic with a name that ends in Group. Example:
    • SomeGroup
  2. Set Preferences for two Variables in the new group topic:
    • Set GROUP = < list of Users and/or Groups >
    • Set ALLOWTOPICCHANGE = < list of Users and/or Groups >
    • The GROUP variable is a comma-separated list of Users and/or other Groups. Example:
      • Set GROUP = Main.SomeUser, Main.OtherUser, Main.SomeGroup
    • ALLOWTOPICCHANGE defines who is allowed to change the group topic; it is a comma delimited list of Users and Groups. You typically want to restrict that to the members of the group itself, so it should contain the name of the topic. (This prevents Users not in the Group from editing the topic to give themselves or others access. For example, for the TWikiAdminGroup topic write:
    • Set ALLOWTOPICCHANGE = Main.TWikiAdminGroup

Restricting Write Access

You can define who is allowed to make changes to a web or a topic.

Deny Editing by Topic

Denying editing of a topic also restricts file attachment; both privileges are assigned together.

  • Define one or both of these variables in a topic, preferably at the end of the page:
    • Set DENYTOPICCHANGE = < list of Users and Groups >
    • Set ALLOWTOPICCHANGE = < list of Users and Groups >

  • DENYTOPICCHANGE defines Users or Groups that are not allowed to make changes to the topic, with a comma-delimited list. Example:
    • Set DENYTOPICCHANGE = Main.SomeBadBoy, Main.SomeBadGirl, Main.SomeHackerGroup

  • ALLOWTOPICCHANGE defines Users or Groups that are allowed to make changes to the topic. It is a comma delimited list of Users and Groups. Example:
    • Set ALLOWTOPICCHANGE = Main.SomeGoodGuy, Main.SomeGoodGirl, Main.TWikiAdminGroup

  • DENYTOPICCHANGE is evaluated before ALLOWTOPICCHANGE. Access is denied if the authenticated person is in the DENYTOPICCHANGE list, or not in the ALLOWTOPICCHANGE list. Access is granted in case DENYTOPICCHANGE and ALLOWTOPICCHANGE is not defined.

Deny Editing by Web

Restricting web-level editing blocks creating new topics, changing topics or attaching files.

  • Define one or both of these variable in the WebPreferences topic:
    • Set DENYWEBCHANGE = < list of Users and Groups >
    • Set ALLOWWEBCHANGE = < list of Users and Groups >

The same rules apply as for restricting topics, with these additions:

  • DENYTOPICCHANGE (in topic) overrides DENYWEBCHANGE (in WebPreferences)
  • ALLOWTOPICCHANGE (in topic) overrides ALLOWWEBCHANGE (in WebPreferences)

Restricting Rename Access

You can define who is allowed to rename, move or delete a topic, or rename a web.

Deny Renaming by Topic

To allow a user to rename, move or delete a topic, they also need write (editing) permission. They also need write access to change references in referring topics.

  • Define one or both of these variables in a topic, preferably at the end of the topic:
    • Set DENYTOPICRENAME = < list of Users and Groups >
    • Set ALLOWTOPICRENAME = < list of Users and Groups >

  • DENYTOPICCRENAME defines Users or Groups that are not allowed to rename the topic. It is a comma delimited list of Users and Groups. Example:
    • Set DENYTOPICRENAME = Main.SomeBadBoy, Main.SomeBadGirl, Main.SomeHackerGroup

  • ALLOWTOPICRENAME defines Users or Groups that are allowed to rename the topic. It is a comma delimited list of Users and Groups. Example:
    • Set ALLOWTOPICRENAME = Main.SomeGoodGuy, Main.SomeGoodGirl, Main.TWikiAdminGroup

  • DENYTOPICRENAME is evaluated before ALLOWTOPICRENAME. Access is denied if the authenticated person is in the DENYTOPICRENAME list, or not in the ALLOWTOPICRENAME list. Access is granted in case DENYTOPICRENAME and ALLOWTOPICRENAME is not defined.

Deny Renaming by Web

You can define restrictions of who is allowed to rename a TWiki web.

  • Define one or both of these variable in the WebPreferences topic:
    • Set DENYWEBRENAME = < list of Users and Groups >
    • Set ALLOWWEBRENAME = < list of Users and Groups >

The same rules apply as for topics, with these additions:

  • DENYTOPICRENAME (in topic) overrides DENYWEBRENAME (in WebPreferences)
  • ALLOWTOPICRENAME (in topic) overrides ALLOWWEBRENAME (in WebPreferences)

Restricting Read Access

You can define who is allowed to see a web.

Deny Viewing by Topic

ALERT! Technically it is possible to restrict read access to an individual topic based on DENYTOPICVIEW / ALLOWTOPICVIEW preferences variables, provided that the view script is authenticated. However this setup is not recommended since all content is searchable within a web - a search will turn up view restricted topics.

Deny Viewing by Web

You can define restrictions of who is allowed to view a TWiki web. You can restrict access to certain webs to selected Users and Groups, by:

  • obfuscating webs: Insecure but handy method to hide new webs until content is ready for deployment.
  • authenticating all webs and restricting selected webs: Topic access in all webs is authenticated, and selected webs have restricted access.
  • authenticating and restricting selected webs only: Provide unrestricted viewing access to open webs, with authentication and restriction only on selected webs.

Obfuscate Webs

The idea is to keep a web hidden by not publishing its URL and by preventing the all webs search option from accessing obfuscated webs. Do so by enabling the NOSEARCHALL variable in WebPreferences:

  • Set NOSEARCHALL = on

This setup can be useful to hide a new web until content its ready for deployment.

ALERT! Obfuscating webs is insecure, as anyone who knows the URL can access the web.

Authenticate all Webs and Restrict Selected Webs

Use the following setup to authenticate users for topic viewing in all webs and to restrict access to selected webs:

  1. Restrict view access to selected Users and Groups. Set one or both of these variables in its WebPreferences topic:
    • Set DENYWEBVIEW = < list of Users and Groups >
    • Set ALLOWWEBVIEW = < list of Users and Groups >
    • Note: DENYWEBVIEW is evaluated before ALLOWWEBVIEW. Access is denied if the authenticated person is in the DENYWEBVIEW list, or not in the ALLOWWEBVIEW list. Access is granted in case DENYWEBVIEW and ALLOWWEBVIEW is not defined.
  2. Hide the web from an "all webs" search. Enable this restriction with the NOSEARCHALL variable in its WebPreferences topic:
    • Set NOSEARCHALL = on
  3. Add view to the list of authenticated scripts in the .htaccess file.

HELP This method only works if the view script is authenticated, which means that all Users have to login, even for read-only access. (An open guest account, like TWikiGuest, can get around this, allowing anyone to login to a common account with, for example, view-only access for public webs.) TWikiInstallationGuide has more on Basic Authentication, using the .htaccess file.

Authenticate and Restricting Selected Webs Only

Use the following setup to provide unrestricted viewing access to open webs, with authentication only on selected webs:

  1. Restrict view access to selected Users and Groups. Set one or both of these variables in its WebPreferences topic:
    • Set DENYWEBVIEW = < list of Users and Groups >
    • Set ALLOWWEBVIEW = < list of Users and Groups >
    • Note: DENYWEBVIEW is evaluated before ALLOWWEBVIEW. Access is denied if the authenticated person is in the DENYWEBVIEW list, or not in the ALLOWWEBVIEW list. Access is granted in case DENYWEBVIEW and ALLOWWEBVIEW is not defined.
  2. Hide the web from an "all webs" search. Enable this restriction with the NOSEARCHALL variable in its WebPreferences topic:
    • Set NOSEARCHALL = on
  3. Enable the $doRememberRemoteUser flag in lib/TWiki.cfg as described in TWikiUserAuthentication. TWiki will now remember the IP address of an authenticated user.
  4. Copy the view script to viewauth (or better, create a symbolic link)
  5. Add viewauth to the list of authenticated scripts in the .htaccess file. The view script should not be listed in the .htaccess file.

When a user accesses a web where you enabled view restriction, TWiki will redirect from the view script to the viewauth script once (this happens only if the user has never edited a topic). Doing so will ask for authentication. The viewauth script shows the requested topic if the user could log on and if the user is authorized to see that web.

ALERT! Authenticating webs is not very secure, as there is a way to circumvent the read access restriction. It can be useful in certain situations - for example, to simplify site organization and clutter, by hiding low traffic webs - but is not recommended for securing sensitive content.

Hiding Control Settings

TIP To hide access control settings from normal browser viewing, place them in comment markers.

<!--
   * Set DENYTOPICCHANGE = Main.SomeGroup
-->

The SuperAdminGroup

By mistyping a user or group name in the ALLOWTOPICCHANGE setting, it's possible to lock a topic so that no-one can edit it from a browser. To avoid this, you can create Web-based superusers:

  • Set the $superAdminGroup variable in lib/TWiki.cfg to the name of a group of Users who are always allowed to edit/view topics.
$superAdminGroup = "TWikiAdminGroup";
  • The default setting is not to have superusers.

-- TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny - 04 May 2002
-- TWiki:Main.MikeMannix - 12 May 2002


TWiki Text Formatting

Working in TWiki is as easy as typing in text - exactly like email. You don't need to know HTML, though you can use it if you prefer. Links to topics are created automatically when you enter WikiWords. And TWiki shorthand gives you all the power of HTML with a simple coding system that takes no time to learn. It's all laid out below - refer back to this page in a pop-up window from the Edit screen.

TWiki Editing Shorthand

Formatting Command: Example: You write: You get:
Paragraphs:
Blank lines will create new paragraphs.
1st paragraph

2nd paragraph
1st paragraph

2nd paragraph

Headings:
At least three dashes at the beginning of a line, followed by plus signs and the heading text. One plus creates a level 1 heading (most important), two pluses a level 2 heading; the maximum is level 6. Note: A Table of Content can be created automatically with the %TOC% variable, see TWikiVariables. Any heading text after !! is excluded from the TOC; for example, write ---+!! text if you do not want to list a header in the TOC.
---++ Sushi

---+++ Maguro

Sushi

Maguro

Bold Text:
Words get bold by enclosing them in * asterisks.
*Bold*
Bold
Italic Text:
Words get italic by enclosing them in _ underscores.
_Italic_
Italic
Bold Italic:
Words get _bold italic by enclosing them in _ double-underscores.
__Bold italic__
Bold italic
Fixed Font:
Words get shown in fixed font by enclosing them in = equal signs.
=Fixed font=
Fixed font

Bold Fixed Font:
Words get shown in bold fixed font by enclosing them in double equal signs.
==Bold fixed==
Bold fixed
Note: Make sure there is no space between the text and the bold, italic, or other indicators (* _ __ = ==).
_This works_,
_this not _
This works,
_this not _
Verbatim Mode:
Surround code excerpts and other formatted text with <verbatim> and </verbatim> tags.
Note: Use <pre> and </pre> tags instead if you want that HTML code is interpreted.
Note: Each tag must be on a line by itself.
<verbatim>
class CatAnimal {
  void purr() {
    <code here>
  }
}
</verbatim>
class CatAnimal {
  void purr() {
    <code here>
  }
}
Separator:
At least three dashes at the beginning of a line.
-------

List Item:
Three spaces, an asterisk, and another space.
   * bullet item
  • bullet item
Nested List Item:
Six, nine, ... spaces, an asterisk, and another space.
   * level 1
      * level 2
  • level 1
    • level 2
Ordered List:
Three spaces, a number, a dot, and another space. Several types are available besides a number:
Type Generated Style Sample Sequence
1. Arabic numerals 1, 2, 3, 4...
A. Uppercase letters A, B, C, D...
a. Lowercase letters a, b, c, d...
I. Uppercase Roman Numerals I, II, III, IV...
i. Lowercase Roman Numerals i, ii, iii, iv...

   1. Sushi
   1. Dim Sum

   A. Sushi
   A. Dim Sum

   i. Sushi
   i. Dim Sum
  1. Sushi
  2. Dim Sum

  1. Sushi
  2. Dim Sum

  1. Sushi
  2. Dim Sum
Definition List:
Three spaces, a dollar sign, the term, a colon, a space, followed by the definition.
   $ Sushi: Japan
   $ Dim Sum: S.F.
Sushi
Japan
Dim Sum
S.F.
Table:
Any number of lines of text. Each line is one row of the table consisting of one or more cells. Each cell starts and ends with a vertical bar '|'. Any spaces at the beginning of a line are ignored.
Notes:
| *bold* | cells are displayed as table headers.
|   center-spaced   | cells are displayed center aligned.
|     right-spaced | cells are displayed right aligned.
| 2 colspan || cells are displayed as multi-span columns (i.e., a cell with no text spans a column).
|^| cells with a caret indicate follow-up rows of multi-span rows (this functionality is provided by TablePlugin).
• If a row contains a large amount of text, and you want it to be more readable while editing the table, split the row into multiple text lines by ending each line with a backslash character '\'.
• Table cells wrap automatically as determined by the browser.
| *L* | *C* | *R* |
| A2 |  2  |  2 |
| A3 |  3  |  3 |
| multi span |||
| A4-6 | four | four |
|^| five | five |



|^| six | six |
L C R
A2 2 2
A3 3 3
multi span
A4-6 four four
five five
six six
WikiWord Links:
CapitalizedWordsStuckTogether (or WikiWords) will produce a link automatically.
Note: In case you want to link to a topic in a different TWiki web write Otherweb.TopicName. (The link label is the the name of the web in case the is WebHome, else it is the topic name)
WebNotify

Main.TWikiUsers
WebNotify

TWikiUsers

Forced Links:
You can create a forced internal link by enclosing words in double square brackets.
Note: Text within the brackets may contain optional spaces; the topic name is formed by capitalizing the initial letter and by removing the spaces; for example, [[text formatting FAQ]] links to topic TextFormattingFAQ. You can also refer to a different web and use anchors.
Note: To "escape" double square brackets that would otherwise be a correct link, prefix the leading left square brackets with an exclamation point, that is, begin with ![[....
[[wiki syntax]]

[[Main.TWiki users]]

escaped:
![[wiki syntax]]
wiki syntax

Main.TWiki users

escaped: [[wiki syntax]]

Specific Links:
Create a link where you can specify the link text and the link reference separately, using nested square brackets like [[reference][text]]. Internal link references (e.g. WikiSyntax) and external link references (e.g. http://TWiki.org/) are supported.
Note: The same Forced Links rules apply for internal link references.
Note: For external link references, you can simply use a space instead of ][ to separate the link URL from the descriptive text.
Note: Anchor names can be added as well, like [[WebHome#MyAnchor][go home]] and [[http://gnu.org/#Action][GNU Action]].
[[WikiSyntax][syntax]]

[[http://gnu.org][GNU]]

[[http://xml.org XML]]
syntax

GNU

XML

Anchors:
You can define a link reference inside a TWiki topic (called an anchor name) and link to that. To define an anchor write #AnchorName at the beginning of a line. The anchor name must be a WikiWord. To link to an anchor name use the [[MyTopic#MyAnchor]] syntax. You can omit the topic name if you want to link within the same topic.
[[WikiWord#NotThere]]

[[#MyAnchor][Jump]]

#MyAnchor To here
WikiWord#NotThere

Jump

To here

Prevent a Link:
Prevent a WikiWord from being linked by prepending it with an exclamation point.
!SunOS
SunOS
Disable Links:
You can disable automatic linking of WikiWords by surrounding text with <noautolink> and </noautolink> tags.
Note: Each tag must be on a line by itself.
Note: This also works for TWiki tables, but only if you add a blank line between the end of the table and the closing </noautolink> tag (known issue of the TablePlugin).
 <noautolink>
 RedHat &
 SuSE
 </noautolink>
RedHat & SuSE
Mailto: Links:
To create 'mailto:' links that have more descriptive link text, specify subject lines or message bodies, or omit the email address, you can write [[mailto:user@domain descriptive text]].
[[mailto:a@z.com Mail]]

[[mailto:?subject=Hi Hi]]
Mail

Hi

Using HTML

You can use just about any HTML tag without a problem - however, there are a few usability and technical considerations to keep in mind.

HTML and TWiki Usability

  • TIP TIP: On collaboration pages, it's preferable NOT to use HTML, and to use TWiki shorthand instead - this keeps the text uncluttered and easy to edit.
  • ALERT! NOTE: TWiki is designed to work with a wide range of browsers and computer platforms, holding to HTML 4.0 and XHTML 1.0 compatibility in the standard installation - adding raw HTML, particularly browser-specific tags (or any other mark-up that doesn't degrade well) will reduce compatibility.
  • Recommondations when using HTML:
    • Use XHTML 1.0 Transitional syntax
    • Do not span a tag over more then one line
    • Remove all empty lines. TWiki inserts <p /> paragraph tags on empty lines, which causes problems if done between tags that do not allow paragraph tags, like for example between table tags.

TWiki HTML Rendering

  • TWiki converts shorthand notation to XHTML 1.0 for display. To copy a fully marked-up page, simply view source in your browser and save the contents.
    • TIP If you need to save HTML frequently, you may want to check out TWiki:Plugins/GenHTMLAddon - it will "generate a directory containing rendered versions of a set of TWiki pages together with any attached files."
  • ALERT! NOTE: The opening and closing angle brackets - <...> - of an HTML tag must be on the same line, or the tag will be broken.
    • This feature allows you to enter an unclosed angle bracket - as a greater than or less than symbol - and have it automatically rendered as if you had entered its HTML character, &lt;, ex: a < b
    • TIP If you're pasting in preformatted HTML text and notice problems, check the file in a text processor with no text wrap. Also, save without hard line breaks on text wrap, in your HTML editing program.

TWiki and JavaScript

You can use JavaScript for your TWiki applications. Since TWiki rendering might interfere with JavaScript code you need to escape it with HTML comments and <pre> tags:

<script type="text/javascript">
<!-- Hide JavaScript and <pre> escape TWiki rendering
... put your JavaScript code here...
// Stop hiding and stop </pre> escaping TWiki rendering -->
</script>

Hyperlinks

Being able to create links without any formatting required is a core TWiki feature, made possible with WikiWords. New TWiki linking rules are a simple extension of the syntax that provide a new set of flexible options.

Internal Links

  • GoodStyle is a WikiWord that links to the GoodStyle topic located in the current TWiki web.

  • NotExistingYet? is a topic waiting to be written. Create the topic by clicking on the ?. (Try clicking, but then, Cancel - creating the topic would wreck this example!)

External Links

  • http://..., https://..., ftp://..., gopher://..., news://..., file://..., telnet://... and mailto:...@... are linked automatically.

  • Email addresses like name@domain.com are linked automatically.

  • [[Square bracket rules]] let you easily create non-WikiWord links.
    • You can also write [[http://yahoo.com Yahoo home page]] as an easier way of doing external links with descriptive text for the link, such as Yahoo home page.

TWiki Variables

Variables are names that are enclosed in percent signs % that are expanded on the fly.

  • %TOC% : Automatically generates a table of contents based on headings in a topic - see the top of this page for an example.

  • %WEB% : The current web, is TWiki.

  • %TOPIC% : The current topic name, is TextFormattingRules.

  • %ATTACHURL% : The attachment URL of the current topic. Example usage: If you attach a file to a topic you can refer to it as %ATTACHURL%/image.gif to show the URL of the file or the image in your text.

  • %INCLUDE{"SomeTopic"}% : Server side include, includes another topic. The current TWiki web is the default web. Example: %INCLUDE{"TWiki.SiteMap"}%

  • %SEARCH{"sushi"}% : Inline search showing the search result embedded in a topic. FormattedSearch gives you control over formatting, used to create web-based applications.

  • TWikiPreferences defines site-wide variables. Among others:
    • Line break: Write %BR% to start a new line.
    • Colored text: Write: %RED% Red %ENDCOLOR% and %BLUE% blue %ENDCOLOR% colors to get: Red and blue colors.
    • Documentation Graphics: Write: %H% Help, %T% Tip, %X% Alert to get: HELP Help, TIP Tip, ALERT! Alert. For more info see TWikiDocGraphics.

  • To "escape" a variable, prefix it with an exclamation point. Write: !%SOMEVARIABLE% to get: %SOMEVARIABLE%.

TWikiPlugin Formatting Extensions

Plugins provide additional text formatting capabilities and can extend the functionality of TWiki into many other areas. For example, the optional SpreadSheetPlugin lets you create a spreadsheet with the same basic notation used in TWiki tables.

Available Plugins are located in the Plugins web on TWiki.org. Currently enabled plugins on this TWiki installation, as listed by %PLUGINDESCRIPTIONS%:

  • DefaultPlugin: This plugin can be used to specify some simple custom rendering rules. It also renders depreciated *_text_* as bold italic text.
  • EditTablePlugin: Edit TWiki tables using edit fields, date pickers and drop down boxes
  • InterwikiPlugin: Link ExternalSite:Page text to external sites based on aliases defined in the InterWikis topic
  • RenderListPlugin: Render bullet lists in a variety of formats
  • SpreadSheetPlugin: Add spreadsheet calculation like "$SUM( $ABOVE() )" to tables located in TWiki topics.
  • TablePlugin: Control attributes of tables and sorting of table columns

Check on current Plugin status and settings for this site in TWikiPreferences.

Common Editing Errors

TWiki formatting rules are fairly simple to use and quick to type. However, there are some things to watch out for, taken from the TextFormattingFAQ:

  • Q: Text enclosed in angle brackets like <filename> is not displayed. How can I show it as it is?
    • A: The '<' and '>' characters have a special meaning in HTML, they define HTML tags. You need to escape them, so write '&lt;' instead of '<', and '&gt;' instead of '>'.
      Example: Type 'prog &lt;filename&gt;' to get 'prog <filename>'.

  • Q: Why is the '&' character sometimes not displayed?
    • A: The '&' character has a special meaning in HTML, it starts a so called character entity, i.e. '&copy;' is the © copyright character. You need to escape '&' to see it as it is, so write '&amp;' instead of '&'.
      Example: Type 'This &amp; that' to get 'This & that'.

-- TWiki:Main.MikeMannix - 02 Dec 2001
-- TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny - 01 Aug 2004


TWiki Variables

Special text strings expand on the fly to display user data or system info

TWikiVariables are text strings - %VARIABLE% - that expand into content whenever a page is rendered for viewing. VARIABLES are replaced by data, either user-entered or automatically generated by TWiki (like the date, or the current username). There are predefined variables, and Preference variables that you can configure. You can also define custom variables, with new names and values.

Notes:

  • 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.

Predefined Variables

Most predefined variables return values that were either set in the lib/twiki.cfg file, when TWiki was installed, or taken from server info (like current username, or date and time). Many of the variables let you format the appearance of the display results.

  • TIP 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%.

This version of TWiki - 04 Sep 2004 $Rev: 1742 $ - expands the following variables (enclosed in % percent signs):

ATTACHURL -- full URL for attachments in the current topic

ATTACHURLPATH -- path of the attachment URL of the current topic

BASETOPIC -- base topic where an INCLUDE started

  • The name of the topic where a single or nested INCLUDE started - same as %TOPIC% if there is no INCLUDE
  • Syntax: %BASETOPIC%
  • Related: BASEWEB, INCLUDINGTOPIC, INCLUDE, TOPIC

BASEWEB -- base web where an INCLUDE started

  • 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.
  • Syntax: %BASEWEB%
  • Related: BASETOPIC, INCLUDINGWEB, INCLUDE, WEB

DISPLAYTIME -- display time

DISPLAYTIME{"format"} -- formatted display time

  • Formatted time - either GMT or Local server time, depending on setting in TWiki.cfg. Same format qualifiers as %GMTIME%
  • Syntax: %DISPLAYTIME{"format"}%
  • Example: %DISPLAYTIME{"$hou:$min"}% expands to 19:17
  • Related: DISPLAYTIME, GMTIME, SERVERTIME

ENCODE{"string"} -- encodes a string

  • Syntax: %ENCODE{"string"}%
  • Supported parameters:
    Parameter: Description: Default:
    "string" String to encode required (can be empty)
    type="entity" Encode special characters into HTML entities, like a double quote into &#034; URL encoding
    type="url" Encode special characters for URL parameter use, like a double quote into %22 (this is the default)
  • Example: %ENCODE{"spaced name"}% expands to spaced%20name
  • Related: URLPARAM

FORMFIELD{"format"} -- renders a field in the form attached to some topic

  • Syntax: %FORMFIELD{"fieldname"}%
  • Supported parameters:
    Parameter: Description: Default:
    "fieldname" The name of a TWiki form field required
    topic="..." Topic where form data is located. May be of the form Web.TopicName Current topic
    format="..." Format string. $value expands to the field value "$value"
    default="..." Text shown when no value is defined for the field ""
    alttext="..." Text shown when field is not found in the form ""
  • Example: %FORMFIELD{"ProjectName" topic="Projects.SushiProject" default="(not set)" alttext="ProjectName field found"}%
  • Related: SEARCH

GMTIME -- GM time

GMTIME{"format"} -- formatted GM time

  • Syntax: %GMTIME{"format"}%
  • Supported variables:
    Variable: Unit: Example
    $seconds seconds 59
    $minutes minutes 59
    $hours hours 23
    $day day of month 31
    $wday day of the Week (Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat) Thu
    $month month in ISO format Dec
    $mo 2 digit month 12
    $year 4 digit year 1999
    $ye 2 digit year 99
    $tz either "GMT" (if set to gmtime), or "Local" (if set to servertime) GMT
    $iso ISO format timestamp 2020-07-22T19:17Z
    $rcs RCS format timestamp 2020/07/22 19:17:52
    $http E-mail & http format timestamp Wed, 22 Jul 2020 19:17:52 GMT
  • Variables can be shortened to 3 characters
  • Example: %GMTIME{"$day $month, $year - $hour:$min:$sec"}% expands to 22 Jul, 2020 - 19:17:52
  • Related: DISPLAYTIME, GMTIME, SERVERTIME

HOMETOPIC -- home topic in each web

HTTP_HOST -- environment variable

ICON{"type"} -- small icon of common attachment types

  • Small 16x16 pixel icon of common attachment types. Specify file type only, file name, or full path name
  • Syntax: %ICON{"type"}%
  • Samples: bmp, doc, gif, hlp, html, mp3, pdf, ppt, txt, xls, xml, zip
  • Example: %ICON{"pdf"}% expands to
  • Related: TWikiPreferences, FileAttachments, TWikiDocGraphics

INCLUDE{"page"} -- include other topics or web pages

  • Syntax: %INCLUDE{"page" ...}%
  • Supported parameters:
    Parameter: Description: Default:
    "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.SiteMap"}%  
    "http://..." A full qualified URL, i.e. %INCLUDE{"http://twiki.org/"}%
    Note if the URL resolves to an attachment file on the server this will automatically translate to a server-side include.
     
    pattern="..." A RegularExpression pattern to include a subset of a topic or page none
    rev="1.2" Include a previous topic revision; N/A for URLs top revision
    warn="off" Warn if topic include fails: Fail silently (if off); output default warning (if set to on); else, output specific text (use $topic for topic name) %INCLUDE- WARNING% preferences setting
  • Related: BASETOPIC, BASEWEB, INCLUDINGTOPIC, INCLUDINGWEB, IncludeTopicsAndWebPages, STARTINCLUDE, STOPINCLUDE,

INCLUDINGTOPIC -- name of topic that includes current topic

  • The name of the topic that includes the current topic - same as %TOPIC% in case there is no include
  • Syntax: %INCLUDINGTOPIC%
  • Related: BASETOPIC, INCLUDINGWEB, INCLUDE, TOPIC

INCLUDINGWEB -- web that includes current topic

  • The web name of the topic that includes the current topic - same as %WEB% if there is no INCLUDE.
  • Syntax: %INCLUDINGWEB%
  • Related: BASEWEB, INCLUDINGTOPIC, INCLUDE, WEB

MAINWEB -- name of Main web

METASEARCH -- special search of meta data

  • Syntax: %METASEARCH{...}%
  • Supported parameters:
    Parameter: Description: Default:
    type="topicmoved" What sort of search is required?
    "topicmoved" if search for a topic that may have been moved
    "parent" if searching 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. current web
    topic="%TOPIC%" The topic the search relates to current topic
    title="Title" Text that is prefixed to any search results empty
    default="none" Default text shown if no search hit empty
  • Example: %METASEARCH{type="topicmoved" web="%WEB%" topic="%TOPIC%" title="This topic used to exist and was moved to: "}%
  • Example: You may want to use this in WebTopicViewTemplate and WebTopicNonWikiTemplate:
    %METASEARCH{type="parent" web="%WEB%" topic="%TOPIC%" title="Children: "}%
  • Related: SEARCH

NOTIFYTOPIC -- name of the notify topic

PLUGINVERSION -- the version of the TWiki Plugin API

PLUGINVERSION{"name"} -- the version of an installed Plugin

  • Syntax: %PLUGINVERSION{"name"}%
  • Example: %PLUGINVERSION{"DefaultPlugin"}% expands to 1.021
  • Related: PLUGINVERSION, WIKIVERSION

PUBURL -- the base URL of attachments

PUBURLPATH -- the base URL path of attachments

REMOTE_ADDR -- environment variable

REMOTE_PORT -- environment variable

REMOTE_USER -- environment variable

REVINFO -- revision information of current topic

REVINFO{"format"} -- formatted revision information of topic

  • Syntax: %REVINFO{"format"}%
  • Supported parameters:
    Parameter: Description: Default:
    "format" Format of revision information, see supported variables below "r1.$rev - $date - $wikiusername"
    web="..." Name of web Current web
    topic="..." Topic name Current topic
    rev="1.5" Specific revison number Latest revision
  • Supported variables in format:
    Variable: Unit: Example
    $web Name of web Current web
    $topic Topic name Current topic
    $rev Revison number. Prefix r1. to get the usual r1.5 format 5
    $date Revision date 11 Jul 2004
    $username Login username of revision jsmith
    $wikiname WikiName of revision JohnSmith
    $wikiusername WikiName with Main web prefix Main.JohnSmith
  • Example: %REVINFO{"$date - $wikiusername" rev="1.1"}% returns revision info of first revision
  • Related: REVINFO

SCRIPTURL -- script URL of TWiki

  • Syntax: %SCRIPTURL%
  • Expands to: ==
  • Example: To get the authenticated version of current topic write %SCRIPTURL%/viewauth%SCRIPTSUFFIX%/%WEB%/%TOPIC% which expands to /viewauth/TWiki/TWikiVariablesNtoZ
  • Related: PUBURL, SCRIPTSUFFIX, SCRIPTURLPATH

SCRIPTURLPATH -- script URL path of TWiki

SCRIPTSUFFIX -- script suffix

  • Some TWiki installations require a file extension for CGI scripts like .pl or .cgi
  • Syntax: %SCRIPTSUFFIX%
  • Expands to:
  • Related: SCRIPTURL

SEARCH{"text"} -- search content

  • Inline search, shows a search result embedded in a topic
  • Syntax: %SEARCH{"text" ...}%
  • Supported parameters: [1]
    Parameter: Description: Default:
    "text" Search term. Is a keyword search, literal search or regular expression search, depending on the type parameter. SearchHelp has more 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 comma, or all webs. [2] Current web
    topic="WebPreferences"
    topic="*Bug"
    Limit search to topics: A topic, a topic with asterisk wildcards, or a list of topics separated by comma. All topics in a web
    excludetopic="Web*"
    excludetopic="WebHome, WebChanges"
    Exclude topics from search: A topic, a topic with asterisk wildcards, or a list of topics separated by comma. None
    type="keyword"
    type="literal"
    type="regex"
    Do a keyword search like soap "web service" -shampoo; a literal search like web service; or RegularExpression search like soap;web service;!shampoo %SEARCHVAR- DEFAULTTYPE% preferences setting (literal)
    scope="topic"
    scope="text"
    scope="all"
    Search topic name (title); the text (body) of topic; or all (both) "text"
    order="topic"
    order="created"
    order="modified"
    order="editby"
    order=
     "formfield(name)"
    Sort the results of search by the topic names, topic creation time, last modified time, last editor, or named field of TWikiForms. The sorting is done web by web; in case you want to sort across webs, create a formatted table and sort it with TablePlugin's initsort Sort by topic name
    limit="all"
    limit="16"
    Limit the number of results returned. This is done after sorting if order is specified All results
    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
    header="..."
    format="..."
    Custom format results: see FormattedSearch for usage, variables & examples Results in table
    expandvariables="on" Expand variables before applying a FormattedSearch on a search hit. Useful to show the expanded text, e.g. to show the result of a SpreadSheetPlugin %CALC{}% instead of the formula Raw text
    multiple="on" Multiple hits per topic. Each hit can be formatted. The last token is used in case of a regular expression ";" and search Only one hit per topic
    separator=", " Line separator between hits Newline "$n"
  • Example: %SEARCH{"wiki" web="Main" scope="topic"}%
  • Example with format: %SEARCH{"FAQ" scope="topic" nosearch="on" nototal="on" header="| *Topic: * | *Summary: * |" format="| $topic | $summary |"% (displays results in a table with header - details)
  • HELP If the TWiki:Plugins.TablePlugin is installed, you may set a %TABLE{}% variable just before the %SEARCH{}% to alter the output of a search. Example: %TABLE{ tablewidth="90%" }%
  • Related: METASEARCH, TOPICLIST, WEBLIST, FormattedSearch

  • [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

SERVERTIME -- server time

SERVERTIME{"format"} -- formatted server time

  • Same format qualifiers as %GMTIME%
  • Syntax: %SERVERTIME{"format"}%
  • Example: %SERVERTIME{"$hou:$min"}% expands to 19:17
  • Related: DISPLAYTIME, GMTIME, SERVERTIME

SPACEDTOPIC -- topic name, spaced and encoded

  • The current topic name with added spaces, for regular expression search of Ref-By
  • Syntax: %SPACEDTOPIC%
  • Expands to: TWiki%20*Variables%20*Nto%20*Z
  • Related: TOPIC

STARTINCLUDE -- start position of topic text if included

  • 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.
  • Syntax: %STARTINCLUDE%
  • Related: INCLUDE, STOPINCLUDE

STATISTICSTOPIC -- name of statistics topic

STOPINCLUDE -- end position of topic text if included

  • 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.
  • Syntax: %STOPINCLUDE%
  • Related: INCLUDE, STARTINCLUDE

TOC -- table of contents of current topic

TOC{"Topic"} -- table of contents

  • Syntax: %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. Any heading text after "!!" is excluded from the TOC; for example, write "---+!! text" if you do not want to list a header in the TOC
  • Supported parameters:
    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
    title="Some text" Title to appear at top of TOC none
  • Example: %TOC{depth="2"}%
  • Example: %TOC{"TWikiDocumentation" web="TWiki" title="Contents:"}%
  • Example: see TWiki:Sandbox.TestTopicInclude
  • Related: TOC

TOPIC -- name of current topic

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.
  • Syntax: %TOPICLIST{"format" ...}%
  • Supported parameters:
    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
  • Example: %TOPICLIST{"   * $web.$name"}% creates a bullet list of all topics
  • Example: %TOPICLIST{separator=", "}% creates a comma separated list of all topics
  • Example: %TOPICLIST{" <option>$name</option>"}% creates an option list (for drop down menus)
  • Related: SEARCH, WEBLIST

TWIKIWEB -- name of TWiki documentation web

  • The web containing all documentation and site-wide preference settings for TWiki
  • Syntax: %TWIKIWEB%
  • Expands to: TWiki
  • Related: MAINWEB

URLPARAM{"name"} -- get value of a URL parameter

  • Returns the value of a URL parameter. Note that there is a risk that this variable could be misused for cross-scripting
  • Syntax: %URLPARAM{"name"}%
  • Supported parameters:
    Parameter: Description: Default:
    "name" The name of a URL parameter required
    default="..." Default value in case parameter is empty or missing empty string
    newline="<br />" Convert newlines in textarea to other delimiters no conversion
    encode="entity" Encode special characters into HTML entities, like a double quote into &#034;. This is needed if text is put into an HTML form field no encoding
    encode="url" Encode special characters for URL parameter use, like a double quote into %22 no encoding
    multiple="on"
    multiple="[[$item]]"
    If set, gets all selected elements of a <select multiple="multiple"> tag. A format can be specified, with $item indicating the element, e.g. multiple="Option: $item" first element
    separator=", " Separator between multiple selections. Only relevant if multiple is specified "\n" (new line)
  • Example: %URLPARAM{"skin"}% returns print for a .../view/TWiki/TWikiVariablesNtoZ?skin=print URL. Test this?:
  • Related: SEARCH, FormattedSearch

USERNAME -- your login username

VAR{"NAME" web="Web"} -- get a preference value from another web

  • Syntax: %VAR{"NAME" web="Web"}%
  • Example: To get %WEBBGCOLOR% of the Main web write %VAR{"WEBBGCOLOR" web="Main"}%, which expands to #EEEEAA
  • Related: WEBPREFSTOPIC

WEB -- name of current web

WEBLIST{"format"} -- index of all webs

  • 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.
  • Syntax: %WEBLIST{"format" ...}%
  • Supported parameters:
    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 $marker where item matches selection, otherwise equals "" "selected"
    selection="%WEB%" Current value to be selected in list section="%WEB%"
  • Example: %WEBLIST{"   * [[$name.WebHome]]"}% creates a bullet list of all webs.
  • Example: %WEBLIST{"<option $marker value=$qname>$name</option>" webs="Trash,public" selection="TWiki" separator=" "}% Dropdown of all public Webs + Trash Web, current Web highlighted.
  • Related: TOPICLIST, SEARCH

WEBPREFSTOPIC -- name of web preferences topic

WIKIHOMEURL -- site home URL

  • The base URL of TWiki, is the link of the Home icon in the upper left corner, defined in TWiki.cfg
  • Syntax: %WIKIHOMEURL%
  • Expands to: http://your.domain.com/twiki
  • Related: WIKITOOLNAME

WIKINAME -- your Wiki username

WIKIPREFSTOPIC -- name of site-wide preferences topic

WIKITOOLNAME -- name of your TWiki site

WIKIUSERNAME -- your Wiki username with web prefix

  • Your %WIKINAME% with Main web prefix, useful to point to your TWiki home page
  • Syntax: %WIKIUSERNAME%
  • Expands to: Main.TWikiGuest, renders as TWikiGuest
  • Related: REMOTE_USER, USERNAME, WIKINAME

WIKIUSERSTOPIC -- name of topic listing all registers users

  • Syntax: %WIKIUSERSTOPIC%
  • Expands to: TWikiUsers, with Main prefix renders as TWikiUsers
  • Related: WIKIUSERNAME

WIKIVERSION -- the version of the installed TWiki engine

Note: Above text is included from TWikiVariablesAtoM and TWikiVariablesNtoZ

Preferences Variables

Additional variables are defined in the preferences topics:

Variable: Level: What: Expands to:
%ALLOWTOPICCHANGE% (any topic) List of users and groups who are allowed to change the current topic. (More in TWikiAccessControl) TWikiAdminGroup  
%ALLOWTOPICRENAME% (any topic) List of users and groups who are allowed to rename the current topic. (More in TWikiAccessControl) TWikiAdminGroup  
%ALLOWWEBCHANGE% WL List of users and groups who are allowed to change topics in the TWiki web. (More in TWikiAccessControl) TWikiAdminGroup  
%ALLOWWEBRENAME% WL List of users and groups who are allowed to rename topics in the TWiki web. (More in TWikiAccessControl) TWikiAdminGroup  
%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:  
%DENYTOPICCHANGE% (any topic) List of users and groups who are not allowed to change the current topic. (More in TWikiAccessControl) %DENYTOPICCHANGE%  
%DENYTOPICRENAME% (any topic) List of users and groups who are not allowed to rename the current topic. (More in TWikiAccessControl) %DENYTOPICRENAME%  
%DENYWEBCHANGE% WL List of users and groups who are not allowed to change topics in the TWiki web. (More in TWikiAccessControl)  
%DENYWEBRENAME% WL List of users and groups who are not allowed to rename topics in the TWiki web. (More in TWikiAccessControl)  
%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:  
%EDITBOXHEIGHT% SL , UL Vertical size of edit box, is 42 42  
%EDITBOXWIDTH% SL , UL Horizontal size of edit box, is 100 100  
%EDITBOXSTYLE% SL , UL Style of text edit box. Set to width: 99% for full window width (default; overwrites the EDITBOXWIDTH setting), or width: auto to disable. Value is: width: 99% width: 99%  
%FINALPREFERENCES% SL , WL List of preferences that are not allowed to be overridden by next level preferences ATTACHFILESIZELIMIT, PREVIEWBGIMAGE, WIKITOOLNAME, WIKIWEBMASTER, SMTPMAILHOST, SMTPSENDERHOST, ALLOWWEBMANAGE, READTOPICPREFS, TOPICOVERRIDESUSER, ALLOWTOPICCHANGE, ALLOWTOPICRENAME, ALLOWWEBMANAGE, NOSEARCHALL, ATTACHFILESIZELIMIT, WIKIWEBMASTER, WEBCOPYRIGHT, WEBTOPICLIST, DENYWEBVIEW, ALLOWWEBVIEW, DENYWEBCHANGE, ALLOWWEBCHANGE, DENYWEBRENAME, ALLOWWEBRENAME  
%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.  
%HTTP_EQUIV_ON_VIEW% SL http-equiv meta tags for view, rdiff, attach, search* scripts.  
%NEWTOPICBGCOLOR% SL , UL Background color of non existing topic. ( UL needs authentication for topic views ) #FFFFCE  
%NEWTOPICFONTCOLOR% SL , UL Font color of non existing topic. ( UL needs authentication for topic views ) #0000FF  
%NOSEARCHALL% WL Exclude web from a web="all" search (set variable to on for hidden webs)  
%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:  
%WEBBGCOLOR% WL Background color of web #FFD8AA  
%WEBCOPYRIGHT% SL , WL Copyright notice (bottom right corner of topics) Copyright © 1999-2020 by the contributing authors. All material on this collaboration platform is the property of the contributing authors.
Ideas, requests, problems regarding TWiki? Send feedback  
%WEBTOPICLIST% WL Common links of web (second line of topics) Welcome | Register | Changes | Topics | Index | Search | Go  
%WIKIWEBLIST% SL List of TWiki webs (in upper right corner of topics) Main | TWiki | Sandbox  
%WIKIWEBMASTER% SL Webmaster email address (sender of email notifications) , is webmaster@strategoxt.org webmaster@strategoxt.org  

Note: There are some more useful variables defined in the TWikiPreferences like %BR% for line break, colors like %RED% for colored text and small icons like %H% for a HELP Help icon.

Setting Preferences

  • The syntax for Preferences 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] = [value]
    Examples:
  • Set VARIABLENAME = value
    • Set VARIABLENAME = value

Creating Custom Variables

  • You can add your own Preference Variables for us across an entire site or a single web, using the standard Preferences syntax. Whatever you include in your Variable will be expanded on display, exactly as if it had been entered directly. You can place formatted text, page links, image paths.

Example: Create a custom logo variable the TWiki web
  • To place a logo anywhere in a web by typing %MYLOGO%, define the Variable on the web's WebPreferences page, 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, ex: LogoTopic:
    • Set MYLOGO = %PUBURL%/TWiki/LogoTopic/mylogo.gif

-- TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny - 14 Aug 2004
-- TWiki:Main.MikeMannix - 12 May 2002


File Attachments

Each topic can have one or more files of any type attached to it by using the Attach screen to upload (or download) files from your local PC. Attachments are stored under revision control: uploads are automatically backed up; all previous versions of a modified file can be retrieved.

What Are Attachments Good For?

File Attachments can be used to create powerful customized groupware solutions, like file sharing and document management systems, and quick Web page authoring.

Document Management System

  • You can use Attachments to store and retrieve documents (in any format, with associated graphics, and other media files); attach documents to specific TWiki topics; collaborate on documents with full revision control; distribute documents on a need-to-know basis using web and topic-level access control; create a central reference library that's easy to share with an user group spread around the world.

File Sharing

  • For file sharing, FileAttachments on a series of topics can be used to quickly create a well-documented, categorized digital download center for all types of files: documents; graphics and other media; drivers and patches; applications; anything you can safely upload!

Web Authoring

  • Through your Web browser, you can easily upload graphics (or sound files, or anything else you want to link to on a page) and place them on a single page, or use them across a web, or site-wide.
    • NOTE: You can also add graphics - any files - directly, typically by FTP upload. This requires FTP access, and may be more convenient if you have a large number of files to load. FTP-ed files can't be managed using browser-based Attachment controls. You can use your browser to create TWikiVariables shortcuts, like this %H% = HELP.

Uploading Files

  • Click on the Attach link at the bottom of the page. The Attach screen lets you browse for a file, add a comment, and upload it. The uploaded file will show up in the File Attachment table.
    • NOTE: The topic must already exist. It is a two step process if you want to attach a file to a non-existing topic; first create the topic, then add the file attachment.
    • Any type of file can be uploaded. Some files that might pose a security risk are renamed, ex: *.php files are renamed to *.php.txt so that no one can place code that would be read in a .php file.
    • The previous upload path is retained for convenience. In case you make some changes to the local file and want to upload it, again you can copy the previous upload path into the Local file field.
    • TWiki can limit the file size. This is defined by the %ATTACHFILESIZELIMIT% variable of the TWikiPreferences, currently set at 100000 KB.
      • ALERT! It's not recommended to upload files greater than a few hundred K through a browser. Large files can be extremely slow-loading, and often time out. Use an FTP site for large file uploads.

Downloading Files

  • ALERT! NOTE: There is no access control on individual attachments. If you need control over single files, create a separate topic per file and set topic-level access restrictions for each.

Moving Attachment Files

An attachment can be moved between topics.

  • Click Manage on the Attachment to be moved.
  • On the control screen, select the new web and/or topic.
  • Click Move. The attachment and its version history are moved. The original location is stored as topic Meta Data.

Deleting Attachments

Move unwanted Attachments to web Trash, topic TrashAttachment.

Linking to Attached Files

  • Once a file is attached it can be referenced in the topic. Example:
    1. Attach file: Sample.txt
    2. Edit topic and enter: %ATTACHURL%/Sample.txt
    3. Preview: %ATTACHURL%/Sample.txt text appears as: /pub/TWiki/FileAttachment/Sample.txt, a link to the text file.

  • To reference an attachment located in another topic, enter:
    • %PUBURL%/%WEB%/OtherTopic/Sample.txt (if it's within the same web)
    • %PUBURL%/Otherweb/OtherTopic/Sample.txt (if it's in a different web)

  • Attached HTML files and text files can be inlined in a topic. Example:
    1. Attach file: Sample.txt
    2. Edit topic and write text: %INCLUDE{"%ATTACHURL%/Sample.txt"}%

  • GIF, JPG and PNG images can be attached and shown embedded in a topic. Example:
    1. Attach file: Smile.gif
    2. Edit topic and write text: %ATTACHURL%/Smile.gif
    3. Preview: text appears as /pub/TWiki/FileAttachment/Smile.gif, an image.

File Attachment Contents Table

Files attached to a topic are displayed in a directory table, displayed at the bottom of the page, or optionally, hidden and accessed when you click Attach.

Attachment Action Size Date Who Comment
Sample.txt manage 0.1 K 22 Jul 2000 - 19:37 PeterThoeny Just a sample
Smile.gif manage 0.1 K 22 Jul 2000 - 19:38 PeterThoeny Smiley face

File Attachment Controls

Clicking on a Manage link takes you to a new page that looks like this:

Attachment Action Size Date Who Comment Attribute
Sample.txt manage 0.1 K 22 Jul 2000 - 19:37 PeterThoeny Just a sample  
Smile.gif manage 0.1 K 22 Jul 2000 - 19:38 PeterThoeny Smiley face  

Update attachment Sample.txt

Version Action Date Who Comment
1.1 view 2001.08.30.09.28.56 PeterThoeny  

Previous
upload:
C:\DATA\Sample.txt (PeterThoeny)
Local file:
Comment:
Link: Create a link to the attached file at the end of the topic.
Hide file: Hide attachment in normal topic view.
Help text ...

Topic FileAttachment . { | | Move attachment | Cancel }

  • The first table is a list of all attachments, including their attributes. An h means the attachment is hidden, it isn't listed when viewing a topic.

  • The second table is all the versions of the attachment. Click on View to see that version. If it's the most recent version, you'll be taken to an URL that always displays the latest version, which is usually what you want.
    • To change the comment on an attachment, enter a new comment and then click Change properties. Note that the comment listed against the specific version will not change, however the comment displayed when viewing the topic does change.
    • To hide/unhide an attachment, enable the Hide file checkbox, then click Change properties.

Known Issues

  • Unlike topics, attachments are not locked during editing. As a workaround, you can change the comment to indicate an attachment file is being worked on - the comment on the specific version isn't lost, it's there when you list all versions of the attachment.


TWiki Forms

Form-based input in topics, with name/value pairs stored as Meta Data variables; choose one of multiple forms per web & topic

Overview

By adding form-based input to freeform content, you can structure topics with unlimited, easily searchable categories. When forms are enabled for a web and selected in a topic, a single form appears in edit mode, and the contents are rendered as a table when viewed on the display page. You can define unlimited forms per web. For each topic, you can select a template if more than one is defined, or remove forms entirely. Form input values are stored as TWikiMetaData; all data is saved.

Form Templates replace TWikiCategoryTables from the 01-Dec-2000 version of TWiki. - see #FormsVsCategoryTables

Defining a Form Template

A Form Template is simply a page containing your form, defined as a table where each row is one form field.

Form Template Elements

  • form template - a set of fields defining a form (replaces category table definition)
    • A web can use one or more form templates
  • form - a topic containing additional meta data (besides the freeform TEXTAREA) that categorizes the content (replaces category table)
    • Within a form-enabled web, individual topics can have a form or no form
  • form field - a named item in a form (replaces category item name)
  • field type - selects the INPUT type:
    Input type Type field Size field Value field
    One or more checkboxes checkbox number of checkboxes per line comma list of checkbox labels
    One or more checkboxes, plus Set and Clear buttons checkbox+buttons (same) (same)
    Read-only label text label 1 (unused)
    One or more radio buttons radio number of radio buttons per line comma list of checkbox labels
    Drop-down menu or scrollable box select 1 for drop down, 2 and up for scrollable box comma list of options
    A one-line text field text text box width in number of characters (unused)
    A text box; size is 40x10 (columns x rows) textarea columns x rows, e.g. 40x6 (unused)
  • field value - one or more values from a fixed set (select, checkbox, radio type) or free-form (text). (replaces category item value)

Defining a Form in One Topic

  1. Create a new topic with your form name: YourForm, ExpenseReport, InfoCategory, RecordReview, whatever you need.
  2. Create a TWiki table, with each column head representing one element of an entry field: Name, Type, Size, Values, and Tooltip message (see sample below).
  3. For each field, fill in a new line; for the type of field, select from the list.
  4. Save the topic (you can later choose to enable/disable individual forms).

Example: WebForm
| *Name* | *Type* | *Size* | *Values* | *Tooltip message* |
| TopicClassification | select | 1 | NoDisclosure, PublicSupported, PublicFAQ | blah blah... |
| OperatingSystem | checkbox | 3 | OsHPUX, OsLinux, OsSolaris, OsWin | blah blah... |
| OsVersion | text | 16 | | blah blah... |

Name Type Size Values Tooltip message
TopicClassification select 1 NoDisclosure, PublicSupported, PublicFAQ blah blah...
OperatingSystem checkbox 3 OsHPUX, OsLinux, OsSolaris, OsWin blah blah...
OsVersion text 16   blah blah...

Defining a Form with Multiple Topics

Forms can also be defined by using form templates that retrieve field values from one or more separate topics:

  • A FormTemplate topic defines the Form, ex: YourFormTemplate.
  • For each field that has a value list - select, radio, checkbox - can use separate topic to define the available values.

Example: WebFormTemplate

  • WebFormTemplate main definition:
     
    Name Type Size Values Tooltip message
    TopicClassification select 1   blah blah...
    OperatingSystem checkbox 3   blah blah...
    OsVersion text 16   blah blah...

    ALERT! Leave the Values field blank.

  • TopicClassification field value definition:
     
    Name Type Tooltip message
    NoDisclosure option blah blah...
    PublicSupported option blah blah...
    PublicFAQ option blah blah...

  • Implementation Notes: This format allows you to define field items with or without WikiNames, depending on your needs.
    • Topics can be protected in the usual manner, using TWikiAccessControl, to limit who can change the form template and/or individual value lists.
    • [[...]] links can be used to force a link (at present, the [[...][...]] format is not supported).
    • The Tooltip message column is used as a tooltip for the field name (only if field name is a WikiName) - you only see the tooltip In edit.
    • The first item in the list is the default item. Alternative initial values can be set in a topic template, like WebTopicEditTemplate, with field=value, or, for checkboxes, field=1.
    • The topic definition is not read when a topic is viewed.

Enabling Forms by Web

Forms are enabled on a per web basis. The WEBFORMS variable in WebPreferences is optional and defines a list of possible form templates. Example:

  • Set WEBFORMS = BugForm, FeatureForm, BookLoanForm

  • With WEBFORMS enabled, an extra button is added to the edit view. If the topic doesn't have a Form, an Add Form button appears at the end of the topic. If a Form is present, a Change button appears in the top row of the Form. The buttons open a screen that enables selection of a form specified in WEBFORMS, or the No form option.

Including Forms in New Topics

  • A default Form Template (new topics get this default form) can be provided by creating the WebTopicEditTemplate topic in a web and adding a form to it. Initial Form values can be set there.

  • Additionally a new topic can be given a Form using the formtemplate parameter in the URL. Initial values can then be provided in the URLs or as form values:
    • other than checkboxes: name, ex: ?BugPriority=1
    • checkbox: namevalue=1, ex: ?ColorRed=1.
      Boxes with a tick must be specified.

Setting Up Multiple Form Options

  • The optional WEBFORMS variable defines alternative forms that can be selected by pressing Change in edit mode.

  • A topic template can use any form.

  • New topics with a form are created by simple HTML forms asking for a topic name. For example, you can have a SubmitExpenseReport topic where you can create new expense reports, a SubmitVacationRequest topic, and so on. These can specify the required template topic with its associated form.

Form Data Storage

The form topic name, fields and values are stored as TWikiMetaData - the order of the field/value pairs is the same as in the template.

Using Form Data

TWikiForms accept user-input data, stored as TWikiMetaData. Meta data also contains program-generated info about changes, attachments, etc. To find, format and display form and other meta data, see TWikiMetaData, SEARCH and METASEARCH variables in TWikiVariables, and TWiki Formatted Search for various options.

Main Changes from Category Tables

The Form Template system is a more powerful, flexible replacement for the original TWikiCategoryTable. Data from existing category tables can be imported directly.

Form Templates Category Tables
defined in topics defined in templates
many forms per web one table per web
saved as Meta Data saved as HTML
Change & Add Form buttons UseCategory radio button

Importing Category Table Data

On upgrading from the previous TWiki, a Form Template topic has to be built for each web that used a Category Table, recreating the fields and values from the old twikicatitems.tmpl. The replacement Form Template must be set as the first item in the WebPreferences variable WEBFORMS. If missing, pages will display, but attempting to edit results in an error message.

The new Form Template system should work with old Category Table data with no special conversion. Data is assigned to Meta variables the first time an imported topic is edited and saved in the new system.

TIP NOTE: If things aren't working correctly, there may be useful entries in data/warning.txt.

Using Forms For Settings

Example process to change your WebPreferences to use forms instead of {3 spaces}* Set statements:

  1. create WebPrefencesForm topic
  2. fill it with a table like this:
    | *Name*|*Type*|*Size*|*Value*|*Tooltip message*|*Attributes*|
    | WEBTOPICLIST |textarea| |     | List of topics of the %WEB% web |S|
    | SITEMAPLIST  |select  |3| on, | list this web in the Site Map  |S|
    | SITEMAPWHAT  |textarea| |     | short web summary             |S|
    | WEBBGCOLOR   |text    |8|     | Web specific background color |S|
    etc...
  3. Edit WebPreferences and:
    • Add or Change the form to WebPrefencesForm
    • add WebPrefencesForm to the Set WEBFORMS line
    • Save
  4. Edit WebPreferences, jump straight down to the form ignoring all the textarea stuff, and set as you like
  5. if everything works as you like it, you can delete the Set statements (the form overrides set if they are both used).

Notes:

If it isn't working, double check that the S attribute has been specified (S for Setting). If you change the form, the changes will not take affect until you edit and save the preferences' topics again.

Using the TWiki:Plugins.EditTablePlugin on WebPreferencesForm makes adding new prefedrences a breeze.

A possibly unwanted side effect for using forms for the SKINS setting in their personal user topic: because the User Preferences are final you can't have different skins for different webs as the user's setting always wins. A workaround is to simply omit SKIN in the form.

Another example, this one using EditTablePlugin, source:

%EDITTABLE{ header="|*Name*|*Type*|*Size*|*Values*|*Tooltip message*|*Attributes*|" format="|text,20|text,20|text,20|text,20|text,20|text,1|" }%

Result (after some editing):

Name Type Size Values tooltip message Attributes
ALLOWTOPICCHANGE textarea     Users or groups allowed to change or rename this TWikiForms topic: (I.e. TWikiAdminGroup) S
ALLOWWEBCHANGE textarea     Users or groups who are allowed to change topics in the TWiki web: (See TWikiAccessControl) S
ALLOWWEBRENAME textarea   TWikiAdminGroup Users or groups who are allowed to rename topics in the TWiki web: (See TWikiAccessControl) S
ALLOWWEBVIEW textarea     Users or groups who are allowed to view topics in the TWiki web: (See TWikiAccessControl) S
DENYWEBCHANGE textarea     Users or groups who are not allowed to change topics in the TWiki web: (See TWikiAccessControl) S
DENYWEBRENAME textarea     Users or groups who are not allowed to rename topics in the TWiki web: (See TWikiAccessControl) S
DENYWEBVIEW textarea     Users or groups who are not allowed to view topics in the TWiki web: (See TWikiAccessControl) S
FINALPREFERENCES textarea   "NOSEARCHALL, ATTACHFILESIZELIMIT, WIKIWEBMASTER, WEBCOPYRIGHT, WEBTOPICLIST, DENYWEBVIEW, ALLOWWEBVIEW, DENYWEBCHANGE, ALLOWWEBCHANGE, DENYWEBRENAME, ALLOWWEBRENAME" Web preferences that are not allowed to be overridden by user preferences S
NOSEARCHALL text   ",on" "Exclude web from a web=""all"" search: (Set to on for hidden webs)" S
SITEMAPLIST select   "on, ," List this web in the SiteMap S
SITEMAPUSETO textarea   ...to do something. ...to do something. S
SITEMAPWHAT textarea   Describe what this web does. Describe what this web does.  
SKIN select   "twiki, free, gnu, koala, pattern, plain, tiger" list of installed skins S
WEBBGCOLOR select   lightpink, pink, crimson, lavenderblush, palevioletred, hotpink, deeppink, mediumvioletred, orchid, thistle, plum, violet, fuchsia, fuchsia, darkmagenta, purple, mediumorchid, darkviolet, darkorchid, indigo, blueviolet, mediumpurple, mediumslateblue, slateblue, darkslateblue, ghostwhite, lavender, blue, mediumblue, darkblue, navy, midnightblue, royalblue, cornflowerblue, lightsteelblue, lightslategray, slategray, dodgerblue, aliceblue, steelblue, lightskyblue, skyblue, deepskyblue, lightblue, powderblue, cadetblue, darkturquoise, azure, lightcyan, paleturquoise, aqua, aqua, darkcyan, teal, darkslategray, mediumturquoise, lightseagreen, turquoise, aquamarine, mediumaquamarine, mediumspringgreen, mintcream, springgreen, mediumseagreen, seagreen, honeydew, darkseagreen, palegreen, lightgreen, limegreen, lime, forestgreen, green, darkgreen, lawngreen, chartreuse, greenyellow, darkolivegreen, yellowgreen, olivedrab, ivory, beige, lightyellow, lightgoldenrodyellow, yellow, olive, darkkhaki, palegoldenrod, lemonchiffon, khaki, gold, cornsilk, goldenrod, darkgoldenrod, floralwhite, oldlace, wheat, orange, moccasin, papayawhip, blanchedalmond, navajowhite, antiquewhite, tan, burlywood, darkorange, bisque, linen, peru, peachpuff, sandybrown, chocolate, saddlebrown, seashell, sienna, lightsalmon, coral, orangered, darksalmon, tomato, salmon, mistyrose, lightcoral, snow, rosybrown, indianred, red, brown, firebrick, darkred, maroon, white, whitesmoke, gainsboro, lightgrey, silver, darkgray, gray, dimgray, black Web specific background color: (Pick a lighter one of the StandardColors) S
WEBFORMS textarea     TWikiForms: How to enable form(s) S
WEBTOPICLIST textarea   WebHome, Changes, Topics, Index, Search, Go the main entry point topics for this web S

-- TWiki:Main.JohnTalintyre - 16 Aug 2001
-- TWiki:Main.MikeMannix - 05 Jan 2002
-- TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny - 25 Apr 2004
-- TWiki:Main.MattWilkie - 27 Jul 2004


TWiki Templates

Definition of the templates used to render all HTML pages displayed in TWiki

Overview

The new modular template system offers flexible, easy control over the layout of all TWiki pages. The master template approach groups parts that are shared by several templates - like headers and footers - in a common file. Special variables allow individual layouts to include parts from a master template - variables are mixed with regular HTML markup for template-specific content. Templates are used to define page layout, and also to supply default content for new pages.

Major changes from the previous template system

Where the old templates were each complete HTML documents, the new templates are defined using variables to include template parts from a master file. You can now change one instance of a common element to update all occurrences; previously, every affected template had to be updated. This simplifies the conversion of templates into XHTML format, and provides a more versatile solution for templates and for TWikiSkins. The new system:

  • separates a set of common template parts into a base template that is included by all of the related templates;
  • defines common variables, like a standard separator (ex: "|"), in the base template;
  • defines variable text in the individual templates and passes it back to the base template.

How Template Variables Work

  • Special template directives (or preprocessor commands) are embedded in normal templates.
  • All template preprocessing is done in &TWiki::Store::readTemplate() so that the caller simply gets an expanded template file (the same as before).
  • Directives are of the form %TMPL:<key>% and %TMPL:<key>{"attr"}%.
  • Directives:
    • %TMPL:INCLUDE{"file"}%: Includes a template file. The template directory of the current web is searched first, then the templates root (twiki/templates).
    • %TMPL:DEF{"var"}%: Define a variable. Text between this and the END directive is not returned, but put into a hash for later use.
    • %TMPL:END%: Ends variable definition.
    • %TMPL:P{"var"}%: Prints a previously defined variable.
  • Variables live in a global name space: there is no parameter passing.
  • Two-pass processing lets you use a variable before or after declaring it.
  • Templates and TWikiSkins work transparently and interchangeably. For example, you can create a skin that overloads only the twiki.tmpl master template, like twiki.print.tmpl, that redefines the header and footer.
  • HELP Use of template directives is optional: templates work without them.
  • ALERT! NOTE: Template directives work only for templates: they do not get processed in topic text.

Types of Template

There are three types of template:

  • Master Template: Stores common parts; included by other templates
  • HTML Page Templates: Defines the layout of TWiki pages
  • Template Topics: Defines default text when you create a new topic

Master Templates

Common parts, appearing in two or more templates, can be defined in a master template and then shared by others: twiki.tmpl is the default master template.

Template variable: Defines:
%TMPL:DEF{"sep"}% "|" separator
%TMPL:DEF{"htmldoctype"}% Start of all HTML pages
%TMPL:DEF{"standardheader"}% Standard header (ex: view, index, search)
%TMPL:DEF{"simpleheader"}% Simple header with reduced links (ex: edit, attach, oops)
%TMPL:DEF{"standardfooter"}% Footer, excluding revision and copyright parts
%TMPL:DEF{"oops"}% Skeleton of oops dialog

HTML Page Templates

TWiki uses HTML template files for all actions, like topic view, edit, and preview. This allows you to change the look and feel of all pages by editing just a few template files.

Templates are stored either in the twiki/templates directory or in user topics. As an example, twiki/templates/view.tmpl is the template file for the twiki/bin/view script.

HELP Templates can be overloaded by individual webs.

HELP TWikiSkins can overload the standard templates.

TWiki uses the following search order to determine which template to use:

If a skin is specified If no skin is specified
templates/%WEB%/script.skin.tmpl templates/%WEB%/script.tmpl
templates/script.skin.tmpl templates/script.tmpl
data/%WEB%/SkinSkinScriptTemplate.txt data/%WEB%/ScriptTemplate.txt
data/TWiki/SkinSkinScriptTemplate.txt data/TWiki/ScriptTemplate.txt
Legend:
script refers to the script name, e.g view, edit
Script refers to the same, but with the first character capitalized, e.g View
skin refers to the skin name, e.g dragon, pattern
Skin refers to the same, but with the first character capitalized, e.g Dragon
%WEB% refers to the current web

Additionally (and primarily for use in %TMPL:INCLUDE{}%) the template name may be a wiki topic name, specified as Web.Topic, in which case the search is:

If a skin is specified If no skin is specified
templates/web/Web.Topic.skin.tmpl templates/web/Web.Topic.tmpl
templates/Web.Topic.skin.tmpl templates/Web.Topic.tmpl
data/Web/Topic.txt
If Web is not specified in the INCLUDE, it defaults to TWiki, and the search to the first type.

Special variables are used in templates, especially in view, to display meta data.

Template Topics

Template topics define the default text for new topics. There are three types of template topic:

Topic Name: What it is:
WebTopicViewTemplate Error page shown when you try to view a nonexistent topic
WebTopicNonWikiTemplate Alert page shown when you try to view a nonexistent topic with a non-WikiName
WebTopicEditTemplate Default text shown when you create a new topic.
All template topics are located in the TWiki web. The WebTopicEditTemplate can be overloaded. When you create a new topic, TWiki locates a topic to use as a content template according to the following search order:

  1. A topic name specified by the templatetopic CGI parameter.
  2. WebTopicEditTemplate in the current web
  3. WebTopicEditTemplate in the TWiki web

Edit Template Topics and Variable Expansion

The following variables get expanded when a user creates a new topic based on a template topic:

Variable: Description:
%DATE% Current date, e.g. 22 Jul 2020
%USERNAME% Login name, e.g. jsmith
%WIKINAME% WikiName of user, e.g. JohnSmith
%WIKIUSERNAME% User name, e.g. Main.JohnSmith
%URLPARAM{"name"}% Value of a named URL parameter
%NOP% A no-operation variable that gets removed. Useful to prevent a SEARCH from hitting an edit template topic; also useful to escape a variable like %URLPARAM%NOP%{...}%
%NOP{ ... }% A no-operation text that gets removed. Useful to write-protect an edit template topic, but not the topics based this template topic. See notes below. Example:
%NOP{
   * Set ALLOWTOPICCHANGE = Main.TWikiAdminGroup
}%

Notes:

  • Unlike other variables, %NOP{ ... }% can span multiple lines.
  • The scan for the closing }% pattern is "non-greedy", that is, it stops at the first occurance. That means, you need to escape variables with parameters located inside %NOP{ ... }%: Insert a %NOP% between } and %. Silly example: %NOP{ %GMTIME{"$year"}%NOP%% }%.

All other variables are unchanged, e.g. are carried over "as is" into the new topic.

Template Topics in Action

Here is an example for creating new topics based on a specific template topic:

  • New example topic: (date format is YYYYxMMxDD)

The above form asks for a topic name. A hidden input tag named templatetopic specifies ExampleTopicTemplate as the template topic to use. Here is the HTML source of the form:

<form name="new" action="%SCRIPTURLPATH%/edit%SCRIPTSUFFIX%/%INTURLENCODE{"%WEB%"}%/">
   * New example topic: 
     <input type="text" name="topic" value="ExampleTopic%SERVERTIME{$yearx$mox$day}%" size="23" />
     <input type="hidden" name="templatetopic" value="ExampleTopicTemplate" />
     <input type="hidden" name="topicparent" value="%TOPIC%" />
     <input type="hidden" name="onlywikiname" value="on" />
     <input type="hidden" name="onlynewtopic" value="on" />
     <input type="submit" value="Create" />
     (date format is <nop>YYYYxMMxDD)
</form>

The edit scipt understands the following parameters, typically supplied by HTML input fields:

Parameter: Description:
topic Name of topic to create. Can be set in a text field, or is set programmatically (e.g. with a sequential number)
onlywikiname If set, TWiki will complain if the topic name is not a WikiWord
onlynewtopic If set, TWiki will complain if a topic of the same name already exists
templatetopic The name of the template topic, e.g. topic used to copy the initial content
topicparent Sets the parent topic
TopicClassification Assuming the template topic has a form with a field called "TopicClassification", it will set the value of the field
contenttype Optional parameter that defines the application type to write into the CGI header. Defaults to text/html. May be used to invoke alternative client applications
anyname Any parameter can passed to the new topic; if the template topic contains %URLPARAM{"anyname"}%, it will be replaced by its value

TIP TIP: You can use the %WIKIUSERNAME% and %DATE% variables in your topic templates to include the signature of the person creating a new topic. The variables are expanded into fixed text when a new topic is created. The standard signature is:
-- %WIKIUSERNAME% - %DATE%

Templates by Example

Attached is an example of an oops based template oopsbase.tmpl and an example oops dialog oopstest.tmpl based on the base template. %A% NOTE: This isn't the release version, just a quick, simple demo.

Base template oopsbase.tmpl

The first line declares a delimiter variable called "sep", used to separate multiple link items. The variable can be called anywhere by writing %TMPL:P{"sep"}%

%TMPL:DEF{"sep"}% | %TMPL:END%
<html>
<head>
  <title> %WIKITOOLNAME% . %WEB% . %TOPIC% %.TMPL:P{"titleaction"}%</title>
  <base href="%SCRIPTURL%/view%SCRIPTSUFFIX%/%WEB%/%TOPIC%">
  <meta name="robots" content="noindex">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0">
  <tr>
    <td bgcolor="%WEBBGCOLOR%" rowspan="2" valign="top" width="1%">
      <a href="%WIKIHOMEURL%">
      <img src="%PUBURLPATH%/wikiHome.gif" border="0"></a>
    </td>
    <td>
      <b>%WIKITOOLNAME% . %WEB% . </b><font size="+2">
      <B>%TOPIC%</b> %TMPL:P{"titleaction"}%</font>
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr bgcolor="%WEBBGCOLOR%">
    <td colspan="2">
      %TMPL:P{"webaction"}%
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>
--- ++ %TMPL:P{"heading"}%
%TMPL:P{"message"}%
<table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0">
  <tr bgcolor="%WEBBGCOLOR%">
    <td valign="top">
      Topic <b>%TOPIC%</b> . {
        %TMPL:P{"topicaction"}%
      }
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>
</body>

Test template oopstest.tmpl

Each oops template basically just defines some variables and includes the base template that does the layout work.

%TMPL:DEF{"titleaction"}% (test =titleaction=) %TMPL:END%
%TMPL:DEF{"webaction"}% test =webaction= %TMPL:END%
%TMPL:DEF{"heading"}%
Test heading %TMPL:END%
%TMPL:DEF{"message"}%
Test =message=. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah...

   * Some more blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah...
   * Param1: %PARAM1%
   * Param2: %PARAM2%
   * Param3: %PARAM3%
   * Param4: %PARAM4%
%TMPL:END%
%TMPL:DEF{"topicaction"}%
Test =topicaction=:
[[%WEB%.%TOPIC%][OK]] %TMPL:P{"sep"}%
[[%TWIKIWEB%.TWikiRegistration][Register]] %TMPL:END%
%TMPL:INCLUDE{"oopsbase"}%

Sample screen shot of oopstest.tmpl

With URL: .../bin/oops/Sandbox/TestTopic2?template=oopstest&param1=WebHome&param2=WebNotify

testscreen.gif

Known Issues

  • A drawback of referring to a master template is that you can only test a template from within TWiki, where the include variables are resolved. In the previous system, each template was a structurally complete HTML document with a .tmpl filename extension - it contained unresolved %VARIABLES%, but could still be previewed directly in a browser.

-- TWiki:Main.CrawfordCurrie - 30 Jun 2004
-- TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny - 15 Aug 2004
-- TWiki:Main.MikeMannix - 14 Sep 2001
-- TWiki:Main.DavidLeBlanc - 11 Mar 2002


TWiki Skins

Skins overlay regular templates with alternate header/footer layouts; topic text is not affected

Overview

Skins are customized TWikiTemplates files. You can use skins to change the look of a TWiki topic, for example, the layout of the header and footer. Rendered text between header and footer does not change. You can also use skins to define an alternate view, like a view optimized for printing.

Defining Skins

Skin files are located in the twiki/templates directory and are named with the syntax: <scriptname>.<skin>.tmpl. For example, the Printable skin for the view template is view.print.tmpl.

Use the existing TWikiTemplates (like view.tmpl) or skin files as a base for your own skin, name it for example view.myskin.tmpl.

Variables in Skins

You can use template variables, TWikiVariables, and other predefined variables to compose your skins. Some commonly used variables in skins:

Variable: Expanded to:
%WIKILOGOURL% Link of page logo
%WIKILOGOIMG% Image URL of page logo
%WIKILOGOALT% Alt text of page logo
%WEBBGCOLOR% Web specific background color, defined in the WebPreferences
%WIKITOOLNAME% The name of your TWiki site
%SCRIPTURL% The script URL of TWiki
%SCRIPTSUFFIX% The script suffix, ex: .pl, .cgi
%WEB% The name of the current web. Note: It is recommended to URL-encode the variable in form actions with %INTURLENCODE{"%WEB%"}% for proper handling in an internationalized environment
%TOPIC% The name of the current topic. Note: It is recommended to URL-encode the variable in form actions with %INTURLENCODE{"%TOPIC%"}% for proper handling in an internationalized environment
%WEBTOPICLIST% Common links of current web, defined in the WebPreferences. It includes a #GoBox
%TEXT% The topic text, e.g. the content that can be edited
%META{"form"}% TWikiForm, if any
%META{"attachments"}% FileAttachment table
%META{"parent"}% The topic parent
%EDITTOPIC% Edit link
%REVTITLE% The revision title, if any, ex: (r1.6)
%REVINFO% Revision info, ex: r1.6 - 24 Dec 2002 - 08:12 GMT - TWikiGuest
%WEBCOPYRIGHT% Copyright notice, defined in the WebPreferences
%BROADCASTMESSAGE% Broadcast message at the beginning of your view template, can be used to alert users of scheduled downtimes; is set in TWikiPreferences

The "Go" Box and Navigation Box

The %WEBTOPICLIST% includes a "Go" box to jump to a topic. The box also understand URLs, e.g. you can type http://www.google.com/ to jump to an external web site. The feature is handy if you build a skin that has a select box of frequently used links, like Intranet home, employee database, sales database and such. A little JavaScript gets into action on the onSelect method of the select tag to fill the selected URL into the "Go" box field, then submits the form.

Here is an example form that has a select box and the "Go" box for illustration purposes. You need to have JavaScript enabled for this to work:

Bare bones header for demo only
Welcome | Register | Changes | Topics | Index | Search | Go

Using Cascading Style Sheets

Although work is underway at TWiki:Codev.CssClassNames, the regular templates files currently do not use style sheets. Many skin developers, however, choose to use them; it helps in separating style from content.

Example: To use a style sheet for the broadcast message, add this to view.myskin.tmpl:

<style type="text/css">
.broadcastmessage {
    background: yellow; display:block;
    border-style:solid;border-width: 2px;border-color:red;
}
.broadcastmessage strong {color: red}
</style>

Then add a div tag to the %BROADCASTMESSAGE% variable located after the #PageTop anchor or after the opening form tag:

<div class="broadcastmessage"> %BROADCASTMESSAGE% </div>

Attachment Tables

Controlling the look and feel of attachment tables is a little bit more complex than for the rest of a skin. By default the attachment table is a standard TWiki table, and the look is controlled in the same ay as other tables. In a very few cases you may want to change the content of the table as well.

The format of standard attachment tables is defined through the use of special TWiki template macros which by default are defined in the templates/twiki.tmpl template using the %TMPL:DEF macro syntax described in TWikiTemplates. These macros are:

Macro Description
ATTACH:files:header Standard title bar
ATTACH:files:row Standard row
ATTACH:files:footer Footer for all screens
ATTACH:files:header:A Title bar for upload screens, with attributes column
ATTACH:files:row:A Row for upload screen
ATTACH:files:footer:A Footer for all screens
The format of tables of file versions in the Upload screen are also formattable, using the macros:
Macro Description
ATTACH:versions:header Header for versions table on upload screen
ATTACH:versions:row Row format for versions table on upload screen
ATTACH:versions:footer Footer for versions table on upload screen

The ATTACH:row macros are expanded for each file in the attachment table, using the following special tags:

Tag Description
%A_URL% URL that will recover the file
%A_REV% Revision of this file e.g. "1.1"
%A_ICON% A file icon suitable for representing the attachment content
%A_FILE% The name of the file
%A_SIZE% The size of the file
%A_DATE% The date the file was uploaded
%A_USER% The user who uploaded it
%A_COMMENT% The comment they put in when uploading it
%A_ATTRS% The attributes of the file as seen on the upload screen e.g "h" for a hidden file

Note: it is easy to change the look and feel for an entire site by editing the twiki.tmpl template file. However, to simplify upgrading, you should avoid doing this. Instead, write a skin-specific template file e.g. attach.myskin.tmpl and use %TMPL:INCLUDE{attach.myskin.tmpl}% to include it in each of your skin files. As long as it it included after twiki.tmpl, your macro definitions will override the defaults defined there.

Packaging and Publishing Skins

See TWiki:Plugins/SkinPackagingHowTo and TWiki:Plugins/SkinDeveloperFAQ

Browsing Installed Skins

You can try all installed skins in TWikiSkinBrowser.

Activating Skins

A skin can be activated in two ways:

  • Add ?skin=name to the URL, for this example:
    • /view/TWiki/TWikiSkins?skin=print (for the print view skin)
    • /view/TWiki/TWikiSkins?skin=plain (for the plain view skin that has no header and footer)

The ?skin=name URL parameter overrides the SKIN Preference value.

-- TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny - 25 Jul 2004
-- TWiki:Main.CrawfordCurrie - 30 Jun 2004


TWiki Formatted Search Results

Inline search feature allows flexible formatting of search result

The %SEARCH{...}% variable documented in TWikiVariables has a fixed format for the search result, that is, a table consisting of topic names and topic summaries. Use the format="..." parameter to specify a customized format of the search result. The string of the format parameter is typically a bullet list or table row containing variables (such as %SEARCH{ "food" format="| $topic | $summary |" }%).

Syntax

Two parameters can be used to specify a customized search result:

1. header="..." parameter

Use the header parameter to specify the header of a search result. It should correspond to the format of the format parameter. This parameter is optional.
Example: header="| *Topic:* | *Summary:* |"

2. format="..." parameter

Use the format parameter to specify the format of one search hit.
Example: format="| $topic | $summary |"

Variables that can be used in the format string:

Name: Expands To:
$web Name of the web
$topic Topic name
$topic(20) Topic name, "- " hyphenated each 20 characters
$topic(30, -<br />) Topic name, hyphenated each 30 characters with separator "-<br />"
$topic(40, ...) Topic name, shortended to 40 characters with "..." indication
$parent Name of parent topic; empty if not set
$parent(20) Name of parent topic, same hyphenation/shortening like $topic()
$text Formatted topic text. In case of a multiple="on" search, it is the line found for each search hit.
$locked LOCKED flag (if any)
$date Time stamp of last topic update, e.g. 22 Jul 2020 - 19:17
$isodate Time stamp of last topic update, e.g. 2020-07-22T19:17Z
$rev Number of last topic revision, e.g. 1.4
$username Login name of last topic update, e.g. jsmith
$wikiname Wiki user name of last topic update, e.g. JohnSmith
$wikiusername Wiki user name of last topic update, like Main.JohnSmith
$createdate Time stamp of topic revision 1.1
$createusername Login name of topic revision 1.1, e.g. jsmith
$createwikiname Wiki user name of topic revision 1.1, e.g. JohnSmith
$createwikiusername Wiki user name of topic revision 1.1, e.g. Main.JohnSmith
$summary Topic summary
$formname The name of the form attached to the topic; empty if none
$formfield(name) The field value of a form field; for example, $formfield(TopicClassification) would get expanded to PublicFAQ. This applies only to topics that have a TWikiForm
$formfield(name, 10) Form field value, "- " hyphenated each 10 characters
$formfield(name, 20, -<br />) Form field value, hyphenated each 20 characters with separator "-<br />"
$formfield(name, 30, ...) Form field value, shortended to 30 characters with "..." indication
$pattern(reg-exp) A regular expression pattern to extract some text from a topic (does not search meta data; use $formfield instead). In case of a multiple="on" search, the pattern is applied to the line found in each search hit.
• Specify a RegularExpression that covers the whole text (topic or line), which typically starts with .*, and must end in .*
• Put text you want to keep in parenthesis, like $pattern(.*?(from here.*?to here).*)
• Example: $pattern(.*?\*.*?Email\:\s*([^\n\r]+).*) extracts the email address from a bullet of format * Email: ...
• This example has non-greedy .*? patterns to scan for the first occurance of the Email bullet; use greedy .* patterns to scan for the last occurance
• Limitation: Do not use .*) inside the pattern, e.g. $pattern(.*foo(.*)bar.*) does not work, but $pattern(.*foo(.*?)bar.*) does
• Note: Make sure that the integrity of a web page is not compromised; for example, if you include an HTML table make sure to include everything including the table end tag
$n or $n() New line
$nop or $nop() Is a "no operation". This variable gets removed; useful for nested search
$quot Double quote ("). Alternatively write \" to escape it
$percnt Percent sign (%)
$dollar Dollar sign ($)

Examples

Bullet list showing topic name and summary

Write this:

%SEARCH{ "FAQ" scope="topic" nosearch="on" nototal="on" header="   * *Topic: Summary:*" format="   * [[$topic]]: $summary" }%

To get this:

  • Topic: Summary:
  • TWikiFAQ: Frequently Asked Questions About TWiki This is a real FAQ, and also a demo of one easily implemented knowledge base solution. See how it's done, click Edit . SEARCH ...
  • TWikiFaqTemplate: FAQ: Answer: Back to: NOP TWikiFAQ WIKIUSERNAME DATE
  • TextFormattingFAQ: Text Formatting FAQ The most frequently asked questions about text formatting are answered. Also, TextFormattingRules contains the complete TWiki shorthand system ...

Table showing form field values of topics with a form

In a web where there is a form that contains a TopicClassification field, an OperatingSystem field and an OsVersion field we could write:

| *Topic:* | *OperatingSystem:* | *OsVersion:* |
%SEARCH{ "[T]opicClassification.*?value=\"[P]ublicFAQ\"" scope="text" regex="on" nosearch="on" nototal="on" format="| [[$topic]] | $formfield(OperatingSystem) | $formfield(OsVersion) |" }%

To get this:

Topic: OperatingSystem: OsVersion:
IncorrectDllVersionW32PTH10DLL OsWin 95/98
WinDoze95Crash OsWin 95

Extract some text from a topic using regular expression

Write this:

%SEARCH{ "__Back to\:__ TWikiFAQ" scope="text" regex="on" nosearch="on" nototal="on" header="TWiki FAQs:" format="   * $pattern(.*?FAQ\:[\n\r]*([^\n\r]+).*) [[$topic][Answer...]]" }%

To get this:

TWiki FAQs:

  • How do I delete or rename a topic? Answer...
  • How do I delete or rename a file attachment? Answer...
  • Why does the topic revision not increase when I edit a topic? Answer...
  • TWiki has a GPL (GNU General Public License). What is GPL? Answer...
  • How do you log off? Suppose I log in with the guest username but later I want to use another username, how do I log off from the guest user name? Answer...
  • I've problems with the WebSearch. There is no Search Result on any inquiry. By clicking the Index topic it's the same problem. Answer...
  • What happens if two of us try to edit the same topic simultaneously? Answer...
  • I would like to install TWiki on my server. Can I get the source? Answer...
  • So what is this WikiWiki thing exactly? Answer...
  • Everybody can edit any page, this is scary. Doesn't that lead to chaos? Answer...

Nested Search

Search can be nested. For example, search for some topics, then form a new search for each topic found in the first search. The idea is to build the nested search string using a formatted search in the first search.

Here is an example. Let's search for all topics that contain the word "culture" (first search), and let's find out where each topic found is linked from (second search).

  • First search:
    • %SEARCH{ "culture" format="   * $topic is referenced by: (list all references)" nosearch="on" nototal="on" }%
  • Second search. For each hit we want this search:
    • %SEARCH{ "(topic found in first search)" format="$topic" nosearch="on" nototal="on" separator=", " }%
  • Now let's nest the two. We need to escape the second search, e.g. the first search will build a valid second search string. Note that we escape the second search so that it does not get evaluated prematurely by the first search:
    • Use $percnt to escape the leading percent of the second search
    • Use \" to escape the double quotes
    • Use $dollar to escape the $ of $topic
    • Use $nop to escape the }% sequence

Write this:

%SEARCH{ "culture" format="   * $topic is referenced by:$n      * $percntSEARCH{ \"$topic\" format=\"$dollartopic\" nosearch=\"on\" nototal=\"on\" separator=\", \" }$nop%" nosearch="on" nototal="on" }%

To get this:

Note: Nested search can be slow, especially if you nest more then 3 times. Nesting is limited to 16 levels. For each new nesting level you need to "escape the escapes", e.g. write $dollarpercntSEARCH{ for level three, $dollardollarpercntSEARCH{ for level four, etc.

Most recently changed pages

Write this:

%SEARCH{ "\.*" scope="topic" regex="on" nosearch="on" nototal="on" order="modified" reverse="on"  format="| [[$topic]] | $wikiusername  | $date |" limit="7" }%

To get this:

WebStatistics TWikiGuest 18 Oct 2016 - 16:57
CustomWebMenus EelcoVisser 25 Apr 2005 - 19:37
CustomSiteMenus MartinBravenboer 04 Dec 2004 - 17:12
AppendixFileSystem PeterThoeny 30 Aug 2004 - 07:14
AccessKeys PeterThoeny 28 Aug 2004 - 05:53
ATasteOfTWiki PeterThoeny 22 Aug 2004 - 21:49
AdminTools PeterThoeny 15 Aug 2004 - 06:58

Search with conditional output

A regular expression search is flexible, but there are limitations. For example, you cannot show all topics that are up to exactly one week old, or create a report that shows all records with invalid form fields or fields within a certain range, etc. You need some additional logic to format output based on a condition:

  1. Specify a search which returns more hits then you need
  2. For each search hit apply a spreadsheet formula to determine if the hit is needed
  3. If needed, format and output the result
  4. Else supress the search hit

This requires the TWiki:Plugins.SpreadSheetPlugin. The following example shows all topics that are up to exactly one week old.

Write this:

%CALC{$SET(weekold, $TIMEADD($TIME(), -7, day))}%
%SEARCH{ "." scope="topic" regex="on" nosearch="on" nototal="on" order="modified" reverse="on" format="$percntCALC{$IF($TIME($date) < $GET(weekold), <nop>, | [[$topic]] | $wikiusername | $date | $rev |)}$percnt" limit="100" }%

  • The first line sets the weekold variable to the serialized date of exactly one week ago
  • The SEARCH has a deferred CALC. The $percnt makes sure that the CALC gets executed once for each search hit
  • The CALC compares the date of the topic with the weekold date
  • If topic is older, a <nop> is returned, which gets removed at the end of the TWiki rendering process
  • Otherwise, the search hit is formatted and returned

To get this:

Embedding search forms to return a formatted result

Use an HTML form and an embedded formatted search on the same topic. You can link them together with an %URLPARAM{"..."}% variable. Example:

Write this:

<form action="%SCRIPTURLPATH%/view%SCRIPTSUFFIX%/%WEB%/%TOPIC%">
Find Topics: 
<input type="text" name="q" size="32" value="%URLPARAM{"q"}%" />
<input type="submit" value="Search" />
</form>
Result:
%SEARCH{ search="%URLPARAM{"q"}%" format="   * $web.$topic: %BR% $summary" nosearch="on" }%

To get this:

Find Topics:
Result: Number of topics: 0

-- TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny - 26 Jul 2004


TWiki Meta Data

Additional topic data, program-generated or from TWikiForms, is stored in META variable name/value pairs

Overview

TWikiMetaData uses META variables to store topic data that's separate from the main free-form content. This includes program-generated info like FileAttachment and topic movement data, and user-defined TWikiForms info. Use META variables to format and display Meta Data.

Meta Data Syntax

  • Format is the same as in TWikiVariables, except all fields have a key.
    • %META:<type>{key1="value1" key2="value2" ...}%

  • Order of fields within the meta variables is not defined, except that if there is a field with key name, this appears first for easier searching (note the order of the variables themselves is defined).

  • Each meta variable is on one line.

  • \n (new line) is represented in values by %_N_ and " (double-quotes) by %_Q_%.

Example of Format
%META:TOPICINFO{version="1.6" date="976762663" author="PeterThoeny" format="1.0"}%
   text of the topic
%META:TOPICMOVED{from="Codev.OldName" to="Codev.NewName"
   by="JohnTalintyre" date="976762680"}%
%META:TOPICPARENT{name="NavigationByTopicContext"}%
%META:FILEATTACHMENT{name="Sample.txt" version="1.3" ... }%
%META:FILEATTACHMENT{name="Smile.gif" version="1.1" ... }%
%META:FORM{name="WebFormTemplate"}%
%META:FIELD{name="OperatingSystem" value="OsWin"}%
%META:FIELD{name="TopicClassification" value="PublicFAQ"}%

Meta Data Specifications

The current version of Meta Data is 1.0, with support for the following variables.

META:TOPICINFO

Key Comment
version Same as RCS version
date integer, unix time, seconds since start 1970
author last to change topic, is the REMOTE_USER
format Format of this topic, will be used for automatic format conversion

META:TOPICMOVED

This is optional, exists if topic has ever been moved. If a topic is moved more than once, only the most recent META:TOPICMOVED meta variable exists in the topic, older ones are to be found in the rcs history.

%META:TOPICMOVED{from="Codev.OldName" to="Codev.NewName" by="talintj" date="976762680"}%

Key Comment
from Full name, i.e., web.topic
to Full name, i.e., web.topic
by Who did it, is the REMOTE_USER, not WikiName
date integer, unix time, seconds since start 1970

Notes:

  • at present version number is not supported directly, it can be inferred from the RCS history.
  • there is only one META:TOPICMOVED in a topic, older move information can be found in the RCS history.

META:TOPICPARENT

Key Comment
name The topic from which this was created, WebHome if done from Go, othewise topic where ? or form used. Normally just topic, but is full web.topic format if parent is in a different Web. Renaming a Web will then only break a few of these references or they can be scanned and fixed.

META:FILEATTACHMENT

Key Comment
name Name of file, no path. Must be unique within topic
version Same as RCS revision
path Full path file was loaded from
size In bytes
date integer, unix time, seconds since start 1970
user the REMOTE_USER, not WikiName
comment As supplied when file uploaded
attr h if hidden, optional

Extra fields that are added if an attachment is moved:

Key Comment
movedfrom full topic name - web.topic
movedby the REMOTE_USER, not WikiName
movedto full topic name - web.topic
moveddate integer, unix time, seconds since start 1970

META:FORM

Key Comment
name A topic name - the topic represents one of the TWikiForms. Can optionally include the web name (i.e., web.topic), but doesn't normally

META:FIELD

Should only be present if there is a META:FORM entry. Note that this data is used when viewing a topic, the form template definition is not read.

Key Name
name Ties to entry in TWikiForms template, is title with all bar alphanumerics and . removed
title Full text from TWikiForms template
value Value user has supplied via form

Recommended Sequence

There is no absolute need for Meta Data variables to be listed in a specific order within a topic, but it makes sense to do so a couple of good reasons:

  • form fields remain in the order they are defined
  • the diff function output appears in a logical order

The recommended sequence is:

  • META:TOPICINFO
  • META:TOPICPARENT (optional)
  • text of topic
  • META:TOPICMOVED (optional)
  • META:FILEATTACHMENT (0 or more entries)
  • META:FORM (optional)
  • META:FIELD (0 or more entries; FORM required)

Viewing Meta Data in Page Source

When viewing a topic the Raw Text link can be clicked to show the text of a topic (i.e., as seen when editing). This is done by adding raw=on to URL. raw=debug shows the meta data as well as the topic data, ex: debug view for this topic

Rendering Meta Data

Meta Data is rendered with the %META% variable. This is mostly used in the view, preview and edit scripts.

Note: Rendering meta data is currently not supported in topic text. As a workaround, use FormattedSearch on the current topic only to render form fields.

Current support covers:

Variable usage: Comment:
%META{"form"}% Show form data, see TWikiForms.
%META{"formfield"}% Show form field value. Parameter: name="field_name". Example:
%META{ "formfield" name="TopicClassification" }%
%META{"attachments"}% Show attachments, except for hidden ones. Options:
all="on": Show all attachments, including hidden ones.
%META{"moved"}% Details of any topic moves.
%META{"parent"}% Show topic parent. Options:
dontrecurse="on": By default recurses up tree, at some cost.
nowebhome="on": Suppress WebHome.
prefix="...": Prefix for parents, only if there are parents, default "".
suffix="...": Suffix, only appears if there are parents, default "".
separator="...": Separator between parents, default is " > ".

Known Issues

At present, there is no Meta Data support for Plugins. However, the format is readily extendable and the Meta.pm code that supports the format needs only minor alteration.

-- TWiki:Main.JohnTalintyre - 29 Aug 2001
-- TWiki:Main.MikeMannix - 03 Dec 2001
-- TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny - 15 Aug 2004


TWiki Plugins

Plug-in enhanced feature add-ons, with a Plugin API for developers

Overview

You can add Plugins to extend TWiki's functionality, without altering the core program code. A plug-in approach lets you:

  • add virtually unlimited features while keeping the main TWiki code compact and efficient;
  • heavily customize an installation and still do clean updates to new versions of TWiki;
  • rapidly develop new TWiki functions in Perl using the Plugin API.

Everything to do with TWiki Plugins - demos, new releases, downloads, development, general discussion - is available at TWiki.org, in the TWiki:Plugins web.

Preinstalled Plugins

TWiki comes with a set of Plugins as part of the standard installation.

  • DefaultPlugin: Optionally handles some legacy variables from older versions of TWiki. You can control this option from TWikiPreferences. (Perl programmers can also add rules for simple custom processing.)
  • EmptyPlugin: Is a fully functional module, minus active code; it does nothing and serves as a template for new Plugin development
  • CommentPlugin: %COMMENTPLUGIN_SHORTDESCRIPTION%
  • InterwikiPlugin: Use it for shorthand linking to remote sites, ex: TWiki:Plugins expands to TWiki:Plugins on TWiki.org. You can edit the predefined set of of Wiki-related sites, and add your own
  • EditTablePlugin: Edit TWiki tables using edit fields, date pickers and drop down boxes
  • RenderListPlugin: Render bullet lists in a variety of formats
  • SlideShowPlugin: %SLIDESHOWPLUGIN_SHORTDESCRIPTION%
  • SmiliesPlugin: %SMILIESPLUGIN_SHORTDESCRIPTION%
  • SpreadSheetPlugin: Add spreadsheet calculation like "$SUM( $ABOVE() )" to tables located in TWiki topics.
  • TablePlugin: Control attributes of tables and sorting of table columns

Installing Plugins

Each TWikiPlugin comes with full documentation: step-by-step installation instructions, a detailed description of any special requirements, version details, and a working example for testing.

Most Plugins can be installed in three easy steps, with no programming skills required:

  1. Download the zip file containing the Plugin, documentation, and any other required files, from TWiki:Plugins.
  2. Distribute the files to their proper locations - unzip the zip archive in your TWiki installation directory - if have a standard TWiki installation, this will distribute automatically. Otherwise, place the files according to the directory paths listed on the Plugin top in TWiki:Plugins.
  3. Check the demo example on the Plugin topic: if it's working, the installation was fine!

Special Requests: Some Plugins need certain Perl modules to be preinstalled on the host system. Plugins may also use other resources, like graphics, other modules, applications, templates. In these cases, detailed instructions are in the Plugin documentation.

Each Plugin has a standard release page, located in the TWiki:Plugins web at TWiki.org. In addition to the documentation topic (SomePlugin), there's a separate development page.

  • Doc page: Read all available info about the Plugin; download the attached distribution files.
  • Dev page: Post feature requests, bug reports and general dev comments; topic title ends in Dev (SomePluginDev).
  • User support: Post installation, how to use type questions (and answers, if you have them) in the TWiki:Support web.

On-Site Pretesting

To test new Plugins on your installation before making them public, you may want to use one of these two approaches:

  • Method 1: Safely test on-the-fly by creating separate Production and Test branches in your live TWiki installation.
    • Duplicate the twiki/bin and twiki/lib directories for the Test version, and adjust the paths in the new lib/TWiki.cfg. The following directories are shared: twiki/data, twiki/templates and twiki/pub.
    • Test Plugins and other new features in the Test installation until you're satisfied.
      • ALERT! If you modify topics using the new features, live users will likely see unfamiliar new META tags showing up on their pages - to avoid this, create and edit test-only topics to try out new features.
    • Copy the modified files to the Production installation. You can update a TWiki installation live and users won't even notice.

  • Method 2: List the Plugin being tested in the DISABLEDPLUGINS variable in TWikiPreferences. Redefine the DISABLEDPLUGINS variable in the Sandbox web and do the testing there.

Checking that Plugins are Working on a Live Server

InstalledPlugins shows which Plugins are: 1) installed, 2) loading properly and 3) what TWiki:Codev.PluginHandlers they invoke. Any failures are shown in the Errors section.

A Note on Plugin Performance

The performance of the system depends on the number of Plugins installed and on the Plugin implementation. Some Plugins impose no measurable performance decrease, some do. For example, outsidePREHandler is an expensive callback function, or a Plugin might use many Perl libraries that need to be initialized with each page view (unless you run mod_perl). It is recommended to measure the performance with and without a new Plugin. Example for Unix:
time wget -qO /dev/null /view/TWiki/AbcPlugin

In case you need to install an "expensive" Plugin and you need its functionality only in one web you can place the Plugin topic into that web. TWiki will initialize the Plugin only if the Plugin topic is found (which won't be the case for other webs.)

Managing Plugins

When you finish installing a Plugin, you should be able to read the user instructions and go. In fact, some Plugins require additional settings or offer extra options that you have to select. Also, you may want to make a Plugin available only in certain webs, or temporarily disable it. And may want to list all available Plugins in certain topics. You can handle all of these management tasks with simple procedures.

Setting Preferences

Installed Plugins can be toggled on or off, site-wide or by web, through TWikiPreferences and individual WebPreferences:

  • All Plugin modules present in the lib/TWiki/Plugins directory are activated automatically unless disabled by the DISABLEDPLUGINS Preferences variable in TWikiPreferences. You can optionally list the installed Plugins in the INSTALLEDPLUGINS Preferences variable. This is useful to define the sequence of Plugin execution, or to specify other webs than the TWiki web for the Plugin topics. Settings in TWikiPreferences are:
    • Set INSTALLEDPLUGINS = DefaultPlugin, ...
    • Set DISABLEDPLUGINS = EmptyPlugin, ...

Plugin execution order in TWiki is determined by searching Plugin topics in a specific sequence: First, full web.topicname name, if specified in INSTALLEDPLUGINS; next, the TWiki web is searched; and finally, the current web.

Plugin-specific settings are done in individual Plugin topics. Two settings are standard for each Plugin:

  1. One line description, used to form the bullets describing the Plugins in the TextFormattingRules topic:
    • Set SHORTDESCRIPTION = Blah blah woof woof.
  2. Debug Plugin, output can be seen in data/debug.txt. Set to 0=off or 1=on:
    • Set DEBUG = 0
  • The settings can be retrieved as Preferences variables like %<pluginname>_<var>%, ex: %DEFAULTPLUGIN_SHORTDESCRIPTION% shows the description of the DefaultPlugin.

Listing Active Plugins

Plugin status variables let you list all active Plugins wherever needed. There are two list formats:

  • The %ACTIVATEDPLUGINS% variable lists activated Plugins by name. (This variable is displayed in TWikiPreferences for debugging use.)
  • The %PLUGINDESCRIPTIONS% variable displays a bullet list with a one-line description of each active Plugins. This variable is based on the %<plugin>_SHORTDESCRIPTION% Preferences variables of individual topics and is shown in TextFormattingRules.

DEMO: Automatically List Active Plugins Using Variables

Using %ACTIVATEDPLUGINS%:
On this TWiki site, the active Plugins are: DefaultPlugin, EditTablePlugin, InterwikiPlugin, RenderListPlugin, SpreadSheetPlugin, TablePlugin.

Using %PLUGINDESCRIPTIONS%:
You can use any of these active TWiki Plugins:

  • DefaultPlugin: This plugin can be used to specify some simple custom rendering rules. It also renders depreciated *_text_* as bold italic text.
  • EditTablePlugin: Edit TWiki tables using edit fields, date pickers and drop down boxes
  • InterwikiPlugin: Link ExternalSite:Page text to external sites based on aliases defined in the InterWikis topic
  • RenderListPlugin: Render bullet lists in a variety of formats
  • SpreadSheetPlugin: Add spreadsheet calculation like "$SUM( $ABOVE() )" to tables located in TWiki topics.
  • TablePlugin: Control attributes of tables and sorting of table columns

The TWiki Plugin API

The Application Programming Interface (API) for TWikiPlugins provides the specifications for hooking into the core TWiki code from your external Perl Plugin module. The Plugin API is new to the Production version of TWiki with the 01-Sep-2001 release.

Available Core Functions

The TWikiFuncModule (lib/TWiki/Func.pm) implements ALL official Plugin functions. Plugins should ONLY use functions published in this module.

ALERT! If you use functions not in Func.pm, you run the risk of creating security holes. Also, your Plugin will likely break and require updating when you upgrade to a new version of TWiki.

Predefined Hooks

In addition to TWiki core functions, Plugins can use predefined hooks, or call backs, listed in the lib/TWiki/Plugins/EmptyPlugin.pm module.

  • All but the initPlugin are disabled. To enable a call back, remove DISABLE_ from the function name.
  • For best performance, enable only the functions you really need. NOTE: outsidePREHandler and insidePREHandler are particularly expensive.

Most Plugins use either the commonTagsHandler or startRenderingHandler for rendering tasks:

  • commonTagsHandler: Use it to expand %XYZPLUGIN% and %XYZPLUGIN{...}% variables
  • startRenderingHandler: Use it for your own rendering rules or to overload TWiki's internal rendering like [[links]]

TWiki:Codev/StepByStepRenderingOrder helps you decide which rendering handler to use.

Hints on Writing Fast Plugins

  • Delay the Plugin initialization to the actual function which is handling the tag. This way all the expensive initialization is done only when needed.
  • For example, use an eval block like:
    eval { require IPC::Run }
    return "<font color=\"red\">SamplePlugin: Can't load required modules ($@)</font>" if $@;
  • You could return errors as strings to show what happened
  • You can use a flag to avoid running the initialization twice

Plugin Version Detection

To eliminate the incompatibility problems bound to arise from active open Plugin development, a Plugin versioning system is provided for automatic compatibility checking.

  • All modules require a $VERSION='0.000' variable, beginning at 1.000.

  • The initPlugin handler should check all dependencies and return TRUE if the initialization is OK or FALSE if something went wrong.
    • The Plugin initialization code does not register a Plugin that returns FALSE (or that has no initPlugin handler).

  • $TWiki::Plugins::VERSION in the TWiki::Plugins module contains the TWiki Plugin API version, currently 1.025.
    • You can also use the %PLUGINVERSION{}% variable to query the Plugin API version or the version of installed Plugins.

Creating Plugins

With a reasonable knowledge of the Perl scripting language, you can create new Plugins or modify and extend existing ones. Basic plug-in architecture uses an Application Programming Interface (API), a set of software instructions that allow external code to interact with the main program. The TWiki Plugin API Plugins by providing a programming interface for TWiki.

The DefaultPlugin Alternative

  • DefaultPlugin can handle some outdated TWiki variables, found, for example, in sites recently updated from an old version. Settings are in DefaultPlugin topic. You can also add your own simple custom processing rules here, though in all but very simple cases, writing a new Plugin is preferable.

Anatomy of a Plugin

A basic TWiki Plugin consists of two elements:

  • a Perl module, ex: MyFirstPlugin.pm
  • a documentation topic, ex: MyFirstPlugin.txt

The Perl module can be a block of code that connects with TWiki alone, or it can include other elements, like other Perl modules (including other Plugins), graphics, TWiki templates, external applications (ex: a Java applet), or just about anything else it can call. In particular, files that should be web-accessible (graphics, Java applets ...) are best placed as attachments of the MyFirstPlugin topic. Other needed Perl code is best placed in a lib/TWiki/Plugins/MyFirstPlugin/ directory.

The Plugin API handles the details of connecting your Perl module with main TWiki code. When you're familiar with the Plugin API, you're ready to develop Plugins.

Creating the Perl Module

Copy file lib/TWiki/Plugins/EmptyPlugin.pm to <name>Plugin.pm. The EmptyPlugin.pm module contains mostly empty functions, so it does nothing, but it's ready to be used. Customize it. Refer to the Plugin API specs for more information.

If your Plugin uses its own modules and objects, you must include the name of the Plugin in the package name. For example, write Package MyFirstPlugin::Attrs; instead of just Package Attrs;. Then call it using:

  use TWiki::Plugins::MyFirstPlugin::Attrs;
  $var = MyFirstPlugin::Attrs->new();

Writing the Documentation Topic

The Plugin documentation topic contains usage instructions and version details. It serves the Plugin files as FileAttachments for downloading. (The doc topic is also included in the distribution package.) To create a documentation topic:

  1. Copy the Plugin topic template from TWiki.org. To copy the text, go to TWiki:Plugins/PluginPackage and:
    • enter the Plugin name in the "How to Create a Plugin" section
    • click Create
    • select all in the Edit box & copy
    • Cancel the edit
    • go back to your site to the TWiki web
    • In the GoBox enter your Plugin name, for example MyFirstPlugin, press enter and create the new topic
    • paste & save new Plugin topic on your site
  2. Customize your Plugin topic.
    • In case you plan to publish your Plugin at TWiki.org, use Interwiki names for author names, like TWiki:Main/TWikiGuest.
  3. Save your topic, for use in packaging and publishing your Plugin.

OUTLINE: Doc Topic Contents
Check the Plugins web on TWiki.org for the latest Plugin doc topic template. Here's a quick overview of what's covered:

Syntax Rules: <Describe any special text formatting that will be rendered.>"

Example: <Include an example of the Plugin in action. Possibly include a static HTML version of the example to compare if the installation was a success!>"

Plugin Settings: <Description and settings for custom Plugin %VARIABLES%, and those required by TWiki.>"

  • Plugins Preferences <If user settings are needed, explain... Entering values works exactly like TWikiPreferences and WebPreferences: six (6) spaces and then:>"
    • Set <EXAMPLE = value added>

Plugin Installation Instructions: <Step-by-step set-up guide, user help, whatever it takes to install and run, goes here.>"

Plugin Info: <Version, credits, history, requirements - entered in a form, displayed as a table. Both are automatically generated when you create or edit a page in the TWiki:Plugins web.>"

Packaging for Distribution

A minimum Plugin release consists of a Perl module with a WikiName that ends in Plugin, ex: MyFirstPlugin.pm, and a documentation page with the same name(MyFirstPlugin.txt).

  1. Distribute the Plugin files in a directory structure that mirrors TWiki. If your Plugin uses additional files, include them ALL:
    • lib/TWiki/Plugins/MyFirstPlugin.pm
    • data/TWiki/MyFirstPlugin.txt
    • pub/TWiki/MyFirstPlugin/uparrow.gif [a required graphic]
  2. Create a zip archive with the Plugin name (MyFirstPlugin.zip) and add the entire directory structure from Step 1. The archive should look like this:
    • lib/TWiki/Plugins/MyFirstPlugin.pm
    • data/TWiki/MyFirstPlugin.txt
    • pub/TWiki/MyFirstPlugin/uparrow.gif

Publishing for Public Use

You can release your tested, packaged Plugin to the TWiki community through the TWiki:Plugins web. All Plugins submitted to TWiki.org are available for download and further development in TWiki:Plugins/PluginPackage. Publish your Plugin in these steps:

  1. Post the Plugin documentation topic in the TWiki:Plugins/PluginPackage:
    • enter the Plugin name in the "How to Create a Plugin" section, for example MyFirstPlugin
    • paste in the topic text from Creating Plugin Documentation and save
  2. Attach the distribution zip file to the topic, ex: MyFirstPlugin.zip
  3. Link from the doc page to a new, blank page named after the Plugin, and ending in Dev, ex: MyFirstPluginDev. This is the discussion page for future development. (User support for Plugins is handled in TWiki:Support.)
  4. Put the Plugin into the CVS repository, see TWiki:Plugins/ReadmeFirst (optional)

Thank you very much for sharing your Plugin with the TWiki community :-)

Recommended Storage of Plugin Data

Plugins sometimes need to store data. This can be Plugin internal data like cache data, or generated data for the browser like images. The following is a recommendation where to store the data.

Where to store Plugin Internal Data

In case the Plugin generates data just for internal use, or data which is not specific to a topic, store it in the Plugin's attachment directory.

  • The Plugin's attachment directory is pubdir/Installweb/FooBarPlugin
    • Installweb refers to the name of the web where the Plugin is installed
  • The Plugin's attachment URL is %PUBURL%/Installweb/FooBarPlugin
  • The filename should start with an underscore, followed by an identifier, e.g. _any_name.ext
    • The leading underscore avoids a nameclash with files attached to the Plugin topic
    • Use only alphanumeric characters, underscores and periods to avoid platform dependency issues and URL issues
    • Do not use subdirectories (rename and delete would fail)
  • Use Plugin API functions documented in TWikiFuncModule to ensure portability:
    • Use getPubDir() to get the attachment root directory
    • Use getUrlHost() and getPubUrlPath() to build the URL in case you create content for the browser
    • Use $installWeb to get the name of the web where the Plugin is installed
    • Create the web directory and topic attachment directory if needed
  • Hint: Package the Plugin at least with one file attachment. This ensures that the attachment directory already exists

Where to Store Data for Topics using the Plugin

In case the Plugin generates data which is specific to a topic, store it in the topic's attachment directory.

  • The topic's attachment directory is pubdir/Webname/TopicName
  • The topic's attachment URL is %PUBURL%/Webname/TopicName
  • The filename should start with an underscore, followed by the Plugin name, an underscore and an identifier, e.g. _FooBarPlugin_any_name.ext
    • The leading underscore avoids a nameclash with files attached to the same topic
    • Use only alphanumeric characters, underscores and periods to avoid platform dependency issues and URL issues
    • Do not use subdirectories (rename and delete would fail)
  • Use Plugin API functions documented in TWikiFuncModule to ensure portability:
    • Use getPubDir() to get the attachment root directory
    • Use getUrlHost() and getPubUrlPath() to build the URL in case you create content for the browser

Example code to build the file name:

sub _make_filename
{
    my ( $web, $topic, $name ) = @_;

    # Create web directory "pub/$web" if needed
    my $dir = TWiki::Func::getPubDir() . "/$web";
    unless( -e "$dir" ) {
        umask( 002 );
        mkdir( $dir, 0775 );
    }
    # Create topic directory "pub/$web/$topic" if needed
    $dir .= "/$topic";
    unless( -e "$dir" ) {
        umask( 002 );
        mkdir( $dir, 0775 );
    }
    return "$dir/_FooBarPlugin_$name";
}

-- TWiki:Main/PeterThoeny - 14 Aug 2004
-- TWiki:Main/AndreaSterbini - 29 May 2001
-- TWiki:Main/MikeMannix - 03 Dec 2001


TWiki::Func Module Documentation

Official list of stable TWiki functions for Plugin developers

Description

This module defines official funtions that Plugins and add-on scripts can use to interact with the TWiki engine and content.

Plugins should only use functions published in this module. If you use functions in other TWiki libraries you might impose a security hole and you will likely need to change your Plugin when you upgrade TWiki.

The version of the TWiki::Func module is defined by the VERSION number of the TWiki::Plugins module, currently 1.025. This can be shown by the %PLUGINVERSION{}% variable. The "Since" field in the function documentation refers to the VERSION number and the date that the function was addded.

Functions: CGI Environment

getSessionValue( $key ) ==> $value

Description: Get a session value from the Session Plugin (if installed)
Parameter: $key Session key
Return: $value Value associated with key; empty string if not set; undef if session plugin is not installed
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (27 Feb 2001)

setSessionValue( $key, $value ) ==> $result

Description: Set a session value via the Session Plugin (if installed)
Parameter: $key Session key
Parameter: $value Value associated with key
Return: $result "1" if success; undef if session plugin is not installed
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (17 Aug 2001)

getSkin( ) ==> $skin

Description: Get the name of the skin, set by the SKIN preferences variable or the skin CGI parameter
Return: $skin Name of skin, e.g. "gnu". Empty string if none
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (29 Jul 2001)

getUrlHost( ) ==> $host

Description: Get protocol, domain and optional port of script URL
Return: $host URL host, e.g. "http://example.com:80"
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (7 Dec 2002)

getScriptUrl( $web, $topic, $script ) ==> $url

Description: Compose fully qualified URL
Parameter: $web Web name, e.g. "Main"
Parameter: $topic Topic name, e.g. "WebNotify"
Parameter: $script Script name, e.g. "view"
Return: $url URL, e.g. "http://example.com:80/cgi-bin/view.pl/Main/WebNotify"
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (7 Dec 2002)

getScriptUrlPath( ) ==> $path

Description: Get script URL path
Return: $path URL path of TWiki scripts, e.g. "/cgi-bin"
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (7 Dec 2002)

getViewUrl( $web, $topic ) ==> $url

Description: Compose fully qualified view URL
Parameter: $web Web name, e.g. "Main". The current web is taken if empty
Parameter: $topic Topic name, e.g. "WebNotify"
Return: $url URL, e.g. "http://example.com:80/cgi-bin/view.pl/Main/WebNotify"
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (7 Dec 2002)

getOopsUrl( $web, $topic, $template, $param1, $param2, $param3, $param4 ) ==> $url

Description: Compose fully qualified "oops" dialog URL
Parameter: $web Web name, e.g. "Main". The current web is taken if empty
Parameter: $topic Topic name, e.g. "WebNotify"
Parameter: $template Oops template name, e.g. "oopslocked"
Parameter: $param1 ... $param4 Parameter values for %PARAM1% ... %PARAM4% variables in template, optional
Return: $url URL, e.g. "http://example.com:80/cgi-bin/oops.pl/ Main/WebNotify?template=oopslocked&param1=joe"
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (7 Dec 2002)

getPubUrlPath( ) ==> $path

Description: Get pub URL path
Return: $path URL path of pub directory, e.g. "/pub"
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (14 Jul 2001)

getCgiQuery( ) ==> $query

Description: Get CGI query object. Important: Plugins cannot assume that scripts run under CGI, Plugins must always test if the CGI query object is set
Return: $query CGI query object; or 0 if script is called as a shell script
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (7 Dec 2002)

writeHeader( $query )

Description: Prints a basic content-type HTML header for text/html to standard out
Parameter: $query CGI query object
Return: none
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (7 Dec 2002)

redirectCgiQuery( $query, $url )

Description: Redirect to URL
Parameter: $query CGI query object
Parameter: $url URL to redirect to
Return: none, never returns
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (7 Dec 2002)

Functions: Preferences

extractParameters( $attr ) ==> %params

Description: Extract all parameters from a variable string and returns a hash of parameters
Parameter: $attr Attribute string
Return: %params Hash containing all parameters. The nameless parameter is stored in key _DEFAULT
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.025 (26 Aug 2004)

  • Example:
    • Variable: %TEST{ "nameless" name1="val1" name2="val2" }%
    • First extract text between {...} to get: "nameless" name1="val1" name2="val2"
    • Then call this on the text:
      my %params = TWiki::Func::extractParameters( $text );
    • The %params hash contains now:
      _DEFAULT => "nameless"
      name1 => "val1"
      name2 => "val2"

extractNameValuePair( $attr, $name ) ==> $value

Description: Extract a named or unnamed value from a variable parameter string
Note: Function TWiki::Func::extractParameters is more efficient for extracting several parameters
Parameter: $attr Attribute string
Parameter: $name Name, optional
Return: $value Extracted value
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (7 Dec 2002)

  • Example:
    • Variable: %TEST{ "nameless" name1="val1" name2="val2" }%
    • First extract text between {...} to get: "nameless" name1="val1" name2="val2"
    • Then call this on the text:
      my $noname = TWiki::Func::extractNameValuePair( $text );
      my $val1  = TWiki::Func::extractNameValuePair( $text, "name1" );
      my $val2  = TWiki::Func::extractNameValuePair( $text, "name2" );

getPreferencesValue( $key, $web ) ==> $value

Description: Get a preferences value from TWiki or from a Plugin
Parameter: $key Preferences key
Parameter: $web Name of web, optional. Current web if not specified; does not apply to settings of Plugin topics
Return: $value Preferences value; empty string if not set
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (7 Dec 2002)

  • Example for Plugin setting:
    • MyPlugin topic has: * Set COLOR = red
    • Use "MYPLUGIN_COLOR" for $key
    • my $color = TWiki::Func::getPreferencesValue( "MYPLUGIN_COLOR" );

  • Example for preferences setting:
    • WebPreferences topic has: * Set WEBBGCOLOR = #FFFFC0
    • my $webColor = TWiki::Func::getPreferencesValue( "WEBBGCOLOR", "Sandbox" );

getPluginPreferencesValue( $key ) ==> $value

Description: Get a preferences value from your Plugin
Parameter: $key Plugin Preferences key w/o PLUGINNAME_ prefix.
Return: $value Preferences value; empty string if not set
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.021 (27 Mar 2004)

getPreferencesFlag( $key, $web ) ==> $value

Description: Get a preferences flag from TWiki or from a Plugin
Parameter: $key Preferences key
Parameter: $web Name of web, optional. Current web if not specified; does not apply to settings of Plugin topics
Return: $value Preferences flag "1" (if set), or "0" (for preferences values "off", "no" and "0")
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (7 Dec 2002)

  • Example for Plugin setting:
    • MyPlugin topic has: * Set SHOWHELP = off
    • Use "MYPLUGIN_SHOWHELP" for $key
    • my $showHelp = TWiki::Func::getPreferencesFlag( "MYPLUGIN_SHOWHELP" );

getPluginPreferencesFlag( $key ) ==> $flag

Description: Get a preferences flag from your Plugin
Parameter: $key Plugin Preferences key w/o PLUGINNAME_ prefix.
Return: $flag Preferences flag "1" (if set), or "0" (for preferences values "off", "no" and "0", or values not set at all)
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.021 (27 Mar 2004)

getWikiToolName( ) ==> $name

Description: Get toolname as defined in TWiki.cfg
Return: $name Name of tool, e.g. "TWiki"
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (27 Feb 2001)

getMainWebname( ) ==> $name

Description: Get name of Main web as defined in TWiki.cfg
Return: $name Name, e.g. "Main"
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (27 Feb 2001)

getTwikiWebname( ) ==> $name

Description: Get name of TWiki documentation web as defined in TWiki.cfg
Return: $name Name, e.g. "TWiki"
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (27 Feb 2001)

Functions: User Handling and Access Control

getDefaultUserName( ) ==> $loginName

Description: Get default user name as defined in TWiki.cfg's $defaultUserName
Return: $loginName Default user name, e.g. "guest"
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (7 Dec 2002)

getWikiName( ) ==> $wikiName

Description: Get Wiki name of logged in user
Return: $wikiName Wiki Name, e.g. "JohnDoe"
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (7 Dec 2002)

getWikiUserName( $text ) ==> $wikiName

Description: Get Wiki name of logged in user with web prefix
Return: $wikiName Wiki Name, e.g. "Main.JohnDoe"
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (7 Dec 2002)

wikiToUserName( $wikiName ) ==> $loginName

Description: Translate a Wiki name to a login name based on Main.TWikiUsers topic
Parameter: $wikiName Wiki name, e.g. "Main.JohnDoe" or "JohnDoe"
Return: $loginName Login name of user, e.g. "jdoe"
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (7 Dec 2002)

userToWikiName( $loginName, $dontAddWeb ) ==> $wikiName

Description: Translate a login name to a Wiki name based on Main.TWikiUsers topic
Parameter: $loginName Login name, e.g. "jdoe"
Parameter: $dontAddWeb Do not add web prefix if "1"
Return: $wikiName Wiki name of user, e.g. "Main.JohnDoe" or "JohnDoe"
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (7 Dec 2002)

isGuest( ) ==> $flag

Description: Test if logged in user is a guest
Return: $flag "1" if yes, "0" if not
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (7 Dec 2002)

permissionsSet( $web ) ==> $flag

Description: Test if any access restrictions are set for this web, ignoring settings on individual pages
Parameter: $web Web name, required, e.g. "Sandbox"
Return: $flag "1" if yes, "0" if no
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (27 Feb 2001)

checkAccessPermission( $type, $wikiName, $text, $topic, $web ) ==> $flag

Description: Check access permission for a topic based on the TWiki.TWikiAccessControl rules
Parameter: $type Access type, e.g. "VIEW", "CHANGE", "CREATE"
Parameter: $wikiName WikiName of remote user, i.e. "Main.PeterThoeny"
Parameter: $text Topic text, optional. If empty, topic $web.$topic is consulted
Parameter: $topic Topic name, required, e.g. "PrivateStuff"
Parameter: $web Web name, required, e.g. "Sandbox"
Return: $flag "1" if access may be granted, "0" if not
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (27 Feb 2001)

Functions: Content Handling

webExists( $web ) ==> $flag

Description: Test if web exists
Parameter: $web Web name, required, e.g. "Sandbox"
Return: $flag "1" if web exists, "0" if not
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (14 Jul 2001)

topicExists( $web, $topic ) ==> $flag

Description: Test if topic exists
Parameter: $web Web name, optional, e.g. "Main"
Parameter: $topic Topic name, required, e.g. "TokyoOffice", or "Main.TokyoOffice"
Return: $flag "1" if topic exists, "0" if not
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (14 Jul 2001)

getRevisionInfo($theWebName, $theTopic, $theRev, $attachment ) ==> ( $date, $user, $rev, $comment )

Description: Get revision info of a topic
Parameter: $theWebName Web name, optional, e.g. "Main"
Parameter: $theTopic Topic name, required, e.g. "TokyoOffice"
Parameter: $theRev revsion number, or tag name (can be in the format 1.2, or just the minor number)
Parameter: $attachment attachment filename
Return: ( $date, $user, $rev, $comment ) List with: ( last update date, login name of last user, minor part of top revision number ), e.g. ( 1234561, "phoeny", "5" )
$date in epochSec
$user  
$rev  
$comment WHAT COMMENT?
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (29 Jul 2001)

checkTopicEditLock( $web, $topic ) ==> ( $oopsUrl, $loginName, $unlockTime )

Description: Check if topic has an edit lock by a user
Parameter: $web Web name, e.g. "Main", or empty
Parameter: $topic Topic name, e.g. "MyTopic", or "Main.MyTopic"
Return: ( $oopsUrl, $loginName, $unlockTime ) The $oopsUrl for calling redirectCgiQuery(), user's $loginName, and estimated $unlockTime in minutes. The $oopsUrl and $loginName is empty if topic has no edit lock.
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.010 (31 Dec 2002)

setTopicEditLock( $web, $topic, $lock ) ==> $oopsUrl

Description: Lock topic for editing, or unlock when done
Parameter: $web Web name, e.g. "Main", or empty
Parameter: $topic Topic name, e.g. "MyTopic", or "Main.MyTopic"
Parameter: $lock Set to 1 to lock topic, 0 to unlock
Return: $oopsUrl Empty string if OK; the $oopsUrl for calling redirectCgiQuery() in case lock is already taken when trying to lock topic
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.010 (31 Dec 2002)

readTopicText( $web, $topic, $rev, $ignorePermissions ) ==> $text

Description: Read topic text, including meta data
Parameter: $web Web name, e.g. "Main", or empty
Parameter: $topic Topic name, e.g. "MyTopic", or "Main.MyTopic"
Parameter: $rev Topic revision to read, optional. Specify the minor part of the revision, e.g. "5", not "1.5"; the top revision is returned if omitted or empty.
Parameter: $ignorePermissions Set to "1" if checkAccessPermission() is already performed and OK; an oops URL is returned if user has no permission
Return: $text Topic text with embedded meta data; an oops URL for calling redirectCgiQuery() is returned in case of an error
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.010 (31 Dec 2002)

saveTopicText( $web, $topic, $text, $ignorePermissions, $dontNotify ) ==> $oopsUrl

Description: Save topic text, typically obtained by readTopicText(). Topic data usually includes meta data; the file attachment meta data is replaced by the meta data from the topic file if it exists.
Parameter: $web Web name, e.g. "Main", or empty
Parameter: $topic Topic name, e.g. "MyTopic", or "Main.MyTopic"
Parameter: $text Topic text to save, assumed to include meta data
Parameter: $ignorePermissions Set to "1" if checkAccessPermission() is already performed and OK
Parameter: $dontNotify Set to "1" if not to notify users of the change
Return: $oopsUrl Empty string if OK; the $oopsUrl for calling redirectCgiQuery() in case of error
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.010 (31 Dec 2002)

  • Example:
    my $oopsUrl = TWiki::Func::setTopicEditLock( $web, $topic, 1 );
    if( $oopsUrl ) {
        TWiki::Func::redirectCgiQuery( $query, $oopsUrl );   # assuming valid query
        return;
    }
    my $text = TWiki::Func::readTopicText( $web, $topic );        # read topic text
    # check for oops URL in case of error:
    if( $text =~ /^http.*?\/oops/ ) {
        TWiki::Func::redirectCgiQuery( $query, $text );
        return;
    }
    # do topic text manipulation like:
    $text =~ s/old/new/g;
    # do meta data manipulation like:
    $text =~ s/(META\:FIELD.*?name\=\"TopicClassification\".*?value\=\")[^\"]*/$1BugResolved/;
    $oopsUrl = TWiki::Func::saveTopicText( $web, $topic, $text ); # save topic text
    TWiki::Func::setTopicEditLock( $web, $topic, 0 );             # unlock topic
    if( $oopsUrl ) {
        TWiki::Func::redirectCgiQuery( $query, $oopsUrl );
        return;
    }

getPublicWebList( ) ==> @webs

Description: Get list of all public webs, e.g. all webs that do not have the NOSEARCHALL flag set in the WebPreferences
Return: @webs List of all public webs, e.g. ( "Main",  "Know", "TWiki" )
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (7 Dec 2002)

getTopicList( $web ) ==> @topics

Description: Get list of all topics in a web
Parameter: $web Web name, required, e.g. "Sandbox"
Return: @topics Topic list, e.g. ( "WebChanges",  "WebHome", "WebIndex", "WebNotify" )
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (7 Dec 2002)

Functions: Rendering

expandCommonVariables( $text, $topic, $web ) ==> $text

Description: Expand all common %VARIABLES%
Parameter: $text Text with variables to expand, e.g. "Current user is %WIKIUSER%"
Parameter: $topic Current topic name, e.g. "WebNotify"
Parameter: $web Web name, optional, e.g. "Main". The current web is taken if missing
Return: $text Expanded text, e.g. "Current user is TWikiGuest"
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (7 Dec 2002)

renderText( $text, $web ) ==> $text

Description: Render text from TWiki markup into XHTML as defined in TWiki.TextFormattingRules
Parameter: $text Text to render, e.g. "*bold* text and =fixed font="
Parameter: $web Web name, optional, e.g. "Main". The current web is taken if missing
Return: $text XHTML text, e.g. "<b>bold</b> and <code>fixed font</code>"
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (7 Dec 2002)

internalLink( $pre, $web, $topic, $label, $anchor, $createLink ) ==> $text

Description: Render topic name and link label into an XHTML link. Normally you do not need to call this funtion, it is called internally by renderText()
Parameter: $pre Text occuring before the TWiki link syntax, optional
Parameter: $web Web name, required, e.g. "Main"
Parameter: $topic Topic name to link to, required, e.g. "WebNotify"
Parameter: $label Link label, required. Usually the same as $topic, e.g. "notify"
Parameter: $anchor Anchor, optional, e.g. "#Jump"
Parameter: $createLink Set to "1" to add question linked mark after topic name if topic does not exist;
set to "0" to suppress link for non-existing topics
Return: $text XHTML anchor, e.g. "<a href="/cgi-bin/view/Main/WebNotify#Jump">notify</a>"
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (7 Dec 2002)

search text( $text ) ==> $text

Description: This is not a function, just a how-to note. Use: expandCommonVariables("%SEARCH{...}%" );
Parameter: $text Search variable
Return: $text Search result in TWiki.FormattedSearch format

formatTime( $time, $format, $timezone ) ==> $text

Description: Format the time in seconds into the desired time string
Parameter: $time Time in epoc seconds
Parameter: $format Format type, optional. Default e.g. " TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.010 (31 Dec 2002) - 19:30", can be "iso" (e.g. "2002-12-31T19:30Z"), "rcs" (e.g. "2001/12/31 23:59:59", "http" for HTTP header format (e.g. "Thu, 23 Jul 1998 07:21:56 GMT")
Parameter: $timezone either not defined (uses the displaytime setting), "gmtime", or "servertime"
Return: $text Formatted time string
Note: if you used the removed formatGmTime, add a third parameter "gmtime"
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.020 (26 Feb 2004)

formatGmTime( $time, $format ) ==> $text

NOTE: This function is deprecated and should not be used. Use formatTime() instead
Description: Format the time to GM time
Parameter: $time Time in epoc seconds
Parameter: $format Format type, optional. Default e.g. "31 Dec 2002 - 19:30", can be "iso" (e.g. "2002-12-31T19:30Z"), "rcs" (e.g. "2001/12/31 23:59:59", "http" for HTTP header format (e.g. "Thu, 23 Jul 1998 07:21:56 GMT")
Return: $text Formatted time string
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (7 Dec 2002)

Functions: File I/O

getDataDir( ) ==> $dir

Description: Get data directory (topic file root)
Return: $dir Data directory, e.g. "/twiki/data"
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (7 Dec 2002)

getPubDir( ) ==> $dir

Description: Get pub directory (file attachment root). Attachments are in $dir/Web/TopicName
Return: $dir Pub directory, e.g. "/htdocs/twiki/pub"
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (7 Dec 2002)

readTopic( $web, $topic ) ==> ( $meta, $text )

NOTE: The following function is deprecated and should not be used. Use readTopicText() instead
Description: Read topic text and meta data, regardless of access permissions.
Parameter: $web Web name, required, e.g. "Main"
Parameter: $topic Topic name, required, e.g. "TokyoOffice"
Return: ( $meta, $text ) Meta data object and topic text
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (7 Dec 2002)

readTemplate( $name, $skin ) ==> $text

Description: Read a template or skin file. Embedded template directives get expanded
Parameter: $name Template name, e.g. "view"
Parameter: $skin Skin name, optional, e.g. "print"
Return: $text Template text
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (7 Dec 2002)

readFile( $filename ) ==> $text

Description: Read text file, low level. NOTE: For topics use readTopicText()
Parameter: $filename Full path name of file
Return: $text Content of file
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (7 Dec 2002)

saveFile( $filename, $text )

Description: Save text file, low level. NOTE: For topics use saveTopicText()
Parameter: $filename Full path name of file
Parameter: $text Text to save
Return: none
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.000 (7 Dec 2002)
TODO: This should return an error for the different failure modes.

writeWarning( $text )

Description: Log Warning that may require admin intervention to data/warning.txt
Parameter: $text Text to write; timestamp gets added
Return: none
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.020 (16 Feb 2004)

writeDebug( $text )

Description: Log debug message to data/debug.txt
Parameter: $text Text to write; timestamp gets added
Return: none
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.020 (16 Feb 2004)

Functions: System and I18N related

getRegularExpression( $regexName ) ==> $pattern

Description: Retrieves a TWiki predefined regular expression
Parameter: $regexName Name of the regular expression to retrieve. See notes below
Return: String or precompiled regular expression matching as described below
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.020 (9 Feb 2004)

Notes: TWiki internally precompiles several regular expressions to represent various string entities in an I18N-compatible manner. Plugins are encouraged to use these in matching where appropriate. The following are guaranteed to be present; others may exist, but their use is unsupported and they may be removed in future TWiki versions. Those which are marked "CC" are for use within character classes and may not produce the desired results outside of them.

Name Matches CC
upperAlpha Upper case characters Y
lowerAlpha Lower case characters Y
mixedAlpha Alphabetic characters Y
mixedAlphaNum Alphanumeric charactecs Y
wikiWordRegex WikiWords N

Example:

   my $upper = TWiki::Func::getRegularExpression("upperAlpha");
   my $alpha = TWiki::Func::getRegularExpression("mixedAlpha");
   my $capitalized = qr/[$upper][$alpha]+/;

checkDependencies( $moduleName, $dependenciesRef ) ==> $error

Description: Checks a list of Perl dependencies at runtime
Parameter: $moduleName Context description e.g. name of the module being checked
Parameter: $dependenciesRef Reference of list of hashes containing dependency information; see notes below
Return: $error undef if dependencies are OK, an error message otherwise
Since: TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.025 (01 Aug 2004)

The dependencies are expressed as a list of hashes. Each hash contains the name of a package and (optionally) a boolean constraint on the VERSION variable in that package. It is usually used from the initPlugin method like this:

   if( $TWiki::Plugins::VERSION >= 1.025 ) {
      my @deps = (
            { package => 'TWiki::Plugins::CalendarPlugin', constraint => '>= 5.030' },
            { package => 'Time::ParseDate' },
            { package => 'Apache::VMonitor' }
      );
      my $err = TWiki::Func::checkDependencies( $pluginName, \@deps );
      if( $err ) {
            TWiki::Func::writeWarning( $err );
            print STDERR $err; # print to webserver log file
            return 0; # plugin initialisation failed
      }
   }

Copyright and License

Copyright (C) 2000-2004 Peter Thoeny, Peter@Thoeny.com

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details, published at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html

NOTE: Above text is copied from the TWiki::Plugins/PerlDocPlugin output of TWiki::Func in twiki format. In case you want to get dynamically updated documentation based on the actual Perl module, install the PerlDocPlugin and replace above text with %PERLDOC{"TWiki::Func"}%.

-- PeterThoeny - 31 Dec 2002


TWiki Site Tools

Utilities for searching, navigation, and monitoring site activity

TWikiSiteTools include utilities for navigating, searching and keeping up with site activity. Preferences can be configured by web or site-wide. You are currently in the TWiki web. In particular, TWiki provides two highly configurable, automated site monitoring tools, WebNotify, to email alerts when topics are edited, and WebStats, to generate detailed activity reports.

WebNotify Recent Changes Alert

Each TWiki web has an automatic email alert service that sends a list of recent changes on a preset schedule, like once a day. Users can subscribe and unsubscribe using WebNotify in each web. The Perl script mailnotify is called by a background process at regular intervals. The script sends an automated email to subscribed users if topics were changed in a web since the script was last run.

Format: TWiki handles entries in bullet list (<space><space><space>*) format containing the WikiName of a user; a WikiName with e-mail address; or a TWikiGroup. Examples:

  • Main.FredBloggs
  • Main.FredBloggs - secondary@home.com
  • Main.EngineeringGroup

The first entry is the default form, the notification gets sent to the e-mail address specified in the user's home page. The second entry lists an alternative e-mail address. The third entry specifies a group, the notification gets sent to each member of the group.

You can also use %MAINWEB% instead of Main, but this is not necessary even if you have renamed the main web by configuring $mainWebname in TWiki.cfg.

Configuring Outgoing Mail

TWiki will use the Net::SMTP module if it is installed on your system. Set this with the SMTPMAILHOST variable in TWikiPreferences.

The notify e-mail uses the default changes.tmpl template, or a skin if activated in the TWikiPreferences.

mailnotify also relies on two hidden files in each TWiki/data/[web] directory: .changes and .mailnotify. Make sure both are writable by your web server process. .changes contains a list of changes; go ahead and make this empty. .mailnotify contains a timestamp of the last time notification was done.

You can use an external mail program, like sendmail, if the Net::SMTP module is not installed. Set the program path in $mailProgram in TWiki.cfg.

  • HELP Net::SMTP can be easily disabled (ex: if there is an installation error) by setting SMTPMAILHOST in TWikiPreferences to an empty value.

  • TIP You can set a separate SMTPSENDERHOST variable to define the mail sender host (some SMTP installations require this).

Setting the Automatic Email Schedule

For Unix platforms: Edit the cron table so that mailnotify is called in an interval of your choice. Please consult man crontab of how to modify the table that schedules program execution at certain intervals. Example:

% crontab -e
0 2 * * * (cd /path/to/twiki/bin; ./mailnotify -q)
The above line will run mailnotify nightly at 02:00. The -q switch suppresses all normal output.

For ISP installations: Many ISPs don't allow hosted accounts direct cron access, as it's often used for things that can heavily load the server. Workaround scripts are available.

On Windows NT/2000: You can use a scheduled task if you have administrative privileges. Note: AT on an NT machine is pretty limited. Microsoft lists several third-party replacements. TWiki:Codev/CronTabWin is a free scheduler for Windows.

WebStatistics Site Usage Log

You can generate a listing manually, or on an automated schedule, of visits to individual pages, on a per web basis. Compiled as a running total on a monthly basis. Includes totals for Topic Views, Topic Saves, Attachment Uploads, Most Popular Topics with number of views, and Top Contributors showing total of saves and attachment uploads. Previous months are saved.

Configuring for Automatic Operation

  • You can automatically generate usage statistics for all webs. To enable this:
    • Make sure variable $doLogTopicView, $doLogTopicSave and $doLogTopicUpload in TWiki.cfg are set. This will generate log file entries (see below).
    • The WebStatistics topic 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 many 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)

Generating Statistics Manually by URL

  • 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

Log File Details

TWiki generates monthly log files which are used by the statistics

  • The log directory is defined by the $logDir variable in TWiki.cfg
  • The file name is log<year><month>.txt
  • Example path name: twiki/data/log202007.txt
  • Each access gets logged as:
    | <time> | <wikiusername> | <action> | <web>.<topic> | <extra info> | <IP address> |
  • Example log entry:
    | 22 Jul 2020 - 19:17 | Main.TWikiGuest | view | TWiki.WebRss |  | 66.124.232.02 |
  • Actions are logged if enabled in TWiki.cfg by the $doLogTopic<action> flags
  • Logged actions:
    Script Action name Extra info down
    changes changes  
    rdiff rdiff 1.4 1.3
    register register E-mail address
    upload upload filename
    search search search string
    edit edit when editing non-existing topic: (not exist)
    rename move when moving attachment: Attachment filename moved to Newweb.NewTopic
    rename rename when moving topic: moved to Newweb.NewTopic
    save save when replacing existing revision: repRev 1.3
    when user checks the minor changes box: dontNotify
    attach attach when viewing attach screen of previous uploaded attachment: filename
    view view when viewing non-existing topic: (not exist)
    when viewing previous topic revision: r1.3

WebSearch

WebSearch is an extremely fast and flexible search facility, part of the core TWiki feature set. Options include:

  • topic title or full-text search
  • regular expressions
  • search within web or site-wide
  • index-style A-Z alphabetical listing sorted topic title
  • many more

See also: TWikiVariables for including hard-coded searches in text.

WebChanges

To check for the most recently edited topics while on-site, use the WebChanges link, usually located on the upper toolbar. It lists the most recently modified topics, newest first, along with the first couple of lines of the page content.

This is simply a preset SEARCH. The number of topics listed by the limit parameter.:

%SEARCH{".*" web="TWiki" regex="on" nosearch="on" order="modified" 
reverse="on" limit="50"}%

WebIndex

WebIndex lists all web topics in alphabetical order, with the first couple of lines of text. This is simply a preset SEARCH:

%SEARCH{"\.*" scope="topic" regex="on" nosearch="on"}%

-- TWiki:Main.MikeMannix - 01 Dec 2001
-- TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny - 28 Aug 2004


Managing Topics

Browser-based rename, move, and delete for individual topics

Overview

You can use browser-based controls to change a topic's name, move it to another TWiki web, or delete it to a hidden Trash web.

How to Rename/Move/Delete a Topic

  1. Click on [More] (bottom right of page) on the topic to be changed, then, in the new screen, on [Rename/move]. You can now rename and/or move/delete in one operation:
  2. Move/Delete: Select the target web if other than the current web - choose Trash to delete a topic.
  3. Rename: Enter the new topic name - default is current name
    ALERT! NOTE: You'll be warned if any of the topics to be affected are locked (being edited), or if there is a name conflict.
  4. Prevent updates by unchecking individual items on the list of referring links - these topics will NOT to be updated with the new name (by default, all referring links will be updated).
  5. Click on [Rename/Move]: the topic will be renamed and links to the topic updated as requested.
    • If any of the referring pages are locked then they will be listed: you can correct these later by again pressing [Rename/Move].
    • HELP There is a Put back feature that allows you to undo a Rename/Move/Delete - an instruction line and undo link will appear at the bottom of the modified topic. This allows you to revert from the last modification only.

Deleted Topics: How to Clear the Trash

Deleted topics are moved to a special Trash web - they are NOT physically erased from the server. All webs share Trash - in case of a name conflict with a topic already Trash, the user is alerted and asked to choose a new name.

The Trash web should be be cleared periodically, by archiving (saving) the text and RCS files if required (recommended), then deleting them from the Trash directory.

  • ALERT! This can only be done from on the server, not through the browser.
    • TIP Since simple FTP access to the Trash directory is all that's required for maintenance, it's possible to grant Trash admin privileges to multiple users, while strictly limiting server access.

Redirecting from an Old Topic

You can use TWikiMetaData to place a command in the WebTopicViewTemplate and WebTopicNonWikiTemplate that will indicate that a topic has been moved by searching for the tag %META:TOPICMOVED{...}%. Customize something like this:

%<nop>METASEARCH{type="topicmoved" web="%WEB%" topic="%TOPIC%" 
title="This topic used to exist and was moved to: "}%

How Rename/Move Works

  1. %SEARCH%, with a special template, finds and displays all occurrences of the topic name in other topics, site-wide. These referring links are by default automatically changed to the new topic and/or web name. This includes relevant TWikiMetaData definitions.
    • User can omit one or more topics from the update list by unchecking them.
    • <pre> and <verbatim> are honoured - no changes are made to text within these areas.
  2. The topic is moved (if locks allow).
  3. References are changed (locks and permissions permitting).
  4. Any referring topics that can't be changed due to locks are listed - user can take note and change them at another time.

How Referring Topics Are Found

Referring topics are found using the %SEARCH% variable - see the template searchrenameview.tmpl. First, matching topics in the current web are listed - matches are to topic. Next, all webs (including the current one) are listed that match web.topic. Because %SEARCH% is used, webs marked in WebPreferences as NOSEARCHALL will not show up in the search for references to the topic being changed.

Changed references are kept are as short as possible, ex: topic is used in preference to web.topic.

Effect of User Access Settings

User permissions affect the Rename function in various ways. To rename a topic, you need both ALLOWTOPICCHANGE and ALLOWTOPICRENAME permission for that topic. To alter referring topics, you need change permission. See TWikiAccessControl for information on setting up access permissions.

Special Considerations

Consider carefully whether to make browser-based Rename/Move/Delete widely available, or to restrict it to an administrator/moderator group. Allowing all users to easily manipulate topics can be extremely useful in refactoring a busy web or site. However, there are at least two significant potential drawbacks to take into account:

  • When referring links are updated, the modified topics appear in WebChanges, creating the impression that editorial changes were made. This can undermine the usefulness of WebChanges.
  • Due to current limitations, fairly heavy use of Rename/Move/Delete functions can lead to an accumulation of minor technical problems (ex: broken links) and usability issues (ex: user confusion). If Rename... is used heavily, these negatives will obviously increase, in number and effect.

Ultimately, the size, objectives, and policies of your TWiki site, the real-world behavior of your user group, and most importantly, the initial TWiki site management leadership, will determine the most effective implementation of this feature, and the success of the site overall.

Known Issues

Rename/Move is fairly complicated due to the dynamic generation of links. Ideally, it would be possible to run the required part of rendering in a way that would allow identification of the text to be changed. Unfortunately, these hooks don't exist in TWiki at present. Instead, %SEARCH% is used with a special template to show the text to be changed, and the selected topics are then altered. One drawback is that search can show matches that will not be updated due to case differences. Other mismatches with actual rendered output are also possible as the approaches are so different.

The following shows some limitations of square bracket processing.

[[Old Topic]]  => [[NewTopic][Old Topic]]
[[old topic]]  => [[NewTopic][old topic]]
[[old t opic]] => not changed
[[OldTopic]]   => [[NewTopic]]

-- TWiki:Main.MikeMannix - 27 Dec 2001


Managing Webs

Adding webs is a web based operation; renaming and deleting webs are manual operations done directly on the server

Overview

A TWikiSite is divided into webs; each one represents one subject, one area of collaboration. Administrators can add/rename/delete webs.

Choose Web Template

There are two methods used to create a new web. First you can use a specially designed TemplateWeb. This is an invisible web that begins with an underscore "_" character. All topics in the _default template web will be copied into your new web.

The second method is to use an existing web as a template web. This may be useful if you already have a web that you like to use as a starting point. Only topics that have names beginning with Web... (like "WebHome", "WebNotify", etc.) are copied.

In either case you will want to be sure to verify that your new web has all the custom modifications that you desire.

Adding a New Web

Create a new web by filling out this form. Note: It is not recommended to create a new web for each little project. You can organize content within a web using TWikiForms and FormattedSearch. Cross-linking topics and search is easier if there are only a few larger webs.
Name of new web: Enter a short name of up to 10 characters. The name must start with an upper case letters, followed by optional upper or lower case letters or numbers
Based on web: Select a TemplateWeb
Web color: Enter a StandardColors code for the web
Description:
 
 

Enter a short description of the web. Write Web.TopicName instead of just TopicName if you include links. This will list the web in the SiteMap (leave field empty if you prefer not to update the directory.)
Use to...
 

Continue the sentence describing the intended use. This is also for the SiteMap
Exclude web from "search all": No   Yes Specify if you want to exclude the web from a "search all webs" search. Note that the SiteMap will not list the web if you select Yes.
 

Notes:

  • Attachments will NOT get copied over along with their topics
  • The manage script while creating the new web will update the following variables in the WebPreferences: WEBBGCOLOR, SITEMAPLIST, SITEMAPWHAT, SITEMAPUSETO and NOSEARCHALL. These variables are used to dynamically generate the SiteMap
  • This script does not edit the TWiki.TWikiPreferences file to update the WIKIWEBLIST. This must be done by hand
  • As of TWiki Release 01 Sep 2004, a web name can be a WikiWord. Prior to that it could be only UPPER or UPPERlower. A side effect of this is that if you do use a wiki name, %WEB% must be written as <nop>%WEB% or else it will try to link to a non-existing topic of that name

Renaming or Deleting a Web

Renaming or deleting a web requires direct access to the installation files on the host server. There are currently no browser-based equivalents of the Rename/move/delete topic tools for working with webs.

  1. Prepare your site: Search each web for links to the target web, searching topic text for Oldwebname., including the dot so you'll find references like Oldwebname.SomeTopic
    • Make changes as required, to Newwebname.SomeTopic or better yet, to %MAINWEB%.SomeTopic
  2. Edit the TWikiPreferences topic: Rename or delete the web from the WIKIWEBLIST variable
  3. Login to the TWiki server, via Telnet or FTP
  4. Go to twiki/data and rename or remove the web directory
  5. Go to twiki/templates and rename or remove the web directory if present
  6. Go to twiki/pub and rename or remove the web directory if present

Renaming the MAINWEB

If you plan to rename the Main web, remember that TWiki stores user and group topics in %MAINWEB%, default named Main. That means, every WikiName signature - Main.SomeUserName - points to it and would need updating (unless the variable, %MAINWEB%.SomeUserName, is used throughout).

-- TWiki:Main.MikeMannix - 14 Sep 2001
-- TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny - 07 Apr 2002
-- TWiki:Main.GrantBow - 16 Jan 2003


Manage Users

Register users on your TWiki site; change/reset/install passwords; remove user accounts

Authentication and Access Control

Register User

Change, Reset and Install Passwords

  • ChangePassword is for users who remember their password
  • ResetPassword is for users who do not remember their password; they are asked to send a request to the site administrator to install a new password
  • InstallPassword is for the site administrator to install a password

Removing User Accounts

To remove a user account:

  1. Edit the data/.htpasswd file to delete their entry (only applies if you are using a .htpasswd file)
  2. Remove the FredQuimby line from the Main.TWikiUsers topic
  3. Remove user from all groups and from all the ALLOWWEB/ALLOWTOPIC... declarations, if any.
    Note: Otherwise this is a security hole as the first one to re-register with this name will be granted the permissions of the previous user.
  4. [optional] Remove their topic files: data/Main/FredQuimby.txt and data/Main/FredQuimby.txt,v

Note: Consider leaving the user topic file in place so their past signatures and revision author entries don't end up looking like AnUncreatedTopic?. If you want to make it clear the user is inactive on your site (e.g. PeterThoeny) or has been banished add a note to that effect and write protect the page (TWikiAccessControl). The existance of the UserName topic prevent that user name from being re-used.

-- TWiki:Main.MattWilkie - 21 Jul 2003
-- TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny - 15 Aug 2004


Appendix A: TWiki Filesystem

Annotated directory and file listings, for the 01-Sep-2004 TWiki production release.

Who and What is This Good For?

Interested Users and Site Administrators can find out in simple terms what each part of TWiki actually does. Adventurous Adminstrators with server access to files (via telnet, ssh or ftp) can also figure out where to look to make minor modifications, like changing hardcode text or color. Software Developers can get an at-a-glance overview of TWiki code architecture.

Directory Structure

You can rename the root TWiki directory - twiki - to whatever you like by changing it in the TWiki.cfg configuration file. However, to keep the current installation and future upgrades simple, you should leave the five main subdirectories intact:

Directory: Files: Used for:
twiki list Start-up info
twiki/bin list Perl scripts
twiki/lib list Configuration file, main library, Perl system modules, Plugins directory
twiki/pub list Public files (eg: images) and FileAttachments and their RCS histories
twiki/data list Individual topics (page content) and their RCS histories
twiki/templates list HTML templates, used by TWiki scripts

File Descriptions

A rundown of the individual files included in the current distribution, organized by TWiki root directories.

Files in twiki

Application info and the current reference documentation. Full file list:

File Used for
index.html Links to launch TWiki after install and for files in this directory
license.txt GNU General Public License and TWiki-specific info
readme.txt General TWiki start-up info with relevant URLs
TWikiDocumentation.html All documentation packaged as a single page
TWikiHistory.html TWiki development timeline: versions, features, developers
TwikiUpgrade TWiki upgrade script (Beta state)

Files in twiki/bin

Perl CGI scripts. Full file list:

File: Used for:
.htaccess.txt Authentication. Rename to .htaccess and customize if used
attach Shows the attach file page (FileAttachment)
changes a simple WebChanges query
edit Edit a topic
geturl Fetch URL data
installpasswd Install new password by admin
mailnotify Script called by cron job to notify users of changes
manage Manage script to create new webs
oops Shows an OK or oops dialog
passwd Reset and change password
preview Preview topic after edit
rdiff See differences of topics
rdiffauth Copy of rdiff script (ideally a link). The .htaccess file sets this as requiring authorisation
register Register new users
rename Rename/move topics and move attachments
save Saves a topic, called by preview
search Displays search results
setlib.cfg Location of the TWiki libraries. Customize if needed
statistics Create statistics topic
testenv Test CGI environment variables
upload Does file upload (FileAttachment)
view View a topic (the script)
viewauth Copy of view script (ideally a link). The .htaccess file sets this as requiring authorisation
viewfile View a file attachment

Files under twiki/lib

The new lib/TWiki/Plugins directories contain configuration, library and function files, and TWikiPlugins. Full file list:

File: Used for:
TWiki.cfg Main configuration, used by TWiki.pm
TWiki.pm Main TWiki library
Algorithm/Diff.pm Diff library
Text/Diff.pm Diff library, used by TwikiUpgrade script
TWiki/Access.pm Access control
TWiki/Attach.pm Attachment handling
TWiki/Form.pm Form handling
TWiki/Func.pm Public functions that Plugins may use
TWiki/Meta.pm Meta data in topics
TWiki/Net.pm SMTP mail handling
TWiki/Plugins.pm Plugin handling
TWiki/Plugins/CommentPlugin.pm Plugin handling a comment box
TWiki/Plugins/CommentPlugin/Attrs.pm Supporting module for Comment Plugin
TWiki/Plugins/CommentPlugin/Comment.pm Supporting module for Comment Plugin
TWiki/Plugins/CommentPlugin/Templates.pm Supporting module for Comment Plugin
TWiki/Plugins/DefaultPlugin.pm Handles some legacy rules
TWiki/Plugins/EditTablePlugin.pm Plugin to edit tables
TWiki/Plugins/EmptyPlugin.pm Empty plugin, use to create your own
TWiki/Plugins/InterwikiPlugin.pm Use aliases as links for predefined URLs
TWiki/Plugins/RenderListPlugin.pm Plugin to render lists as nice trees
TWiki/Plugins/SlideShowPlugin.pm Plugin turning headings into slides
TWiki/Plugins/SmiliesPlugin.pm Plugin rendering smilies like :-)
TWiki/Plugins/SpreadSheetPlugin.pm Plugin resolving spreadsheet formulae
TWiki/Plugins/TablePlugin.pm Plugin to render tables nicely
TWiki/Prefs.pm Preferences handling
TWiki/Render.pm TWiki markup to HTML rendering
TWiki/Search.pm Search engine, used by TWiki.pm
TWiki/Store.pm Back-end storage, *.txt text file and *.txt,v RCS repository file handling
TWiki/Store/RcsFile.pm Generic file handling code, a class
TWiki/Store/RcsWrap.pm Wrappers around RCS executables, a class that inherits from RcsFile
TWiki/Store/RcsLite.pm A Perl RCS implemention, a class that inherits from RcsFile
TWiki/UI.pm User interface handling
TWiki/UI/Changes.pm Functionality of changes script
TWiki/UI/Edit.pm Functionality of edit script
TWiki/UI/Manage.pm Functionality of manage script
TWiki/UI/Oops.pm Functionality of oops script
TWiki/UI/Preview.pm Functionality of preview script
TWiki/UI/RDiff.pm Functionality of rdiff script
TWiki/UI/Save.pm Functionality of save script
TWiki/UI/Search.pm Functionality of search script
TWiki/UI/Statistics.pm Functionality of statistics script
TWiki/UI/Upload.pm Functionality of upload script
TWiki/UI/View.pm Functionality of view script
TWiki/UI/Viewfile.pm Functionality of viewfile script
TWiki/Upgrade/TWikiCfg.pm Supporting module of TwikiUpgrade script
TWiki/Upgrade/UpdateTopics.pm Supporting module of TwikiUpgrade script
TWiki/Upgrade/UpdateTopicsManualSymlinks.pm Supporting module of TwikiUpgrade script
TWiki/User.pm Abstraction package to allow plugable user authentication systems
TWiki/User/HtPasswdUser.pm Apache Htpasswd file implementation (the default)
TWiki/User/NoPasswdUser.pm simple, no users authentication (totally wiki)

Files under twiki/pub

The pub directory stores topic-related files, including images used by TWiki and FileAttachments. Attachments are stored in subdirectories created with the related topic name. You can also upload files directly for and link manually (but not through Attach) Partial file list:

File: Used for:
favicon.ico ICO file
wikiHome.gif GIF file
icn/_filetypes.txt Lookup table to translate file extension to file type
icn/bat.gif GIF file for file type
icn/bmp.gif GIF file for file type
... ...
TWiki/FileAttachment/Sample.txt TEXT file: sample
TWiki/FileAttachment/Smile.gif GIF image: sample
TWiki/FileAttachment/Smile.gif,v RCS repository for GIF file
TWiki/PreviewBackground/blankltgraybg.gif GIF image
TWiki/PreviewBackground/blankwhitebg.gif GIF image
TWiki/PreviewBackground/previewbg.gif GIF image: Preview view background
TWiki/PreviewBackground/preview2bg.gif GIF image: Alternate preview view background
TWiki/TWikiLogos/twikiRobot121x54.gif GIF image: TWiki logo
... ...
TWiki/TWikiTemplates/testscreen.gif GIF image: Screen shot
TWiki/WabiSabi/wabisabi.gif GIF image: illustration

Files under twiki/data

TWiki topics: data stored as individual text files and rendered by TWiki for display as regular Web pages. Each active web has its own subdirectory. The TWiki distribution includes a number of start-up webs - Main, TWiki, and Sandbox - with documentation and demo content, a Trash web for browser-based, recoverable topic deletion, and a _default directory containing a core topic set required to start a new web. Partial file list:

File: Used for:
.htpasswd Basic Authentication (htaccess) users file with username and encrypted password pairs
debug.txt Program-generated messages useful for debugging
mime.types Recognized file formats
warning.txt Diagnostic messages for identifying problems
_default/.changes Per web record of topic changes
_default/.mailnotify Per web timestamp of most recent email notification
_default/WebChanges.txt Display most recent topic changes in web
_default/WebChanges.txt,v Revisions history (RCS)
_default/WebHome.txt Default web home page
_default/WebHome.txt,v Revisions history (RCS)
_default/WebIndex.txt Lists all topics in a web
_default/WebIndex.txt,v Revisions history (RCS)
_default/WebLeftBar.txt Left navigation bar for PatternSkin
_default/WebLeftBar.txt,v Revisions history (RCS)
_default/WebNotify.txt Subscribe/unsubscribe to web changes email alert
_default/WebNotify.txt,v Revisions history (RCS)
_default/WebPreferences.txt Per web Preference Settings
_default/WebPreferences.txt,v Revisions history (RCS)
_default/WebSearch.txt Per web search options
_default/WebSearch.txt,v Revisions history (RCS)
_default/WebStatistics.txt Generates web usage statistics
_default/WebStatistics.txt,v Revisions history (RCS)
_default/WebTopicList.txt Lists all topics in a web in compact format
_default/WebTopicList.txt,v Revisions history (RCS)
... ...

Files in twiki/templates

Templates and skins used to control appearance of topics rendered as Web pages. Partial file list:

File: Used for:
attach.tmpl Attachment (FileAttachments) control screen
attachagain.tmpl Attachment control screen for updating an existing attachment
attachnew.tmpl Attachment control screen for adding a new attachment
attachtables.tmpl Macros for definition of attachment tables
changeform.tmpl Control screen to change the form in edit mode
changes.tmpl Displays list of recently changed topics
edit.iejs.tmpl Edit window with IE-specific JavaScript
edit.tmpl Main edit window
mailnotify.tmpl Email notification
moveattachment.tmpl Move attachment control screen
oopsaccesschange.tmpl Error message
oopsaccessgroup.tmpl Error message
oopsaccessmanage.tmpl Error message
oopsaccessrename.tmpl Error message
oopsaccessview.tmpl Error message
oopsattachnotopic.tmpl Error message
oopsauth.tmpl Error message
oopsbadcharset.tmpl Error message
oopsbadpwformat.tmpl Error message
oopschangepasswd.tmpl Error message
oopscreatenewtopic.tmpl Error message
oopsempty.tmpl Error message
oopslocked.tmpl Error message
oopslockedrename.tmpl Error message
oopsmanage.tmpl Error message
oopsmissing.tmpl Error message
oopsmngcreateweb.tmpl Error message
oopsmore.tmpl More topic actions message
oopsmoveerr.tmpl Error message
oopsnoformdef.tmpl Error message
oopsnotwikiuser.tmpl Error message
oopsnoweb.tmpl Error message
oopspreview.tmpl Error message
oopsregemail.tmpl Error message
oopsregexist.tmpl Error message
oopsregpasswd.tmpl Error message
oopsregrequ.tmpl Error message
oopsregthanks.tmpl Error message
oopsregwiki.tmpl Error message
oopsremoveuserdone.tmpl Error message
oopsrenameerr.tmpl Error message
oopsrenamenotwikiword.tmpl Error message
oopsresetpasswd.tmpl Error message
oopsrev.tmpl Error message
oopssave.tmpl Error message
oopssaveerr.tmpl Error message
oopssendmailerr.tmpl Error message
oopstopicexists.tmpl Error message
oopsupload.tmpl Error message
oopsuploadlimit.tmpl Error message
oopswrongpassword.tmpl Error message
preview.tmpl Preview Changes screen
rdiff.tmpl Displays text changes before & after Diffs
registernotify.tmpl Registration notification
rename.tmpl Rename/move control screen (choose web & new topic tile
renamebase.tmpl Used by other rename templates
renameconfirm.tmpl Confirms a pre-specified rename, ex: undoing a rename
renamedelete.tmpl Confirms a delete
renamerefs.tmpl Display if rename done, but some references not changed (topics were locked)
search.tmpl Search screen
searchbookview.tmpl Search results with full topic content
searchformat.tmpl Search screen for formatted search
searchmeta.tmpl Search screen
searchrenameview.tmpl Used by rename to list references to topic being renamed
twiki.tmpl Master template: definitions are used by other templates
view.plain.tmpl Skin for bare bone topic view without header/footer but with HTML head and body tags
view.print.tmpl Skin for printable topic view with a simple header/footer
view.rss.tmpl Skin for topic view in RDF XML format
view.text.tmpl Skin for topic text only, without HTML head and body tags, and no form and attachments
view.tmpl Main topic view - the standard regular Web page

TWiki File System Snapshot

The following partial directory listings from a Linux installation show typical file permissions and ownership. This is provided for general debugging use only and isn't an exact representation of the current distribution.

  • TIP On an ISP installation... The user and group - twiki twiki - will probably be your domain or login name, eg: yourdomain yourdomain and can't be changed; same for nobody nobody files further down. Also, in the bin directory, scripts might need a .cgi (sometimes .pl) extension.

Directory twiki/bin:

drwxrwxr-x    2 twiki   twiki        4096 May  9 00:08 .
drwxrwxr-x    5 twiki   twiki        4096 Nov 18  2002 ..
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        3145 Jul 25 00:31 .htaccess.txt
-rwxrwxr-x    1 twiki   twiki        1459 May 28 23:51 attach
-rwxrwxr-x    1 twiki   twiki        1721 May 28 23:51 changes
-rwxrwxr-x    1 twiki   twiki        1994 May 28 23:51 edit
-rwxrwxr-x    1 twiki   twiki        1878 May 28 23:51 geturl
-rwxrwxr-x    1 twiki   twiki        6689 May 28 23:51 installpasswd
-rwxrwxr-x    1 twiki   twiki        7313 May 28 23:51 mailnotify
-rwxrwxr-x    1 twiki   twiki        3557 Jul 25 15:00 manage
-rwxrwxr-x    1 twiki   twiki        1448 May 28 23:51 oops
-rwxrwxr-x    1 twiki   twiki        4062 May 28 23:51 passwd
-rwxrwxr-x    1 twiki   twiki        1506 May 28 23:51 preview
-rwxrwxr-x    2 twiki   twiki        1490 May 28 23:51 rdiff
-rwxrwxr-x    2 twiki   twiki        1490 May 28 23:51 rdiffauth
-rwxrwxr-x    1 twiki   twiki        7635 May 28 23:51 register
-rwxrwxr-x    1 twiki   twiki        1774 May 28 23:51 rename
-rwxrwxr-x    1 twiki   twiki        1654 Jul 25 00:31 save
-rwxrwxr-x    1 twiki   twiki        1728 May 28 23:51 search
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        2131 Aug  7 21:13 setlib.cfg
-rwxrwxr-x    1 twiki   twiki        2596 May 28 23:51 statistics
-rwxrwxr-x    1 twiki   twiki       39926 Jul 25 15:00 testenv
-rwxrwxr-x    1 twiki   twiki        1478 May 28 23:51 upload
-rwxrwxr-x    2 twiki   twiki        1689 May 28 23:51 view
-rwxrwxr-x    2 twiki   twiki        1689 May 28 23:51 viewauth
-rwxrwxr-x    1 twiki   twiki        1438 May 28 23:51 viewfile

Directory twiki/templates/:

drwxrwxr-x    2 twiki   twiki        4096 Aug  7 19:09 .
drwxrwxr-x    4 twiki   twiki        4096 Aug  7 21:13 ..
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   users        2077 Aug 13 22:21 attachagain.pattern.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   users        1650 Aug 13 22:21 attachagain.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        2556 Jul 27 10:47 attach.dragon.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   users         567 Jul 28 19:52 attachnew.pattern.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   users         470 Jul 28 19:52 attachnew.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   users        2855 Aug  8 03:40 attach.pattern.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   users        1991 Aug  3 13:09 attachtables.pattern.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   users        1869 Jul 27 22:03 attachtables.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   users        2355 Jul 28 19:52 attach.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        1324 Jul 27 10:47 changeform.dragon.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        1441 Aug  6 11:47 changeform.pattern.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        1032 Jul 28 19:52 changeform.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        1870 Jul 27 10:47 changes.dragon.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         433 Jul 31 12:39 changes.pattern.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        1196 May 28 23:51 changes.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki          35 May 21 03:56 comments.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         526 Jul 27 10:47 dragoncssvars.dragon.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        1645 Jul 31 00:57 dragonmenu.dragon.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        4207 Jul 27 10:47 edit.dragon.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki       12608 Jul 28 19:52 edit.iejs.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        4904 Aug  7 17:48 edit.pattern.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        3975 Aug  8 03:40 edit.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         993 May 28 23:51 mailnotify.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        1640 Jul 27 10:47 moveattachment.dragon.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        1968 Aug  7 17:48 moveattachment.pattern.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        1342 Jul 28 19:52 moveattachment.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         571 May 28 23:51 oopsaccesschange.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         587 May 28 23:51 oopsaccessgroup.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         597 Aug  2 11:10 oopsaccessmanage.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         572 May 28 23:51 oopsaccessrename.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         574 May 28 23:51 oopsaccessview.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         571 Aug  2 11:10 oopsattachnotopic.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         998 May 28 23:51 oopsauth.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         646 May 28 23:51 oopsbadcharset.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         406 May 28 23:51 oopsbadpwformat.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         345 May 28 23:51 oopschangepasswd.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         382 May 28 23:51 oopscreatenewtopic.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         627 Jul  7 23:11 oopsempty.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         927 Aug  3 13:09 oopslocked.pattern.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         612 Aug  2 11:10 oopslockedrename.pattern.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         596 Aug  2 11:10 oopslockedrename.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         910 Aug  3 13:09 oopslocked.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         679 May 28 23:51 oopsmanage.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         329 May 28 23:51 oopsmissing.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        2353 May 28 23:51 oopsmngcreateweb.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        2987 Aug  3 13:09 oopsmore.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         418 May 28 23:51 oopsmoveerr.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        1133 May 28 23:51 oopsnoformdef.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         521 May 28 23:51 oopsnotwikiuser.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        1516 Jul 28 19:52 oopsnoweb.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         394 May 28 23:51 oopspreview.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         341 May 28 23:51 oopsregemail.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         411 May 28 23:51 oopsregerr.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         476 May 28 23:51 oopsregexist.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         346 May 28 23:51 oopsregpasswd.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         357 May 28 23:51 oopsregrequ.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         541 May 28 23:51 oopsregthanks.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         680 May 28 23:51 oopsregwiki.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         587 May 28 23:51 oopsremoveuserdone.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         503 May 28 23:51 oopsrenameerr.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         434 May 28 23:51 oopsrenamenotwikiword.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         507 May 28 23:51 oopsresetpasswd.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         962 Jul 28 19:52 oopsrev.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         483 May 28 23:51 oopssaveerr.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         777 Jul  7 23:11 oopssave.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         466 May 28 23:51 oopssendmailerr.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         385 May 28 23:51 oopstopicexists.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         344 May 28 23:51 oopsuploadlimit.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         343 May 28 23:51 oopsupload.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         365 May 28 23:51 oopswrongpassword.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        3590 Jul 27 10:47 preview.dragon.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        2855 Aug  6 11:47 preview.pattern.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        2253 Aug  8 03:40 preview.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        1739 Jul 27 10:47 rdiff.dragon.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   users        1529 Aug 13 22:21 rdiff.pattern.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   users        1299 May 28 23:51 rdiff.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        1159 Jul 31 12:39 registernotify.pattern.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        1160 May 28 23:51 registernotify.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        2561 Jul 27 10:47 renamebase.dragon.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        3363 Aug  8 03:40 renamebase.pattern.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        2279 Jul 28 20:54 renamebase.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         718 Jul 31 12:39 renameconfirm.pattern.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         570 Jul 28 19:52 renameconfirm.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        1046 Jul 31 12:39 renamedelete.pattern.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         932 Jul 28 19:52 renamedelete.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        1147 Jul 31 12:39 rename.pattern.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         766 Jul 28 19:52 renamerefs.pattern.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         616 Jul 28 19:52 renamerefs.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        1041 Jul 28 19:52 rename.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        1397 Jul 27 10:47 searchbookview.dragon.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         723 Jul 31 12:39 searchbookview.pattern.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        1230 May 28 23:51 searchbookview.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        1705 Jul 27 10:47 search.dragon.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         722 Jul 27 10:47 searchformat.dragon.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         157 Jul 31 12:39 searchformat.pattern.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         529 May 28 23:51 searchformat.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         149 Jul  7 23:03 searchmeta.pattern.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         149 May 28 23:51 searchmeta.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        1638 Aug  7 17:48 search.pattern.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        1892 Jul 27 10:47 searchrenameview.dragon.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        1208 Aug  3 13:09 searchrenameview.pattern.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        1615 May 28 23:51 searchrenameview.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        1364 May 28 23:51 search.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        3836 Jul 27 10:47 twiki.dragon.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        3175 Aug  7 17:48 twiki.pattern.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        2798 Jul 27 22:57 twiki.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        1324 Jul 27 10:47 view.dragon.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        3577 Aug  8 03:40 view.pattern.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         425 May 28 23:51 view.plain.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        1056 Jul 31 12:39 view.print.pattern.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         845 May 28 23:51 view.print.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         300 May 28 23:51 view.rss.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki           8 May 28 23:51 view.text.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        1281 Jul 31 12:39 view.tmpl

Directory twiki/data/:

drwxrwxr-x    7 nobody  twiki        4096 Aug  7 21:13 .
drwxrwxr-x    4 twiki   twiki        4096 Aug  7 21:13 ..
-rw-rw-rw-    1 twiki   twiki           0 Feb  1  2003 debug.txt
drwxrwxr-x    2 nobody  twiki        4096 Jul 16 00:36 _default
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki          25 Dec 16  2003 .htpasswd.txt
-rw-rw-r--    1 nobody  nobody      11811 Aug 13 23:10 log200408.txt
drwxrwxr-x    2 nobody  twiki        4096 Aug  4 21:03 Main
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        3419 Aug 13  2001 mime.types
drwxrwxr-x    2 nobody  twiki        4096 Aug  7 21:03 Sandbox
drwxrwxr-x    2 nobody  twiki        4096 Jul 20 18:15 Trash
drwxrwxr-x    2 nobody  twiki       12288 Aug 13 23:10 TWiki
-rw-rw-rw-    1 twiki   twiki           0 Aug  7 18:03 warning.txt

Partial file list for twiki/data/Main:

  • TIP Included files come with their RCS versions histories .txt,v.

drwxrwxr-x    2 nobody  twiki        4096 Aug  4 21:03 .
drwxrwxr-x    7 nobody  twiki        4096 Aug  7 21:13 ..
-rw-rw-rw-    1 twiki   twiki        3743 Aug  4 21:03 .changes
-rw-rw-rw-    1 twiki   twiki           9 Oct 25  2001 .mailnotify
-rw-r--r--    1 nobody  nobody        518 Dec 16  2003 TWikiAdminGroup.txt
-r--r--r--    1 nobody  nobody       2453 Dec 16  2003 TWikiAdminGroup.txt,v
-rw-r--r--    1 nobody  nobody       1668 Aug  4 21:03 TWikiGroups.txt
-r--r--r--    1 nobody  nobody       3421 Aug  4 21:03 TWikiGroups.txt,v
-rw-r--r--    1 nobody  nobody        686 Dec 13  2000 TWikiGuest.txt
-rw-r--r--    1 nobody  nobody       1995 Dec 13  2000 TWikiGuest.txt,v
-rw-r--r--    1 nobody  nobody        319 Dec 20  2003 TWikiPreferences.txt
-r--r--r--    1 nobody  nobody        508 Dec 20  2003 TWikiPreferences.txt,v
-rw-r--r--    1 nobody  nobody       1812 Feb 20 13:54 TWikiUsers.txt
-r--r--r--    1 nobody  nobody       9222 Feb 20 13:54 TWikiUsers.txt,v
-rw-r--r--    1 nobody  nobody        119 Jan 11  2003 TWikiVariables.txt
-r--r--r--    1 nobody  nobody        742 Jan 11  2003 TWikiVariables.txt,v
-rw-r--r--    1 nobody  nobody        124 Aug 16  2001 WebChanges.txt
-r--r--r--    1 nobody  nobody        526 Aug 16  2001 WebChanges.txt,v
-rw-r--r--    1 nobody  nobody       1842 Feb  1  2003 WebHome.txt
-r--r--r--    1 nobody  nobody      11862 Feb  1  2003 WebHome.txt,v
-rw-r--r--    1 nobody  nobody        176 Nov 24  2001 WebIndex.txt
-r--r--r--    1 nobody  nobody        483 Nov 24  2001 WebIndex.txt,v
-rw-r--r--    1 nobody  nobody        922 Feb  3  2003 WebNotify.txt
-r--r--r--    1 nobody  nobody       4303 Feb  3  2003 WebNotify.txt,v
-rw-r--r--    1 nobody  nobody       3738 Dec 25  2003 WebPreferences.txt
-r--r--r--    1 nobody  nobody      10697 Dec 25  2003 WebPreferences.txt,v
-rw-r--r--    1 nobody  nobody        416 Jan 30  2003 WebRss.txt
-r--r--r--    1 nobody  nobody        605 Jan 30  2003 WebRss.txt,v
-rw-r--r--    1 nobody  nobody        164 Jan 18  2004 WebSearchAdvanced.txt
-r--r--r--    1 nobody  nobody        353 Jan 18  2004 WebSearchAdvanced.txt,v
-rw-r--r--    1 nobody  nobody        158 Aug  7  2001 WebSearch.txt
-r--r--r--    1 nobody  nobody      18332 Aug  7  2001 WebSearch.txt,v
-rw-r--r--    1 nobody  nobody        825 Jul 16 00:32 WebStatistics.txt
-r--r--r--    1 nobody  nobody       4226 Jul 16 00:32 WebStatistics.txt,v
-rw-r--r--    1 nobody  nobody        182 Nov 24  2001 WebTopicList.txt
-r--r--r--    1 nobody  nobody        371 Nov 24  2001 WebTopicList.txt,v

Directory twiki/pub/:

drwxrwxr-x    8 nobody  nobody       4096 Nov 18 12:31 .
drwxrwxr-x    3 twiki   twiki        4096 Nov 18 12:31 ..
drwxrwxr-x    2 nobody  nobody       4096 Apr  7  2002 Main
drwxrwxr-x    2 nobody  nobody       4096 Apr 20  2002 Sandbox
drwxrwxr-x    8 nobody  nobody       4096 Nov 18 12:31 TWiki
drwxrwxr-x    2 nobody  nobody       4096 Dec  3  2001 Trash
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        1078 Jan 14  2000 favicon.ico
drwxrwxr-x    2 twiki   twiki        4096 Nov 18 12:31 icn
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki        2877 Jun  7  1999 wikiHome.gif

Partial file list for twiki/pub/icn/:

drwxrwxr-x    2 twiki   twiki        4096 Nov 18 12:31 .
drwxrwxr-x    8 nobody  nobody       4096 Nov 18 12:31 ..
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         801 Mar 26  1999 _filetypes.txt
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         143 Mar  9  1999 bat.gif
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         926 Mar  9  1999 bmp.gif
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         141 Mar 25  1999 c.gif
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         144 Mar  9  1999 dll.gif
-rw-rw-r--    1 twiki   twiki         152 Mar  9  1999 doc.gif

Directory twiki/pub/TWiki:

drwxrwx--x    8 nobody  nobody       4096 Nov 18 12:31 .
drwxrwxr-x    8 nobody  nobody       4096 Nov 18 12:31 ..
drwxrwxr-x    2 nobody  nobody       4096 Nov 18 12:31 FileAttachment
drwxrwxr-x    2 nobody  nobody       4096 Nov 18 12:31 PreviewBackground
drwxrwxr-x    2 nobody  nobody       4096 Nov 18 12:31 TWikiDocGraphics
drwxrwxr-x    2 nobody  nobody       4096 Nov 18 12:31 TWikiLogos
drwxrwxr-x    2 nobody  nobody       4096 Nov 18 12:31 TWikiTemplates
drwxrwxr-x    2 nobody  nobody       4096 Nov 18 12:31 WabiSabi

Directory twiki/pub/TWiki/FileAttachment:

drwxrwxr-x    2 nobody  nobody       4096 Nov 18 12:31 .
drwxrwx--x    8 nobody  nobody       4096 Nov 18 12:31 ..
-rw-rw-r--    1 nobody  nobody         30 Jul 22  1999 Sample.txt
-rw-rw-r--    1 nobody  nobody         94 Jun  7  1999 Smile.gif
-r--r--r--    1 nobody  nobody         81 Aug 15 10:14 Smile.gif,v

-- TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny - 29 Aug 2004
-- TWiki:Main.MikeMannix - 16 May 2002
-- TWiki:Main.ArthurClemens - 08 Aug 2004


Appendix B: TWiki CSS

Listing of CSS class names emitted from TWiki core code and standard plugins, for the 01-Aug-2004 TWiki production release.

Who should read this document?

More or less all html elements generated by TWiki core code now have Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) tags. Skin builders and others who want to change the appearance of the default TWiki installation or any of the skins can use this document to see what styles can be created for these html elements.

Naming conventions

  1. All TWiki class names have the prefix twiki. So: twikiEditPage, twikiTopicAction, etcetera. Remember that CSS class names are case sensitive - TWiki CSS uses lowercase tw.
  2. TWiki uses class names only (.twikiViewPage) and no id names (#twikiViewPage), to allow multiple class names. Class names are written using the dot prefix.
  3. If you define your own CSS classes, it is preferable that you do not use the twiki prefix to prevent undesired overriding effects.

CSS classes

Classes from core code

.twikiNew Changes.pm
.twikiChangeFormButtonHolder Edit.pm
.twikiChangeFormButton Form.pm
.twikiForm Form.pm
.twikiEditFormTextField Form.pm
.twikiEditFormLabelField Form.pm
.twikiEditFormTextAreaField Form.pm
.twikiEditFormCheckboxButton Form.pm
.twikiEditFormCheckboxButton Form.pm
.twikiEditFormCheckboxField Form.pm
.twikiEditFormRadioField Form.pm
.twikiEditFormError Form.pm
.twikiRadioButton Form.pm
.twikiCheckbox Form.pm
.twikiEditFormError Form.pm
.twikiDiffTable RDiff.pm
.twikiDiffDeletedHeader RDiff.pm
.twikiDiffDeletedMarker RDiff.pm
.twikiDiffDeletedText RDiff.pm
.twikiDiffAddedHeader RDiff.pm
.twikiDiffAddedMarker RDiff.pm
.twikiDiffAddedText RDiff.pm
.twikiDiffChangedHeader RDiff.pm
.twikiDiffChangedText RDiff.pm
.twikiDiffUnchangedText RDiff.pm
.twikiDiffLineNumberHeader RDiff.pm
.twikiForm Render.pm
.twikiAnchorLink Render.pm
.twikiLink Render.pm
.twikiNewLink Render.pm
.twikiNew Search.pm
.twikiAlert Search.pm
.twikiAlert Statistics.pm
.twikiAlert TWiki.pm
.twikiToc TWiki.pm
.twikiTocTitle TWiki.pm

Classes from Plugins

TablePlugin

.twikiSortedAscendingCol TablePlugin.pm
.twikiSortedDescendingCol TablePlugin.pm
.twikiFirstCol TablePlugin.pm

Going further

PatternSkin makes fully use of CSS in its templates. Read the PatternSkin topic and PatternSkinCss to learn more about adjusting PatternSkin, or creating your own CSS-based skin.

See also: DragonSkin.

Practical introduction to CSS: http://www.w3.org/Style/LieBos2e/enter/

-- TWiki:Main.ArthurClemens - 08 Aug 2004


Appendix C: Encode URLs With UTF8

This page addresses implemented UTF-8 support for URLs only. The overall plan for UTF-8 support for TWiki is described in TWiki:Codev.ProposedUTF8SupportForI18N .

Current Status

To simplify use of internationalised characters within WikiWords and attachment names, TWiki now supports UTF-8 URLs, converting on-the-fly to virtually any character set, including ISO-8859-*, KOI8-R, EUC-JP, and so on.

Support for UTF-8 URL encoding avoids having to configure the browser to turn off this encoding in URLs (the default in Internet Explorer, Opera Browser and some Mozilla Browser URLs) and enables support of browsers where only this mode is supported (e.g. Opera Browser for Symbian smartphones). A non-UTF-8 site character set (e.g. ISO-8859-*) is still used within TWiki, and in fact pages are stored and viewed entirely in the site character set - the browser dynamically converts URLs from the site character set into UTF-8, and TWiki converts them back again.

System requirements are updated as follows:

  • ASCII or ISO-8859-1-only sites do not require any additional CPAN modules to be installed.
  • Perl 5.8 sites using any character set do not require additional modules, since CPAN:Encode is installed as part of Perl.
  • This feature still works on Perl 5.005_03 as per TWikiSystemRequirements, or Perl 5.6, as long as CPAN:Unicode::MapUTF8 is installed.

ISO-2022-*, HZ-* and other 'non-ASCII-safe' multi-byte character sets are now specifically excluded from use as the site character set, since they interfere with TWiki ML; however, many multi-byte character sets work fine, e.g. EUC-JP, GB2312, etc.

It's now possible to override the site character set defined in the $siteLocale setting in TWiki.cfg - this enables you to have a slightly different spelling of the character set in the server locale (e.g. 'eucjp') and the HTTP header sent to the browser (e.g. 'euc-jp').

This feature should also support use of Mozilla Browser with TWiki:Codev.TWikiOnMainframe (as long as mainframe web server can convert or pass through UTF-8 URLs) - however, this specific combination is not tested. Other browser-server combinations should not have any problems.

Please note that use of UTF-8 as the site character set is not yet supported - see Phase 2 of TWiki:Codev.ProposedUTF8SupportForI18N for plans and work to date in this area.

This feature is complete in TWiki releases newer than February 2004.

Note for skin developers: %INTURLENCODE% is no longer required (TWiki:Plugins.InternationalisingYourSkin).

Details of Implementation

URLs are not allowed to contain non-ASCII (8th bit set) characters: http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/appendix/notes.html#non-ascii-chars

The overall plan for UTF-8 support for TWiki is described in two phases in TWiki:/Codev.ProposedUTF8SupportForI18N - this page addresses the first phase, in which UTF-8 is supported for URLs only.

UTF-8 URL translation to virtually any character set is supported as of TWiki Release 01 Sep 2004, but full UTF-8 support (e.g. pages in UTF-8) is not supported yet - this will be phase 2.

The code automatically detects whether a URL is UTF-8 or not, taking care to avoid over-long and illegal UTF-8 encodings that could introduce TWiki:Codev.MajorSecurityProblemWithIncludeFileProcessing (tested against a comprehensive UTF-8 test file, which IE 5.5 fails quite dangerously, and Opera Browser passes). Any non-ASCII URLs that are not valid UTF-8 are then assumed to be directly URL-encoded as a single-byte or multi-byte character set (as now), e.g. EUC-JP.

The main point is that you can use TWiki with international characters in WikiWords without changing your browser setup from the default, and you can also still use TWiki using non-UTF-8 URLs. This works on any Perl version from 5.005_03 onwards and corresponds to Phase 1 of TWiki:Codev.ProposedUTF8SupportForI18N. You can have different users using different URL formats transparently on the same server.

UTF-8 URLs are automatically converted to the current $siteCharset (from the TWiki.cfg locale setting), using modules such as CPAN:Encode if needed.

TWiki generates the whole page in the site charset, e.g. ISO-8859-1 or EUC-JP, but the browser dynamically UTF-8 encodes the attachment's URL when it's used. Since Apache serves attachment downloads without TWiki being involved, TWiki's code can't do its UTF-8 decoding trick, so TWiki URL-encodes such URLs in ISO-8859-1 or whatever when generating the page, to bypass this URL encoding, ensuring that the URLs and filenames seen by Apache remain in the site charset.

TWiki:Codev.TWikiOnMainframe uses EBCDIC web servers that typically translate their output to ASCII, UTF-8 or ISO-8859-1 (and URLs in the other direction) since there are so few EBCDIC web browsers. Such web servers don't work with even ISO-8859-1 URLs if they are URL encoded, since the automated translation is bypassed for URL-encoded characters. For TWiki on Mainframe, TWiki assumes that the web server will automatically translate UTF-8 URLs into EBCDIC URLs, as long as URL encoding is turned off in TWiki pages.

Testing and Limitation

It should work with TWiki:Codev.TWikiOnMainframe. Tested with IE 5.5, Opera 7.11 and Mozilla (Firebird 0.7).

Opera Browser on the P800 smartphone is working for page viewing but leads to corrupt page names when editing pages.

For up to date information see TWiki:Codev.EncodeURLsWithUTF8

-- TWiki:Main.RichardDonkin - 7 Jan 2004
-- TWiki:Main.MattWilkie - 10 Aug 2004
-- TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny - 14 Aug 2004


Appendix D: TWiki Development Timeline

01-Sep-2004 Release (Cairo)

Major New Features

  • Automatic upgrade script, and easier first-time installation
  • Attractive new skins, using a standard set of CSS classes, and a skin browser to help you choose
  • New easier-to-use save options
  • Many improvements to SEARCH
  • Improved support for internationalisation
  • Better topic management screens
  • More pre-installed Plugins: CommentPlugin, EditTablePlugin, RenderListPlugin, SlideShowPlugin, SmiliesPlugin, SpreadSheetPlugin, TablePlugin
  • Improved Plugins API and more Plugin callbacks
  • Better support for different authentication methods
  • Many user interface and usability improvements
  • And many, many more enhancements

Details of New Features and Enhancements of 01-Sep-2004 Release Developer, Sponsor
Install: Ship with an automatic upgrade script to facilitate TWiki upgrades. Details TWiki:Main.MartinGregory TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Install: New testenv function to change the locks in the TWiki database to the web server user id (automates installation step). Details TWiki:Main.MattWilkie TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Install: The shipped .htaccess.txt now needs to be edited before it is valid, to help reduce chances of error. Details TWiki:Main.CrawfordCurrie TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Install: Configurable password file handling for different types of encryption. Details TWiki:Main.PavelGoran TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Install: Remove office locations from registration. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Install: Changes to support shorter URLs with Apache Rewrite rules. Details TWiki:Main.AntonioBellezza TWiki:Main.WalterMundt
Install: Remove the Know web from the distribution. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Internationalization: Support use of UTF-8 URLs for I18N characters in TWiki page and attachment names. Details TWiki:Main.RichardDonkin
Authentication: Authenticate users when creating new topic in view restricted web. Details TWiki:Main.JonathanGraehl TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Preferences: TWiki Preferences need to be secured properly. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Preferences: Use TWiki Forms to set user preferences. Details TWiki:Main.JohnTalintyre
Skins: New pre-installed skins PatternSkin and DragonSkin. Details TWiki:Main.ArthurClemens TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Skins: New skin browser to choose from installed skins. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Skins: Documented set of CSS classes that are used in standard skins. Details TWiki:Main.ArthurClemens TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Skins: Added CSS class names to Diff output. Details TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Skins: Templates can now be read from user topics, as well as from files in the templates diretcory. Details TWiki:Main.CrawfordCurrie TWiki:Main.WalterMundt
Skins: Ensure that the default template gets overridden by a template passed in. Details TWiki:Main.MartinCleaver TWiki:Main.WalterMundt
Skin: Convey an important broadcast message to all users, e.g. scheduled server downtime. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Skin: Balanced pastel colors for TWiki webs. Details TWiki:Main.ArthurClemens
Rendering: Use exclamation point prefix to escape TWiki markup rendering. Details TWiki:Main.ArthurClemens
Rendering: Ordered lists with uppercase & lowercase letters, uppercase & lowercase Roman numerals. Details TWiki:Main.DanBoitnott TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Rendering: Allow custom styles for the "?" of uncreated topics. Details TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Rendering: Render IRC and NNTP as a URL. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Rendering: Make acronym linking more strict by requiring a trailing boundary, e.g. excluding TLAfoobar. Details TWiki:Main.CrawfordCurrie TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Rendering: TWiki Form with Label type. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Rendering: Web names can now be WikiWords. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Rendering: New syntax for definition list with dollar sign and colon. Details TWiki:Main.AdamTheo TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Rendering: Table with multi-span rows, functionality provided by Table Plugin. Details TWiki:Main.WalterMundt
Variables: New title parameter for TOC variable. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny TWiki:Main.ArthurClemens
Variables: New REVINFO variable in templates supports flexible display of revision information. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Variables: Set times to be displayed as gmtime or servertime. Details TWiki:Main.SueBlake TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Variables: Properly encode parameters for form fields with ENCODE variable. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Variables: Expand USERNAME and WIKINAME in Template Topics. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Variables: Expand same variables in new user template as in template topics. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Variables: Optionally warn when included topic does not exist; with the option to create the included topic. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Variables: In topic text show file-types of attached files as icons. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Variables: New variable FORMFIELD returns the value of a field in the form attached to a topic.. Details TWiki:Main.DavidSachitano TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Variables: Meta data rendering for form fields with META{"formfield"}. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Variables: New PLUGINVERSION variable. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Variables: URLPARAM now has a default="..." argument, for when no value has been given. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Variables: URLPARAM variable with newline parameter. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Variables: URLPARAM variable with new multiple=on parameter. Details TWiki:Main.PaulineCheung TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Search: New switch for search to perform an AND NOT search. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Search: Keyword search to search with implicit AND. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Search: Multiple searches in same topic with new multiple="on" paramter. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Search: Remove limitation on number of topics to search in a web. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Search: Exclude topics from search with an excludetopic parameter. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Search: Expand Variables on Formatted Search with expandvariables Flag. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Search: Formatted Search with Web Form variable to retrieve the name of the form attached to a topic. Details TWiki:Main.FrankSmith TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Search: Formatted Search with Conditional Output. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Search: Formatted Search with $parent token to get the parent topic. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Search: New separator parameter to SEARCH supports better SEARCH embedding. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Search: Improved search performance when sorting result by topic name. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Search: New scope=all search parameter to search in topic name and topic text at the same time. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Search: New topic parameter for AND search on topic text and topic name. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Search modules uses Perl-style keyword parameters (code cleanup). Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Search: New $wikiname variable in format parameter of formatted search. Details TWiki:Main.ArthurClemens
Search: Sort search by topic creation date. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Search: Topic creation date and user in Formatted Search. Details TWiki:Main.CoreyFruitman TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Search: Increase levels of nested search from 2 to 16. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Plugins: New pre-installed Plugins CommentPlugin, EditTablePlugin, RenderListPlugin, SlideShowPlugin, SmiliesPlugin, SpreadSheetPlugin, TablePlugin. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Plugins: New callback afterSaveHandler, called after a topic is saved. Details TWiki:Main.WalterMundt
Plugins: New callbacks beforeAttachmentSaveHandler and afterAttachmentSaveHandler, used to intervene on attachment save event. Details TWiki:Main.MartinCleaver TWiki:Main.WalterMundt
Plugins: New callbacks beforeCommonTagsHandler and afterCommonTagsHandler. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Plugins: New callback renderFormFieldForEditHandler to render form field for edit. Details TWiki:Main.JohnTalintyre
Plugins: New callback renderWikiWordHandler to custom render links. Details TWiki:Main.MartinCleaver TWiki:Main.WalterMundt
Plugins: New function TWiki::Func::formatTime to format time into a string. Details TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Plugins: New function TWiki::Func::getRegularExpression to get predefined regular expressions. Details TWiki:Main.RichardDonkin
Plugins: New functions TWiki::Func::getPluginPreferences* to get Plugin preferences. Details TWiki:Main.WalterMundt
Plugins: New function TWiki::Func::extractParameters to extract all parameters from a variable string. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Plugins: New function TWiki::Func::checkDependencies to check for module dependency. Details TWiki:Main.CrawfordCurrie TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Plugins: A recommendation for where a Plugin can store its data. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
UI: Show tool-tip topic info on WikiWord links. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
UI: Save topic and continue edit feature. Details TWiki:Main.ColasNahaboo
UI: Change topic with direct save (without edit/preview/save cycle) and checkpoint save. Details TWiki:Main.MattWilkie TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
UI: In attachment table, change 'action' to 'manage'. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny TWiki:Main.ArthurClemens
UI: Smaller usability enhancements on the file attachment table. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny TWiki:Main.ArthurClemens
UI: Removes anchor links from header content and places them before the text to fix 'header becomes link'. Details TWiki:Main.ArthurClemens
UI: Improved functionality of the More screen. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny TWiki:Main.ArthurClemens
UI: Quick reference chart of most used markup is now listed on the edit screen. Details TWiki:Main.ArthurClemens
UI: Flag for edit script to avoid overwrite of existing topic text and form data. Details TWiki:Main.NielsKoldso TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
UI: Disable Escape key in IE textarea to prevent it cancelling work. Details TWiki:Main.CrawfordCurrie TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
UI: Improved warning message on unsaved topic. Details TWiki:Main.MartinGregory TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
UI: Reverse order of words in page title for better multi-window/tab navigation. Details TWiki:Main.ArthurClemens
UI: Provides a framework to create and modify a topic without going through edit->preview->save sequence. Details TWiki:Main.AndreUlrich TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
UI: Set the topic parent to none in More screen, e.g. remove the current topic parent. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
UI: Use templates to define how file attachments are displayed. Was previously hard-coded. Details TWiki:Main.CrawfordCurrie TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
UI: Topic diff shows unified diff with unchanged context. Details TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
UI: Diff feature shows TWiki form changes in nice tables. Details TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Code refactoring: The log entry for a save now has a dontNotify flag in the extra field if the user checked the minor changes flag. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Code refactoring: Server-side include of attachments accelerates INCLUDE. Details TWiki:Main.CrawfordCurrie TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Code refactoring: Move functionality out of bin scripts and into included modules. Details TWiki:Main.CrawfordCurrie TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Code refactoring: Move bin script functionality into TWiki::UI modules. Details TWiki:Main.CrawfordCurrie TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Code refactoring: Optimize preferences handling for better performance. Details TWiki:Main.PavelGoran TWiki:Main.WalterMundt
Code refactoring: Refactor variable expansion for edit and register. Details TWiki:Main.CrawfordCurrie TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Code refactoring: Move savemulti script into TWiki::UI::Save. Details TWiki:Main.MattWilkie TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Code refactoring: Topic search is done natively in Perl, it does not depend anymore on system calls with pipes. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Code refactoring: Fix logical error in upload script which prevented MIME filename from being used. Details TWiki:Main.WalterMundt

Bug Fixes of 01-Sep-2004 Release Developer, Sponsor
Fix: Consistently create headings with empty anchor tags. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: TOC does not work for headings containing & without spaces surrounding it. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: Backslash line break breaks TWiki form definitions. Details TWiki:Main.CrawfordCurrie TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: Rename fixes unrelated topic references. Details TWiki:Main.RichardDonkin
Fix: Bug with infinite recursion in search. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: Can't send mail with full 'From' address. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: All scripts change to $bin before execute (for mod_perl2). Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: Several RSS readers do not show all entries seen in the WebChanges list; repeated updates to the same topics get lost. Details TWiki:Main.ArthurClemens
Fix: TWiki::Access::checkAccessPermission function improperly handles Main and TWiki webs. Details TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Fix: Topic save returns error CI Date precedes date in revision. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: Double quotes got replaced by " in TWiki forms. Details TWiki: MS TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: Duplicated Wiki name in .htpasswd entry for sha1 encoding. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: When viewing a previous version of a topic, the view script substitutes only one occurrence of the variable EDITTOPIC. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: Form default values are not working for text fields. Details TWiki:Main.ThomasWeigert TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Fix: Formatted searches using a $pattern which unbalanced parenthesis crash TWiki. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: Formatted Search uses title but should use name for formfield parameter. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: GMTIME variable returns unwanted GMT text. Details TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Fix: Include from other Web links ACRONYMS. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: Including an HTML file is very slow. Details TWiki:Main.JohnTalintyre
Fix: includeUrl() mess up absolute URLs. Details TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Fix: Filter out fixed font rendering in TOC to avoid unrendered = equal signs in TOC. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: The initializeUserHandler is broken for session Plugins. Details TWiki:Main.JohnTalintyre
Fix: SEARCH fails with very large webs. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: Security alert: User could gain view access rights of another user. Details TWiki:Main.KimCovil TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: 'print to closed file handle' error of log files are not writable. Details TWiki:Main.MartinGregory TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Fix: Meta data handler can't process CR-LF line endings. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: METAFIELD meta data is not shown in view raw=on mode. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: Minor XHTML non-compliance in templates and code. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: Getting pages from virtual hosts fails. Details TWiki:Main.JohnTalintyre
Fix: Create new web fails if RCS files do not exist. Details TWiki:Main.ClausBrunzema TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Fix: Metacharacters can be passed through to the shell in File Attach. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: Ability to delete non-WikiWord topics without confirmation. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: + symbol in password reset fails. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: Pathinfo cleanup for hosted sites. Details TWiki:Main.MikeSalisbury TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Fix: Software error in SEARCH if regular expression pattern has unmached parenthesis. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: Pipe chars in the comment field of the attachment table are not escaped. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: Link escaping in preview fails for not quoted hrefs. Details TWiki:Main.TedPavlic TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: Preview expands variables twice. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: Using a proxy with TWiki fails; no proxy-HTTP request, minimal request not HTTP 1.0, requests marked 1.1 are at best 1.0. Details TWiki:Main.MichaelSparks TWiki:Main.JohnTalintyre
Fix: Runaway view processes with TWiki::Sore::RcsLite. Details TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Fix: Regex Error in WebTopicList with topics that have meta characters in the name. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: Rename script misses some ref-by topics. Details TWiki:Main.JohnTalintyre
Fix: Links to self within the page being renamed are not changed. Details TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Fix: Rename topic does 'Main.Main.UserName' for attachments. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: Revision date is set to Jan 1970 when using RCS Lite. Details TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Fix: The new dynamically-created SiteMap is very nice, but somewhat slow. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: The makeAnchorName function did not produce the same results if called iteratively, resulting in problems trying to link to headers.. Details TWiki:Main.WalterMundt
Fix: Statistics page does not provide links to non-wikiword topics. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: Make TOC link URI references relative. Details TWiki:Main.MartinGregory TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: TWiki hangs when used on Apache 2.0. Details TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Fix: TOC incorrectly strips out links in headers. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: The HTML tags that are generated by TOC do not close properly. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: TOC on INCLUDEd topic ignores STOPINCLUDE. Details TWiki:Main.WillNorris TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: Quotes in tooltip message can break a TWiki form. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: Better error message if the file attachment directory is not writable. Details TWiki:Main.CrawfordCurrie TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Fix: Image size of PNG files. Details TWiki:Main.ArthurClemens
Fix: The testenv script distinguishes between real user ID and effective user ID. Details TWiki:Main.RichardDonkin
Fix: Variables in square bracket links dont work in form fields. Details TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Fix: Variable with Parameters in Form Fields Disappear. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: Verbatim tag should escape HTML entities. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: Field names of TWiki Forms can be WikiWords, this is used to link to a help topic. Details TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Fix: Clean up the WebRssBase INCLUDES to use VARIABLES set in TWikiPreferences. Details TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit
Fix: Resolving variables in included topics. Details TWiki:Main.OliverKrueger TWiki:Main.SvenDowideit

01-Feb-2003 Release (Beijing)

01-Dec-2001 Release (Athens)

01-Sep-2001 Release

01-Dec-2000 Release

01-May-2000 Release

  • 21 Apr 2000 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • New TWikiVariables %HTTP_HOST% , %REMOTE_ADDR% , %REMOTE_PORT% and %REMOTE_USER% .
  • 21 Apr 2000 - TWiki:Main.JohnAltstadt, TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • TWikiRegistration is done separately for Intranet use (depends on remote_user) or Internet use (depends on .htpasswd file).
  • 20 Mar 2000 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Uploading a file (topic file attachment) will optionally create a link to the uploaded file at the end of the topic. The preference variable %ATTACHLINKBOX% controls the default state of the link check box in the attach file page.
  • 11 Mar 2000 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Better security with taint checking ( Perl -T option )
  • 25 Feb 2000 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • New preference variables %EDITBOXWIDTH% and %EDITBOXHEIGHT% to specify the edit box size.
  • 25 Feb 2000 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Edit preferences topics to set TWiki variables. There are three level of preferences Site-level (TWikiPreferences), web-level (WebPreferences in each web) and user-level preferences (for each of the TWikiUsers). With this, discontinue use of server side include of wikiwebs.inc , wikiwebtable.inc , weblist.inc , webcopyright.inc and webcolors.inc files.
  • 11 Feb 2000 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • New variable %SCRIPTSUFFIX% / $scriptSuffix containing an optional file extension of the TWiki Perl script. Templates have been changed to use this variable. This allows you to rename the Perl script files to have a file extension like for example ".cgi".
  • 11 Feb 2000 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • New variable %SCRIPTURLPATH% / $scriptUrlPath containing the script URL without the domain name. Templates have been changed to use this variable instead of %SCRIPTURL% . This is for performance reasons.
  • 07 Feb 2000 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Changed the syntax for server side include variable from %INCLUDE:"filename.ext"% to %INCLUDE{"filename.ext"}% . (Previous syntax still supported. Change was done because of inline search syntax)
  • 07 Feb 2000 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Inline search. New variable %SEARCH{"str" ...}% to show a search result embedded in a topic text. TWikiVariables has more on the syntax. Inline search combined with the category table feature can be used for example to create a simple bug tracking system.
  • 04 Feb 2000 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Access statistics. Each web has a WebStatistics topic that shows monthy statistics with number of topic views and changes, most popular topics, and top contributors. (It needs to be enabled, TWikiDocumentation has more.)
  • 29 Jan 2000 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Fixed bug where TWiki would not initialize correctly under certain circumstances, i.e. when running it under mod_perl. Sub initialize in wiki.pm did not handle $thePathInfo correctly.
  • 24 Jan 2000 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
  • 10 Jan 2000 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • No more escaping for '%' percent characters. (Number of consecutive '%' entered and displayed is identical.)
  • 03 Oct 1999 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Limit the number of revisions shown at the bottom of the topic. Example
      Topic TWikiHistory . { ..... Diffs r1.10 > r1.9 > r1.8 > r1.7 >... }
      Additional revisions can be selected by pressing the >... link.

01-Sep-1999 Release

  • 31 Aug 1999 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Fixed Y2K bug. (Date in year 2000 had wrong format.)
  • 08 Aug 1999 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • New text formatting rule for creating tables. Text gets rendered as a table if enclosed in " " vertical bars. Example line as it is written and how it shows up
  • 03 Aug 1999 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Online registration of new user using web form in TWikiRegistration. Authentication of users.
  • 22 Jul 1999 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Flags $doLogTopic* in wikicfg.pm to selectively log topic view, edit, save, rdiff, attach, search and changes to monthly log file.
  • 21 Jul 1999 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Flag $doRemovePortNumber in wikicfg.pm to optionally remove the port number from the TWiki URL. Example www.some.domain:1234/twiki gets www.some.domain/twiki .
  • 15 Jul 1999 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Search path for include files in %INCLUDE:"file.inc"% variable. Search first in the current web, then in parent data directory. Useful to overload default include text in the data directory by web-specific text, like for example webcopyright.inc text.
  • 07 Jul 1999 - TWiki:Main.ChristopheVermeulen
    • Link a plural topic to a singular topic in case the plural topic does not exist. Example TestVersion / TestVersions , TestPolicy / TestPolicies , TestAddress / TestAddresses , TestBox / TestBoxes .

01-Jul-1999 Release

  • 23 Jun 1999 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • New TextFormattingRules to write bold italic text by enclosing words with double underline characters.
  • 23 Jun 1999 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Separate wiki.pm into configuration (wikicfg.pm) and TWiki core (wiki.pm) . This is to ease the upgrade of TWiki installations, it also allows customized extensions to TWiki without affecting the TWiki core.
  • 21 May 1999 - TWiki:Main.DavidWarman
    • Externalize copyright text at the bottom of every page into a web-specific webcopyright.inc file. This is to easily customize the copyright text.
  • 20 May 1999 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Added meta tag so that robots index only /view/ of topics, not /edit/, /attach/ e.t.c. Tag <META NAME="ROBOTS" CONTENT="NOINDEX">
  • 20 May 1999 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • New variables %WIKIHOMEURL% (link when pressing the icon on the upper left corner) and %WIKITOOLNAME% (the name of the wiki tool TWiki ).
  • 15 Apr 1999 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Topic locking Warn user if a topic has been edited by an other person within one hour. This is to prevent contention, e.g. simultaneous topic updates.
  • 26 Mar 1999 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • File attachments Upload and download any file as a topic attachment by using the browser. FileAttachment has more.
  • 26 Mar 1999 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • New variables %PUBURL% (Public directory URL) and %ATTACHURL% (URL of topic file attachment).
  • 09 Feb 1999 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • New text formatting rule for creating fixed font text . Words get showns in fixed font by enclosing them in "=" equal signs. Example Writing =fixed font= will show up as fixed font .
  • 09 Feb 1999 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • No new topic revision is created if the same person saves a topic again within one hour.
  • 03 Feb 1999 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Possible to view complete revision history of a topic on one page. Access at the linked date in the Changes page, or the Diffs link at the bottom of each topic, e.g.
      Topic TWikiHistory . { Edit Ref-By Diffs r1.3 > r1.2 > r1.1 }
      Revision r1.3 1998/11/10 01:34 by PeterThoeny
  • 04 Jan 1999 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Fixed bug when viewing differences between topic revisions that include HTML table tags like <table>, <tr>, <td>.

1998 Releases

  • 08 Dec 1998 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Signature is shown below the text area when editing a topic. Use this to easily copy & paste your signature into the text.
  • 07 Dec 1998 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Possible to add a category table to a TWiki topic. 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. TWikiDocumentation has more on setup. The TWiki.Know web uses this category table to set classification, platform and OS version.
  • 18 Nov 1998 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Internal log of topic save actions to the file data/logYYYYMM.txt, where YYYYMM the year and month in numeric format is. Intended for auditing only, not accessible from the web.
  • 10 Nov 1998 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • The email notification and the Changes topic have now a topic date that is linked. Clicking on the link will show the difference between the two most recent topic revisions.
  • 10 Nov 1998 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • View differences between topic revisions. Each topic has a list of revisions (e.g. r1.3) and differences thereof (e.g. >) at the bottom
      Topic TWikiHistory . { Edit Ref-By r1.3 > r1.2 > r1.1 }
      Revision r1.3 1998/11/10 01:34 by TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
  • 26 Oct 1998 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Added preview of topic changes before saving the topic. This was necessary to prevent unneeded revisions.
  • 26 Oct 1998 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Added revision control using RCS. Each topic has now a list of revisions at the bottom and a revision info, e.g.
      Topic TWikiHistory . { Edit Ref-By r1.3 r1.2 r1.1 }
      Revision r1.3 1998/10/26 01:34:00 by TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
  • 14 Oct 1998 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Refered-By Find out which topics have a link to the current topic. Each topic has a Ref-By link for that. Note Only references from the current web are shown, not references from other webs.
  • 13 Oct 1998 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
  • 24 Sep 1998 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Corrected templates for automatic email notification so that MS Outlook can display attachment as an HTML file.
  • 13 Aug 1998 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • WikiNotation allows also numbers after the AaA sequence, e.g. AaA1 is a valid WikiTopic name, but not Aa1.
  • 07 Aug 1998 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Automatic email notification when something has changed in a TWiki web. Each web has a topic WebNotify where one can subscribe and unsubscribe.
  • 06 Aug 1998 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Added server side include of files. Syntax is %INCLUDE:"filename.ext"%
  • 05 Aug 1998 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Signature and date is inserted automatically when creating a new topic.
  • 04 Aug 1998 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Separate templates for text of non existing topic and default text of new topic. (template file templates/Web/notedited.tmpl)
  • 04 Aug 1998 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Warn user if new topic name is not a valid Wiki name. (template file templates/Web/notwiki.tmpl)
  • 31 Jul 1998 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Support for quoted text with a '>' at the beginning of the line.
  • 28 Jul 1998 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Added TWiki variables, enclosed in % signs %TOPIC% (Topic name), %WEB% (web name), %SCRIPTURL% (script URL), %DATE% (current date), %WIKIWEBMASTER% (Wiki webmaster address), %WIKIVERSION% (Wiki version), %USERNAME% (user name), %WIKIUSERNAME% (Wiki user name).
  • 28 Jul 1998 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Topic WebChanges shows Wiki username instead of Intranet username, e.g. PeterThoeny instead of thoeny in case the Wiki username exists. Implementation Automatic lookup of Wiki username in topic TWikiUsers.
  • 28 Jul 1998 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Topic index. (Technically speaking a simple '.*' search on topic names.)
  • 28 Jul 1998 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Topic WebSearch allows full text search and and topic search with/without regular expressions.
  • 27 Jul 1998 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Added automatic links to topics in other TWiki webs by specifying <web name>.<topic name>, e.g. Know.WebSeach .
  • 23 Jul 1998 - TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
    • Installed initial version, based on the JOS Wiki. See WikiWikiClones for details.

Dev Flow

The typical TWiki development flow...