SID-02318: List of ALL variables

Status:	Answered	TWiki version:	6.0.2	Perl version:	v5.16.3
Category:	FilterPlugin	Server OS:	CentOS 7 Linux 3.10.0-514.21.1.el7.x86_64	Last update:	9 years ago

How is the list of all TWiki variables searched for? I was looking for help on EXTRACT (which turns out to be in the filter plug-in) and it does not appear in the TWikiVariablesSearch results. I know the variable is defined somewhere in my installation because my code runs, I just need to tweak it. Are plugins not searched for defined variables? Is this a lack on the part of the plug-in contributor? How can I contribute to amend the deficit?

-- Chris Duncombe Rae - 2017-06-13

Discussion and Answer

Are plugins not searched for defined variables? - well, yes and no. Plugin variables are found by TWikiVariablesSearch if they contain a topic like in your case VarEXTRACT in the TWiki web. Unfortunately, FilterPlugin does not have such topics for its variables. I wouldn't say that this is a lack of the contributor because when the plugin was created, the mechanism to search for variables didn't exist at all. Back then, TWikiVariables was a monolithic topic (two topics, to be precise) and didn't show any plugin variables.

The "modern" way of plugin documentation would be to split the topic FilterPlugin into the general description and individual VarXXX topics for the individual variables. If you want to contribute - that would be very welcome - just go ahead and do it! I myself wouldn't dare it because I am not familiar at all with that plugin, but on first glance it seems that the variables aren't independent of each other. Perhaps a "stub" VarXXX topic pointing to the plugin topic would be the best solution?

-- Harald Jörg - 2017-06-13

Thanks for the info! If I create VarVARIABLE topics for the missing variables in the filter plugin how would I bundle them with the plugin distribution? I'm guessing I'd have to update the .zip .tgz, .md5 attachments and upload those as well as edit the FilterPlugin page, unless these are done automatically.. I see SVN might be involved which I have used but am not familiar with. Prefer git!

-- Chris Duncombe Rae - 2017-06-14

And found the answer to my own follow-up question here: Plugins.ReadmeFirst

-- Chris Duncombe Rae - 2017-06-14

You could also just make the changes locally in your TWiki and attach a diff to FilterPluginDev. From there, I can merge them into TWiki SVN and create the updated plugin package.

-- Harald Jörg - 2017-06-14

Good to know!

-- Chris Duncombe Rae - 2017-06-14

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