<<O>> Difference Topic MetaDataDefinition (r1.7 - 07 Sep 2001 - MikeMannix)

Changed:

<
<

TWiki Meta Data
- What is Meta Data in TWiki?
- Rendering Meta Data

TWiki Meta Data

What is Meta Data in TWiki?

What, indeed!

Defining Meta Data Variables

See Meta Data Rendering for variables used to display meta data.

Current version: 1.0

Syntax

Format is as for [[TWikiDocumentation#TWiki_Variables, 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' is represented in values by %_N_ and '"' by %_Q_%

Example of Format

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

Specifications

TOPICINFO

Key	Comment
version	Same as RCS version
date	integer, unx 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

TOPICMOVED

This is optional, exists if topic has ever been moved. If a topic is moved more than once, only the most recent 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, unx 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.

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.

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, unx time, seconds since start 1970
user	the REMOTE_USER, not WikiName
comment	As supplied when file uploaded
attr	`h` if hidden, optional

Extra field that are added if an attachment is moved:

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

FORM

Key	Comment
name	A topic name - the topic is a Form Template. Can optionally include the web name i.e. web.topic, but doesn't normally

FIELD

Should only be present if there is a 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 Form Template, is title with all bar alphanumerics and . removed
title	Full text from Form Template
value	Value user has supplied via form

Recommended Sequence

There no absolute need for meta data variables to be in a specific order, however, it does for the following reasons:

Keep (form) fields in the order they are defined
Allow diff command to give output in a logically sensible order

These could be done in other ways, but this adds complexity

Order fields - definition could be read on each rendering (expensive)
Diff - render data before doing diff, has something to offer, but not likely to be available for next TWiki release

So the order is:

TOPICINFO
text of topic
TOPICMOVED - optional
TOPICPARENT - optional
FILEATTACHMENT - 0 or more entries
FORM - optional
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 (ie: 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

Future Support for Plugins

There is currently no support for meta data for Plugins. However, the format is readily extendable and the Meta.pm code that supports the format needs only minor alteration.

Rendering Meta Data

Various types of meta data can be stored in topics. The data is rendered using the %META% variable. This is mostly used in the view, preview and edit scripts.

Current support is fairly basic:

Variable usage:	Comment:
%META{"form"}%	Show form data, see Form Templates
%META{"attachments"}%	Show attachments, exclude hidden
options for attachments:
all="on"	Show ALL attachments (including hidden)
%META{"moved"}%	Details of any topic moves
%META{"parent [options]"}%	Show topic parent
options for parent:
dontrecurse="on"	By default recurses up tree, at some cost
prefix="..."	Prefix for parents, only if there are parents; default ""
suffix="..."	Suffix, only appears if there are parents; default ""
seperator="..."	Separator between parents, default is " > "

Future Development: There are numerous development directions and specific features to consider. A couple of obvious possibilities:
- Rendering to formats other than tables: bullet lists, formatted body text;
- Specifying templates to be used for rendering.

-- JohnTalintyre - 29 Aug 2001

>
>

Merged into TWikiMetaData - this topic to be rolled back.

<<O>> Difference Topic MetaDataDefinition (r1.6 - 07 Sep 2001 - MikeMannix)


Changed:
< <	TWiki Meta Data
> >	TWiki Meta Data
Changed:
< <	What is Meta Data in TWiki?
> >	What is Meta Data in TWiki?
Changed:
< <	Syntax
> >	Syntax
Changed:
< <	Specifications
> >	Specifications
Changed:
< <	TOPICINFO
> >	TOPICINFO
Changed:
< <	TOPICMOVED
> >	TOPICMOVED
Changed:
< <	TOPICPARENT
> >	TOPICPARENT
Changed:
< <	FILEATTACHMENT
> >	FILEATTACHMENT
Changed:
< <	FORM
> >	FORM
Changed:
< <	FIELD
> >	FIELD
Changed:
< <	Recommended Sequence
> >	Recommended Sequence
Changed:
< <	Viewing Meta Data in Page Source
> >	Viewing Meta Data in Page Source
Changed:
< <	Future Support for Plugins
> >	Future Support for Plugins
Changed:
< <	Rendering Meta Data
> >	Rendering Meta Data

<<O>> Difference Topic MetaDataDefinition (r1.5 - 31 Aug 2001 - MikeMannix)


Changed:
< <	Meta Data Definition
> >	What is Meta Data in TWiki? *What, indeed!* Defining Meta Data Variables
Changed:
< <	Example of format
> >	Syntax
Added:
> >	Format is as for [[TWikiDocumentation#TWiki_Variables, 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' is represented in values by `%_N_` and '"' by `%_Q_%` Example of Format
Changed:
< <	%META:TOPICMOVED{from="Codev.OldName" to="CoDev.NewName" by="JohnTalintyre" date="976762680"}%
> >	%META:TOPICMOVED{from="Codev.OldName" to="CoDev.NewName" by="JohnTalintyre" date="976762680"}%
Added:
> >
Changed:
< <	General notes Format is as for [[TWikiDocumentation#TWiki_Variables, 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' is represented in values by `%_N_` and '"' by `%_Q_%` Logical order There no absolute need for meta data to be in a specific order, however, it does for the following reasons: Keep (form) fields in the order they are defined Allow diff command to give output in a logically sensible order These could be done in other ways, but this adds complexity Order fields - definition could be read on each rendering (expensive) Diff - render data before doing diff, has something to offer, but not likely to be available for next TWiki release So the order is: TOPICINFO text of topic TOPICMOVED - optional TOPICPARENT - optional FILEATTACHMENT - 0 or more entries FORM - optional FIELD - 0 or more entries (FORM required) Specification
> >	Specifications
Changed:
< <	Viewing meta data
> >	Recommended Sequence There no absolute need for meta data variables to be in a specific order, however, it does for the following reasons: Keep (form) fields in the order they are defined Allow diff command to give output in a logically sensible order These could be done in other ways, but this adds complexity Order fields - definition could be read on each rendering (expensive) Diff - render data before doing diff, has something to offer, but not likely to be available for next TWiki release So the order is: TOPICINFO text of topic TOPICMOVED - optional TOPICPARENT - optional FILEATTACHMENT - 0 or more entries FORM - optional FIELD - 0 or more entries (FORM required) Viewing Meta Data in Page Source
Changed:
< <	Future Plugins support
> >	Future Support for Plugins
Changed:
< <	Meta Data Rendering
> >	Rendering Meta Data
Changed:
< <	Various meta data can be stored in topics. The data is rendered using the %META% variable. This is mostly used in the `view`, `preview` and `edit` scripts.
> >	Various types of meta data can be stored in topics. The data is rendered using the %META% variable. This is mostly used in the `view`, `preview` and `edit` scripts.
Changed:
< <	Possible future additions: Rendering of form data to alternate formats, ex: bullet lists Specify a template to be used for rendering
> >	Future Development: There are numerous development directions and specific features to consider. A couple of obvious possibilities: Rendering to formats other than tables: bullet lists, formatted body text; Specifying templates to be used for rendering.

<<O>> Difference Topic MetaDataDefinition (r1.4 - 30 Aug 2001 - MikeMannix)

Changed:

<
<

Meta Data Definition

>
>

TWiki Meta Data

Changed:

<
<

See Meta Data Rendering for variables used to display meta data.

>
>

Meta Data Definition

Future Plugins support

There is currently no support for meta data for Plugins. However, the format is readily extendable and the Meta.pm code that supports the format needs only minor alteration.

Meta Data Rendering

Changed:

<
<

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

>
>

Various meta data can be stored in topics. The data is rendered using the %META% variable. This is mostly used in the view, preview and edit scripts.

Changed:

<
<

Other

>
>

Current support is fairly basic:

Changed:

<
<

There is currently no support for meta data for Plugins. However, the format is readily extendable and the Meta.pm code that supports the format only needs minor alteration.

>
>

Variable usage:	Comment:
%META{"form"}%	Show form data, see Form Templates
%META{"attachments"}%	Show attachments, exclude hidden
options for attachments:
all="on"	Show ALL attachments (including hidden)
%META{"moved"}%	Details of any topic moves
%META{"parent [options]"}%	Show topic parent
options for parent:
dontrecurse="on"	By default recurses up tree, at some cost
prefix="..."	Prefix for parents, only if there are parents; default ""
suffix="..."	Suffix, only appears if there are parents; default ""
seperator="..."	Separator between parents, default is " > "

Changed:

<
<

Meta Data Rendering

Various meta data can be stored in topics - MetaDataDefinition

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

At present support is fairly basic:

Variable usage:	Comment:
`%META{"form"}%`	Show form data, see Form Templates
`%META{"attachments"}%`	Show attachments, excluding hidden ones. Options: `all="on"`: Show all attachments i.e. including hidden ones
`%META{"moved"}%`	Details of any topic moves
`%META{"parent"}%`	Show topic parent. Options: `dontrecurse="on"`: By default recurses up tree, this has some cost. `nowebhome="on"`: Suppress WebHome. `prefix="..."`: Prefix that goes before parents, but only if there are parents, default `""`. `suffix="..."`: Suffix, only appears if there are parents, default `""`. `separator="..."`: Separator between parents, default is `" > "`.

Possible future additions:

Rendering of form data to alternate formats e.g. bullet lists
Specify a template to be used for rendering

>
>

Possible future additions:
- Rendering of form data to alternate formats, ex: bullet lists
- Specify a template to be used for rendering

Changed:

<
<

-- JohnTalintyre - 16 Aug 2001

>
>

-- JohnTalintyre - 29 Aug 2001

<<O>> Difference Topic MetaDataDefinition (r1.3 - 30 Aug 2001 - MikeMannix)

Added:

>
>

Meta Data Rendering

Various meta data can be stored in topics - MetaDataDefinition

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

At present support is fairly basic:

Variable usage:	Comment:
`%META{"form"}%`	Show form data, see Form Templates
`%META{"attachments"}%`	Show attachments, excluding hidden ones. Options: `all="on"`: Show all attachments i.e. including hidden ones
`%META{"moved"}%`	Details of any topic moves
`%META{"parent"}%`	Show topic parent. Options: `dontrecurse="on"`: By default recurses up tree, this has some cost. `nowebhome="on"`: Suppress WebHome. `prefix="..."`: Prefix that goes before parents, but only if there are parents, default `""`. `suffix="..."`: Suffix, only appears if there are parents, default `""`. `separator="..."`: Separator between parents, default is `" > "`.

Possible future additions:

Rendering of form data to alternate formats e.g. bullet lists
Specify a template to be used for rendering

<<O>> Difference Topic MetaDataDefinition (r1.2 - 29 Aug 2001 - JohnTalintyre)

Added:

>
>

TOC: No TOC in "TWiki.MetaDataDefinition"

Changed:

<
<

See MetaDataRendering for display of meta data

>
>

See Meta Data Rendering for variables used to display meta data.

Deleted:

<
<

Table of contents: TOC: No TOC in "TWiki.MetaDataDefinition"

Changed:

<
<

>
>

Changed:

<
<

>
>

Changed:

<
<

Format is as for TWikiVariables, except all fields have a key.

>
>

Format is as for [[TWikiDocumentation#TWiki_Variables, except all fields have a key.

Changed:

<
<

name	A topic name - the topic is a TWikiFormTemplate?. Can optionally include the web name i.e. web.topic, but doesn't normally

>
>

name	A topic name - the topic is a Form Template. Can optionally include the web name i.e. web.topic, but doesn't normally

Changed:

<
<

name	Ties to entry in TWikiFormTemplate?, is title with all bar alphanumerics and . removed
title	Full text from TWikiFormTemplate?

>
>

name	Ties to entry in Form Template, is title with all bar alphanumerics and . removed
title	Full text from Form Template

Changed:

<
<

-- JohnTalintyre - 16 Aug 2001

>
>

-- JohnTalintyre - 16 Aug 2001

<<O>> Difference Topic MetaDataDefinition (r1.1 - 16 Aug 2001 - JohnTalintyre)

Added:

>
>

%META:TOPICINFO{author="JohnTalintyre" date="997982189" format="1.0beta2" version="1.1"}% %META:TOPICPARENT{name="WebHome"}%

Meta Data Definition

See MetaDataRendering for display of meta data

Current version: 1.0

Table of contents:

Meta Data Definition

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"}%

General notes

Format is as for 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' is represented in values by %_N_ and '"' by %_Q_%

Logical order

There no absolute need for meta data to be in a specific order, however, it does for the following reasons:

Keep (form) fields in the order they are defined
Allow diff command to give output in a logically sensible order

These could be done in other ways, but this adds complexity

Order fields - definition could be read on each rendering (expensive)
Diff - render data before doing diff, has something to offer, but not likely to be available for next TWiki release

So the order is:

TOPICINFO
text of topic
TOPICMOVED - optional
TOPICPARENT - optional
FILEATTACHMENT - 0 or more entries
FORM - optional
FIELD - 0 or more entries (FORM required)

Specification

TOPICINFO

Key	Comment
version	Same as RCS version
date	integer, unx 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

TOPICMOVED

%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, unx 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.

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.

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, unx time, seconds since start 1970
user	the REMOTE_USER, not WikiName
comment	As supplied when file uploaded
attr	`h` if hidden, optional

Extra field that are added if an attachment is moved:

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

FORM

Key	Comment
name	A topic name - the topic is a TWikiFormTemplate?. Can optionally include the web name i.e. web.topic, but doesn't normally

FIELD

Should only be present if there is a 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 TWikiFormTemplate?, is title with all bar alphanumerics and . removed
title	Full text from TWikiFormTemplate?
value	Value user has supplied via form

Viewing meta data

Other

There is currently no support for meta data for Plugins. However, the format is readily extendable and the Meta.pm code that supports the format only needs minor alteration.

-- JohnTalintyre - 16 Aug 2001

Topic MetaDataDefinition . { View | Diffs | r1.7 | > | r1.6 | > | r1.5 | More }

Revision r1.1 - 16 Aug 2001 - 17:09 GMT - JohnTalintyre
Revision r1.7 - 07 Sep 2001 - 12:43 GMT - MikeMannix

	TWiki > TWiki > MetaDataDefinition (r1.1 vs. r1.7)	TWiki webs: Main \| TWiki \| Know \| Sandbox
	TWiki . { Welcome \| Register \| Changes \| Topics \| Index \| Search \| Go }