Page Text Variables

Page text variables are string variables created in the wiki text of a page, and can be automatically made available for inclusion in other pages.

Defining Page Text Variables

There are three ways to define automated Page Text Variables:

• use a definition list - the normal pmwiki markup for a definition list will create a page text variable

:Name: Crisses
"{$:Name}"

• use a simple colon delimiter in normal text

Address: 1313 Mockingbird Lane

"{$:Address}"

• hidden directive form - Pm Wiki markup that doesn't render on the page, but defines the variable

(:Country: Transylvania :)
"{$:Country}"

Usage

Usage on the same page

On the same page you can resolve page text variables through the {$:Var} format (shown above).

Usage in headers and footers: special references

If you want a Group Header, Group Footer, Side Bar?, etc to call on page text variable in the main page, you need to include special reference information. To explicitly reference the page text variable from the page being displayed add an asterisk to the page text variable's markup: {*$:Address} on the Group Footer or Group Header page.

{*$:City}
{{*$Group}/HomePage$:Summary}

To include a page text variable from a header or footer see usage from other pages below.

Usage from other pages

If you want to pull the data from another page, use the {Group/PageName$:Var} format.

Suburb: Khandallah
(:Lake:Taupo:)
:Mountain:Mt Ruapehu

->"{PmWiki/PageTextVariables$:Suburb}"
->"{{$FullName}$:Lake}"
->"{PmWiki/PageTextVariables$:Mountain}"

Usage from included pages

Page text variables are never included from their source page. See Usage from other pages above to refer to a page text variable on another page.

Usage with pagelists

Page lists can also access the page text variables:

(:pagelist group=PmWiki order=$:Summary
count=6 fmt=#singleline:)

And to create pagelist formats (such as those documented at Site.Page List Templates, Page Lists, Page List Templates, Page Variables. Store custom pagelists at Site.Local Templates?).

Page lists can also use page text variables to select pages :

(:pagelist group=PmWiki $:City=Paris
count=8 fmt=#singleline order=-name:)

(:pagelist group=PmWiki $:City="Addis
Ababa,Paris" order=-$:Version count=8
fmt=#singleline:)

• When using page text variables for selection or ordering, don't put the curly braces around the variable name. The curly forms do a replacement before the pagelist command is evaluated.
• Link markup within the contents of a hidden page text variable directive (as opposed to other ways of specifying PT Vs?) will not be cached as a link on the page and thus won't be seen by pagelist's link= option. If you want the link to be found by link=, you need to specify the PTV using non-directive markup, or else put the link on the page even if it's hidden within a false conditional: (:Linkme: [[PageToLink]]:) (:if false:){$:Linkme}(:if:)

Testing if set or not set

Tip : (:if ! equal "{$:PTV}" "":) will test if PTV is empty/unset or not.

(:pagelist group=PmWiki $:Summary=-?*
count=6  fmt=#singleline:)

Use page text variable in a template

Display pages by Audience page text variable.

>>comment<<
[[#byaudience]]
(:if ! equal '{=$:Audience}'
'{<$:Audience}':)
-<'''{=$:Audience}''':  
(:ifend:)
[[{=$Name}]]
[[#byaudienceend]]
>><<
(:pagelist group=PmWiki count=10
fmt=#byaudience order=-$:Audience:)

Use page text variables in conditional markup

Page text variables will be assigned/evaluated before any conditional markup is evaluated. This effectively means that you cannot declare a PTV within an if...else condition; and also that a PTV will have a value even if it is set within a (:if false:)....(:if:) condition.

Usage - from within code (developers only)

The standard Page Var?($pagename,$varname) function can return page text variables, but remember to include the dollar and colon like this:

It works by caching all page (text) variables it finds in a page (in $PCache) and returns the one requested.