X-Git-Url: http://git.vanrenterghem.biz/git.ikiwiki.info.git/blobdiff_plain/22df49a2bf92302d4c6e25a04e9c7589a93844a9..51de5d80bd318b52efecef4253eeab8292139922:/doc/plugins/write.mdwn?ds=sidebyside diff --git a/doc/plugins/write.mdwn b/doc/plugins/write.mdwn index 24da94dd5..abcabbdc3 100644 --- a/doc/plugins/write.mdwn +++ b/doc/plugins/write.mdwn @@ -1,10 +1,37 @@ -ikiwiki [[plugins]] are written in perl. Each plugin is a perl module, in -the `IkiWiki::Plugin` namespace. The name of the plugin is typically in -lowercase, such as `IkiWiki::Plugin::inline`. Ikiwiki includes a -`IkiWiki::Plugin::skeleton` that can be fleshed out to make a useful -plugin. `IkiWiki::Plugin::pagecount` is another simple example. +Ikiwiki's plugin interface allows all kinds of useful [[plugins]] to be +written to extend ikiwiki in many ways. Despite the length of this page, +it's not really hard. This page is a complete reference to everything a +plugin might want to do. There is also a quick [[tutorial]]. -# Note +[[!toc levels=2]] + +## Types of plugins + +Most ikiwiki [[plugins]] are written in perl, like ikiwiki. This gives the +plugin full access to ikiwiki's internals, and is the most efficient. +However, plugins can actually be written in any language that supports XML +RPC. These are called [[external]] plugins. + +A plugin written in perl is a perl module, in the `IkiWiki::Plugin` +namespace. The name of the plugin is typically in lowercase, such as +`IkiWiki::Plugin::inline`. Ikiwiki includes a `IkiWiki::Plugin::skeleton` +that can be fleshed out to make a useful plugin. +`IkiWiki::Plugin::pagecount` is another simple example. All perl plugins +should `use IkiWiki` to import the ikiwiki plugin interface. It's a good +idea to include the version number of the plugin interface that your plugin +expects: `use IkiWiki 2.00`. + +An external plugin is an executable program. It can be written in any +language. Its interface to ikiwiki is via XML RPC, which it reads from +ikiwiki on its standard input, and writes to ikiwiki on its standard +output. For more details on writing external plugins, see [[external]]. + +Despite these two types of plugins having such different interfaces, +they're the same as far as how they hook into ikiwiki. This document will +explain how to write both sorts of plugins, albeit with an emphasis on perl +plugins. + +## Considerations One thing to keep in mind when writing a plugin is that ikiwiki is a wiki *compiler*. So plugins influence pages when they are built, not when they @@ -15,182 +42,910 @@ random or changing thing on a page will generate a static page that won't change until ikiwiki rebuilds the page for some other reason, like the page being edited. -# Registering plugins +## Registering plugins -Plugins should, when imported, call IkiWiki::hook to hook into ikiwiki's +Plugins should, when imported, call `hook()` to hook into ikiwiki's processing. The function uses named parameters, and use varies depending on -the type of plugin being registered. Note that a plugin can call the -function more than once to register multiple hooks. All calls to -IkiWiki::hook should be passed a "type" parameter, which gives the type of -hook, a "id" paramter, which should be a unique string for this plugin, and -a "call" parameter, which is a reference to a function to call for the +the type of hook being registered -- see below. A plugin can call +the function more than once to register multiple hooks. + +All calls to `hook()` should be passed a "type" parameter, which gives the +type of hook, a "id" parameter, which should be a unique string for this +plugin, and a "call" parameter, which tells what function to call for the hook. -# Writing a [[PreProcessorDirective]] +An optional "last" parameter, if set to a true value, makes the hook run +after all other hooks of its type. Useful if the hook depends on some other +hook being run first. -This is probably the most common use of a plugin. +## Types of hooks - IkiWiki::hook(type => "preprocess", id => "foo", call => \&preprocess); +In roughly the order they are called. -Replace "foo" with the command name that will be used inside brackers for -the preprocessor directive. +### getopt -Each time the directive is processed, the referenced function (`preprocess` -in the example above) is called, and is passed named parameters. A "page" -parameter gives the name of the page that embedded the preprocessor -directive, while a "destpage" parameter gices the name of the page the -content is going to (different for inlined pages). All parameters included -in the directive are included as named parameters as well. Whatever the -function returns goes onto the page in place of the directive. + hook(type => "getopt", id => "foo", call => \&getopt); -## Error handing +This allows for plugins to perform their own processing of command-line +options and so add options to the ikiwiki command line. It's called during +command line processing, with @ARGV full of any options that ikiwiki was +not able to process on its own. The function should process any options it +can, removing them from @ARGV, and probably recording the configuration +settings in %config. It should take care not to abort if it sees +an option it cannot process, and should just skip over those options and +leave them in @ARGV. -While a plugin can call ikiwiki's error routine for a fatal error, for -errors that aren't intended to halt the entire wiki build, including bad -parameters passed to a [[PreProcessorDirective]], etc, it's better to just -return the error message as the output of the plugin. +### checkconfig -## Html issues + hook(type => "checkconfig", id => "foo", call => \&checkconfig); -Note that if the [[htmlscrubber]] is enabled, html in -[[PreProcessorDirective]] output is sanitised, which may limit what your -plugin can do. Also, the rest of the page content is not in html format at -preprocessor time. Text output by a preprocessor directive will be passed -through markdown (or whatever engine is used to htmlize the page) along -with the rest of the page. +This is useful if the plugin needs to check for or modify ikiwiki's +configuration. It's called early in the startup process. The +function is passed no values. It's ok for the function to call +`error()` if something isn't configured right. -# Other types of hooks +### refresh -Beyond PreProcessorDirectives, Other types of hooks that can be used by -plugins include: + hook(type => "refresh", id => "foo", call => \&refresh); -## checkconfig +This hook is called just before ikiwiki scans the wiki for changed files. +It's useful for plugins that need to create or modify a source page. The +function is passed no values. - IkiWiki::hook(type => "checkconfig", id => "foo", call => \&checkconfig); +### needsbuild -This is useful if the plugin needs to check for, or modify ikiwiki's -configuration. It's called early in the ikiwiki startup process. The -function is passed no values. It's ok for the function to call -IkiWiki::error if something isn't configured right. + hook(type => "needsbuild", id => "foo", call => \&needsbuild); + +This allows a plugin to manipulate the list of files that need to be +built when the wiki is refreshed. The function is passed a reference to an +array of pages that will be rebuilt, and can modify the array, either +adding or removing files from it. + +### scan -## filter + hook(type => "scan", id => "foo", call => \&scan); - IkiWiki::hook(type => "filter", id => "foo", call => \&filter); +This hook is called early in the process of building the wiki, and is used +as a first pass scan of the page, to collect metadata about the page. It's +mostly used to scan the page for WikiLinks, and add them to `%links`. +Present in IkiWiki 2.40 and later. + +The function is passed named parameters "page" and "content". Its return +value is ignored. + +### filter + + hook(type => "filter", id => "foo", call => \&filter); Runs on the raw source of a page, before anything else touches it, and can -make arbitrary changes. The function is passed named parameters `page` and -`content` and should return the filtered content. +make arbitrary changes. The function is passed named parameters "page", +"destpage", and "content". It should return the filtered content. + +### preprocess + +Adding a preprocessor [[ikiwiki/directive]] is probably the most common use +of a plugin. + + hook(type => "preprocess", id => "foo", call => \&preprocess); + +Replace "foo" with the command name that will be used for the preprocessor +directive. + +Each time the directive is processed, the referenced function (`preprocess` +in the example above) is called. Whatever the function returns goes onto +the page in place of the directive. Or, if the function aborts using +`error()`, the directive will be replaced with the error message. + +The function is passed named parameters. First come the parameters set +in the preprocessor directive. These are passed in the same order as +they're in the directive, and if the preprocessor directive contains a bare +parameter (example: `\[[!foo param]]`), that parameter will be passed with +an empty value. + +After the parameters from the preprocessor directive some additional ones +are passed: A "page" parameter gives the name of the page that embedded the +preprocessor directive, while a "destpage" parameter gives the name of the +page the content is going to (different for inlined pages), and a "preview" +parameter is set to a true value if the page is being previewed. + +If `hook` is passed an optional "scan" parameter, set to a true value, this +makes the hook be called during the preliminary scan that ikiwiki makes of +updated pages, before begining to render pages. This should be done if the +hook modifies data in `%links`. Note that doing so will make the hook be +run twice per page build, so avoid doing it for expensive hooks. (As an +optimisation, if your preprocessor hook is called in a void context, you +can assume it's being run in scan mode, and avoid doing expensive things at +that point.) + +Note that if the [[htmlscrubber]] is enabled, html in +preprocessor [[ikiwiki/directive]] output is sanitised, which may limit what +your plugin can do. Also, the rest of the page content is not in html +format at preprocessor time. Text output by a preprocessor directive will +be linkified and passed through markdown (or whatever engine is used to +htmlize the page) along with the rest of the page. + +### linkify -## htmlize + hook(type => "linkify", id => "foo", call => \&linkify); - IkiWiki::hook(type => "htmlize", id => "ext", call => \&filter); +This hook is called to convert [[WikiLinks|WikiLink]] on the page into html +links. The function is passed named parameters "page", "destpage", and +"content". It should return the linkified content. Present in IkiWiki 2.40 +and later. -Runs on the raw source of a page and turns it into html. The id parameter +Plugins that implement linkify must also implement a scan hook, that scans +for the links on the page and adds them to `%links`. + +### htmlize + + hook(type => "htmlize", id => "ext", call => \&htmlize); + +Runs on the source of a page and turns it into html. The id parameter specifies the filename extension that a file must have to be htmlized using this plugin. This is how you can add support for new and exciting markup languages to ikiwiki. -## pagetemplate +The function is passed named parameters: "page" and "content" and should +return the htmlized content. - IkiWiki::hook(type => "pagetemplate", id => "foo", call => \&pagetemplate); +If `hook` is passed an optional "keepextension" parameter, set to a true +value, then this extension will not be stripped from the source filename when +generating the page. -Each time a page is rendered, a [[template|templates]] is filled out. -This hook allows modifying that template. The function is passed named -parameters. The "page" and "destpage" parameters are the same as for a -preprocess hook. The "template" parameter is a `HTML::Template` object that -is the template that will be used to generate the page. The function -can manipulate that template object. +### pagetemplate -The most common thing to do is probably to call $template->param() to add -a new custom parameter to the template. Note that in order to be robust, -it's a good idea to check whether the template has a variable before trying -to set it, as setting a variable that's not present is an error. + hook(type => "pagetemplate", id => "foo", call => \&pagetemplate); - if ($template->query(name => 'foo')) { - $template->param("foo" => "bar"); - } +[[Templates|wikitemplates]] are filled out for many different things in +ikiwiki, like generating a page, or part of a blog page, or an rss feed, or +a cgi. This hook allows modifying the variables available on those +templates. The function is passed named parameters. The "page" and +"destpage" parameters are the same as for a preprocess hook. The "template" +parameter is a [[!cpan HTML::Template]] object that is the template that +will be used to generate the page. The function can manipulate that +template object. + +The most common thing to do is probably to call `$template->param()` to add +a new custom parameter to the template. + +### templatefile + + hook(type => "templatefile", id => "foo", call => \&templatefile); -## sanitize +This hook allows plugins to change the [[template|wikitemplates]] that is +used for a page in the wiki. The hook is passed a "page" parameter, and +should return the name of the template file to use, or undef if it doesn't +want to change the default ("page.tmpl"). Template files are looked for in +/usr/share/ikiwiki/templates by default. - IkiWiki::hook(type => "sanitize", id => "foo", call => \&sanitize); +### sanitize + + hook(type => "sanitize", id => "foo", call => \&sanitize); Use this to implement html sanitization or anything else that needs to -modify the content of a page after it has been fully converted to html. -The function is passed the page content and should return the sanitized -content. +modify the body of a page after it has been fully converted to html. + +The function is passed named parameters: "page", "destpage", and "content", +and should return the sanitized content. + +### postscan + + hook(type => "postscan", id => "foo", call => \&postscan); + +This hook is called once the full page body is available (but before the +format hook). The most common use is to update search indexes. Added in +ikiwiki 2.54. + +The function is passed named parameters "page" and "content". Its return +value is ignored. -## delete +### format - IkiWiki::hook(type => "delete", id => "foo", call => \&dele); + hook(type => "format", id => "foo", call => \&format); + +The difference between format and sanitize is that sanitize only acts on +the page body, while format can modify the entire html page including the +header and footer inserted by ikiwiki, the html document type, etc. (It +should not rely on always being passed the entire page, as it won't be +when the page is being previewed.) + +The function is passed named parameters: "page" and "content", and +should return the formatted content. + +### delete + + hook(type => "delete", id => "foo", call => \&delete); Each time a page or pages is removed from the wiki, the referenced function is called, and passed the names of the source files that were removed. -## change +### change - IkiWiki::hook(type => "change", id => "foo", call => \&render); + hook(type => "change", id => "foo", call => \&render); Each time ikiwiki renders a change or addition (but not deletion) to the wiki, the referenced function is called, and passed the names of the source files that were rendered. -## cgi +### cgi - IkiWiki::hook(type => "cgi", id => "foo", call => \&cgi); + hook(type => "cgi", id => "foo", call => \&cgi); Use this to hook into ikiwiki's cgi script. Each registered cgi hook is called in turn, and passed a CGI object. The hook should examine the -parameters, and if it will handle this CGI request, output a page and -terminate the program. +parameters, and if it will handle this CGI request, output a page +(including the http headers) and terminate the program. + +Note that cgi hooks are called as early as possible, before any ikiwiki +state is loaded, and with no session information. + +### auth + + hook(type => "auth", id => "foo", call => \&auth); + +This hook can be used to implement an authentication method. When a user +needs to be authenticated, each registered auth hook is called in turn, and +passed a CGI object and a session object. + +If the hook is able to authenticate the user, it should set the session +object's "name" parameter to the authenticated user's name. Note that +if the name is set to the name of a user who is not registered, +a basic registration of the user will be automatically performed. + +### sessioncgi + + hook(type => "sessioncgi", id => "foo", call => \&sessioncgi); + +Unlike the cgi hook, which is run as soon as possible, the sessioncgi hook +is only run once a session object is available. It is passed both a CGI +object and a session object. To check if the user is in fact signed in, you +can check if the session object has a "name" parameter set. -# Wiki configuration +### canedit -A plugin can access the wiki's configuration via the `%IkiWiki::config` + hook(type => "canedit", id => "foo", call => \&pagelocked); + +This hook can be used to implement arbitrary access methods to control when +a page can be edited using the web interface (commits from revision control +bypass it). When a page is edited, each registered canedit hook is called +in turn, and passed the page name, a CGI object, and a session object. + +If the hook has no opinion about whether the edit can proceed, return +`undef`, and the next plugin will be asked to decide. If edit can proceed, +the hook should return "". If the edit is not allowed by this hook, the +hook should return an error message for the user to see, or a function +that can be run to log the user in or perform other action necessary for +them to be able to edit the page. + +This hook should avoid directly redirecting the user to a signin page, +since it's sometimes used to test to see which pages in a set of pages a +user can edit. + +### editcontent + + hook(type => "editcontent", id => "foo", call => \&editcontent); + +This hook is called when a page is saved (or previewed) using the web +interface. It is passed named parameters: `content`, `page`, `cgi`, and +`session`. These are, respectively, the new page content as entered by the +user, the page name, a `CGI` object, and the user's `CGI::Session`. + +It can modify the content as desired, and should return the content. + +### formbuilder + + hook(type => "formbuilder_setup", id => "foo", call => \&formbuilder_setup); + hook(type => "formbuilder", id => "foo", call => \&formbuilder); + +These hooks allow tapping into the parts of ikiwiki that use [[!cpan +CGI::FormBuilder]] to generate web forms. These hooks are passed named +parameters: `cgi`, `session`, `form`, and `buttons`. These are, respectively, +the `CGI` object, the user's `CGI::Session`, a `CGI::FormBuilder`, and a +reference to an array of names of buttons to go on the form. + +Each time a form is set up, the `formbuilder_setup` hook is called. +Typically the `formbuilder_setup` hook will check the form's title, and if +it's a form that it needs to modify, will call various methods to +add/remove/change fields, tweak the validation code for the fields, etc. It +will not validate or display the form. + +Just before a form is displayed to the user, the `formbuilder` hook is +called. It can be used to validate the form, but should not display it. + +### savestate + + hook(type => "savestate", id => "foo", call => \&savestate); + +This hook is called whenever ikiwiki normally saves its state, just before +the state is saved. The function can save other state, modify values before +they're saved, etc. + +### renamepage + + hook(type => "renamepage", id => "foo", call => \&renamepage); + +This hook is called by the [[plugins/rename]] plugin when it renames +something. The hook is passed named parameters: `page`, `oldpage`, +`newpage`, and `content`, and should try to modify the content to reflect +the name change. For example, by converting links to point to the new page. + +### getsetup + + hook(type => "getsetup", id => "foo", call => \&getsetup); + +This hooks is not called during normal operation, but only when setting up +the wiki, or generating a setup file. Plugins can use this hook to add +configuration options. + +The hook is passed no parameters. It returns data about the configuration +options added by the plugin. It can also check if the plugin is usable, and +die if not, which will cause the plugin to not be offered in the configuration +interface. + +The data returned is a list of `%config` options, followed by a hash +describing the option. There can also be an item named "plugin", which +describes the plugin as a whole. For example: + + return + option_foo => { + type => "boolean", + description => "enable foo?", + advanced => 1, + safe => 1, + rebuild => 1, + }, + option_bar => { + type => "string", + example => "hello", + description => "option bar", + safe => 1, + rebuild => 0, + }, + plugin => { + description => "description of this plugin", + safe => 1, + rebuild => 1, + }, + +* `type` can be "boolean", "string", "integer", "pagespec", + or "internal" (used for values that are not user-visible). The type is + the type of the leaf values; the `%config` option may be an array or + hash of these. +* `example` can be set to an example value. +* `description` is a short description of the option. +* `link` is a link to further information about the option. This can either + be a wikilink, or an url. +* `advanced` can be set to true if the option is more suitable for advanced + users. +* `safe` should be false if the option should not be displayed in unsafe + configuration methods, such as the web interface. Anything that specifies + a command to run, a path on disk, or a regexp should be marked as unsafe. + If a plugin is marked as unsafe, that prevents it from being + enabled/disabled. +* `rebuild` should be true if changing the option (or enabling/disabling + the plugin) will require a wiki rebuild, false if no rebuild is needed, + and undef if a rebuild could be needed in some circumstances, but is not + strictly required. + +## Plugin interface + +To import the ikiwiki plugin interface: + + use IkiWiki '2.00'; + +This will import several variables and functions into your plugin's +namespace. These variables and functions are the ones most plugins need, +and a special effort will be made to avoid changing them in incompatible +ways, and to document any changes that have to be made in the future. + +Note that IkiWiki also provides other variables and functions that are not +exported by default. No guarantee is made about these in the future, so if +it's not exported, the wise choice is to not use it. + +### %config + +A plugin can access the wiki's configuration via the `%config` hash. The best way to understand the contents of the hash is to look at -[[ikiwiki.setup]], which sets the hash content to configure the wiki. +your ikiwiki setup file, which sets the hash content to configure the wiki. + +### %pagestate + +The `%pagestate` hash can be used by plugins to save state that they will need +next time ikiwiki is run. The hash holds per-page state, so to set a value, +use `$pagestate{$page}{$id}{$key}=$value`, and to retrieve the value, +use `$pagestate{$page}{$id}{$key}`. + +The `$value` can be anything that perl's Storable module is capable of +serializing. `$key` can be any string you like, but `$id` must be the same +as the "id" parameter passed to `hook()` when registering the plugin. This +is so ikiwiki can know when to delete pagestate for plugins that are no +longer used. + +When pages are deleted, ikiwiki automatically deletes their pagestate too. + +Note that page state does not persist across wiki rebuilds, only across +wiki updates. -# Wiki data +### %wikistate + +The `%wikistate` hash can be used by a plugin to store persistant state +that is not bound to any one page. To set a value, use +`$wikistate{$id}{$key}=$value, where `$value` is anything Storable can +serialize, `$key` is any string you like, and `$id` must be the same as the +"id" parameter passed to `hook()` when registering the plugin, so that the +state can be dropped if the plugin is no longer used. + +### Other variables If your plugin needs to access data about other pages in the wiki. It can use the following hashes, using a page name as the key: -* `%IkiWiki::links` lists the names of each page - that a page links to, in an array reference. -* `%IkiWiki::pagemtime` contains the last modification time of each page -* `%IkiWiki::pagectime` contains the creation time of each page -* `%IkiWiki::renderedfiles` contains the name of the file rendered by a - page -* `%IkiWiki::pagesources` contains the name of the source file for a page. -* `%IkiWiki::depends` contains a [[GlobList]] that is used to specify other - pages that a page depends on. If one of its dependencies is updated, the - page will also get rebuilt. - - Many plugins will need to add dependencies to this hash; the best way to do - it is by using the IkiWiki::add_depends function, which takes as its - parameters the page name and a [[GlobList]] of dependencies to add. - -# A note on generating html links +* `%links` lists the names of each page that a page links to, in an array + reference. +* `%destsources` contains the name of the source file used to create each + destination file. +* `%pagesources` contains the name of the source file for each page. + +Also, the %IkiWiki::version variable contains the version number for the +ikiwiki program. + +### Library functions + +#### `hook(@)` + +Hook into ikiwiki's processing. See the discussion of hooks above. + +Note that in addition to the named parameters described above, a parameter +named `no_override` is supported, If it's set to a true value, then this hook +will not override any existing hook with the same id. This is useful if +the id can be controled by the user. + +#### `debug($)` + +Logs a debugging message. These are supressed unless verbose mode is turned +on. + +#### `error($;$)` + +Aborts with an error message. If the second parameter is passed, it is a +function that is called after the error message is printed, to do any final +cleanup. + +If called inside a preprocess hook, error() does not abort the entire +wiki build, but instead replaces the preprocessor [[ikiwiki/directive]] with +a version containing the error message. + +In other hooks, error() is a fatal error, so use with care. Try to avoid +dying on bad input when building a page, as that will halt +the entire wiki build and make the wiki unusable. + +#### `template($;@)` + +Creates and returns a [[!cpan HTML::Template]] object. The first parameter +is the name of the file in the template directory. The optional remaining +parameters are passed to `HTML::Template->new`. + +#### `htmlpage($)` + +Passed a page name, returns the base name that will be used for a the html +page created from it. (Ie, it appends ".html".) + +Use this when constructing the filename of a html file. Use `urlto` when +generating a link to a page. + +#### `add_depends($$)` + +Makes the specified page depend on the specified [[ikiwiki/PageSpec]]. + +#### `pagespec_match($$;@)` + +Passed a page name, and [[ikiwiki/PageSpec]], returns true if the +[[ikiwiki/PageSpec]] matches the page. + +Additional named parameters can be passed, to further limit the match. +The most often used is "location", which specifies the location the +PageSpec should match against. If not passed, relative PageSpecs will match +relative to the top of the wiki. + +#### `bestlink($$)` + +Given a page and the text of a link on the page, determine which +existing page that link best points to. Prefers pages under a +subdirectory with the same name as the source page, failing that +goes down the directory tree to the base looking for matching +pages, as described in [[ikiwiki/SubPage/LinkingRules]]. + +#### `htmllink($$$;@)` Many plugins need to generate html links and add them to a page. This is -done by using the htmllink() function in ikiwiki. The usual way to call -htmlllink is: `htmllink($page, $page, $link)` +done by using the `htmllink` function. The usual way to call +`htmlllink` is: + + htmllink($page, $page, $link) -Why is $page repeated? Because if a page is inlined inside another, and a +Why is `$page` repeated? Because if a page is inlined inside another, and a link is placed on it, the right way to make that link is actually: -`htmllink($page, $destpage, $link)` -Here $destpage is the inlining page. A destpage parameter is passed to some -of the hook functions above; the ones that are not passed it are not used + htmllink($page, $destpage, $link) + +Here `$destpage` is the inlining page. A `destpage` parameter is passed to +some of the hook functions above; the ones that are not passed it are not used during inlining and don't need to worry about this issue. -# RCS plugins +After the three required parameters, named parameters can be used to +control some options. These are: + +* noimageinline - set to true to avoid turning links into inline html images +* forcesubpage - set to force a link to a subpage +* linktext - set to force the link text to something +* anchor - set to make the link include an anchor +* rel - set to add a rel attribute to the link +* class - set to add a css class to the link + +#### `readfile($;$)` + +Given a filename, reads and returns the entire file. + +The optional second parameter, if set to a true value, makes the file be read +in binary mode. + +A failure to read the file will result in it dying with an error. + +#### `writefile($$$;$$)` + +Given a filename, a directory to put it in, and the file's content, +writes a file. + +The optional fourth parameter, if set to a true value, makes the file be +written in binary mode. + +The optional fifth parameter can be used to pass a function reference that +will be called to handle writing to the file. The function will be called +and passed a file descriptor it should write to, and an error recovery +function it should call if the writing fails. (You will not normally need to +use this interface.) + +A failure to write the file will result in it dying with an error. + +If the destination directory doesn't exist, it will first be created. + +#### `will_render($$)` + +Given a page name and a destination file name (not including the base +destination directory), register that the page will result in that file +being rendered. + +It's important to call this before writing to any file in the destination +directory, and it's important to call it consistently every time, even if +the file isn't really written this time -- unless you delete any old +version of the file. In particular, in preview mode, this should still be +called even if the file isn't going to be written to during the preview. + +Ikiwiki uses this information to automatically clean up rendered files when +the page that rendered them goes away or is changed to no longer render +them. will_render also does a few important security checks. + +#### `pagetype($)` + +Given the name of a source file, returns the type of page it is, if it's +a type that ikiwiki knowns how to htmlize. Otherwise, returns undef. + +#### `pagename($)` + +Given the name of a source file, returns the name of the wiki page +that corresponds to that file. + +#### `pagetitle($)` + +Give the name of a wiki page, returns a version suitable to be displayed as +the page's title. This is accomplished by de-escaping escaped characters in +the page name. "_" is replaced with a space, and '__NN__' is replaced by +the UTF character with code NN. + +#### `titlepage($)` + +This performs the inverse of `pagetitle`, ie, it converts a page title into +a wiki page name. + +#### `linkpage($)` + +This converts text that could have been entered by the user as a +[[WikiLink]] into a wiki page name. + +#### `srcfile($;$)` + +Given the name of a source file in the wiki, searches for the file in +the source directory and the underlay directories (most recently added +underlays first), and returns the full path to the first file found. + +Normally srcfile will fail with an error message if the source file cannot +be found. The second parameter can be set to a true value to make it return +undef instead. + +#### `add_underlay($)` + +Adds a directory to the set of underlay directories that ikiwiki will +search for files. + +If the directory name is not absolute, ikiwiki will assume it is in +the parent directory of the configured underlaydir. + +#### `displaytime($;$)` + +Given a time, formats it for display. + +The optional second parameter is a strftime format to use to format the +time. + +#### `gettext` + +This is the standard gettext function, although slightly optimised. + +#### `urlto($$;$)` + +Construct a relative url to the first parameter from the page named by the +second. The first parameter can be either a page name, or some other +destination file, as registered by `will_render`. + +If the third parameter is passed and is true, an absolute url will be +constructed instead of the default relative url. + +#### `newpagefile($$)` + +This can be called when creating a new page, to determine what filename +to save the page to. It's passed a page name, and its type, and returns +the name of the file to create, relative to the srcdir. + +#### `targetpage($$)` + +Passed a page and an extension, returns the filename that page will be +rendered to. + +## Miscellaneous + +### Internal use pages + +Sometimes it's useful to put pages in the wiki without the overhead of +having them be rendered to individual html files. Such internal use pages +are collected together to form the RecentChanges page, for example. + +To make an internal use page, register a filename extension that starts +with "_". Internal use pages cannot be edited with the web interface, +generally shouldn't contain wikilinks or preprocessor directives (use +either on them with extreme caution), and are not matched by regular +PageSpecs glob patterns, but instead only by a special `internal()` +[[ikiwiki/PageSpec]]. + +### RCS plugins + +ikiwiki's support for [[revision_control_systems|rcs]] is also done via +plugins. See [[RCS_details|rcs/details]] for some more info. + +RCS plugins must register a number of hooks. Each hook has type 'rcs', +and the 'id' field is set to the name of the hook. For example: + + hook(type => "rcs", id => "rcs_update", call => \&rcs_update); + hook(type => "rcs", id => "rcs_prepedit", call => \&rcs_prepedit); + +#### `rcs_update()` + +Updates the working directory with any remote changes. + +#### `rcs_prepedit($)` + +Is passed a file to prepare to edit. It can generate and return an arbitrary +token, that will be passed into `rcs_commit` when committing. For example, +it might return the current revision ID of the file, and use that +information later when merging changes. + +#### `rcs_commit($$$;$$)` + +Passed a file, message, token (from `rcs_prepedit`), user, and ip address. +Should try to commit the file. Returns `undef` on *success* and a version +of the page with the rcs's conflict markers on failure. + +#### `rcs_commit_staged($$$)` + +Passed a message, user, and ip address. Should commit all staged changes. +Returns undef on success, and an error message on failure. + +Changes can be staged by calls to `rcs_add, `rcs_remove`, and +`rcs_rename`. + +#### `rcs_add($)` + +Adds the passed file to the archive. The filename is relative to the root +of the srcdir. + +Note that this should not commit the new file, it should only +prepare for it to be committed when rcs_commit (or `rcs_commit_staged`) is +called. Note that the file may be in a new subdir that is not yet in +to version control; the subdir can be added if so. + +#### `rcs_remove($)` + +Remove a file. The filename is relative to the root of the srcdir. + +Note that this should not commit the removal, it should only prepare for it +to be committed when `rcs_commit` (or `rcs_commit_staged`) is called. Note +that the new file may be in a new subdir that is not yet in version +control; the subdir can be added if so. + +#### `rcs_rename($$)` + +Rename a file. The filenames are relative to the root of the srcdir. + +Note that this should not commit the rename, it should only +prepare it for when `rcs_commit` (or `rcs_commit_staged`) is called. +The new filename may be in a new subdir, that is not yet added to +version control. If so, the subdir will exist already, and should +be added to revision control. + +#### `rcs_recentchanges($)` + +Examine the RCS history and generate a list of recent changes. +The parameter is how many changes to return. + +The data structure returned for each change is: + + { + rev => # the RCSs id for this commit + user => # name of user who made the change, + committype => # either "web" or the name of the rcs, + when => # time when the change was made, + message => [ + { line => "commit message line 1" }, + { line => "commit message line 2" }, + # etc, + ], + pages => [ + { + page => # name of page changed, + diffurl => # optional url to a diff of changes + }, + # repeat for each page changed in this commit, + ], + } + +#### `rcs_diff($)` + +The parameter is the rev from `rcs_recentchanges`. +Should return a list of lines of the diff (including \n) in list +context, and the whole diff in scalar context. + +#### `rcs_getctime($)` + +This is used to get the page creation time for a file from the RCS, by looking +it up in the history. + +It's ok if this is not implemented, and throws an error. + +#### `rcs_receive()` + +This is called when ikiwiki is running as a pre-receive hook (or +equivalent), and is testing if changes pushed into the RCS from an +untrusted user should be accepted. This is optional, and doesn't make +sense to implement for all RCSs. + +It should examine the incoming changes, and do any sanity +checks that are appropriate for the RCS to limit changes to safe file adds, +removes, and changes. If something bad is found, it should exit +nonzero, to abort the push. Otherwise, it should return a list of +files that were changed, in the form: + + { + file => # name of file that was changed + action => # either "add", "change", or "remove" + path => # temp file containing the new file content, only + # needed for "add"/"change", and only if the file + # is an attachment, not a page + } + +The list will then be checked to make sure that each change is one that +is allowed to be made via the web interface. + +### PageSpec plugins + +It's also possible to write plugins that add new functions to +[[PageSpecs|ikiwiki/PageSpec]]. Such a plugin should add a function to the +IkiWiki::PageSpec package, that is named `match_foo`, where "foo()" is +how it will be accessed in a [[ikiwiki/PageSpec]]. The function will be passed +two parameters: The name of the page being matched, and the thing to match +against. It may also be passed additional, named parameters. It should return +a IkiWiki::SuccessReason object if the match succeeds, or an +IkiWiki::FailReason object if the match fails. + +### Setup plugins + +The ikiwiki setup file is loaded using a pluggable mechanism. If you look +at the top of a setup file, it starts with 'use IkiWiki::Setup::Standard', +and the rest of the file is passed to that module's import method. + +It's possible to write other modules in the `IkiWiki::Setup::` namespace that +can be used to configure ikiwiki in different ways. These modules should, +when imported, populate `$IkiWiki::Setup::raw_setup` with a reference +to a hash containing all the config items. They should also implement a +`gendump` function. + +By the way, to parse a ikiwiki setup file and populate `%config`, a +program just needs to do something like: +`use IkiWiki::Setup; IkiWiki::Setup::load($filename)` + +### Function overriding + +Sometimes using ikiwiki's pre-defined hooks is not enough. Your plugin +may need to replace one of ikiwiki's own functions with a modified version, +or wrap one of the functions. + +For example, your plugin might want to override `displaytime`, to change +the html markup used when displaying a date. Or it might want to override +`IkiWiki::formattime`, to change how a date is formatted. Or perhaps you +want to override `bestlink` and change how ikiwiki deals with WikiLinks. + +By venturing into this territory, your plugin is becoming tightly tied to +ikiwiki's internals. And it might break if those internals change. But +don't let that stop you, if you're brave. + +Ikiwiki provides an `inject()` function, that is a powerful way to replace +any function with one of your own. This even allows you to inject a +replacement for an exported function, like `bestlink`. Everything that +imports that function will get your version instead. Pass it the name of +the function to replace, and a new function to call. + +For example, here's how to replace `displaytime` with a version using HTML 5 +markup: + + inject(name => 'IkiWiki::displaytime', call => sub { + return ""; + }); + +Here's how to wrap `bestlink` with a version that tries to handle +plural words: + + my $origbestlink=\&bestlink; + inject(name => 'IkiWiki::bestlink', call => \&mybestlink); + + sub deplural ($) { + my $word=shift; + $word =~ s/e?s$//; # just an example :-) + return $word; + } + + sub mybestlink ($$) { + my $page=shift; + my $link=shift; + my $ret=$origbestlink->($page, $link); + if (! length $ret) { + $ret=$origbestlink->($page, deplural($link)); + } + return $ret; + } + +### Javascript + +Some plugins use javascript to make ikiwiki look a bit more web-2.0-ish. + +All javascript code should be put in `.js` files in the `javascript` +underlay, and plugins using those files can enable use of the underlay by +calling `add_underlay("javascript");` in their `import` function. + +You'll have to arrange for `