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This module provides easy processing of arguments passed from #invoke. It is a meta-module, meant for use by other modules, and should not be called from #invoke directly (for a module directly invocable by templates you might want to have a look at {{#invoke:params}}). Its features include:

  • Easy trimming of arguments and removal of blank arguments.
  • Arguments can be passed by both the current frame and by the parent frame at the same time. (More details below.)
  • Arguments can be passed in directly from another Lua module or from the debug console.
  • Most features can be customized.

Basic use

First, you need to load the module. It contains one function, named getArgs.

localgetArgs=require('Module:Arguments').getArgs

In the most basic scenario, you can use getArgs inside your main function. The variable args is a table containing the arguments from #invoke. (See below for details.)

localgetArgs=require('Module:Arguments').getArgs
localp={}

functionp.main(frame)
localargs=getArgs(frame)
-- Main module code goes here.
end

returnp

Recommended practice

However, the recommended practice is to use a separate function as the entry point from #invoke just for processing the arguments. This allows other Lua modules to call your core logic directly, improving performance by avoiding the overhead of interacting with the frame object.

localgetArgs=require('Module:Arguments').getArgs
localp={}

functionp.main(frame)
localargs=getArgs(frame)
returnp._main(args)
end

functionp._main(args)
-- Main module code goes here.
end

returnp

The way this is called from a template is {{#invoke:Example|main}} (optionally with some parameters like {{#invoke:Example|main|arg1=value1|arg2=value2}}), and the way this is called from a module is require('Module:Example')._main({arg1='value1',arg2=value2,'spaced arg3'='value3'}). What this second one does is construct a table with the arguments in it, then gives that table to the p._main(args) function, which uses it natively.

Multiple functions

If you want multiple functions to use the arguments, and you also want them to be accessible from #invoke, you can use a wrapper function.

localgetArgs=require('Module:Arguments').getArgs

localp={}

localfunctionmakeInvokeFunc(funcName)
returnfunction(frame)
localargs=getArgs(frame)
returnp[funcName](args)
end
end

p.func1=makeInvokeFunc('_func1')

functionp._func1(args)
-- Code for the first function goes here.
end

p.func2=makeInvokeFunc('_func2')

functionp._func2(args)
-- Code for the second function goes here.
end

returnp

Options

The following options are available. They are explained in the sections below.

localargs=getArgs(frame,{
trim=false,
removeBlanks=false,
valueFunc=function(key,value)
-- Code for processing one argument
end,

frameOnly=true,
parentOnly=true,
parentFirst=true,

wrappers={
'Template:A wrapper template',
'Template:Another wrapper template'
},

readOnly=true,
noOverwrite=true
})

Trimming whitespace

MediaWiki trims whitespace for named arguments coming from #invoke or a template call, but preserves whitespace for positional arguments. By default, this module helps trim whitespace also for position arguments. To preserve whitespace for positional arguments, set the trim option to false.

localargs=getArgs(frame,{
trim=false
})

When the valueFunc option is given, the valueFunc function will be responsible for trimming whitespace, and the trim option will have no effect.

Removing blank arguments

"Blank arguments" are arguments from #invoke or template that are blank strings or consist of only whitespace. By default, this module removes all blank arguments. To preserve the blank arguments, set the removeBlanks option to false.

localargs=getArgs(frame,{
removeBlanks=false
})

This might be necessary for some templates' operation.

Note: When converting MediaWiki templates to Lua, keep in mind that in Lua, blank strings and strings consisting only of whitespace are considered true. If you don't pay attention to such blank arguments when you write your Lua modules, you might treat something as true that should actually be treated as false.

When the valueFunc option is given, the valueFunc function will be responsible for handling blank arguments, and the removeBlanks option will have no effect.

Custom formatting of arguments

Sometimes you want to remove some blank arguments but not others, or perhaps you might want to put all of the positional arguments in lower case. To do things like this you can use the valueFunc option. The input to this option must be a function that takes two parameters, key and value, and returns a single value. This value is what you will get when you access the field key in the args table.

Example 1: this function preserves whitespace for the first positional argument's value, but trims all other arguments' value and removes all other blank arguments.

localargs=getArgs(frame,{
valueFunc=function(key,value)
ifkey==1then
returnvalue
elseifvaluethen
value=mw.text.trim(value)
ifvalue~=''then
returnvalue
end
end
returnnil
end
})

Example 2: this function removes blank arguments and converts all argument values to lower case, but doesn't trim whitespace from positional parameters.

localargs=getArgs(frame,{
valueFunc=function(key,value)
ifnotvaluethen
returnnil
end
value=mw.ustring.lower(value)
ifmw.ustring.find(value,'%S')then
returnvalue
end
returnnil
end
})

Note: the above functions will fail if passed input that is not of type string or nil. This might be the case if you use the getArgs function in the main function of your module, and that function is called by another Lua module. In this case, you will need to check the type of your input. This is not a problem if you are using a function specially for arguments from #invoke (i.e. you have p.main and p._main functions, or something similar).

Examples 1 and 2 with type checking

Example 1:

localargs=getArgs(frame,{
valueFunc=function(key,value)
ifkey==1then
returnvalue
elseiftype(value)=='string'then
value=mw.text.trim(value)
ifvalue~=''then
returnvalue
else
returnnil
end
else
returnvalue
end
end
})

Example 2:

localargs=getArgs(frame,{
valueFunc=function(key,value)
iftype(value)=='string'then
value=mw.ustring.lower(value)
ifmw.ustring.find(value,'%S')then
returnvalue
else
returnnil
end
else
returnvalue
end
end
})

Also, please note that the valueFunc function is called more or less every time an argument is requested from the args table, so if you care about performance you should make sure you aren't doing anything inefficient with your code.

Frames and parent frames

Arguments in the args table can be passed from the current frame or from its parent frame at the same time. To understand what this means, it is easiest to give an example. Let's say that we have a module called Module:ExampleArgs. This module prints the first two positional arguments that it is passed.

Module:ExampleArgs code
localgetArgs=require('Module:Arguments').getArgs
localp={}

functionp.main(frame)
localargs=getArgs(frame)
returnp._main(args)
end

functionp._main(args)
localfirst=args[1]or''
localsecond=args[2]or''
returnfirst..' '..second
end

returnp

Template:ExampleArgs contains the code {{#invoke:ExampleArgs|main|''firstInvokeArg''}}.

Now if we were to call Template:ExampleArgs, the following would happen:

Code Result
{{#invoke:ExampleArgs|main|''firstInvokeArg''}}

(call #invoke directly without template)
firstInvokeArg

(call #invoke directly without template)

{{ExampleArgs}} firstInvokeArg
{{ExampleArgs|firstTemplateArg}} firstInvokeArg
{{ExampleArgs|firstTemplateArg|secondTemplateArg}} firstInvokeArg secondTemplateArg

There are three options you can set to change this behaviour: frameOnly, parentOnly and parentFirst. If you set frameOnly then only arguments passed from the current frame will be accepted; if you set parentOnly then only arguments passed from the parent frame will be accepted; and if you set parentFirst then arguments will be passed from both the current and parent frames, but the parent frame will have priority over the current frame. Here are the results in terms of Template:ExampleArgs:

frameOnly
Code Result
{{ExampleArgs}} firstInvokeArg
{{ExampleArgs|firstTemplateArg}} firstInvokeArg
{{ExampleArgs|firstTemplateArg|secondTemplateArg}} firstInvokeArg
parentOnly
Code Result
{{ExampleArgs}}
{{ExampleArgs|firstTemplateArg}} firstTemplateArg
{{ExampleArgs|firstTemplateArg|secondTemplateArg}} firstTemplateArg secondTemplateArg
parentFirst
Code Result
{{ExampleArgs}} firstInvokeArg
{{ExampleArgs|firstTemplateArg}} firstTemplateArg
{{ExampleArgs|firstTemplateArg|secondTemplateArg}} firstTemplateArg secondTemplateArg

Notes:

  1. If you set both the frameOnly and parentOnly options, the module won't fetch any arguments at all from #invoke. This is probably not what you want.
  2. In some situations a parent frame may not be available, e.g. if getArgs is passed the parent frame rather than the current frame. In this case, only the frame arguments will be used (unless parentOnly is set, in which case no arguments will be used) and the parentFirst and frameOnly options will have no effect.

Wrappers

The wrappers option is used to specify a limited number of templates as wrapper templates, that is, templates whose only purpose is to call a module. If the module detects that it is being called from a wrapper template, it will only check for arguments in the parent frame; otherwise it will only check for arguments in the frame passed to getArgs. This allows modules to be called by either #invoke or through a wrapper template without the loss of performance associated with having to check both the frame and the parent frame for each argument lookup.

For example, the only content of Template:Side box (excluding content in <noinclude>...</noinclude> tags) is {{#invoke:Side box|main}}. There is no point in checking the arguments passed directly to the #invoke statement for this template, as no arguments will ever be specified there. We can avoid checking arguments passed to #invoke by using the parentOnly option, but if we do this then #invoke will not work from other pages either. If this were the case, the |text=Some text in the code {{#invoke:Side box|main|text=Some text}} would be ignored completely, no matter what page it was used from. By using the wrappers option to specify 'Template:Side box' as a wrapper, we can make {{#invoke:Side box|main|text=Some text}} work from most pages, while still not requiring that the module check for arguments on the Template:Side box page itself.

Wrappers can be specified either as a string, or as an array of strings.

localargs=getArgs(frame,{
wrappers='Template:Wrapper template'
})


localargs=getArgs(frame,{
wrappers={
'Template:Wrapper 1',
'Template:Wrapper 2',
-- Any number of wrapper templates can be added here.
}
})

The wrappers option changes the default behaviors of the frameOnly and parentOnly options.

Behaviors of frameOnly and parentOnly in relations with wrapper templates
If Template:ExampleArgs is specified as a wrapper template
parentOnly is true or not set

The frame arguments will not be used at all.

Code Result
{{ExampleArgs}}
{{ExampleArgs|firstTemplateArg}} firstTemplateArg
{{ExampleArgs|firstTemplateArg|secondTemplateArg}} firstTemplateArg secondTemplateArg
parentOnly is false, parentFirst is false or not set
Code Result
{{ExampleArgs}} firstInvokeArg
{{ExampleArgs|firstTemplateArg}} firstInvokeArg
{{ExampleArgs|firstTemplateArg|secondTemplateArg}} firstInvokeArg secondTemplateArg
parentOnly is false, parentFirst is true
Code Result
{{ExampleArgs}} firstInvokeArg
{{ExampleArgs|firstTemplateArg}} firstTemplateArg
{{ExampleArgs|firstTemplateArg|secondTemplateArg}} firstTemplateArg secondTemplateArg
If wrappers is set but Template:ExampleArgs is not in the wrappers list
frameOnly is true or not set
Code Result
{{ExampleArgs}} firstInvokeArg
{{ExampleArgs|firstTemplateArg}} firstInvokeArg
{{ExampleArgs|firstTemplateArg|secondTemplateArg}} firstInvokeArg
frameOnly is false, parentFirst is false or not set
Code Result
{{ExampleArgs}} firstInvokeArg
{{ExampleArgs|firstTemplateArg}} firstInvokeArg
{{ExampleArgs|firstTemplateArg|secondTemplateArg}} firstInvokeArg secondTemplateArg
frameOnly is false, parentFirst is true
Code Result
{{ExampleArgs}} firstInvokeArg
{{ExampleArgs|firstTemplateArg}} firstTemplateArg
{{ExampleArgs|firstTemplateArg|secondTemplateArg}} firstTemplateArg secondTemplateArg

Notes:

  1. The module will automatically detect if it is being called from a wrapper template's /sandbox subpage, so there is no need to specify sandbox pages explicitly.
  2. If the wrappers option is set and no parent frame is available, the module will always get the arguments from the frame passed to getArgs.

Writing to the args table

Sometimes it can be useful to write new values to the args table. This is possible with the default settings of this module. (However, bear in mind that it is usually better coding style to create a new table with your new values and copy arguments from the args table as needed.)

args.foo='some value'

It is possible to alter this behaviour with the readOnly and noOverwrite options. If readOnly is set then it is not possible to write any values to the args table at all. If noOverwrite is set, then it is possible to add new values to the table, but it is not possible to add a value if it would overwrite any arguments that are passed from #invoke.

Notes

Ref tags

This module uses metatables to fetch arguments from #invoke. This allows access to both the frame arguments and the parent frame arguments without using the pairs() function. This can help if your module might be passed <ref>...</ref> tags as input.

As soon as <ref>...</ref> tags are accessed from Lua, they are processed by the MediaWiki software and the reference will appear in the reference list at the bottom of the article. If your module proceeds to omit the reference tag from the output, you will end up with a phantom reference – a reference that appears in the reference list but without any number linking to it. This has been a problem with modules that use pairs() to detect whether to use the arguments from the frame or the parent frame, as those modules automatically process every available argument.

This module solves this problem by allowing access to both frame and parent frame arguments, while still only fetching those arguments when it is necessary. The problem will still occur if you use pairs(args) elsewhere in your module, however.

Known limitations

The use of metatables also has its downsides. Most of the normal Lua table tools won't work properly on the args table, including the # operator, the next() function, and the functions in the table library. If using these is important for your module, you should use your own argument processing function instead of this module.

See also

-- This module provides easy processing of arguments passed to Scribunto from
-- #invoke. It is intended for use by other Lua modules, and should not be
-- called from #invoke directly.
locallibraryUtil=require('libraryUtil')
localcheckType=libraryUtil.checkType
localarguments={}
-- Generate four different tidyVal functions, so that we don't have to check the
-- options every time we call it.
localfunctiontidyValDefault(key,val)
iftype(val)=='string'then
val=val:match('^%s*(.-)%s*$')
ifval==''then
returnnil
else
returnval
end
else
returnval
end
end
localfunctiontidyValTrimOnly(key,val)
iftype(val)=='string'then
returnval:match('^%s*(.-)%s*$')
else
returnval
end
end
localfunctiontidyValRemoveBlanksOnly(key,val)
iftype(val)=='string'then
ifval:find('%S')then
returnval
else
returnnil
end
else
returnval
end
end
localfunctiontidyValNoChange(key,val)
returnval
end
localfunctionmatchesTitle(given,title)
localtp=type(given)
return(tp=='string'ortp=='number')andmw.title.new(given).prefixedText==title
end
localtranslate_mt={__index=function(t,k)returnkend}
functionarguments.getArgs(frame,options)
checkType('getArgs',1,frame,'table',true)
checkType('getArgs',2,options,'table',true)
frame=frameor{}
options=optionsor{}
--[[
	-- Set up argument translation.
	--]]
options.translate=options.translateor{}
ifgetmetatable(options.translate)==nilthen
setmetatable(options.translate,translate_mt)
end
ifoptions.backtranslate==nilthen
options.backtranslate={}
fork,vinpairs(options.translate)do
options.backtranslate[v]=k
end
end
ifoptions.backtranslateandgetmetatable(options.backtranslate)==nilthen
setmetatable(options.backtranslate,{
__index=function(t,k)
ifoptions.translate[k]~=kthen
returnnil
else
returnk
end
end
})
end
--[[
	-- Get the argument tables. If we were passed a valid frame object, get the
	-- frame arguments (fargs) and the parent frame arguments (pargs), depending
	-- on the options set and on the parent frame's availability. If we weren't
	-- passed a valid frame object, we are being called from another Lua module
	-- or from the debug console, so assume that we were passed a table of args
	-- directly, and assign it to a new variable (luaArgs).
	--]]
localfargs,pargs,luaArgs
iftype(frame.args)=='table'andtype(frame.getParent)=='function'then
ifoptions.wrappersthen
--[[
			-- The wrappers option makes Module:Arguments look up arguments in
			-- either the frame argument table or the parent argument table, but
			-- not both. This means that users can use either the #invoke syntax
			-- or a wrapper template without the loss of performance associated
			-- with looking arguments up in both the frame and the parent frame.
			-- Module:Arguments will look up arguments in the parent frame
			-- if it finds the parent frame's title in options.wrapper;
			-- otherwise it will look up arguments in the frame object passed
			-- to getArgs.
			--]]
localparent=frame:getParent()
ifnotparentthen
fargs=frame.args
else
localtitle=parent:getTitle():gsub('/sandbox$','')
localfound=false
ifmatchesTitle(options.wrappers,title)then
found=true
elseiftype(options.wrappers)=='table'then
for_,vinpairs(options.wrappers)do
ifmatchesTitle(v,title)then
found=true
break
end
end
end
-- We test for false specifically here so that nil (the default) acts like true.
iffoundoroptions.frameOnly==falsethen
pargs=parent.args
end
ifnotfoundoroptions.parentOnly==falsethen
fargs=frame.args
end
end
else
-- options.wrapper isn't set, so check the other options.
ifnotoptions.parentOnlythen
fargs=frame.args
end
ifnotoptions.frameOnlythen
localparent=frame:getParent()
pargs=parentandparent.argsornil
end
end
ifoptions.parentFirstthen
fargs,pargs=pargs,fargs
end
else
luaArgs=frame
end
-- Set the order of precedence of the argument tables. If the variables are
-- nil, nothing will be added to the table, which is how we avoid clashes
-- between the frame/parent args and the Lua args.
localargTables={fargs}
argTables[#argTables+1]=pargs
argTables[#argTables+1]=luaArgs
--[[
	-- Generate the tidyVal function. If it has been specified by the user, we
	-- use that; if not, we choose one of four functions depending on the
	-- options chosen. This is so that we don't have to call the options table
	-- every time the function is called.
	--]]
localtidyVal=options.valueFunc
iftidyValthen
iftype(tidyVal)~='function'then
error(
"bad value assigned to option 'valueFunc'"
..'(function expected, got '
..type(tidyVal)
..')',
2
)
end
elseifoptions.trim~=falsethen
ifoptions.removeBlanks~=falsethen
tidyVal=tidyValDefault
else
tidyVal=tidyValTrimOnly
end
else
ifoptions.removeBlanks~=falsethen
tidyVal=tidyValRemoveBlanksOnly
else
tidyVal=tidyValNoChange
end
end
--[[
	-- Set up the args, metaArgs and nilArgs tables. args will be the one
	-- accessed from functions, and metaArgs will hold the actual arguments. Nil
	-- arguments are memoized in nilArgs, and the metatable connects all of them
	-- together.
	--]]
localargs,metaArgs,nilArgs,metatable={},{},{},{}
setmetatable(args,metatable)
localfunctionmergeArgs(tables)
--[[
		-- Accepts multiple tables as input and merges their keys and values
		-- into one table. If a value is already present it is not overwritten;
		-- tables listed earlier have precedence. We are also memoizing nil
		-- values, which can be overwritten if they are 's' (soft).
		--]]
for_,tinipairs(tables)do
forkey,valinpairs(t)do
ifmetaArgs[key]==nilandnilArgs[key]~='h'then
localtidiedVal=tidyVal(key,val)
iftidiedVal==nilthen
nilArgs[key]='s'
else
metaArgs[key]=tidiedVal
end
end
end
end
end
--[[
	-- Define metatable behaviour. Arguments are memoized in the metaArgs table,
	-- and are only fetched from the argument tables once. Fetching arguments
	-- from the argument tables is the most resource-intensive step in this
	-- module, so we try and avoid it where possible. For this reason, nil
	-- arguments are also memoized, in the nilArgs table. Also, we keep a record
	-- in the metatable of when pairs and ipairs have been called, so we do not
	-- run pairs and ipairs on the argument tables more than once. We also do
	-- not run ipairs on fargs and pargs if pairs has already been run, as all
	-- the arguments will already have been copied over.
	--]]
metatable.__index=function(t,key)
--[[
		-- Fetches an argument when the args table is indexed. First we check
		-- to see if the value is memoized, and if not we try and fetch it from
		-- the argument tables. When we check memoization, we need to check
		-- metaArgs before nilArgs, as both can be non-nil at the same time.
		-- If the argument is not present in metaArgs, we also check whether
		-- pairs has been run yet. If pairs has already been run, we return nil.
		-- This is because all the arguments will have already been copied into
		-- metaArgs by the mergeArgs function, meaning that any other arguments
		-- must be nil.
		--]]
iftype(key)=='string'then
key=options.translate[key]
end
localval=metaArgs[key]
ifval~=nilthen
returnval
elseifmetatable.donePairsornilArgs[key]then
returnnil
end
for_,argTableinipairs(argTables)do
localargTableVal=tidyVal(key,argTable[key])
ifargTableVal~=nilthen
metaArgs[key]=argTableVal
returnargTableVal
end
end
nilArgs[key]='h'
returnnil
end
metatable.__newindex=function(t,key,val)
-- This function is called when a module tries to add a new value to the
-- args table, or tries to change an existing value.
iftype(key)=='string'then
key=options.translate[key]
end
ifoptions.readOnlythen
error(
'could not write to argument table key "'
..tostring(key)
..'"; the table is read-only',
2
)
elseifoptions.noOverwriteandargs[key]~=nilthen
error(
'could not write to argument table key "'
..tostring(key)
..'"; overwriting existing arguments is not permitted',
2
)
elseifval==nilthen
--[[
			-- If the argument is to be overwritten with nil, we need to erase
			-- the value in metaArgs, so that __index, __pairs and __ipairs do
			-- not use a previous existing value, if present; and we also need
			-- to memoize the nil in nilArgs, so that the value isn't looked
			-- up in the argument tables if it is accessed again.
			--]]
metaArgs[key]=nil
nilArgs[key]='h'
else
metaArgs[key]=val
end
end
localfunctiontranslatenext(invariant)
localk,v=next(invariant.t,invariant.k)
invariant.k=k
ifk==nilthen
returnnil
elseiftype(k)~='string'ornotoptions.backtranslatethen
returnk,v
else
localbacktranslate=options.backtranslate[k]
ifbacktranslate==nilthen
-- Skip this one. This is a tail call, so this won't cause stack overflow
returntranslatenext(invariant)
else
returnbacktranslate,v
end
end
end
metatable.__pairs=function()
-- Called when pairs is run on the args table.
ifnotmetatable.donePairsthen
mergeArgs(argTables)
metatable.donePairs=true
end
returntranslatenext,{t=metaArgs}
end
localfunctioninext(t,i)
-- This uses our __index metamethod
localv=t[i+1]
ifv~=nilthen
returni+1,v
end
end
metatable.__ipairs=function(t)
-- Called when ipairs is run on the args table.
returninext,t,0
end
returnargs
end
returnarguments