Documentation

The TopicType is the root of the type system of the WikiWorbench. Every WikiTopic has got one or more TopicTypes. TopicTypes always define a DataForm, where a type indicates the properties and use of the form being attached to a topic.

TopicTypes overcome Foswiki's limitation to only allow one form to be attached to a topic. If you'd like to attach a second form to a topic, create a new DataForm that mixes two others and indicate this by merging the resulting TopicType properties. This procedure is the recommended way to derive new TopicTypes from existing ones building on top of them, e.g. by augmenting a CategorizedTopic with additional formfields.

TopicTypes have a special property that you might use to indicate a special way of derivation by means of inheritance. There is no real inheritance in Foswiki but the way of thinking when dealing with objects and types can be clarified this way.

When you start writing a WikiApplication, first think of the data objects you will need and create TopicTypes for each.

Topics of type 'TopicType'

TopicType form

Name:	Type:	Size:	Values:	Description:	Attributes:	Default:
TopicType	label	1	TopicType, DataForm, DocuTopic, ApplicationTopic, WikiTopic	topic type		TopicType, DataForm, DocuTopic, ApplicationTopic, WikiTopic
TopicTitle	text	75
Summary	text	75		Short description of the role of this topic	c
Icon	icon	30	cat="fonticon"	icon to be displayed in the topic creator
Editor	topic+values	30	url="/Applications/TopicType?baseWeb=Applications&section=editors&skin=text&contenttype=application/json&t=1734885237"	editor for this topic type
Template	topic+values	30	url="/Applications/TopicType?baseWeb=Applications&section=templates&skin=text&contenttype=application/json&t=1734885237"	topic template to be used for this topic type
Topic Naming Mode	radio	3	default, template, derived			default
Topic Name Template	text	80		a template for the name of topics being created, e.g. ProjectAUTOINC0
Topic Name Source	text	80		jQuery selector of input elements to construct the topic name from		[name=TopicTitle]
Topic Name Prefix	text	30		string to be prefixed to the topic name
Topic Name Suffix	text	30		string to be appended to the topic name
Topic Name Transliterate	radio+values	2	yes=true, no=false	flag indicating character transliteration to a unicode safe subset		true
WikiApplication	wikiapp	1		Application this topic belongs to

editors

%STARTSECTION{"editors"}%<literal>%DBQUERY{
   "TopicType=~'\bTopicView\b' AND topic~'EditTemplate$' AND %FORMATLIST{
      "%IF{
        "'%URLPARAM{"q"}%'=''" 
        then="." 
        else="%URLPARAM{"q"}%"
      }%" 
      split="\s+" 
      format="lc(topic)=~lc('$1')" 
      separator=" AND "
   }%"
   web="%URLPARAM{"baseWeb"}%" 
   skip="%CALCULATE{"$EVAL(%URLPARAM{"limit" default="10"}%*(%URLPARAM{"page" default="1"}%-1))"}%"
   limit="%URLPARAM{"limit" default="10"}%"
   format="  {
      \"id\":\"$web.$topic\",
      \"text\":\"$topic\"
   }"
   separator=",$n"
   header="{\"results\":[$n"
   footer="$n], \"total\":$count}"
}%</literal>%ENDSECTION{"editors"}%

templates

%STARTSECTION{"templates"}%<literal>%DBQUERY{
   "TopicType=~'\bTopicTemplate\b' AND %FORMATLIST{
      "%IF{
        "'%URLPARAM{"q"}%'=''" 
        then="." 
        else="%URLPARAM{"q"}%"
      }%" 
      split="\s+" 
      format="lc(topic)=~lc('$1')" 
      separator=" AND "
   }%"
   web="%URLPARAM{"baseWeb"}%" 
   skip="%CALCULATE{"$EVAL(%URLPARAM{"limit" default="10"}%*(%URLPARAM{"page" default="1"}%-1))"}%"
   limit="%URLPARAM{"limit" default="10"}%"
   format="  {
      \"id\":\"$web.$topic\",
      \"text\":\"$topic\"
   }"
   separator=",$n"
   header="{\"results\":[$n"
   footer="$n], \"total\":$count}"
}%</literal>%ENDSECTION{"templates"}%