Edit Table Plugin

Edit TWiki tables in place, using edit fields and drop down boxes, without having to edit the complete topic.

Simply add an [ Edit table ] button to an existing table by writing CGI %EDITTABLE{}% directly above the table. This can be added to tables that are formatted with TablePlugin: add the CGI EDITTABLE variable just above or below the CGI TABLE tag. It can also be used without any CGI TABLE tag.

Customize entry fields by specifying the format: use a text field, a drop down box, a date field, radio buttons or checkboxes.

Multiple tables per topic are editable, but only one at a time can be edited.

Per Table Settings

Add a CGI %EDITTABLE{...}% variable just before an existing table to make it editable, or add the variable anywhere in a topic to start a new table.

• Supported attributes:

  Attribute	Comment	Default
  CGI header	Specify the header format of a new table like CGI "|*Food*|*Drink*|". Useful to start a table with only a button	(no header)
  CGI format	The format of one column when editing the table. A cell can be a text input field, or any of these edit field types: • Text input field (1 line):   CGI | text, <size>, <initial value> | • Textarea input field:   CGI | textarea, <rows>x<columns>, <initial value> | • Drop down box:   CGI | select, <size>, <option 1>, <option 2>, etc* |   CGI * only one item can be selected • Radio buttons:   CGI | radio, <size*>, <option 1>, <option 2>, etc |   CGI * size indicates the number of buttons per line in edit mode • Checkboxes:   CGI | checkbox, <size*>, <option 1>, <option 2>, etc |   CGI * size indicates the number of checkboxes per line in edit mode • Fixed label:   CGI | label, 0, <label text> | • Row number:   CGI | row, <offset> | • Date:   CGI | date, <size>, <initial value>, <DHTML date format> | (see Date Field Type)	CGI "text, 16" for all cells
  CGI changerows	Rows can be added and removed if CGI "on" Rows can be added but not removed if CGI "add" Rows cannot be added or removed if CGI "off"	CGI CHANGEROWS plugin setting
  CGI quietsave	Quiet Save button is shown if CGI "on", hidden if CGI "off"	CGI QUIETSAVE plugin setting
  CGI include	Other topic defining the EDITTABLE parameters. The first %EDITTABLE% in the topic is used. This is useful if you have many topics with the same table format and you want to update the format in one place.	(none)
  CGI helptopic	Topic name containing help text shown below the table when editing a table. The %STARTINCLUDE% and %STOPINCLUDE% variables can be used in the topic to specify what is shown.	(no help text)
  CGI headerislabel	Table header cells are read-only (labels) if CGI "on"; header cells can be edited if CGI "off" or "0"	CGI "on"
  CGI editbutton	Set edit button text, e.g. CGI "Edit this table"; set button image with alt text, e.g. CGI "Edit table, %PUBURL%/%TWIKIWEB%/TWikiDocGraphics/edittopic.gif"; hide edit button at the end of the table with CGI "hide" (Note: Button is automatically hidden if an edit button is present in a cell)	CGI EDITBUTTON plugin setting
  CGI javascriptinterface	Use javascript to directly move and delete row without page refresh. Enable with CGI "on", disable with CGI "off".	CGI JAVASCRIPTINTERFACE plugin setting

Using TWiki Variables in the Format Parameter

By default, variables in CGI <initial value> (of text input field) and CGI <label text> (of fixed label) get expanded when a new row is added. This can be used for example to add a timestamp to a label. You can escape characters with format tokens if you do not want that.

Any TWiki variable inside a table cell will be preserved. For instance, CGI %TOPIC% will not get expanded to the current topic name.

The format tokens are the same as with FormattedSearch:

Date Field Type

The CGI date field type allows one to choose a date with a popup calendar. Popup calendar works with all modern browsers. The date picker button is inactive if the browser cannot support the popup calendar or if javascript is disabled.

Per Cell Settings

An individual edit field type can be defined for each table cell. Place an CGI %EDITCELL{ "type, ..." }% variable at the end of the cell content. This is useful to override the per column CGI %EDITTABLE{ format="..." }% settings, or to create tables with key/value rows. All edit field types of the CGI format="..." parameter are supported. For example, to define a text field, type: CGI | cell content %EDITCELL{ "text, 20" }% |

It is also possible to place the edit button inside a cell instead of default location below the table. Type CGI | %EDITCELL{ "editbutton, 1, Edit this table" }% | to show a button, or CGI | %EDITCELL{ "editbutton, 1, Edit table, Image-URL" }% | to show a button image with alternate text.

Note: The CGI %EDITCELL{ }%=variable cannot be used by itself; place an =%EDITTABLE{ }%=variable at the beginning of a table where you want to use =%EDITCELL{ }% variables.

Table Buttons

Examples

Line before table: CGI %EDITTABLE{ format="| row, -1 | text, 20, init | select, 1, one, two, three, four | radio, 3,:-),:-I,:-( | label, 0, %SERVERTIME{"$day $mon $year $hour:$min"}% |" changerows="on" }%

Nr	Text field	Drop down	Mood	Timestamp
1	hello table	one		26 Jun 2002 12:30
2		two		27 Jun 2002 12:40

Note: Please do not save this example table! Use TWiki:Sandbox.EditTablePluginTesting if you want to try out this Plugin

If this plugin is installed you will see an [ Edit table ] button above; if you were to click on it (please don't, use TWiki:Sandbox.EditTablePluginTesting for testing) you get this form:

Nr	Text field	Drop down	Mood	Timestamp
1		one two three four		26 Jun 2002 12:30
2		one two three four		27 Jun 2002 12:40

The following example shows a simple table with key/value rows. The default edit field type for the value column is a text field. This is overloaded by a selector for the Gender, and a date picker for the DOB. This is typically used by TWiki applications where new topics with tables are created based on a template topic.

You type:	You get:	Table in edit mode:
%TABLE{"headerrows="1"}% %EDITTABLE{ format="| label | text, 40 |" changerows="off" }% |*Key*|*Value*| | Name: | John Smith | | Gender: | M %EDITCELL{select, 1, , F, M}% | | DOB: | 1999/12/31 %EDITCELL{date, 10}% | | City: | New York |

Plugin Settings

Plugin settings are stored as preferences variables. To reference a plugin setting write CGI CGI %<plugin>_<setting>%, for example, CGI CGI %EDITTABLEPLUGIN_SHORTDESCRIPTION%

• One line description, shown in the TextFormattingRules topic:
  • Set SHORTDESCRIPTION = Edit TWiki tables using edit fields, date pickers and drop down boxes

• Set DEBUG to 1 to get debug messages in CGI data/debug.txt. Default: CGI 0
  • Set DEBUG = 0

• Set JAVASCRIPTINTERFACE to 1 to be able to directly move and delete row without page refresh. Can be overridden with parameter CGI javascriptinterface.
  • Set JAVASCRIPTINTERFACE = 1

• Default for change rows flag: CGI on, CGI off, CGI add
  • Set CHANGEROWS = on

• Default flag for quiet save option: CGI on to show the Quiet Save button, CGI off to hide
  • Set QUIETSAVE = on

• Default edit button: Specify CGI button text, or specify CGI alternate text, image URL. Note: Texts inside CGI %MAKETEXT{}% are translated into other languages.
  • #Set EDIT_BUTTON = Edit table
  • Set EDIT_BUTTON = Edit this table,
  • Set SAVE_BUTTON = Save table
  • Set QUIET_SAVE_BUTTON = Quiet save
  • Set ADD_ROW_BUTTON = Add row
  • Set DELETE_LAST_ROW_BUTTON = Delete last row
  • Set CANCEL_BUTTON = Cancel

• Default help texts
  • Set INCLUDED_TOPIC_DOES_NOT_EXIST = Warning: 'include' topic does not exist!

Note: The Plugin uses base settings like date format, language and style from the JSCalendarContrib.

Limitations and Known Issues

• This Plugin does not support TWiki table formatting like Multi-span cells (e.g. CGI | ... ||) and cell justification (e.g. CGI |  centered  |   right |)
• There is a performance issue when editing a large table, say, with more then 50 rows
• You cannot put two CGI %EDITTABLE{}% statements on the same line in the source
• You can include %-vars now in select values, by quoting them with <nop>, as in %<nop>X% for %X%, say for instance:
  CGI select,1,%<nop>X%,%<nop>Y%

Installation Instructions

• Download the ZIP file from the Plugin web (see below)
• Unzip CGI CGI EditTablePlugin.zip in your ($TWIKI_ROOT) directory.
• Alternatively,
  • Manually resolve the dependencies listed below. None
• The Plugin depends on the CGI viewauth script to authenticate the user. As described in TWikiAccessControl, copy the CGI view script to CGI viewauth (or better, create a symbolic link) and add CGI viewauth to the list of authenticated scripts in the CGI .htaccess file.
• (Dakar) Visit CGI configure in your TWiki installation, and enable the plugin in the {Plugins} section.
• Test if the Plugin is correctly installed:
  • Check above example if there is an [ Edit table ] button below the table in above example
  • Click on [ Edit table ], make changes and save the table

License

• The Edit Table Plugin is released under the GPL

Plugin Info

Related Topics: VarEDITTABLE, TWikiPreferences, TWikiPlugins