EditHiddenTablePlugin

This plugin allows you to edit TWiki tables row by row, using a form with appropriate controls for each field. If preceeded by an %EDITHIDDENTABLE{...}% variable, tables have edit links for each row, and are optionally followed by an [ Edit table ] button. Multiple tables per topic are editable, but only one row at a time can be edited.

This plugin works exactly like TWiki:Plugins.EditTablerowPlugin, but the tables are stored in meta data and, therefore, not visible or editable in topic text. That is useful in TWikiApplications? , that want to keep the tables in templates.

Acknowledgment

This plugin was inspired and steals much from TWiki:Main/PeterThoeny's TWiki:Plugins/EditTablePlugin and tries be compatible with respect to the options and parameters it provides. However, as it supports editing of the table one row at a time, it is not subject to the performance limitations of TWiki:Plugins/EditTablePlugin when faced with large tables.

The idea and first implementation of form-based editing for tables goes back to TWiki:Main/ShawnBradford's approach in TWiki:Codev/SimpleTableEntryUsingForms.

Template

Before you can edit a table, you need to define a template that describes the layout of the table in the style of TWikiForms. The table format is given by a table in the form template: each row defines a table column by giving a field name, field type, size, and initial values, if any. The field type determines how the table row is edited (e.g., as text, textare, radio, checkbox, etc.).

For ease of transition of existing systems, the table schema can also be defined in the syntax of EditTablePlugin.

Per Table Settings

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

The template and format attributes are mutually exclusive. If the template tag is present, the indicated template is used to define the table schema.

The EditTablePlugin compatability mode is not yet supported.

Initial Values

Table cells are given initial values taken from the template, when a table row is added.

Supported Field Type

All field types supported in TWikiForms are supported for table fields also. For example, in the screenshot below, the Mishoo DHTML calendar is used to select the value for a date field.

Table editing

A table row can be edited by clicking the link at the beginning of that row. This link may be represented either as

• the first table field in the row being a link,
• a text link (in smaller font) preceding the first table field, or
• an icon preceding the table field,

In edit mode, the following action buttons are available

If enabled, below the table a link is shown that allows adding rows to the end of the table. The appearance of this link is controlled by the EDITBUTTON preference setting (see below).

In add mode, the following action button is available

After editing, the focus is moved to the row edited, to avoid excessive scrolling when working with large tables.

Examples

Line before table: %EDITHIDDENTABLE{ template="..." changerows="on" }%

Nr	Text field	Drop down	Mood	Timestamp
1	hello table	one		19 Mar 2005 23:21
2		two		19 Mar 2005 11:21

If you click on one of the links in the first column, say for the second row, you will be able to edit that table row in a form:

Plugin Settings

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

• One line description, shown in the TextFormattingRules topic:
  • Set SHORTDESCRIPTION = Edit TWiki tables rows using a form

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

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

• Default edit button: Specify button text, or specify alternate text, image URL
  • Set EDITBUTTON = Edit table
  • #Set EDITBUTTON = Edit this table,

• Default edit link for row: Specify button text, or specify alternate text, image URL. If empty, create link from first field.
  • #Set EDITLINK = Edit
  • #Set EDITLINK = Edit,

Limitations and Known Issues

• This Plugin does not (yet) support TWiki table formatting like Multi-span cells (e.g. | ... ||)
• You cannot put two %EDITTABLE{}% statements on the same line in the source

Plugin Installation Instructions

Note: You do not need to install anything on the browser to use this Plugin. The following instructions are for the administrator who installs the plugin on the server where TWiki is running.

• Download the ZIP file from the Plugin web (see below)
• Unzip EditHiddenTablePlugin.zip in your twiki installation directory. Content:

  File:	Description:
  data/TWiki/EditHiddenTablePlugin.txt	Plugin topic
  data/TWiki/EditHiddenTablePlugin.txt,v	Plugin topic repository
  lib/TWiki/Plugins/EditHiddenTablePlugin.pm	Plugin Perl module
  pub/TWiki/EditHiddenTablePlugin/*.jpg	Screenshots for plugin topic
  bin/editTable
  bin/uploadTable
  templates/editnewTable.pattern.tmpl
  templates/editnewTable.tmpl

• Verify access and ownership settings for the new scripts.
• Edit your .htaccess file to require a valid user for the included scripts (if needed).

Plugin Info

Related Topics: EditTablePlugin, EditTablerowPlugin

-- TWiki:Main/ThomasWeigert - 19 Nov 2006