TW v5.3.0-pre: It is proposed to add $:/tags/Global for global procedures, functions, widgets, macros

[Alvaro]

@etardiff

However, Procedure Definitions does explicitly mention the $:/tags/Macro tag as a means of creating for creating global procedures.

@etardiff

3. Global functions and custom widgets?

• My understanding is that both can also be made global with the $:/tags/Macro tag, but this isn’t explicitly mentioned in the documentation. The Custom Widgets tiddler does explain that custom widgets are a special kind of procedure, so perhaps it goes without saying, but I think it ought to be mentioned on the Functions tiddler, at least.

This points are important. It should be add it. But I find it a bit confusing it when I use a new pragma but I have to reuse the old tag $:/tags/Macro. I like this proposal by @twMat (here):

@twMat

One idea could be a general tag for global stuff, e.g $:/tags/Global or something similar…

IMHO, $:/tags/Global is perfect. These are a kind of variables, then we will reuse them as global variables with this tag.

[Mohammad]

However, Procedure Definitions does explicitly mention the $:/tags/Macro tag as a means of creating for creating global procedures.

I would like to have $:/tags/Global instead of $:/tags/Macro

[CodaCoder]

$:/tags/global would need to co-exist with $:/tags/macro for compatibility reasons. I don’t see how the latter could ever be deprecated/removed.

[twMat]

AFAIU, “deprecated” can mean to simply leave it working but not to really use it from now on. So $:/tags/Global could achieve all that $:/tags/Macro does but also more, and the latter tag is replaced in all places but it still works the way it has always worked.

[TW_Tones]

An additional tag makes sence in so far as $:/tags/Macro is the legacy, in many cases these can be moved to $:/tags/Macro/View OR the suggested $:/tags/Global. Dont know?, use $:/tags/Macro, However also document along side the use of the import pragma to make such macros available in specific places without global definition.

[pmario]

I’m OK with the proposal to have a $:/tags/Global too … As long as it does not influence the performance because of the additional filters needed.

If we face a performance hit, we should stay with $:/tags/Macro only

Just my opinion

[twMat]

@pmario

If we face a performance hit, we should stay with $:/tags/Macro only

Of course, staying with $:/tags/Macro only causes a “hit on comprehensibility” to people learning TW, so I guess it should be weighted against this.

Anyway, is there a way to test/measure for a potential performance hit?

[jeremyruston]

The challenge with adding support for $:/tags/Global alongside $:/tags/Macro is that many of the TiddlyWiki core templates repeat this same code to import the global macros:

\import [[$:/core/ui/PageMacros]] [all[shadows+tiddlers]tag[$:/tags/Macro]!has[draft.of]]

That line will need updating in each case to add a reference to $:/tags/Global. However, many users will have copied these templates to make their own custom templates. While we can update the core templates, the clones won’t be automatically updated. So, if we go ahead and add support for $:/tags/Global then users will sometimes run into problems with macros not being available in certain situations.

Nonetheless, I think this is worth doing. We can mitigate the problems to some extent by ensuring that all core globals are tagged with both $:/tags/Macro and $:/tags/Global so that they are visible within templates using the old import filter.

[jeremyruston]

I’ve now added support for $:/tags/Global here:

Introduce $:/tags/Global tag

I think there might still be quite a few docs updates needed.

[Mohammad]

Thank you Jeremy! In TW 5.3.0 $:/tags/Global is really a semantic tag. It shouts its meaning! For newcomers it is much easier to understand than the old tag, specially when it is used for procedures and functions!

Thank you!