[tw5] Dynamically modifying core tiddlers

Google Group (Read Only)
#1

Use case: I’m trying to overwrite a few core tiddlers to introduce a cascade filter mechanism (similar to the ones implemented in $:/core/ui/TagTemplate to set the tag icon and colour) to allow flexible customization of tags text labels. In particular, to allow displaying different fields other than the default title field in tag labels (reason: sometimes tiddler titles get too long).

Question: would I be forced to manually check and merge changes at every update of the TW core, or are there more efficient ways?
I’d like to set up a system that automatically overwrites small sections of the core so that I wouldn’t need to merge changes manually, perhaps coupled with an alert/log system that notifies me of situations requiring user supervision.

Thank you all,
Dam

#2

Edit: I have tried to develop this use case without modifying the core (through CSS styling), but it seemed unfeasible when working with tag pills.

#3

Hi,
If you would be a bit more specific, what you want to do exactly, it may be possible to provide some pointers. … May be your ideas are also suitable to improve the core UI in a generic way. … If so … It may be possible to implement some new stuff directly into the core. .

-mario

#4

Hi damscal

It’s a good idea. The best way forward might be to propose a core change to introduce an additional cascade for the template used to display the content of a tag pill, so that users can have tags with custom appearances.

But to answer your question directly, there is no standardised way to modify core templates without breaking subsequent upgrades. We try to introduce mechanisms for common use cases to avoid modifying templates directly, but it’s still the last resort for people wanting to do particularly intricate customisations.

Best wishes

Jeremy

#5

Thank you very much Mario and Jeremy. I have proposed the additional cascade on github, hopefully it can be implemented in one of the future upgrades.

Coming back to the main topic, is there a standard way to reference/transclude a shadow tiddler that was replaced by a standard tiddler?
This would make possible overwriting a shadow tiddler with a standard tiddler that is dynamically derived from the shadow itself, even after a plugin upgrade.

Example:

  1. user overwrites the shadow $:/plugin/some-tiddler with a standard tiddler of the same title
  2. the original shadow tiddler can be accessed/referenced with the title $:/plugin/some-tiddler/overwritten (or an equivalent way)
  3. the user can write wikitext inside $:/plugin/some-tiddler which references $:/plugin/some-tiddler/overwritten , e.g. through something like {{{ [{$:/plugin/some-tiddler/overwritten}search-replace[“text to replace”],[“replace with this”]] }}}
  4. when there is a plugin upgrade, $:/plugin/some-tiddler/overwritten gets automatically updated. If the new version is different, a log reminds the user to review the diff to check that things aren’t broken.
  5. if the plugin upgrade makes the customisation obsolete, the user can simply delete $:/plugin/some-tiddler
    Thank you all,
    Dam
#6

Well, I’ve just seen that accessing the original shadows is possible using the subtiddler attribute of the set widget. If there are also other ways, please let me know. Automatizing the alert and diff log could be an idea for a plugin, if there are none already doing the same thing.
Thank you,
dam

#7

Hi dam

Well, I’ve just seen that accessing the original shadows is possible using the subtiddler attribute of the set widget. If there are also other ways, please let me know. Automatizing the alert and diff log could be an idea for a plugin, if there are none already doing the same thing.

You can also access subtiddlers directly with the view and transclude widgets. There’s also a “subtiddlerfields” filter operator for reading the names of fields within a subtiddler.

Best wishes

Jeremy