IF Statements

The %IF% construct gives TWiki the power to include content in topics based on the value of simple expressions.

%IF{"CONDITION" then="THEN" else="ELSE"}%

In the example above, if CONDITION evaluates to TRUE, then THEN will be included in the topic; otherwise ELSE will be included.

What can be included in the THEN and ELSE parameters is obviously limited by standard TWiki syntax for parameters.

The basic syntax of a condition is as follows:

expr ::= '(' expr ')' ;
expr ::= andexpr | andexpr 'or' expr ;
andexpr ::= notexpr | notexpr 'and' andexpr ;
notexpr ::= basexpr | 'not' baseexpr ;
basexpr ::= atom | uop atom | atom bop basexpr ;
uop ::= 'context' | 'defined' | '$' ;
bop ::= '=' | '!=' | '>' | '<' | '>=' | '<=' ;
atom ::= context identifier, TWiki variable name, single-quoted string, or configuration item
Operators
and True if both sides are true
or True if one or other side is true
not negate the following expression
=, != String comparison
<, >, <=, >= Number comparison (there is no explicit numeric =)
context True if the current context is set (see below)
defined True if a preference variable or url parameter of this name is defined.
$ expands a URL parameter or TWikiVariable. Plugin handlers are not called. Built-in variables and user-defined preferences are supported. You can pass a limited subset of parameters to TWiki variables by enclosing the variable name in single quotes; for example, $ 'VARIABLE{value}'. The 'VARIABLE{value}' string may not contain quotes (' or ").
examples:
TWiki variable defined or not
%IF{"defined WIKINAME" then="WIKINAME is defined" else="WIKINAME is not defined"}%

You are %IF{ "$ WIKINAME='TWikiGuest' and not defined OPEN_DAY" then="not" }% allowed to
%IF{ "context view" then="view" else="edit"}% this TWiki today.

URL parameter
%IF{ "defined search" then="Search: %URLPARAM{search}%" else="No search passed in"}%

Configuration item set or not
%IF{ "{AntiSpam}{HideUserDetails}" then="User details are hidden" }%

url param t is %IF{ "0 < $ t and $ t < 1000" then="in" else="out of"}% range.

Text comparison
%IF{ "$'URLPARAM{scope}'='text'" then="Plain text search" }% 

Configuration items are defined in configure. You cannot see the value of a configuration item, you can only see if the item is set or not.

Context identifiers are used in TWiki to label various stages of the rendering process. They are especially useful for skin authors to find out where they are in the rendering process. The following context identifiers are available:

id contextSorted descending
i18n_enabled when user interface I18N support is enabled (i.e., user can choose the language for UI)
header_text when the header text is being processed in a view (useful in plugin handlers)
footer_text when the footer text is being processed in a view (useful in plugin handlers)
body_text when the body text is being processed in a view (useful in plugin handlers)
command_line the running script was run from the command line, and not from CGI
absolute_urls Set if absolute URLs are required
view in view script (see TWikiScripts)
search in search script (see TWikiScripts)
save in save script (see TWikiScripts)
rest in rest script (see TWikiScripts)
diff in rdiff script (see TWikiScripts)
preview in preview script (see TWikiScripts)
oops in oops script (see TWikiScripts)
edit in edit script (see TWikiScripts)
changes in changes script (see TWikiScripts)
rss if this is an RSS skin rendering
mirror if this is a mirror
new_topic if the topic doesn't already exist
inactive if active links such as 'edit' and 'attach' should be disabled
can_login current environment supports login
authenticated a user is authenticated

In addition there is a context identifier for each enabled plugin; for example, if GallousBreeksPlugin is installed and enabled, then the context ID GallousBreeksPluginEnabled will be set. Other extensions may set additional context identifiers.

The %IF% statement is deliberately kept simple. In particular, note that there is no way to conditionally execute a Set statement. If you need more sophisticated control over formatting, then consider using the SpreadSheetPlugin.

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Topic revision: r4 - 27 Mar 2005 - TWikiContributor
 
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