Introduction
The Dovedale Railway Wiki uses Semantic MediaWiki (often abbreviated as SMW) to store and query data about articles. In the following, the usage of the extension in the wiki is documented and explained.
Core Concepts
Please refer to the official manual and the introduction pdf to learn about the core concepts of Semantic MediaWiki.
Creating Properties
To create a property, create a new page in the Property namespace.
Property names
Property names are usually written in singular form and in Title case.
Property types
You can find the full list of available datatypes here: List of datatypes
The following datatypes are primarily used in the wiki:
| Type | Usage | Example | Documentation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boolean | True/False and Yes/No values | Dispatching | Type Boolean |
| Date | Dates | Start Date | Type Date |
| Number | Amounts without units | Doors, Distant Signals Controlled | Type Number |
| Page | References to other articles | Closest Station, Crossings Controlled | Type Page |
| Quantity | Quantities with units | Top Speed, Acceleration | Type Quantity |
| Text | Text, wikitext, links, special formats | Status Description, Abbreviation | Type Text |
Property Documentation
The wiki uses various meta properties to document other properties. These should be set using in-text annotations on the property's page.
| Name | Usage | Example | Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Has type | Defines the type of a property. | [[Has type::Text]]
|
Yes |
| Property description | Describes the function and usage of a property. Note: The value must end with @en due to technical reasons. | [[Property description::The total number of coaches a train has.@en]]
|
Yes |
| Parameter Name | The name of the infobox template parameter that has to be specified in order to declare the property for an article. | [[Parameter Name::status_description]]]
|
For all properties that are used in Infoboxes. |
| Example Value | An example value of the property. Note: Currently, only one example value is supported per property. | [[Example Value::yes]]]
|
Yes |
| Allows value | The value a property is allowed to take. This meta property should be set multiple times to allow multiple values. Please note that, if this is specified, setting the property to any other value will result in a processing error. | [[Allows value::Automatic half barrier]]]
|
No |
| Parameter Required | Whether the infobox template parameter for the property is required. This should either be set to true or left unset. | [[Parameter Required::true]]]
|
No |
The values of meta properties are used for the automatic generation of TemplateData by Module:TemplateDataGenerator.
Special values
To set meta properties, you should in general use in-text annotations. In case this does not work for the value you want to set, like e.g. links, use the SetAndDisplayProperty template:
{{SetAndDisplayProperty|Example Value|[[Satus Services]]}}
This template both executes the #set parser function and displays the submitted value.
Example
The following code creates the Distant Signals Controlled property of type Number.
* Type: [[Has type::Number]]
* [[Property description::The amount of distant signals which a signal box controls.@en]]
* Parameter Name: [[Parameter Name::distant_signals_controlled]]
* Example: [[Example Value::2]]
Storing Data
There are various ways of storing data using Semantic MediaWiki. Apart from property pages, all wiki articles currently use infoboxes to store SMW data.
Infoboxes
When using Template:Infobox and Module:Infobox, the provided SMW properties will be automatically set. For each property, its value of the meta property Parameter Name is retrieved and used to get the value from the parameters.
In-text annotations
In-text annotations are currently only used to set meta properties on property pages. To use them, simply use the following syntax: [[Property Name::Value]]. This will both set the property to a value and print the value out.
For incompatible values, please see special values.
Parser function
The #set parser function can be used to set data without printing it out.
Querying Data
SMW Data is currently used for the following wiki features:
- Navplates
- Unit conversion in infoboxes
- Article lists (currently only List of Coaches)
- Automatic generation of TemplateData
Within articles
Special:Ask can be used to generate a query using the #ask parser function.
In modules
To query data from within a module, you can use the SMWUtil module.
On special pages
The special pages Special:Ask and Special:Browse can be used to browse SMW data.
In infoboxes
When using Template:Infobox or Module:Infobox, the printout[number] parameter can be used to show a printout of the property value instead of the provided value. Please note that when using this, values are only updated after the page was refreshed once since SMW takes the value from the previous version of the page while parsing a new version. Updated values will therefore not be visible in the editing preview.