Module:Check for unknown parameters/doc

This is the documentation page for Module:Check for unknown parameters

This Lua module is used in MediaWiki:Abusefilter-warning-DS, and on approximately 12,500,000 pages, or roughly 57339% of all pages.
Changes to it can cause immediate changes to the Wikipedia user interface.
To avoid major disruption and server load, any changes should be tested in the module's /sandbox or /testcases subpages, or in your own module sandbox. The tested changes can be added to this page in a single edit. Please discuss changes on the talk page before implementing them.

This module is subject to page protection. It is a highly visible module in use by a very large number of pages, or is substituted very frequently. Because vandalism or mistakes would affect many pages, and even trivial editing might cause substantial load on the servers, it is protected from editing.

This module depends on the following other modules:

Module:If preview

This module may be appended to a template to check for uses of unknown parameters. Unlike many other modules, this module is not implemented by a template.

Usage

Basic usage

{{#invoke:check for unknown parameters|check
|unknown=[[Category:Some tracking category]]
|arg1|arg2|arg3|argN}}

or to sort the entries in the tracking category by parameter with a preview error message

{{#invoke:check for unknown parameters|check
|unknown=[[Category:Some tracking category|_VALUE_]]
|preview=unknown parameter "_VALUE_"
|arg1|arg2|...|argN}}

or for an explicit red error message

{{#invoke:check for unknown parameters|check
|unknown=<span class="error">Sorry, I don't recognize _VALUE_</span>
|arg1|arg2|...|argN}}

Here, arg1, arg2, ..., argN, are the known parameters. Unnamed (positional) parameters can be added too: |1|2|argname1|argname2|.... Any parameter which is used, but not on this list, will cause the module to return whatever is passed with the unknown parameter. The _VALUE_ keyword, if used, will be changed to the name of the parameter. This is useful for either sorting the entries in a tracking category, or for provide more explicit information.

By default, the module makes no distinction between a defined-but-blank parameter and a non-blank parameter. That is, both unlisted |foo=x and |foo= are reported. To only track non-blank parameters use |ignoreblank=1.

By default, the module ignores blank positional parameters. That is, an unlisted |2= is ignored. To include blank positional parameters in the tracking use |showblankpositional=1.

Lua patterns

This module supports Lua patterns (similar to regular expressions), which are useful when there are many known parameters which use a systematic pattern. For example, {{Infobox3cols}} uses

| regexp1 = header[%d]+
| regexp2 = label[%d]+
| regexp3 = data[%d]+[abc]?
| regexp4 = class[%d]+[abc]?
| regexp5 = rowclass[%d]+
| regexp6 = rowstyle[%d]+
| regexp7 = rowcellstyle[%d]+

to match all parameters of the form headerNUM, labelNUM, dataNUM, dataNUMa, dataNUMb, dataNUMc, ..., rowcellstyleNUM, where NUM is a string of digits.

Example

{{Infobox
| above = {{{name|}}}

| label1 = Height
| data1 = {{{height|}}}

| label2 = Weight
| data2 = {{{weight|}}}

| label3 = Website
| data3 = {{{website|}}}
}}<!-- 
  end infobox, start tracking
-->{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check
| unknown = {{main other|[[Category:Some tracking category|_VALUE_]]}}
| preview = unknown parameter "_VALUE_"
| name
| height | weight
| website
}}

Call from within Lua code

See the end of Module:Rugby box for a simple example or Module:Infobox3cols or Module:Flag for more complicated examples.