Extension:Random

MediaWiki extensions manual - list

Random Release status: beta
Implementation	Tag, Parser function
Description	Randomly picks one or more items.
Author(s)	darklamaTalk
Last version	0.3
License	GPL, CC-BY-SA
Download	This page
Tags <random>
Hooks used LanguageGetMagic ParserFirstCallInit
Check usage (experimental)

What is it?

Random is designed to return one or more items parsed as wikitext in a randomly shuffled order. A random shuffle prevents an item from being displayed twice by the same call to random, unless two or more items contain exactly the same contents.

For information about the unrelated native feature Special:Random, see Help:Random page.

Install

1. Create a new folder/directory inside your mediawiki's extensions folder/directory named "Random".
2. Create a new file named "Random.php" inside the "Random" folder/directory from step one.
3. Copy the code to the new "Random.php" file from step two, and save the file.
4. Add require_once("$IP/extensions/Random/Random.php"); to your LocalSettings.php

Examples

tag	parser function	what happens?
<random count="2"> <item>one</item> <item>two</item> <item>three</item> </random>	{{#random:2 | one | two | three }}	The result is that "onetwo", "onethree", "twoone", "twothree", "threeone", or "threetwo" is returned at random.
<random> <item>[[one]]</item> <item>[[two]]</item> <item>[[three]]</item> </random>	{{#random:1 | [[one]] | [[two]] | [[three]] }}	The result is that "one", "two", or "three" is returned at random as a link. You can use any wiki mark up that could normally be used.
<random> <format>[[%ITEM%]]</format> <item>one</item> <item>two</item> <item>three</item> </random>	not available	The result is one, two, or three is returned at random as a link. The format tag provides an easy way to repeat any desired formatting. %ITEM% refers to the content of a picked item, and must be present at least once in a format tag. Using this method, for example, an image (with external link and caption) could be used as an item: <item>File:example.jpg|link=http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Test|caption</item>.
<random> <format>[[%ITEM%]]</format> <item>one</item> <item>two</item> <item>three</item> <format>* %ITEM%</format> <item>one</item> <item>two</item> <item>three</item> </random>	not available	The result is one, two, or three is returned at random either as a link or as a unsorted list. More than one format tag can be used to change the formatting of items following it.

Incorporating into a Template

If desired, the <random></random> tag (including the enclosed list of items) can be placed in a template (e.g. Template:MyRandomWikiItems ) and then just the corresponding template tag (e.g. {{MyRandomWikiItems}} ) could be placed within a wiki page. (It is then highly recommended that a wiki administrator "protect" such a template if it is not meant to be changed by casual wiki users.)

Code

<?php
 
/**
 * @package MediaWiki
 * @subpackage Extensions
 * @author darklama
 * @license http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html
 * @licence http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.1
 */
 
if ( !defined( 'MEDIAWIKI' ) ) {
  echo( "This is a mediaWiki extension and cannot be run standalone.\n" );
  die( -1 );
}
 
$wgHooks['LanguageGetMagic'][] = 'efRandomLanguageGetMagic';
$wgHooks['ParserFirstCallInit'][] = 'efRandomExtension';
$wgExtensionCredits['other'][] = array(
  'name'        => 'Random' ,
  'version'     => '0.3',
  'description' => 'Includes a random line of wikitext from given items',
  'author'      => '[https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/User:Darklama darklama]',
  'url'         => 'https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Random',
);
 
function efRandomLanguageGetMagic( $magicWords, $langCode ) {
  $magicWords['random'] = array( 0, 'random' );
  return true;
}
 
function efRandomExtension( $parser ) {
  $parser->setHook( 'random', 'renderRandom' );
  $parser->setFunctionHook( 'random', 'randomObj', SFH_OBJECT_ARGS );
  return true;
}
 
function renderRandom( $input, $argv, $parser ) {
  $count = intval( $argv['count'] );
  $result = '';
  $format = '%ITEM%';
  $items = array();
  $elements = array( 'item', 'format' );
 
  $text = Parser::extractTagsAndParams( $elements, $input, $matches );
 
  foreach ( $matches as $marker => $data ) {
    list( $element, $content, $params, $tag ) = $data;
    if ( $element === 'item' ) {
      $content = trim( $content, " \t" );
      $content = trim( $content, "\n" );
      $items[] = str_replace( '%ITEM%', $content, $format );
    } else if ( $element === 'format' ) {
      if ( !empty( $content ) && preg_match( '/%ITEM%/', $content ) != 0 ) {
        $format = str_replace( '«', '<', $content );
        $format = str_replace( '»', '>', $format );
        $format = trim( $format, " \t" );
        $format = trim( $format, "\n" );
        $format = str_replace( '\n', "\n", $format );
      }
    }
  }
 
  $entries = count( $items );
  if ( $entries == 0) {
    return '';
  }
  if ( $count <= 0 ) {
    $count = 1;
  } else if ( $count > $entries ) {
    $count = $entries;
  }
 
  $keys = array_rand( $items, $count );
 
  if ( is_array( $keys ) ) {
    foreach ( $keys as $key ) {
      $result .= $parser->recursiveTagParse( $items[$key] );
    }
  } else {
    $result = $parser->recursiveTagParse( $items[$keys] );
  }
 
  $parser->disableCache();
  return $result;
}
 
function randomObj( $parser, $frame, $args ) {
  $count = isset($args[0]) ? intval(trim( $frame->expand( $args[0] ) ) ) : 1;
  $entries = count($args);
  $result = '';
 
  if ( $entries <= 0 ) {
    return '';
  } else if ( $entries == 1 ) {
    return trim( $frame->expand( $args[0] ) );
  } else if ( $count > ($entries-1) ) {
    $count = $entries-1;
  } else if ( $count <= 0 ) {
    $count = 1;
  }
 
  unset($args[0]);
  $keys = array_rand( $args, $count );
 
  if ( is_array( $keys ) ) {
    foreach ( $keys as $key ) {
      $result .= ltrim( $frame->expand( $args[$key] ) );
    }
  } else {
    $result = ltrim( $frame->expand( $args[$keys] ) );
  }
 
  $parser->disableCache();
  return rtrim( $result );
}

Alternatives

• RandomArea
• RandomText

See also

• Extension:RandomInclude
• UbuntuGuide's use of the Random extension for wiki advertisements