Extension:Semantic Forms Inputs

Description
Semantic Forms Inputs is an extension to MediaWiki providing additional input types for Semantic MediaWikis that use the Semantic Forms extension.

The Semantic Forms extension allows users to add, edit and query data of a Semantic MediaWiki using forms. For every form field the input type specifies the type of input a field will have in the form. Semantic Forms comes with basic input types for all data types. This extension -- Semantic Forms Inputs -- aims to collect further, optically and/or functionally enhanced input types.

Download instructions
Download the latest version from Semantic Forms Inputs at Google Code or get it using Subversion:

To get the latest trunk version use:

There is a version history available.

Installation
Remember that having Semantic MediaWiki (version 1.4 or higher should do; not sure about earlier versions) and Semantic Forms (version 1.8.4 or higher) installed is a precondition for the Semantic Forms Inputs extension; the code will not work without it.

For the date picker to work the [http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/ Yahoo! User Interface] (YUI) Javascript library (version 2.7.0b or higher) must be available, either locally installed or via existing internet connection. As the library is used by the Semantic Forms extension as well, this should not be a problem.

(The HeaderTabs extension 0.6.6 seems to work with 2.7.0b with some small change in the HeaderTabs.php: Remove the if-clause in lines 118 .. 126, then remove " . style" from line 127. The catch with that solution is, that the browser history feature of the Header Tabs will still not work, so you will have to deactivate it.)

Create a directory named SemanticFormsInputs in the extensions directory of your MediaWiki installation and copy the extension's files into it. Then add the following line to your LocalSettings.php below the inclusion of the Semantic Forms extension:

require_once('extensions/SemanticFormsInputs/SemanticFormsInputs.php');

Configuration parameters
You can tweak the settings of the Semantic Forms Inputs extension in the SemanticFormsInputs.Settings.inc file. You can find it in your extensions/SemanticFormsInputs directory.

If you do not want to alter that file just put the settings in your LocalSettings.php below the inclusion of SemanticFormsInputs.php

Credits
The Semantic Forms Inputs extension uses the Yahoo! User Interfaces library. See the [http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/ Yahoo! User Interfaces homepage].

Button icons are derived from the Mini Icons 2 icon set from brandspankingnew.net. See the respective article on brandspankingnew.net

Contact
Comments, questions, bug reports and suggestions can be send or posted to


 * the appropriate Semantic Mediawiki mailing list
 * the Semantic Forms Inputs discussion page
 * the author

I am also interested in which configurations work and which don't. So if you are successfully using these input types with e.g. Semantic MediaWiki pre1.4 drop me a note.

Date Picker
Input type: datepicker

The date picker lets a user pop up a graphical calendar and enables the user to choose a date from it. The calendar is generated entirely via script and can be navigated without any page refreshes.

Preconditions: The [http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/ Yahoo! User Interface] (YUI) Javascript library must be available, either locally installed or via existing internet connection. As the library is used by the Semantic Forms extension as well, this should not be a problem.

You can tweak the appearance of the calendar by changing or overriding the css rules of the YUI library.

Examples
Example: A field that uses a simple date picker with all parameters set to their default values

Example: A field that uses a date picker with specific parameters:

Combobox
Input type: combobox

The combobox lets a user either insert a value into an input field or pop up a list of values to choose from. The list of values is narrowed down when the user starts typing. Be aware that this can be a bit confusing if a value is already present in the input field. In this case the list will only show one value although there would be more available if the user only deleted the input field.

Preconditions: The [http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/ Yahoo! User Interface] (YUI) Javascript library must be available, either locally installed or via existing internet connection. As the library is used by the Semantic Forms extension as well, this should not be a problem.

You can tweak the appearance of the combobox by changing or overriding the css rules of the autocompletion widget of the YUI library.

For the combobox to work you have to give it values to show in the list, i.e. in your field definition there has to be a values, values from category or values from concept parameter.

Examples
Example: A field that uses a simple combobox with all parameters set to their default values

Example: A field that uses a combobox with specific parameters:

Regular Expression Filter
Input type: regexp

What it does: With the Regular Expression Filter you can fine-tune what values are allowed and what is blocked in your input fields. You can even string several filters together to have a cascade of checks, e.g. to give an error message specific to what violation occured.

How it works: Specify regexp as your input type and in the parameter regexp give a Javascript regular expression, that the user input has to match. If you want a base type different from text specify it with the parameter base type. You may want to specify an error message with the message parameter. Finally there is the problem, that you can not use the | character because it gets lost in the field definition. Use ! instead. Or specifiy any other replacement character in the parameter or char and use that. See Writing a Regular Expression Pattern for an introduction to writing a regular expression pattern in Javascript.

If you want to specify a chain of regexp filters there is the problem, that every parameter can be used only once in every field definition, e.g. just giving regexp twice will not work. To work around that and still be able to address the filters further down the chain, specify a prefix for each filter in the parameter base prefix of its predecessor. Sounds complicated? Have a look at the example below. You may, but do not need to specify a prefix for the final input type - each filter stage consumes only the parameters from the parameter set, that it understands, i.e. the specific parameters listed below.

Examples
Example: A simple text input field accepting only letters, numbers and spaces. (This may be useful for fields from which an article's name is generated in the Semantic Forms one-step process.)

Example: A text input field accepting only numbers and having no more than 5 digits. Certain numbers are forbidden. Each condition gets its own error message.

Example: A somewhat more complicated input field accepting valid dates in the (german) format dd.mm.yyyy with the basetype datepicker, so the user can either use the date picker or insert the date directly.