Module:Dump

This module can dump a table by displaying its contents as text. It can also display formatted html text. That may help develop other modules.

An alternative is to use mw.dumpObject() but the result from this module is clearer and is close to valid Lua source.

Dump of a Wikidata entity

When working with Wikidata, it can be useful to examine a table representing an entity.

For example, Southern African Large Telescope is d:Q833639. That entity can be viewed as a Lua table by previewing:

{{#invoke:dump|wikidata|Q833639}}

To do that, edit your sandbox and replace its contents with the above line, then click Show preview. Module talk:Dump shows this example.

If wanted, the width of each indented column can be set, for example to two spaces or to use tab characters:

{{#invoke:dump|wikidata|Q833639|indent=2}}

{{#invoke:dump|wikidata|Q833639|indent=tab}}

A property such as Template:Q can also be displayed:

{{#invoke:dump|wikidata|P2386}}

Dump of a table for another module

If there is a problem debugging a module, it can be helpful to use a sandbox copy of the module to display the contents of a table to confirm that it contains expected data. The following shows how a module can dump a table. <syntaxhighlight lang="Lua"> local p = {} function p.main(frame) local example = { link = true, fruit = { yellow = 'bannana', red = 'cherry' }, 11, 22, 33, } local dump = require('Module:Dump')._dump return dump(example, 'example') end return p </syntaxhighlight>

With the above code in Module:Example, the result could be displayed by previewing:

{{#invoke:example|main}}

The module contains a complex table for testing. The table can be displayed by previewing:

{{#invoke:dump|testcase}}

Dump of a formatted html string

A module can use mw.html to generate html. For testing, it may be useful to display the formatted result. The following shows how a module can create and dump html text.

<syntaxhighlight lang="Lua"> local function main() local tbl = mw.html.create('table') tbl :addClass('wikitable') :tag('caption'):wikitext('Table demonstration'):done() :tag('tr') :tag('th'):wikitext('Month'):done() :tag('th'):wikitext('Amount'):done() :done() :tag('tr') :tag('td'):wikitext('January'):done() :tag('td'):wikitext('$100
loss'):done() :done() :tag('tr') :tag('td'):wikitext('February'):done() :tag('td'):wikitext('$200') local html = tostring(tbl) local dumphtml = require('Module:Dump')._dumphtml return dumphtml(html) end

return { main = main } </syntaxhighlight>

With the above code in Module:Example, the result could be displayed by previewing:

{{#invoke:example|main}}

The result is:

<table class="wikitable">
    <caption>Table demonstration</caption>
    <tr>
        <th>Month</th>
        <th>Amount</th>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>January</td>
        <td>$100<br>loss</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>February</td>
        <td>$200</td>
    </tr>
</table>

The main() function in the code above could be modified to return the html table by replacing the last two lines with: <syntaxhighlight lang="Lua"> return html </syntaxhighlight>

In that case, the result could be displayed by previewing the following (the 1= is needed if the text contains "="):

{{#invoke:dump|dumphtml|1={{#invoke:example|main}}}}

Dumping a navbox

Previewing the following examples in a sandbox may be useful to examine the results of a template, such as {{navbox}}, that generates html.

{{#invoke:dump|dumphtml|1=
  {{navbox/sandbox
  |group1 = Group1
  |list1 = List1
  |group2 = Group2
  |list2 = List2
  |group3 = Group3
  |list3 = List3
  }}
}}

The dumphtml procedure only works reliably with valid html. In the following example, extra text (<div>) is inserted at the start because the output from a subgroup (child) navbox starts with </div>.

{{#invoke:dump|dumphtml|1=<div>
  {{navbox/sandbox|subgroup
  |group1 = Group1
  |list1 = List1
  |group2 = Group2
  |list2 = List2
  |group3 = Group3
  |list3 = List3
  }}
}}

Dump of arguments

Special:ExpandTemplates is useful if there is a need to view the wikitext returned by a template or module. However, ExpandTemplates does not always show exactly what a module would receive. For example, the following template gives the output shown in ExpandTemplates, but the wikitext passed to a module would actually contains strip markers.

{{convert|1+2/3<ref>Example</ref>|ft|in}}

ExpandTemplates output, rearranged on multiple lines for clarity:

<templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css"></templatestyles>

1+

2⁄3

<ref>Example</ref>

feet (20 in)

The args function shows what a module receives in its arguments.

{{#invoke:dump|args|1={{convert|1+2/3<ref>Example</ref>|ft|in}}}}

The output follows. For clarity, it has been rearranged on multiple lines and each delete character has been replaced with ♢.

♢'"`UNIQ--templatestyles-00000002-QINU`"'♢

1+

2⁄3

♢'"`UNIQ--ref-00000001-QINU`"'♢

feet (20 in)

Dump of parameters

A template might invoke the main function in the example above. Any parameters passed to the template or the module can be displayed for debugging. That would be to investigate an unexpected result in a page, for example, Albedo. To see what parameters are received by a module used in that article, edit the module and insert the following line at the start of the main function: <syntaxhighlight lang="Lua"> if true then return require('Module:Dump').parameters(frame) end </syntaxhighlight> Do not save the changes. Instead, enter the name of the article (for example, Albedo) in the box under "Preview page with this module", then click Show preview. Any parameters passed to the module in its frame and parent frame are displayed where the result from the module would normally appear.

Dump of structured data

A Lua program could execute <syntaxhighlight lang="Lua"> local data = mw.ext.data.get('Wikipedia statistics/data.tab') </syntaxhighlight> to read a table of data from c:Data:Wikipedia statistics/data.tab.

An edit in a sandbox can be previewed to see what data the program would receive. To do that, preview the following wikitext:
{{#invoke:dump|Wikipedia statistics/data.tab}}

The dump module accepts any text as the parameter and will apply special processing if the text is recognized. Structured data is identified as text ending with .tab.

Global table _G

In Lua, _G is a global variable which is a table holding information about all global variables. The _G table can be displayed by previewing (both G and _G work):

{{#invoke:dump|testcase|G}}

If wanted, the width of each indented column can be set, for example to 2 spaces:

{{#invoke:dump|testcase|G|indent=2}}

-- Dump a table to help develop other modules.
-- It is also possible to use mw.dumpObject() but the result from this
-- module is clearer and is close to valid Lua source.
-- The main purpose is to allow easy inspection of Wikidata items.
-- Preview the following in a sandbox to see entity Q833639 as a Lua table:
--   {{#invoke:dump|wikidata|Q833639}}
-- Preview the following to dump a built-in table:
--   {{#invoke:dump|testcase}}

local Collection  -- a table to hold items
Collection = {
	add = function (self, item)
		if item ~= nil then
			self.n = self.n + 1
			self[self.n] = item
		end
	end,
	join = function (self, sep)
		return table.concat(self, sep)
	end,
	remove = function (self, pos)
		if self.n > 0 and (pos == nil or (0 < pos and pos <= self.n)) then
			self.n = self.n - 1
			return table.remove(self, pos)
		end
	end,
	sort = function (self, comp)
		table.sort(self, comp)
	end,
	new = function ()
		return setmetatable({n = 0}, Collection)
	end
}
Collection.__index = Collection

local function pre_block(text)
	-- Pre tags returned by a module do not act like wikitext <pre>...</pre>.
	return '<pre>\n' ..
		mw.text.nowiki(text) ..
		(text:sub(-1) == '\n' and '' or '\n') ..
		'</pre>\n'
end

local function make_tabstr(indent)
	-- Return a string to generate one level of indent.
	if indent == 'tab' then
		-- Tabs do not work well in a browser edit window, but can force them.
		return '\t'
	end
	indent = tonumber(indent)
	if not (type(indent) == 'number' and 1 <= indent and indent <= 32) then
		indent = 4
	end
	return string.rep(' ', indent)
end

local function _dumphtml(html, tabwidth)
	-- Return a pretty-text formatted dump of an html string.
	-- This assumes clean html, for example, tag "<table>" not "< table >".
	if type(html) ~= 'string' then
		return ''
	end
	local selfClosingTags = {  -- from mw.html.lua
		area = true,
		base = true,
		br = true,
		col = true,
		command = true,
		embed = true,
		hr = true,
		img = true,
		input = true,
		keygen = true,
		link = true,
		meta = true,
		param = true,
		source = true,
		track = true,
		wbr = true,
	}
	local tabstr = make_tabstr(tabwidth)
	local function indent_pad(depth, isfirst)
		-- Return a string with an indent to match depth.
		if depth > 0 then
			return '\n' .. string.rep(tabstr, depth)
		end
		return isfirst and '' or '\n'
	end
	local function extract(result, html, pos, len, depth, currenttag)
		-- Dump more of html into table result and return new pos.
		local has_child
		while pos <= len do
			local s, e = html:find('<[^<>]*>', pos)
			if s then
				if s > pos then
					table.insert(result, html:sub(pos, s-1))
				end
				if html:sub(s+1, s+1) == '/' then
					-- A closing tag.
					local tag = html:match('^([a-zA-Z0-9]+)>', s+2) or 'NOTAG'
					if tag == currenttag then
						local indent = has_child and indent_pad(depth - 1) or ''
						table.insert(result, indent .. '</' .. tag .. '>')
					else
						-- Should never happen.
						table.insert(result, '\n</' .. tag .. '>')
					end
					return e + 1
				end
				local tag = html:match('^[a-zA-Z0-9]+', s+1) or 'NOTAG'
				if html:sub(e-1, e-1) == '/' or selfClosingTags[tag] then
					-- A self-closing tag.
					table.insert(result, html:sub(s, e))
					pos = e + 1
				else
					-- An opening tag.
					table.insert(result, indent_pad(depth, pos == 1) .. html:sub(s, e))
					pos = extract(result, html, e+1, len, depth+1, tag)
					has_child = true
				end
			else
				table.insert(result, html:sub(pos))
				break
			end
		end
		return len + 1
	end
	local result = {}
	html = html:gsub('>%s+<', '><'):gsub('\n%s*', ' ')
	extract(result, html, 1, #html, 0)
	return pre_block(table.concat(result))
end

local function dumphtml(frame)
	local args = frame.args
	local pargs = frame:getParent().args
	local text = args[1] or pargs[1]
	local indent = args.indent or pargs.indent
	return _dumphtml(text, indent)
end

local function quoted(str)
	return (string.format('%q', str):gsub('\\\n', '\\n'))
end

local function iterkeys(var, control)
	-- Return an iterator over the keys of var (which should be a table).
	-- The keys are sorted with numbered keys first, then other types.
	-- The iterator returns key, repr where key is the actual key, and
	-- repr is its representation: a number for the ipairs keys, or
	-- a string, including for number keys above the table length.
	if type(var) ~= 'table' then
		return function () return nil end
	end
	local nums = {}
	local results = Collection.new()
	for i, _ in ipairs(var) do
		nums[i] = true
		results:add({ i, i })
	end
	local keys = Collection.new()
	for k, _ in pairs(var) do
		if not nums[k] then
			keys:add(k)
		end
	end
	local autoname = control.autoname
	keys:sort(function (a, b)
			local ta, tb = type(a), type(b)
			if ta == tb then
				if ta == 'number' or ta == 'string' then
					return a < b
				end
				if ta == 'boolean' then
					return b and not a
				end
				return autoname(a) < autoname(b)
			end
			if ta == 'number' then
				return true
			elseif tb == 'number' then
				return false
			else
				return ta < tb
			end
		end)
	for _, k in ipairs(keys) do
		local repr
		local tk = type(k)
		if tk == 'number' then
			repr = '[' .. k .. ']'
		elseif tk == 'string' then
			if k:match('^[%a_][%w_]*$') then
				repr = k
			else
				repr = '[' .. quoted(k) .. ']'
			end
		elseif tk == 'boolean' then
			repr = '[' .. tostring(k) .. ']'
		else
			repr = autoname(k)
			control.needed[repr] = true
		end
		results:add({ k, repr })
	end
	local last = 0
	return function ()
		if last < results.n then
			last = last + 1
			return unpack(results[last])
		end
	end
end

local function vardump(var, vname, depth, control, self, parents)
	-- Update items in control with results from dumping a variable.
	local function put(value, options)
		options = options or {}
		local indent = options.indent or depth
		local comma = (options.kind == 'open' or indent == 0) and '' or ','
		control.items:add({
			key = (type(vname) == 'string' and options.kind ~= 'close') and vname or nil,
			value = value .. comma,
			depth = indent,
			note = options.note
		})
	end
	if var == nil then
		put('nil')
	elseif type(var) == 'string' then
		put(quoted(var))
	elseif type(var) == 'table' then
		local this = control.autoname(var)
		if depth >= control.limitdepth then
			put(this)
		elseif parents and parents[this] then
			control.needed[this] = true
			if self == this then
				put(this, {note = 'self'})
				control.needed['self'] = true
			else
				put(this, {note = 'repeat'})
				control.needed['repeat'] = true
			end
		else
			parents = parents or {}
			parents[this] = true
			self = this
			put('{', {kind = 'open', note = this})
			local mt = getmetatable(var)
			if mt then
				vardump(mt, '__metatable', depth + 1, control, self, parents)
			end
			local maxsize = control.items.n + control.limititems
			for key, keyrep in iterkeys(var, control) do
				if control.items.n > maxsize then
					put('...more...')
					break
				end
				vardump(var[key], keyrep, depth + 1, control, self, parents)
			end
			put('}', { kind = 'close' })
		end
	elseif type(var) == 'boolean' or type(var) == 'number' then
		put(tostring(var))
	else  -- function (or userdata or thread)
		put(control.autoname(var))
	end
end

local function dumper(var, vname, tabwidth, wantraw, limititems, limitdepth)
	-- Return a string representing var in almost-correct Lua syntax.
	-- There is no newline at the end of the result.
	local onames = {}
	local tcounts = {}
	local function autoname(var)
		-- Return a string that is a unique name for var, given it is not
		-- a number or string.
		if not onames[var] then
			local name = type(var)
			tcounts[name] = (tcounts[name] or 0) + 1
			onames[var] = name .. '_' .. tcounts[name]
		end
		return onames[var]
	end
	local control = {
		autoname = autoname,
		limititems = limititems or 10000,
		limitdepth = limitdepth or 50,
		items = Collection.new(),
		needed = {},
	}
	vardump(var, tostring(vname or 'variable'), 0, control)
	local tabstr = make_tabstr(tabwidth)
	local lines = Collection.new()
	for i, v in ipairs(control.items) do
		local indent = string.rep(tabstr, v.depth)
		local note = v.note
		if note and control.needed[note] then
			note = '  -- ' .. note
		else
			note = ''
		end
		local k = v.key and (v.key .. ' = ') or ''
		lines:add(indent .. k .. v.value .. note)
	end
	local raw = lines:join('\n')
	return wantraw and raw or pre_block(raw)
end

local function dump_testcase(frame)
	local item
	if type(frame) == 'table' then
		item = frame.args[1]
	else
		item = frame
	end
	if item == 'G' or item == '_G' then
		return dumper(_G, '_G', frame.args.indent)
	end
	local fruit = { 'apple', 'banana', [0] = 'zero', [{'anon'}] = 'anon' }
	local testcase = {
		[100] = 'one hundred',
		[99] = 'ninety nine',
		[0.5] = 'one half',
		[-1] = 'negative one',
		'one',
		'two',
		[' '] = 'space',
		['1 –◆— z'] = 'unicode',
		alpha = 'aaa',
		beta = 'bbb',
		c = 123,
		data = {
			dumper = dumper,
			[dumper] = 'dumper',
			'three',
			'four',
			T = true,
			[true] = 'T',
			alpha2 = 'aaa2',
			beta2 = 'bbb2',
			F = false,
			[false] = 'F',
			c2 = 1234,
			data2 = {
				'five',
				'six',
				alpha3 = 'aaa3',
				beta3 = 'bbb3',
				c3 = 12345,
				fruit = fruit,
				[fruit] = 'fruit',
			},
		},
		z = 'zoo',
	}
	testcase.testcase = testcase
	testcase.data.me = testcase.data
	testcase.data.data2.me = testcase
	testcase.data.data2.fruit.back = testcase.data
	setmetatable(testcase.data, {
		__index = function (self, key) return type(key) == 'string' and #key or nil end,
		__tostring = function (self) return tostring(#self) end,
	})
	if item == 'return table' then
		return testcase
	end
	return dumper(testcase, 'testcase', frame.args.indent)
end

local function execute(frame)
	-- Return a dump of the result from executing {{#invoke:dump|execute|EXPRESSION}}.
	-- In general that is not possible in Scribunto so this has built-in code
	-- to parse some expressions of interest.
	-- The primary aim is to test the result of calling a Wikidata function
	-- while previewing an edit in an article.
	-- Examples of EXPRESSION:
	--   mw.wikibase.getEntityIdForCurrentPage()
	--   mw.wikibase.getBestStatements('Q868', 'P214')
	--   mw.wikibase.getBestStatements(Q868, P214)       -- also accepted
	--   mw.wikibase.getEntity():getDescription('de')
	--   mw.wikibase.getEntity('Q868'):getDescription('de')
	-- getEntityObject is an alias for getEntity.
	-- Using the following gives an "out of memory" error presumably because
	-- the result is a table with a metatable that dump repeatedly expands.
	--   mw.title.getCurrentTitle()
	local function params(ptext, first)
		local p = { first }
		for item in (ptext .. ','):gmatch('(%S.-)%s*,') do
			-- Remove any quotes around each parameter because it is already a string.
			local _, s = item:match([[^%s*(['"])(.*)%1%s*$]])
			table.insert(p, s or tonumber(item) or item)
		end
		return unpack(p)
	end
	local expression = frame.args[1] or ''
	local text = expression:match('^%s*mw(%..-)%s*$')
	if not text then
		return 'Expression not recognized: "' .. expression .. '"'
	end
	-- Look for a supported expression of form 'mw.a.b(c):d.e(f)'.
	local entity
	local object = mw
	local item, ptext, rest = text:match('^%.wikibase%.(%w+)%s*%((.*)%):(.*)$')
	if item == 'getEntity' or item == 'getEntityObject' then
		entity = mw.wikibase.getEntity(params(ptext))
		if not entity then
			return 'No entity found for (' .. ptext .. ')'
		end
		object = entity
		text = '.' .. rest  -- treat ':' as '.'
	end
	local upto = 1
	for i1, item, i2 in text:gmatch('()%.(%w+)()') do
		if i1 == upto and type(object) == 'table' then
			object = object[item]
		else
			object = nil
		end
		if object == nil then
			return 'Invalid item "' .. item .. '"'
		end
		if type(object) == 'function' then
			if text:sub(i2, i2 + 1) == '()' then
				object = object()
				i2 = i2 + 2
			end
		end
		upto = i2
	end
	local parm = text:sub(upto):match('^%((.*)%)%s*$')
	if parm then
		object = object(params(parm, entity))
	end
	return dumper(object, expression)
end

local function dumpargs(frame)
	-- Return text dump of frame.args.
	-- {{#invoke:dump|args|<ref>Example</ref>}} → display ref strip marker
	local control = {
		autoname = function (var) return tostring(var) end,  -- should not be called since keys should be numbers or strings
	}
	local lines = Collection.new()
	for key, keyrep in iterkeys(frame.args, control) do
		lines:add(keyrep .. ' = <code>' .. mw.text.nowiki(frame.args[key]) .. '</code>')
	end
	return lines:join('<br>\n')
end

local function parameters(frame)
	-- Return text dump of args and parent args from frame.
	-- This is for debugging a module to show what parameters it received.
	local control = {
		autoname = function (var) return tostring(var) end,  -- should not be called since keys should be numbers or strings
	}
	local lines = Collection.new()
	lines:add('')
	for _, f in ipairs({ frame, frame:getParent() }) do
		lines:add('[[' .. f:getTitle() .. ']]')
		for key, keyrep in iterkeys(f.args, control) do
			lines:add('&nbsp;&nbsp;' .. mw.text.nowiki(keyrep .. '=' .. f.args[key]))
		end
	end
	lines:add('')
	return lines:join('<br>\n')
end

local function wikidata(frame)
	local item = frame.args[1]
	if item then
		local id = item:match('^%s*([PQ]%d+)%s*$')
		if id then
			local entity = mw.wikibase.getEntity(id)
			return dumper(entity, id, frame.args.indent)
		end
	end
	return 'Parameter should be a Wikidata identifier such as P2386 or Q833639'
end

local builtins = {
	-- Handle preview of wikitext like {{#invoke|dump|TEXT}}
	-- where TEXT is a built-in value that can be dumped.
	__index = function (self, key)
		local result
		local function caller()
			return result
		end
		if type(key) == 'string' then
			local title = key:match('^%s*[\'"]?(.*%.tab)[\'"]?%s*$')
			if title then
				-- Assume structured data from Commons at [[c:Data:<title>]].
				if title:match('^[Dd]ata:') then
					title = title:sub(6)
				end
				local data = mw.ext.data.get(title)  -- false if page does not exist
				result = dumper(data, '[[c:Data:' .. title .. ']]')
			end
		end
		result = result or ('UNKNOWN: ' .. tostring(key))
		return caller
	end
}

return setmetatable({
	args = dumpargs,
	_dump = dumper,
	_dumphtml = _dumphtml,
	dumphtml = dumphtml,
	execute = execute,
	parameters = parameters,
	testcase = dump_testcase,
	wikidata = wikidata,
}, builtins)

Module:Dump

Contents

Dump of a Wikidata entity

Dump of a table for another module

Dump of a formatted html string

Dumping a navbox

Dump of arguments

Dump of parameters

Dump of structured data

Global table _G

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