WML for Beginners (Updated): Part 2 - Revision history

Egallager: wikify

2023-05-07T03:19:52Z

wikify

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:19, 7 May 2023
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	In the second part of this series, we are going to talk a bit more about tags, now focusing on how they relate to each other, and learning new vocabulary on how to refer to these relations. Secondly, the "types of data" in WML will be mentioned and we are also going to touch the surface of the preprocessor and its properties. As you can see, this part of the tutorial is quite big. Read and understand at your own pace, going back to here multiple times if needed. Use the navigation tab at the end of the page to go between pages and the index.		In the second part of this series, we are going to talk a bit more about tags, now focusing on how they relate to each other, and learning new vocabulary on how to refer to these relations. Secondly, the "types of data" in [[WML]] will be mentioned and we are also going to touch the surface of the preprocessor and its properties. As you can see, this part of the tutorial is quite big. Read and understand at your own pace, going back to here multiple times if needed. Use the navigation tab at the end of the page to go between pages and the index.

Volatus: Removed Unnecessary Text stating obvious things.

2020-09-03T18:49:15Z

Removed Unnecessary Text stating obvious things.

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:49, 3 September 2020
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	[/exampletag]		[/exampletag]
	</syntaxhighlight>		</syntaxhighlight>
	~~'''Note''': The above example is not valid WML code and was used for demonstration purposes only. '''exampletag''' is not a valid tag and nor are the '''a''', '''b''' and '''c''' attributes.~~

	'''Best practice''': always keep your strings enclosed in double quotes to avoid confusion and have well-defined starting and ending points to them. There are a few exceptions to the rule, but those will be explained in another time.		'''Best practice''': always keep your strings enclosed in double quotes to avoid confusion and have well-defined starting and ending points to them. There are a few exceptions to the rule, but those will be explained in another time.
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	[/exampletag]		[/exampletag]
	</syntaxhighlight>		</syntaxhighlight>
	~~'''Note''': The above example is not valid WML code and was used for demonstration purposes only. '''exampletag''' is not a valid tag and nor are the '''a''' and '''b''' attributes.~~

	=== <span id="AttributeValues#ValueLists"></span>Lists of Values ===		=== <span id="AttributeValues#ValueLists"></span>Lists of Values ===

Volatus: Corrected an inconsistency

2020-09-03T18:44:18Z

Corrected an inconsistency

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:44, 3 September 2020
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	In the above case, many things can be stated. First, we can say tag '''A''' is ''the parent of'' both tags '''B''' and '''C''', and ''the grandparent of'' the '''D''' tag, which by itself is a ''child of B'' and a ''grandchild of A''. Furthermore, '''B''' and '''C''' can be called ''direct children of A'' while '''D''' (''child of B'') can be called an ''indirect child of A'' (the same way '''A''' is ''a direct parent of B'' and '''C''' but ''an indirect parent of D''). ''Whew'', that was a lot right here. Feel free to read this as many times as you want. Just make sure you have grasped the previous info before further reading.		In the above case, many things can be stated. First, we can say tag '''A''' is ''the parent of'' both tags '''B''' and '''C''', and ''the grandparent of'' the '''D''' tag, which by itself is a ''child of B'' and a ''grandchild of A''. Furthermore, '''B''' and '''C''' can be called ''direct children of A'' while '''D''' (''child of B'') can be called an ''indirect child of A'' (the same way '''A''' is ''a direct parent of B'' and '''C''' but ''an indirect parent of D''). ''Whew'', that was a lot right here. Feel free to read this as many times as you want. Just make sure you have grasped the previous info before further reading.

	With these terms in mind, the definition of a '''top-level tag''' becomes much simpler to both understand and imply. To the extent of our current terminological knowledge on this topic, the definition of '''top-level''' ~~tag~~ can be stated as:		With these terms in mind, the definition of a '''top-level tag''' becomes much simpler to both understand and imply. To the extent of our current terminological knowledge on this topic, the definition of '''top-level tag''' can be stated as:
	* '''top-level tag''': a tag which isn't a direct nor indirect child of any other tag and may or may not enclose (be a direct or indirect parent of) another tag(s).		* '''top-level tag''': a tag which isn't a direct nor indirect child of any other tag and may or may not enclose (be a direct or indirect parent of) another tag(s).

Volatus: Removed Excessive use of Bold Text

2020-09-03T18:43:25Z

Removed Excessive use of Bold Text

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:43, 3 September 2020
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	== <span id="TagRelations"></span>Tag Relations ==		== <span id="TagRelations"></span>Tag Relations ==
	As we have previously seen, tags can (and do) enclose attributes and their set values. What I haven't told you yet is that tags can also enclose (and be enclosed by) other tags! This way, one tag either contains or is contained within another tag. When a tag '''A''' is ''enclosed by'' tag '''B''', we say tag '''A''' is '''a child of B'''. Thus, when a tag '''B''' ''encloses'' tag '''A''', we say tag '''B''' is the '''parent of tag A'''. This can imply complex relationships, like the one below:		As we have previously seen, tags can (and do) enclose attributes and their set values. What I haven't told you yet is that tags can also enclose (and be enclosed by) other tags! This way, one tag either contains or is contained within another tag. When a tag '''A''' is ''enclosed by'' tag '''B''', we say tag '''A''' is ''a child of B''. Thus, when a tag '''B''' ''encloses'' tag '''A''', we say tag '''B''' is the ''parent of tag A''. This can imply complex relationships, like the one below:

	<syntaxhighlight lang=wml>		<syntaxhighlight lang=wml>
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	</syntaxhighlight>		</syntaxhighlight>

	In the above case, many things can be stated. First, we can say tag '''A''' is '''the parent of''' both tags '''B''' and '''C''', and ~~the '~~''grandparent of''' the '''D''' tag, which by itself is a '''child of B''' and a '''grandchild~~'''~~ of ~~'''~~A'''. Furthermore, '''B''' and '''C''' can be called '''direct children of A''' while '''D''' (child of ~~'''~~B''') can be called an '''indirect child of A''' (the same way '''A''' is '''a direct parent of B''' and '''C''' but an indirect parent of ~~'''~~D'''). ''Whew'', that was a lot right here. Feel free to read this as many times as you want. Just make sure you have grasped the previous info before further reading.		In the above case, many things can be stated. First, we can say tag '''A''' is ''the parent of'' both tags '''B''' and '''C''', and ''the grandparent of'' the '''D''' tag, which by itself is a ''child of B'' and a ''grandchild of A''. Furthermore, '''B''' and '''C''' can be called ''direct children of A'' while '''D''' (''child of B'') can be called an ''indirect child of A'' (the same way '''A''' is ''a direct parent of B'' and '''C''' but ''an indirect parent of D''). ''Whew'', that was a lot right here. Feel free to read this as many times as you want. Just make sure you have grasped the previous info before further reading.

	With these terms in mind, the definition of a '''top-level tag''' becomes much simpler to both understand and imply. To the extent of our current terminological knowledge on this topic, the definition of '''top-level''' tag can be stated as:		With these terms in mind, the definition of a '''top-level tag''' becomes much simpler to both understand and imply. To the extent of our current terminological knowledge on this topic, the definition of '''top-level''' tag can be stated as:

Volatus at 16:39, 6 July 2020

2020-07-06T16:39:55Z

@@ Line 88: / Line 88: @@
   <syntaxhighlight lang=wml>
 [unit]
-     recruit = Orcish Grunt, Orcish Assassin # In this case, the strings are not enclosed in double-quotes because they are IDs. We will talk about this further in the tutorial.
+     recruit = Orcish Grunt, Orcish Assassin # In this case, the strings are not enclosed in double-quotes because they are IDs, and while they CAN be enclosed in double quotes, this isn't recommended. We will talk about this further in the tutorial.
 [/unit]
 </syntaxhighlight>

Volatus at 11:13, 23 June 2020

2020-06-23T11:13:36Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:13, 23 June 2020
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	In the second part of this series, we are going to talk a bit more about tags, now focusing on how they relate to each other, and learning new vocabulary on how to refer to these relations. Secondly, the "types of data" in WML will be mentioned and we are also going to touch the surface of the preprocessor and its properties~~. Last, but not least, we are going to see some conventions for organizing your code and a bit about the use of whitespace in WML code~~. As you can see, this part of the tutorial is quite big. Read and understand at your own pace, going back to here multiple times if needed. Use the navigation tab at the end of the page to go between pages and the index.		In the second part of this series, we are going to talk a bit more about tags, now focusing on how they relate to each other, and learning new vocabulary on how to refer to these relations. Secondly, the "types of data" in WML will be mentioned and we are also going to touch the surface of the preprocessor and its properties. As you can see, this part of the tutorial is quite big. Read and understand at your own pace, going back to here multiple times if needed. Use the navigation tab at the end of the page to go between pages and the index.


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	== <span id="AttributeValues"></span>Attribute Values ==		== <span id="AttributeValues"></span>Attribute Values ==
	~~Before entering the specific topic of ''Attribute Values'', we might take a look at~~ what ~~a '''string''' is defined as~~. ~~A '''string''' is basically a sequence of characters which, together, comprise one or more lines~~ of ~~text~~. ~~Both "flying monkeys" and "553 flowers" are strings (note that in the latter the number "553" is also considered part~~ of ~~the sequence~~ and ~~while~~ they are numerical characters, in this specific context, they are also considered text). There are times when we are going to join two strings together, uniting, for example, "flying " (note the single space at the end) and "monkeys." to form the string "flying monkeys". This process is called '''concatenation'''.		Attributes can have their values be interpreted differently according to what characters they contain. Some specific attributes will also require specific kinds of values. Learn about these different kinds of values and what they are made of.

	Now that you understand strings and what ''concatenation'' is, we can proceed. All attribute values (everything to the ~~left~~ of the ''assignment operator'' aka. equals sign) are, at the end of the day, considered '''strings''' by the ''parser'' (do not worry about this word yet; for now, you must remember this is what converts WML into information the game engine can actually understand and make use of). To represent a string as the value of an attribute, simply make text double-quoted. Take a look at the following example:		=== <span id="AttributeValues#StringsAndConcatenation"></span>Strings and Concatenation ===
			Before entering the specific topic of ''Attribute Values'', we might take a look at what a '''string''' is defined as. A '''string''' is basically a sequence of characters which, together, comprise one or more lines of text. Both "flying monkeys" and "553 flowers" are strings (note that in the latter the number "553" is also considered part of the sequence and while they are numerical characters, in this specific context, they are also considered text). There are times when we are going to join two strings together, uniting, for example, "flying " (note the single space at the end) and "monkeys" to form the string "flying monkeys". This process is called '''concatenation'''.

			=== <span id="AttributeValues#SimpleTextTranslatableStrings"></span>Simple Text and Translatable Strings ===
			Now that you understand strings and what ''concatenation'' is, we can proceed. All attribute values (everything to the right of the ''assignment operator'' aka. equals sign) are, at the end of the day, considered '''strings''' by the ''parser'' (do not worry about this word yet; for now, you must remember this is what converts WML into information the game engine can actually understand and make use of). To represent a string as the value of an attribute, simply make text double-quoted. Take a look at the following example:

	<syntaxhighlight lang=wml>		<syntaxhighlight lang=wml>
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	a = "This is recognizable text."		a = "This is recognizable text."
	b = This is recognizable text.		b = This is recognizable text.
			c = "This is also " + "recognizable text." # These are concatenated strings. Use the + (plus sign) to concatenate strings. This will result in "This is also recognizable text."
	[/exampletag]		[/exampletag]
	</syntaxhighlight>		</syntaxhighlight>
	'''Note''': The above example is not valid WML code and was used for demonstration purposes only. '''exampletag''' is not a valid tag and nor are the '''a''' and '''b''' attributes.		'''Note''': The above example is not valid WML code and was used for demonstration purposes only. '''exampletag''' is not a valid tag and nor are the '''a''', '''b''' and '''c''' attributes.

	'''Best practice''': always keep your strings enclosed in double quotes to avoid confusion and have well-defined starting and ending points to them. There are a few exceptions to the rule, but those will be explained in another time.		'''Best practice''': always keep your strings enclosed in double quotes to avoid confusion and have well-defined starting and ending points to them. There are a few exceptions to the rule, but those will be explained in another time.

			=== <span id="AttributeValues#NumericalValues"></span>Numerical Values ===
	You are also able to represent numeric values, such as integers and decimals, using strings. These can then be used on mathematical operations such as adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing (worry not about how this is done, this is going to be covered further into the tutorial). For a string to be considered a numerical value, it might contain one or more digits from 0 to 9 and, additionally, may contain the following (only one of each):		You are also able to represent numeric values, such as integers and decimals, using strings. These can then be used on mathematical operations such as adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing (worry not about how this is done, this is going to be covered further into the tutorial). For a string to be considered a numerical value, it might contain one or more digits from 0 to 9 and, additionally, may contain the following (only one of each):

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	Any strings not following these rules won't be considered numerical values. See some examples below for a better understanding of acceptable and unacceptable numerical strings:		Any strings not following these rules won't be considered numerical values. See some examples below for a better understanding of acceptable and unacceptable numerical strings:

	* "1056" - valid.		* "1056" - valid. It only contains digits.
	* "305.26" - valid.		* "305.26" - valid. It only contains digits and the decimal indicator dot.
	* "-250.30" - valid.		* "-250.30" - valid. It only contains digits, the decimal indicator dot, and the negative sign.
	* "-456" - valid.		* "-456" - valid. It only contains digits and the negative sign.

			* "1056a" - invalid. It contains a letter.
			* "305.2.6" - invalid. It contains two decimal indicator dots.
			* "-250.3bananas" - invalid. It contains additional text.
			* "-456-5" - invalid. It contains two negative signs.
			* "potatoes" - invalid. It does not contain any digit.

			'''Best practice''': do not enclose numerical values in double-quotes, unless they are used along with other text, such as in the middle of a string (e.g. they are not alone in their own string, and do not have the objective of strictly representing a numerical value). See the example below.

	* "~~1056a~~" - ~~invalid~~.		<syntaxhighlight lang=wml>
	* "~~305.2~~.6" - ~~invalid~~.		[exampletag]
	* "-250.~~3bananas" - invalid~~		a = "They have captured 6 of our soldiers!" # "6" is part of another string. Enclose in double-quotes.
	* "~~-456-5~~" - ~~invalid~~.		b = 256 # "256" is alone and strictly represents a numerical value. Do not enclose in double-quotes.
			[/exampletag]
			</syntaxhighlight>
			'''Note''': The above example is not valid WML code and was used for demonstration purposes only. '''exampletag''' is not a valid tag and nor are the '''a''' and '''b''' attributes.

			=== <span id="AttributeValues#ValueLists"></span>Lists of Values ===
			Some specific attributes require the use of ''value lists''. These are simply values separated by a comma, be them numerical values, strings, and/or translatable strings. See below for an example of this.

			<syntaxhighlight lang=wml>
			[unit]
			recruit = Orcish Grunt, Orcish Assassin # In this case, the strings are not enclosed in double-quotes because they are IDs. We will talk about this further in the tutorial.
			[/unit]
			</syntaxhighlight>

Volatus at 02:29, 23 June 2020

2020-06-23T02:29:37Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:29, 23 June 2020
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	'''Best practice''': always keep your strings enclosed in double quotes to avoid confusion and have well-defined starting and ending points to them. There are a few exceptions to the rule, but those will be explained in another time.		'''Best practice''': always keep your strings enclosed in double quotes to avoid confusion and have well-defined starting and ending points to them. There are a few exceptions to the rule, but those will be explained in another time.

			You are also able to represent numeric values, such as integers and decimals, using strings. These can then be used on mathematical operations such as adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing (worry not about how this is done, this is going to be covered further into the tutorial). For a string to be considered a numerical value, it might contain one or more digits from 0 to 9 and, additionally, may contain the following (only one of each):

			* The negative sign ("-").
			* The decimal indicator dot (".").

			Any strings not following these rules won't be considered numerical values. See some examples below for a better understanding of acceptable and unacceptable numerical strings:

			* "1056" - valid.
			* "305.26" - valid.
			* "-250.30" - valid.
			* "-456" - valid.

			* "1056a" - invalid.
			* "305.2.6" - invalid.
			* "-250.3bananas" - invalid
			* "-456-5" - invalid.

Volatus at 02:14, 23 June 2020

2020-06-23T02:14:34Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:14, 23 June 2020
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	</syntaxhighlight>		</syntaxhighlight>
	'''Note''': The above example is not valid WML code and was used for demonstration purposes only. '''exampletag''' is not a valid tag and nor are the '''a''' and '''b''' attributes.		'''Note''': The above example is not valid WML code and was used for demonstration purposes only. '''exampletag''' is not a valid tag and nor are the '''a''' and '''b''' attributes.

			'''Best practice''': always keep your strings enclosed in double quotes to avoid confusion and have well-defined starting and ending points to them. There are a few exceptions to the rule, but those will be explained in another time.

Volatus at 02:09, 23 June 2020

2020-06-23T02:09:17Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:09, 23 June 2020
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	Before entering the specific topic of ''Attribute Values'', we might take a look at what a '''string''' is defined as. A '''string''' is basically a sequence of characters which, together, comprise one or more lines of text. Both "flying monkeys" and "553 flowers" are strings (note that in the latter the number "553" is also considered part of the sequence and while they are numerical characters, in this specific context, they are also considered text). There are times when we are going to join two strings together, uniting, for example, "flying " (note the single space at the end) and "monkeys." to form the string "flying monkeys". This process is called '''concatenation'''.		Before entering the specific topic of ''Attribute Values'', we might take a look at what a '''string''' is defined as. A '''string''' is basically a sequence of characters which, together, comprise one or more lines of text. Both "flying monkeys" and "553 flowers" are strings (note that in the latter the number "553" is also considered part of the sequence and while they are numerical characters, in this specific context, they are also considered text). There are times when we are going to join two strings together, uniting, for example, "flying " (note the single space at the end) and "monkeys." to form the string "flying monkeys". This process is called '''concatenation'''.

	Now that you understand strings and what ''concatenation'' is, we can proceed. All attribute values (everything to the left of the ''assignment operator'' aka. equals sign) are, at the end of the day, considered '''strings''' by the ''parser'' (do not worry about this word yet; for now, you must remember this is what converts WML into information the game engine can actually understand and make use of). To represent a string as the value of an attribute, simply make it double-quoted. Take a look at the following example:		Now that you understand strings and what ''concatenation'' is, we can proceed. All attribute values (everything to the left of the ''assignment operator'' aka. equals sign) are, at the end of the day, considered '''strings''' by the ''parser'' (do not worry about this word yet; for now, you must remember this is what converts WML into information the game engine can actually understand and make use of). To represent a string as the value of an attribute, simply make text double-quoted. Take a look at the following example:

	<syntaxhighlight lang=wml>		<syntaxhighlight lang=wml>
Line 36:		Line 36:

	You might have noticed there's an underscore before the value of the first attribute ('''name''') of the '''unit''' tag above. Do not worry. This was not a typo. This preceding underscore indicates this is a '''translatable''' string. That means it is "marked" as a string that might be translated into other languages. Text that is shown as the campaign's story or as the characters' "speech bubbles" are usually composed of translatable strings while the rest usually isn't.		You might have noticed there's an underscore before the value of the first attribute ('''name''') of the '''unit''' tag above. Do not worry. This was not a typo. This preceding underscore indicates this is a '''translatable''' string. That means it is "marked" as a string that might be translated into other languages. Text that is shown as the campaign's story or as the characters' "speech bubbles" are usually composed of translatable strings while the rest usually isn't.

			Another thing to pay attention to is the fact that strings can also be represented ''without'' double quotes, and are still passed as strings to the parser. In the following example, both attributes '''a''' and '''b''' have the same value.

			<syntaxhighlight lang=wml>
			[exampletag]
			a = "This is recognizable text."
			b = This is recognizable text.
			[/exampletag]
			</syntaxhighlight>
			'''Note''': The above example is not valid WML code and was used for demonstration purposes only. '''exampletag''' is not a valid tag and nor are the '''a''' and '''b''' attributes.

Volatus at 05:31, 20 June 2020

2020-06-20T05:31:49Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:31, 20 June 2020
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	</syntaxhighlight>		</syntaxhighlight>

	You might have noticed there's an underscore before the value of the first attribute ('''name''') of the '''unit''' tag above. Do not worry. This was not a typo. This preceding underscore indicates this is a '''translatable''' string. That means it is "marked" as a string that might be translated into other languages. Text that is shown as the campaign's story or as the characters' "speech bubbles" are usually composed of translatable strings.		You might have noticed there's an underscore before the value of the first attribute ('''name''') of the '''unit''' tag above. Do not worry. This was not a typo. This preceding underscore indicates this is a '''translatable''' string. That means it is "marked" as a string that might be translated into other languages. Text that is shown as the campaign's story or as the characters' "speech bubbles" are usually composed of translatable strings while the rest usually isn't.