Thanks for the reply. That's what I figured the documentation was trying to explain.
I really think the documentation needs to be more explicit about the fact that substitution is not a general concept, rather it is a specific process in the context of TW, given that it only applies to a very specific situation (replacing variables and parameters in macro definitions during macro calls). The definitions of both transclusion and substitution are very imprecise, and the distinction the documentation makes between substitution and transclusion (Substitution happens before wiki text processing) is very ambiguous, because for example, it leaves you thinking the attribute examples are substitution, not transclusion. The definition of transclusion states that it is the process of including the contents of one tiddler in another tiddler, but clearly there is a much more broad usage. On Wednesday, September 20, 2017 at 7:41:07 PM UTC-4, Mark S. wrote: > > I was kind of waiting for the question ;-) > > It might be better to look at the documentation for substitution. > Everything you saw on that page gave examples of transclusion. Substitution > occurs *inside* macros using either $var$ or $(var)$ (environmental > variables). In the example > > <$text text=<<myMacro>>/> > > The *results* of a macro are being transcluded as the value passed to the > text attribute. Substitution would only occur if you called a macro with > parameters (or used environmental variable markers) > > \define myMacro() $(currentTiddler)$ is my favorite tiddler > > If you were then inside the tiddler, CatTiddler the results of the above > text widget would be: > > CatTiddler is my favorite tiddler > > The value of <<myMacro>> would be transcluded to the text attribute, but > the substitution would occur inside the macro. > > The main thing to get out of this is, whenever you need to join 2 pieces > of text, you are probably going to need a macro and it's text-substituting > ability. > > It's probably best not to get hung up on the terminology at the start. Try > a few examples of your own for transclusions and maybe even defining/using > your own macros. > > Good luck, > Mark > > > On Wednesday, September 20, 2017 at 3:29:29 PM UTC-7, TiddlyNoob wrote: >> >> Hey guys, >> >> I'm a software developer and just started learning TiddlyWiki a few days >> ago. I'm trying to grasp the fundamentals before delving too deep in the >> complicated stuff. >> >> Transclusion seems like an important concept to grasp, and I could get by >> with the general understanding that it's simply including the contents of a >> macro, variable, or tiddler field in some context, whether it be in the >> body of a tiddler, or as the value of an HTML attribute, but I can't help >> but question the ambiguity in the documentation, especially when it >> compares transclusion to substitution. >> >> The definition <http://tiddlywiki.com/#Transclusion>of transclusion in >> the documentation describes it as a process of including the contents of >> one tiddler into another tiddler. >> >> The Transclusion and Substitution >> <http://tiddlywiki.com/#Transclusion%20and%20Substitution> documentation >> basically describes every type of substitution as an example of >> transclusion, whether it's a tiddler field, macro, or variable you are >> referencing, and whether or not you are doing it in the body of a tiddler, >> or in a filter, or as the value of an attribute. It then goes on to say >> that the key distinction between transclusion and substitution is that >> substitution happens before WikiText processing, so it's just a simple >> substitution of text without WikiText processing. Transclusion, however, >> includes WikiText processing. >> >> But the example it gives for transclusion of a macro in an attribute: >> >> <$text text=<<myMacro>>/> >> >> ..seems to be just regular substitution, since there is no WikiText >> processing. >> >> This confusion seems apparent in other places in the documentation as >> well, such as in HTML in WikiText >> <http://tiddlywiki.com/#HTML%20in%20WikiText>, where it describes >> examples that use tiddler fields attr={{tiddler}} as using transclusion, >> but then the macro examples <div title=<<MyMacro "Brian">>> do not >> mention transclusion at all. >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TiddlyWiki" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tiddlywiki+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to tiddlywiki@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/tiddlywiki. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tiddlywiki/6cac51d9-bd31-4ed1-8cd4-ca8cd6a08988%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
