# TWiki CGI and Command Line Scripts _Programs on the TWiki server performing actions such as rendering, saving and renaming topics._ The TWiki scripts are located in the `twiki/bin` and `twiki/tools` directories. This topic describes the interfaces to some of those scripts. All scripts in the `twiki/bin` directory can be called from the CGI ([Common Gateway Interface](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Gateway_Interface)) environment or from the command line. The scripts in the `twiki/tools` directory can only be called from the command line.
## CGI Scripts Details on CGI scripts located in the `twiki/bin` directory. ### General Information #### CGI environment In the CGI environment parameters are passed to the scripts via the URL and URL parameters. Environment variables are also used to determine the user performing the action. If the environment is not set up, the default TWiki user is used (usually `guest`). #### Command-line You **must** be have the `twiki/bin` directory on the perl path to run the scripts from the command line. To avoid issues with file permissions, run the scripts as the web server user such as `nobody` or `www`. Parameters are passed on the command line using '-name' - for example, $ cd /usr/local/twiki/bin $ save -topic MyWeb.MyTopic -user admin -action save -text "New text of the topic" All parameters require a value, even if that is the empty string. #### Common parameters All the scripts accept a number of common parameters. The first two components of the URL after the script name are taken as the web and the topic, respectively. Standard URL parameters are:
Parameter Description Default
topic If this is set to a URL, TWiki will immediately redirect to that URL. Otherwise it overrides the URL and is taken as the topic name (you can pass Web.TopicName)  
user Command-line only; set the name of the user performing the action. Note: this usage is inherently insecure, as it bypasses webserver login constraints. For this reason only authorised users should be allowed to execute scripts from the command line.  
skin Overrides the default skin path (see [[Main/TWikiSkins]])  
cover Specifies temporary skin path to prepend to the skin path for this script only (see [[Main/TWikiSkins]])  
### `attach` Despite the name, this script doesn't actually attach a file to a topic - for that, use `upload`. This script is part of the transactions sequence executed when a file is uploaded from the browser. it just generates the "new attachment" page for a topic.
Parameter Description Default
filename Name of existing attachment (if provided, this is a "manage attachment" action) none (in which case this is a "new attachment" action)
### `changes` Shows all the changes in the given web. The `changes` script can receive one parameter:
Parameter Description Default
minor If 0, show only major changes. If 1, show all the changes (both minor and major) 0
The main difference between invoking this script and using [[WebChanges]] is that [[WebChanges]] is based on a `%SEARCH%`, while this script reads the `changes` file in each web, making it much faster. **NOTE**: The result from `changes` script and the topic [[WebChanges]] can be different, if the `changes` file is deleted from a web. In particular, in new installations the `changes` script will return no results while the [[WebChanges]] topic will. ### `configure` `configure` is the browser script used for inspection and configuration of the TWiki configuration. None of the parameters to this script are useable for any purpose except `configure`. See [configure](http://www.dementia.org/twiki/configure). ### `edit` The `edit` script understands the following parameters, typically supplied by HTML input fields:
Parameter Description Default
action Optional. Use the editaction template instead of the standard edit. If action=text, then hide the form. If action=form hide the normal text area and only edit the form. You can change the Edit/Edit Raw buttons to always append the action parameter in skins like Pattern and Classic by setting the topic or preference variable [[Main/VarEDITACTION]] to the value text or form. To edit the topic once the EDITACTION is defined as form simply remove the action=form from the browser URL of the edit script and reload the edit window  
onlynewtopic If set, error if topic already exists  
onlywikiname If set, error if topic name is not a [[Main/WikiWord]]  
templatetopic The name of the template topic, copied to get the initial content (new topic only)  
text Initial text for the topic  
topicparent The parent topic  
formtemplate Name of the form to instantiate in the topic. Overrides the form set in the templatetopic if defined. (will remove the form is set to 'none')  
contenttype Optional parameter that defines the application type to write into the CGI header. Defaults to text/html. May be used to invoke alternative client applications  
anyname Any parameter can passed to the new topic; if the template topic contains %URLPARAM{"anyname"}%, it will be replaced by its value  
breaklock If set, any lease conflicts will be ignored, and the edit will proceed even if someone is already editing the topic.  
redirectto If the user continues from edit to save, and if the save (or cancels the edit) process is successful, save will redirect to this topic or URL. The parameter value can be a TopicName, a Web.TopicName, or a URL.%BR% Note: Redirect to a URL only works if it is enabled in configure (Miscellaneous {AllowRedirectUrl}).  
Form field values are passed in parameters named 'field' - for example, if I have a field `Status` the parameter name is `Status`. 1. The first sequence of ten or more `X` characters in the topic name will be converted on save to a number such that the resulting topic name is unique in the target web. NOTE: most skins support the definition of `EDIT_SKIN`, which is used as the value of the `cover` parameter in `edit` URLs. This allows you to override the default edit skin on a web, topic or user basis. ### `login` Used for logging in when TWiki login is being used (e.g TemplateLoginManager).
Parameter Description Default
origurl URL that was being accessed when an access violation occurred. the login process will redirect to this URL if it is successful none
username username of user logging in none
password password of user logging in none
### `logon` Used for logging in when Web Server authentication is being used (e.g. ApacheLoginManager). The script does nothing; it is purely a placeholder for triggering the login process. The webserver will be set up to require a valid user to access this script, thus triggering the webserver login process. ### `manage` Performs a range of management functions.
Parameter Description Default
action One of createweb, deleteUserAccount, editSettings or saveSettings none
#### `action=createweb`
Parameter Description Default
newweb Name of the new web ''
baseweb Name of the web to copy to create the new web ''
webbgcolor value for WEBBGCOLOR ''
sitemapwhat Value for SITEMAPWHAT ''
sitemapuseto Value for SITEMAPUSETO ''
nosearchall Value for NOSEARCHALL ''
#### `action=editSettings` No parameters #### `action=saveSettings`
Parameter Description Default
text Text of the topic ''
originalrev Revision that the edit started on Most recent revision
redirectto If the savesettings process is successful, save will redirect to this topic or URL. The parameter value can be a TopicName, a Web.TopicName, or a URL.%BR% Note: Redirect to a URL only works if it is enabled in configure (Miscellaneous {AllowRedirectUrl}).
All other parameters may be interpreted as form fields, depending on the current form definition in the topic. #### `action=bulkRegister` See [[BulkRegistration]].
Parameter Description Default
OverwriteHomeTopics Whether to overwrite existing home topics or not false
EmailUsersWithDetails Whether to mail registered users or not false
LogTopic Topic to save the log in Same as topic name, with 'Result' appended.
#### `action=changePassword` Change password, email address, or both, of a user.
Parameter Description Default
username god alone knows none
oldpassword current password none
password new password none
passwordA new password confirmation none
email new email address none
`password, =passwordA` and `email` are optional. If neither or `password` and `passwordA` is set, then the user password is left unchanged. If `email` is unset, their email is left unchanged. #### `action=resetPassword` Reset the password for a single or multiple users
Parameter Description Default
LoginName list of usernames to reset none - error if not set
Introduction message to be sent alongside the reset, most often used to announce to the user that they have been given an account. ''
This is used by [[BulkResetPassword]] and [[ResetPassword]]. Only administrators can provide a list of [[LoginNames]], non-admins can only provide a single [[LoginName]]. [[BulkRegistration]] provides the means to create multiple accounts but it does not announce those accounts to the users who own them. [[BulkResetPassword]] is used to assign the passwords, the Introduction is used to explain why they are receiving the mail. #### `action=deleteUserAccount` Unregisters (removes) the currently logged-in user.
Parameter Description Default
password Users' password none
### `oops` This script is mainly used for rendering pages containing error messages, though it is also used for some functional actions such as manage pages (move topic etc). `oops` templates are used with the `oops` script to generate system messages. This is done to make internationalisation or other local customisations simple. The `oops` script supports the following parameters:
Parameter Description Default
template Name of the template file to display  
def Optional, can be set to the name of a single definition within template. This definition will be instantiated in the template wherever %INSTANTIATE% is seen. This lets you use a single template file for many messages. For an example, see oopsmanagebad.tmpl.  
paramN Where N is an integer from 1 upwards. These values will be substituted into template for %PARAM1% etc.  
### `preview` This script is _deprecated_. Its functions are covered by the `save` script. ### `rdiff` Renders the differences between version of a TWiki topic
Parameter Description Default
rev1 the higher revision  
rev2 the lower revision  
render the rendering style {sequential, sidebyside, raw, debug} DIFFRENDERSTYLE, sequential
type {history, diff, last} history diff, version to version, last version to previous diff
context number of lines of context  
TODO: - add a \{word\} render style ### `register`
Parameter Description Default
action register or verify or resetPassword or approve  
### `rename` Used for renaming topics.
Parameter Description Default
skin skin(s) to use  
newweb new web name  
newtopic new topic name  
breaklock    
attachment    
confirm if defined, requires a second level of confirmation  
currentwebonly if defined, searches current web only for links to this topic  
nonwikiword if defined, a non-wikiword is acceptable for the new topic name  
redirectto If the rename process is successful, rename will redirect to this topic or URL. The parameter value can be a TopicName, a Web.TopicName, or a URL.%BR% Note: Redirect to a URL only works if it is enabled in configure (Miscellaneous {AllowRedirectUrl}).  
### `rest` This REST ([Representational State Transfer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REST)) script can be invoked via http in the same way as the other TWiki scripts (see **Invocation Examples**, below) to execute a function that is associated to a "subject" and a "verb" (see below). These functions are usually registered by plugins using the `TWiki::Func::registerRESTHandler` method. The `rest` script will print the result directly to the browser unless the `endPoint` parameter is specified, in which case it will output a redirect to the given topic. The `rest` script supports the following parameters:
username If TemplateLogin, or a similar login manager not embedded in the web server, is used, then you need to pass a username and password to the server. The username and password parameters are used for this purpose.
password See username
topic If defined as the full name (including web) of a topic, then when the script starts up plugins will be passed this as the "current" topic. If not defined, then [[USERSWEB/WebHome]] will be passed to plugins.
endPoint Where to redirect the response once the request is served, in the form "Web.Topic"
The function is free to use any other query parameters for its own purposes. %X% The `rest` script should **always** require authentication in any TWiki that has logins. Otherwise there is a risk of opening up major security holes. So make sure you add it to the list of authenticated scripts if you are using `ApacheLogin`. #### Invocation Examples The `rest` script assumes that it will be called with URL in the form: `http://my.host/bin/rest//` where `` must be the [[WikiWord]] name of one of the installed [[TWikiPlugins]], and the `` is the alias for the function registered using the `TWiki::Func::registerRESTHandler` method. The `` and `` are then used to lookup and call the registered function. `` and `` are checked for illegal characters exactly in the same way as the web and topic names. As an example, the [[EmptyPlugin]] has registered a function to be used with the `rest` script under the subject **EmptyPlugin** and the verb **example**. Click below to see the `rest` script in action (run as [[TWikiGuest]]). [Call the Plugin](http://www.dementia.org/twiki/rest/EmptyPlugin/example?debugenableplugin=EmptyPlugin) Note that for Plugins to register REST handlers, they must be enabled in `configure`. ### `save` The `save` script performs a range of save-related functions, as selected by the `action` parameter.
Parameter Description Default
action_save=1 default; save, return to view, dontnotify is off  
action_quietsave=1 save, and return to view, dontnotify is on  
action_checkpoint save and redirect to the edit script, dontnotify is on  
action_cancel exit without save, return to view  
action_preview preview edited text  
action_addform Redirect to the "change form" page.  
action_replaceform... Redirect to the "change form" page.  
action_delRev Administrators only delete the most recent revision of the topic - all other parameters are ignored. You have to be an administrator to use this, and not all store implementations will support it.  
action_repRev Administrators only replace the text of the most recent revision of the topic with the text in the text parameter. text must included embedded meta-data tags. All other parameters are ignored. You have to be an administrator to use this, and not all store implementations will support it.  
onlynewtopic If set, error if topic already exists  
onlywikiname If set, error if topic name is not a [[Main/WikiWord]]  
dontnotify if defined, suppress change notification  
templatetopic Name of a topic to use as a template for the text and form (new topic only)  
text New text of the topic  
forcenewrevision if set, forces a revision even if TWiki thinks one isn't needed  
topicparent If 'none' remove any current topic parent. If the name of a topic, set the topic parent to this.  
formtemplate if defined, use the named template for the form (will remove the form is set to 'none')  
editaction When action is checkpoint, add form or replace form..., this is used as the action parameter to the edit script that is redirected to after the save is complete.  
originalrev Revision on which the edit started.  
edit The script to use to edit the topic when action is checkpoint edit
editparams The parameter string to use to edit the topic  
redirectto The save process will redirect to this topic or URL if it is successful. (Typically this would be the URL that was being viewed when edit was invoked). The parameter value can be a TopicName, a Web.TopicName, or a URL.%BR% Note: Redirect to a URL only works if it is enabled in configure (Miscellaneous {AllowRedirectUrl}). view topic being edited
Any errors will cause a redirect to an `oops` page. The parameters are interpreted in according to the following rules. 1. The first sequence of ten or more `X` characters in the topic name will be converted to a number such that the resulting topic name is unique in the target web. 2. When the action is `save`, `checkpoint`, `quietsave`, or `preview`: 1. The new text is taken from the `text` parameter, if it is defined, - otherwise it is taken from the `templatetopic`, if it is defined, (new topic _only_) - otherwise it is taken from the previous version of the topic, if any, 2. The name of the new form is taken from the `formtemplate`, if defined - otherwise it is taken from the `templatetopic`, if defined, (new topic _only_) - otherwise it is taken from the previous version of the topic, if any, - otherwise no form is attached. 3. The value for each field in the form is taken from the query, if it is defined - otherwise it is taken from the `templatetopic`, if defined, (new topic _only_) - otherwise it is taken from the previous version of the topic, if any, - otherwise it defaults to the empty string. Merging is only enabled if the topic text comes from `text` and `originalrev` is > 0 and is not the same as the revision number of the most recent revision. If merging is enabled both the topic and the meta-data are merged. Form field values are passed in parameters named 'field' - for example, if I have a field `Status` the parameter name is `Status`. ### `search` CGI gateway to the `%SEARCH%` functionality driven by the following CGI parameters:
Parameter: Description: Default:
"text" Search term. Is a keyword search, literal search or regular expression search, depending on the type parameter. [[Main/SearchHelp]] has more required
search="text" (Alternative to above) N/A
web="Name"
web="%USERSWEB%, Know"
web="all"
Comma-separated list of webs to search. See [[Main/TWikiVariables#VarSEARCH]] for more details. Current web
topic="WebPreferences"
topic="*Bug"
Limit search to topics: A topic, a topic with asterisk wildcards, or a list of topics separated by comma. All topics in a web
excludetopic="Web*"
excludetopic="WebHome, WebChanges"
Exclude topics from search: A topic, a topic with asterisk wildcards, or a list of topics separated by comma. None
type="keyword"
type="literal"
type="regex"
Do a keyword search like soap "web service" -shampoo; a literal search like web service; or [[Main/RegularExpression]] search like soap;web service;!shampoo %SEARCHVAR- DEFAULTTYPE% [[Main/TWikiPreferences]] setting (%SEARCHVARDEFAULTTYPE%)
scope="topic"
scope="text"
scope="all"
Search topic name (title); the text (body) of topic; or all (both) "text"
order="topic"
order="created"
order="modified"
order="editby"
order=
 "formfield(name)"
Sort the results of search by the topic names, topic creation time, last modified time, last editor, or named field of [[Main/TWikiForms]]. The sorting is done web by web; in case you want to sort across webs, create a [[Main/FormattedSearch]] table and sort it with [[Main/TablePlugin]]'s initsort Sort by topic name
limit="all"
limit="16"
Limit the number of results returned. This is done after sorting if order is specified All results
date="..." limits the results to those pages with latest edit time in the given [[Main/TimeSpecifications#TimeIntervals]]. All results
reverse="on" Reverse the direction of the search Ascending search
casesensitive="on" Case sensitive search Ignore case
bookview="on" [[Main/BookView]] search, e.g. show complete topic text Show topic summary
nonoise="on" Shorthand for nosummary="on" nosearch="on" nototal="on" zeroresults="off" noheader="on" noempty="on" Off
nosummary="on" Show topic title only Show topic summary
nosearch="on" Suppress search string Show search string
noheader="on" Suppress search header
Topics: Changed: By:
Show search header
nototal="on" Do not show number of topics found Show number
zeroresults="off" Suppress all output if there are no hits zeroresults="on", displays: "Number of topics: 0"
noempty="on" Suppress results for webs that have no hits. Show webs with no hits
header="..."
format="..."
Custom format results: see [[Main/FormattedSearch]] for usage, variables & examples Results in table
expandvariables="on" Expand variables before applying a [[Main/FormattedSearch]] on a search hit. Useful to show the expanded text, e.g. to show the result of a [[Main/SpreadSheetPlugin]] %CALC{}% instead of the formula Raw text
multiple="on" Multiple hits per topic. Each hit can be [[Main/FormattedSearch]]. The last token is used in case of a regular expression ";" and search Only one hit per topic
nofinalnewline="on" If on, the search variable does not end in a line by itself. Any text continuing immediately after the search tag on the same line will be rendered as part of the table generated by the search, if appropriate. off
separator=", " Line separator between hits Newline "$n"
### `statistics` Refresh the [[WebStatistics]] topics in range of webs.
Parameter Description Default
webs comma-separated list of webs to run stats on all accessible webs
logdate YYYYMM to generate statistics for current month
for example: 1. from browser updates _all user webs_ 2. from browser updates _TWiki,Main,Sandbox_ 3. from browser updates %WEB% 4. from command line twiki/bin/statistics updates _all user webs_ 5. from command line twiki/bin/statistics -webs=TWiki,Main,Sandbox updates _TWiki,Main,Sandbox_ 6. from command line twiki/bin/statistics %WEB%.WebHome updates %WEB% see [[TWikiSiteTools#WebStatistics_site_statistics]] for updating statistics using cron. ### `upload` Uploads an attachment to a topic. The HTTP request is expected to be in `multipart/form-data` format.
Parameter Description Default
hidefile if defined, will not show file in attachment table  
filepath local (client) path name of the file being uploaded. This is used to look up the data for the file in the HTTP query.  
filename deprecated, do not use  
filecomment Comment to associate with file in attachment table  
createlink if defined, will create a link to file at end of topic  
changeproperties if defined, this is a property change operation only - no file will be uploaded. null
You can use a tool like `curl` to upload files from the command line using this script. ### `view` Used for viewing topics.
Parameter Description Default
raw=on Shows the text of the topic in a scrollable textarea  
raw=debug As raw=on, but also shows the metadata (forms etc) associated with the topic.  
raw=text Shows only the source of the topic, as plain text (Content-type: text/plain). Only shows the body text, not the form or other meta-data.
raw=all Shows only the source of the topic, as plain text (Content-type: text/plain), with embedded meta-data. This may be useful if you want to extract the source of a topic to a local file on disc.  
section Allows to view only a part of the topic delimited by a named section (see %SYSTEMWEB%.VarSTARTSECTION). If the given section is not present, no topic content is displayed.  
contenttype Allows you to specify a different Content-Type: (e.g. contenttype=text/plain)  
rev Revision to view (e.g. rev=45)  
template Allows you to specify a different skin template, overriding the 'view' template the view script would normally use. The default template is view. For example, you could specify [[%WEB%/%TOPIC%?template=edit]]. This is mainly useful when you have specialised templates for a TWiki Application.  
topic redirects (at the beging of the cgi script running) to show the spcified Web.Topic, or, redirects to a URL, if allowed by {AllowRedirectUrl} and {PermittedRedirectHostUrls}  
%X% For historical reasons, the view script has a special interpretation of the `text` skin. In earlier TWiki versions the `skin=text` parameter was used like this: `http://.../view/MyWeb/MyTopic?skin=text&contenttype=text/plain&raw=on` which shows the topic as plain text; useful for those who want to download plain text for the topic. Using `skin=text` this way is **DEPRECATED**, use `raw=text` instead. ### `viewfile` Used for viewing attachments. Normally, a site will publish the attachments (`pub`) directory using a URL. However if it contains sensitive information, you will want to protect attachments using [[TWikiAccessControls]]. In this case, you can use the `viewfile` script to give access to attachments while still checking access controls.
Parameter Description Default
filename name of attachment  
rev Revision to view  
Instead of using the `filename` parameter, you can append the attachment name to the end of the URL path (after the topic) e.g. `http://www.dementia.org/twiki/viewfile/Webname/TopicName/Attachment.gif` ## Command Line Scripts Details on command line scripts located in the `twiki/tools` directory. ### `geturl.pl` This is a very simple script to get the content of a web site. It is marked as _deprecated_ and might be removed (or enhanced) in a future TWiki release. Its functions are covered by the standard `wget` and `curl` commands. - Usage: `geturl.pl [ [
]]` - Example: `geturl.pl some.domain /some/dir/file.html 80` - Will get: `http://some.domain:80/some/dir/file.html` ### `rewriteshebang.pl` Simple script to rewrite the `#!/usr/bin/perl` shebang lines specific to your local Perl installation. It will rewrite the first line of all your TWiki cgi scripts so they use a different shebang line. Use it if your perl is in a non-standard location, or you want to use a different interpreter (such as 'speedy'). ### `tick_twiki.pl` This script executes a number of non-essential regular administration tasks that will help keep your TWiki healthy and happy, such as removing expired sessions and lease files. It is intended to be run as a cron job or a scheduled task once a week. Example crontab entry:%BR% `0 0 * * 0 cd /usr/twiki/bin && perl ../tools/tick_twiki.pl` **_Note:_** The script has to be run by a user who can write files created by the webserver user. **_Related Topics:_** [[AdminDocumentationCategory]], [[DeveloperDocumentationCategory]]