WikiText Parser Modes: TiddlyWiki — a non-linear personal web notebook

WikiText Parser Modes

13th May 2022 at 11:26am

In order to display Tiddlers (usually the text field), the WikiText parser reads and interprets the content and applies WikiText rules. The parser has three modes:

pragma mode - the parser will recognise only pragma mode WikiText punctuation
block mode - the parser will recognise only block mode WikiText punctuation
inline mode - the parser will recognise only inline mode WikiText

The parser transitions between these modes based on the text it encounters. In addition, there are places where the parser ignores WikiText punctuation. The parser mode can also be set directly with the Pragma: \parsermode.

Tip

The concept of inline vs block also exists for standard HTML elements. For HTML, these two layout modes determine if the output flows together on the same line or not.

Most block mode WikiText corresponds to block level HTML elements and most inline mode WikiText corresponds to inline level HTML elements. However, for Wikitext the two modes are just as important for determining which syntax will be recognised by the parser as they are for determining how the output will flow.