Modulus:wikimedia languages/doc

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Purpose

This module is used to retrieve and manage Wikimedia languages.

Until https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=8217 is fixed there is a mis-match between the codes used by ISO 639, and those used by Wikimedia, for certain languages. There are also some languages that are recognised as distinct by Wikimedia, but are combined into other languages on Wiktionary (see Language treatment). This module aids in mapping between the two.

This module provides access for other modules. To access the information from within a template, see Module:wikimedia languages/templates.

The information itself is stored in Module:wikimedia languages/data. This modules should not be used directly by any other module, the data should only be accessed through the functions provided by Module:wikimedia languages.

Finding and retrieving languages

The module exports a number of functions that are used to find languages.

getByCode

getByCode(code)

Finds the Wikimedia language whose code matches the one provided. If it exists, it returns a WikimediaLanguage object representing the language. Otherwise, it returns nil.

getByCodeWithFallback

getByCodeWithFallback(code)

This does the same as getByCode. However, if that function returns nil, then the regular language with that code is retrieved, if it exists. The function then returns the first element of the list returned by a call to the :getWikimediaLanguages() method of that language. If that method returns no elements, the function returns nil.

Language objects' getWikimediaLanguages method

The :getWikimediaLanguages() method is available on regular Language objects (as returned by Module:languages). This method returns WikimediaLanguage objects that represent that language outside Wiktionary.

Comparison

The differences between the various ways of retrieving languages can be seen here, using some examples.

Code	Module:languages		Module:wikimedia languages		Notes
	.getByCode	.getByCode(): getWikimediaLanguages()	.getByCode	.getByCodeWithFallback
fr	fr/Francogallice	fr/Francogallice	fr/Francogallice	fr/Francogallice	Code used by both Wikimedia and Wiktionary.
bs	nil	()	bs/Bosnice	bs/Bosnice	Code used only by Wikimedia, not Wiktionary.
sh	sh/Servocroate	sh/Servocroate bs/Bosnice hr/Croate sr/Service	sh/Servocroate	sh/Servocroate	Code used by both Wikimedia and Wiktionary. Module:wikimedia languages returns sh as that is a valid Wikimedia code. :getWikimediaLanguages() maps the code to multiple possible Wikimedia codes.
cmn	cmn/Mandarin	zh/Sinice	nil	zh/Sinice	Code is used only by Wiktionary, not Wikimedia. The code is mapped by :getWikimediaLanguages() to the equivalent Wikimedia code zh.
wym	wym/Vilamovian	nil	nil	nil	Code is used only by Wiktionary, not Wikimedia. The code is not mapped onto another by :getWikimediaLanguages(), so nil is returned.

WikimediaLanguage objects

A WikimediaLanguage object is returned from one of the functions above. It is a Lua representation of a Wikimedia language and the data associated with it. It has a number of methods that can be called on it, using the : syntax. For example:

local m_wmlanguages = require("Module:wikimedia languages")
local lang = m_wmlanguages.getByCode("bs")
local name = lang:getCanonicalName()
-- "name" will now be "Bosnian"

Language:getCode

:getCode()

Returns the language code of the language. Example: "fr" for French.

Language:getCanonicalName

:getCanonicalName()

Returns the canonical name of the language. This is the name used to represent that language on Wiktionary. Example: "French" for French.

Language:getAllNames

:getAllNames()

Returns a table of all names that the language is known by, including the canonical name. The names are not guaranteed to be unique, sometimes more than one language is known by the same name. Example: {"French", "Modern French"} for French.

Language:getType

:getType()

Returns "Wikimedia".

Language:getWiktionaryLanguage

:getWiktionaryLanguage()

Returns a Language object (see Module:languages) that represents the Wiktionary-native language that is equivalent to this Wikimedia language. In most cases, this will be the same code and name as the original Wikimedia language, but a few of them differ.

Note that unlike the :getWikimediaLanguages method in on Language objects, this only returns a single object. This is done so that the application of tags and script formatting is unambiguous.

Language:getRawData

:getRawData()

This function is not for use in entries or other content pages.

Returns a blob of data about the language. The format of this blob is undocumented, and perhaps unstable; it's intended for things like the module's own unit-tests, which are "close friends" with the module and will be kept up-to-date as the format changes.