Webtags (preserving history): Difference between revisions

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==== When it causes problems ====
==== When it causes problems ====


This can cause problems when somebody moves from using Cumulus 1 to using MX. They need to revisit any templates or scripts where they use output modifiers to specify a date and/or time format. We have already explored a very simple impact of this for [[Webtags#The_format_used_for_naming|NOAA report naming]].  
This can cause problems when somebody moves from using Cumulus 1 (C1) to using MX. They need to revisit any templates or scripts where they use output modifiers to specify a date and/or time format. We have already explored a very simple impact of this for [[Webtags#The_format_used_for_naming|NOAA report naming]]. There we were only concerned about how to represent a month.


For web tags it is much more complicated, not only do we need to select the right case, we also have to cope with MX selectors having different meanings when they are on their own and when they appear with other selectors, finally where you put quotes within these format specifiers varies between Cumulus 1 and MX partly because the reserved characters change, and partly because MX introduces the concept of escaping characters and in MX space in some cases may need to be within the single quotes containing other literals (as space can modify the interpretation of a modifier character).  
For web tags it is much more complicated, simply because it is not just month we may be representing, and we might require only one specifier (being careful whether we use a standard or custom modifier) or we might want to specify a combination of modifiers (and we might want to add a space character or other literals). It is difficult to summarise, but here are some potential issues:
* the reserved characters change between C1 and MX (affecting use of literals like "on" and "at" which are commonly required)
* MX introduces the concept of escaping characters
* in MX space in some cases may need to be within the single quotes containing other literals (as space can modify the interpretation of a modifier character).


'''Confused even more now?''' I'm not surprised, but maybe some examples will help before we actually list the available modifiers.
'''Confused even more now?''' I'm not surprised, but maybe some examples will help before we actually list the available modifiers.
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