View source for Manual:External editors: control files

Control files are in Microsoft's .ini format: ''[Section] Key=Value''. This makes them very easy to read.

One very important principle behind the protocol is that control files sent to the helper application are ''thin''. The helper application handles the downloading and uploading. That makes it relatively easy to add support for application/x-external-editor to any wiki engine, since only few changes have to be made.

Note, comments are denoted by a semi-colon (;) at the beginning of a line. 

== Control file ==

 [Process] 
 Type=[1]
 Engine=[2]
 Script=[3]
 Server=[4]
 Path=[5]
 
 [File]
 Extension=[6]
 URL=[7]

# Can be "Edit text", "Edit file" or "Diff text".
# Can currently only be MediaWiki. Please [[User talk:Eloquence|let me know]] if your wiki engine supports the application/x-external-editor protocol.
# For MediaWiki, full URL to index.php ($wgServer + $wgScript)
# For MediaWiki, server base URL ($wgServer)
# For MediaWiki, wiki document root ($wgScriptPath) - this is used to rewrite links from relative URLs to absolute URLs for previews 
# What should the extension of the file be? For text, MediaWiki uses ".wiki"
# Where can the resource be found

==Example control file==
{{MW 1.18|and after}}
Control file generated by Mediawiki 1.18 and later for this page:
<source lang="ini">
; You're seeing this file because you're using Mediawiki's External Editor
; feature. This is probably because you selected use external editor
; in your preferences. To edit normally, either disable that preference
; or go to the URL http://www.mediawiki.org/w/index.php?title=Manual:External_editors:_control_files&action=edit&internaledit=true .
; See http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:External_editors for details.
[Process]
Type=Edit text
Engine=MediaWiki
Script=http://www.mediawiki.org/w/index.php
Server=http://www.mediawiki.org
Path=/w
Special namespace=Special

[File]
Extension=wiki
URL=http://www.mediawiki.org/w/index.php?title=Manual:External_editors:_control_files&action=edit&internaledit=true
</source>

{{MW 1.16|and before}}{{Clear}}
Control file generated by Mediawiki 1.16 and lower for this page:
<source lang="ini">
[Process]
Type=Edit text
Engine=MediaWiki
Script=http://www.mediawiki.org/w/index.php
Server=http://www.mediawiki.org
Path=/w
Special namespace=Special

[File]
Extension=wiki
URL=http://www.mediawiki.org/w/index.php?title=Manual:External_editors:_control_files&action=edit&internaledit=true
</source>

{{Languages}}

[[Category:Manual]]