View source for Template:Sp/doc

{{Documentation subpage}}
{{Commons Import}}

<!-- PLEASE ADD CATEGORIES WHERE INDICATED AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE -->

==Usage==
{{tlx|sp}} will insert a single, ordinary space character. It can serve as a human-readable alternative to the <code>&amp;#32;</code> [[Wikipedia:numeric character reference|numeric character reference]].

===Anywhere you need a regular space===
You can use {{tl|sp}} anywhere you need a regular, breaking space. If you need a non-breaking space or multiple spaces in a row, use {{tl|space}}.

===Inserting a space inside a parser function===
Sometimes when using [[Wikipedia:Help:parser functions|parser functions]], you need to insert a space at the beginning or end of an optional message. {{tl|sp}} can be used for that purpose. In the following examples, look closely at the spacing between words and punctuation to see the subtle differences.

;Example
 <nowiki>I like green{{#if:{{{blue|}}}|and blue}}.</nowiki>
The above example works fine if 'blue' does not have a value ('<code>I like green.</code>').

However, if 'blue' is set to true (<code>|blue=true</code>), then the message is incorrectly run together ('<code>I like greenand blue.</code>').

 <nowiki>I like green {{#if:{{{blue|}}}|and blue}}.</nowiki>
Adding the space between 'green' and '&#123;&#123;#if' avoids running the '<code>green and</code>' together, but now there will be an extra space if 'blue' is not set ('<code>I like green .</code>').

 <nowiki>I like green{{#if:{{{blue|}}}| and blue}}.</nowiki>
Adding the space between the pipe ('&#124;') and the word 'and' doesn't work. Any leading or trailing spaces from a parser function output are stripped, so this produces exactly the same output as the first example when 'blue' is true ('<code>I like greenand blue.</code>').

 <nowiki>I like green{{#if:{{{blue|}}}|{{sp}}and blue}}.</nowiki>
This one works! By inserting the {{tl|sp}} in the parser function output, the space is not stripped, and the correct output is given whether blue is set to true ('<code>I like green and blue.</code>') or not set at all ('<code>I like green.</code>').

===Disabling default substitution===
Suppose you have a template, {{tl|Example}}, that uses [[Wikipedia:WP:substitution|substitution]], like this:
 <nowiki>{{{{{subst|subst:}}}#if{{{condition|}}}|message}}</nowiki>
When the template is [[Wikipedia:WP:Transclusion|transcluded]] and saved, the result would be interpreted as:
 <nowiki>{{subst:#if{{{condition|}}}|message}}</nowiki>

You could override the substitution by setting the 'subst' attribute to {{tl|sp}}:
 <nowiki>{{Example| subst={{sp}} }}</nowiki>
Now the result would be interpreted as:
 <nowiki>{{ #if{{{condition|}}}|message}}</nowiki>
The extra blank space preceding the '#if' would not affect the template at all (except to suppress the default substitution).

==TemplateData==
{{TemplateDataHeader}}
<templatedata>
{
	"params": {},
	"description": "Inserts a single space character; mainly used in parser functions",
	"format": "inline"
}
</templatedata>

==See also==
For documentation see wikipedia page [[wikipedia:Template:Sp]]


<includeonly>{{Sandbox other||
<!-- Categories below this line; interwikis at Wikidata -->
[[Category:Inline spacing templates]]
[[Category:Typing-aid templates]]
}}</includeonly>