Editing Module:Arguments/doc (section)

=== Ref tags ===

This module uses [[mw:Extension:Scribunto/Lua reference manual#Metatables|metatables]] to fetch arguments from #invoke. This allows access to both the frame arguments and the parent frame arguments without using the <code>pairs()</code> function. This can help if your module might be passed {{tag|ref}} tags as input.

As soon as {{tag|ref}} tags are accessed from Lua, they are processed by the MediaWiki software and the reference will appear in the reference list at the bottom of the article. If your module proceeds to omit the reference tag from the output, you will end up with a phantom reference – a reference that appears in the reference list but without any number linking to it. This has been a problem with modules that use <code>pairs()</code> to detect whether to use the arguments from the frame or the parent frame, as those modules automatically process every available argument.

This module solves this problem by allowing access to both frame and parent frame arguments, while still only fetching those arguments when it is necessary. The problem will still occur if you use <code>pairs(args)</code> elsewhere in your module, however.