created: 20140612142500000
modified: 20140612175900970
tags: Widgets
title: ImportVariablesWidget
type: text/vnd.tiddlywiki
caption: importvariables

! Introduction

The ImportVariablesWidget imports macro and variable definitions from a list of other tiddlers and makes them available to its children. For example:

```
<$importvariables filter="[tag[mySpecialMacros]]">
All the macros defined in tiddlers with the tag "mySpecialMacros" are available here
</$importvariables>
```

! Attributes and Content

The content of the importvariables widget is the scope within which the imported variable definitions are available.

|!Attribute |!Description |
|filter |[[Tiddler filter|Filters]] defining the tiddlers from which macro definitions will be imported |

! Global Macros

So-called global macros are implemented within the main page template ([[$:/core/ui/PageTemplate]]) by wrapping the page content in the following importvariables widget:

```
<$importvariables filter="[[$:/core/ui/PageMacros]] [all[shadows+tiddlers]tag[$:/tags/Macro]!has[draft.of]]">
...
</$importvariables>
```