Pomoc:QuickStatements

QuickStatements (QS) is a tool, written by Magnus Manske, that can edit Wikidata items, based on a simple set of text commands. The tool can add and remove statements, labels, descriptions and aliases; as well as add statements with optional qualifiers and sources. The command sequence can be typed in the import window or created in a spreadsheet or text editor and pasted in. It can also be created by external code like Lua, called from a template and passed as a URL. Data edited in OpenRefine can also be exported to the QuickStatements format.

Syntax between versions can vary slightly. The rest of the document will describe the syntax of the current version, but will mark parts which were not supported in the earlier versions.

This section describes syntax used since V1 version of the tool, sometimes referred to as V1 commands^[1].

You can specify the statements to add by typing/pasting into the tool's text area. Different parts of the statement are separated by a TAB or "|"^[2] characters. Each command is in a new line, or separated by "||"^[2] characters. Hint: You can also use a spreadsheet software such as Microsoft Excel or LibreOffice Calc; copying/pasting the cells should automatically insert TABs. Also text editors like Notepad++ allow replacement of any symbol by the TAB character (\t).

A value can be another entity, a string, a time, a location, or a quantity, depending on the property type, or one of the special values somevalue or novalue (see Unknown or no values).

Each statement "triplet" can be followed by an unlimited number of "qualifiers pairs" of property TAB value.

Each statement can be followed by an unlimited number of "source pairs" to add references of source property TAB value. The source property is identical to the "normal" property, except it uses the form Sxx instead of Pxx.

Meaning: add to Gotō Ichijō (Q22124656)sex or gender (P21)male (Q6581097) with reference imported from Wikimedia project (P143)Commons Creator page (Q24731821)retrieved (P813)4 October 2017

By default, all sources will go into the same "reference group" (a block of property/value pairs). If you want to create more than one reference group in a single command row, simply prefix the first source property of the new group with an exclamation mark: "!Sxx" instead of "Sxx". (In the first reference group, the "!" is optional and will not influence the outcome.)

As with adding simple text statements, each command must consist of an item, a command, and a string in double quotes.

If you want to remove a label/alias/description/sitelink, the value has to be an empty string and the rest of the command will be the same.

You can create new items by inserting a line consisting only of the word "CREATE". To add statements to the newly created item, use the word "LAST" instead of the Q number, and the statement will be added to the last created item.

An example for creating a new item, adding a sitelink, and setting a label:

CREATE

LAST TAB Sfrwiki TAB "Le croissant magnifique!"

LAST TAB Lfr TAB "Le croissant magnifique!"

Meaning: create a new item with a link to French Wikipedia w:fr:Le croissant magnifique! and with French label "Le croissant magnifique!"

Properties may be created in the same way with "CREATE_PROPERTY" followed by a TAB or | and the entity type, e.g. one of:

This is mostly of use on third-party Wikibase instances, as property creation is restricted on Wikidata.

Dates with precision>9 can be removed via their specific date:

Dates with precision≤9 may use either 00-00 or 01-01 as their month-date value, so it may be necessary to attempt to remove both:

In addition you may remove statements with a specific statement ID using the following syntax:

-STATEMENT TAB Q1$00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000

The statement ID can be received by:

• The source code of any entity page, where the ID may be found in the <div> elements with "wikibase-statementview" class
• API
• name of statement node in RDF which may be queried by query service (you need to replace the - after entity ID with $)

Every command can have a comment at its end, which will be inserted into the edit summary for the command^[2]. Use the /* ... */ syntax. Before this a TAB may be inserted. Spaces around the comment will be removed before processing. The tool splits adding of a claim and its reference in two edits. When using the "version 1 format" import it seems not to be possible to add a comment for the edit adding the reference. The comment is added to the edit adding the claim (if the claim does not exist yet and is added at all).

In QuickStatements version 2, one can also cut and paste a properly structured CSV file as an alternative to the syntax introduced in QuickStatements version 1. The file will specify commands (columns) to execute and their data (rows). The first line is a header row describing how the data in each column is to be interpreted.

For example, a column called P31 could contain the value Q5 to create a statement with property P31 and value Q5.

For some reason, string values need to be put in """triple double quotations""".

qid

Always the first column of commands: the values in the column should contain the id of the item or entity to edit. If the cell is left empty, a new item will be created. See the item creation sample below.

The other columns may specify the following commands:

To create a new item, the first element of the row needs to be empty, so the line starts with a ,.

For example

qid,Len,Den,P31
,Regina Phalange,fictional character,Q95074

For example

creates a new item. Suitable for LibreOffice (paste in cell A1)

Statement column headers may also begin with "-" to remove the statement. (Note that this is only valid in the header for the whole column, not in individual values.) Removing other column types is not yet supported and will result in an error when the command is run; however, sitelinks and labels can be removed by setting them to the empty string (without "-" in the column header).

Adds to the sandbox item a P31 value of human (Q5) and then removes that same statement again.

Labels, descriptions, aliases and sitelinks do not need to be in double quotes unless they themselves contain commas (,) or double quotes (").

In this case, replace all double quotes with two double quotes (e.g. Toys "R" Us → Toys ""R"" Us) and then wrap the string in a pair of double quotes (e.g. "Toys ""R"" Us").

Samples: Toys "R" Us and Patterns, Predictors, and Outcome

To add a string value containing double quotes ("), replace all double quotes with two double quotes ("").

As any string value, then wrap it in three double quotes ("""), e.g. """Toys ""R"" Us""".

Samples for Q4115189#P370, notably Toys "R" Us

Samples use the sandbox item (Q4115189) and can be pasted directly into QuickStatements for testing. Should be risk-free.

Images are:

• File:Frans Breydel - A merry company.jpg
• File:'Girl Reading' by Mary Colman Wheeler, El Paso Museum of Art.JPG (includes a single quote and a comma)
• File:Kaubalaeva "E. Russ" vrakk.jpg (includes double quotes)
• File:''L'empereur Napoleon III'' de Franz-Xaver Winterhalter.jpg

U11573 is for metre (Q11573), U11574 for second (Q11574). Note the odd result of 1.2~0.3.

Here is how to use QuickStatements (version 2) in basic mode:

1. Go to https://quickstatements.toolforge.org
2. Make sure you are logged into OAuth and your name is visible in the upper-right corner. If not, then log in.
3. Click "New batch".
4. For working with Wikimedia Commons Structured Data:
   1. Look for the pull-down menu Create new command batch for ... and change project from Wikidata to Commons [Batch mode only!]
   2. You need "M" ids to work on instead of "Q" numbers. Look up the media identifiers for Commons files with the Minefield tool
   3. Use statements in the form of "MXXXX|PXX|QXXX" or use the CSV format option
   4. Initiate the query with the "Run" or "Run in the background" button to run it in the batch mode
5. Cut and paste your commands. See the syntax in the section above.
6. When you are done, click "Import V1 commands" or "Import CSV commands".
7. The tool will convert your commands into human-readable form. Inspect them and click "Run" or "Run in the background" to execute
8. As your commands are being processed, double-check the results, and press "STOP" if you detect a problem.
9. The user interface will tell you when all commands have been processed.

QuickStatements version 1 is still available, but no longer maintained. It has stopped working for some users, but still works fine for others.

1. Go to https://wikidata-todo.toolforge.org/quick_statements.php
2. Cut and paste your commands into the window
3. Click "Do it"
4. The user interface will tell you when all statements have been processed.

Batch mode (also known as running in the background or asynchronous batch mode) means your statements are executed from a Wikimedia server, rather than from your Web browser. This has several advantages:

But there are also drawbacks:

• It takes a few more clicks, so as a rule of thumb, if you only have 10 or fewer statements, it's better to run them in normal mode.
• Depending on how busy the server is it might take time for your batch to start so that checking the results might not be possible immediately.
• There is a limit on the number of statements in a batch, and batches with more statements do not load properly (showing blank page and revolving circle). For simpler statements, the maximum seems to be around 25 thousand statements per batch, but it is much smaller for more complex statements.
• Batch mode seems to work well for simple statements without qualifiers or references, but more complex statements (where, for example, the successful addition of a qualifier depends on the base statement being already present), there seems to be a much higher error rate.

Before running a batch, it can be a good idea to run a few commands directly in non-batch mode to get a good view of what is being done.

1. Prepare your statement normally as described in the Using QuickStatements version 2 section above
2. Instead of pressing "Run", press the "Run in background" button.
3. "Your last batches" will show a list of the most recent batches run by you, with statistics.

The following statistical values are available:

• DONE: The number of statements that were successfully run
• ERROR: The number of statements that failed
• INIT: The number of statements left to run
• RUN: The number of statements being run right now

An alternative way of communicating with QuickStatements is to use a URL instead of cutting and pasting commands into the import window. For example, a command to add to Emile Justin Merlot (Q37887397)VIAF ID (P214)"96480189" with source imported from Wikimedia project (P143)Wikimedia Commons (Q565) is Q37887397 TAB P214 TAB "96480189" TAB S143 TAB Q565. You can also generate a prefilled QuickStatements window with https://quickstatements.toolforge.org/#/v1= Q37887397%7CP214 %7C%2296480189%22%7C S143%7CQ565 or https://quickstatements.toolforge.org/#/v1=Q37887397%7CP214%7C%2296480189%22%7CS143%7CQ565. The steps of converting V1 syntax to URL are:

1. replace TAB with "|" and newline with "||"
2. apply URL encoding to the string, which will replace "|" with "%7C", double quote with "%22", space with "%20", slash "/" with "%2F", etc.^[4]
3. put https://quickstatements.toolforge.org/#/v1= in front of it

Many templates on Commons, like c:Template:Creator or c:Template:Artwork use that technique to package information that can be imported to Wikidata into a clickable URL.

QuickStatements version 2 currently cannot:

• create multiple items that are linked to each other
• set ranks for statements
• set comments when removing statements
• specify calendar for a date statement
• specify precision or globe for a location statement
• add statements to redirected items
• add a second statement with the same property and value but with different qualifiers, since additional qualifiers will be added to the first statement
• remove a qualifier without removing the statement itself
• remove a reference without removing the statement itself
• update badges
• create lexemes

Note that for using QuickStatements, an account needs to be autoconfirmed. Also there is no way for users using bot accounts to mark their edits as bot edit (but there is an open ticket to address that).

Can QuickStatements add reference statements with more than one claim?

Yes, current QuickStatements can add references that have for example both imported from Wikimedia project (P143) and retrieved (P813) (see here) or both stated in (P248) and page(s) (P304).

How do I experiment with QuickStatements?

Use Wikidata Sandbox (Q4115189).

How do I report issues with the tool?

Check with other users at the talk page or at Wikidata:Project chat. Confirmed bugs should be reported on Phabricator after reading mw:How to report a bug.

Where do I suggest new features?

You can ask at tool's Git page or at User:Magnus Manske/quick statements2, but be aware that we keep Magnus busy!

What is the maximum number of commands I can enter at once?

Not documented. It was already tested with over 11,000 commands. But note that such large batch runs will take several hours to complete.

• QuickStatements allows edits ranging from single statement to multi-thousand-item batch runs. Very large runs or potentially-controversial runs should go through the approval process described in Wikidata:Bots.
• Users should avoid creating duplicate items.
• All statements should have references as per Help:Sources. That might be less important for identifiers, like VIAF ID (P214) or RKDartists ID (P650), etc.
• Users doing the edits are responsible for fixing or undoing their changes if issues are found. See about statement removal.
• This tool does not properly honor maxlag. This is generally not a problem, because the actions of the tool are limited by the usual edit limits of the controlling user. This can, however, cause problems if the controlling user is not subject to edit limits (e.g. admins).

If you are logged in on QuickStatements, you can get a token on your user page. That page also contains information about how to use the token to submit batches programmatically. You need to have submitted at least one server-side batch manually before for this to work!

QuickStatements V2 creates edit groups for all individual batches. You may discuss individual edit groups, or rollback the whole edit group.

EditGroups is another external tool, not part of QuickStatements. Currently it works on Wikidata, and there is also an instance for Commons. On other Wikibase instances, it may be unavailable.

• YouTube instructions
• CSV to quick_statements tool converts a properly formatted CSV file into a series of QuickStatements commands.
• Instructions on how to install QuickStatements as part of Wikibase suite

• Zotero export translator to QuickStatements format in zotkat: allows the collection of references in Zotero, which can then be exported to QuickStatements for uploading to Wikidata
• topictagger: finds potentially missing main subject (P921)
• New-Q5: form for updating or creating an item that describes a person