There is an inherent contradiction in the information presented on this page.
The acceptable input parameter is an id number, yet there is extensive discussion about using this with other-than-numeric data.
I think all of that should just be removed.
There is no example of Blizzard using non-numeric data a input in FrameXML.
Whatever results are being obtained don't appear to be supported and it's confusing as hell to say in one place, "numeric input" and in another "here's how you can do something outside of that." —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Mltco78dhs (talk · contr) on January 15, 2018.
- API documentation pages should contain information useful to addon developers, and should not be to limited to the subset of the API used by FrameXML. This function accepts either a channel ID or a channel name as its argument, and thus the page should document both.
- I've removed the description of the instanceID return value (it read "a numeric identifier differentiating one scenario, instance, or raid from another"), because it seemed like a generic definition of what something called an instanceID could be, rather than a description of what this specific return value represents. Unmarked speculation is harmful in API documentation, and a "we don't know" placeholder is preferable to potentially wrong speculation. Considering that the third return is usually 0, a good description should explain what a non-zero return value means (is it an incrementing counter of some sort, a value corresponding to some return of GetInstanceInfo or another API function related to instances, or something else entirely?) and for which channels it could be observed. — foxlit (talk) 22:05, 18 January 2018 (UTC)