UI escape sequences

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Many UI elements that display text on the screen support a special escape sequences starting with the | pipe character.

Warning: If you are using the chat window or an in-game text editor, then "|" will most likely be replaced with "||". Try using "\124" instead of "|". 124 is the ascii code escape for the pipe character, and will work regardless of what the editor is trying to do.

Escape Sequences

Coloring

|cAARRGGBB

Sets text color. Text following this escape sequence will be drawn in this color. Each pair of digits represents a color value (plus the alpha value, however the alpha value is currently ignored and should always be FF) as a hexadecimal number.

• |cFFFF0000 - Red text
• |cFF00FF00 - Green text
• |cFF0000FF - Blue text
• |cFFFFFF00 - Yellow text

|r

Resets text to the original color (e.g. Normal |cFFFF0000 Red |cFF00FF00 Green |r and back to normal).

See also

WrapTextInColorCode()

Grammar

number |1singular;plural;

Will choose a word depending on whether the digit preceding it is 0/1 or not (i.e. 1,11,21 return the first string, as will 0,10,40). Note that unlike |4 singular and plural forms are separated by semi-colon.

|2text

Before vowels outputs d' (with apostrophe) and removes any leading spaces from text, otherwise outputs de (with trailing space)

|3-formid(text)

Displays text declined to the specified form (index ranges from 1 to GetNumDeclensionSets()). Processed by C code, data used for parsing isn't available to UI, all events fire with the data already processed.

number |4singular:plural; -or- number |4singular:plural1:plural2;

Will choose a form based on the number preceding it. Client locale dependant. More than two forms (separated by colons) may be required by some locales (i.e. Russian requires 3 forms), if too many forms provided they are ignored, if needed form isn't provided empty string will be used instead. Note that unlike |1 singular and plural forms are separated by colon. (added with 2.4.2)

Textures

|Tpath:height[:width[:offsetX:offsetY:[textureWidth:textureHeight:leftTexel:rightTexel:topTexel:bottomTexel[:rVertexColor:gVertexColor:bVertexColor]]]]|t

Will insert a texture into a font string. Parameter width is optional (see below). The offsets are optional and will shift the texture from where it would normally be placed. TextHeight is based on size of the font used - this is used to automatically scale icons based on the size of the text.

• height == 0; width omitted: Width = Height = TextHeight (always square!)
• height > 0;  width omitted: Width = Height = height (always square!)
• height == 0; width == 0   : Width = Height = TextHeight (always square!)
• height > 0;  width == 0   : Width = TextHeight; Height = height (height is height!!!)
• height == 0; width > 0    : Width = width * TextHeight; Height = TextHeight (width is an aspect ratio and defines width!!!)
• height > 0;  width > 0    : Width = height; Height = width
• offsetX offsetY: Offset for the rendered image, in pixels
• textureWidth textureHeight: Size of the source image, in pixels
• leftTexel rightTexel topTexel bottomTexel: (x1 x2 y1 y2) Coordinates that identify the left/right/top/bottom edges, in pixels (cf SetTexCoord but non-normalized)
• rVertexColor gVertexColor bVertexColor: RGB color values in the range 0-255 that are used to tint the texture

Notes:

• When you need to display square icon in the string (spell/item icon), use only |Tpath:0|t
• When you need to display rectangular image in the string (Blizzard logo), use aspect ratio version: |Tpath:0:aspectRatio|t
• To prevent potential abuse, raw texture links cannot be sent to other players.

Other

|K[gsf][0-9]+|k[0]+|k

Added in 4.0 - Used for protecting strings from being parsed in addons, rendering them as textures.

• Battle.net friend names: The 3rd character indicates given name, surname, or full name. The number which follows it represents the friend's Bnet Presence ID. The zeros between the |k form a string of the same length as the name which will replace it. E.g. if your first name is John and your presence id is 30, your given name (John) would be represented by the string |Kg30|k0000|k .

|n

Newline, if the widget supports it.

|A

Atlas Texture

||

Output "|" regardless of if whatever follows it looks like a valid escape.

|

"|" followed by something that is not a valid escape sequence will be displayed as-is.

Chat substitution sequences

SendChatMessage() can make use of the same substitution patterns available to macro chat commands.

Examples

Sequence	Result
|cFFFF0000This is red text |rthis is normal color	This is red text this is normal color
|TInterface\\Icons\\INV_Misc_Coin_01:16|t Coins CreateTextureMarkup("Interface\\Icons\\INV_Misc_Coin_01", 64, 64, 16, 16, 0, 1, 0, 1)	Coins
|TInterface\\Icons\\INV_Misc_Coin_01:16:16:0:0:64:64:4:60:4:60|t Coins	File:INV Misc Coin 01 (Cropped).png Coins (Cropped 56x56)
|TInterface\\ChatFrame\\UI-ChatIcon-ArmoryChat:14:14:0:0:16:16:0:16:0:16:73:177:73|t Thrall	Thrall
|A:groupfinder-icon-role-large-tank:16:16:0:0|a Tank CreateAtlasMarkup("groupfinder-icon-role-large-tank", 16, 16)	Tank

See the CreateTextureMarkup() and CreateAtlasMarkup() utility functions.

Hyperlinks

Hyperlinks are clickable (chat) links. They can for example display spell information in the ItemRefTooltip or insert item links to the chat window when shift-clicked.

|HlinkType:linkString|hlinkText|h

Implemented in ItemRef.lua

See also: GameTooltip:SetHyperlink(), ExtractHyperlinkString()

Inspecting a hyperlink

• A raw hyperlink can be viewed by escaping the escape code:

In-game, after inserting a link into the chat frame

/dump "[Flash Heal]"

> "|cff71d5ff|Hspell:2061:0|h[Flash Heal]|h|r"

From an addon, when clicking a hyperlink in-game

hooksecurefunc("SetItemRef", function(link, text)
	print(link, text:gsub("|", "||"))
end)

> "spell:139:0", "|cff71d5ff|Hspell:139:0|h[Renew]|h|r"

achievement

See also: AchievementString

achievement : achievementID : guid : completed : month : day : year : criteria1 : criteria2 : criteria3 : criteria4

• guid The player's GUID.
• completed 1 for earned, 0 for unearned achievements.
• month:day:year Date the achievement was earned or 0:0:-1 if not earned.
• criteria1-4 32-bit bitmask fields for completed criteria, or 0:0:0:0 if not completed.

Examples:

"|cffffff00|Hachievement:10671:Player-1096-06DF65C1:1:2:16:17:4294967295:4294967295:4294967295:4294967295|h[Level 110]|h|r"

"|cffffff00|Hachievement:12544:Player-1096-06DF65C1:0:0:0:-1:0:0:0:0|h[Level 120]|h|r"

api

See also: APILink

Shows API Documentation from the /api command.

api : type : name : [parentName]

Examples:

"|cffff55dd|Hapi:system:MapUI:|hMapUI|h|r"

"|cff55ddff|Hapi:function:GetMapInfo:MapUI|hC_Map.GetMapInfo()|h|r"

"|cff77ff22|Hapi:event:ZoneChanged:MapUI|hEvent.MapUI.ZoneChanged|h|r"

"|cff55ffdd|Hapi:table:UiMapDetails:MapUI|hUiMapDetails|h|r"

azessence

Azerite Essence link

azessence : essenceID : rank

Example: "|cffa335ee|Hazessence:12:3|h[The Crucible of Flame]|h|r"

See also: C_AzeriteEssence.GetEssenceInfo()

battlepet

battlepet : speciesID : level : breedQuality : maxHealth : power : speed : battlePetID

Example: "|cff1eff00|Hbattlepet:202:25:2:1435:267:240:BattlePet-0-000000CC9EA1|h[Baby Blizzard Bear]|h|r"

battlePetAbil

battlePetAbil : abilityID : maxHealth : power : speed

Example: "|cff4e96f7|HbattlePetAbil:348:1435:267:240|hBash|h|r"

calendarEvent

calendarEvent : monthOffset : monthDay : index

Example: "|HcalendarEvent:0:12:1|hSpring Balloon Festival|h"

See also: C_Calendar.GetDayEvent()

channel

Opens the chat window to a specific /channel.

channel : channelType : [channelID]

Examples:

"|Hchannel:channel:2|h[2. Trade - City]|h"

"|Hchannel:PARTY|h[Party]|h"

clubFinder

Guild Finder (8.2.5) invite link.

clubFinder : clubFinderId

Example: "|cffffd100|HclubFinder:ClubFinder-1-19160-1598-53720920|h[Guild: Happy Leveling]|h|r"

See also: GetClubFinderLink()

clubTicket

WoW communities & Blizzard Groups invite link.

clubTicket : ticketId

Example: "|cffffd100|HclubTicket:oxPbMfv2R|h[Join: test]|h|r"

See also: GetClubTicketLink()

community

Community link in Quick Join requests.

community : clubId

death

Opens the Death recap overview.

death : recapID

Example: "|Hdeath:1|h[You died.]|h"

enchant

Opens the Tradeskill window for a recipe.

enchant : spellID

Example: "|cffffd000|Henchant:162206|h[Draenor Engineering: World Shrinker]|h|r"

garrfollower

garrfollower : followerID : quality : level : itemLevel : ability1 : ability2 : ability3 : ability4 : trait1 : trait2 : trait3 : trait4 : spec1

Example: "|cffa335ee|Hgarrfollower:856:4:110:900:457:777:0:0:684:758:0:0:354|h[Calia Menethil]|h|r"

garrfollowerability

garrfollowerability : abilityID

Examples:

"|cff4e96f7|Hgarrfollowerability:354|h[Discipline]|h|r"

"|cff4e96f7|Hgarrfollowerability:457|h[Holy Nova]|h|r"

garrmission

garrmission : missionID : missionDBID

Example: "|cffffff00|Hgarrmission:1610:000000000238f82d|h[Withered Straining]|h|r"

Note: This link type can also be used for securely implementing custom links by posthooking SetItemRef() since it silently fails on non-numbers, whereas custom link types would error out. It does not work on actual chat messages through SendChatMessage() as the server won't show the message.

hooksecurefunc("SetItemRef", function(link)
	local linkType, addon, param1 = strsplit(":", link)
	if linkType == "garrmission" and addon == "SomeAddon" then
		if param1 == "foo" then
			print(link)
		end
	end
end)

print("|cFFFFFF00|Hgarrmission:SomeAddon:foo|h[Some Clickable Message]|h|r")

instancelock

Opens the /raidinfo list.

instancelock : guid : instanceID : difficulty : defeatedEncounters

• guid The player's GUID.
• instanceID The instance's InstanceID
• difficulty The instance's DifficultyID
• defeatedEncounters Bitfield indicating the encounters that have been defeated. e.g. 7 means that the first 3 encounters have been cleared.

Example: "|cffff8000|Hinstancelock:Player-3296-000957C8:543:2:4|h[Hellfire Citadel: Ramparts]|h|r"

item

item : itemString

• itemString must be minimum 16 params when used in SendChatMessage: i.e. %d:::::::::::::::

Examples:

"|cffffffff|Hitem:2592:::::::::::::::|h[Wool Cloth]|h|r"

"|cffa335ee|Hitem:134351::::::::110:258::27:3:3394:1491:3528:::|h[Arcane Singed Robe]|h|r"

See also: ItemLink

journal

Opens the Adventure Guide.

journal : journalType : journalID : difficulty

• journalType 0=Instance, 1=Encounter, 2=Section.
• journalID InstanceID, EncounterID, or SectionID.
• difficulty DifficultyID of the instance.

Examples:

"|cff66bbff|Hjournal:0:1031:14|h[Uldir]|h|r"

"|cff66bbff|Hjournal:1:2147:14|h[G'huun]|h|r"

"|cff66bbff|Hjournal:2:18068:14|h[Titan Spark]|h|r"

See also: EJ_HandleLinkPath

levelup

levelup : level : levelUpType : [petName]

Examples:

"|cffFF4E00|Hlevelup:2:LEVEL_UP_TYPE_CHARACTER|h[Level 2]|h|r"

"|cffFF4E00|Hlevelup:2:LEVEL_UP_TYPE_PET:Bear|h[Level 2]|h|r"

lootHistory

Opens the /loot window.

lootHistory : rollID

player

Left-click: starts a whisper message

Right-click: opens the player context menu

Shift-click: sends a /who query

player : name : [lineID] : [chatType] : [chatTarget]

• lineID Message ID for reporting.

Examples:

"|Hplayer:Fadeshift|h[Fadeshift]|h"

"|Hplayer:Aquadoll-MoonGuard|h[Aquadoll]|h"

"|Hplayer:Ketho-Anasterian:8:PARTY:|h[|cfffefefeKetho|r]|h"

"|Hplayer:Kilastra-DefiasBrotherhood:90:CHANNEL:2|h[|cff8686ecKilastra|r]|h"

See also: GetPlayerLink()

playerCommunity

playerCommunity : name : communityClubID : communityStreamID : communityEpoch : communityPosition

Example: "|HplayerCommunity:Ketho-Anasterian:333281:1:1557794365297000:5886997898769|h[|cfffefefeKetho|r]|h"

BNplayer

Battle.net friend links.

BNplayer : name : bnetIDAccount : lineID : chatType : chatTarget

BNplayerCommunity

BNplayerCommunity : name : bnetIDAccount : communityClubID : communityStreamID : communityEpoch : communityPosition

quest

quest : questID : questLevel : unknown1 : unknown2 : unknown3

Examples:

"|cffffff00|Hquest:53370:-1:110:120:3|h[Hour of Reckoning]|h|r"

"|cffff8040|Hquest:40746:113:110:255:0|h[One of the People]|h|r"

See also: QuestLink

shareachieve

Opens the Twitter /share window for an achievement.

shareachieve : achievementID : earned

Example: "|cffffd200|Hshareachieve:964:1|h|TInterface\ChatFrame\UI-ChatIcon-Share:18:18|t|h|r"

shareitem

Twitter item link.

shareitem : itemLink : earned

Example: "|cffffd200|Hshareitem:151428::::::::20:257:512:1:1:4068:20::::1|h|TInterface\ChatFrame\UI-ChatIcon-Share:18:18|t|h|r"

sharess

Twitter screenshot link.

sharess : screenshotIndex

• screenshotIndex: index of the screenshot to autofill the Tweet with, counted from last login.

Example: "|cffffd200|Hsharess:1|h|TInterface\ChatFrame\UI-ChatIcon-Share:18:18|t|h|r"

spell

spell : spellId : glyphId : [event]

Examples:

"|cff71d5ff|Hspell:2096:0|h[Mind Vision]|h|r"

"|Hspell:589:0:SPELL_DAMAGE|hShadow Word: Pain|h"

See also: GetSpellLink()

storecategory

Opens the Blizzard Shop.

storecategory : category

Example: "|cffffd000|Hstorecategory:games|h[Click To Upgrade]|h|r"

talent

talent : talentID

Example: "|cff71d5ff|Htalent:21754|h[Circle of Healing]|h|r"

See also: GetTalentInfoByID()

trade

Shows the tradeskill window (from another player).

trade : guid : spellID : skillLineID

• guid The player's GUID.
• spellID The tradeskill's Spell ID.
• skillLineID The TradeSkillLineID.

Example: "|cffffd000|Htrade:Player-3296-000957C8:195128:185|h[Cooking]|h|r"

See also: TradeSkillLink

transmogappearance

transmogappearance : sourceID

transmogillusion

Previews a weapon enchant in the Dressing room.

transmogillusion : sourceID

Example: "|cffff80ff|Htransmogillusion:5862|h[Titanguard]|h|r"

See also: C_TransmogCollection.GetIllusionSourceInfo()

transmogset

transmogset : setID

See also: C_TransmogSets.GetSetInfo

unit

Shows the unit tooltip. Opens the combat log context menu on right-click.

unit : guid : [name]

Example: "|Hunit:Creature-0-2083-0-7-299-00005A0F91:Young Wolf|hYoung Wolf|h"

Implemented in Blizzard_CombatLog.lua

urlIndex

Opens a URL in the default web browser.

urlIndex : index

Example: "|HurlIndex:25|h|cff006995Frequently Asked Questions|r|h"