Re: conf files.

From: Michael B. Allen (mba2000@ioplex.com)
Date: 04/24/03 

From: "Michael B. Allen" <mba2000@ioplex.com>
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 14:44:18 -0400

On Thu, 24 Apr 2003 14:14:44 -0400, Haran Shivanan wrote:

> Although, it would be nice if there was a library for parsing simple
> key=value #comment
> stuff.

Yup. Someone should do a little research and write an RFC or IETF draft
that explicitly defines formats with BNF grammers for a set of
organized data files like:

A simple Java Properties file format like you describe

  !key1 = value1
  key=value #comment

A Windows INI file format for a little more structure

  [section]
    key = value

And an X delimited values format like

  miallen:x:500:500
or
  one, two, "three ""still three"" more three"

passwd and CSV style. I have very small and simple state-machine parsers
for the first and last formats but they do not support unicode escapes
which I think would be required.

  eg http://www.ioplex.com/~miallen/libmba/dl/src/cfg.c

Mike 

-- 
A  program should be written to model the concepts of the task it
performs rather than the physical world or a process because this
maximizes  the  potential  for it to be applied to tasks that are
conceptually  similar and, more important, to tasks that have not
yet been conceived.

Relevant Pages

  • A first look at OpenOffice.org 2.0
    ... users on any operating system supported by the OpenOffice.org office suite. ... For those who wish to distribute documents in a non-editable format, ... OpenDocument file format as it's default. ... The OpenDocument format has been recognised as an open standard by the ...
    (comp.os.linux.announce)
  • Re: Office 2008 on SL
    ... The issue is if MS products output open format. ... "Office Open XML is an ... ISO/IEC standardized ZIP-based file format originally developed by ... No MS file format is yet ISO or IEC certified. ...
    (comp.sys.mac.system)
  • Re: Access12
    ... ACCDB is the new format being promulgated in Clint Covington's presentation ... Can be emailed and stored in SharePoint document libraries ... New Template File Format ...
    (comp.databases.ms-access)
  • Re: What format should I convert my video to for long-term storage?
    ... I appreciate the responses but my question wasn't about the media but what FILE FORMAT I should use for long-term storage. ... Digital tape storage can be made to incorporate a number of tricks ...
    (rec.video.desktop)
  • Re: Save As Picture File Formats
    ... > any advice on choosing the correct file format for various needs. ... > try to Save As a WMF, and inserted the .wmf file into a Word ... WMF is the Windows MetaFile format. ...
    (microsoft.public.publisher)