Re: [Gnu-arch-users] Re: new language, arch, furth, etc.

[Zenaan Harkness]

On Wed, 2004-07-21 at 01:57, Tom Lord wrote:
>   The resulting language looks like this:
> 
>       (define display-list  '( {
>                                    name       => "acme"
>                                    resolution => (1024 800)
>                                    [...]
>                                  }
> 
>                                  {
>                                    name       => "coyote"
>                                    resolution => (500 500)
>                                    [...]
>                                  }
> 
>                                  [...]))

The issue of storing/ representing types is one that the YAML and OGDL
people have been dealing with for the last few years too.

YAML (Yet Another (or Yaml Ain't) Markup Language) was the first:
"YAML(tm) (rhymes with "camel") is a straightforward machine parsable
data serialization format designed for human readability and interaction
with scripting languages such as Perl and Python. YAML is optimized for
data serialization, configuration settings, log files, Internet
messaging and filtering. YAML(tm) is a balance of the following design
goals: 

      * YAML documents are very readable by humans. 
      * YAML interacts well with scripting languages. 
      * YAML uses host languages' native data structures. 
      * YAML has a consistent information model. 
      * YAML enables stream-based processing. 
      * YAML is expressive and extensible. 
      * YAML is easy to implement. 

http://yaml.org/

OGDL (Ordered Graph Data Language) came after, and is even simpler -
aiming to be as simple as possible, yet no simpler:
"OGDL is a structured textual format that represents information in the
form of graphs, where the nodes are strings and the arcs or edges are
spaces or indentation.":

http://ogdl.sourceforge.net/

It _may_ be useful to use an existing such ("standardized") format. They
make for good reading anyway (for me at least). On the other hand,
neither uses the brackets-are-dominant scheme theme, so you might not
personally be too enamoured of them Tom.

cheers
zen