doctools::idx::structure(3tcl)Documentation tooldoctools::idx::structure(3tcl)
______________________________________________________________________________
NAME
doctools::idx::structure - Docidx serialization utilities
SYNOPSIS
package require doctools::idx::structure ?0.1?
package require Tcl 8.4
package require logger
package require snit
::doctools::idx::structure verify serial ?canonvar?
::doctools::idx::structure verify-as-canonical serial
::doctools::idx::structure canonicalize serial
::doctools::idx::structure print serial
::doctools::idx::structure merge seriala serialb
______________________________________________________________________________
DESCRIPTION
This package provides commands to work with the serializations of key-
word indices as managed by the doctools system v2, and specified in
section Keyword index serialization format.
This is an internal package of doctools, for use by the higher level
packages handling keyword indices and their conversion into and out of
various other formats, like documents written using docidx markup.
API
::doctools::idx::structure verify serial ?canonvar?
This command verifies that the content of serial is a valid reg-
ular serialization of a keyword index and will throw an error if
that is not the case. The result of the command is the empty
string.
If the argument canonvar is specified it is interpreted as the
name of a variable in the calling context. This variable will be
written to if and only if serial is a valid regular serializa-
tion. Its value will be a boolean, with True indicating that the
serialization is not only valid, but also canonical. False will
be written for a valid, but non-canonical serialization.
For the specification of regular and canonical keyword index se-
rializations see the section Keyword index serialization format.
::doctools::idx::structure verify-as-canonical serial
This command verifies that the content of serial is a valid
canonical serialization of a keyword index and will throw an er-
ror if that is not the case. The result of the command is the
empty string.
For the specification of canonical keyword index serializations
see the section Keyword index serialization format.
::doctools::idx::structure canonicalize serial
This command assumes that the content of serial is a valid regu-
lar serialization of a keyword index and will throw an error if
that is not the case.
It will then convert the input into the canonical serialization
of the contained keyword index and return it as its result. If
the input is already canonical it will be returned unchanged.
For the specification of regular and canonical keyword index se-
rializations see the section Keyword index serialization format.
::doctools::idx::structure print serial
This command assumes that the argument serial contains a valid
regular serialization of a keyword index and returns a string
containing that index in a human readable form.
The exact format of this form is not specified and cannot be re-
lied on for parsing or other machine-based activities.
For the specification of regular keyword index serializations
see the section Keyword index serialization format.
::doctools::idx::structure merge seriala serialb
This command accepts the regular serializations of two keyword
indices and uses them to create their union. The result of the
command is the canonical serialization of this unified keyword
index.
Title and label of the resulting index are taken from the index
contained in serialb. The set of keys, references and their con-
nections is the union of the set of keys and references of the
two inputs.
For the specification of regular and canonical keyword index se-
rializations see the section Keyword index serialization format.
KEYWORD INDEX SERIALIZATION FORMAT
Here we specify the format used by the doctools v2 packages to serial-
ize keyword indices as immutable values for transport, comparison, etc.
We distinguish between regular and canonical serializations. While a
keyword index may have more than one regular serialization only exactly
one of them will be canonical.
regular serialization
[1] An index serialization is a nested Tcl dictionary.
[2] This dictionary holds a single key, doctools::idx, and
its value. This value holds the contents of the index.
[3] The contents of the index are a Tcl dictionary holding
the title of the index, a label, and the keywords and
references. The relevant keys and their values are
title The value is a string containing the title of the
index.
label The value is a string containing a label for the
index.
keywords
The value is a Tcl dictionary, using the keywords
known to the index as keys. The associated values
are lists containing the identifiers of the refer-
ences associated with that particular keyword.
Any reference identifier used in these lists has
to exist as a key in the references dictionary,
see the next item for its definition.
references
The value is a Tcl dictionary, using the identi-
fiers for the references known to the index as
keys. The associated values are 2-element lists
containing the type and label of the reference, in
this order.
Any key here has to be associated with at least
one keyword, i.e. occur in at least one of the
reference lists which are the values in the key-
words dictionary, see previous item for its defi-
nition.
[4] The type of a reference can be one of two values,
manpage
The identifier of the reference is interpreted as
symbolic file name, referring to one of the docu-
ments the index was made for.
url The identifier of the reference is interpreted as
an url, referring to some external location, like
a website, etc.
canonical serialization
The canonical serialization of a keyword index has the format as
specified in the previous item, and then additionally satisfies
the constraints below, which make it unique among all the possi-
ble serializations of the keyword index.
[1] The keys found in all the nested Tcl dictionaries are
sorted in ascending dictionary order, as generated by
Tcl's builtin command lsort -increasing -dict.
[2] The references listed for each keyword of the index, if
any, are listed in ascending dictionary order of their
labels, as generated by Tcl's builtin command lsort -in-
creasing -dict.
BUGS, IDEAS, FEEDBACK
This document, and the package it describes, will undoubtedly contain
bugs and other problems. Please report such in the category doctools
of the Tcllib Trackers [http://core.tcl.tk/tcllib/reportlist]. Please
also report any ideas for enhancements you may have for either package
and/or documentation.
When proposing code changes, please provide unified diffs, i.e the out-
put of diff -u.
Note further that attachments are strongly preferred over inlined
patches. Attachments can be made by going to the Edit form of the
ticket immediately after its creation, and then using the left-most
button in the secondary navigation bar.
KEYWORDS
deserialization, docidx, doctools, serialization
CATEGORY
Documentation tools
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 2009 Andreas Kupries <andreas_kupries@users.sourceforge.net>
tcllib 0.1 doctools::idx::structure(3tcl)