Format Definition String

A Format Definition String, commonly shortened to FDS, is the meta-language we use to help define FiM++. It's used both on this wiki and the Google Document specification.

Definition Edit

The simplest part of a FDS is commonly called a phrase.

Phrases can be selected from a list: this behaviour applies when phrases are separated by slashes and put between square brackets (e.g. [phrase 1/phrase 2/...]). The use of an ellipsis (... or …) indicates that this pattern can be repeated indefinitely.

Definitions, though, are more flexible, and can be generalized.

• Variables, with the statement <variable:variable type> (the type is optional)
• Literals, with the statement <literal:literal type> (the type is optional)
• Generic values, which are either variables, literals, or method returns, with the statement <value:value type> (the type is optional)
• Whitespace, with the statement <whitespace>
• Punctuation, with the statement <punctuation>. Since this language does not care what type of punctuation is used, there is no type for this
• Keywords, with the statement <keyword:specific keyword>, referring to a statement type
• Operators, with the statement <operator:specific operator>, referring to an operator type.
• Types, with the statement <type:specific type> (the type is optional), referring to value type

The statement <solidus> represents the forward slash (/), and is used to avoid confusion with the phrase selector separator.

This wiki and FDS Edit

This wiki has a predefined template for code, which visually separates phrases.

It has the form {{tag|<token>|<type>}}.

The template also defines the phrase type type and literal as different.