Provided by: tcllib_2.0+dfsg-2_all 
NAME
doctools::idx::structure - Docidx serialization utilities
SYNOPSIS
package require doctools::idx::structure ?0.2?
package require Tcl 8.5 9
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
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DESCRIPTION
This package provides commands to work with the serializations of keyword 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 regular 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 serialization.
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 serializations 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 error 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 regular 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 serializations 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 relied 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 connections is the union of the set of keys and references of the two
inputs.
For the specification of regular and canonical keyword index serializations see the section
Keyword index serialization format.
KEYWORD INDEX SERIALIZATION FORMAT
Here we specify the format used by the doctools v2 packages to serialize 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 references 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 identifiers 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 keywords dictionary, see
previous item for its definition.
[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 documents 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 possible
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 -increasing
-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 output 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 0.2 doctools::idx::structure(3tcl)