doctools::toc::structure(n) Documentation tools doctools::toc::structure(n) 







doctools::toc::structure - Doctoc serialization utilities








package require doctools::toc::structure ?0.1?


package require Tcl 8.4


package require logger 


package require snit 


::doctools::toc::structure verify serial
    ?canonvar?


::doctools::toc::structure verify-as-canonical
    serial


::doctools::toc::structure canonicalize
    serial


::doctools::toc::structure print serial


::doctools::toc::structure merge seriala
    serialb












This package provides commands to work with the serializations of
    tables of contents as managed by the doctools system v2, and specified in
    section ToC serialization format.


This is an internal package of doctools, for use by the higher
    level packages handling tables of contents and their conversion into and out
    of various other formats, like documents written using doctoc
  markup.









  
::doctools::toc::structure verify serial
    ?canonvar?

  
This command verifies that the content of serial is a valid
      regular serialization of a table of contents 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 serializations
        see the section ToC serialization format.

  

  
::doctools::toc::structure verify-as-canonical
    serial

  
This command verifies that the content of serial is a valid
      canonical serialization of a table of contents 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 serializations see the
        section ToC serialization format.

  

  
::doctools::toc::structure canonicalize serial

  
This command assumes that the content of serial is a valid
      regular serialization of a table of contents and will throw an
      error if that is not the case.
    
It will then convert the input into the canonical
        serialization of the contained table of contents and return it as its
        result. If the input is already canonical it will be returned
      unchanged.

    
For the specification of regular and canonical serializations
        see the section ToC serialization format.

  

  
::doctools::toc::structure print serial

  
This command assumes that the argument serial contains a valid
      regular serialization of a table of contents and returns a string
      containing that table 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 serializations see the
        section ToC serialization format.

  

  
::doctools::toc::structure merge seriala
    serialb

  
This command accepts the regular serializations of two tables of contents
      and uses them to create their union. The result of the command is the
      canonical serialization of this unified table of contents.
    
Title and label of the resulting table are taken from the
        table contained in serialb.

    
The whole table and its divisions are merged recursively in
        the same manner:

  







  
[1]

  
All reference elements which occur in both divisions (identified by their
      label) are unified with document id's and descriptions taken from the
      second table.

  
[2]

  
All division elements which occur in both divisions (identified by their
      label) are unified with the optional document id taken from the second
      table, if any, or from the first if none is in the second. The elements in
      the division are merged recursively using the same algorithm as described
      in this list.

  
[3]

  
Type conflicts between elements, i.e. finding two elements with the same
      label but different types result in a merge error.

  
[4]

  
All elements found in the second division but not in the first are added
      to the end of the list of elements in the merge result.






For the specification of regular and canonical serializations see
    the section ToC serialization format.








Here we specify the format used by the doctools v2 packages to
    serialize tables of contents as immutable values for transport, comparison,
    etc.


We distinguish between regular and canonical
    serializations. While a table of contents may have more than one regular
    serialization only exactly one of them will be canonical.



  

  







  
[1]

  
The serialization of any table of contents is a nested Tcl
    dictionary.

  
[2]

  
This dictionary holds a single key, doctools::toc, and its value.
      This value holds the contents of the table of contents.

  
[3]

  
The contents of the table of contents are a Tcl dictionary holding the
      title of the table of contents, a label, and its elements. The relevant
      keys and their values are







  

  
The value is a string containing the title of the table of contents.

  

  
The value is a string containing a label for the table of contents.

  

  
The value is a Tcl list holding the elements of the table, in the order
      they are to be shown.
    
Each element is a Tcl list holding the type of the item, and
        its description, in this order. An alternative description would be that
        it is a Tcl dictionary holding a single key, the item type, mapped to
        the item description.

    
The two legal item types and their descriptions are

  







  

  
This item describes a single entry in the table of contents, referencing a
      single document. To this end its value is a Tcl dictionary containing an
      id for the referenced document, a label, and a longer textual description
      which can be associated with the entry. The relevant keys and their values
      are







  

  
The value is a string containing the id of the document associated with
      the entry.

  

  
The value is a string containing a label for this entry. This string also
      identifies the entry, and no two entries (references and divisions) in the
      containing list are allowed to have the same label.

  

  
The value is a string containing a longer description for this entry.







  

  
This item describes a group of entries in the table of contents, inducing
      a hierarchy of entries. To this end its value is a Tcl dictionary
      containing a label for the group, an optional id to a document for the
      whole group, and the list of entries in the group. The relevant keys and
      their values are







  

  
The value is a string containing the id of the document associated with
      the whole group. This key is optional.

  

  
The value is a string containing a label for the group. This string also
      identifies the entry, and no two entries (references and divisions) in the
      containing list are allowed to have the same label.

  

  
The value is a Tcl list holding the elements of the group, in the order
      they are to be shown. This list has the same structure as the value for
      the keyword items used to describe the whole table of contents, see
      above. This closes the recusrive definition of the structure, with
      divisions holding the same type of elements as the whole table of
      contents, including other divisions.













  

  
The canonical serialization of a table of contents 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 this table of contents.







  
[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.












This document, and the package it describes, will undoubtedly
    contain bugs and other problems. Please report such in the category
    doctools of the Tcllib SF Trackers
    [http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=12883]. Please also report any
    ideas for enhancements you may have for either package and/or
  documentation.








deserialization, doctoc, doctools, serialization








Documentation tools








Copyright (c) 2009 Andreas Kupries <andreas_kupries@users.sourceforge.net>








  

    0.1
    doctools2toc