NAME¶
doctools::toc::import::json - JSON import plugin
SYNOPSIS¶
package require
Tcl 8.4
package require
doctools::toc::import::json ?0.1?
package require
doctools::toc::structure
package require
json
import string configuration
DESCRIPTION¶
This package implements the doctools table of contents import plugin for the
parsing of JSON markup.
This is an internal package of doctools, for use by the higher level management
packages handling tables of contents, especially
doctools::toc::import,
the import manager.
Using it from a regular interpreter is possible, however only with contortions,
and is not recommended. The proper way to use this functionality is through
the package
doctools::toc::import and the import manager objects it
provides.
API¶
The API provided by this package satisfies the specification of the doctoc
import plugin API version 2.
- import string configuration
- This command takes the string and parses it as JSON markup encoding
a table of contents, in the context of the specified configuration
(a dictionary). The result of the command is the canonical serialization
of that table of contents, in the form specified in section ToC
serialization format.
JSON NOTATION OF TABLES OF CONTENTS¶
The JSON format used for tables of contents is a direct translation of the
ToC serialization format, mapping Tcl dictionaries as JSON objects and
Tcl lists as JSON arrays. For example, the Tcl serialization
doctools::toc {
items {
{reference {
desc {DocTools - Tables of Contents}
id introduction.man
label doctools::toc::introduction
}}
{division {
id processing.man
items {
{reference {
desc {doctoc serialization utilities}
id structure.man
label doctools::toc::structure
}}
{reference {
desc {Parsing text in doctoc format}
id parse.man
label doctools::toc::parse
}}
}
label Processing
}}
}
label {Table of Contents}
title TOC
}
is equivalent to the JSON string
{
"doctools::toc" : {
"items" : [{
"reference" : {
"desc" : "DocTools - Tables of Contents",
"id" : "introduction.man",
"label" : "doctools::toc::introduction"
}
},{
"division" : {
"id" : "processing.man",
"items" : [{
"reference" : {
"desc" : "doctoc serialization utilities",
"id" : "structure.man",
"label" : "doctools::toc::structure"
}
},{
"reference" : {
"desc" : "Parsing text in doctoc format",
"id" : "parse.man",
"label" : "doctools::toc::parse"
}
}],
"label" : "Processing"
}
}],
"label" : "Table of Contents",
"title" : "TOC"
}
}
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.
- regular serialization
- [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
- title
- The value is a string containing the title of the table of contents.
- label
- The value is a string containing a label for the table of contents.
- items
- 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
- reference
- 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
- id
- The value is a string containing the id of the document associated with
the entry.
- label
- 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.
- desc
- The value is a string containing a longer description for this entry.
- division
- 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
- id
- The value is a string containing the id of the document associated with
the whole group. This key is optional.
- label
- 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.
- items
- 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.
- canonical serialization
- 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.
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.
KEYWORDS¶
JSON, deserialization, doctools, import, table of contents, toc
CATEGORY¶
Text formatter plugin
COPYRIGHT¶
Copyright (c) 2009 Andreas Kupries <andreas_kupries@users.sourceforge.net>