Config : Just a Configuration file format

The simplest syntax to manage configuration files.

Content

This project is divided in different branches :

master, general information about the configuration files.
command, command executable for reading/writing configuration files.
python, library for reading/writting configuration files in Python (Python3).
C , library for reading/writting configuration files in C.
JS , library for reading/writing configuration files in JavaScript.
Kotlin, library for reading/writting configuration files in Kotlin.
Go , library for reading/writting configuration files in Go.
Lua , library for reading/writting configuration files in Lua.

We are currently on branch master.

I] Objective

This syntax is inspired on the basics of GNU/Linux configuration files.

Almost every GNU/Linux component we currently use nowadays uses its own configuration files with its own format.

The objective behind Config is to fix the simplest standard of configuration files for both computers and users.

That means that the syntax must be very light (for user accessibility) and restrictive (for faster parsing).

NOTE: The default Config syntax should work with (almost) all present configuration files by default.

II] Practical handbook

In this section, you will see all you have to know about Config in just a few lines.

Special Variables

All the interpretation of the syntax is based on 3 special characters defined as follow :

COMMENT    CHARACTER : '#'
LINE_END   CHARACTER : '\n' #line feed
SEPARATION CHARACTER : '\t' #tabulation

They are customizable in the settings of all Config programs/libraries.

WARNING: Do not use alphanumerical characters or underscores in these special character sets or you may have surprises ! (a-z, A-Z, 0-9, _)

Also pay attention to the character used, especially because of its encoding.

Rules

Here are all the rules of the Config syntax (in 2 parts) :

PART 1 : LINES

-  1) Is considerated as a line every serie of character preceding a LINE_END character or EOF (end of file).

-  2) Empty lines are ignored.

-  3) Every COMMENT CHARACTER marks a comment section.
      Every characters from this one until the next LINE_END CHARACTER will be ignored.

-  4) Every line must be composed by a key-value pair as described here :
  - 4.b) The name of the current configuration field (1 byte minimum)
  - 4.c) One or more SEPARATION CHARACTER
  - 4.d) The value of the configuration field (1 byte minimum)



OPTION : ADDITIONAL_SPACES_ALLOWED (enabled by default)
  If enabled, spaces (' ') are tolerated everywhere on lines and they are ignored.

Pay attention to those rules : Every non-matching format will raise an error on parsing.

Coloration

Last but not least, the file config.nanorc given is a syntax coloration file made for the nano text editor.

To add it to your current nano configuration, use the following command:

sudo cp config.nanorc /usr/share/nano

There you go.

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Let's Code ! By I.A.