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4.1 General syntax

A definition file should have the extension `.def', and is a freely formatted file consisting of numbers, strings, comments, keywords, and various punctuation.

• Numbers may be in decimal (`37'), octal (`045'), or hexadecimal (`0x25').

• Strings are enclosed in either single (`'Hello'') or double (`"world"') quotes, and may contain the usual C escape sequences (`\t', `\n', `\'', `\"', `\\', `\177', `\x7F', ...). If a string contains no spaces and does not conflict with a keyword, the quotes may be omitted.

• Both C style (`/* comment */') and C++ style (`// until end of line') comments may appear anywhere white space could occur, and are ignored.

A definition file consists of several clauses, which generally have syntax like the following:

clause-kind { specific-data... }

For example, here is a complete definition file for a (hypothetical) fairly large non-beamable application:

application { "Dr McCoy" DAFp copy-prevention } /* This app has three code resources: code #1 with all unannotated functions, #2 with functions placed in the "editfns" section, and #3 with "viewfns" functions. */ multiple code { editfns viewfns }

NOTE: some details of definition file syntax are subject to change as we figure out just what ought to be in a definition file. For example, it's unclear what the best way to handle filenames is: whether they should appear in the file at all, or whether, for example, hack traps should match corresponding filenames on the build-prc command line.