Re: Formal description of Org files

[Bastien <bzg@altern.org>]

Hi Nicolas,

Nicolas Goaziou <n.goaziou@gmail.com> writes:

> I didn't follow closely the thread, but I think having a formal
> description of Org files is unrealistic at the moment.

Still it would be useful to *try* to describe Org's various elements as
formally as possible.

> Org "format" is heavily dependant on user-configurable variables deeply
> installed within emacs.  Some of these variables can drastically change
> the grammar of the Org file. Example:
>
> #+begin_src org
> - item 1
>
> - item a
> #+end_src
>
> Now, if org-empty-line-terminates-plain-lists is a non-nil value, any
> parser should detect two lists of one item each, while keeping it to nil
> will imply there is one list of two items.
>
> Another example: (setq org-deadline-string "ZORGLUB:"). I let you
> imagine what confusion it might introduce if the external tool you want
> to use/implement isn't aware of this change.
>
> Sure, it's all plain text, so Org files are accessible from outside
> emacs. But, for now, only the plain-text structure is accessible from
> the wild, not the Org one.
>
> I can see three options here:
>
>   - We remove every configurability concerning Org structure: we enforce
>     DEADLINE to stay DEADLINE, lists items to be separated by a blank
>     line, etc. But this isn't serious, is it?

Nope :)

>   - We consider that Org "format" is a package containing the body _and_
>     every configuration variable. But it isn't plain-text nor a format
>     anymore.

Not really useful -- the purpose of better defining the format is to
make it parsable outside Emacs.

>   - We implement an intermediary real format (maybe in plain text, but
>     I'd favor a nested-lists construct) that would serve as the common
>     denominator for every exporter _and_ importer out there. I already
>     suggested something like this in a recent thread about
>     exporters. Obviously, I think this one is the only viable (and,
>     icing on the cake, this would also be very useful for Org
>     development).

I see yet another option:

Describe a plain text format with the _default_ config options.  
Meaning DEADLINE will be DEADLINE -- and nothing else.  

-- 
 Bastien