Page generated from: SET_Files_OnePage_v4.4.md

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SET|Files - One-Page Protocol

Q-Set (.qset) format v4.4

SET Files: Human-and-AI readable data format

• for advanced features see the Extended SET: X-Set (.xset) format v4.4
• Website: setfiles.org

Parsing - SET files are initially parsed on NewLine (LF or CRLF)
Preamble (optional) - comments containing information about the file and its content
myconfig.set (filename of the document - strongly recommended as the first line)
The "one-page" definition of SET files

Group(s) – begin with the Group name [USERS] - Sections of the file containing related information,

• Each Group MUST have a unique name within the file - enclosed in square brackets [ ]
• May only contain Letters, Numbers, hyphens -, and underscores _
• A Group may contain diverse types of information: Key|Value, Table, Delimited String
• Text Groups are used to store blocks of extensive text information (even multi-line)
• Groups end with an empty line, the next group, [EOG] End-of-Group, or [EOF] End-of-File

Text-Group(s): a special type of Group
[{TEXT-GROUPS}]

• All contents of a Text-Group are a single entity allowing multiple lines and unusual characters
• No escaping is needed inside a Text-Group, all content is "as-is"
• Unlike other Groups, Text-Groups do not end on empty lines.
• Text Group names may be use in a Line, as a Linked Reference - License | [{LICENSE}]

Line(s): within a group hold information in delimited arrays.
Protocol|RS232|9600|8|N|1|none

• A Line could be a single entry array. The parser might look for "line 3" of [CONFIG] – reading the whole line, no delimiter
• A Line may be a Key|Value pair - with just one delimiter
• A Line may be a delimited array of data like a csv - but | pipe delimited
• A field in a line, may reference a Text Group in the same SET File
• Spaces before/after delimiters may provide readability - Q-Set assumes delimited data is trimmed - trim().
• A field within a line may itself be an array of data (nested array), by simply using the secondary delimiter (default=!)

Comments: Any text outside of a Group is considered a comment

• Any comment immediately preceding a Group is assumed to be related to that group

Advanced Features X-Set- use a mix-and-match policy for things like SetQL, Custom Delimiters, Internationalization etc.

SET\_File\_One-Page\_v4.4 – www.setfiles.org