1. SDF - The Package

1.1. Programs

Name	Purpose
sdf	convert SDF files to other formats
sdfapi	extract the Application Programming Interface from source code
sdfbatch	generate FrameMaker batch files
sdfcli	extract the Command Line Interface from a utility
sdfget	extract documentation embedded in source code
sdftest	execute SDF regression tests
sdngen	build an SDF tuning module from a FrameMaker template
fm2ps	convert FrameMaker files to PostScript (a wrapper for sdfbatch)
pod2sdf	convert POD to SDF
poddiff	compare POD files and report differences
prn2ps	convert Windows PostScript to Unix PostScript

Environment variables used are:

Name	Description
SDFBIN	on MS-DOS/Windows systems, the directory containing SDF's scripts, (e.g. c:\sdf\bin\)
SDFOPTS	options always used by sdf (e.g. -Yc:\mysdflib)

1.2. File Extension Conventions

Ext.	Format	Usage	Ext.	Format	Usage
ini	INI	configuration file	sde	SDF	SDF end module
sdf	SDF	normal SDF file	sdg	SDG	sdfget report
sdl	SDF	SDF locale	sdm	SDF	SDF module
sdn	SDF	SDF tuning module	sdo	TBL	SDF object register
sdp	Perl	SDF plug-in	sdr	Perl	SDF report
sds	SDF	SDF style module	sdt	HTML	SDF template

2. sdf - The Program

2.1. Command-line Options

Option	Long name	Description
-2	--format	the output format you want
-a	--parameters	parameters for the pre-filter
-c	--config	configuration library
-d	--driver	format driver - default is expand
-f	--flag	define flags (flag xxx maps to variable DOC_XXX)
-g	--get_report	prefilter using sdfget with the report specified
-h	--help	display help on options or a single option
-k	--look	look library
-l	--log_ext	log file extension (default is log)
-n	--split_level	heading level to autosplit into topics
-o	--out_ext	output file extension (default is out)
-p	--prefilter	pre-filter input file from each argument
-r	--report	report to pre-filter the input with
-s	--style	style of document
-t	--target	logical target format
-u	--uses	modules to use
-v	--verbose	verbose mode
-w	--width	width for text-based outputs
-y	--post_filter	filter to post-filter the output with
-z	--post_process	list of post processing actions to do
-D	--variable	define variables
-H	--head_level	initial heading level
-I	--include_path	search path for include files, templates, etc.
-K	--head_look	heading look (H, A or P)
-L	--locale	locale
-N	--line_numbers	number lines in pretty-printed source code
-O	--out_dir	output to input file's (or explicit) directory
-P	--plang	pre-filter as a programming language
-S	--page_size	page size for paper documents
-T	--trace_levels	debugging trace levels
-Y	--library_path	path to search for libraries and modules

2.2. Useful Command Lines

Generate format xxx for mydoc.sdf:

       sdf -2xxx mydoc

Generate PDF via a FrameMaker book (on Unix):

       sdf -2book -zpdf mydoc

Generate a man page:

       sdf -2man mydoc | nroff -man > mydoc.1

Spell check a document:

       sdf mydoc | spell

Pretty-print lang source code in format xxx:

       sdf -2xxx -Plang mysource
       sdf -2xxx -P mysource.lang
       sdf -2xxx -P -N5 mysource.lang   (with line numbering)

Generate reference documentation in format xxx for mymod.sdm:

       sdf -2xxx mymod.sdm

Generate format xxx for a table:

       sdf -2xxx mydata.tbl
       sdf -2xxx -aformat='15,75,10' mydata.tbl

Generate format xxx for a MIMS topic, chapter or specification:

       sdf -2xxx +mt mydoc
       sdf -2xxx +mc mydoc
       sdf -2xxx +ms mydoc

2.3. Target Formats

The format naming conventions are:

xxx - generate (logical) format xxx
xxx_yyy - generate format xxx via yyy
xxx_ - generate format xxx directly.

sdf's -2 option is used to specify the target format.

2.3.1. Logical Formats

Format	Maps to	Format	Maps to	Format	Maps to
_dir	html_dir	book	ps_fmbook	doc	doc_fm
dvi	dvi_sgml	expand	sdf_expand	fvo	fvo_fm
hlp	hlp_mif	html	html_	htx	htx_
info	info_sgml	latex	latex_sgml	lyx	lyx_sgml
man	man_pod	mf6	mf6_	mif	mif_
pdf	pdf_mif	pod	pod_	ps	ps_fm
raw	sdf_raw	rtf	rtf_fm	sgml	sgml_
topics	html_topics	txt	txt_

2.3.2. Explicit Formats

Format	Generates
doc_fm	Frame binary format via FrameMaker
dvi_sgml	DVI format via SGML
fvo_fm	FrameViewer format via FrameMaker
hlp_mif	Windows Help input files via MIF
html_	a HTML document
html_dir	an SDF directory in HTML
html_fm	a HTML document via FrameMaker
html_topics	HTML topics
htx_	MIMS HTX format
info_sgml	GNU info format via SGML
latex_	LaTeX format
latex_pod	LaTeX format via POD
latex_sgml	LaTeX format via SGML
lyx_sgml	a LyX file via SGML
man_pod	Man page format via POD
mf6_	MIMS F6 help format
mif_	Frame MIF format
pdf_html	PDF via HTMLDOC
pdf_mif	PostScript and PDF via FrameMaker
pod_	POD format
ps_fm	PostScript via FrameMaker
ps_fmbook	PostScript via a FrameMaker book
ps_html	PostScript via HTMLDOC
ps_pod	PostScript via POD
ps_sgml	PostScript via SGML
rtf_fm	RTF format via FrameMaker
rtf_mif	RTF format via MIF
rtf_sgml	RTF format via SGML format
sdf_expand	expanded SDF
sdf_raw	raw SDF
sgml_	SGML format
txt_	plain text format
txt_fm	plain text format via FrameMaker
txt_pod	plain text format via POD

2.4. Document Styles

Style	Description	Style	Description
document	normal document (default)	fax	fascimile
listing	program listing	manual	user manual
memo	memorandum	minutes	minutes of a meeting
newslettr	newsletter	paper	technical paper

2.5. Looks

Style	Description
fancy	look useful for manuals
infomap	Information Mapping™
overhead	look useful for overhead transparencies
plain	alias for simple
simple	look useful for normal documents

2.6. Page Sizes

Name	Width	Height	Name	Width	Height
global	21.0cm	11.0in	A3	29.7cm	42.0cm
A4	21.0cm	29.7cm	A5	14.8cm	21.0cm
B4	25.7cm	36.4cm	B5	17.6cm	25.0cm
letter	8.5in	11.0in	legal	8.5in	14.0in
tabloid	11.0in	17.0in

Rotated sizes are named with an appended R (e.g. A4R).

2.7. Reports

Name	Description
sdf_dir	generate a directory tree of nested SDF documents

2.8. Pre-filters

Files with extensions matching a pre-filter name or alias have the name filter applied.

Name	Aliases	Name	Aliases
table	tbl	template	sdt
module	sdm	pod	pm,PL

3. SDF - The Language

3.1. Concepts and Conventions

Term	Description
paragraph	the basic building block of documents
phrase	a section of text delimited by {{ and }} within a paragraph
style	the type of a document, paragraph, phrase or table (e.g. H1)
attribute	a property of a paragraph or phrase (e.g. jump)
macro	a command embedded in a document (e.g. !define)
variable	a named value (e.g. DOC_NAME)
block	a section of text enclosed by block and endblock macros
filter	a rule to use when processing blocks or files (e.g. table)
module	a file containing reusable information
library	a directory containing modules

For variables, the general conventions are:

lower-case for special symbols (e.g. tm)
edit-case for commonly used objects (e.g. Mincom)
upper-case for other variables (e.g. DOC_NAME).

The general conventions for other symbols are:

upper-case for paragraph and phrase styles
lower-case for other names.

3.2. Paragraph Styles

Tag	Description
A0 .. A6	appendix heading at level 0..6
Addr	line in an address
E	example
E80	example at least 80 characters per line
FA	figure anchor
FOOTER	page footer (in header/footer only)
FT	figure title
GL	glossary entry (term and definition are tab separated)
GLD	definition in a glossary
GLT	term in a glossary
H0 .. H6	normal heading at level 0..6
HEADER	page header (in header/footer only)
KN	normal paragraph - keep with next
KP	normal paragraph - keep with previous
L1 .. L6	paragraph (or plain list item) at level 1..6
Line	horizontal line
LF1 .. LF6	first entry in an ordered list at level 1..6
LI1 .. LI6	enumerated list item at level 1..6
LN1 .. LN6	next entry in an ordered list at level 1..6
LU1 .. LU6	unordered list at level 1..6
N	normal paragraph
NB	note begin
NE	note end
NV	name value
Note	a single paragraph note
P0 .. P6	plain heading at level 0..6
PB	page break
Sign	signature
V	verbatim (example with no embedded symbols)

Special styles (implicitly terminated) are:

Tag	Description
>	verbatim paragraph
. .. ......	paragraph (or plain list item) at level 1..6
* .. ******	unordered list at level 1..6
- .. -----	unordered list at level 2..6
^ .. ^^^^^^	first entry in an ordered list at level 1..6
+ .. ++++++	next entry in an ordered list at level 1..6
& .. &&&&&&	labelled list item at level 1..6

3.3. Paragraph Attributes

Name	Type	Description
align	string	alignment of paragraph within text column (1, Full, Left, Right, Center)
component	string	start a component within a book (see Book Components)
first	string	indent of first line (in points)
in	integer	list indent level (for examples only)
keep_next	boolean	keep this paragraph with the next one
keep_prev	boolean	keep this paragraph with the previous one
label	string	label for this paragraph (e.g. "Tip:")
left	string	left indent (in points)
noevents	boolean	do not do event processing on this paragraph
nopb	boolean	do not force this paragraph onto a new page
notoc	boolean	do not put this in the table of contents
noid	boolean	do not auto-generate an id for this paragraph
obj	string	format as the nominated phrase
orig_style	string	original style (useful in event processing)
out_style	string	output style to use
right	string	right indent (in points)
sp_after	string	space after this paragraph (in points)
sp_before	string	space before this paragraph (in points)
tabs	string	comma-separated list of tabstops
text	string	display the value instead of the existing text
top	string	place paragraph on a new page (1, 0, Page, Column, Left, Right)
wide	boolean	span the side-head

3.4. Phrase Styles

Leading whitespace is not removed for styles marked with (*).

Tag	Description
1	1st level emphasis
2	2nd level emphasis
3	3rd level emphasis
A	as-is
B	bold
C	source code (*)
CHAR	escape/special character
CMD	command
E	escape/special character
EMAIL	email address
EX	example text (*)
F	filename
FILE	filename
I	italic
IMPORT	figure
INLINE	embedded target format
JUMP	same as URL
L	POD link
N	normal
S	text with non-breaking spaces (*)
SECT	(jump to) document section
ST	strong emphasis
SUB	subscript
SUP	superscript
U	underline
URL	Uniform Resource Locator
X	POD index entry
Y	symbol (e.g. subroutine)
Z	zero width character (ala POD)

The following styles are only supported in headers/footers:

Tag	Description
PAGECOUNT	highest page number
PAGENUM	current page number
PARALAST	text of last paragraph on page with the nominated style
PARANUM	paragraph number (e.g. Appendix A)
PARANUMONLY	paragraph number only (e.g. A)
PARASHORT	value of short attribute of paragraph
PARATEXT	paragraph text (e.g. Hardware requirements)

The PARA* tags require a comma separated list of paragraph styles to be nominated as the text of the phrase, e.g. {{PARATEXT:H1,A1,P1}}.

3.5. Phrase Attributes

Name	Type	Description
bgcolor	string	background colour
bold	boolean	enable bold
changed	boolean	enable change bars
class	string	CSS class (for HTML documents)
color	string	text colour
doc	string	for SECT, the name of the document containing the section
expand	boolean	expand object from short to long name
family	string	font family
id	string	identifier for this phrase (used by jumps)
index	string	indexing specification string (MIF only)
index_type	string	index type (MIF only)
italics	boolean	enable italics
jump	string	URL to jump to
short	string	text to display in header/footer when PARASHORT used
shrink	boolean	shrink object from long to short name
size	string	font size
style	string	custom CSS style information (for HTML documents)
text	string	display the value instead of the existing text
underline	boolean	enable underline
verbatim	boolean	ignore embedded symbols within this paragraph
xref	string	cross-referencing information (future)

3.6. Escapes

Name	Output	Name	Output	Name	Output
2[	[[	2]	]]	2{	{{
2}	}}	Aacute	Á	aacute	á
Acirc	Â	acirc	â	AElig	Æ
aelig	æ	Agrave	À	agrave	à
amp	&	Aring	Å	aring	å
Atilde	Ã	atilde	ã	Auml	Ä
auml	ä	bullet	.	c	©
Ccedil	Ç	ccedil	ç	cent	¢
dagger	^	doubledagger	#	Eacute	É
eacute	é	Ecirc	Ê	ecirc	ê
Egrave	È	egrave	è	emdash	--
emspace		endash	-	enspace
Euml	Ë	euml	ë	gt	>
Iacute	Í	iacute	í	Icirc	Î
icirc	î	Igrave	Ì	igrave	ì
Iuml	Ï	iuml	ï	lbrace	{
lbracket	[	lt	<	nbdash	-
nbspace	non-breaking space	nl	newline	Ntilde	Ñ
ntilde	ñ	Oacute	Ó	oacute	ó
Ocirc	Ô	ocirc	ô	Ograve	Ò
ograve	ò	Oslash	Ø	oslash	ø
Otilde	Õ	otilde	õ	Ouml	Ö
ouml	ö	pound	£	quot	"
r	®	rbrace	}	rbracket	]
tab	tab	tm	™	Uacute	Ú
uacute	ú	Ucirc	Û	ucirc	û
Ugrave	Ù	ugrave	ù	Uuml	Ü
uuml	ü	yen	¥	yuml	ÿ

For convenience, variables are provided for: amp, bullet, c, cent, dagger, doubledagger, emdash, endash, emspace, enspace, nbdash, nbspace, nbsp, nl, pound, r, reg, tab, tm, yen.

3.7. Macros

Name	Description
back	ends a list (from POD)
begin	begin target-specific output (from POD)
block	begin a block of text
build_title	build a title page
catalog	build a catalog from objects already loaded
class	define a class of objects
clear	reset text wrapping around a figure
continued	continue a heading from a previous page
cut	ignore text until an = is found at the start of a line (from POD)
default	set a variable (if not already set)
define	set a variable
div	begin a division
else	begin alternative section
elseif	same as elsif
elsif	begin a conditional section
end	end target-specific output (from POD)
end_topic	mark the end of a topic
endblock	end a block of text
enddiv	end a division
endif	end conditional text
endmacro	end a macro definition
execute	include output from a command
export	export a variable to the format driver (and/or mark it for later exporting)
for	insert target-specific output (from POD)
getcli	extract command-line interface information
getcode	extract source code (i.e. non-documentation) from a file
getdoc	extract documentation embedded in source code
headn	level n heading (n = 1 .. 6) (from POD)
if	begin conditional text
import	import an external object (e.g. figure)
include	include another file
inherit	inherit entities from a library
init	initialise variables (before loading configuration files)
insert	call a macro
item	label an item in a list (from POD)
jumps	generate lines of jumps to headings
line	change message parameters
macro	begin a macro definition
message	output a message during execution
off	disable processing previously specified
on	specify processing for an event
output	dynamically change the output file used
over	begins a list (from POD)
perlapi	extract API information from a Perl library
pod	does nothing (from POD)
restrict	declare a restricted family of variables
script	execute a line of Perl
slide_down	decrease heading levels (e.g. H2 -> H3)
slide_up	increase heading levels (e.g. H2 -> H1)
subsections	specify the subsections for a topic
undef	clear a variable
use	load a library module

3.8. Filters

Filter	Description
about	about section of a document
abstract	the abstract for a paper
address	an address
appendix	change headings to appendix style
ascii_graphic	fixed-width text, wide enough for ASCII graphics
box	surround a region of text with a box
center	centre a region
changed	mark a block of text as changed
chapter	chapter of a document (does nothing)
comment	ignore text
datestrings	define strings used in dates
default	provide defaults for a block of variables
define	define a block of variables
end	process text at the end
example	fixed-width text (e.g. source code)
front	front section of a document
get	extract embedded documentation
glossary	glossary section of document (alias for plain)
hlp_header	table of jumps at the top of a help topic
hlp_window	contents of a help popup window
inline	embed text into target format (e.g. HTML)
langdefs	define vgrind-like language definitions
links	define external links for a document (including stylesheets)
meta	define meta information for a document
namevalues	format a set of name-value pairs (e.g. as used in a title block)
nofill	a set of lines
note	a note
plain	change headings to plain style
pod	embedded POD
quote	a quotation
script	execute text as a Perl script
sdf	apply arbitrary phrase attributes to text
sections	paragraphs are sections
simple	generic filter for building others
stylesheet	define a stylesheet which should be inline in the HTML output
table	tabular data
template	alias for inline with expand set to true
title	title block for a memo, fax or minutes
topics	include a set of sub-topics
verbatim	fixed-width text, ignoring embedded symbols

Classes and Programming Languages can also be used as filters.

3.9. Figures

Extension search rules:

When generating	The search order is
PostScript	epsi, eps, wmf, mif, gif
HTML	jpeg, jpg, png, gif
Windows Help	bmp

import macro parameters:

Name	Description
alt	alternate text to display (ala HTML)
align	alignment (Left, Center, Right, Inner, Outer)
base	the prefix to prepend to the figure pathname to get the location needed for the HTML output
border	the border width in pixels
height	explicit height measurement (MIF only)
jump	the URL to jump to
listitem	the list indent level (e.g. 1)
mif_figure	the tag before the figure in the MIF source (only needed if more than one figure in the MIF file)
position	vertical position (Below, Top, Bottom)
title	figure caption
wide	figure straddles the side head area of the page
width	explicit width measurement (MIF only)
wrap_text	wrap text around a figure (ignored for HTML)

Default conversion rules (from sdf.ini):

When generating	Create	From	Using the command
html	gif	eps	ps2gif -crop $source
html	gif	ps	ps2gif -crop $source
html	gif	prn	prn2ps -ops $source; ps2gif -crop $base.ps; rm $base.ps
ps	eps	ps	ps2epsi $source $dest
ps	eps	prn	prn2ps -ops $source; ps2epsi $base.ps $dest; rm $base.ps

3.10. Tables

table filter parameters:

Name	Description
align	alignment of table: one of Left, Center, Right, Inner, Outer
bgcolor	background colour for a table (HTML only)
bmargin	default bottom margin for table cells (MIF only)
cellpadding	padding size for table cells (HTML only)
cellspacing	spacing size between table cells (HTML only)
colaligns	a comma-separated list of horizontal alignments values (Left, Center, Right) for columns; alternatively, a single word containing the letters L, C and R
coltags	a comma-separated list of phrase styles to apply to columns
colvaligns	a comma-separated list of vertical alignments values (Top, Middle, Bottom, Baseline) for columns; alternatively, a single word containing the letters T, M, B and L
delete	a comma-separated list of columns to delete
footings	the number of footing rows at the end of the table
format	a comma-separated list of column width specifications; alternatively, a single number where each digit represents 10% of the space available to the table
groups	pattern of group-style rows (default is /:$/)
headings	the number of heading rows at the top of the table
keepindents	keep leading whitespace in cells
landscape	display the table in landscape mode (MIF only)
listitem	the list indent level (e.g. 1) of this table
lmargin	default left margin for table cells (MIF only)
narrow	if set, the table will only be as wide as required; otherwise the table will span the available space
niceheadings	set to 0 to disable _ to space conversion in headings
nocalcs	set to 0 to disable calculation processing within a table
noheadings	suppress headings in output
objects	alias for coltags (coltags is preferred)
oncell	Perl code to execute for each cell (internal use only!)
parseline	column headings parsing line (if not the first row in the text)
placement	vertical placement of table: one of Float, Pagetop, Columntop, Lefttop, Righttop (MIF only)
rmargin	default right margin for table cells (MIF only)
select	a comma-separated list of columns to display
sort	a comma-separated list of columns to sort the data rows by
style	overall look of the table (columns, rows, grid, plain, shade)
tags	alias for coltags (coltags is preferred)
title	table caption
tmargin	default top margin for table cells (MIF only)
type	alias for style (style is preferred)
where	an expression to filter the data rows with
wide	table straddles the side head area of the page
wrap	the number of data rows to display in a physical row

Column width specifications:

Value	Meaning
30pt	an exact size (other supported units are cm, mm, " and in)
30%	a percentage of the size available
30	a percentage of the size available (% is implicit)
10-20	dynamic size between 10% and 20% of the total width
-20	dynamic size between 0% and 20% of the total width
10-	dynamic size between 10% and 100% of the total width
-	dynamic size between 0% and 100% of the total width
3*	3 units of the remaining space
*	same as 1*

= can be used in place of - to get equalised column widths.

Cell attributes:

Name	Value
align	horizontal alignment (Left, Center, Right)
angle	angle of text (0, 90, 180, 270)
bgcolor	background colour of cell
bruling	ruling setting for bottom of cell
cols	the number of columns this cell spans (default is 1)
fill	background colour fill % (100, 90, 70, 50, 30, 10, 3)
lruling	ruling setting for left of cell
nowrap	disable word wrap for this cell
paratag	paragraph style to apply to cell text (future)
rows	the number of rows this cell spans (default is 1)
rruling	ruling setting for right of cell
sdf	treat the cell text as SDF (rather than as phrase text)
tag	phrase tag to apply to cell text
truling	ruling setting for top of cell
valign	vertical alignment (Top, Middle, Bottom, Baseline)

Permitted ruling values: Vthin, Thin, Medium, Thick, Double.

3.11. Classes

Data fields for the predefined classes are:

Field	Tag	Description
organisations:
Name	ORG	organisation name
Long	ORGN	long form of organisation name
Jump		URL for organisation
products:
Name	PRD	product name
Jump		URL for product
references:
Reference	REF	document code
Document	DOC	document title
Jump		URL for document
Version		version number
Status		status (e.g. Draft, Review or Final)
terms:
Term	TERM	term, acronym or abbreviation
Description		explanation
Jump		URL for term

The REFNUMONLY tag can be used to mark a REF phrase where only the trailing number is output.

Calculated fields for the references class:

Name	Description
XXX	if a matching xxx file is found, an image which jumps to that file
Cite	a string of the form [n]
Date	the date of the html file
Pages	the number of pages in the PostScript document
Printdoc	an image which launches the `/cgi-bin/printdoc/` CGI script
Printer	alias for Printdoc

Parameters of class filters:

Name	Type	Description
cited	boolean	number these objects as the cited ones (for [1] style references)
colaligns	string	a comma-separated list of horizontal alignments values (Left, Center, Right) for columns; alternatively, a single word containing the letters L, C and R can be used for the value
columns	string	comma-separated list of attributes to display in table
colvaligns	string	a comma-separated list of vertical alignments values (Top, Middle, Bottom, Baseline) for columns; alternatively, a single word containing the letters T, M, B and L can be used for the value
compact	boolean	display in a compact table, (make cellpadding data boolean define objects but do not display them
delete	string	a comma-separated list of columns to delete
headings	boolean	display the column headings
root	string	string to prepend to Jump attribute, if any
select	string	a comma-separated list of columns to display
sort	string	comma-separated list of columns to sort by
style	string	table style to use (the default is plain)
		and cellspacing both equal to zero)
variables	boolean	define a variable for each object; the variable name is derived from the object name with underscores replacing non-alphanumeric characters
where	string	filter the rows using the nominated expression
wide	boolean	use sidehead when formatting on paper
wrap	integer	number of logical rows to place on a physical row

3.12. Document Variables/Macros

Controls

Name	Type	Description
DOC_ADMIN_LOGO	string	logo to use in administration document styles
DOC_ADMIN_LOGO_BASE	string	base directory for DOC_ADMIN_LOGO
DOC_APPROVE	string	person approving the document
DOC_APPROVE2	string	2nd person approving the document
DOC_APPROVE3	string	3rd person approving the document
DOC_AUTHOR	string	author of document
DOC_AUTHOR2	string	2nd author of document
DOC_AUTHOR3	string	3rd author of document
DOC_CODE	string	document code (*)
DOC_COMPONENT	string	current component type within a book
DOC_COMPONENT_LOGO	string	logo to use for components within a book
DOC_COVER	string	logical name of the cover page to use (e.g. original, project, manual, paper)
DOC_DISTRIBUTION	string	document distribution
DOC_HTML_LOGO	string	logo to use in HTML output
DOC_HTML_LOGO_BASE	string	base directory for HTML_LOGO
DOC_ID_SEP	string	separator used within DOC_ID
DOC_IX	boolean	build an index
DOC_LOF	boolean	build a list of figures
DOC_LOF_TITLE	string	list of figures title
DOC_LOGO	string	logo to use for document
DOC_LOGO_BASE	string	base directory for DOC_LOGO
DOC_LOT	boolean	build a list of tables
DOC_LOT_TITLE	string	list of tables title
DOC_MANUAL_LOGO	string	logo to use when generating paper manuals
DOC_NAME	string	document name, e.g. "SDF 2.000"
DOC_OWNER	string	person or company owning the copyright
DOC_PRODUCT	string	for man pages, the center string in the header
DOC_PROJECT	string	orginating project of document
DOC_SECTION	integer	for man pages, the section number
DOC_STATUS	string	status of document (*)
DOC_TITLE_LOGO	string	logo used in the title of a PostScript document
DOC_TOC	integer	table of contents level
DOC_TOC_GRAPHIC	string	graphic to include in TOC title
DOC_TOC_TITLE	string	table of contents title
DOC_TOPIC_LOGO	string	logo to use in HTML topics mode output
DOC_TOPIC_LOGO_BASE	string	base directory for DOC_TOPIC_LOGO
DOC_TWO_SIDES	boolean	build a two-sided document
DOC_TYPE	string	document type, e.g. "User Guide"
DOC_URL	string	URL of document
DOC_VERSION	string	version number of document (*)
Macros:
DOC_COMPONENT_BEGIN	macro	hook to initialise things before book component processing begins
DOC_COMPONENT_END	macro	hook to finalise things after book component processing ends
DOC_OFFICES	macro	for manuals, the text to put after the inside front cover
DOC_RECIPIENTS	macro	table of controlled copy recipients
DOC_TRADEMARKS	macro	text specifying trademarks used in document

If the variables marked with (*) are not defined, build_title sets them using the references data, if possible.

Information

Name	Type	Description
DOC_BASE	string	the base (filename) of the current document
DOC_COLUMN_WIDTH	integer	width of a text column (in points)
DOC_DIR	string	the directory of the current document
DOC_EXT	string	the extension of the current document
DOC_FULL_WIDTH	integer	width of text area including the side-head (in points)
DOC_ID	string	combination of DOC_CODE and DOC_VERSION
DOC_MODIFIED	datetime	the most recent modification time of files visited so far
DOC_PAGE_HEIGHT	integer	height of page (in points)
DOC_PAGE_WIDTH	integer	width of page (in points)
DOC_PAGED	boolean	output is paged, not continuous
DOC_PATH	string	the full pathname of the current document
DOC_SHORT	string	the base and extension of the current document
DOC_START	datetime	the time document conversion started
DOC_TEXT_HEIGHT	integer	height of text area (in points)
DOC_TEXT_WIDTH	integer	width of text area available for text columns (in points)
DOC_TITLE	string	combination of DOC_NAME and DOC_TYPE
MODIFIED_DATE	string	alias for DATE:DOC_MODIFIED
File:
FILE_BASE	string	base part of current filename (e.g. mydoc)
FILE_DIR	string	directory of current filename (e.g. /doc/sdf)
FILE_EXT	string	extension of current filename (e.g. sdf)
FILE_MODIFIED	datetime	time when this file was last modified
FILE_PATH	string	current pathname (e.g. /doc/sdf/mydoc.sdf)

3.13. Option Variables

These variables (except OPT_NOBARS) give the values of command-line options. Variables marked with a (*) can be set via the init macro on the top line of a document:

Name	Type	Description
OPT_CONFIG	string	configuration library (*)
OPT_DRIVER	string	name of driver used to convert documents
OPT_EXT	string	output extension
OPT_HEAD_LEVEL	integer	level to start headings at
OPT_HEAD_LOOK	string	look for headings
OPT_LOCALE	string	locale
OPT_LOOK	string	look (*)
OPT_NOBARS	boolean	disable change bars (*)
OPT_NUMBER	integer	line numbering fequency
OPT_PAGE_SIZE	string	page size setting (default is global) (*)
OPT_PP_xxx	boolean	set if xxx post-processing requested
OPT_REPORT	string	report to run
OPT_SPLIT_LEVEL	integer	level to split headings at for topics mode
OPT_STYLE	string	document style (*)
OPT_TARGET	string	target format
OPT_WIDTH	integer	width for txt output (default is 70) (*)

These variables can only be set within look libraries:

Name	Type	Description
OPT_BORDERS	integer	high-level header/footer border control (0=none; 1=above footer,below header; 2=above footer,above & below header)
OPT_COLUMNS	integer	number of columns in text area (default is 1)
OPT_COLUMN_GAP	dimension	gap between columns in text area
OPT_COMPONENT_COVER	boolean	give book components a cover page
OPT_HEADINGS	integer	size in lines (0..4) of headers/footers (Note: for values 2..4, header size is 2)
OPT_IX_COLUMNS	integer	number of columns in text area in the index (default is 1)
OPT_IX_COLUMN_GAP	dimension	gap between columns in text area in the index
OPT_IX_SIDEHEAD_GAP	dimension	width between side-head and text area in the index
OPT_IX_SIDEHEAD_WIDTH	dimension	width of side-head in the index
OPT_LIST_INDENT	dimension	size of each list indent in points
OPT_MARGIN_BOTTOM	string	size of margin below the footer, if any
OPT_MARGIN_INNER	string	size of inner margin
OPT_MARGIN_OUTER	string	size of outer margin
OPT_MARGIN_TOP	string	size of margin above the header, if any
OPT_NUMBER_PER_COMPONENT	boolean	number figures, etc. per component
OPT_SIDEHEAD_GAP	dimension	width between side-head and first text column
OPT_SIDEHEAD_WIDTH	dimension	width of side-head

3.14. Page Layout Variables

Page variables can only be set within look libraries.

Page tags:

Page	Usage
FIRST	the first page in the document
RIGHT	the page used for single-sided documents and the right hand side of double-sided documents
LEFT	the left hand side of double-sided documents; ignored for single-sided documents

In the table below, frl is either:

FIRST, RIGHT or LEFT, or
COMPONENT_FRL where:
- COMPONENT is the name of the component in upper-case (refer to Book Components)
- FRL is FIRST, RIGHT or LEFT.

If a component does not have a component-specific macro/variable defined, then the generic macro/variable is used.

Name	Type	Description
PAGE_frl_BACKGROUND	string	background image name
PAGE_frl_FOOTER_BORDER	string	border specification
PAGE_frl_FOOTER_GAP	dimension	gap between text area and footer area
PAGE_frl_FOOTER_HEIGHT	dimension	height of footer area
PAGE_frl_FOOTER_INNERn	string	inner text of line n (0..3) of footer
PAGE_frl_FOOTER_CENTERn	string	centre text of line n (0..3) of footer
PAGE_frl_FOOTER_OUTERn	string	outer text of line n (0..3) of footer
PAGE_frl_HEADER_BORDER	string	border specification
PAGE_frl_HEADER_GAP	dimension	gap between header area and text area
PAGE_frl_HEADER_HEIGHT	dimension	height of header area
PAGE_frl_HEADER_INNERn	string	inner text of line n (1..2) of header
PAGE_frl_HEADER_CENTERn	string	centre text of line n (1..2) of header
PAGE_frl_HEADER_OUTERn	string	outer text of line n (1..2) of header

When FrameMaker is being used to generate PostScript, the background image name is mapped to a master page called backgrnd within a file called backgrnd.mif. At the moment, objects from the master page (excluding TextRects) are directly transferred to the generated MIF file. This means that objects in the lower right hand corner of an A4 master page will not will be positioned nicely if the paper size is changed to A5, say.

A border specification string is a comma-separated list of attributes which collectively describe the border. The format of each attribute is name[=value]. The supported attributes are:

top - a line above the area
bottom - a line below the area
box - a box around the area
radius - for a box, the radius of the corner.

For top, bottom and box, the value of the attribute is the line width in points.

3.15. Miscellaneous Variables/Macros

Controls

Name	Type	Description
Processing:
DEFAULT_LOCALE	string	default OPT_LOCALE (set in `sdf.ini`)
DEFAULT_LOOK	string	default OPT_LOOK (set in `sdf.ini`)
DEFAULT_TAB_SIZE	integer	default tab size (initially 8)
DEFAULT_TABLE_STYLE	string	default style for tables (initially columns)
DEFAULT_XREF_STYLE	string	default style for cross-references (initially sections)
Link expansion formats:
FORMAT_LINK_PAGE	string	default is: the $page manpage
FORMAT_LINK_PAGE_ENTRY	string	default is: the $entry entry in the $page manpage
FORMAT_LINK_PAGE_SECTION	string	default is: the section on "$sect" in the $page manpage
FORMAT_LINK_SECTION	string	default is: the section on "$sect"
HTMLDOC generation:
HTMLDOC	boolean	generate HTML ready for HTMLDOC
HTMLDOC_OPTS	string	tuning options to pass to HTMLDOC

Information

Name	Type	Description
Package:
SDF	phrase	PRD:SDF
SDF_BUGS	phrase	EMAIL:sdf-bugs@mincom.com
SDF_FTP	string	URL for SDF's FTP site
SDF_HOME	string	library/configuration directory
SDF_USERS	phrase	EMAIL:sdf-users@mincom.com
SDF_VERSION	string	product version string (e.g. 2.000 beta1)
SDF_WWW	string	URL for SDF's home page
Macros for default.sdg:
SDG_DESCRIPTION_POST	macro	finalisation after Description
SDG_DESCRIPTION_PRE	macro	initialisation before Description
SDG_BEGIN	macro	hook for things before extracted text
SDG_END	macro	hook for things after extracted text
SDF_OPT_HELP	macro	text explaining help option
SDF_OPT_STD	macro	text explaining standard options
Old macro names:
BUILD_TITLE	string	provided for backwards-compatibility
END_TOPIC	string	provided for backwards-compatibility
SLIDE_DOWN	string	provided for backwards-compatibility
SLIDE_UP	string	provided for backwards-compatibility
SDF_DESCRIPTION_POST	macro	provided for backwards-compatibility
SDF_DESCRIPTION_PRE	macro	provided for backwards-compatibility

3.16. Programming Languages

Language	Names
C	c
C++	c++, cpp, hpp, cc, h
COBOL	cobol
CORBA IDL	idl
FORTRAN	fortran, f77, fc, f, for
Java	java
MIMS COBOL	mimscobol, pcom, precom
Object Pascal	delphi, pascal, pas, int
Perl	perl, pl, pm, sdp, sdr
Python	python, jpython, py
Simple Document Format	sdf, sdm, sds, sdn, sdl, sde
Unix shell	sh
Unix c-shell	csh

Language names are case insensitive.

3.17. Colours

For PS (i.e. MIF) generation, the supported colour values are Black, White, Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Cyan and Magenta. If a different colour is specified, it is ignored.

For HTML generation, any of the HTML colours names (including those supported for PS generation) or the "#rrggbb" form can be used. Useful variables are:

Name	Value	Name	Value
COLOR_WHITE	'ffffff'	COLOR_BLACK	'000000'
COLOR_RED	'ff0000'	COLOR_GREEN	'00ff00'
COLOR_BLUE	'0000ff'	COLOR_YELLOW	'ffff00'
COLOR_MAGENTA	'ff00ff'	COLOR_CYAN	'00ffff'
COLOR_GREY	'c0c0c0'

3.18. Expression Formats

Name	Description
Strings:
LOWER	convert a string to lowercase
LOWER1	convert the first character to lowercase
UPPER	convert a string to uppercase
UPPER1	convert the first character to uppercase
Dates:
CONCISE	alias for FORMAT_SDATE
DATE	format to a date only
DATETIME	format to a complete date-time format
FULL	alias for FORMAT_DATETIME
SDATE	format to a concise date only
TIME	format to a time only
YEAR	format to a 4-digit year

Expression format XXX can be changed/defined via the FORMAT_XXX variable.

3.19. Modules

Name	Description
bugtrack	extensions for bug tracking
defines	simplified product declaration/definition
delphi	extensions for delphi 1.x documentation
homepage	extensions for making SDF-like home pages easier to author
misc	miscellaneous goodies
objects	IT-related objects
testcase	extensions for test case documentation
usecases	extensions for Use Case documentation

3.20. Book Components

Name	Meaning
front	the cover component
pretoc	components before the contents
toc	the table of contents
lof	the list of figures
lot	the list of tables
prechapter	components before the chapters
chapter	a normal chapter
appendix	an appendix
preix	components before the index
ix	the index

3.21. Event Processing

Supported symbols within actions:

Type	Symbols
paragraph	$style, $text, %attr, &PrependText, &AppendText, $level, $prev_style, $prev_text, %prev_attr
phrase	$style, $text, %attr, $append
macro	$name, $args
filter	$name, $params
table	$style, %param

Special symbol meanings:

Symbol	Meaning
paragraph:
&PrependText	a subroutine to add paragraphs before this one
&AppendText	a subroutine to add paragraphs after this one
$level	the current heading level (before this paragraph)
$prev_style	the style of the previous paragraph
$prev_text	the text of the previous paragraph
%prev_attr	the attributes of the previous paragraph
phrase:
$append	text to append onto the end of the phrase

SDF Quick Reference

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