Provided by: tcllib_1.19-dfsg-2_all 
NAME
doctools::toc::import::json - JSON import plugin
SYNOPSIS
package require Tcl 8.4
package require doctools::toc::import::json ?0.1?
package require doctools::toc::structure
package require json
import string configuration
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DESCRIPTION
This package implements the doctools table of contents import plugin for the parsing of JSON markup.
This is an internal package of doctools, for use by the higher level management packages handling tables
of contents, especially doctools::toc::import, the import manager.
Using it from a regular interpreter is possible, however only with contortions, and is not recommended.
The proper way to use this functionality is through the package doctools::toc::import and the import
manager objects it provides.
API
The API provided by this package satisfies the specification of the doctoc import plugin API version 2.
import string configuration
This command takes the string and parses it as JSON markup encoding a table of contents, in the
context of the specified configuration (a dictionary). The result of the command is the canonical
serialization of that table of contents, in the form specified in section ToC serialization
format.
JSON NOTATION OF TABLES OF CONTENTS
The JSON format used for tables of contents is a direct translation of the ToC serialization format,
mapping Tcl dictionaries as JSON objects and Tcl lists as JSON arrays. For example, the Tcl
serialization
doctools::toc {
items {
{reference {
desc {DocTools - Tables of Contents}
id introduction.man
label doctools::toc::introduction
}}
{division {
id processing.man
items {
{reference {
desc {doctoc serialization utilities}
id structure.man
label doctools::toc::structure
}}
{reference {
desc {Parsing text in doctoc format}
id parse.man
label doctools::toc::parse
}}
}
label Processing
}}
}
label {Table of Contents}
title TOC
}
is equivalent to the JSON string
{
"doctools::toc" : {
"items" : [{
"reference" : {
"desc" : "DocTools - Tables of Contents",
"id" : "introduction.man",
"label" : "doctools::toc::introduction"
}
},{
"division" : {
"id" : "processing.man",
"items" : [{
"reference" : {
"desc" : "doctoc serialization utilities",
"id" : "structure.man",
"label" : "doctools::toc::structure"
}
},{
"reference" : {
"desc" : "Parsing text in doctoc format",
"id" : "parse.man",
"label" : "doctools::toc::parse"
}
}],
"label" : "Processing"
}
}],
"label" : "Table of Contents",
"title" : "TOC"
}
}
TOC SERIALIZATION FORMAT
Here we specify the format used by the doctools v2 packages to serialize tables of contents as immutable
values for transport, comparison, etc.
We distinguish between regular and canonical serializations. While a table of contents may have more
than one regular serialization only exactly one of them will be canonical.
regular serialization
[1] The serialization of any table of contents is a nested Tcl dictionary.
[2] This dictionary holds a single key, doctools::toc, and its value. This value holds the
contents of the table of contents.
[3] The contents of the table of contents are a Tcl dictionary holding the title of the table
of contents, a label, and its elements. The relevant keys and their values are
title The value is a string containing the title of the table of contents.
label The value is a string containing a label for the table of contents.
items The value is a Tcl list holding the elements of the table, in the order they are to
be shown.
Each element is a Tcl list holding the type of the item, and its description, in
this order. An alternative description would be that it is a Tcl dictionary holding
a single key, the item type, mapped to the item description.
The two legal item types and their descriptions are
reference
This item describes a single entry in the table of contents, referencing a
single document. To this end its value is a Tcl dictionary containing an id
for the referenced document, a label, and a longer textual description which
can be associated with the entry. The relevant keys and their values are
id The value is a string containing the id of the document associated
with the entry.
label The value is a string containing a label for this entry. This string
also identifies the entry, and no two entries (references and
divisions) in the containing list are allowed to have the same label.
desc The value is a string containing a longer description for this entry.
division
This item describes a group of entries in the table of contents, inducing a
hierarchy of entries. To this end its value is a Tcl dictionary containing a
label for the group, an optional id to a document for the whole group, and
the list of entries in the group. The relevant keys and their values are
id The value is a string containing the id of the document associated
with the whole group. This key is optional.
label The value is a string containing a label for the group. This string
also identifies the entry, and no two entries (references and
divisions) in the containing list are allowed to have the same label.
items The value is a Tcl list holding the elements of the group, in the
order they are to be shown. This list has the same structure as the
value for the keyword items used to describe the whole table of
contents, see above. This closes the recusrive definition of the
structure, with divisions holding the same type of elements as the
whole table of contents, including other divisions.
canonical serialization
The canonical serialization of a table of contents has the format as specified in the previous
item, and then additionally satisfies the constraints below, which make it unique among all the
possible serializations of this table of contents.
[1] The keys found in all the nested Tcl dictionaries are sorted in ascending dictionary order,
as generated by Tcl's builtin command lsort -increasing -dict.
BUGS, IDEAS, FEEDBACK
This document, and the package it describes, will undoubtedly contain bugs and other problems. Please
report such in the category doctools of the Tcllib Trackers [http://core.tcl.tk/tcllib/reportlist].
Please also report any ideas for enhancements you may have for either package and/or documentation.
When proposing code changes, please provide unified diffs, i.e the output of diff -u.
Note further that attachments are strongly preferred over inlined patches. Attachments can be made by
going to the Edit form of the ticket immediately after its creation, and then using the left-most button
in the secondary navigation bar.
KEYWORDS
JSON, deserialization, doctools, import, table of contents, toc
CATEGORY
Text formatter plugin
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 2009 Andreas Kupries <andreas_kupries@users.sourceforge.net>