F.6 Conventions: Symbols

[ ]

In syntax explanations, square brackets indicate that the enclosed item or items are optional. For example:

[A] means that you can specify A or nothing.

[B|C] means that you can specify B, or C, or nothing.

...

In coding, an ellipsis (...) indicates that one or more lines of coding have been omitted.

In syntax explanations, an ellipsis indicates that the immediately preceding item can be repeated as many times as necessary. For example:

A, B, B, ... means that, after you specify A, B, you can specify B as many times as necessary.

|

In syntax explanations, a vertical bar separates multiple items, and has the meaning of OR. For example:

A|B|C means A, or B, or C.

{ }

In syntax explanations, curly brackets indicate that only one of the enclosed items is to be selected. For example:

{A|B|C} means only one of A, or B, or C.