2.3. Phrases


2.3.1. Introduction

A phrase is a section of text within a paragraph enclosed in the symbols {{ and }}. Like paragraphs, phrases are optionally tagged with a style. Some examples are given below.

SDF Typical result
{{Hello world}} Hello world
{{1:Hello world}} Hello world
{{2:Hello world}} Hello world
{{B:Hello world}} Hello world
{{I:Hello world}} Hello world
{{SECT:Tables}} Tables
{{FILE:autoexec.bat}} autoexec.bat

2.3.2. Commonly used styles

Some commonly used phrase styles are given below.

Tag Description Sample Output
Emphasis:    
1 1st level emphasis (default) emphasis 1
2 2nd level emphasis emphasis 2
3 3rd level emphasis emphasis 3
ST strong emphasis strong emphasis
Formatting:    
N normal some normal text
I italic some italic text
B bold some bold text
U underline some underline text
EX example some example text
Types:    
EMAIL email address ianc@mincom.com
FILE Filename myfile.sdf
SECT Section Paragraphs
URL Uniform Resource Locator http://www.mincom.com
Classes:    
DOC document title SDF User Guide
REF reference (document code) MTR-SDF-0002
ORG organisation Mincom
PRD product MIMS


Note: When emphasising text, it is generally better to use an emphasis style rather than a formatting style as the best way of doing so depends on the output format.


2.3.3. Type vs class styles

A type (e.g. EMAIL) simply marks a phrase as a logical entity. Rules may be defined for processing (e.g. generating hypertext) for these types.

A class (e.g. DOC) is a special kind of type where the entity must be a member of a predefined set. Rules can also be defined for processing classes, although hypertext jumps are often defined for each entity in the tables which define the known entities. Refer to Object Management, later.