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LIBXO(3)		     Library Functions Manual			LIBXO(3)

NAME
     xo_format -- content of format descriptors for xo_emit

DESCRIPTION
     libxo  uses  format  strings  to control the rendering of data into various
     output styles, including text, XML, JSON, and  HTML.   Each  format  string
     contains  a  set of zero or more "field descriptions", which describe inde-
     pendent data fields.  Each field description contains a set of "modifiers",
     a "content string", and zero, one, or two "format descriptors".  The  modi-
     fiers  tell  libxo  what the field is and how to treat it, while the format
     descriptors  are  formatting  instructions  using	printf(3)-style   format
     strings,  telling	libxo how to format the field.	The field description is
     placed inside a set of braces, with a colon (`:') after the modifiers and a
     slash (`/') before each format descriptors.  Text may  be	intermixed  with
     field descriptions within the format string.

     The field description is given as follows:

	       '{' [ role | modifier ]* [',' long-names ]* ':' [ content ]
		       [ '/' field-format [ '/' encoding-format ]] '}'

     The  role	describes  the function of the field, while the modifiers enable
     optional behaviors.  The contents, field-format,  and  encoding-format  are
     used  in  varying ways, based on the role.  These are described in the fol-
     lowing sections.

     Braces can be escaped by using double braces, similar to "%%" in printf(3).
     The format string "{{braces}}" would emit "{braces}".

     In the following example, three field descriptors appear.	The first  is  a
     padding  field  containing  three	spaces of padding, the second is a label
     ("In stock"), and the third is a value field  ("in-stock").   The	in-stock
     field  has  a  "%u"  format that will parse the next argument passed to the
     xo_emit(3), function as an unsigned integer.

	       xo_emit("{P:   }{Lwc:In stock}{:in-stock/%u}\n", 65);

     This single line  of  code  can  generate	text  ("In  stock:  65\n"),  XML
     ("<in-stock>65</in-stock>"),  JSON ('"in-stock": 65'), or HTML (too lengthy
     to be listed here).

     While roles and modifiers typically use single character for brevity, there
     are alternative names for each which allow more verbose formatting strings.
     These names must be preceded by a comma, and may follow any  single-charac-
     ter values:

	       xo_emit("{L,white,colon:In stock}{,key:in-stock/%u}\n", 65);

   Field Roles
     Field  roles are optional, and indicate the role and formatting of the con-
     tent.  The roles are listed below; only one role is permitted:

     M Name	    Description
     C color	    Field is a color or effect
     D decoration   Field is non-text (e.g. colon, comma)
     E error	    Field is an error message
     L label	    Field is text that prefixes a value
     N note	    Field is text that follows a value
     P padding	    Field is spaces needed for vertical alignment
     T title	    Field is a title value for headings
     U units	    Field is the units for the previous value field
     V value	    Field is the name of field (the default)
     W warning	    Field is a warning message
     [ start-anchor Begin a section of anchored variable-width text
     ] stop-anchor  End a section of anchored variable-width text

	      EXAMPLE:
		  xo_emit("{L:Free}{D::}{P:   }{:free/%u} {U:Blocks}\n",
			  free_blocks);

     When a role is not provided, the "value" role is used as the default.

     Roles and modifiers can also use more verbose names, when	preceeded  by  a
     comma:

	      EXAMPLE:
		   xo_emit("{,label:Free}{,decoration::}{,padding:   }"
			  "{,value:free/%u} {,units:Blocks}\n",
			  free_blocks);

   The Color Role ({C:})
     Colors and effects control how text values are displayed; they are used for
     display styles (TEXT and HTML).

	       xo_emit("{C:bold}{:value}{C:no-bold}\n", value);

     Colors  and  effects  remain  in  effect  until  modified by other "C"-role
     fields.

	       xo_emit("{C:bold}{C:inverse}both{C:no-bold}only inverse\n");

     If the content is empty, the "reset" action is performed.

	       xo_emit("{C:both,underline}{:value}{C:}\n", value);

     The content should be a comma-separated list of zero or more colors or dis-
     play effects.

	       xo_emit("{C:bold,underline,inverse}All three{C:no-bold,no-inverse}\n");

     The color content can be either static, when  placed  directly  within  the
     field  descriptor, or a printf-style format descriptor can be used, if pre-
     ceded by a slash ("/"):

	      xo_emit("{C:/%s%s}{:value}{C:}", need_bold ? "bold" : "",
		      need_underline ? "underline" : "", value);

     Color names are prefixed with either "fg-" or "bg-"  to  change  the  fore-
     ground and background colors, respectively.

	       xo_emit("{C:/fg-%s,bg-%s}{Lwc:Cost}{:cost/%u}{C:reset}\n",
		       fg_color, bg_color, cost);

     The following table lists the supported effects:

     Name	   Description
     bg-xxxxx	   Change background color
     bold	   Start bold text effect
     fg-xxxxx	   Change foreground color
     inverse	   Start inverse (aka reverse) text effect
     no-bold	   Stop bold text effect
     no-inverse    Stop inverse (aka reverse) text effect
     no-underline  Stop underline text effect
     normal	   Reset effects (only)
     reset	   Reset colors and effects (restore defaults)
     underline	   Start underline text effect

     The following color names are supported:

     Name
     black
     blue
     cyan
     default
     green
     magenta
     red
     white
     yellow

   The Decoration Role ({D:})
     Decorations  are  typically  punctuation marks such as colons, semi-colons,
     and commas used to decorate the text and make it simpler for human readers.
     By marking these distinctly, HTML usage scenarios can  use  CSS  to  direct
     their display parameters.

	       xo_emit("{D:((}{:name}{D:))}\n", name);

   The Gettext Role ({G:})
     libxo  supports  internationalization (i18n) through its use of gettext(3).
     Use the "{G:}" role to request  that  the	remaining  part  of  the  format
     string, following the "{G:}" field, be handled using gettext().  Since get-
     text()  uses  the	string as the key into the message catalog, libxo uses a
     simplified version of the format string that removes unimportant field for-
     matting and modifiers, stopping minor formatting changes from impacting the
     expensive translation process.  A developer change such as changing "/%06d"
     to "/%08d" should not force hand inspection of all .po files.

     The simplified version can be generated for  a  single  message  using  the
     "xopo  -s	<text>"  command,  or an entire .pot can be translated using the
     "xopo -f <input> -o <output>" command.

	      xo_emit("{G:}Invalid token\n");

     The {G:} role allows a domain name to be set.  gettext()  calls  will  con-
     tinue to use that domain name until the current format string processing is
     complete,	enabling a library function to emit strings using it's own cata-
     log.  The domain name can be either static as the content of the field,  or
     a format can be used to get the domain name from the arguments.

	      xo_emit("{G:libc}Service unavailable in restricted mode\n");

   The Label Role ({L:})
     Labels are text that appears before a value.

	       xo_emit("{Lwc:Cost}{:cost/%u}\n", cost);

   The Note Role ({N:})
     Notes are text that appears after a value.

	       xo_emit("{:cost/%u} {N:per year}\n", cost);

   The Padding Role ({P:})
     Padding  represents whitespace used before and between fields.  The padding
     content can be either static, when placed directly  within  the  field  de-
     scriptor, or a printf-style format descriptor can be used, if preceded by a
     slash ("/"):

	       xo_emit("{P:	   }{Lwc:Cost}{:cost/%u}\n", cost);
	       xo_emit("{P:/30s}{Lwc:Cost}{:cost/%u}\n", "", cost);

   The Title Role ({T:})
     Titles  are heading or column headers that are meant to be displayed to the
     user.  The title can be either static,  when  placed  directly  within  the
     field  descriptor, or a printf-style format descriptor can be used, if pre-
     ceded by a slash ("/"):

	       xo_emit("{T:Interface Statistics}\n");
	       xo_emit("{T:/%20.20s}{T:/%6.6s}\n", "Item Name", "Cost");

   The Units Role ({U:})
     Units are the dimension by which values  are  measured,  such  as	degrees,
     miles,  bytes,  and decibels.  The units field carries this information for
     the previous value field.

	       xo_emit("{Lwc:Distance}{:distance/%u}{Uw:miles}\n", miles);

     Note that the sense of the 'w' modifier is reversed for units; a  blank  is
     added before the contents, rather than after it.

     When  the	XOF_UNITS  flag is set, units are rendered in XML as the "units"
     attribute:

	       <distance units="miles">50</distance>

     Units can also be rendered in HTML as the "data-units" attribute:

	       <div class="data" data-tag="distance" data-units="miles"
		    data-xpath="/top/data/distance">50</div>

   The Value Role ({V:} and {:})
     The value role is used to represent the a data value  that  is  interesting
     for  the  non-display  output  styles (XML and JSON).  Value is the default
     role; if no other role designation is given, the field  is  a  value.   The
     field  name must appear within the field descriptor, followed by one or two
     format descriptors.  The first format descriptor is used for display styles
     (TEXT and HTML), while the second one is used for encoding styles (XML  and
     JSON).   If  no second format is given, the encoding format defaults to the
     first format, with any minimum width removed.  If no first format is given,
     both format descriptors default to "%s".

	       xo_emit("{:length/%02u}x{:width/%02u}x{:height/%02u}\n",
		       length, width, height);
	       xo_emit("{:author} wrote
		       author, poem, year);

   The Anchor Roles ({[:} and {]:})
     The anchor roles allow a set of strings by be padded as a group, but  still
     be  visible to xo_emit(3) as distinct fields.  Either the start or stop an-
     chor can give a field width and it can be either directly in the descriptor
     or passed as an argument.	Any fields between the start and stop anchor are
     padded to meet the minimum width given.

     To give a width directly, encode it as the content of the anchor tag:

	       xo_emit("({[:10}{:min/%d}/{:max/%d}{]:})\n", min, max);

     To pass a width as an argument, use "%d" as the format, which  must  appear
     after  the  "/".	Note  that only "%d" is supported for widths.  Using any
     other value could ruin your day.

	       xo_emit("({[:/%d}{:min/%d}/{:max/%d}{]:})\n", width, min, max);

     If the width is negative, padding will be added on the right, suitable  for
     left justification.  Otherwise the padding will be added to the left of the
     fields  between  the  start and stop anchors, suitable for right justifica-
     tion.  If the width is zero, nothing happens.  If the number of columns  of
     output  between  the start and stop anchors is less than the absolute value
     of the given width, nothing happens.

     Widths over 8k are  considered  probable  errors  and  not  supported.   If
     XOF_WARN is set, a warning will be generated.

   Field Modifiers
     Field modifiers are flags which modify the way content emitted for particu-
     lar output styles:

     M Name	      Description
     a argument       The content appears as a "const char *" argument
     c colon	      A colon (":") is appended after the label
     d display	      Only emit field for display styles (text/HTML)
     e encoding       Only emit for encoding styles (XML/JSON)
     h humanize (hn)  Format large numbers in human-readable style
       hn-space      Humanize: Place space between numeric and unit
       hn-decimal    Humanize: Add a decimal digit, if number < 10
       hn-1000	     Humanize: Use 1000 as divisor instead of 1024
     k key	      Field is a key, suitable for XPath predicates
     l leaf-list     Field is a leaf-list, a list of leaf values
     n no-quotes     Do not quote the field when using JSON style
     q quotes	      Quote the field when using JSON style
     t trim	      Trim leading and trailing whitespace
     w white space    A blank (" ") is appended after the label

     For  example,  the  modifier  string "Lwc" means the field has a label role
     (text that describes the next field) and should  be  followed  by	a  colon
     ('c')  and  a space ('w').  The modifier string "Vkq" means the field has a
     value role, that it is a key for the current instance, and that  the  value
     should be quoted when encoded for JSON.

     Roles  and  modifiers  can also use more verbose names, when preceeded by a
     comma.  For example, the modifier string "Lwc" (or  "L,white,colon")  means
     the  field has a label role (text that describes the next field) and should
     be followed by a colon ('c') and a space ('w').  The modifier string  "Vkq"
     (or ":key,quote") means the field has a value role (the default role), that
     it  is  a key for the current instance, and that the value should be quoted
     when encoded for JSON.

   The Argument Modifier ({a:})
     The argument modifier indicates that the content of  the  field  descriptor
     will be placed as a UTF-8 string (const char *) argument within the xo_emit
     parameters.

	       EXAMPLE:
		 xo_emit("{La:} {a:}\n", "Label text", "label", "value");
	       TEXT:
		 Label text value
	       JSON:
		 "label": "value"
	       XML:
		 <label>value</label>

     The  argument  modifier allows field names for value fields to be passed on
     the stack, avoiding the need to build a field descriptor using snprintf(1).
     For many field roles, the argument modifier  is  not  needed,  since  those
     roles have specific mechanisms for arguments, such as "{C:fg-%s}".

   The Colon Modifier ({c:})
     The colon modifier appends a single colon to the data value:

	       EXAMPLE:
		 xo_emit("{Lc:Name}{:name}\n", "phil");
	       TEXT:
		 Name:phil

     The colon modifier is only used for the TEXT and HTML output styles.  It is
     commonly  combined with the space modifier ('{w:}').  It is purely a conve-
     nience feature.

   The Display Modifier ({d:})
     The display modifier indicated the field should only be generated	for  the
     display output styles, TEXT and HTML.

	       EXAMPLE:
		 xo_emit("{Lcw:Name}{d:name} {:id/%d}\n", "phil", 1);
	       TEXT:
		 Name: phil 1
	       XML:
		 <id>1</id>

     The display modifier is the opposite of the encoding modifier, and they are
     often used to give to distinct views of the underlying data.

   The Encoding Modifier ({e:})
     The  encoding modifier indicated the field should only be generated for the
     encoding output styles, such as JSON and XML.

	       EXAMPLE:
		 xo_emit("{Lcw:Name}{:name} {e:id/%d}\n", "phil", 1);
	       TEXT:
		 Name: phil
	       XML:
		 <name>phil</name><id>1</id>

     The encoding modifier is the opposite of the display modifier, and they are
     often used to give to distinct views of the underlying data.

   The Humanize Modifier ({h:})
     The humanize modifier is used to render large numbers as in  a  human-read-
     able format.  While numbers like "44470272" are completely readable to com-
     puters and savants, humans will generally find "44M" more meaningful.

     "hn" can be used as an alias for "humanize".

     The  humanize  modifier  only  affects display styles (TEXT and HMTL).  The
     "no-humanize" option will block the function of the humanize modifier.

     There are a number of modifiers that affect details of humanization.  These
     are only available in as full names, not single characters.  The "hn-space"
     modifier places a space between the number and any multiplier symbol,  such
     as  "M"  or "K" (ex: "44 K").  The "hn-decimal" modifier will add a decimal
     point and a single tenths digit when  the	number	is  less  than	10  (ex:
     "4.4K").	The "hn-1000" modifier will use 1000 as divisor instead of 1024,
     following the JEDEC-standard  instead  of	the  more  natural  binary  pow-
     ers-of-two tradition.

	       EXAMPLE:
		   xo_emit("{h:input/%u}, {h,hn-space:output/%u}, "
		      "{h,hn-decimal:errors/%u}, {h,hn-1000:capacity/%u}, "
		      "{h,hn-decimal:remaining/%u}\n",
		       input, output, errors, capacity, remaining);
	       TEXT:
		   21, 57 K, 96M, 44M, 1.2G

     In the HTML style, the original numeric value is rendered in the "data-num-
     ber" attribute on the <div> element:

	       <div class="data" data-tag="errors"
		    data-number="100663296">96M</div>

   The Gettext Modifier ({g:})
     The  gettext modifier is used to translate individual fields using the get-
     text domain (typically set using the "{G:}" role) and current language set-
     tings.  Once libxo renders the field value, it  is  passed  to  gettext(3),
     where it is used as a key to find the native language translation.

     In the following example, the strings "State" and "full" are passed to get-
     text() to find locale-based translated strings.

	       xo_emit("{Lgwc:State}{g:state}\n", "full");

   The Key Modifier ({k:})
     The key modifier is used to indicate that a particular field helps uniquely
     identify an instance of list data.

	       EXAMPLE:
		   xo_open_list("user");
		   for (i = 0; i < num_users; i++) {
		       xo_open_instance("user");
		       xo_emit("User {k:name} has {:count} tickets\n",
			  user[i].u_name, user[i].u_tickets);
		       xo_close_instance("user");
		   }
		   xo_close_list("user");

     Currently	the  key  modifier is only used when generating XPath values for
     the HTML output style when XOF_XPATH is set, but other uses are  likely  in
     the near future.

   The Leaf-List Modifier ({l:})
     The  leaf-list  modifier  is  used to distinguish lists where each instance
     consists of only a single value.  In XML, these are rendered as single ele-
     ments, where JSON renders them as arrays.

	       EXAMPLE:
		   xo_open_list("user");
		   for (i = 0; i < num_users; i++) {
		       xo_emit("Member {l:name}\n", user[i].u_name);
		   }
		   xo_close_list("user");
	       XML:
		   <user>phil</user>
		   <user>pallavi</user>
	       JSON:
		   "user": [ "phil", "pallavi" ]

   The No-Quotes Modifier ({n:})
     The no-quotes modifier (and its twin, the	'quotes'  modifier)  affect  the
     quoting  of  values  in the JSON output style.  JSON uses quotes for string
     values, but no quotes for numeric, boolean, and null data.  xo_emit(3)  ap-
     plies  a simple heuristic to determine whether quotes are needed, but often
     this needs to be controlled by the caller.

	       EXAMPLE:
		 const char *bool = is_true ? "true" : "false";
		 xo_emit("{n:fancy/%s}", bool);
	       JSON:
		 "fancy": true

   The Plural Modifier ({p:})
     The plural modifier selects the appropriate plural form  of  an  expression
     based  on the most recent number emitted and the current language settings.
     The contents of the field should be the singular and plural English values,
     separated by a comma:

	       xo_emit("{:bytes} {Ngp:byte,bytes}\n", bytes);

     The plural modifier is meant to work with the gettext modifier  ({g:})  but
     can work independently.

     When  used without the gettext modifier or when the message does not appear
     in the message catalog, the first token is chosen	when  the  last  numeric
     value is equal to 1; otherwise the second value is used, mimicking the sim-
     ple pluralization rules of English.

     When  used with the gettext modifier, the ngettext(3) function is called to
     handle the heavy lifting, using the message catalog to convert the singular
     and plural forms into the native language.

   The Quotes Modifier ({q:})
     The quotes modifier (and its twin, the  'no-quotes'  modifier)  affect  the
     quoting  of  values  in the JSON output style.  JSON uses quotes for string
     values, but no quotes for numeric, boolean, and null data.  xo_emit(3)  ap-
     plies  a simple heuristic to determine whether quotes are needed, but often
     this needs to be controlled by the caller.

	       EXAMPLE:
		 xo_emit("{q:time/%d}", 2014);
	       JSON:
		 "year": "2014"

   The White Space Modifier ({w:})
     The white space modifier appends a single space to the data value:

	       EXAMPLE:
		 xo_emit("{Lw:Name}{:name}\n", "phil");
	       TEXT:
		 Name phil

     The white space modifier is only used for the TEXT and HTML output  styles.
     It  is  commonly combined with the colon modifier ('{c:}').  It is purely a
     convenience feature.

     Note that the sense of the 'w' modifier is  reversed  for	the  units  role
     ({Uw:}); a blank is added before the contents, rather than after it.

   Field Formatting
     The  field  format  is similar to the format string for printf(3).  Its use
     varies based on the role of the field, but generally is used to format  the
     field's contents.

     If  the  format  string  is  not provided for a value field, it defaults to
     "%s".

     Note a field definition can contain zero or more printf-style "directives",
     which are sequences that start with a '%' and end	with  one  of  following
     characters:  "diouxXDOUeEfFgGaAcCsSp".  Each directive is matched by one of
     more arguments to the xo_emit(3) function.

     The format string has the form:

	     '%' format-modifier * format-character

     The format- modifier can be:

     *	 a '#' character, indicating the output value should  be  prefixed  with
	 "0x", typically to indicate a base 16 (hex) value.

     *	 a minus sign ('-'), indicating the output value should be padded on the
	 right instead of the left.

     *	 a  leading  zero  ('0') indicating the output value should be padded on
	 the left with zeroes instead of spaces (' ').

     *	 one or more digits ('0' - '9') indicating the minimum width of the  ar-
	 gument.   If  the width in columns of the output value is less than the
	 minimum width, the value will be padded to reach the minimum.

     *	 a period followed by one or more digits indicating the  maximum  number
	 of  bytes  which will be examined for a string argument, or the maximum
	 width for a non-string argument.   When  handling  ASCII  strings  this
	 functions  as	the  field width but for multi-byte characters, a single
	 character may be composed of multiple	bytes.	 xo_emit(3)  will  never
	 dereference memory beyond the given number of bytes.

     *	 a  second  period followed by one or more digits indicating the maximum
	 width for a  string  argument.   This	modifier  cannot  be  given  for
	 non-string arguments.

     *	 one or more 'h' characters, indicating shorter input data.

     *	 one or more 'l' characters, indicating longer input data.

     *	 a 'z' character, indicating a 'size_t' argument.

     *	 a 't' character, indicating a 'ptrdiff_t' argument.

     *	 a  '  ' character, indicating a space should be emitted before positive
	 numbers.

     *	 a '+' character, indicating sign should emitted before any number.

     Note that 'q', 'D', 'O', and 'U' are considered deprecated and will be  re-
     moved eventually.

     The format character is described in the following table:

     C Argument Type   Format
     d int	       base 10 (decimal)
     i int	       base 10 (decimal)
     o int	       base 8 (octal)
     u unsigned        base 10 (decimal)
     x unsigned        base 16 (hex)
     X unsigned long   base 16 (hex)
     D long	       base 10 (decimal)
     O unsigned long   base 8 (octal)
     U unsigned long   base 10 (decimal)
     e double	       [-]d.ddde+-dd
     E double	       [-]d.dddE+-dd
     f double	       [-]ddd.ddd
     F double	       [-]ddd.ddd
     g double	       as 'e' or 'f'
     G double	       as 'E' or 'F'
     a double	       [-]0xh.hhhp[+-]d
     A double	       [-]0Xh.hhhp[+-]d
     c unsigned char   a character
     C wint_t	       a character
     s char *	       a UTF-8 string
     S wchar_t *       a unicode/WCS string
     p void *	       '%#lx'

     The 'h' and 'l' modifiers affect the size and treatment of the argument:

     Mod d, i	      o, u, x, X
     hh  signed char  unsigned char
     h	 short	      unsigned short
     l	 long	      unsigned long
     ll  long long    unsigned long long
     j	 intmax_t     uintmax_t
     t	 ptrdiff_t    ptrdiff_t
     z	 size_t       size_t
     q	 quad_t       u_quad_t

   UTF-8 and Locale Strings
     All  strings  for libxo must be UTF-8.  libxo will handle turning them into
     locale-based strings for display to the user.

     For strings, the 'h' and 'l' modifiers affect  the  interpretation  of  the
     bytes  pointed  to argument.  The default '%s' string is a 'char *' pointer
     to a string encoded as UTF-8.  Since UTF-8 is compatible with ASCII data, a
     normal 7-bit ASCII string can be used.  "%ls" expects a "wchar_t *" pointer
     to a wide-character string, encoded as 32-bit Unicode  values.   "%hs"  ex-
     pects  a  "char  *" pointer to a multi-byte string encoded with the current
     locale, as given by the LC_CTYPE, LANG, or  LC_ALL  environment  variables.
     The  first  of  this list of variables is used and if none of the variables
     are set, the locale defaults to UTF-8.

     libxo will convert these arguments as needed  to  either  UTF-8  (for  XML,
     JSON, and HTML styles) or locale-based strings for display in text style.

	      xo_emit("All strings are utf-8 content {:tag/%ls}",
		      L"except for wide strings");

     "%S" is equivalent to "%ls".

     For  example,  a  function  is passed a locale-base name, a hat size, and a
     time value.  The hat size is formatted in a UTF-8 (ASCII) string,	and  the
     time value is formatted into a wchar_t string.

	       void print_order (const char *name, int size,
				 struct tm *timep) {
		   char buf[32];
		   const char *size_val = "unknown";

		   if (size > 0)
		       snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%d", size);
		       size_val = buf;
		   }

		   wchar_t when[32];
		   wcsftime(when, sizeof(when), L"%d%b%y", timep);

		   xo_emit("The hat for {:name/%hs} is {:size/%s}.\n",
			   name, size_val);
		   xo_emit("It was ordered on {:order-time/%ls}.\n",
			   when);
	       }

     It  is  important	to  note that xo_emit(3) will perform the conversion re-
     quired to make appropriate output.  Text style output uses the current  lo-
     cale (as described above), while XML, JSON, and HTML use UTF-8.

     UTF-8  and locale-encoded strings can use multiple bytes to encode one col-
     umn of data.  The traditional "precision" (aka "max-width") value for  "%s"
     printf  formatting becomes overloaded since it specifies both the number of
     bytes that can be safely referenced and the maximum number  of  columns  to
     emit.   xo_emit(3) uses the precision as the former, and adds a third value
     for specifying the maximum number of columns.

     In this example, the name field is printed with a minimum of 3 columns  and
     a maximum of 6.  Up to ten bytes are in used in filling those columns.

	       xo_emit("{:name/%3.10.6s}", name);

   Characters Outside of Field Definitions
     Characters in the format string that are not part of a field definition are
     copied  to  the output for the TEXT style, and are ignored for the JSON and
     XML styles.  For HTML, these characters are placed in a  <div>  with  class
     "text".

	     EXAMPLE:
		 xo_emit("The hat is {:size/%s}.\n", size_val);
	     TEXT:
		 The hat is extra small.
	     XML:
		 <size>extra small</size>
	     JSON:
		 "size": "extra small"
	     HTML:
		 <div class="text">The hat is </div>
		 <div class="data" data-tag="size">extra small</div>
		 <div class="text">.</div>

   '%n' is Not Supported
     libxo does not support the '%n' directive.  It is a bad idea and we just do
     not do it.

   The Encoding Format (eformat)
     The  "eformat" string is the format string used when encoding the field for
     JSON and XML.  If not provided, it defaults to the primary format with  any
     minimum width removed.  If the primary is not given, both default to "%s".

EXAMPLE
     In this example, the value for the number of items in stock is emitted:

		   xo_emit("{P:   }{Lwc:In stock}{:in-stock/%u}\n",
			   instock);

     This call will generate the following output:

	     TEXT:
		  In stock: 144
	     XML:
		 <in-stock>144</in-stock>
	     JSON:
		 "in-stock": 144,
	     HTML:
		 <div class="line">
		   <div class="padding">   </div>
		   <div class="label">In stock</div>
		   <div class="decoration">:</div>
		   <div class="padding"> </div>
		   <div class="data" data-tag="in-stock">144</div>
		 </div>

     Clearly  HTML  wins  the  verbosity award, and this output does not include
     XOF_XPATH or XOF_INFO data, which would expand the penultimate line to:

		  <div class="data" data-tag="in-stock"
		     data-xpath="/top/data/item/in-stock"
		     data-type="number"
		     data-help="Number of items in stock">144</div>

WHAT MAKES A GOOD FIELD NAME?
     To make useful, consistent field names, follow these guidelines:

   Use lower case, even for TLAs
     Lower case is more civilized.  Even TLAs should be lower case to avoid sce-
     narios where the differences between "XPath" and "Xpath" drive  your  users
     crazy.  Using "xpath" is simpler and better.

   Use hyphens, not underscores
     Use  of  hyphens is traditional in XML, and the XOF_UNDERSCORES flag can be
     used to generate underscores in JSON, if desired.	But the raw  field  name
     should use hyphens.

   Use full words
     Do  not  abbreviate  especially when the abbreviation is not obvious or not
     widely used.  Use "data-size", not "dsz" or "dsize".  Use	"interface"  in-
     stead of "ifname", "if-name", "iface", "if", or "intf".

   Use <verb>-<units>
     Using  the form <verb>-<units> or <verb>-<classifier>-<units> helps in mak-
     ing consistent, useful names, avoiding the situation  where  one  app  uses
     "sent-packet"    and    another	"packets-sent"	  and	another   "pack-
     ets-we-have-sent".  The <units> can be dropped when it is obvious,  as  can
     obvious  words  in  the classification.  Use "receive-after-window-packets"
     instead of "received-packets-of-data-after-window".

   Reuse existing field names
     Nothing is worse than writing expressions like:

	       if ($src1/process[pid == $pid]/name ==
		   $src2/proc-table/proc/p[process-id == $pid]/proc-name) {
		   ...
	       }

     Find someone else who is expressing similar data and  follow  their  fields
     and  hierarchy.  Remember the quote is not "Consistency is the hobgoblin of
     little minds" but "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds".

   Think about your users
     Have empathy for your users, choosing clear and useful fields that  contain
     clear  and  useful  data.	You may need to augment the display content with
     xo_attr(3) calls or "{e:}" fields to make the data useful.

   Do not use an arbitrary number postfix
     What does "errors2" mean?	No one will know.  "errors-after-restart"  would
     be  a better choice.  Think of your users, and think of the future.  If you
     make "errors2", the next guy will happily make  "errors3"	and  before  you
     know it, someone will be asking what is the difference between errors37 and
     errors63.

   Be consistent, uniform, unsurprising, and predictable
     Think  of your field vocabulary as an API.  You want it useful, expressive,
     meaningful, direct, and obvious.  You want the  client  application's  pro-
     grammer  to  move between without the need to understand a variety of opin-
     ions on how fields are named.  They should see the system as a single cohe-
     sive whole, not a sack of cats.

     Field names constitute the means by which client programmers interact  with
     our system.  By choosing wise names now, you are making their lives better.

     After using xolint(1) to find errors in your field descriptors, use "xolint
     -V"  to  spell check your field names and to detect different names for the
     same data.  "dropped-short" and  "dropped-too-short"  are	both  reasonable
     names,  but  using  them both will lead users to ask the difference between
     the two fields.  If there is no difference,  use  only  one  of  the  field
     names.   If there is a difference, change the names to make that difference
     more obvious.

SEE ALSO
     libxo(3), xolint(1), xo_emit(3)

ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION
     FreeBSD uses libxo version 0.6.1.	Complete documentation can be  found  on
     github:

	   http://juniper.github.io/libxo/0.6.1/libxo-manual.html

     libxo lives on github as:

	   https://github.com/Juniper/libxo

     The latest release of libxo is available at:

	   https://github.com/Juniper/libxo/releases

HISTORY
     The libxo library was added in FreeBSD 11.0.

AUTHOR
     Phil Shafer

FreeBSD ports 15.quarterly	December 4, 2014			LIBXO(3)

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