Settings File Format

This documentation is available in Settings/Settings_Default.conf.

The format for settings files is basic. An example will suffice for most purposes.

Basic Format

        <setting1 group name>;  <setting1 name>; <setting1 value>;
        <setting2 group name>;  <setting2 name>; <setting2 value>;

Example

        %-------------------------------------example start
        % blah blah blah
        GENERAL; Main_Code_Directory;   /ratter/ExperPort
        GENERAL; dbl_quotes_ignored;   "/ratter/ExperPort"
        GENERAL;NoSpacingIsFine;0;
        GENERAL;EmptyValuesAreEmptyStrings; ;
         
        FAVORITES;   food;      tomato soup    ; %internal spaces saved
        DIOLINES  ;    left1water   ;   1     %terminal ; unnecessary
        EXAMPLE ; QuiteEmpty; ;   %this one will have an empty string as its value
 
        % commentcomment
        DIOLINES    ;  right1water ;   2 
        FAVORITES;  animal; rat            %    commentcommentcomment
 
        % blah
        %-------------------------------------example end

Rules

   - Phrases (setting group names, setting names, or setting values)
       must be separated by ONE SEMI-COLON. Spaces/tabs between the
       phrases are entirely unrestricted. 
 
   - WHITESPACE treatment:
       -- NO linebreak/newline characters are permitted anywhere between
            the START of a setting's group name and the END its value
            string.
            e.g. In the line    "  * group ^ ; sname; sval *"
                     newline/linebreak chars are okay at e.g. the
                     positions marked by asterisks*, but NOT ALLOWED at
                     e.g. the position marked with a carat.
       -- LEADING and TRAILING spaces/tabs for all phrases are
            DISCARDED.
            e.g. "   Group One  ; " is interpreted as "Group One".
       -- Spaces/tabs WITHIN (i.e. not leading or trailing) setting
            values are PERMITTED and are INCLUDED in the loaded value.
       -- However, whitespace WITHIN group NAMES and setting NAMES is
            NOT PERMITED and will interrupt settings loading and return
            an informative error ID and message.
 
   - Matlab-style COMMENTING is respected in the settings file.
 
   - SETTING NAME strings and SETTING GROUP NAME strings must be valid
     as MATLAB variables - i.e.  no special characters, must start with
     a letter, not empty, etc. Also, they cannot match certain
     SettingsObject reserved words like 'any' or 'all'. (current list in
     variable reserved_names below).
 
   - NUMERIC values are interpreted, stored, and retrieved as such (if
       they are recognized by str2double).
 
   - Line length is not unlimited. Characters after the 4095th character
       on a line are not read.
 
   - Settings (and groups and values) are case-sensitive.
 
   - 'ALL' (case-insensitive) is not permitted as a group or setting
        name.
 
   - Double-quotes in setting values are removed.