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| <title>Command Syntax (GNU Texinfo 6.8dev)</title> |
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| <div class="section-level-extent" id="Command-Syntax"> |
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| <p> |
| Next: <a href="Command-List.html" accesskey="n" rel="next">@-Command List</a>, Up: <a href="_0040_002dCommand-Details.html" accesskey="u" rel="up">@-Command Details</a> [<a href="index.html#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="Command-and-Variable-Index.html" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]</p> |
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| <h3 class="section" id="g_t_0040_002dCommand-Syntax">A.1 @-Command Syntax</h3> |
| <a class="index-entry-id" id="index-_0040_002dcommands-3"></a> |
| <a class="index-entry-id" id="index-Syntax_002c-of-_0040_002dcommands"></a> |
| <a class="index-entry-id" id="index-Command-syntax"></a> |
| |
| <p>Texinfo has the following types of @-command: |
| </p> |
| <dl class="table"> |
| <dt>1. Brace commands</dt> |
| <dd><p>These commands start with @ followed by a letter or a word, followed by an |
| argument within braces. For example, the command <code class="code">@dfn</code> indicates |
| the introductory or defining use of a term; it is used as follows: ‘<samp class="samp">In |
| Texinfo, @@-commands are @dfn{mark-up} commands.</samp>’ |
| </p> |
| </dd> |
| <dt>2. Line commands</dt> |
| <dd><p>These commands occupy an entire line. The line starts with @, |
| followed by the name of the command (a word); for example, <code class="code">@center</code> |
| or <code class="code">@cindex</code>. If no argument is needed, the word is followed by |
| the end of the line. If there is an argument, it is separated from |
| the command name by a space. Braces are not used. |
| </p> |
| </dd> |
| <dt>3. Block commands</dt> |
| <dd><p>These commands are written at the start of a line, with general text on |
| following lines, terminated by a matching <code class="code">@end</code> command on a |
| line of its own. For example, <code class="code">@example</code>, then the lines of a |
| coding example, then <code class="code">@end example</code>. Some of these block commands |
| take arguments as line commands do; for example, <code class="code">@enumerate A</code> |
| opening an environment terminated by <code class="code">@end enumerate</code>. Here |
| ‘<samp class="samp">A</samp>’ is the argument. |
| </p> |
| </dd> |
| <dt>4. Symbol insertion commands with no arguments</dt> |
| <dd><p>These commands start with @ followed by a word followed by a |
| left and right- brace. These commands insert special symbols in |
| the document; they do not take arguments. Some examples: |
| <code class="code">@dots{}</code> ⇒ ‘<samp class="samp">…</samp>’, <code class="code">@equiv{}</code> |
| ⇒ ‘<samp class="samp">≡</samp>’, <code class="code">@TeX{}</code> ⇒ ‘TeX’, and |
| <code class="code">@bullet{}</code> ⇒ ‘<samp class="samp">•</samp>’. |
| </p> |
| </dd> |
| <dt>5. Non-alphabetic commands</dt> |
| <dd><p>The names of commands in all of the above categories consist of |
| alphabetic characters, almost entirely in lower-case. Unlike those, the |
| non-alphabetic commands consist of an @ followed by a |
| punctuation mark or other character that is not part of the Latin |
| alphabet. Non-alphabetic commands are almost always part of text |
| within a paragraph. The non-alphabetic commands include <code class="code">@@</code>, |
| <code class="code">@{</code>, <code class="code">@}</code>, <code class="code">@.</code>, <code class="code">@<kbd class="kbd">SPACE</kbd></code>, and most of |
| the accent commands. |
| </p> |
| </dd> |
| <dt>6. Miscellaneous commands</dt> |
| <dd><p>There are a handful of commands that don’t fit into any of the above |
| categories; for example, the obsolete command <code class="code">@refill</code>, which is |
| always used at the end of a paragraph immediately following the final |
| period or other punctuation character. <code class="code">@refill</code> takes no |
| argument and does not require braces. Likewise, <code class="code">@tab</code> used in a |
| <code class="code">@multitable</code> block does not take arguments, and is not followed |
| by braces. |
| </p></dd> |
| </dl> |
| |
| <a class="index-entry-id" id="index-Braces-and-argument-syntax"></a> |
| <p>Thus, the alphabetic commands fall into classes that have |
| different argument syntaxes. You cannot tell to which class a command |
| belongs by the appearance of its name, but you can tell by the |
| command’s meaning: if the command stands for a glyph, it is in |
| class 4 and does not require an argument; if it makes sense to use the |
| command among other text as part of a paragraph, the command |
| is in class 1 and must be followed by an argument in braces. The |
| non-alphabetic commands, such as <code class="code">@:</code>, are exceptions to the |
| rule; they do not need braces. |
| </p> |
| <p>The purpose of having different syntax for commands is to make Texinfo |
| files easier to read, and also to help the GNU Emacs paragraph and |
| filling commands work properly. |
| </p> |
| |
| </div> |
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| Next: <a href="Command-List.html">@-Command List</a>, Up: <a href="_0040_002dCommand-Details.html">@-Command Details</a> [<a href="index.html#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="Command-and-Variable-Index.html" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]</p> |
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