JDex C# (Might be a temperary name)

JDex is a simple indexing and value list file structure designed to be simply writen and lightweight.

Features:

• Index valid name may include any of a-Z, 0-9, _, and .
• Child index are assigned based on indent (tab) level
• Index can have a list of values of types: string, bool, int, and/or float sperated by commas (,)
• Index string values has escape characters and unicode support
• Comments are denoted by the pound (#) character

File Formatting:

File_Example.jdex

# Comments can start on its own line
index_name: "string value", "second value"
    second_index: "value" # Or be at the end of an entry
        # Shorthand index declaration continue after the first index
        third_index: one: "one" two: "two"

numeric_values:
    int: -213768
    # Hex and binary values can not have a sign (+ or -)
    hex: 0x2222
    binary: 0b100100
    float: 0.002e-3

# allowed values for bool: true or false
boolean_values:
    bool: true
    bool: false

# You can have multiple index entries at root level
box_index: 2
    # Index keys can be repeated
    box: "big"
    box: "small"

# Unicode and other escape characters in value string
unicode_character: "\u0065"
exscape_character: "\n\t\f"

C# Usage

In C# building JDex structure are done with JDexNode. The first node is the root node and will only contain other nodes. Writing and reading JDex files Can be done with JDexWriter or JDexReader.

// First node is the root node, this only houses other nodes
var root = new JDex.JDexNode( );
var node = new JDex.JDexNode( );
root.Add("node_name", node);
node.AddValue("Node value");
node.AddValue(12);

// For writing files
using(var writer = new JDex.JDexWriter("file.jdex"))
    writer.Write(root);

// For reading files
using(var reader = new JDex.JDexReader("file.jdex")) {
    var node = reader.ReadToEnd( );
    System.Console.WriteLine(node);
}

Parsing of a string is posible through the use of JDexNode.Parse(string).

// Throws an JDexParseException if the structure was invalid
var node = JDexNode.Parse("first.node: \"Node Value\" inner.node: \"Inner Node Value\"");

Utility functions for traversing through and testing for node are JDexNode.PathThrough(JDexNode, params string[]) and JDexNode.HasPath(JDexNode, params string[]). JDex paths are formed by chaining JDex key names seperated by a collin (:) for the path. The use of a pound (#) character after a JDex key stats the sub index for the key name.

// Returns the node at the end of the path
var node = JDexNode.PathThrough(root, "node:node#4:node");
// Checks if the path is valid
var exists = JDexNode.HasPath(root, "node:node#4:node");