Re: [ddlm-group] Result of concatenation operator vote. .. .

On Thursday, October 28, 2010 4:48 PM, Herbert J. Bernstein wrote:
>
>Let me make this absolutely clear:
>
>;\
>
>does not violate the CIF1.1 syntax.  It violates an incorrect
>description of the CIF1.1 syntax.  This is about as silly as saying
>the "would that it were the case" violates English syntax because
>Microsoft word has a grammer checker that does not know about the
>subjunctive.

I suppose, then, that I am at a loss as to where to find a correct description of the CIF 1.1 syntax.  The spec currently available online at iucr.org agrees with IT vol. G.:

1) as ITG puts it, "A text field delimited by the <eol>; digraph may not include a semicolon at the start of a line of text as part of its value."  (International Tables vol. G (2005), Section 2.2.7.1.4, numbered paragraph (18).)

2) The formal grammars presented in both places do not permit a semicolon to appear at the beginning of a line of text inside a text field.  According to them, the first <eol>; digraph following the opening delimiter can only parse as the closing delimiter.

3) The explanations of both versions of the formal grammar repeat the same restriction on lines inside text fields: "[...] the first character cannot be a semicolon." (ITG 2.2.7.3, numbered paragraph (49))

The specifications available to me are explicit, consistent, repetitive, and clear on this point.  Furthermore, both versions of the specification say

4) Tokens are separated by whitespace (ITG 2.2.3, third paragraph), and

5) "For a semicolon-delimited text string, failure to provide trailing white space is an error."  (ITG 2.2.7.3, numbered paragraph (56))


Do you have a more authoritative reference than ITG?  Or official errata that alter these provisions?  Or an authoritative supplemental specification that changes them? Where can I find a correct specification?


Thanks,

John
--
John C. Bollinger, Ph.D.
Department of Structural Biology
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital




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