3 LilyInput - LilyPond input format
7 This page documents the the LilyPond input format, mudela.
11 General format of a construct:
13 BLOCKNAME { <info to go with this block> }
15 Some types allow declarations:
17 IDENTIFIER = BLOCKNAME {
18 <info to go with this block>
33 a lot of characters parse differently
34 than in "command" mode, eg,
36 identifier = score { .. }
38 So you have to signal that to the tokenizer. This is done with
39 '$'. '$' is a delimiter, which used by the tokenizer only.
42 musicmode: The brace still is used to group grammatical groups.
45 musicmode: "word" are preceded by a '\' (backslash)
47 This means you can write some stuff in a zillion ways:
50 $\var = \blockname { ... } $
53 var = blockname { $ ... $ }
56 var = $ $ $\blockname { ... $ }
60 Not really crystallized; you can use '#' or '%' as line comment
64 A correctly parsed .ly does not guarantuee output. A lot (most) of the
65 checking is done B<after> parsing (some checks even are done after the
66 break calc!); I'm sorry.
68 The parser's job is to construct appropriate objects. It will *only*
71 LilyPond first reads 'symbol.ini', which contains declarations crucial
72 to proper operation of LilyPond (symbol tables, note names).
74 This language looks a lot like Rayce's which in turn owes a lot to the
75 POVRay raytracer. Now, I know, musictypesetting and Raytracing do not
76 necessarily require the same input format, but I was just to lazy to
77 make up a new and/or better input format. Suggestions welcome.