KEVS

A configuration format which aims to be easy(enough) to read and write by humans and at the same time, easy(enough) to parse by machines.

Features

• line comments: # comment
• key-value pairs: key = value;

Keys

Keys are valid identifiers: [_a-zA-Z][_a-zA-Z0-9]*.

Values

String

Strings must contain only valid UTF-8 characters.

There are two type of strings: raw and interpreted.

Interpreted strings are enclosed in "". Escape sequences are interpreted and replaced in the final string.

Raw strings are enclosed in ``. The final string is as written, escape sequences are ignored.

string_escaped = "first line\nsecond\n\tthird has a tab\nSpock says: \U0001F596"

raw_string = `first line
second
    third has a tab
Spock says: 🖖`;

In the example from above, the two strings are equal: string_escaped == raw_string

The supported escape sequences are:

\a   U+0007 alert or bell
\b   U+0008 backspace
\f   U+000C form feed
\n   U+000A line feed or newline
\r   U+000D carriage return
\t   U+0009 horizontal tab
\v   U+000B vertical tab
\\   U+005C backslash
\"   U+0022 double quote

\uXXXX       U+XXXX     unicode
\UXXXXXXXX   U+XXXXXXXX unicode

Integer

x1 = 42;  # positive(implicit)
x2 = +42; # positive(explicit)
x3 = -42; # negative

x4 = 0x2a;     # hexadeciaml
x5 = 0o52;     # octal
x6 = 0b101010; # binary

# same but signed
x4 = -0x2a;     # hexadeciaml
x5 = +0o52;     # octal
x6 = -0b101010; # binary

Boolean:

x = true;
y = false;

List(of values)

x = [
  "foo";
  "bar";
  "baz";
];

y = [1; 2; 3; ];

Table(of key-value pairs):

x = {
  a = 23;
  b = "42";
};

y = {foo = true; bar = 0xcafe; };

Examples

• Basic example: example.kevs.
• TOML example from toml.io compared with its KEVS equivalent

Possible FAQ

What's with the trailing ;?

You can see that all values must end with a ;. This may be anoying for the user, but is intentionally enforced to make the parser code simpler. This is a tradeoff between user's convenience and the simplicity of the implementation.

Where are the float numbers?

There aren't any. You can store them as integers then convert them back yourself: f = 123.45 => i = f*100 => f = i/100. Or, store them as string and parse them in your application.