From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Jambunathan K Subject: Re: Formal description of Org files Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2011 11:46:04 +0530 Message-ID: <81y5zueqxn.fsf@gmail.com> References: <4213EBED-2EFC-413F-8618-2A594AECEDCF@gmail.com> <877hav8lup.fsf@gmail.com> <2970.1302892280@alphaville.americas.hpqcorp.net> <20110420123741.GA21304@buga.lan> <87vcuzhmsq.fsf@gmail.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Return-path: Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([140.186.70.92]:45673) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1Qj3bX-0007M0-2S for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Tue, 19 Jul 2011 02:16:30 -0400 Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1Qj3bT-0008Le-3Q for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Tue, 19 Jul 2011 02:16:26 -0400 Received: from mail-pv0-f169.google.com ([74.125.83.169]:47269) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1Qj3bS-0008La-Ux for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Tue, 19 Jul 2011 02:16:23 -0400 Received: by pvc12 with SMTP id 12so4333235pvc.0 for ; Mon, 18 Jul 2011 23:16:22 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: <87vcuzhmsq.fsf@gmail.com> (Nicolas Goaziou's message of "Mon, 18 Jul 2011 13:04:53 +0200") List-Id: "General discussions about Org-mode." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: emacs-orgmode-bounces+geo-emacs-orgmode=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Sender: emacs-orgmode-bounces+geo-emacs-orgmode=m.gmane.org@gnu.org To: emacs-orgmode mailing list Cc: Nick Dokos , Nicolas Goaziou , Marcelo de Moraes Serpa , Carsten Dominik http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Markup_spec should be a good starting point this. Specifically one could adopt an approach similar to what the "Parser outline" section says and do some reverse literate programming (elisp--->Natual Language) Let me put on my didactic hat and remind the participants in this list/thread the "GTD approach" to Getting Things Done. Collect->Process->Organize->Review->Do I see (and I could be wrong) an intermingling of all of the above steps in a single step in this thread. A simple worg page that "collects" the low hanging fruits to begin with will be a good but firm first step in this direction. It would also enable consolidation of notes in a single place (rather than it being fragmented in a bunch of mboxy thingies) and also enable community contribution. Let's all step back from the mailing list (or this thread) for a while and contirbute to "growing" a spec from within a Worg page. I think it would help if we keep our focus away from lexers/parsers and bnf/ebnf etc and return to it when we refine the model. Formal Descriptions only adds precision and (possibly refinement) to a model. They are generally of limited help while growing the model itself. So a informal spec in plain English (with accompanying regexes) should be good enough. Mankind has made good progress with just pen and paper and lately with plain text files :-). ps: I definitely see Nicolas "at it". Others seem more like cheerleaders. Both have their roles to play and their respective contributions are equally helpful. Jambunathan K.