Syntax

KwickXML is written as plain text with style and format created by tags denoted by angled brackets (“<” and “>”). Here is a sample:

Why did the <b>chicken</b> cross the road?

To <i>die</i> in the name of <url href="http://www.aaas.org/">science</url>.

There are three types of tags: start tags (<tag>), end tags (</tag>), and single tags (<tag/>), where “tag” is the name of the tag. Start tags and single tags may contain attributes in the form of attrib="value" or attrib='value', e.g. <tag1 a="1" b='2'> or <tag2 c="1" d='2'/>. Note that the quotes are required. Every start tag must be paired with the corresponding end tag, and such pairs must be perfectly nested, i.e. <f><g></g></f> is valid but <f><g></f></g> is not.

KwickXML automatically transforms text separated by blank lines into separate paragraphs. KwickXML also automatically transforms straight quotes into curly or fancy quotes and automatically links website urls contained in the text.

Inner-paragraph Tags

These tags belong inside paragraphs and thus should not contain any paragraph breaks (except for note). The following tags are disabled by default in comments: a, eqn, img, and note.

1. a - hyperlink
   1. href - url of the link
2. b - bold text (strong emphasis)
3. em - italic text (emphasis)
4. email - email address hyperlink
   1. address - address of link
5. eqn - an equation in LaTeX format
   1. num - the number of the equation (optional)
6. img - an embedded image; use single tag format
   1. src - url of the image
   2. width - width of the image (recommended)
   3. height - height of the image (recommended)
   4. alt - alternate text of the image (recommended)
   5. href - url that the image forms a link to (optional)
   6. place="left|right" - placement of image (optional)
7. i - italic text (emphasis)
8. note - a footnote
   1. title - title of the footnote (optional)
9. s - striken text
10. strong - bold text (strong emphasis)
11. sub - superscript
12. sup - subscript
13. u - underlined text
14. url - hyperlink
    1. href - url of the link

Block Tags

These tags form their own blocks, should be specified as their own paragraphs, and can contain multiple paragraphs. The following tags are disabled by default in comments: figure, h, html, sidebar, and toc.

1. blockquote - blockquote
   1. author - the author of the quote
2. code - a section of source code with proper escaping of angled brackets
3. figure - an image with associated text
   1. src - url of the image
   2. width - width of the image
   3. height - height of the image (recommended)
   4. alt - alternate text of the image (recommended)
   5. href - url that the image forms a link to (optional)
   6. place="left|right" - placement of figure (optional)
4. h - heading
5. html - include raw html code
6. qref - reference for a quote; belongs in quote or blockquote
   1. href - url of the source material (optional)
7. quote - blockquote
   1. author - the author of the quote (optional)
8. sidebar - a sidebar
9. toc - a table of contents derived from headings; use single tag format

List Tags

These tags constuct lists.

1. list - a list
   1. type="*|O|#|1|i|I|a|A|n" - the type of list (optional)
      1. * - disc (bullet)
      2. O - circle
      3. # - square
      4. 1 - decimal numbers
      5. i - lower-case Roman numbers
      6. I - upper-case Roman numbers
      7. a - lower-case English (Latin) letters
      8. A - upper-case English (Latin) letters
      9. n - none
2. refs - a reference list
3. li - a list element belongs in list or refs
   1. href - url to link the element to (optional)

Table Tags

These tags construct tables and are disabled by default in comments.

1. table - construct a table
2. tr - construct a table row
3. td - construct a table cell
   1. colspan - number of columns spanned by the cell (optional)
   2. rowspan - number of rowss spanned by the cell (optional)
4. th - construct a table heading cell
   1. colspan - number of columns spanned by the cell (optional)
   2. rowspan - number of rowss spanned by the cell (optional)

Miscellaneous Tags

The following tags are recognized by KwickXML but are not recommended for usage by authors

1. br - line break
2. kwickxml - special tag inserted by the processor
3. p - paragraph

Special Urls

KwickXML recognizes several special url formats.

1. entry://N - a url to entry number ‘N’
2. comment://N - a url to comment number ‘N’
3. heading://H - a url to heading ‘H’
4. amazon://ASIN - a url to Amazon merchandise ‘ASIN’