CONFIGFILE(5)

NAME
configfile - generic configuration file format

SYNOPSIS
*/etc/*.conf

DESCRIPTION
The syntax of the generic configuration file format is as follows:

    configfile:	empty
    	|	configline configfile
    	;
    configline:	wordlist ';'
    	|	include string ';'
    	;
    wordlist:	empty
    	|	word wordlist
    	|	string wordlist
    	|	'{' configfile '}' wordlist
    	;
    empty:	;

A word is a sequence of letters, numbers, and characters from the set !#$%&*+-./<=>?[\]^_|~. A backslash (\) may be followed by a character in the set abefnrstv to form a BEL, BS, ESC, FF, NL, CR, SP, TAB, or VT character. Followed by up to three octal digits a character of that value is formed, and likewise for an x followed by up to two hexadecimal digits. Any other character is left as-is. A backslash followed by whitespace is completely removed from the input. (This includes comments.)

A string is started by a single or double quote, a series of characters, and ended by the same type of quote it started with. Any character or escape with \ may be found in a string. Strings may not span lines.

Tokens are separated by whitespace, being the usual whitespace characters and comments. A comment starts with the # character, and ends at a newline.

The special word include tells that the file mentioned in the following string must be read and included at that point. The file is found relative to the directory the current configuration file is found in, unless its name starts with a /. A file that doesn't exist is seen as empty.

A generic configuration file can be read with the functions described in configfile(3).

EXAMPLES
Have a look at /etc/dhcp.conf.

SEE ALSO
configfile(3).

NOTES
Inspired by the configuration file of Paul Vixie's bind.

AUTHOR
Kees J. Bot (kjb@cs.vu.nl)