.TH CONFIGFILE 5
.SH NAME
configfile \- generic configuration file format
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B */etc/*.conf
.SH DESCRIPTION
.de SP
.if t .sp 0.4
.if n .sp
..
The syntax of the generic configuration file format is as follows:
.PP
.RS
.nf
.ta +16n
configfile:	empty
.ta +8n +8n
	|	configline configfile
	;

.ta +16n
configline:	wordlist '\fB;\fR'
.ta +8n +8n
	|	\fBinclude\fR string '\fB;\fR'
	;

.ta +16n
wordlist:	empty
.ta +8n +8n
	|	word wordlist
	|	string wordlist
	|	'\fB{\fR' configfile '\fB}\fR' wordlist
	;

empty:	;
.fi
.RE
.PP
A word is a sequence of letters, numbers, and characters from the set
.BR "!#$%&*+-./<=>?[\e]^_|~" .
A backslash
.RB ( \e )
may be followed by a character in the set
.B 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
.B 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.)
.PP
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
.B \e
may be found in a string.  Strings may not span lines.
.PP
Tokens are separated by whitespace, being the usual whitespace characters
and comments.  A comment starts with the
.B #
character, and ends at a newline.
.PP
The special word
.B 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
.BR / .
A file that doesn't exist is seen as empty.
.PP
A generic configuration file can be read with the functions described in
.BR configfile (3).
.SH EXAMPLES
Have a look at
.BR /etc/dhcp.conf .
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.BR configfile (3).
.SH NOTES
Inspired by the configuration file of Paul Vixie's
.BR bind .
.SH AUTHOR
Kees J. Bot (kjb@cs.vu.nl)