2.2.1.1 Basic Syntax

The default configuration file location sought after by a RERO process is in the home directory of the process owner and is named `.rerorc'. A different location can be specified with a command option See section 2.1 Options. Superfluous whitespace read from the file is discarded and comments can be used with a # character at the beginning of a line.

Each line used for configuration is a value assignment. Hence, there is a key and a value. The two terms are separated by a = character. For example:

key = value

The key part of the line describes both the profile being configured and the variable the value is being assigned to. By convention, a . character separates the key profile and key variable. For example:

rero.workdir = /tmp

In that example the profile name is `rero' and the variable to be assigned `/tmp' is `workdir'. It is possible to not specify a profile name. In such a case, the default value for the variable specified would be assigned for all profiles defined after that point. For example:

.workdir = /tmp

Any profiles defined after that point would inherit that setting for `workdir'.

The value part of the line can either be strict or user-defined. Leading and trailing whitespace are discarded before assignment. Line continuation is supported by the \ character. For example:

rero.postbuild.manual = scp rero/ChangeLog /web/rero/ChangeLog && \
                        scp rero/README /web/rero/README

The resulting value for the `postbuild.manual' variable would be:

scp rero/ChangeLog /web/rero/ChangeLog && scp rero/README /web/rero/README

It is important to note which escape-style characters are handled.

`\n'

Replaced with a newline character.

`\\'

Replaced with a \ character.

`\<newline>'

The sequence is removed and the value continues to the next line.