4.13. Formatting language

Formatting language (FL) to design output citation styles

A - General features

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EW: n.a. since the citation styles are not modificable via EW: they can only be uploaded from EndNote desktop by Administrator login. Therefore to use the formatting language must use EndNote desktop

RW: made up of coded field names, text strings (alone or in front and/or after fields), punctuation, separators, style (italics etc.), tab, carriage return, page break;

many options for names;
"Accucite" feature in edit window warns which fields -among the whole set- will be considered by the current citation style when publishing

(FL recognizes field names specifically belonging to each individual RT)

Pr: mostly made up of:
1 field names
2 two formal instructions: field/string separator, group command «...» (i.e. if more elements -fields- are included in a group, one is enough for the relevant surrounding punctuation to be output)
3 text strings, punctuation (automatic control on double punct.), spacing, style (B I U etc.): as written
4 many options for names, titles, dates, pages, keywords varying by RT and output context
5 back slash \ (ASCII 92) marks any string as mere text, e.g.: " \« "

FL recognizes RT specific, not generic, workform fields names and not numbers (therefore be careful when copying definitions from one workform to another) 

En: mostly made up of:
1: field names
2: field/string separator (|) also useful to put punctuation around a group of fields; link adjacent text (nonbreaking space)
3: text strings, punctuation, spacing, tab, style B I U etc.
4: options for anonymous works, pages and journal names apply to any RT, across any output context (In-text, Footonotes and Bibliography): cannot be differentiated by RT or output context; options for name vary with RT and output context;
5: ` (ASCII 96) marks strings as mere text e.g. overlapping field names `Journal`; 6: handles singular vs plural, e.g. p^pp. ed.^eds.

recognizes generic field names

RM: mostly made up of:
1 field names;
2 two formal instructions: field/string separator, group command «...» (i.e. if more elements -fields- are included in a group, one is enough for the relevant surrounding punctuation to be output);
3 text strings, punctuation (automatic control on double punct.), spacing, style (B I U etc.): as written;
4 many options for names, titles, dates, pages, keywords varying by RT and output context;
5 back slash \ (ASCII 92) marks any string as mere text, e.g.: " \« "

same as ProCite, but FL recognizes fields generic names and numbers

B - Selection
    1. fields
    2. subfields

EW: n.a. RW: 1, subfields just for personal names Pr: 1; 2: only "surname, name, qualification", internal date format En: 1; 2: only "surname, name, qualification" RM: 1; 2: only "surname, name", internal date format

C - Add text : in front of/after fields content

EW: n.a. RW: yes Pr: yes En: yes (can handle singular vs plural: p^pp. ed.^eds if start-end pages or more authors are present) RM: yes

D - Distinguishes among occurrences of a repeatable field
   1. by punctuation -separators; 
   2. by position / sequence number; 
   3. can count them

EW: n.a. RW: 1-2-3 only as far as names are concerned Pr: 1; 2 only partially names i.e. as far as output and sort are concerned En: 1: names; 2: partially names, as far as output is concerned; 3: can count number of names to sort references with same first author RM: 1; 2 only partially: names, as far as output is concerned

E - Produces tagged format output, apart from built-in export routines

EW: n.a.

RW: yes

(e.g. \nKW: to output a repeatable field occurrences on different lines)

Pr: yes (e.g. ^pKW: as keywords separator, where ^p are two characters) En: to a limited extent

can handle a repeatable field like authors field, but not keywords labelled on consecutive lines, does not handle <CR> as format specification within the same field

RM: yes (e.g. ¶KW: as keywords separator where ¶ is [ASCII 20])

F - Displays and print RT (reference type via field token not as static text)

EW: n.a. RW: yes Pr: no En: no RM: yes

G - Offers conditional commands (IF ... THEN ...)

EW: n.a. RW: no (implied in many built-in options to be selected for: authors' names, anonymous works ...) Pr: not explicitly, but implied by various options (e.g. names) En: not explicitly, but implied by various options (e.g. names) RM: not explicitly, but implied by various options (e.g. names)

H - Upper/lowercase conversion

EW: n.a. RW: yes for names and titles Pr: yes (names, titles, sort headings) En: yes: names -small caps also- titles + list of words that should not be altered RM: yes (names, titles)

I - Look-up tables to expand acronyms, abbreviations, replace text

EW: n.a. RW: no
(short Journal Title is actually a specific field content in each record, linked to a look-up/index list) 
Pr: yes: a) text between "«...»" ; b) field 10: "Journal title" and relevant list(s) En: Journal field ("Secondary title") and relevant list

puts in relation Journal's field content and the Journal list's table: a table's record is made up by an entry and three correspondent strings, most often abbreviations; this way you can handle periodical titles and their abbreviations

RM: Periodical synonyms list

J - Contextual Record Preview while designing a style

EW: n.a. RW: yes Pr: yes En: no RM: yes

K - Text added in styles can be language dependent for each record
     1. text lists can be modified
     2. new lists can be added (new language)
     3. text can be present in various fields

EW: n.a. RW: no Pr: no En: no RM: no

L -  Checks format syntax

EW: n.a. RW: no Pr: no En: no RM: yes

M - Level of difficulty of the formatting language (FL)

EW: n.a. RW: easy Pr: rather easy, does not require programming skills En: rather easy, does not require programming skills RM: rather easy, does not require programming skills (offers a Wizard function, plus the abovementioned syntax control)
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