Futurebasic/appendix/styleguide

From Wikibooks, open books for an open world
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Style Guide for FutureBASIC Documentation[edit | edit source]

When contributing, follow as closely as possible the conventions stated in the chapter titled "Introduction to the FB Language." These conventions include the following:

  • Items in italics represent placeholders which should be replaced as indicated in the description;
  • Items in bold text represent literal text that you should enter exactly as shown;
  • Items in plain non-italic text represent literal text that you should usually enter exactly as shown.

Code Samples[edit | edit source]

Please adhere to the following coding standards:

  1. FB keywords: lower case (print, not PRINT) or "camel case" (HandleEvents, not HANDLEEVENTS).
    1. The mixed-case format is preferred.
    2. Please do not color code the Wikibook text.
    3. When we export to HTML or HTML Help, a CSS "class" will be added (<code class="keyword">) to control the appearance of keywords.
      It should be noted that WIkibooks do not support CSS.
  2. Toolbox calls: Apple's naming convention
  3. User functions: capitalized (fn MyFunction())
  4. Variables: start with a lowercase letter (x, myVariable)
  5. Globals: start with lowercase g (gSomeGlobal)

Code within Text[edit | edit source]

The <code> tag is supported by Wikibooks. This tag renders enclosed text in a monospace font, usually Courier or Courier New. Unfortunately, the text is not always easy to read, so please avoid using italics or other effects unless absolutely essential.

Blocks of Code[edit | edit source]

Use a <pre> (pre-formatted) tag for large blocks of code:

// This is sample code

The <PRE> tag places example code within a box. It also preserves formatting by rendering the code in a monospace font.

Document Organization[edit | edit source]

When documents can be organized in folders (directories), the following standards are used:

  1. Language: An Overview of Syntax, Organized by Functionality
  2. Intro: An Introduction to Programming in FutureBASIC (Note: please compose content for true beginning programmers)
  3. Programming: Intermediate to Advanced Programming Topics
  4. FBtoC: An Explanation of FBtoC
  5. Tutorials: Programming Examples and More
  6. Appendix: Additional Information

Folder names are in lowercase when appearing in Wikibook links. These folders are divided further into specific topics. Always consult the table of contents before creating sub-folders (sub-sections) for this text. The Wikibook entries are linked from FutureBASIC → "Major Section" → "Sub-section" and this organization will be automatically recreated when a Wikibook is exported. Since the Wikibook is our central repository for content, please maintain the organization. Reorganizing a Wikibook requires copying pages to new locations and then deleting the originals.