Futurebasic/appendix/styleguide

Style Guide for FutureBASIC Documentation

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

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

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

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

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.